As Christian hedonist preachers we know that every listener longs for happiness. And we will never tell them to deny or repress that desire. Their problem is not that they want to be satisfied but that they are far too easily satisfied. We will instruct them how to glut their soul-hunger on the grace of God. We will paint God’s glory in lavish reds and yellows and blues, and hell we will paint with smoky shadows of gray and charcoal. We will labor to wean them off the milk of the word onto the rich fare of God’s grace and glory. We will bend all our effort, by the Holy Spirit, to persuade our people: 1. That “the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt” (Heb. 11:26). 2. That they can be happier in giving than receiving (Acts 20:35). 3. That they should count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus their Lord (Phil. 3:8). 4. That the aim of all of Jesus’ commandments is that their joy might be full (John 15:11). 5. That if they delight themselves in the Lord He will give them the desires of their heart (Ps. 37:4). 6. That there is great gain in godliness with contentment (1 Tim. 6:6). 7. That the joy of the Lord is their strength (Neh. 8:11). We will not try to motivate their ministry by Kantian appeals to mere duty. We will tell them that delight in God is their highest duty. But we will remind them that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2), and that Hudson Taylor, at the end of a life full of suffering and trial, said, ‘I never made a sacrifice.”

John Piper

Post published:December 20, 2022

Index: Afrikaans

Job 10

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10:1 Ek walg van my lewe; ek wil my geklaag die vrye loop gee; ek wil spreek in die bitterheid van my siel.

10:2 Ek sê tot God: Veroordeel my nie; laat my weet waarom U met my twis.

10:3 Is dit voordeel vir U dat U verdruk; dat U die arbeid van u hande verwerp, terwyl U oor die planne van die goddelose lig laat skyn?

10:4 Het U vleeslike oë? Of sien U soos ‘n mens sien?

10:5 Is u dae soos die dae van ‘n mens, of u jare soos die dae van ‘n man?

10:6 dat U soek na my ongeregtigheid en vra na my sonde,

10:7 ofskoon U weet dat ek nie skuldig is nie en dat daar niemand is wat uit u hand kan red nie?

10:8 U hande het my geformeer en my gemaak, heeltemal rondom; en U vernietig my!

10:9 Bedink tog dat U my soos klei gevorm het, en wil U my tot stof laat terugkeer?

10:10 Het U my nie soos melk uitgegiet en my soos kaas laat dik word nie?

10:11 Met vel en vlees het U my beklee, en met beendere en senings het U my deurvleg.

10:12 Die lewe, ja, guns het U aan my bewys, en u sorg het my gees bewaak.

10:13 Maar daarby het U dít verberg in u hart, ek weet dat dít u toeleg was:

10:14 As ek gesondig het, sou U my waarneem en my nie vryspreek van my ongeregtigheid nie.

10:15 Was ek skuldig–wee my! En was ek regverdig, ek sou my hoof nie kon ophef nie, sat van skande en bewus van my ellende.

10:16 En as my hoof hom ophef, sou U my jaag soos ‘n leeu en U opnuut wonderbaarlik teenoor my gedra.

10:17 U sou altyd nuwe getuies teen my bring en u grimmigheid teen my vermeerder–altyd nuwe leërafdelings teen my!

10:18 Waarom tog het U my uit die moederskoot laat uitgaan? Ek moes gesterf het sonder dat ‘n oog my gesien het.

10:19 Ek moes gewees het of ek daar nie was nie; van die moederskoot af moes ek na die graf gedra gewees het.

10:20 Is my dae nie min nie? Laat Hy ophou, my laat staan, dat ek ‘n bietjie vrolik kan wees,

10:21 voordat ek heengaan–en nie terugkom nie–na die land van duisternis en doodskaduwee,

10:22 ‘n land van donkerheid, soos middernag, van doodskaduwee en wanorde, en dit gee ‘n skynsel–soos middernag!

Index: Afrikaans

Job 10

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