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Rejoice and Leap for Joy | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking, where we seek to understand
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God's unchanging truth and its application for our lives.
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Now join your hosts as they take a deep dive into a foundational
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aspect of faith. Greetings everyone, and welcome
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back to our deep dive. Today we're looking at
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something, well, something Jesus said that sounds simple on the
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surface maybe, but when you really sit with it, it's quite
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astonishing. We're zeroing in on his command
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to rejoice and leap for joy. Now, that's not just, you know,
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a helpful suggestion. It's an actual instruction.
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And I think for many of us, joy feels more like an emotion we
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hope for, maybe something that happens to us if things go well.
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Depended on circumstances. Exactly.
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But Scripture, and we're drawing a lot from John Pipers work on
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this, it presents a completely different angle on our search
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for real happiness. So get ready because this really
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challenges some common assumptions.
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That's right. Our aim here is to, well, unpack
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the source material, look at what Scripture says, and reveal
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the true character of Christian joy.
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We want to ask, what's its proper focus?
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How does it work when you're facing hardship or practicing
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self denial? Where does it actually come
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from? And crucially, what's its
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ultimate goal? Hint, it involves God's glory.
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And as we go, you'll see just how counterintuitive this
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command can be. This isn't about putting on a
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happy face. It's about a deep, robust spirit
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given delight that changes, well, pretty much everything.
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Prepare for. Maybe a few.
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Aha moments. OK, so let's dive in.
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First off, why is this command so striking?
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We find it in Luke chapter 6 verses 22 and 23.
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Jesus says this, blessed are you and people hate you.
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And when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name
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as evil on account of the fun of man.
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And then he adds, rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for
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behold, your reward is great in heaven.
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For so their fathers did to the prophets.
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Now just pause on that. Really think about it.
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How can joy be commanded, especially then when you're
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hated, excluded, reviled, your name trashed?
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This seems to run completely counter to, well, every normal
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human feeling, doesn't it? It absolutely does.
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It feels unnatural. Your gut reaction doesn't
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usually leap for joy in those moments, right?
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You want to hide or fight back or just feel miserable.
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And CS Lewis really nails this. I think he observed that our
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Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
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We tend to think, oh, I want happiness too much, that's my
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problem. But Louis says no.
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We're half hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex
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and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.
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Infinite joy. Yeah, he uses that famous
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illustration. We are far too easily pleased,
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like a kid who wants to keep making mud pies in a dirty alley
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because he can't even imagine what a holiday at the beach is
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like. So this command from Jesus, it's
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like a shock meant to wake us up from being content with, well,
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mud pies. That puts it so clearly.
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So our problem isn't wanting to be happy too much, it's that we
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desire happiness too little, and we look for it in shallow,
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temporary places. We settle.
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We settle for the mud pies, yes, when this vast ocean of delight
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is right there, offered to us. Makes you wonder how much true
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satisfaction we miss just because we can't imagine
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something better. Or maybe we don't believe it's
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really available. Exactly.
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And this understanding leads us straight to how Jesus deals with
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our our love affair with sin. As Piper puts it, it's not just
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about willpower, gritting your teeth, you know, like tearing
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out a sin loving eye in Matthew 5.
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That's part of the decisiveness. But the deeper solution is being
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mastered by joy in a new reality, namely God.
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Mastered by joy. I like that.
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It's about a fundamental shift in our affections.
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Sin loses its power, its grip, when something vastly more
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satisfying captures our hearts, when God himself becomes our
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supreme delight. Sin just it pales in comparison.
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It looks like the cheap imitation it is.
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And it's so important to stress, like you said, this joy is in
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God, in his Son. This isn't some kind of health
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and wealth gospel where God is just a means to get stuff.
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Absolutely not. That misses the point entirely.
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The object of the joy is critical.
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It's delighting in God Himself, His character, His presence, His
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sovereignty, not just his gifts. Yes, because if your joy is in
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God, it's as solid and unchanging as He is.
