The Heart of God Revealed

On January 7th, 1855, Charles Spurgeon, that great English preacher, walked to his pulpit. He said these words, I believe that the proper study of God's elect is God. The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his father. He is so accurate. The greatest study man could ever engage is the study of God himself.

Getting to know God is absolutely crucial. It should be our passion in life. It should be the pursuit of our lives. Coming to know him, the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 9, this is what the Lord wants his people to boast in.

Don't boast in your riches, don't boast in your might, but boast in this, that you understand and know that I am the Lord God who exercises loving kindness and justice and mercy. God through the prophet Hosea said, I don't desire burnt offerings and sacrifice. I desire that you know me and that you understand me. Daniel said, Daniel 11 verse number 32, those who know their God take action and do great exploits for God. Those who don't know their God can't do that. Those who do can. In fact, it was the apostle Paul who said that I might know him.

That was his pursuit in life. Peter said that we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord. So our pursuit in life is to somehow know this infinite, eternal God. It is life's most impressionable pursuit. It's what is to consume every aspect of our lives. Getting to know the God we say we love and we are to serve. That should be our our direction. That should be our passion. That should be our ambition. It should consume us. And I think of all the churches in America today and how many people will go to those churches but never truly get to know God because God's word is never opened.

God's word is never explained. And in some of those places where it is open, it's open for maybe 10 or 15 minutes at the most as if we could get just a little bit of God because too much of God might change our lives. And yet we come to church to worship our creator, to worship our God. The only way we can get to know him is through his word. So we open his word, we read his word, we study his word, we spend time looking at his word because that's where he is revealed. Without that we'll never get to know him.

And the majority of people in our country will go to church where the bible is not open and they will leave never knowing God, never understanding God because he was never portrayed or preached to them that day. It's imperative that we spend time in God's holy word. This past week I had the opportunity to do a radio interview with KBRT about our book God's Hope for Your Home. And in that I had talked about the opportunity that I have to teach my children. And one of the men asked, he says, what is it you do with your children when you teach them?

How do you do that? And I explained to him very simply that it's important for me as a father to be able to give to my children that which I am presently learning. If I don't do that, if I don't teach them what I'm learning, then I'm not able to give them the opportunity to drink from a fountain that flows. In other words, as I learn, they learn. If I'm not learning, guess what? They're not learning. So as I learn, they learn. And so when I gather my children around me in the mornings, I teach them what God is teaching me so they understand that their dad is seeking to know God, that he doesn't have the corner on what it means to know God.

He is constantly in the pursuit of knowing God. So they then in turn learn how important it is for them to pursue the knowledge of God, that they in turn might get to know him. That's why when we gather around, we have the children open their Bibles and all of them read. Why? Because reading the scripture is important. And that's how, or one of the ways they participate in our time in God's word together, gives them the opportunity to ask questions, gives me the opportunity to answer those questions.

But if dad isn't growing in his knowledge of God, his children would not grow in their knowledge of God. He is not moving them toward Christ's likeness. He is not motivating them to understand who God is. Folks, this is crucial. The Bible says he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, not sparingly seek him, not Sunday morning seek him, but who diligently seek him with all of their lives.

And those of us who come to God must know who he is. We're not talking about an intellectual awareness of God that is, I know that exists. It's not about an accumulation of information that I get a lot of information in my brain about the knowledge of God and who he is and what he does. It's about an influential alteration of life. That is, how do you know you're coming and growing in the knowledge of God? He influences you in such a way that he rubs off on you so much so that he alters your life.

If your life is not being altered through your knowledge of God, it's not a true biblical knowledge of God. If your life is the same today as it was yesterday, you're not growing in the grace and knowledge of God. If your life is the same as it was a year ago, you're not growing in the grace and knowledge of God because as you grow in the knowledge of God, God rubs off on you in such a way you become more like him. That's what it means to know God. And God wants us to know him. He wants us to understand him.

He wants us to be able to grasp him. Now, I know he's eternal. I know he's infinite, but he beckons us to pursue him, to seek after him. When you seek me with all of your heart, you'll find me. If you seek me with half your heart, you're not going to find me. If you seek me on Sunday mornings, you're not going to find me. But if you seek me with all of your heart, with all that you have, you'll find me and you'll know me. And that's what God wants for you and me. The good news is that after many years of studying the gospel of Luke, we now embark on that infamous 15th chapter of Luke.

