My father prayed for me every day of my life while he lived

My father prayed for me every day of my life while he lived. Heavenly Father, please answer those prayers until I’m home.
– John Piper

MORAL SUPERIORITY – Our Attempt at Moral Justification

*** VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING // MORAL SUPERIORITY ***

John 8:41 You are doing the works your father did.? They said to him, ?We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father?even God.?

Our Attempt at Moral Justification

And most of you are not Jews. So you may say, I don?t do this. I don?t claim any ethnic or religious superiority. I?m just a regular guy that keeps my nose clean, probably better than most. One closing word for you: Verse 41: ?They said to him, ?We were not born of sexual immorality. Where did that come from? Nobody said they were. They probably weren?t. Well, why bring it up? They brought it up because the scuttlebutt about Jesus is that he was born of sexual immorality. His mother was pregnant before she was married. So what does that get the people?

It gets them moral superiority. ?Look Jesus, we?re not bastards. If anybody is enslaved here, it?s you, to your sordid past.? Nobody escapes from this text. Everybody is here in these Jewish self-justifiers. We don?t need you, Jesus. We have our ethnicity. We don?t need you. We have our religion. We don?t need you. We have our moral superiority.

via The Truth Will Set You Free written by John Piper.

Command of God – The Obedience of Faith

Command of God: The Obedience of Faith

December 3, 2006
By John Piper

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith?to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
– Romans 16:25-27

In this message, I want to focus on one phrase and how it functions in this doxology, and then make it the occasion of reviewing something enormously important in the book of Romans. The phrase is the obedience of faith from the end of verse 26: ?. . . to bring about the obedience of faith.? If the glory of the only wise God through Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal of all things in these verses (according to verse 27), then ?the obedience of faith? is next to the ultimate goal of all things in these verses. And that?s because when faith in Jesus Christ produces obedience to Jesus Christ, those obedient lives make God look glorious. That?s what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, ?Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.?

The Gospel Strengthens Our Faith

Look carefully with me how ?the obedience of faith? (at the end of verse 26) fits in these verses. Paul begins his doxology by saying that one of the reasons glory belongs to God is that he is able to strengthen us. Verse 25: ?Now to him who is able to strengthen you . . . be glory forevermore.? Between that opening declaration that God can strengthen your faith and the closing acclamation that God is glorious, Paul unpacks the gospel as the very thing that God uses to strengthen our faith.

Follow the phrases he uses to unpack the gospel and you will see how he begins by saying the gospel strengthens our faith and ends by saying the gospel produces the obedience that comes from faith.

Verse 25 says he strengthens us ?according to my gospel.? So he simply strikes the note that this message is ?good news.? That is what gospel means. We are made strong by good news. Then he calls the gospel the preaching of Jesus Christ. That means that the heart of the gospel is good news about who Jesus Christ is and what he did when he came and died and rose again. He doesn?t tell us what that is because that is what the first eight chapters were about.

The Gospel Has Roots in Eternity

Then (still in verse 25) he tells us that this faith-strengthening gospel is ?the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long [eternal] ages.? This reminds us that the gospel has roots in eternity. It is not something God came up with when creation when badly and sin entered the world (see 2 Timothy 1:9). That?s why Paul says in the middle of verse 26 that the gospel was by the ?command of the eternal God.? The eternal (ai?viou) God commanding the revelation of the mystery corresponds to the mystery being hidden for eternal (ai?niois) ages. All of that to give us a greater sense of strength and firmness about this gospel: Its roots go back into eternity in the mind of God.

The Gospel Has Roots in History

Next, Paul says in verse 26 that this mystery is disclosed and made known ?through the prophetic writings.? In other words, the very writings of the Old Testament that were obscure about the coming of a global gospel are now used by Paul and the other apostles to reveal and explain the gospel. This reminds us that the good news is rooted not just in eternity, but in history. God had been working with his people Israel preparing them and us for the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus didn?t just drop out of the sky with no preparation. Two thousand years of anticipation and prefiguration prepared the way.

The Gospel Is the Means to Faith; Faith Produces Obedience

And now, finally, in verse 26, we see what it was all designed to produce: the obedience of faith among all the nations. Notice both of those phrases: ?. . . has been made known to all the nations . . . to bring about the obedience of faith.? If there is any people group on planet earth where faith in Jesus Christ is not producing conformity to Jesus Christ God?s aim for the gospel is not complete.

Now notice how the first thing Paul says in verse 25 and the last thing he says in verse 26 relate. First, God makes us strong through the gospel?that is, strong in faith (see 1:11-12). That is what the gospel does. Then, at the end of verse 26, the gospel is aiming at the obedience of faith. So the gospel strengthens us in faith so that we will live obedient lives. This is called ?the obedience of faith.? The gospel is the means to obedience because it is the means to faith and obedience comes from faith.

And with this, Paul closes his letter with the very same aim that he began with in Romans 1:5, ?We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.? Notice three parallels between the beginning and the ending. 1) His aim is the obedience of faith. 2) This is for all the nations, not just Israel. 3) In Romans 1:5, this is all ?for the sake of his [Jesus?] name,? and in Romans 16:27, Paul breaks into the concluding doxology: ?to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.? For the sake of Jesus? name and for the glory of God through Jesus is the same thing. That is the ultimate goal of the gospel: The gospel awakens and strengthens faith which leads to conformity to Christ which displays the glory of God.

So in the beginning and the ending of this letter Paul says that the gospel and his apostleship (and, by implication, our ministry and your life!) has this great aim: that Jesus Christ would be seen as glorious?magnificent?among all the peoples of the world by means of the obedience of Christians which flows from their faith in him.

And if you wonder what kind of obedience he has in mind, he left us in no doubt. Just recall some of Romans 12:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is what the obedience of faith looks like. That is the beauty that the nations of the world need to see?for the sake of the name.

The Obedience of Faith and Justification

Now I said at the beginning that I want to focus on this one phrase and make it the occasion of reviewing something enormously important in the book of Romans. What I want to review is how the obedience of faith relates to justification. There are few things more important for your life than this. I just read this in Richard Gaffin?s new book, By Faith, Not by Sight (Waynesboro, Georgia: Paternoster Press, 2006), page 105: ?Disaster will surely result from denying or obscuring faith as the alone instrument of justification, both present and future.? I think that is right. Please listen and strive to understand and build your life on this truth.

Justified by Faith in Christ (Romans 5:1)

Let?s turn to Romans 5. Begin with verse 1: ?Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.? ?Justified by faith? is one of the greatest realities that the book of Romans teaches. We all stand before God as in a court room, and he either justifies us or condemns us. If he justifies us, it means that he has found in our favor and declared us to be just. We are found not guilty. Which is a great surprise. The indictment against all of us is that we are unrighteous. ?None is righteous, no not one? (Romans 3:10). The indictment is true. The omniscient judge considers all factors and declares that we are not guilty as charged, but are in fact righteous, though everybody in the courtroom knows that in our behavior and our attitudes we are sinners.

How can this be? How can God justify the ungodly and be a just judge? One way to describe Paul?s answer is to put it in three steps.

· First, we trust in Jesus alone as the ground and basis of our justification, not in anything we are or do or are helped to do by God. This is what Romans 5:1 means when it says, ?We have been justified by faith.?

· Second, through this faith in Jesus alone as the ground and basis of our justification, we are united to Christ so that we are in him. We have a union with him. That?s why Romans 8:1 corresponds to Romans 5:1, ?There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.? The key phrase there is in Christ Jesus. In Christ there is no condemnation. That is, in Christ we are justified. Through faith we are united to Christ, and united to Christ we are justified.

· Third, ?in Christ? the righteousness of Christ, or the obedience of Christ, or the righteousness of God in Christ, is imputed to us. It is counted as ours (see Romans 4:6 and 11).

