How to Delight In the Lord

This is North Way tape number 510. This message on delighting yourself in the Lord was given by Pastor Jay Passavant of North Way Christian Community on Sunday, June 15th, 1986. Scriptural references for this message were taken from Mark chapter 10 and Psalm 37. I hope you've come this morning with faith. Have you? Have you come this morning expecting God to touch you today? There's never to be a gathering when God's people just come and do their duty. But we come expecting God, and I just trust that the Holy Spirit has already begun a work in your heart. And even though we've had all kinds of little distractions today, God's in this place, beloved. This place has been prayed over, this temple, this church, the body of Christ, the living church has been praying all week, asking God to meet us and touch us today. Now Scott graciously borrowed one of my illustrations when he started this morning and shared what he shared with you about the offering time. I happened to be there in his office when the gentleman that he was referring to looked right up at me and said, you've got something that I've not been able to find. And what he was saying was, I see the peace of God in you. I see that you have a purpose for your life. I see that there's some sort of a power that you're confident in that's bigger than yourself. He was looking, and by God's grace still is looking today, to find the peace and the purpose and the power of God in his life. And I want to ask you a question this morning, dear church. How much do you want those things in your life? What is the desire of your heart? Hold your place there in Mark chapter 10. We're gonna read following verse 17, but I want you to look at the Psalms 37. Book of Psalms, Psalm 37, and I want you to look at one verse, verse 4. And there, the Psalm reads this way. Are you all there? I want you to read it. If you're sitting beside someone that doesn't have a Bible, tap them right now with your arm and say, look at my Bible with me. Okay? The pastor's not making this up. Here it is. Right? Delight yourself in the Lord. And he will give you the desires of your heart. I want to ask you this morning, high school graduates. I want to ask you this morning, businessmen. I want to ask you this morning, homemakers. What are the desires of your heart? What are the things that you burn inside to possess? We heard this morning, as Scott shared with us, that even success in the form of owning several companies and success of having just about anything you could want does not touch the desire of your heart. Beloved, I yearn that every one of us would see that it's not career, that it's not relationships. Those of you that are engaged to be married, I have news for you. You may think that's the desire of your heart sitting next to you, but it's not. The desires of your heart are the peace and the purpose and the power of God. Those are the things that all the world was created, every human being in the face of the earth was created to know the peace, the purpose, and the power of God in their lives. And I want you to know today that there's only one way that God has told us that we can come into those desires. There's only one path upon which we can walk to find those desires fulfilled in our lives. You say, well, I don't know. I've been looking for those things. There are some here today visiting with us, perhaps, that you don't have a clue as to what to do to get those desires fulfilled. And I have to say, beloved church, there are some here today that know Jesus. You've been saved from your sins. But right now I'm talking about peace, purpose, and power, and you don't know that in your life. You're managing, you're getting by, but you don't have the peace and the purpose and the power of God. And I want to tell you today how you can have it. God spoke to my heart this week and said, teach the people how to delight in me. How to delight themselves in me. And you say, I haven't a clue, Jade, how to get from where I am to delighting in God. It's kind of like the story I heard about three guys down on Polish Hill outside of one of the taverns there, and a visitor from the North Hills was lost and said they want to know how to get down into the South Side. And these three guys went back and forth, and they were mumbling back and forth, and they finally looked in the car and said, we're sorry, buddy, you just can't get there from here. You know, we may not know what step to take. But I'm going to share with you today what the Bible says about how you can have the desires of your heart. How many want that today? If you don't want it, listen to me now, I mean this in all love, if you don't want this, then it won't matter to you. What I'm going to say in the next 15 or 20 minutes will go right through you. But if you want it, God says today, you can have it. I'm glad today that we are worshiping a now God, aren't you? A today God, a God that's speaking right now on this little service of believers here in the North Hills. But this little service of believers has in it the potential seeds of great overcoming victorious believers, and that's what God wants to raise up. How do we do it? By delighting in the Lord. Now this same question you see was on the heart of this man in