Yes, we're out of Luke 14. We have made it to the next chapter. It's taken us a while, but we're there. And we go from the hard sayings of Jesus to the heart sensitivity of Jesus. And we will have revealed to us the character of our God. We will see God in a way that he wants to be seen in Luke chapter 15. It's a chapter that encompasses a parable, not three parables, one parable. Make sure I emphasize that. And that parable, although entitled the lost sheep, the lost silver, and the lost two sons, because both are lost, not one is really an not so much about lost things as it is about the one who pursues lost things.

It's a parable with three stories. It's a parable with three stages. There's one sheep out of a hundred. There's one silver coin out of 10, and there's one lost son out of two, but both are truly lost. And so in those stories is one parable that describes for us the character and nature of our God so that we can see him for who he is and how he truly wants to be seen. Those three stories, those three pictures tell us two things. They tell us number one about God's activity and number two, man's responsibility.

Number one, God's activity is that he is a redeemer of man. Man's responsibility is that he repents before God. So the story is about God's activity to pursue lost sinners and man's response to God's pursuit that leads him to a place of repentance. One parable, three stories emphasizing the character and nature of God who seeks lost souls. Very, very important. And in the story, you find what gives God his greatest joy. And once you understand what it is that gives God his greatest joy, you can live a life never robbed of joy.

In other words, once you understand what gives God joy, you can understand what gives you joy, and then you can understand why you don't have joy. So therefore, because we're partakers of the divine nature of God, as Peter tells us, we need to know what gets God excited so that we can be excited about the things that God is excited about, about the things the angels in heaven are excited about, and the things that those saints who are already there get excited about. In fact, if you look at the stories of the one parable, you can realize that the theme truly is God's greatest joy.

In fact, it says, chapter 15, these words, verse number seven, I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. And then it says in verse number 10, in the same way, I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then it says in verse number 32, but we had to be merry and rejoice for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live and was lost and has been found.

The summation of each story in the one parable is the same summation. It's the same conclusion. It is joy in heaven. It is the joy of God in heaven. So whatever it is that God gets excited about and experiences joy is the same thing that should get us excited and give us joy because we are partakers of the divine nature of God. In fact, joy is an attribute of God. Don't know if you know that or not, but it is. God is a creator of joy. Without him, there is no joy, right? So therefore we understand that joy is an attribute of God.

Now, not all of God's attributes are communicable to you and me. Some of them are. God is omnipresent. That obviously is not communicable to you and I. We can't understand that. We can't become omnipresent. God is also omnipotent. That can't be communicated to us either because we can't not become omnipotent. We can't become omniscient. That is, we can't know all things. Those are attributes that are non-communicable. But the ones that can be communicated, like mercy, love, forgiveness, patience, right?

All those things can be communicated to us in some way that we can then become merciful, forgiving, patient, long-suffering. Well, God is a God of joy and that also is communicated to us as his children. That we in turn can experience not only his joy, but actually be ecstatic about the things that excite God. Folks, this is important because we need to understand joy. God is a God of joy. He says that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, Romans 14, 17, but is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

That's the kingdom of God. Those who are citizens of the kingdom, those who are children of the king, who are part of that great kingdom, realize that his kingdom at the present is not about eating and drinking. It's about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We're made right with God. Because we're made right with God, we're reconciled to God. Therefore, we have peace with God and therefore, we can have the joy of God. The order is very significant. So once we experience that joy, we understand that we are a part of that great kingdom of God.

The Bible says in Romans 15, verse number 13, these words, Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

May the God of peace fill you with his joy. That was Paul's prayer. In Psalm 51, it was David who said, restore to me the joy of my salvation. He had lost his joy, but he asked God to restore to him that joy. He lost his joy because of what? His sin. No joy, sin. No sin, joy. You have joy today? No sin. You don't have joy today? Sin. There is sin present in your life. There's unconfessed sin. There's a willingness not to deal with sin, a willingness not to go to God. So David, when he realized his sin after Nathan confronted him, he said, Lord, restore to me the joy of my salvation.

I've lost my joy because I've lived in unconfessed sin. I've lived in the state of sinfulness. Therefore, my communion with God has been marred. I need you to restore to me the joy of my salvation. God has always rejoiced when souls are saved. That, that, that is so, so crucial because we know God weeps, right? We know that. He's the man of sorrows acquainted with grief, but the Bible never records the laughter of God, but it does record the joy of God. And whenever it records the joy of God, it records it in the context of lost souls being restored, lost souls repenting, lost souls recovered, lost souls redeemed.

