Pleasures Ps 16:11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The Bible says in Ps 16:11, “in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more.” This Psalm, as you can tell from the context in Ps 16:10, is a reference to Jesus, who is now at the right hand of God. Just imagine how Jesus is enjoying pleasures at the right hand of God right now. If he weren’t experiencing the fullness of joy and pleasures next to the throne of God, we would have to ask ourselves why we want to get up to heaven so badly.
If you think about it, the pleasures in heaven with God must be so great that they were worth whatever Jesus had to suffer in his ministry, his death and his time in hell before he could get back there. Paul knew this perfectly and was willing to suffer with him on earth that he might enjoy glory with him in heaven, Rom 8:17-18.
So, here’s the purpose of preaching this message today. More and more we find people selling out for worldly pleasures and forsaking the pleasures that are at the right hand of God. Those worldly pleasures are inhibiting their ability to enjoy the pleasure of God’s will. The truth is that worldly pleasures are offered by the world and the devil to keep you from experiencing the joy of the Lord. They know that if you ever find the absolute pleasure that comes from your fellowship with God today, you will shun worldly pleasures so that you can fully enjoy his pleasure.
Consider how worldly pleasures obstruct the pleasures of God:
They keep you from the pleasure of getting saved – 2 Thes 2:12 – people who are lost because they don’t want to repent have no idea what they are missing – they are deceived by sin and can’t understand the pleasure of salvation – you know what you ought to do – you ought to get saved and then, and only then, you will know why we keep preaching to the lost to get saved!!!
They keep you from the pleasure of liberty from sin – Heb 11:25-26, Jn 8:32-36, Rom 1:28-32 – Christians are constantly trying to see how much sin they can keep in their lives and still survive as Christians – how stupid – forsake the pleasures of sin – they only last for a season – the pleasure of God last forever and you will never know the pleasures of liberty from sin until you are free.
They keep you from the pleasure of God’s love – 2 Tim 3:4 – you will never know the pleasure of his love as long as you keep loving every other pleasure in life – just listen to yourself speak – you talk of your love for sports, food, favorite recreations, music, and so forth – with your love so spread out you have neglected the love of God – you are supposed to love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength – when you do you will find pleasure that exceeds all loves you have had before combined!!
They keep you from the pleasure of God’s will – Phil 2:12-13 – people struggle so with getting into God’s will as if their will for their lives was so much better – forsake those worldly pleasures that are keeping you from God’s will and then get in God’s will – don’t be scared of the cross – you will experience a pleasure in his will and righteousness that exceeds the pleasures of this world to such a degree that it makes those pleasures pale by comparison.
They keep you from the pleasure of being fruitful – Lk 8:14 – until you have led a few souls to Christ, you will never understand the pure joy that comes from seeing a soul converted to Christ – you share the joy that is found in the presence of the angel’s over one sinner that repenteth.
They keep you from the pleasure of God’s grace – 2 Cor 12:10 – his grace will cause you to find pleasure in things that the rest of the world finds detestable – the pleasure comes not from the affliction but from the sufficiency of God’s grace.
They keep you from the pleasure at God’s right hand – 2 Pet 2:12-14 – you’ll wind up in hell rather than at God’s right hand – and you can be sure that there are no pleasures in hell [Lk 16:19-31].