Mark chapter 10. Let's turn back there. Look at verse 17 with me. Now as Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him and said, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The very first thing you need, and this is on our overheads, beloved, the first thing you need to do to learn to delight in the Lord is to discern where you are. To discern where you are. Now this man was honest with Jesus. That puts him in league outside of most others that I know today. How many people are really honest with God about where they are? They feel like, well, I've got to put on a religious front so their priest or their pastor think that they're okay. But they're not okay. And strange as it may sound, God knows that. And I want you to see this rich young man for a minute. He ran up to Jesus. When's the last time you sensed a running in your spirit to come before God? That you were so hungry that you'd run. I was watching the television several weeks ago when at the conclusion of a crusade, the evangelist said, now those who want salvation, this was down in South America, come forward. And I saw literally people running out of their seats down to the platform. Running because they knew they needed the Savior and they realized this was the moment that God was speaking. And then this man, this rich man bowed before him. Now listen, he recognized the Jesus that he was coming. He recognized there was something here that he didn't have. How many rich people would come and run to someone else and bow down before them? And this man had lots and lots of things going for him. Look at these things. Jesus replied to him and he said, verse 19, don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother. Verse 20, teacher, he declared all these things I've kept since I was a boy. And Jesus, look at verse 21, looked at him and loved him. Beloved, as I was praying through this passage, I believe that the description of this man is the Americanized Christian of 1986. We, by any standard in the world, are rich. We, by any standard in the world, are moral. Do you know that? America is the most moral country in the world. As unbelievable as that sounds when you read our newspapers. We, like this rich young ruler, have many things going for us and we, many Americanized Christians, have tried to please God. And beloved, I have to even say that we Americanized Christians even know that Jesus loves us. This we know. For the Bible tells us so. You go to most Christian or most people in America today and say, Jesus loves you. And they say, well, I know that. Wouldn't they? That's great. That just, you know, that makes me feel a bit better about myself. But beloved, this man also realized that his good works, his success, and even the fact that the Son of God was looking at him and saying, I love you, through his eyes, even those things weren't enough. He realized that he had a lack in his life. I want you to hear this. It isn't enough today that you come to North Way Christian Community. It isn't enough today that you say that you've been a good church person all your life. It's not enough today to say, well, I was born again some years ago. Because you see, it wasn't his honesty. It wasn't his sincerity that satisfied his lack. Because Jesus looked at him and said, one thing you lack. One thing. You lack. And beloved, if you can't be honest in discerning what you lack today, you will go no further with Jesus. Now, I know this sounds harsh. I'm not meaning to be harsh. I'm meaning to be direct, because the Word of God is direct. Are you willing to ask Jesus Christ today, Lord, what is it that I lack? Are you willing to discern yourself? I want to plead with you this morning, church. It's time to discern where you are. Don't play games with the Son of God. Because it's not enough that he loves you. It's not enough that you're keeping the commandments. It's not enough that you're part of the church. Jesus looks and says, what? One thing do you lack today? And once you discern that, the second thing that you need to do to delight in the Lord is to die to lesser things. Jesus looked at him and it says in Matthew's account, if you would be perfect. Now, how many of you think that you're married to the perfect person? Look at those hands shooting up around the room. Okay. No, none of us believe we're perfect. Perfect means that we never fail. We never ever fail or sin or make a mistake or disappoint. I mean, how many of you just know that there's already been some disappointment this morning, right? There's been some failure and weakness this morning. But Jesus said if you would be perfect, what is he saying? Well, the Greek word for perfect means, teleos means to complete, to fully satisfy. You could easily translate that. If you would be fully satisfied, if you would be complete, if you would be perfect, then this is what you need to do. You need to surrender that thing which is competing with your love and loyalty. Notice this now, beloved. This is going to pop some bubbles this morning. Look at this. Jesus didn't say in verse 21, believe a little harder, get a little more involved in the synagogue, go to 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock, put a little more in the offering box. He didn't say any of those kinds of