Which Comes First, Obedience or Joy?

00:00:04.000 | A podcast listener named Morgan in Simi Valley, California writes in to ask this,

00:00:08.000 | "Pastor John, I often hear pastors say that the most important part of the Christian

00:00:12.000 | life is obedience to God's Word, not happiness. It seems to me that you place a greater emphasis on being satisfied in God.

00:00:19.000 | When it comes to obedience to God and being satisfied in God, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?"

00:00:26.000 | There are three answers to this question. And I love this question. I could talk about it all day.

00:00:34.000 | Here's my first answer. As long as you think of obedience to God and satisfaction in God as chicken and egg,

00:00:44.000 | you won't be able to answer the question in a biblical way.

00:00:48.000 | Satisfaction in God does not relate to obedience to God as chicken and egg. Satisfaction in God relates to obedience to God as chicken to fowl.

00:01:01.000 | Obedience is the general term, fowl. I'm sorry. Obedience is the general term, fowl, right?

00:01:11.000 | And satisfaction in God is the specific kind of fowl, namely chicken.

00:01:17.000 | So this is the main problem. And pastors or anyone else says, "Obedience to God is the most important thing in life, not happiness in God."

00:01:26.000 | That's like saying birds are the most important thing in life, not robins.

00:01:31.000 | Or fruit is the most important thing, not apples. Or bombers are the most important thing, airplanes in the war, not B-52s.

00:01:42.000 | A robin is a bird and an apple is a fruit and a B-52 is a bomber and happiness in God is obedience to God.

00:01:51.000 | You can't contrast obedience to God and happiness in God as alternatives.

00:01:57.000 | So this is clear. What is obedience? Obedience is doing what God says, right? Keeping his commandments.

00:02:05.000 | Well, commandment, "Rejoice in the Lord always." And again, I will say, "Rejoice."

00:02:10.000 | Therefore, joy in the Lord is obedience. Commandment, "Delight yourself in the Lord." Psalm 37.4.

00:02:17.000 | Therefore, delight in the Lord is obedience. Commandment, "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart." Psalm 32.

00:02:27.000 | Therefore, gladness in the Lord is obedience. So that's the first answer.

00:02:32.000 | Satisfaction in God and obedience to God do not relate as chicken to egg, but as chicken to fowl.

00:02:42.000 | Satisfaction in God is a kind of obedience. Here's answer number two. They're shorter.

00:02:49.000 | But more than likely, when a pastor says, "The most important part of the Christian life is obedience to God's Word, not happiness,"

00:03:00.000 | he probably means happiness in this world, happiness in things, happiness in marriage or money or health or fame or success.

00:03:10.000 | And he's right. He's right. Happiness in general is not the goal of life. Happiness in God is the goal of life. In God.

00:03:20.000 | That is, making God our supreme treasure and pleasure is the goal of life. And doing that may cost us dearly.

00:03:32.000 | That's what he's getting at. It may cost us dearly so that many forms of happiness in this world are sacrificed.

00:03:40.000 | That's answer number two. Finally, number three.

00:03:45.000 | Joy in God really is a kind of chicken that lays lots of eggs of obedience.

00:03:55.000 | We're circling around to qualify our first answer. Joy in God really is a chicken and it lays lots of eggs of obedience.

00:04:04.000 | Yes, joy is an egg. But once the obedience of joy in God hatches in the human soul, it is powerful in producing all kinds of other obedience.

00:04:17.000 | So, for example, Hebrews 10, 34, "You had compassion on those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property."

00:04:28.000 | You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

00:04:35.000 | So the joy of knowing that God is our great reward freed them to visit Christians in prison and suffer for it.

00:04:45.000 | So, yes, joy produces acts of obedience. So here are my three answers.

00:04:51.000 | Number one, satisfaction in God is not less than obedience to God because it is obedience to God.

00:04:59.000 | Number two, obedience to God, namely happiness in God, is vastly more important than happiness in anything else.

00:05:09.000 | And so pastors are right if that's what they're saying.

00:05:11.000 | And number three, the obedience of satisfaction in God produces all kinds of other acts of obedience.

00:05:22.000 | Amen. Thank you, Pastor John. So satisfaction in God is obedience to God and it fuels our further obedience.

00:05:29.000 | So a question that gets asked often is, "So then how can I approach God with a heart that is weary, beaten down, broken down, and joyless?"

00:05:39.000 | A podcast listener named Zach asked the question and we will hear Pastor John's response tomorrow.

00:05:44.000 | I'm your host Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

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