In other words, when God declares that we are righteous, there is a real basis for it in the righteousness of Christ. It?s not a charade. It?s one thing to be forgiven when you are unrighteous. It is glorious and costly. It cost God the life of his Son. But it is another thing?an even more amazing thing?for God to say that the unrighteous are righteous. If forgiving the unrighteous is astonishing, calling the unrighteous righteous is outrageous?and glorious!

The Free gift of Christ?s Righteousness (Romans 5:17)

This is why Paul moves at the end of Romans 5 to show the basis for our being counted righteous. Look at verse 17, ?If, because of one man?s trespass [Adam?s], death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.? In other words, God?s grace reigns through the free gift of righteousness to secure for us eternal life.

Many Appointed Righteous in Christ (Romans 5:19)

How shall we think about this ?free gift of righteousness Consider verse 19: ?For as by the one man’s disobedience [Adam?s] the many were made [or better: appointed] sinners, so by the one man’s obedience [Christ?s] the many will be made [appointed] righteous.? In other words, the ?free gift of righteousness? (v. 17) that we receive by grace is ?the one man?s obedience? by which we are counted righteous. This is the ground and basis for our justification: Christ and his obedience.

Grace Reigning Through Christ?s Righteousness (Romans 5:21)

Now we are getting close to the way our own obediencethe obedience of faithrelates to justification. Look at verse 21 (the last verse of chapter five) and its connection to chapter six. Verse 21: ?. . . so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness [linking back to v. 17] leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.? Now what does through righteousness mean? Is it Christ?s righteousness, Christ?s obedience, the gift of his righteousness (v. 17) imputed to us? Or is it our behavior?a righteousness that God?s grace is working in us, the obedience of faith?

The answer comes by asking: Which of these makes sense of the question raised in Romans 6:1 (the next verse)? Paul thinks that verse 21 might lead someone to ask this question: ?What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound If the power of grace in verse 21 meant that God were working a new righteous behavior in us, and that is why it leads to eternal life, then nobody would ask this question. You don?t say, ?Then shall we continue in sin if someone has just said, ?Grace is powerfully delivering us from sin.?

No, you say, ?Then shall we continue in sin when someone has just said, ?Grace imputes the gift of Christ?s righteousness to us and thus secures for us eternal life.? That radical doctrine unleashes the thought: ?Well then, let?s sin that grace may abound. If Christ is my righteousness, then it doesn?t matter what I do.?

So you see this questioner got something profoundly right and something profoundly wrong. He is right: Grace reigns through righteousness means grace counts us righteous because of Christ?s righteousness. But that our obedience doesn?t matter he gets entirely wrong. That?s why Paul has to write chapters 6-8.

The Obedience of Faith Is the Fruit of Justification

How then does our own obediencethe obedience of faithrelate to justification? The answer is: Our obedience is not the ground or the basis of our justification. Nor is it any part of the instrument or means by which we are united to Christ who alone is the ground and the basis of our justification. Faith alone unites us to Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our justification. Our obedience is the fruit of that faith. The faith that justifies is the kind of faith that, by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13), changes us. If your faith in Christ leaves you unchanged, you don?t have saving faith. Obedience?not perfection, but a new direction of thought and affections and behavior?is the fruit that shows that the faith is alive. James put it this way, ?So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead? (James 2:17). Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always accompanied by ?newness of life? (Romans 6:4).

Live in the Joy and Assurance of the Gospel

When Paul begins and ends his letter with the goal of ?the obedience of faith,? he means for us to live in the joy and the assurance of the first five chapters of Romans, where he shows that we are ?justified by faith apart from works of the law? (Romans 3:28). And then out of that faith and peace and assurance and boldness, a new mind and a new man emerge and the fruit of obedience grows. And the reality of justifying faith is made manifest.

I pray that you will trust in Christ alone as the ground and basis of your justification before God, present and future, and that this faith prove its life and truth by producing a passion for obedience to God?the obedience of faith.

(See further relevant texts: Romans 14:23; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Hebrews 11:4, 7, 8, 17, 24.)

The Son of Man Must Suffer Many Things

The Son of Man Must Suffer Many Things
March 28, 2010 | by: John Piper

Mark 8:31-38

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

This is an unusual sermon because its two halves are going to be very different, though not unrelated. In the first half, I will try to open this text from Mark 8 in such a way that the greatness of our self-sacrificing king, Jesus, will be clear for the sake of your admiration and worship, and so that his call on your life to follow him will be, Lord willing, compelling. That’s the first half. In the second half, I am going to explain to you why I have asked the elders for an eight-month leave of absence starting May 1. So you can see how seemingly disconnected they are. But perhaps they will prove to be more connected than you think. Now that I have pricked your curiosity, may the Lord give you grace to listen to this first part for your own soul, and not just for mine.
3 Times in Mark’s Gospel

Three times in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells his disciples in detail that he is going to Jerusalem to be killed and to rise from the dead. I want you to feel the force of this. So let’s read all three.

First, Mark 8:31: “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

Second, Mark 9:31: “He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, -The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.’”

Third, Mark 10:33-34: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
The Great Central Fact of History

One thing is clear. This is important to Mark and to Jesus. At least four things stand out in each foretelling of Jesus’ suffering. One is that he is going to die. Second, this death is intentional. He intends it. He means for it to happen. He is not running from it, but walking into it. Third, it will not be suicide; it will be murder. And the murderers are mentioned in each text. Fourth, he will rise from the dead. Not at some uncertain time in the future like us, but precisely in three days. His death is appointed and his resurrection is appointed. They will happen on schedule.

What is not mentioned in each of those texts is why. Mark gives us the clearest statement of that after the three predictions. In Mark 10:45, Jesus says, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This is the great central fact of history and of our lives. Jesus, the Son of Man, the exalted human, divine God-man, came- was sent by God the Father- to give his life as a ransom for many.
God Can Ransom What Man Can’t

Our sin had, as it were, kidnapped us and put us in a prison of our own making, far from God, in the chains of iniquity, under God’s holy wrath, and powerless to free ourselves. One of the images the Bible uses for our liberation is ransom. A ransom had to be paid.

But listen to Psalm 49:7-8, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.” In other words, no mere man can ransom another man’s soul. And you can’t ransom your own. Then listen to verse 15 of that psalm: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol.” Man can’t. God will.
God’s Loving Plan

That’s what is happening as Jesus plots his death on the way to Jerusalem. The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many. And this is all God’s idea. It’s not Jesus against God. It’s God through Jesus. What God wants us to see in this plan is his love for us. Watch how Mark brings that out in Mark 8:32-33.

And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

“Peter, if you resist my plan to die, you resist God. You side with Satan against God. Satan doesn’t want me dead, because he wants you in hell. Satan wants me to bow down and worship him and jump off temples for fame and turn stones into bread for self-preservation. The last thing he wants is for a ransom to be paid for his captives. But that’s what God wants, Peter, because, he loves you. My coming to die as your ransom is the love of God.”
Are You Among the “Many” ?

Now here is the key question of application to you: Are you among the “many” ? Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man came . . . to give his life as a ransom for many.” Are you ransomed? Have you been set free from the bondage of sin and guilt and condemnation and wrath? That’s what the rest of verses 34-38 are about. Who are the ransomed? Are you one of them? You can be.

Verse 34: “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, -If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” The ransomed follow Jesus, even though it means self-denial and cross-bearing. If you trust and treasure Jesus enough to follow him even when it is costly, you are ransomed.
Four Fors

Now notice something striking. The next four verses (verse 35-38) all begin with the word “for” – at least in the ESV, and that is accurate. And “for” usually means “because.” So in each of these four statements, Jesus is giving reason or a basis or a foundation for what goes before. Verses 35-38:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Reading in Reverse

One way shed light on a sequence of logical steps like this is to read it in reverse order and change the “fors” to “therefores.” For example, if I say,

I am eating my lunch voraciously.
For I was really hungry.
For I skipped breakfast this morning.
For I got up late and had to hurry to work.