things that we'd like to hear about, things that we could accomplish. He said this, go and sell everything you have and give to the poor. Now, how many of you know that was an unfair thing to say? Right? I mean, come on, God. Let's be fair about this. How about if I give half? I mean, old Zacchaeus and Luke, he only gave half of his stuff back, right? How many believe God is fair? Yeah, I challenge you to think about that a little bit. God is just, but God does not count fairness the way we do. And I want you to hear today that Jesus required of this man the one thing he could not give. Do you hear me? He could not give it. How do I know that? Well, look down here with me, because out of the lips of Jesus himself in verse 27, when the disciples said, what are you, this is ridiculous. Jesus said in verse 27, with man, this is impossible. There it is, beloved. I am calling you today to do an impossible thing on your own. Do you want to know why it's difficult for you to delight in the Lord? It's not only difficult, it is impossible on your own strength. It's impossible by trying harder. But Jesus said, look, not with God, for with God all things are possible. Beloved, if riches could satisfy, then Beverly Hills would be the happiest place in the world. On the other hand, if poverty could satisfy, Bangladesh would be leaping and dancing and rejoicing. You see, poverty doesn't make us happy, neither do riches. What makes us happy alone, what alone brings us to peace and power and purpose in life, is obeying the Lord God Almighty and hearing him say to us, this one thing you need to do. You say, well, you know, Jay, I know lots of people with a lot of stuff and they seem pretty happy to me. The Bible talks a lot about coveting the wealth of those who the Bible calls unrighteous. The prosperity of the wicked, in Psalm 73, you can read about it, and God says, just consider for a moment their end. If you ever wonder, why does the guy down the road and in the next neighborhood seem to have it all together while I'm falling apart? Because the Bible says, go and consider their end. First of all, images aren't always really accurate portrayals of what reality is, is that right? Number two, in the end, you see, when they walk into that hospital, they're in the same little threat of life as everyone else. It doesn't matter at all. When they're prepared to go before God, they only have that same little threat that you and I have. And it flees away. There's no security that can be purchased. I shared a few weeks ago, I guess I was struck by this testimony of Bubba Smith. This huge football player, I don't know if you saw this, but a guy who had everything. I mean, he had a lifelong contract for playing football, and then when he got hurt, they paid him anyhow. You know? How's it like to, you carpenters here this morning, you have a contract with your employer that once you, if you broke your thumb with a hammer, you get paid for the rest of your life, you know? It was that kind of a thing. But after he left the football career because of his injury, he went into depression for a year and didn't come out of his house. And there was just something about this man that intrigued me, a man that had it all together, and then he started to search because he realized that he didn't have peace and purpose. And he found Jesus Christ in a Bible study and became a man who trusted in God. Beloved, if there's a great failure in us today, let me tell you what it is. It's that we still see those people out there. Listen to me, man. Father's Day, we still see the man out there that the world has given us as an image, and we say, that's what I want to be. I want my little corner secured. And as long as we'll do that, alongside of having Jesus, I want to tell you something. You will never know the peace, the purpose, or the power of God as he intended. Do you think that Jesus, now 2,000 years later, has changed his requirements? You say, well, you know, maybe he was kind of hard in this guy. Maybe today here in America, he'd be a little more liberal since we have more going for us. It's amazing is how we begin to just think through this rationalization. And the same Jesus that said to this man, sell all you have, give it to the poor, come and follow me, is saying to us today, beloved, this one thing you lack. In church, I'm sharing this message with you because I want God to be able to say to us, look what Jesus says, you're gonna have treasure in heaven. I want God to be able to say to us, as he said to Peter, look what Peter challenged him and said, Lord, verse 28, we've left everything to follow you. And look what Jesus said, I tell you the truth, no one has left homes or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields. There's an awful lot there, beloved, about families. For me in the gospel, who will fail to receive a hundred times as much. I'd like to have a hundred children. Is that what that means? What does it mean? Was Jesus trying to rip off this rich young man? Was he trying to diminish him in some way? What was he saying to him? He was saying this thing. He was saying to him, if you'll let go of the control that you have on your life through your riches, I will give you more than you ever dreamed of. That's what he was