And that gets God absolutely ecstatic. Translation, if you want to get excited, you better start sharing Christ with lost people. You don't do that. You're going to be a bored Christian because what gets God excited gets his children excited. Go back with me, if you would, to the book of Isaiah, the 62nd chapter. In fact, go back to Jeremiah first, Jeremiah chapter 32.

In Jeremiah chapter 32, God speaks about that new covenant. He says, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that is Israel, that I will not turn away from them to do them good. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me. And I will rejoice over them to do them good. And I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul, I will rejoice over my redeemed Israel. Why? Because they will have experienced new covenant blessing.

If you go over to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 62, it says in verse number one, for Zion's sake, I will not keep silent.

And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not keep quiet until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation, like a torch that is burning. He says, and the nations will see your righteousness and all Kings, your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a diadem in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said of you forsaken nor to your land. Will it any longer be said desolate, but you will be called.

My delight is in her and your hand and should be in your land married for the Lord delights in you and to him, your land will be married for as a young man marries a virgin. So your sons will marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you again, the salvation of Israel and what God's going to do in their lives as a result of new covenant blessing. And when Israel is saved, God will rejoice over them. And then in Zephaniah chapter three, verse number 14, shout for joy, O daughter of Zion, shout and triumph, O Israel, rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

The Lord has taken away his judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You will fear disaster no more. And that day it will be said to Jerusalem, do not be afraid, O Zion, do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord, your God is in your midst of victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. He will be quiet in his love. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. What gets God excited? What gets God excited is when lost souls are recovered, redeemed because they've repented of their sin.

God is absolutely bonkers over people who believe in his name. That, my friend, is what gives God joy. And whatever gives God joy gives heaven joy. And whatever gives heaven joy ought to be what gives you and me joy. And so, where are you today? Do you have joy today? That's because you're not sharing Christ with anybody. You start opening God's word and sharing Christ with people, joy will erupt in your life. You don't do that. How are you ever going to get excited about what God gets excited about?

And God truly gets excited about those who come to him in saving faith. In fact, the book of Ezekiel says three times that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He never does. We do. When the wicked man dies, we rejoice. When the enemy dies, we're happy. But God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked because the salvation of the wicked brings joy to God. That's why when you die and you go to heaven, he says, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the, what? Joy of the Lord.

This is where all the joy begins. This is where all the joy ends, right here. In fact, in John 17, verse number 13, Christ prays this in his high priestly prayer, but now I come to thee and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. In fact, God's prayer for you is that his joy would be made full in you. Wow. God wants you to have the joy that he has. He wants you to be as excited as he is excited. You know this verse. It says, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Hebrews 12, verse number one. Here's verse number two. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. Who for the joy set before him, he would endure the price of alienation from his father and the full weight of divine wrath because there was joy on the other side of the cross. The joy of lost souls converted. The joy set before him. In fact, it says over in first Thessalonians chapter two, verse number 17, Paul says, but we brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while in person, not in spirit, we're all the more eager with great desire to see your face for we wanted to come to you.

I Paul more than once. And yet Satan thwarted us for who is our hope or our joy or crown of exaltation. Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming for you are our glory and you are our joy. In fact, there's a crown given to those in heaven who share Christ with others and they give their life to Christ is called the crown of joy. Why is there a crown in heaven called joy? Because that which gives God the greatest joy is when lost souls are saved and to those who share Christ to lost souls and lead them to a knowledge of Christ, that they might be saved.

They receive the crown of ultimate joy. That's what God wants for us. And that's what Luke 15 is about. It's about the heart of God, the heart of God being revealed as to what it is that gives him joy. What gets him so excited that causes all heaven to erupt. Now you understand, now you understand why way back in Exodus chapter three, something we've said to you on many occasions, when Moses said, who shall I say sent me? God said, you tell them I am sent you because this is my memorial name from generation to generation.

That word I am in Hebrew, that tetragrammaton, Yahweh pronounced in Hebrew, Jehovah pronounced in English because we get vowels, give vowels to it, but it's really called Yahweh. That's his name. It's who he is. I am that I am. Okay. In the Greek Septuagint, the translation of the old Testament, it's called Ego, Emi. Very important because Christ would say on many occasions, I am. In fact, in John chapter 18, when they came to get him in the garden of Gethsemane, he says, whom do you seek? They said, Jesus, the Nazarene.