You can say this same sequence in reverse order by using “therefores,” and it has the same meaning.

I got up late this morning and had to hurry to work.
Therefore, I skipped breakfast.
Therefore, I was really hungry by lunch time.
Therefore I am eating my lunch voraciously.

So let’s read the sequence in Mark 8:34-38 in reverse order this way.
Verse 38

Verse 38: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Let’s get the meaning clear before we make the connection. What’s the opposite of being ashamed of somebody? Being proud of them. Admiring them. Not being embarrassed to be seen with them. Loving to be identified with them.

So Jesus is saying, “If you are embarrassed by me and the price I paid for you (and he’s not referring to lapses of courage when you don’t share your faith, but a settled state of your heart toward him)- if you’re not proud of me and you don’t cherish me and what I did for you- if you want to put yourself with the goats that value their reputation in the goat herd more than they value me, then that’s the way I will view you when I come. I will be ashamed of you, and you will perish with the people who consider me an embarrassment.”
Verses 35-37

Therefore, verse 37, “What can a man give in return for his soul?” That’s a statement concealed in a question. What’s the statement? Therefore, there’s no nothing you can give in return for your soul. If you’re not proud of the ransom I paid for your soul, then there is no ransom for your soul.

Therefore, verse 36, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” That’s another question that’s making a statement, namely, If you gain the whole world by valuing it above me- by being more proud of it than me- it won’t be able to save you in the end. There is nothing you can pay for your soul when you have scorned my ransom (verse 37). Therefore (verse 36), gaining the whole world will be of no use to you. None.

Therefore, verse 35, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” In other words, since being ashamed of the ransom I paid for you cuts you off from me (verse 38), so that there is no ransom that can be paid for your soul (verse 37), not even if you gained the whole world (verse 36), therefore, you will have your life forever if you treasure me enough to lose it for my sake.
Verse 34

One last step. Therefore, verse 34, “If you would come after me, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.” In other words, treasure me more than your own comfort and your own safety. The opposite of self-denial is the idol of self-gratification, and the opposite of cross-bearing is the idol of self-preservation. Rather, be like Paul in Philippians 3:8: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

* * * * *

Now how does all this relate an eight-month leave of absence starting in May?

As I have stood back in recent months and looked at my own soul- my own sanctification, my own measures self-denial or self-serving- and my marriage and family and ministry patterns, I have felt an increasing need for a serious assessment- a kind of reality check in the light of God’s word. Am I living in the mindset and the pattern of life that Jesus calls for here in Mark 8:31-38, especially in relation to those I love most?

On the one hand, I love my Lord, Jesus; I love my wife and my five children and their families. These are the supreme treasures of my life- my Lord, my wife, my children. And I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. Indeed, I hope that the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem. That’s my dream. And that’s my plan, if God wills.

But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, even though they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with No?«l and others who are dear to me. No?«l and I are rock solid in our commitment to each other, and there is no whiff of unfaithfulness on either side. But, as I told the elders, “rock solid” is not always an emotionally satisfying metaphor, especially to a woman. A rock is not the best image of a woman’s tender companion.

In other words, the precious garden of my home needs tending. I want to say to No?«l that she is precious to me. And I believe that at this point in our 41-year pilgrimage together the best way to say it is by stepping back for a season from virtually all public commitments.

What I have asked for is something very different from a sabbatical or a writing leave. In 30 years, I have never let go- not on writing leaves or on sabbatical or on vacations- of the passion for public productivity- writing and preaching. In this leave, I intend to let go of all of it. No book-writing. No sermon preparation. No preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports. No papers. And no speaking engagements- with a very few exceptions that you can read about online on Sunday afternoon.

You could view this as a kind of fasting from public ministry. One of the goals in this kind of fasting is to discern levels of addiction. Or, as Paul Tripp or Tim Keller might say, levels of idolatry. The reality check is: What will happen in my soul and in my marriage when, to use the phrase of one precious brother on staff, there will be no “prideful sipping from the poisonous cup of international fame and notoriety” ?

You may think: My, a leave of absence is a pretty drastic step in the war against pride and idolatry. That’s true. It is. But I’m not the only one affected. And I hope that you will trust me and the elders that it will be good for my soul, good for my marriage and family, and good for you and for the next five or six years of ministry together, if the Lord wills.

For your encouragement about the spirit of our church, No?«l and I are known inside-out by a few friends at Bethlehem- most closely by our long-time colleagues and friends David and Karin Livingston, and then by a cluster of trusted women with No?«l and men with me. We are accountable, known, counseled, and prayed for. Oh how deeply thankful I am for the grace-filled culture of transparency and trust among the leadership at Bethlehem.

“All Truth Is God’s Truth,” Admits the Devil

“All Truth Is God’s Truth,” Admits the Devil
Meditations on an Academic Slogan
March 13, 2009
By John Piper

Sometimes the slogan “All truth is God’s truth” is used to justify dealing in any sphere of knowledge as an act of worship or stewardship. The impression is given that just knowing God’s truth and recognizing it as such is a good thing, even a worthy end. But the problem with this is that the devil does it.

“If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” (1Corinthians 8:2-3). Which I take to mean that until we know in such a way that we love God more because of it, we do not yet know as we ought to know.

Alongside “All truth is God’s truth,” we need to say, “All truth exists to display more of God and awaken more love for God.” This means that knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God. That is, we exist to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and merely knowing a truth to be God’s truth does not glorify him any more than the devil does.

All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.

I give thanks that unbelievers see God’s truths in the natural world in a limited way. They know many scientific and cultural facts. But they do not feel desire for God or delight in God because of them. So these facts are misused. This is not a virtue.

I also give thanks that that believers may learn many of God’s truths from unbelievers and see them rightly and thus desire God more and delight in God more because of those truths, so that unbelievers become, unwittingly, the means of our worship.

Thus an unbeliever’s knowing God’s truth is not ultimately a virtue- that is, not a knowing that accords with God’s purpose for knowing- nevertheless that knowing may be a useful knowing for the sake of what God makes of it for his self-revealing and self-exalting purposes in the world, contrary to all the expectations of the unbeliever whose knowing God uses.

It is fitting, therefore, for God’s sake- for love’s sake- that believers learn what we can from unbelievers who see many things that we may miss, but do not see the one thing needful.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

What Is the Recession For? Some of God’s Purposes

What Is the Recession For?
Some of God’s Purposes
February 1, 2009
By John Piper

2 Corinthians 2:1-11
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

This is a message about God’s purposes in the recession. By recession I don’t have any sophisticated definition in mind. I just mean various financial setbacks like business slowdown, decreasing profits, massive layoffs and joblessness, the bursting of the housing bubble, thousands of foreclosures, personal and business bankruptcies, bank failures, investment company collapses, the loss of retirement funds, and the social ills and unrest that go with the downturn.

God is sovereign over these things, he foresees them all, he causes or permits them all, and when he causes or permits something, he does so with purpose and design.

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverb 16:33)
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverb 19:21)
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.” (Psalms 33:10)
[The Lord] declares the end from the beginning . . . saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (Isaiah 46:10)
So none of the recessionary events has surprised the Lord. His purposes and designs are being fulfilled according to plan. And what I want to do is draw your attention to some of those purposes.

Why This Message?
Three things have inclined me to preach a message on God’s purposes in the recession at on this particular weekend.

1. Writing Leave Beginning
One is that I will be away for the next eight Sundays on a writing leave. That fact inclined me not to start the third chapter of John’s Gospel (where we are in our series), only to pick it up in eight weeks, but to start chapter three when I return. It also inclined me to want to say something to you about being faithful to the church in my absence. The recession has a great deal to do with what it means to be the church- and to be faithful to each other in the church. More on that in a moment.