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Doesn't depend on your circumstances.
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If your joy is just in, say, having a good job, what happens
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when you lose the job? The joy goes.
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But joy in God that can remain even when everything else is
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shaken. It changes how we pursue joy,
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too. We seek Him, not just
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experiences. Right.
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OK, so moving on. This joy isn't just an internal
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feeling, it actually becomes the engine for some pretty radical
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actions like acts of renunciation, selling things,
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leaving things behind, which helps us enter the Kingdom.
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Think about that parable of the hidden treasure, Matthew 13
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verse 44. Jesus says the Kingdom of heaven
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is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and
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covered up. Then in his joy he goes and
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sells all that he has and buys that field.
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And the key phrase there is in his joy, his action selling
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everything isn't portrayed as this heavy burden or reluctant
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duty. It's spontaneous.
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It flows directly from the joy of discovery.
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It's entirely joy driven. That's the critical insight.
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The treasure, as the source explains, represents God's
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saving presence and sovereign reign, the Kingdom itself.
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And when someone truly sees the Kingdom for what it is, this
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unbelievable treasure, this infinite fortune, they naturally
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count. Everything is nothing compared
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to the vast fortune of being part of that reign.
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So the selling, the giving up isn't the hard part.
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Well, the value of the treasure makes the cost seem small, even
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negligible. It's why believers can, as Luke
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14.33 says, renounce all that he has and do it with Joy.
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The renunciation isn't the condition for joy, it's the
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result of Joy finding something way better.
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That flips the usual script, doesn't it?
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We often think of self denial as this grim, joyless task we have
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to do. Right, like it's all about
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willpower and gritting your teeth.
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But this parable shows a different motivation entirely.
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So how does that practically work?
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Because selling all still sounds, well, extreme to people.
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How does Delight make that possible?
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It's about perspective, isn't it?
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You find a diamond necklace on the street.
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You don't mourn the loss of the gum wrapper you had in your
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pocket. You eagerly drop the wrapper for
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the diamond. The man in the peril wanted to
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sell everything because the treasure made it all look like,
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well, like gum wrappers by comparison.
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So when we renounce lesser joys, maybe comforts, ambitions, even
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relationships that pull us away from God, the power comes from
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having tasted and seeing that God is better.
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The greater the perceived worth of God, the easier it is to let
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go of other things. Exactly.
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It's not about willpower folding desire, It's about desire being
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captured by a superior object. We let go of those joy giving
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things the temporary stuff, precisely because God is
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infinitely more valuable than everything we possess or could
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possess in this world. And this completely undermines a
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mere willpower religion that only feels Dewey obligation but
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no real delight. Just going through the motions,
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yeah. Jesus calls us to himself and to
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his Father, and that invitation is fundamentally called to joy.
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He wants relationship delight, not just rule following.
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So genuine self denial isn't joyless discipline, it's
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actually an eager pursuit of the greatest possible satisfaction
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found in God. Trading up, essentially.
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OK, but here's where it gets really tough.
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Maybe the most counterintuitive part.
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This joy is meant to exist right in the middle of suffering.
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A scarred joy, as the source puts it.
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Let's go back to Luke 6. He says rejoice and leap for joy
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precisely when people hate you, exclude you, revile you on
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account of the Son of Man. Not after the suffering stops,
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but in it. And Jesus wasn't naive about
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this. He knew what his followers would
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face. He warned them about
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persecution, being handed over, even some being put to death,
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being hated by everyone for his name.
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He lists these things in Luke 21, Matthew 10, John 15.
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He was fully aware, so the joy he commands isn't ignorance or
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denial. Right.
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It's not pretending everything's OK, So what kind of joy is it?
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Well, the source emphasizes it's not chipper.
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It's not that kind of flimsy surface level happiness.
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It's not joy, light. This is described as serious
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joy. It's the kind you fight for.
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It's a joy that has scars. Scars.