Jesus responded by saying, I am. And they all fell over backwards in the Greek. And in the English it says, I am he, the he is in italics. He didn't say I am he, he says I am claiming equality with God. That's why he said before Abraham was, I am, Ego, Emi, the Greek translation of the Hebrew old Testament of Yahweh, the tetragrammaton that says I am. And God said to Moses, this is my memorial name. My memorial name is this. I have come down to deliver my people from bondage. I am a deliverer. I am a redeemer.

I am a savior. By this shall all men know me. You will celebrate the Passover and you will celebrate it in memory of me and my memorial name that I am a savior of man. Without me, there is no saving. Without me, there is no deliverance. Without me, there is no redeeming. I am the redeemer, the deliverer, the savior of man. And now we celebrate the Lord's table, which in remembrance of his saviorship, we understand how he redeemed us with the precious blood of the lamb of God. He purchased the church with his own blood, Acts chapter 20.

That's exactly what Jesus did. And Christ is that savior. In fact, way back in the, in the book of Isaiah, it says this, Isaiah chapter 43 verse 11, I, even I am the Lord and there is no savior besides me. The great Lord of Israel says, I am the savior. There is no other savior, but me. So when Jesus is born in Matthew chapter one, it says, you shall call his name, Jesus, Yeshua, for he shall save his people from their sins. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved.

That is the name of Jesus. He is the savior. Jesus then is God because there's only one savior. And God says, I'm it later in acts 43.

I mean, uh, Isaiah 43, he says these words in verse number 14, thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy one of Israel, the Lord God is speaking to Israel. I am your redeemer. And then in Galatians three 13, it says that Christ is the one who redeemed us from our sins, making Christ the redeemer, making Christ God. So we believe that Christ is God in the flesh. Christ is that savior who came to seek and to save that which is lost is the only one savior. There's only one redeemer. It's the Lord God of Israel.

The Lord God of Israel is the Messiah of Israel. The Messiah of Israel is no other than Jesus Christ, our Lord. He is the redeemer of man because that's what gives him the greatest joy that always has. And it always will. So important to, to understand that God is not a reluctant pursuer of sinners. He is a relentless pursuer of sinners. And that's what the three stories tell us. He relentlessly pursues lost people. He doesn't reluctantly do that. Say, oh, you know what? I'm not going after the sheep again.

I'm not doing that. I lost the coin. No big deal. I got nine more. That's not a big deal, but it is to God because he is a relentless pursuer of man. That's why the Bible says that Christ himself is that one great savior.

First Timothy chapter two, verse number three, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

God's desire is that all men be saved because that's what gives him the greatest joy. So the Bible says in first Timothy four, verse number 10, that God, who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe God is a savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Now, you know, and I know that we are always asked the same question. If God is such a great lover of man, a great pursuer of man, then why is it this God who loves man allows death, disease, disaster, tragedy, heartache, and pain? If he is such a God of love, why would he allow all those things to take place? Well, simply the answer is that's the wrong question. That's not even close to the right question because we know this, that the wages of sin is what? Death. That's always been the way it is.

Everybody dies. You might die in a fire. You might die in a plane accident. You might die because somebody shoots you. You might die just because you die. Okay. Heart attack. You just keel over and you just stop living, but you're going to die. That's just the way it is. Everybody dies. So we can say, well, why does the loving God allow such tragedy and disaster and death and such turmoil in people's lives? Well, the answer to that is that's the wrong question. The right question simply is this, what kind of God lets sinful people live?

That's the only question there is to ask. Why does a righteous God allow sinful people to exist? Because if the wages of sin is death and Ezekiel says the soul that sins, it will die, the moment you sin, you should what? But you don't. God told Adam, the day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you're going to die. He lived another 900 plus years. So was God not telling the truth or what? He lived a long time after he sinned. In fact, you're going to sin today. And guess what? You're going to live.

And then you're going to sin again and live and sin again and live and sin and sin and sin and sin and sin. And guess what? You're still alive today. Why? Because God is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. You see, every time you sin and don't die, that's God's mercy. That's God's love. That's God's long suffering. That's God's grace. That's God's mercy. That's God at work. If you're sinning and you're not dying, guess what? That's God. And so the right question is, why does a righteous God allow sinful people to continue to live when they deserve to die?