2. Economic Turmoil
The second thing that inclines me to preach on this just now is that few things have had a more pervasive effect on our lives nationally and globally in recent years than the financial turmoil around the world. We need to hear at least some of God’s perspective on this.

And that is all we ever have- some of his perspective. He is God and we are not. He has told of some of what he is doing in this recession. But most of what he is doing- billions and billions of God-designed effects- he does not tell us. But what he does tell us is crucial for living amid the providence of what he does not tell us.

3. “Finishing the Million”
Third, I want to put the present financial sprint to finish the North Campus- the sprint we are calling Finish the Million by March- in a larger biblical and contemporary context, to guard us from a kind of ecclesiastical myopia.

So those are the reasons for this message.

(Some of) God’s Purposes in This Recession
Now what are some of God’s purposes in this recession? I will mention five:
1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world- the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church- precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

1. To Expose Sin and Bring Repentance
The book of Job in the Old Testament begins, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). But in the last chapter of the book, Job says, “I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). He was “blameless,” but later he repented. What does that mean?

It means that the most godly people in the world are like a clear glass of water with a sediment of sin hidden at the bottom of the glass. And when the glass is struck- with Job’s suffering, or with our recession- the sediment of sin is stirred up and exposed, and the water becomes cloudy. That’s one of the things that recessions are for.

And it works both individually and socially.
Individually Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”

God brought his own faithful servant Paul to the brink of death so that he might learn more deeply to rely not on himself but on God. If that happened to Paul, we may be sure that God is doing that for us as well in this recession. That we may rely on him and not ourselves.

At the bottom of every Christian heart- no matter how advanced in faith and godliness- there is the sediment of self-reliance. Then God shakes our lives, sometimes to the foundations, to show us our self-reliance and clean it out with a new, deeper reliance on him.

Socially, the recession reveals a host of sins that hurt people. The recent Ponzi schemes are one of the clearest examples. Promise people huge returns on their investment when there is nothing to invest in, then pay those returns with some of the next investments in nothing. And keep doing it for years, while you skim millions for yourself. Until a recession makes people want their investments back- and they don’t exist. Recessions have a wonderful power to expose that kind of deceit. What will it expose about you?

And, of course, the recession is especially good at exposing the sin of wasting other people’s money (or our own), and the sin of selfishness and greed in the mortgage business, and the sin of fear when everything starts coming down, and the sin of grumbling and impatience. And on and on. What a gift the recession is in the exposure of sin. May the Lord give us all the grace to repent and receive the forgiveness that God offers in Jesus Christ.

2. To Awaken Us to World Poverty
It’s astonishing how blind prosperity makes us to the miseries of the world. God has some remedies for that kind of indifference. For example, it says in Hebrews 13:3, “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

How does that work? He says that there are people that we should care about who are imprison and mistreated. We tend to forget them. So he says, “Remember!” And he says: “As though with them” and “since you have a body.” So how does it work? It works like this: You have a body and sometimes it hurts. When it hurts, remember that there are people right now who are being mistreated- who are hurting much more than you. Imagine yourself in their shoes, and treat them the way you would want to be treated.
Recession hurts us. It imprisons us. What is God’s aim? That we would wake up. Does this recession bother us? If it bothers us, we should be bothered by the fact that millions always live in recession. Only live in recession.

One billion people do not have safe water to drink. Sixteen thousand children die every day from hunger related illnesses. Almost eighteen million children are orphaned in sub-Saharan Africa.
Our family prays through the Global Prayer Digest each morning. For January 29, 2009, we prayed for the Afar people of Ethiopia:

It’s 3:00 a.m., and the Afar father is still awake. The desert night is cold. He snuggles up to his wife and newborn baby to keep them warm. Their stomachs rumble with hunger. Should he slaughter his scrawny goat to feed his wife, hoping she will produce enough milk for their baby? Or should he beseech the clan elders to move again, in search of weeds for the goat, or maybe even some fresh water?

They are fortunate; both his wife and their baby survived the birth. The Afar people have the highest maternal fatality rate in the world. Women give birth without benefit of sterile conditions, or even clean water. Of the babies born alive one-third die before age five. Afar people roam throughout one of the most desolate places on earth: the Ethiopian desert.

Drought and malnutrition make them vulnerable to diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, conjunctivitis, and other water-borne illnesses. Of 13 million Afar people, three million are infected with HIV/AIDS.

It is good to know these things. And to pray about these things. And to cultivate a radical culture at Bethlehem in which hundreds of people dream of ways that their lives can count creatively and long-term for the relief of suffering. Recession has a way of making us wake up to the endless recession of millions. It has a way of changing our priorities and releasing effort and money for others.

Part of our overall vision at Bethlehem called Treasuring Christ Together (TCT) is the Global Diaconate. The giving to TCT is over and above the $9.2 million budget for church and missions this year. Ten percent of everything you give to the vision of TCT goes to our efforts to help the poorest of the poor. Since 2005 when TCT started, you have given over $700,000 to this fund, and $593,000 of it has been disbursed. God’s purpose for this recession is to say: That’s good work; and now more than ever, don’t let up.

3. To Relocate the Roots of Our Joy in His Grace, Rather Than in Our Goods
God sends recessions to his people to pull up the roots of our joy from the pleasures of the world and sink those roots into the pleasures of the glory of his grace. Here’s he clearest recessionary text about this in the Bible- 2 Corinthians 8:1-2. It describes the roots of the joy of the Macedonian believers in their “recession.”
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

This is my dream for Bethlehem. Verse 2 ends with a “wealth of generosity.” We want to be a generous people. Generous in every way. Where does it come from? From prosperity? No. Extreme poverty. “Their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of liberality.” This is why I call this a recessionary text. Here are people overflowing in generosity when the economic times are very bad.

Where then did the generosity come from if not from prosperity? From a supportive and sympathetic culture surrounding them? No. Verse 2 says they were in a “severe test of affliction.” That means they were being harassed. You can see what that looks like in Acts 17:5-9.

Where then did this wealth of generosity come form? Paul says it came from joy, abundance of joy. Verse 2: “Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.”
Their joy was not rooted in prosperity or popularity. But it was very great. Paul calls it “abundance of joy” in the middle of verse 2. Where did that joy come from?

It came from the grace of God. Verse 1: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” What makes people grumble and be stingy is a sense of entitlement. But if we have tasted the measure of our sin and the magnitude of God’s grace, we will have abundance of joy in recessionary hardships. God’s grace overflowing in Jesus for sinners like us is the most glorious thing in the universe.

This is where our joy is rooted. This is why the Fighter Verse for this past week says that Christians can be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Our joy is not rooted in circumstances. God has relocated our joy in his grace, not our goods- in his mercy, not our money, in his worth, not our wealth.
If the recession can assist that relocation, it will have done the most important thing possible. Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

4. To Guard His Glory by Advancing His Saving Mission in the World Precisely When Human Resources Are Low
We see this all over the Bible. God does his great advancing work again and again when it looks least possible for us.
He promises the heir when Abraham and Sarah are too old to have children.
He splits the Red Sea when Israel is hopelessly trapped by Pharaoh’s army.
He gives manna when there is no food in the wilderness.
He stops the Jordan River when it’s time to take the land.
When a city stands in the way, he makes the walls fall down.

When the Midianites were as many as the sand of the sea, God whittled Gideon’s army down to 300 so God would get the glory for the victory.
When Goliath defies the armies of the Lord, God sends a boy with a sling and five stones.
When the Son of God is to come into the world, God calls a virgin to conceive.
And when the mighty devil himself is to be defeated, a Lamb goes to the slaughter.

