Human beings are entertained by the new. I think we can safely say this:

“NOVELTY IS THE PARENT OF HUMAN

PLEASURE.”

At least, man thinks it is. He wants next year’s car when next year is still half of a year away. And with this fetish for the new, he finds that the new becomes old very quickly. And so the newbies are in a constant search for the latest. In short:

“MEN FIND PLEASURE IN VARIETY, A VARIETY

THAT IS A CONTINUAL NOVELTY.”

That is true even in religion. There are many newbies in religious circles who are always looking for the latest, the newest, and the freshest. They have NEWITIS, and often get picked off by every new wind of doctrine that is blowing. (Ephesians 4:14)

I am reminded of the Athenians who were in their day known as the greatest improvers and expanders of reason. They made it their business to search for, listen to, or tell something new to those who would listen. After all, newness is a great pleasure for a searching mind. So that when they came into contact with the before unheard strangeness of Jesus and the resurrection, it tweaked some Athenian’s desires to hear more about it as we read in Acts 17:32,

“Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer,

but other said, ‘We shall hear you (Paul) again concerning this.’” 

Well then, at least this is a start!

I. MAN’S FUTILE PLEASURE SEARCH

Here are some shocking words from the Wise Man of Scripture. We read in Ecclesiastes 1:13,

“And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been

done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the

sons of men to be afflicted with.”

And then again in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11,

“And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart

from any PLEASURE, for my heart was PLEASED because of all my

labor, and this was the reward for all my labor.”

“Thus I considered all my activities, and all that my hands have done and the

labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after

wind and there was no profit under heaven.”

Disarming candor if I have ever heard it! The one moment he is talking about all the earthly pleasures that Solomon could possibly indulge in. Everything his little ole heart desired. As in I Kings 11:3 where we are told he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He withheld no pleasure from himself. He was a self-pleasuring, self-pleasing man to the max.

Solomon is a microcosm of our pleasure-mad world –  pleasure trips, pleasure boats, pleasure cruises, pleasure me this and pleasure me that. Everything is designed on TV for your viewing pleasure. If someone is not  pleasured by someone else, it is not uncommon to hear the words, “You displease me.” Pleasure has become the modern god, so much so that we now live in a society marked by this:

“PLEASURE WITHOUT CONSCIENCE – ANYTHING FOR PLEASURE.”

What are we looking at here? Nothing more or less than HEDONISM. Solomon was a rank Hedonist. Problem was:

“THE MORE HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED, THE LESS HE WANTED WHAT HE GOT –

THE HEDONIST DILEMMA.”

And then, mind you, the very next moment Solomon calls his entire pleasure trip:

“A GRIEVOUS AFFLICTION, EMPTINESS, AND A CHASING AFTER WIND.” 

If you will:

“STRIVING FOR PLEASURES ON THE HORIZONTAL LEVEL IS A PAIN,

HOLLOWNESS, AND A FOOL’S AMBITION.”

STORY:

Solomon reminds me of the young man who throughout their romantic, candlelight dinner, had been saying to his girlfriend, “You fill my soul, you are my world. I will give you the sun and the stars, and everything you desire in return for your love.” But as soon as the meal was over, the young man said to the waiter, “Separate checks please.”

What a build-up and what a crash! If you will:

“HOW BRIEF THE INTERVAL BETWEEN AN EARTHLY PLEASURE BECOMING A PAIN.”

CONSUMPTION AND INDIGESTION

Or again from another analogy:

“EVERY MORSEL OF FOOD TO A SATISFIED HUNGER QUICKLY BECOMES A NEW AND

OFTEN PAINFUL LABOR TO A TIRED DIGESTION.”

Or again as only an IBS sufferer like myself can fully understand:

“NO SOONER ARE THE PLEASURES OF THE APPETITE EXPERIENCED, BUT THAT THEY

BECOME GAS PAINS AND A HEAVY LOAD.”