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Yeah. It's a joy that can sing happy
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songs with tears. It acknowledges the reality of
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the dark hours and knows that more are coming.
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It's robust. It coexists with pain and
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sorrow. It doesn't erase them, but it
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undergirds the believer through them.
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That feels much more real to lived experience.
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The road to heaven is a hard Rd. but it is not joyless.
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Joy isn't the absence of suffering, but something found
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within it. But OK, for someone really in
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the thick of it, facing deep pain or loss, how do you
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actually fight for that kind of joy?
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What does that look like on a Tuesday morning when everything
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feels awful? That's the critical, practical
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question, isn't it? Yeah, it's definitely not about
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just trying harder to feel happy.
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It's a spiritual battle. Often the fight looks like
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deliberately turning your mind and heart back to truth, even
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when feelings scream otherwise. It involves remembering God's
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character, His goodness, His sovereignty, even when
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circumstances look bleak, like Romans 8.28 reminds us.
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Clinging to what you know is true, not just what you feel.
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Exactly. And focusing on the future
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reward Jesus promised. Your reward is great in heaven.
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That eternal perspective is a huge anchor.
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It also means actively seeking God's presence through prayer,
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through Scripture, through fellowship, even when,
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especially when you don't feel like it.
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Pursuing the source of joy, not just the feeling.
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So it's an act of discipline empowered by the Spirit.
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Yes, and for Jesus, this command for joy is actually a strategy,
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a way to live with suffering and to outlast suffering.
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It's a source of resilience. Jonathan Edwards had a
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fascinating take on self denial and suffering.
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He said it essentially destroys the very root and foundation of
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sorrow. He used this striking medical
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image. It's like the Lancing of a
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grievous and painful sore that affects a cure and brings
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abundance of health as a recompense for the pain of the
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operation. Wow, so the painful act of
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denial of letting go actually heals the deeper sorrow.
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That's the idea. It seems counterintuitive, but
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by denying the lesser thing that sorrow might cling to, you open
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the way for a deeper, more lasting health and joy.
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Which reinforces that self denial and the pursuit of joy
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aren't enemies. Not at all.
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They're partners, like the source says, like the command to
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be cancer free and the command to have surgery.
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Both aim for the greater good, for healing and life.
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One might be painful, but it serves the other.
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OK, let's shift slightly. How does this joy become the
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root of holiness? How does it help us overcome
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sin? We know what trips people up,
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what chokes the spiritual life as Luke 8.1 free and says It's
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the cares and riches and pleasures of life, the weeds
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that strangle the good seed. Right, those things pull our
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hearts away. So what's Jesus's answer to that
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pull? How do we fight those weeds?
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Well, crucially, it's not primarily through sheer
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willpower or just saying no. Jesus is key.
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The thing that unlocks his demand for holiness is
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discovering the superior pleasure found in God himself.
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It's the superior delight that actually severs these strangling
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vines of sin. A.
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Superior pleasure, yes. And the source critiques other
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approaches quite strongly, like Stoicism, just trying to
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suppress desires. Piper says it isn't a good
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antidote. It is hopelessly weak and
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ineffective because it doesn't offer a better yes, just a no.
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Exactly. And similarly what he calls
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willpower, religion. Just trying really hard usually
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fails, and even if it seems to succeed for a while, it gets
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glory for the will, not for God. It tends to produce legalists,
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people focused on rules rather than lovers of God.
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People proud of their self-control, maybe, but not
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necessarily delighting in God, right?
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Which leads to Jonathan Edwards is really provocative point.
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He basically says look the wicked man is not a pursuit of
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moral profit tis pleasure. He seeks people sin because they
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think it will bring them pleasure or happiness, Edwards
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then says. Now.
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Then we will fight with them, with their own weapons.
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Meaning we offer a better pleasure.
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Precisely. We don't just tell them their
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pleasure is bad, we show them a blip to the pleasure of knowing
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and enjoying God that is infinitely better, more
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satisfying, more lasting. Fighting fire with fire, but
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with the divine fire. You could put it that way.