And here in 2 Corinthians 8:1-2, when God wants to raise money for the poor in Jerusalem, he uses afflicted, poverty-stricken Macedonians and fills them with joy because of his grace.

So that’s the context for Finish the Million by March. In only four weeks, in the hardest financial times in decades, on top of a 9.2 million-dollar church budget, with thousands of givers who never attend the North Campus, all of Bethlehem (on every campus) will give $235,000 to meet the million-dollar goal to pull the trigger on finishing the North Campus.

But vastly more important than that is where your treasure is- where your heart is. Are you like the Macedonians whose joy- in times of “recession” – was invincible because it was rooted in the grace of God? May God open our eyes to glory of his grace. When he does, the last purpose for the recession that I will mention will come true.

5. To Bring His Church to Care for Her Hurting Members and grow in Love
Buildings exist for people, not the other way around. May no effort to build ever keep us from caring for Christ’s followers. Acts 4:34 describes the early church: “There was not a needy person among them.” This is what the church does. Every member will have his needs met. God will test us to see if we are a church or a club.

May the Lord grant us “Macedonian grace” to “finish the million” and care for each other.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy

The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy
January 25, 2008
By John Piper

The aim of this message is to awaken and intensify your joyful, grateful reverence for the gift of human life from conception to eternity. The beginning of human life is a magnificent thing. There is nothing else like it. Only humans come into being day after day, created in the image of God, and live forever- with God or in hell.

There is no compelling evidence in the Bible or anywhere else that any animals come into being with souls, or that they live after they die. There is no compelling evidence in the Bible or anywhere else that angels are being created today. The only being in all the universe who keeps on originating and then living forever in the image of God is man.

God’s Image After the Fall and Flood
In the beginning, Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Then Genesis 5:5 says, “Adam . . . fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.” This was to show that the image and likeness of God is passed on from generation to generation. It was not just the first pair who were in the image of God.

Then in Genesis 9:6, Noah is warned by God, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” Even after all the wickedness, which was punished by the flood, the image of God is retained in man. Damaged, distorted, but stupendously real.

God’s Image Today
Then James 3:9-10 says, “With [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” From the first man and woman to each succeeding man and woman down to our own day, when human life begins the image of God begins. Eternal existence begins. That is why I say that the beginning of human life is a magnificent thing.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” (Psalms 8:3-6)

So I pray that this message will awaken and intensify your joyful, grateful reverence for the gift of human life from conception to eternity. The beginning of human life is a magnificent thing- it is the only newly originating life in the universe that is in the image of God. It is the only newly originating life in the universe that lasts forever. O what amazed and happy reverence we should feel for the beginning of every human life!

A New President, Trapped and Blinded
As everyone knows, our new President, over whom we have rejoiced, does not share this reverence for the beginning of human life. He is trapped and blinded by a culture of deceit. On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, he said, “We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”

To which I say . . .
No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women’s health; you are authorizing the destruction of half a million tiny women every year.
No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for a million helpless people every year.
No, Mr. President, killing our children does not cease to be killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. Call it what you will, they are dead, and we have killed them. And you, Mr. President, would keep the killing legal.
Some of us wept with joy over the inauguration of the first African-American President. We will pray for you. And may God grant that there arises in your heart an amazed and happy reverence for the beginning of every human life.

Wonder in the Womb
This is Sanctity of Life Weekend at Bethlehem, and we are talking about the wonder of human beings in the womb, and the moral question of whether it is right to kill them before they are born. Until recently, there never has been any doubt in the mind of the Christian church that such killing is wrong. Among the earliest sources for Christian thinking outside the New Testament (the beginning of the second century), the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas both forbid abortion.

You shall do no murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not corrupt boys, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not deal in magic, you shall do no sorcery, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born. (Didache 2:2; cf. Epistle of Barnabas 19:5)

Why did the early church, and all succeeding generations of Christians, come to this conclusion- that it is forbidden to take the life of the unborn? We have already seen the root of this conviction: When a human life comes into existence something magnificent has happened- created in the image of God, to live forever.

God Gives, God Takes Away (Job 1:21)
Another pointer for the church was that the Bible says God has sovereign rights over birth and death. When Job’s children were killed by a wind that destroyed their house, Job fell on his face and worshipped God and said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The Lord gave- they were conceived and born by God’s act- that’s his prerogative. The Lord took- that’s his prerogative. Not ours. So the church has always shrunk back from intruding on the rights of God. He gives; he takes. Birth and death are his to grant, not ours.

God Forms Persons (Psalm 139:13)
Another pointer was the profound conviction that what is happening in the womb is God’s unique and sacred person-forming work. Psalm 139:13 puts this in terms of God’s very hands-on work in the womb: “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” This is God’s doing. Not ours. It is his to make. And his to end. (See also Job 31:13-15.)

A Glimpse into the Womb (Luke 1)
But the pointer for the church that I wanted to focus on today is a glimpse into the womb that we get at several places in the Bible. Let’s look at Luke 1. The situation is that Elizabeth and Mary are both given a child in the womb. Both pregnancies are miraculous. Elizabeth because she is too old, and she had always been barren. She becomes pregnant with John the Baptist. And Mary, because she is a virgin. But the Holy Spirit comes upon her, and she becomes pregnant with Jesus, the Son of God, who would one day die for our sins and rise again.

Verse 24: “After these days [Zechariah's] wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden.” Then in verse 26, Luke says, “In the sixth month [that is, the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin.” So when Mary becomes pregnant Elizabeth is about 24 weeks along in her pregnancy.

Nothing Impossible with God
In verses 36-37, the angel says to Mary, to encourage her that her impossible pregnancy really can come true, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” So be encouraged, Mary, nothing is too hard for God. Witness the pregnancy of Elizabeth. O how often in these circumstances of pregnancy and infertility we need to be reminded, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” He gives, he takes, he provides in abundance, he sustains in loss.

When the angel had gone, and Mary knew what was happening to her, she made a beeline to Elizabeth. What a consultation this would be: two of the most important and impossible pregnancies in the world. Look at verses 39-44:

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:39-45)

Now, of course, none of this is being written with abortion in mind. That’s not the point. The point is: How did texts like these shape the way the church thought about the unborn? What were the assumptions here and the implications here?

Notice two things.
1. The Word Baby
First, the word baby in verses 41 and 44. Verse 41: “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.” Verse 44: “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” That word baby is not a specialized word for the unborn. It has no connotations of “embryo” or “fetus.” It is the ordinary word for baby (Greek brefos). And what makes this crystal clear and significant is the way it’s used in Luke 2:16. Here in Luke 1, it refers to John the Baptist in the womb. In Luke 2, it refers to Jesus in the manger. Luke 2:16: “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby (brefos) lying in a manger.” This is exactly the same word for baby.

What the Christian church has seen in this is that what the persons Jesus and John were outside the womb they were already inside the womb. Jesus was the God-man in Mary’s womb. When the Holy Spirit (according to Luke 1:35) caused Mary to be pregnant, she was not pregnant with anything less than the Son of God.

The baby inside was the same as the baby outside.

Today science has only made that easier to believe, not harder. Ultrasound technology has given a stunning window on the womb that shows the unborn at eight weeks sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. Yet virtually all abortions happen later in the pregnancy than this date.

2. Treated as a Person
The second thing to notice here in Luke 1 is the way the baby in Elizabeth’s womb responded to Mary who was carrying the Son of God. Verse 41: “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.” Then in verse 44, Elizabeth interprets that leap like this: “Behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” And Luke says that Elizabeth said this because she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Verses 41-42: “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed . . .” In other words, the Holy Spirit prompted her to say that this leap of the baby in her womb was a leap of joy.
To increase the significance of that leap even more, consider what an angel said to Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah before his son was conceived. In Luke 1:14-15, the angel said, “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” So that leap is not only a leap of joy but a leap of Holy-Spirit-inspired joy.