If you will:

“HOW BRIEF THE TIME BETWEEN INDULGENCE AND ALKA SELTZER – A PARABLE

OF LIFE  FILLED WITH PLEASANTRIES BUT SO OFTEN  SOON FOLLOWED

BY UNPLEASANTRIES.”

WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS

I return to the world of sports, which is but a microcosm of all of life – AGONY AND ECSTASY. I have found both great pleasure and great pain in sports. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Oh how sports can please a man when he wins, and how they bring deepest displeasure when he loses. Some of my most vivid memories in sports are the most pleasing ones, but never without the haunting remembrances of the terribly displeasing ones as well. But then it is like all of life:

“THERE IS NO SMELLING OF THE ROSES WITHOUT SOMETIMES FEELING THE THORNS.”

EXAMPLE:

William Joseph “Bill” Buckner(born December 14, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball first-baseman. He appeared in MLB from 1969 through 1990. During his career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals. Buckner accumulated over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, won a batting title in 1980, and represented the Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season.

Despite his great successes, Buckner with the Boston Red Sox is best/worst remembered for a fielding error during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets, a play that has since become prominently entrenched in New England sports lore. That is what “Bill” Buckner the home-fans displeaser is known for, and not the many ways in which he pleased the Boston faithful.

God only knows how close the PLEASURE OF FAME and the DISPLEASURE OF INFAMY are to each other. How but a step away the GLORIOUS is from the INGLORIOUS. I wonder if all of the Billy Buckners of life do not at some time in their life come to say with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:11,

“And behold all was painful, vanity, and a striving after wind….”

Oh my:

“YOU TALK ABOUT A STRIVING AFTER WIND – THAT WINDY APPLAUSE THAT SO

SOON BLOWS ITSELF OUT IN THE FACE OF

IMPERFECTION AND ERROR.”

Come on now:

“HOW PLEASURABLE TO BE ENVIED FOR SUCCESS, BUT HOW PAINFUL TO

BE SHOT AT FOR FAILURE.”

And:

“HOW WONDERFUL TO BE PRAISED WHILE STANDING ON THE MOUNTAIN OF

ACHIEVEMENT, AND HOW WOUNDING TO BE CRUMPLED IN THE

DEEP VALLEY OF NON-ACHIEVEMENT.”

In short:

“IF YOUR PLEASURE IS BASED ON PLEASING MEN, JUST KNOW, EVEN AS IT IS

IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE ALL MEN ALL THE TIME, SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

TO NOT SUFFER FOR NOT PLEASING THEM AT ANY TIME.”

A CAUTION:

The last thing that Jesus taught us to pray in what we call the Lord’s prayer is this in Matthew 6:13,

“For Thine is the glory, forever. Amen”

Glory is far too big a reality for man, and shall belong only to God forever. For man to seek glory for himself, is like the kid David wearing Saul’s armament which made David look ridiculous. It just doesn’t fit!  

Why? Remember what follows here! Glory is the pleasure a man seeks from his own perfections, always in relationship to the opinion of others about him and his perfections. Problem! Man in this life has no perfections, only developing abilities. Which means this:

“IT DOESN’T TAKE LONG FOR THE WORLD TO TAKE NOTE OF HIS INEVITABLE

IMPERFECTIONS, WHICH THEN BRINGS HIM INTO GREAT DISPLEASURE.”

The fact is that all honor and praise in this world rightfully belongs only to God and His perfections. And the moment praise and honor might come to me, I give it to God. His is all the glory both now and forever more. Only perfection can wear glory unstained and fully pleasurable.

We read moreover in Revelation 4:11 KJV,

“THOU ARE WORTHY, O LORD, TO RECEIVE GLORY AND HONOR AND POWER: FOR

THOU HAST CREATED ALL THINGS, AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE THEY

ARE AND WERE CREATED.”

And:

“BECAUSE GOD HAS CHOSEN US TO GIVE PLEASURE TO HIM, IT CAN ONLY BE

OUR HIGHEST PLEASURE IN LIFE TO DO SO.”