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The pursuit of pleasure in God is the only force that can
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defeat the lusts of the age while producing lovers of God.
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It's the only thing strong enough.
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Think back to the treasure parable again.
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It was in his joy that the man sold everything.
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That joy was the power that broke the hold of his previous
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possessions, his previous desires.
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So the joy itself is what cuts the stranglehold of sin.
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It's not the selling. The selling is the evidence of
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the joy. Exactly.
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The joy replaces the appeal of the sin.
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When you're truly satisfied in God, sin just it loses its
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shine. It looks pathetic by comparison.
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So becoming holy isn't just about stopping bad behavior,
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it's about having your heart so captivated by God that the bad
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stuff just doesn't seem appealing anymore.
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That's the heart of it. It's a transformation of desire
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fueled by delight in God. OK, this is powerful stuff, but
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it raises a big question. How do we get this joy,
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especially knowing how often we fail, how weak our delight in
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God can be? How is this even possible for
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flawed people like us? That's the $1,000,000 question,
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right? And the answer points us
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directly to Jesus Christ himself.
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He is both the purchaser and the provider of this joy.
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Purchaser and provider explain that.
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Well, first, the foundation is his sacrifice.
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Jesus offered himself to die for the forgiveness of our sins, the
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forgiveness of our failures, to rejoice in Him as we ought.
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Remember the Last Supper? Matthew 26.28 This is my blood
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of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
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of sins. Mark 10.45 He came to give his
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life as a ransom for many. So his death pays for our lack
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of joy it. Pays for all our sins, including
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the sin of not delighting in God as we should.
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His blood provides the ransom. This gives us a solid foundation
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for joy, because the very thing that disqualifies us, our
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failure to rejoice perfectly in Him, is covered, forgiven.
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Wow. So we don't have to earn it.
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We don't have to achieve some level of joyful perfection
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first. Absolutely not.
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It's received entirely through faith in his finished work.
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It's a gift bought at an infinite price by him.
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That's incredibly freeing. So he purchased the possibility
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of our joy. How does he provide it?
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He actively gives it to us. Think about his prayer in John
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17, verse 26. He prayed for his followers,
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that the love with which the Father has loved me may be in
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them, and I in them. Now consider the Father's love
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for the Son. It's not pitying or merciful
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love. The Son is perfect.
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It's described as nothing but infinitely joyful admiration and
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fellowship, pure delight. And Jesus prayed for that love,
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that joy to be in US. Yes, He intends for us to share
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in the very joy that exists between the Father and the Son.
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That's His desire, His plan for us.
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That's almost unbelievable, that level of intimacy and shared
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delight. It is staggering, and the source
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emphasizes Jesus is committed to making it happen.
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We aren't left struggling on our own to try and drum up this
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divine joy. He is working to bring it about
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in US. So how does he make it happen
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day-to-day? Primarily through His presence,
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both future and present future He promised in John 16.212.
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I will see you again in your hearts will rejoice, and no one
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will take your joy from you. The ultimate, unshakable joy
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comes from being face to face with Him.
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That hope anchors us now. The essential reward is
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fellowship with Jesus himself. The hope of seeing him.
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Right, but it's not only future, He's also present with us now by
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his spirit. He promised I will not leave you
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as orphans. I will come to you.
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John 14.18. He's with us always.
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Matthew 28.20 The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is the one
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who makes Jesus gloriously real to us right now.
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John 16.1314 The Spirit opens our eyes to see Christ's worth
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and beauty sustaining our joy even when we can't see Him
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physically. So the Spirit helps us perceive
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the treasure even when it feels hidden.
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Exactly. He makes the reality of Christ
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the all satisfying treasure known and felt in our hearts,
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fueling that joy. So our joy is anchored in a
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person, Jesus, who paid for it, prays for it, and provides it
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through His Spirit living within us.
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That's it. He is the source, the substance,
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and the sustainer of true Christian joy.