Only Persons Are Filled with the Spirit
What shall we make of this? Never in the Bible is any animal said to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Never does the Bible say that a person’s arm or leg or kidney or skin is filled with the Spirit. Tissue is not filled with the Holy Spirit. Only persons are filled with the Spirit.

What Luke is doing- and he is doing it as the spokesman of Christ- is treating this child in the womb as a person. He uses the word baby which he later uses for Jesus in the manger. He uses the word joy, which is what persons feel. He uses the phrase “filled with the Spirit” which is what God does to persons. He simply assumes he is dealing with a human person in the womb.

And therefore so should we.

Amazed at the gift of Children
The beginning of human life is a magnificent thing. It is the work of God. It is the forming of a human person in God’s own image who will live forever. Let there be at Bethlehem, and beyond, a joyful, grateful reverence for the gift of human life from conception to eternity. Never cease to be amazed at the gift of life- the gift of children.

The Children
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
Somewhere safe from all the dangers,
Somewhere safe from crack and AIDS,
Safe from lust and lurking strangers,
Safe from war and bombing raids.
Somewhere safe from malnutrition,
Safe from daddy’s damning voice,
Safe from mommy’s cool ambition,
Safe from deadly goddess, Choice.
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
* * * *
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, eating, meeting, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
Why the milk no longer nourished,
Why the water made them sick,
Why the crops no longer flourished,
Why the belly got so thick.
Why they never knew the reason
Friends had vanished out of sight,
Why some suffered for a season,
Others never saw the light.
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, eating, meeting, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
* * * *
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
Glory for the gift of living,
Glory for the end of pain,
Glory for the gift of giving,
Glory for eternal gain.
Glory from the ones forsaken,
Glory from the lost and lone,
Glory when the infants waken,
Orphans on the Father’s throne
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
* * * *
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven’s happy crowds.
Songs with lots of happy clapping,
Songs that set the heart on fire,
Songs that make your foot start tapping,
Songs that make a merry choir.
Songs so loud the mountains tremble,
Songs so pure the canyons ring,
When the children all assemble
Millions, millions, round the King.
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven’s happy crowds.
* * * *
Do you see the children waiting?
I can see them all aglow
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,
Who of us will rise and go?
Will we turn and fly to meet them
Will we venture something new?
I intend to rise and greet them.
Come and go with me, would you?

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

He Knew What Was in Man

He Knew What Was in Man
January 11, 2008
By John Piper

John 2:23-25
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Remember that the aim of John’s Gospel is that people might believe in Jesus. John 20:31: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” This has been underlined several times in chapters 1 and 2.

John’s Task: Belief in Jesus
In John 1:12, John says, “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” After the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Then after he drove the moneychangers out of the Temple and said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” John comments, “His disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:22).

So John is on task. He is writing with a view to helping people see the glory of the Son of God, experience his grace, and believe on him as the Son of God and supreme treasure of their lives and have eternal life.

Some Belief Is Not Saving
In view of this, John 2:23-25 has an unsettling effect. What it says, in essence, is that Jesus knows what is in every heart, and so he can see when someone believes in a way that is not really believing. In other words, Jesus’ ability to know every heart perfectly leads to the unsettling truth that some belief is not the kind of belief that obtains fellowship with Jesus and eternal life. Some belief is not saving belief.

So there are two things to focus on here. First is the glory of the omniscience of Jesus. And the second is the discovery that there is a kind of faith in Jesus that he does not approve and does not accept.

 
1) The Glory of Jesus’ Omniscience
First, then, we focus on the glory of Christ in his omniscience. Remember we are being guided by John 1:14 and 16- “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” This is what John wants us to see- the glory of the only Son from the Father and how, coming down that laser beam of spiritual sight, grace upon grace comes into our lives.

What glory of the Son of God do we see in today’s text? We see it at the end of verse 24 and in all of verse 25: “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Three statements. First, the sweeping general statement in 2:24: “he knew all people.” Second, the specific application of that statement to people’s private, inner life in 2:25: “he himself knew what was in man.” Third, the implication of that in 2:25: “he needed no one to bear witness about him.”

Jesus Knows All About All People
So the doctrine we may draw from this is that Jesus knows all about all people. No person is excluded from his knowledge, and no part of our life is excluded from his knowledge. He knows everybody- and everything about everybody. Here’s what Jesus will say in John 6:64: “There are some of you who do not believe.” And John adds, “For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.” The heart of Judas was open before Jesus. Jesus was not surprised when his betrayal came.

Let this truth about Jesus sink into your heart. If you have ever been impressed with any man’ knowledge about people or wisdom in discerning motives and explaining actions and predicting behaviors- if any character in fiction or person in history or living counselor or scholar has ever impressed you, the knowledge of Jesus should be infinitely more impressive.

No Secrets from Jesus
Perhaps the glory of his omniscience will come home to us more fully if we draw out a few personal implications. It means that there are no complete secrets in your life. You may have succeeded in hiding something all your life from everyone on this earth. But you have not hidden it from Jesus. The person who matters most knows most. The person whose judgment about you is all important knows all. Let that sink in. You are totally known. Totally. There is not the slightest part of your heart unknown to Jesus, at this hour, and every hour.

Therefore, there is always at least one person you must relate to who knows everything about you. You may be able to look at others in the face and know that they do not know  certain things about you. This shapes your relationship. But there is one who when you look him in the face sees totally through you. If you relate to him at all, you relate as one utterly laid bare. Utterly known. What an amazing relationship! There is one, and only one, who actually and totally knows you. Nobody else even comes close. Your spouse’s knowledge of you, or your best friend’s knowledge of you, compares to Jesus’ knowledge of you like first-grade math to quantum mechanics. You are fully known by one person, Jesus Christ.

One Human Who Knows
Therefore, you always have someone to go to for help in knowing who you are. One of the great longings of the human soul is to understand ourselves. Who are we? What is our nature? What sort of being are we? What is our deepest thought and feeling? What are our true and deepest motives? What are the relationships deep inside of me between knowing and feeling and willing and doing?

There is one human who knows the complete answer to all these questions: Jesus Christ. Do you recall Peter’s three answers to Jesus’ question after the resurrection, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked him three times, probably because Peter had denied Jesus three times. Peter said the first time, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said the second time, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said the third time, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:15-17). There is always one person who knows your heart perfectly. Knows it better than you do. Jesus Christ.

One Who Is Always Willing to Love You
Therefore, you always have a person who is willing to love you, knowing absolutely everything about you. The reason I say he is “willing to love you” is that Jesus has a special covenant love for those who trust him. He doesn’t love everybody in the same way. Listen to the way he prays in John 17:9, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” In other words, Jesus intercedes for those whom the Father has given him. These are his friends. These are his disciples. These are his sheep. These are the children of God. These are those who are born again. These are those who believe. And are you in that number?

“To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). If you receive him, there will always be one person who will love you knowing everything, absolutely everything about you. You will say with the disciples in John 16:30, “We know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”

I pray that this glimpse of the glory of the omniscience of the only Son of the Father will move you to admire him more than anyone, and love and trust him and follow him.

2) Faith That Jesus Doesn’t Accept
We said there are two things we should focus on in this today’s text: The first is the glory of the omniscience of Jesus. Now the second is the discovery that there is a kind of faith in Jesus that he does not approve. This is the implication of his omniscience that John focuses on. He draws out the implication that when Jesus looks into the heart of those who believed, he sees something other than the kind of faith that makes you a child of God.

Remember John 1:12 says, “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). And here in John 2:23 it says, “Many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” It seems Jesus  should be thrilled. But he’s not. Verse 24 says, “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.” This is not the way he treats his own sheep whom he calls by name, his own disciples. When Jesus withholds himself from them, he is saying that they are not believing in a saving way. They are not the children of God. They are not doing John 1:12. Whatever their faith is, Jesus does not approve.