In short, I have heard more than once, Peyton Manning say on television in advertisements for Buick:

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE NEW VERANO, THEN YOU DON’T KNOW BUICK.”

To him I say:

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW AND SERVE JESUS CHRIST, THEN YOU

DON’T KNOW PLEASURE.”

II. GOD – THE GREATEST PLEASURE

By way of introduction to this, we must briefly think about the human mind. It is not at all like the human senses which are limited to one object at a time. What’s that smell? Look at that! Did you hear that? No, unlike the senses, the mind is so vast and so comprehensive, it takes them all in at once.

If you will:

“TO THE HUMAN MIND, THE WORLD AS IT WAS CREATED WAS AND IS A PLAYGROUND

OF DISCOVERIES AND ATTENDING PLEASURES THAT BECKON TO BE FOUND

AND TO BE ENJOYED.” 

******

But far more are the wondrous pleasures of the creation and the CREATOR HIMSELF. So then, turn to Psalm 139:1-4 and let’s read those verses together,

“O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.”

“Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise

up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar.”

“Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down,

and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.”

“Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold,

O Lord, Thou dost know it all.”

THE PLEASURES OF GOD’S OMNISCIENCE

We drown in the speculations about God’s Omniscience. The all-knowing God who eternally has a total, infallible knowledge and comprehension of all events past, present, and future! Events which to us in themselves in most instances appear confusing and contingent and accidental, but then to find out that there are no confusions or contingencies or accidents with God. And what is more, He knows those things which do not exist as though they already do, including our words and our thoughts.

So the Psalmist goes on to state in Psalm 139:6,

“Such knowledge is TOO WONDERFUL FOR ME, it is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

There it is, for things in the natural can be and truly are WONDERFUL, as well as the pleasures they give us. But only God is TOO WONDERFUL – TOO MUCH – TOO GREAT – TOO MARVELOUS. Every aspect of God raptures our thoughts in wonders, ecstasies, and riddles that when finally known, only open up a myriad of other mysteries and glories and pleasures that will take an eternity to fathom.

In short:

“GOD ALONE CAN AFFORD THE EVER-SEARCHING HUMAN MIND WITH THRILLS AND

PLEASURES THAT ARE TOO HIGH TO REACH, AND TOO DEEP TO GRASP.”

If you will, and I know this is too mundane:

“GOD IS LIKE AN ETERNAL ROLLER COASTER THE HEIGHTS OF WHICH CAN NEVER BE

SCALED, AND THE DEPTHS OF WHICH NEVER BOTTOM OUT.” 

******

THE PLEASURES OF GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE

Or again, what about GOD’S CREATING THE WORLD EX NIHILO – FROM NOTHING. In short, His Omnipotence. Turn with me to a statement found in Romans 4:17 where we read,

“(as it is written, ‘A father of many nations I have made you’) in the sight of Him whom

he believed, even God, Who gives life to the dead, AND CALLS INTO

BEING THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST.”

Again, only God is TOO WONDERFUL in His astonishing and supernatural works. Did you note that phrase:

“WHO CALLS INTO BEING THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST.”

Of course, God is referring to the descendants of Abraham who did not exist, and who were promised to Abraham when he and his wife Sarah were both over the hill and with one foot each in the grave. And yet, God made Abraham the father of more descendants than he would have ever imagined. Why? Because:

“GOD CALLS INTO BEING THAT WHICH DOES  NOT EXIST.”

Notice how the KJV puts it,

“AND CALLETH THOSE THINGS THAT BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE.”

For instance, God did not sit in Heaven fantasizing and say,

“I think I will make light.”

And then sit back and say,

“I wish that really could happen, it would be such fun.”

No! No! No! God said in Genesis 1:3,

“Let there be light.”

And of course there was light, because:

“FOR GOD TO SPEAK IS FOR GOD TO DO, AND FOR GOD TO CALL IS

FOR GOD TO CREATE.”