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Which brings us to the ultimate purpose of all this.
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Why is this command to rejoice so central?
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Why does our joy matter so much to God?
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Because quite simply, our rejoicing in the Father and the
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Son is essential to glorifying God.
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Pursuing our fullest satisfaction in God is what
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displays the glory of God. Think about it.
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When you are deeply satisfied in someone or something, your
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satisfaction proclaims the worth of that thing.
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If you find immense pleasure in a piece of music, your delight
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honors the composer and the musicians.
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If you are profoundly happy in your relationship with someone,
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your joy magnifies their value in the eyes of others.
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So when we find our deepest happiness in God, we are
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essentially telling the world he is this good, He is this
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valuable, He is this satisfying. Precisely.
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Our joy becomes a powerful testimony to His supreme worth.
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It shows He is the ultimate treasure.
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And the flip side is also true. Then not rejoicing in God,
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finding our main delight elsewhere.
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The source calls that a treacherous sin, even likening
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it to treason, because it implies that something in
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creation is more valuable, more satisfying, more praiseworthy
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than the Creator himself. It gets things completely
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backward. It diminishes God's glory in our
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hearts and potentially in the eyes of others.
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Which leads to another bold claim from Jonathan Edwards.
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He insisted that persons need not and ought not to set any
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bounds to their spiritual and gracious appetites.
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No limits. No limits on wanting more of
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God, more joy in Him. He urged people to endeavor by
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all possible ways to inflamed their desires and to obtain more
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spiritual pleasures. Unlike worldly appetites where
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excess is dangerous. You cannot desire God too much.
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Because he is of infinite value. You can't over desire something
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infinitely desirable. Exactly.
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Our hunger and thirst for God and Christ can't be too great
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for the value of these things. Any desire we have will always
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fall short of His actual worth. So we should actively try to
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increase our desire for God. Yes, Edwards uses this really
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startling analogy. There is no such thing as excess
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and our taking of the spiritual food.
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There's no such virtue as temperance in spiritual feasting
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at God's table. The command is essentially eat
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more, drink more, enjoy more. There's no risk of spiritual
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indigestion or gluttony when the feast is God Himself.
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What an invitation. Don't hold back in your pursuit
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of joy in God. Not at all.
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He made you for this. He commands this.
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He provides this. So, listener, be encouraged.
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God created you to find your deepest, most lasting joy in
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him. Don't settle for the mud pies.
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The lesser joy is this world offers that never truly satisfy.
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Instead, as Piper urges, lay yourself in the way of a
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allurement. Actively position yourself to
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see the beauty and worth of Jesus Christ.
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Fix your eyes on Him. Seek Him.
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That's where true boundless joy is found.
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Well, this has been quite a deep dive, hasn't it?
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We've seen that joy, real Christian joy, isn't just a
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happy feeling that comes and goes.
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It's actually a divine command. It's about radically reorienting
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our deepest desires away from fleeting things toward the
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infinite treasure of God Himself.
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This joy fuels a glad self Denial, helps us endure
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suffering with resilience, A scarred, sexiest joy.
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It's the key to overcoming sin, not by willpower alone, but by
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superior satisfaction. And ultimately, our joy in Him
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is a powerful way we glorify God, a joy bought for us and
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provided to us by Jesus. So maybe a final thought to chew
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on this week. If God commands limitless joy in
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himself and Jesus makes it possible, where might you be
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settling for less? How is your current pursuit of
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happiness either pointing to God's worth or maybe subtly
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suggesting something else is more valuable?
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What's one small step you could take this week to deliberately
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seek your joy more fully in Christ?
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To fix your eyes on that treasure.
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Great questions to reflect on. Thank you for joining us on this
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deep dive. We trust these truths.
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We'll encourage you and perhaps reshape your understanding and
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experience of joy. Until next time, may you truly
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experience the fullness of joy found only in God's presence.
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You've been listening to Reformed Thinking.
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Join us again soon for another deep dive into God's truth.