suffering, futility, sin and hope — John Piper

Sermon text: Romans 8:18–25

"The meaning of all the misery in the world is that sin is horrific. All natural evil is a statement about the horror of moral evil. If you see a suffering in the world that is unspeakably horrible, let it make you shudder at how unspeakably horrible sin is against an infinitely holy God. The meaning of futility and the meaning of corruption and the meaning of our groaning is that sin – falling short of the glory of God – is ghastly, hideous, repulsive beyond imagination.

Unless you have some sense of the infinite holiness of God and the unspeakable outrage of sin against this God, you will inevitably see the futility and suffering of the universe as an overreaction. But in fact the point of our miseries, our futility, our corruption, our groaning is to teach us the horror of sin. And the preciousness of redemption and hope."

— John Piper, Subjected to Futility in Hope, Part 1

"O Lord, command what you will and give what you command" — St. Augustine

"O Lord, command what you will and give what you command" St. Augustine

“The Bible teaches two things: Many of the blessings of God are conditional upon our response of faith, and God Himself ultimately enables that response of faith and obedience.

Therefore, we pray to God for the enablement of what He calls us to do and what He calls others to do. In fact this is exactly why prayer is necessary. Only God can do what needs to be done. We are so sinful and so rebellious and so hard and resistant that if we are left to ourselves, we will carry on exactly as the people did in 2 Chronicles 30:10, with 'scorn and mockery.'…

It is knowing that we must work out our salvation in such efforts, and that this effort is a gift of God's grace, that keeps us constant in our praying for enabling grace, & vigorous in our working (Philippians 2:12-13). How else could we say with the apostle Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me”? (1 Corinthians 15:10). I worked hard, but it was not I. That is what 2 Chronicles (30:6-9 & 30:10-12) and Augustine want us to learn.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that You would fill us with hope and joy and expectation that You have the power to put Your hand on us, and grant us the will to do what You command. You have made it plain: We are responsible to do what You tell us to do. But we know that in ourselves we do not have the will to do it. And so we cry with Augustine, 'Lord, command what You will, and give what You command.' Leave us not to ourselves. Have mercy. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

— John Piper, Life as a vapor

Do not neglect so great a salvation — John Piper

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Hebrews 2:3



“It’s not as if he is saying, Don’t neglect your arthritis. Or: Don’t neglect your dandelions. Or: Don’t neglect your spinach. He is saying don’t neglect your salvation. Your great salvation. So it’s as if he said, Don’t neglect your steak dinners. Don’t neglect your cancer-healing therapy. Don’t neglect your sunrises and sunsets. And don’t neglect your Butterfinger Blizzards or your new baby’s smile, or your Rocky Mountains, or your Boundary Waters’ breezes under the full night sky, or your safe warm bed. It’s like that.

Only what is it really — this great salvation? What he’s really saying is: Don’t neglect being loved by God. Don’t neglect being forgiven and accepted and protected and strengthened and guided by Almighty God. Don’t neglect the sacrifice of Christ’s life on the cross. Don’t neglect the free gift of righteousness imputed by faith. Don’t neglect the removal of God’s wrath and the reconciled smile of God. Don’t neglect the indwelling Holy Spirit and the fellowship and friendship of the living Christ. Don’t neglect the radiance of God’s glory in the face of Jesus. Don’t neglect the free access to the throne of grace. Don’t neglect the inexhaustible treasure of God’s promises. This is a great salvation. Neglecting it is very evil. Don’t neglect so great a salvation.

Because if you do, you will perish without escape. So being a Christian is a very serious business — not a sour business, but a serious business. We are simply blood-earnest about being happy in our great salvation. We will not be deflected by this world into the fleeting and suicidal pleasures of sin. We will not neglect our eternal joy in God — which is what salvation is. We will gouge out our eyes rather than be lured away from eternal life.” 


— John Piper, Spoken, Confirmed, Witnessed: A Great Salvation



http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/spoken-confirmed-witnessed-a-great-salvation

How God and Jesus mainly manifest or show their love to us — John Piper

“God does not mainly love us in this life by sparing us suffering and death. He mainly loves us by showing us and giving us himself and his glory. God loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that he is for us in Jesus. Jesus loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that God is for us in him. That’s mainly the way He loves us. He loves us others ways, but mainly everything is moving towards that. You’re loved by Jesus when Jesus gives you Jesus and all that God is for you in Jesus.
Don’t measure the love of God for you by how much health and wealth and comfort he brings into your life. If that were the measure of God’s love, then he hated the apostle Paul. Measure God’s love for you by how much of himself he shows you. How much of himself he gives you to know and enjoy…

In John 14:21, Jesus says, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” What a wonderful statement! “I will love you, and manifest myself to you.” That’s what love is… To be loved for the Christian is to get more of Him. Go ahead Jesus, manifest Yourself to me and I will feel loved!”

— John Piper, Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/jesus-is-the-resurrection-and-the-life

Illness, death, love and the glory of God – John Piper

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” – John 11:5,6

“Because He loved them He did not go to them. John intends and Jesus intends for everyone seeing this to ask “Now, how is that love to let him die?”…And the answer is very clear in this text, but not common or acceptable without the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. The key to this: love lets him die, because his death will help them see the glory of God. That’s why verse four is here. This is not about death, this about the glory of God and the glory of the Son through Him, that’s what this is about and since I love them I’m going to put it on maximum display at great cost to Lazarus and his sisters. A cost that most people do not want and are not willing to pay… This is one of the reasons Christianity is hard to believe in for many people, because it defines love in a way that is so different. So what is love?… Love means giving us what we need most. What do we need most? And what we need most is not healing, but a full and endless experience of the glory of God. Most of them don’t know that. That’s why we preach, that’s why we share the gospel…A revelation to your soul of the glory of God is what this text says love is, above life… Love means giving us what will bring us the fullest and longest joy. And what is that? What will give you full and eternal joy? The answer of this text is clear: a revelation to your soul of the glory of God—seeing and admiring and marveling at and savoring the glory God in Jesus Christ.
Here is another way to say it: love is doing whatever you have to do to help people see and treasure the glory of God as their supreme joy—to help people see and be satisfied with the glory of God…”

– John Piper, This Illness Is for the Glory of God

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/this-illness-is-for-the-glory-of-god

What is evil? - John Piper

"What is evil? What is ultimate evil according to Jeremiah 2:13?

Be appalled, O heavens at this; be shocked, be utterly [dismayed]...for my people have committed two [great] evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

That's evil. So what is evil? Evil is to be presented by the Living God with a fountain of water that will carry you into eternity and satisfy your heart forever and ever—never ending—and then to turn your nose at it! Then you turn around and take a little shovel and start digging in dry dirt, putting your mouth to it, trying to get something satisfying out of it. That's evil!

This means that to do good — the opposite of evil—is to be a hedonist. Go to the Fountain! The opposite of coming to the fountain is evil. The essence of coming to the fountain is drinking and drinking until it satisfies your soul, and you say, "Ah!" And then you begin to commend it in Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam at cost to your life.”

John Piper, Let Your Passion Be Single

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1999/1814_Let_Your_Passion_Be_Single/