Not All That Looks Like Faith Is Really Faith
John is still on task here. The aim of his book is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). So it’s crucial that John clarify that not all that looks like faith is really faith. It is unsettling. But that’s the way life is. Better to have Jesus point this out, and help us come to terms with it, than discover it on our own when it may be too late.

What’s wrong with their faith? Are there clues here? Yes, there are. The first clue is the reference to signs and what Jesus says about this elsewhere. And the second clue is that this incident is mentioned as an introduction to the story of Nicodemus that comes next. Nicodemus is probably supposed to represent the people (of John 2:23) who believe in one sense but not in the way Jesus approves.

The Faith of Nicodemus
Take the clue of Nicodemus first. Remember chapter divisions are added later. Don’t pay much attention to them. John 2:25 ends, “For [Jesus] himself knew what was in man.” And the next verses say, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, -Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him’” (John 2:25-3:2).

I think this is the kind of faith Jesus sees in the people: “We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (3:2). This is a great statement of faith. It’s what some pious Jews believe about Jesus. It’s what Muslims believe. It is a very high view of Jesus. He is “from God.” God is “with him.” What he does are “signs” of God’s power in him. This is significant faith.

Signs Meant to Point to Jesus
But it is not saving faith. Nicodemus was not born again. That is the point of John 3:1-8. Nicodemus, with all his faith, needed to be born again. Nicodemus had no spiritual life. What he had seen was entirely natural, not spiritual. He was still spiritually blind. He did not see through the signs to the glory of the only Son of God. He only saw the signs, and they were so impressive that the natural mind drew the conclusion they must involve God.

Notice the reference to signs in John 2:23- this is now the second clue about what’s wrong with the faith of John 2:23- “Many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.” They believed when they saw the signs. Signs were meant to point people to the true Son of God and what he stood for. But many saw the signs and did not see what they stood for.

The Faith of Jesus’ Brothers
Take Jesus’ brothers as an example in John 7:3-5. “So his brothers said to him, -Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ For not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:3-5).

That is totally surprising! Verse 5 is given as the reason his bothers wanted him to go do his miracles to get some attention in Judea! It was because they did not believe in him. They knew he worked miracles. They believed that. They were excited about it, and they wanted him to go public and get the attention he deserved. That, John says, is unbelief. Why?

The Humility of Saving Faith
The explanation is found in John 5:44: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Deep down inside- where Jesus could see and no one else could- his brothers loved the glory of man. And they saw Jesus, the miracle worker, as their chance for a day in the sun. They would ride on his coattails into the limelight of human admiration.

In other words, real, saving faith in Jesus is a humble thing. It’s what broken people do. Not what power-lovers do, or popularity-lovers, or sign-and-wonder-lovers.

The Danger of Sign-Seeking
O how precarious it is to be a sign-seeker. So many people today run from one set of signs and wonders to the next. They crave the spectacular. They follow the latest sign worker. Till he leaves his wife. Or flies away in his jet with everybody’s money. Jesus is warning against this. Here is what he said in Matthew 24:24: “False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

They will do real signs. Stunning miracles. And what will the sign-seekers do then? They will fall away from following Christ. But did they not have faith? A kind of faith. That is what Jesus is warning us against here for our own souls.

Attracted Only to Signs and Wonders?
Let’s let the apostle Paul have the last word of Scripture. He describes the end times like this in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10:  “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and lying1 signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” There will be signs and wonders in the last days before Jesus comes. They will be real. And they will be lying- full of deception. And many who profess faith in Christ- a kind of faith, and unreal faith, a faith that does not love the truth- will switch that faith from Jesus, the sign-worker (as they view him) to another sign-worker who seems more impressive. And they will perish.
So the issue today (as we bring the two halves of the sermon together) is: Is your faith based on a spiritual sight of the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth? Do you see Christ and his cross as compellingly glorious? Or are you only attracted to signs and wonders?

The Cross as His Greatest Glory
Let me close with one word about the cross of Christ- the death of Christ. You would think that a man who can see perfectly into the heart of every soul and know what everyone is thinking and feeling and planning- you would think that such a man could move through life by avoiding all human danger. He can simply see all thoughts of ill-will and get out of reach. That’s true. He could. If that was his plan.

But it wasn’t Jesus’ plan. He knew what was in man- including Judas (John 6:64). And so he chose when and where and how and why he would die. And he did it for you. If you see him and his cross as the greatest glory and believe on him, the Lamb of God takes away all your sins, you will have eternal life. He is a glorious Savior. Amen.

1 The ESV’s “false signs and wonders” gives the impression that they are tricks and not real miracles. That’s not the meaning behind the phrase “of lies” in the original (Greek pseudous). The meaning is that they are real but that they lie. They deceive. They lead people astray.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

If My Words Abide in You

If My Words Abide in You
January 4, 2009
By John Piper

John 15:1-7
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

(John Piper began this sermon by reciting Psalm 1, Psalm 16, Psalm 103, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 8, Matthew 6:25-34, and 1 Corinthians 13.)

The point of reciting these Scriptures is to motivate you by way of example to memorize Scripture in 2009. This message is a mingling of my testimony of the value of memorizing Scripture with Jesus’ testimony in the Gospel of John.

My Testimony
My testimony can be summed up in eight short sentences.
1.    Memorizing Scripture makes meditation possible at times when I can’t be reading the Bible, and meditation is the pathway of deeper understanding.
2.    Memorizing Scripture strengthens my faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ, and that happens when I am hearing the word in my head.
3.    Memorizing Scripture shapes the way I view the world by conforming my mind to God’s viewpoint.
4.    Memorizing Scripture makes God’s word more readily accessible for overcoming temptation to sin, because God’s warnings and promises are the way we conquer the deceitful promises of sin.
5.    Memorizing Scripture guards my mind by making it easier to detect error- and the world is filled with error, since the god of this world is a liar.
6.    Memorizing Scripture enables me to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist, and so protect myself and my family from his assaults.
7.    Memorizing Scripture provides the strongest and sweetest words for ministering to others in need.
8.    Memorizing Scripture provides the matrix for fellowship with Jesus because he talks to me through his word, and I talk to him in prayer.
That’s my testimony. I hope it will motivate you to make your own discoveries. But what matters most is the testimony of Jesus. So focus for a few minutes with me on a phrase in John 15:7.

Jesus’ Testimony
Jesus says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Let’s simply linger for a few minutes over the words “If . . . my words abide in you.” What does this mean, and why do the words of Jesus have the effect they do, and what does this have to do with memorizing Scripture?

More Than Memorizing
First of all, having the words of Jesus abide in you is more than memorizing them. We know this for several reasons. First, we know it because the devil can memorize Scripture. He quoted it to Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him (Matthew 4:1-10). Second, we know it because of what Jesus says in John 5:38. He said to the Jews who were questioning him, “You do not have [God's] word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” But these people knew much of God’s word from memory. Jewish people who are serious about their faith have always memorized Scripture. But Jesus says that God’s word is not abiding in them. So clearly when the word of God is abiding in us, it is more than mere memorizing.

Bearing the Fruit of Faith and Holiness
What then does it mean?
It means that the words of Jesus take root and bear the fruit of faith and holiness. John 5:38 connects the word and faith: “You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” If the word abides in you, you will believe in the word and the one who spoke it.

His Words Finding a Home in Us
The abiding of Jesus’ word in us means that his words find a home in us. They fit. They belong. In John 8:37, Jesus says, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” That’s the opposite of the word “abiding” in us. When the word abides in us, it finds a place, a home. It’s not foreign. It belongs. You move other things around and even get rid of some things so that the word has room and “feels at home.”