That's the right question. Don't get all messed up. And people say, well, you know, there's so much tragedy and some people are dying and oh, I can't understand why what's going on. We had a loving God and he shouldn't do this kind of thing. Wrong. That's a sinful man's question, not a righteous man's question. See? And God is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. He's the savior of all men in a temporal and physical sense, right? He is. To those who believe, he's a savior of them spiritually and eternally.

But all men, temporally and physically, right? He saves all men. He allows them to live every day. And so when someone sins and they die, that's just the consequences of death or of sin. Death is a consequence of sin. That's why we all die. Because sin is inherent in our nature. And we need to understand that. And yet God is the pursuer of lost souls. He is a retriever, a restorer, a recoverer, a redeemer of those who repent. That's the story of Luke 15. That's the heart of a God that's filled with joy.

He is the one who saves man's soul. Isaiah 45, 22, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth. That's what God wants. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's the New Testament. In the Old Testament, he just simply says, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth. Luke 5, 32, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 19, 10, he came to seek and to save that which is lost. Have you ever been asked the question, you know, what are we going to do in heaven?

Let me give you a hint. In heaven, there's a throne. In the book of Revelation, that throne is mentioned 40 times in 22 chapters. So whatever you do in heaven, it's centered on the throne of God. There's your hint. 40 times in 22 chapters, 13 times in chapter 4 alone. So whatever you conjure up in your mind about heaven, know this, that whatever you do in heaven, it's going to be around and centered on the throne of God. And if it's centered on the throne of God, then what you're going to do is you're going to praise Almighty God.

That's why in the book of Revelation, in the fifth chapter, it says, and they sang a new song. Worthy art thou to take the book and to break its seals, for thou was slain, and it's purchased for God with thy blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. And I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the land that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing and every created thing, which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them.

I heard saying to him who sits on the throne into the land, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying amen. And the elders fell down and worship. That's heaven. That's what it is. You see that which gives God the greatest joy is going to fill you with all the joy that he has so that when you get to heaven, you will erupt in praise forever around the throne of God. For his salvation. That's what heaven is. If that doesn't get you excited, you're not heaven bound.

I'm just going to say it like that. If that doesn't get you excited, you're not heaven bound. Because people heaven bound are excited about giving glory and praise and honor to the one who saved them from their sin. Can't wait to get there. So absolutely important. We've seen Christ weep over the city. Luke 19, 41. Oh, if you'd known the day of your visitation. He wept over the city of peace because they would have no peace. We've seen him weep over the city. We understand that he wrestles in Gethsemane.

Why? Because he is going to bear the weight of your sin and mine. And he will be separated from his father for the first time and only time of his eternal nature.

So we see him weep over the city. We see him wrestle in Gethsemane. We also see him in John 18, welcome the enemy. The enemy comes with torches and lanterns from out of the city gates of Jerusalem, the cross over that Kidron called Brook to the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus gets up and goes to meet them. He doesn't wait for them to find him. He goes to them. He welcomes the enemy. He's already wept over the city. He's already wrestled in Gethsemane. Now he's ready to welcome the enemy. Whom do you seek?

And then he is one who is whipped unmercifully. So much so the Bible says that he is marred beyond human recognition, Isaiah 52 verse number 14.

On the cross, we hear him writhe in agony. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The only time he would cry out was not because of his physical pain, but because of a spiritual pain, the alienation from his father. And why would he writhe in agony? Why would he be whipped unmercifully? Why would he welcome the enemy? Why would he wrestle in Gethsemane? Why would he weep over the city? Simply so he could win the victory by dying and rising again. Why? So you'd worship him in majesty for all eternity.

That's why he did all that. So that throughout all eternity, you will experience the joy of heaven by worshiping the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. Luke 15 reveals that exact heart to us of a God who relentlessly pursues lost sinners so that they might experience the saving grace of almighty God. This truly is a marvelous, marvelous chapter. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. And this is the opportunity to introduce a chapter that reveals to us your heart, heart of love and joy over lost sinners.

Our prayer, Father, today is that if there be one among us who does not know you, that today would be the day of their salvation. They would come to saving grace, experience heaven's eruption, heaven's exaltation, heaven's jubilation, because heaven rejoices over one sinner lost, now found. And our prayer, Father, is that you would use us to tell people about your truth. They might experience the great joy of being a part of the kingdom of God. In Jesus name. Amen.