Or again, God did not say,

“I will make dry land.”

God said in effect,

“Let there be dry land and there was.”

When you think of God, you are not thinking of someone who speaks one thing, but then cannot carry it out. 

Let your mind be thrilled by this. You see:

“WITH MAN THERE IS SO OFTEN A VAST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS

WORDS AND REALITY.”

With man, you may see him living his thoughts and words and wishes on one level, and his actions and conduct and behavior on another level altogether.

With man:

“THERE IS OFTEN THAT GREAT DISTANCE BETWEEN FACT AND FANTASY.”

But not so with God! Rather:

“WITH GOD THERE CAN NEVER BE, AND THERE NEVER IS A CAPABILITY GAP

BETWEEN HIS WORD AND REALITY.”

There is no EXPERIMENT with God, only ACTUAL EXPERIENCE.

And then we read God declaring in Genesis 1:31 after He completed His creation of the universe in six days,

“AND GOD SAW ALL THAT HE HAD MADE, AND BEHOLD, IT WAS VERY GOOD.”

If you will,

“BEHOLD, I LIKE WHAT I SEE, AND I AM VERY PLEASED WITH IT ALL,

IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE.”

Hear me, and God mind you created for us eyes that are able to see all the glories that moment by moment stream into our eyeballs with visions of HIS grandeur and majesty that are inexpressible. We little peons should be saying when we see God’s creation:

“THIS NOT ONLY IS VERY PLEASING TO ME, YOU GOD PLEASURE

ME OUT OF MY MIND.”       

Or as the Psalmist says in Psalm 8:1,3,4,8–

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth.”

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers the moon

and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; “What is man, that Thou

dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care

for him?”

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth?”

******

THE PLEASURES OF GOD’S OMNIPRESENCE

And finally, what about His Omnipresence? It confounds and amazes the wildest speculations. That this singular and only God has His substance and presence spread throughout all space, and yet without any loss or reduction of His being anywhere at anytime. Totally everywhere always!

The Psalmist was so struck by this that he wrote in Psalm 139:9-10,

“If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of

the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand

will take  hold of me.”

Indeed:

“THE VERY OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD WHICH GIVES THE UNBELIEVER SUCH

DISPLEASURE, GIVES THE BELIEVER SUCH UNENDING PLEASURE.”

Just to know that no matter where we are, or what we are going through, both we and our dear daughter Jackie Dawn in her cancer journey were and are being held in the loving and powerful arms of our God. We could and can feel Him taking hold of her and us. There is no wilderness or desert like cancer and coma, but even there as we read in Psalm 36:8 KJV,

“…and Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of Thy pleasures.”

CONCLUSION:

The pleasures of OMNISCIENCE – OMNIPOTENCE – OMNIPRESENCE can only be found in God. He knows all, He has the power to handle it all, and He is with us always. Top that if you can!

Those three O’s are what we know as His INCOMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES. They belong to God alone and cannot be imparted to anyone else. Not one of us can approach being all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. They are what make GOD – GOD.

There are those today in modern charismania who falsely teach that we know all the answers to prayer, and that we must tell God the solutions and not the problems. There are those who falsely teach in modern charismania that we can create from nothing with words of faith-power just as God did. There are those in modern charismania who falsely teach that we can be in two if not in more places all at once. If you will, they falsely teach that the  INCOMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES of God can be communicated to and shared by believers. That makes us equal to God as we share in the BIG O’S.

I assure you that we never rightly have felt so stupid and ignorant, so impotent and powerless, so confined in space and time as in the cancer-coma hospital room of our daughter. Our total trust was and is in the Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent God of our salvation, healing, and deliverance.

“O GOD OF THE BIG O’S, ALL OUR FOUNTAINS OF HOPE, PEACE, AND JOY ARE IN

THEE, AND FROM THE RIVERS OF THY PLEASURES WE DRINK

IN A DRY AND THIRSTY LAND.” AMEN!