saying. Is there anybody here today that wants that? There is a threat in us, beloved, when we come to church. Even I see it. We want to control. What Susan was referring to a little bit earlier today was the need to be in control of how we present ourselves when we worship God. Do you know that many people prefer worship that's highly controlled. It's called highly liturgical. Why do they prefer that? Because they want everything to fit into a place. I remember, you know, so many times in other churches and other experiences for the last 15 years that I'd go in and I would know what was going to happen when and I was it was just it was perfectly right down the line and nothing could ever go wrong and nothing ever did. Actually, nothing happened and man is able to control himself right down to it. And so when you come in this place and everything isn't neatly ordered and controlled and when things are required as it were, well, we get a little uncomfortable. You see, it's the same principle. Jesus looks at this man. He says, give it up and I'll give you way more than you could ever possess on your own. I want to ask you if you believe that. Would you look at that with me again? Verse 30. You're not going to fail to receive a hundred times as much. Would you say a hundred times as much? Anybody here that would invest their money in a place to get a hundredfold return? A hundred times as much? What's the catch, Jay? Well, it says right there, persecutions, doesn't it? You see, beloved, the peace and the purpose and the power of God come with persecution. What does that mean? It means that you will forever be out of step with the world. That's what that means. You will forever find yourself being challenged by those that are walking in tune with what the world is doing. That's what it means to have persecution, to be weird or strange or one of those freakies. But I would rather be a freak in the house of my God than to be a general on the front lines of the world's army. How about you? I'm not embarrassed. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, and I'm asking God to break loose in every one of us the reality that this Jesus and what he gives is worthy of the persecution that the world might bring. People say, well, Jay, what about your life? Why do you think God has graciously used you in these last few years? You know what my answer is? Six years ago, I came to a point where I heard the voice of the Lord speaking to my heart saying, will you leave what you've worked for all these years to build? Will you leave it? Will you walk away from college education and three years around the clock of seminary and most of my doctoral work and all the accreditation and all the things that said you are a respectable member of this community. Will you leave it right here and walk away from it? And I said, Lord, whatever it is that you want, I want to give. I want to give what I am holding on to so that I can know this hundredfold return. It's not wrong to want a hundredfold return for your life, beloved. And so I cut the thread and I left. And I took a step out in the water, praise God, and you, many of you, prayed that that would be so. And this community of believers that God is raising up today is here because of that. And I believe, dear church, that for every one of you, there is a place in your life where God is saying, this one thing you lack. Come to terms with this thing in your life, and I will pour out my purpose and my power and my peace in you. And you see, there's a third thing, and let me just touch on this briefly. And that's the discipline of your walk. Every one of us goes through a crisis. Some of you even said, Lord, take everything in me. But nothing's really changed. You know why that is? See, Jesus said to this rich young ruler, come and follow me. And this is the third thing. It's the walk of discipline. It's the fulfillment that comes when we obey the Lord and walk day by day by day. That word in the Greek there for follow, follow me, that verb is a present tense verb, which means continuous action. Keep on following me. And I could speak for an hour on discipline, and you'd all say, oh great, go ahead and do it. But instead, I'm just going to give you two little points, and here they are. I've learned this about discipline. Number one, our will to discipline ourselves is diluted by everything around us. Let me say it again. Our will to be disciplined is diluted by all the messages that we receive around us. How many of you have willed to be disciplined, to get up and be with the Lord in a quiet time in the morning? But the night before, you really had to flip on the TV and watch bloopers and hangers or whatever those things are, 10 o'clock, right? Or you, you see, beloved, the input of the world dilutes. How many of you get in your car, and you want to, I'm going to commune with God on my way to work. But you know, I'd really like to hear what John Cigna has to say this morning. Now hear me, I'm convinced, now listen, as I've prayed about this, that we need to start throwing some of this stuff out of our lives. Hear me. We need to start backing off the TV that we watch and turning the radio off and letting God speak to us. Letting God be our discipline. You see, because he'll call us. Do you know what it's like to awaken at 4.30 in the morning in anticipation of being with God? Can I get up and be with you now, Lord? It's only 4.30. I'm not supposed to get up till a quarter to six, but can I get up now and be with you? You see, God wants that. The delight of God is to be with him. That's what it means to be with him. That's delighting in him. And all this pollution, all this stuff, this bombardment. How many of you read two newspapers or more a day? Come on. Let me see. There's several. All right. Now, some of you are required to keep up with things for your job. Many of us just do it because we don't know what else to do. Well, read the comics in this paper and the sports in this paper. The second thing about discipline that I've learned is this, that it's strengthened by the support of others. Do you find that to be true, that your discipline is changed when someone partners with you to do it? I can't tell you how many times, especially a couple of years ago, when our morning prayer meeting times were getting a little dry, I remember this very, very well. And I kept having this image of Roy Gunther at the door and I didn't show up with the key to let him in. And Roy's a very disciplined man. And that motivation of Roy there with his arms wide open blessing me for not being there, I could see it. Lord, bless Jay in that warm bed. It's only 14 below this morning. I know that he loves you. I'm on my way there, Lord. I'm going to see him on my way to work. But it was the discipline of knowing that someone else was going to be there that got me up, that got me before God. Today, I want to suggest if you need discipline in your life, find somebody to say, hey, I'll go in with you on that. I'll learn to fast with you one day a week. I'll learn to read three chapters a day. I'll learn to pray for an hour with you. I'll learn to share my faith with others. We'll go out together as a partnership. You see, David said, Lord, my heart is fixed, oh God, in Psalm 57. I will do it. I won't do it if I feel like it only. I won't do it if the situation is good. I won't do it just, you know, if things are all going well. I'll do it because I'm fixed to do it. And so to delight in the Lord then, beloved, these three things, discern where you are, die to every competing loyalty. What do you think Jesus was just sort of fooling around when he said no man could serve two masters? He'll love the one and hate the other. Do you know something? Much of the church today is serving two masters. You say, well, Jay, this sounds like a message that maybe for people who don't know God. I believe that if the peace and the purpose and the power of God is to come into your life, beloved, this is a message for us. And I'm asking God to help me to discern where I'm at, to die to anything that's in the way, and finally, then to discipline myself before him. Do you want that today? Do you want the hundredfold return that God promises? You see, if you wanted to add a fourth P to this, you could. That's the prosperity of God in your life. I know we all want that, but it only comes by delighting in him. How do we delight in the Lord? We discern where we are. We die to those things that are competing and we discipline ourselves and then we delight. Beloved, the joy of living is learning to delight in God and we're going to do that as we conclude this morning. I want the worship team to come up. We're going to delight in God. We're going to present ourselves to him. Let's close up our Bibles together. We're just going to come before him and delight in him, adore him for who he is, love him for his love for us, and focus on him together. Let's stand together, fold up our Bibles, and let's do this. Hallelujah. Let's sing this next chorus just as a prayer together. You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone does my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. Let's sing it once again. As the year planted for the wise, so my soul longed after thee. You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone does my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. Beloved, worship is an act of presenting your body as a living sacrifice. We're going to continue to delight in God and worship him. And I believe that God has was speaking to many of you today about exactly that thing before him that he's calling you to come to terms with. We're going to sing another chorus that says, Lord, I want to come and worship and bow down before you. I'm going to make an invitation right now to this assembly this morning. If God was speaking to you, helping you to discern where you need to go before the Lord and say, Lord, I present this to you, I lay it down. If he was speaking to you like he was speaking to that rich young ruler today, I want you to come up here in these steps and say, Lord, I want to give this right now. I want to lay it over to you, God. I want to leave that one thing behind that would keep me. I want to turn that attitude over, that fear. It may be a material thing, but beloved, it may be something completely different, a relationship, a thought, a practice, a habit. Let's come and worship before the Lord. Let's all kneel together. And those who would come kneel on the steps. As an act before God, you go do it.