The words of Jesus don’t “abide” without effect. When they take root, they produce faith and holiness. “Sanctify them in the truth,” Jesus says; “your word is truth” (John 17:17). So when his words abide in us, sanctification happens. We are transformed. Holiness, Christlikeness, happens.

So, in sum, the abiding of Jesus’ words in us means that the words of Jesus take root and bear the fruit of faith and holiness.

Why This Effect?
Why do the words of Jesus have this effect? There are at least three reasons we can see in the Gospel of John.

1. Jesus’ Words Are God’s Words
One is that Jesus’ words are the words of God. John 3:34: “He whom God has sent utters the words of God.” So when Jesus is speaking, God is speaking. No man ever spoke the words of God more perfectly or consistently than Jesus. When the apostles taught in their office as apostles, they spoke with the truth and the authority of God. But every time Jesus opened his mouth, we are hearing the word of God. And the word of God is powerful. That’s the first reason why the abiding of Jesus’ words in us has the effects it does.

2. Jesus’ Words Are Life-Giving
Second, the words of Jesus are life-giving. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” The Spirit of God gives life through the word of God. And Jesus’ words are those words. So his words are “spirit and life.” They quicken the spirit and impart eternal life. That’s why Peter says five verses later, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

3. Jesus’ Words Conquer the Devil
So the words of Jesus are the words of God, and they impart eternal life. And third they produce faith and holiness because they conquer the devil. We have a supernatural adversary, the devil. He hates us. He hates our marriages. He hates our children. He hates our church. And he hates God.

In ourselves, we are not as strong as he is. That is why John says that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). The world has no defense against the devil. None.

But listen to what John says of the young Christians in 1 John: “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14). Do you see the connection? “The word of God abides in you, and you have overcome [conquered!] the evil one.” The devil cannot stand against the indwelling word of God.

Awhile back, someone asked me if I thought a Christian or a Christian family could be cursed. My answer is this. If the word of God abides in you, you overcome the evil one. No demonic curse can stand against the gracious, liberating, transforming, devil-defeating word of God when it is abiding in our hearts.

What About Scripture Memory?
So we ask finally, what does all this have to do with memorizing Scripture?

I will come at this with a broad biblical answer and then a practical personal answer from our marriage.

1. Bringing God’s Word into Connection With Our Minds
First, the broad biblical answer. The Holy Spirit awakens life and faith and personal transformation (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and more, Galatians 5:22). God the Holy Spirit does that. But he does it through the word of God (1 Peter 1:23; John 17:17). How? If you carry your Bible around all day and never read it, will the Holy Spirit make the nearness of the word of God in your purse or pocket effective in changing your life?
No. He won’t. Why? Because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). God gave us conscious minds. He gave us volition and emotion. The Holy Spirit makes the words of Jesus effective when they attach with understanding to our minds and then to our wills and emotions. Christ is glorified when his word is heard and understood and affirmed and enjoyed. So that is how God has ordained for change to happen.

Therefore, anything that brings the word of God into connection with our minds will work to strengthen faith and promote understanding and bring about the fruit of the Spirit and the transformation of our lives- and not just our own, but the lives of others also. Memorizing Scripture makes this kind of connection between God’s word and our minds more constant, more deep, and more transforming. Realistically, nothing else can take its place. That’s the broad biblical answer.

2. Making God’s Word Practical in Our Marriage
Finally, a word of practical application from No?«l and me.
December 21 was our 40th wedding anniversary. We went away for a couple days. During that time, we read and prayed over Psalm 40 and Isaiah 40. We talked about the difficulties of the year gone by. We pondered how easy it is to get discouraged with painful circumstances. We recalled lunch times when we rehearsed a dozen things that were discouraging in our lives.

And it came clear to us that what we need to do is stop letting the voice of negative circumstances dominate our conversations. Yes, you have to be realistic. The painful things are really there. But we realized that the word of God, the promises of God, the works of God, the thoughts of God, the person of God- that voice was not being spoken into those moments. There may have been devotions in the morning, and there may have been devotions in the evening. But at that moment, God’s word was silent. That was mainly my fault. It’s a husbands’ role to lead with the word of God.
So we lingered over Psalm 40:5 and decided to make it our year-long marriage verse in 2009:

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.

We are memorizing it, and we aim to make it the banner that flies over our Monday lunch dates and all our conversations: “[God's] wondrous deeds and [his] countless thoughts toward us . . . [We] will proclaim and tell of them.” To that end, I rededicate myself to memorizing the wondrous deeds and the thoughts of God toward us. Pray for us, and we will pray for you. And may Christ make his word dwell richly in us this year.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

Put in the Fire for the Sake of Prayer

Put in the Fire for the Sake of Prayer
December 28, 2008
By John Piper

John 16:16-24
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, -A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, -because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by -a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, -A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

My preparations for this message took a surprising turn. It is the first Sunday of prayer week. So as I have done for over 25 years, I set myself to preach about prayer. Since we are in a series on the Gospel of John, I resolved to preach on prayer from John. What I did not anticipate was the effect of reading the prophet Zechariah as I finished my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program. It was very powerful and very relevant.

So what you are going to hear is John’s portrait of prayer with a Zechariah twist at the end. My title for the message is “Put in the Fire for the Sake of Prayer.” I pray that the overall effect will be to make us earnest and serious and disciplined and joyful and Christ-dependant and God-glorifying in our prayer during 2009.

Prayer in John’s Gospel
So, first, let’s sketch part of the picture that John gives us about prayer. He deals with our praying mainly in three places. I’ll read them with you, and then sketch some of the picture that emerges.

John 14:13-14: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

John 15:7-8, 16: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples . . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

John 16:23-24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

1. That the Father May Be Glorified in the Son
In John 14:13-14, Jesus connects our praying with the glory of God, and with his own role as the Mediator between God and us. Verse 13: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Notice, first, that we pray in Jesus’ name. The reason we pray in Jesus’ name (and not our own) is because we have no rights to anything good from God apart from what Jesus has done for us in taking away our sins (John 1:29) and in providing us a robe of righteousness (Revelation 7:14) that God finds acceptable. We are accepted in God’s presence only because of Christ. We can only come to God through Christ. He is the only Mediator. That is true for salvation. And it remains true for supplication.

Second, notice that God is glorified in answering our prayer. “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” When Jesus says, that the aim of all prayer is that God, the Giver, might be glorified in Jesus, the Mediator, he puts prayer in a radically God-centered context. That explains why he does not need to qualify the word whatever. The glory of God qualifies whatever.

How Extensive Is the Whatever?
“Whatever you ask . . .” God will do. We all wonder how extensive that whatever is. If we make it absolute, we deny that the glory of God is the aim of prayer. Why is that? Because we can all think of prayers that do not glorify God. If God answered them, he would not be glorified. He would be discredited and dishonored. For example: “God, please, make me more important than yourself.” “God, please wipe the Jewish people off the planet- or black people, or white people.” Choose your hatred, and ask God to support you in it. “God, please make pornography a godly thing to look at once a week.” “God, blind the IRS to all the times I have lied on my tax returns.” “God please put my competitor out of business.”

When Jesus says, “Whatever you ask . . .” the whatever is qualified by the end of the verse: “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Prayer exists, like everything else to show that God is supremely glorious. Therefore, any prayer that does not imply “Hallowed be thy name” as the main desire has no claim on this verse.

2. That We May Bear Much Fruit
Then comes John 15:7-8: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” Here the qualification is explicit: “If you abide in me and my words abide in you” – that’s the qualification.

Then your prayers are heard.
And this is not an all-or-nothing statement but a matter of varying degrees. In other words, no one is ever so completely full of Christ’s words that every request they make always accords with God’s will. But there are degrees. You are more or less saturated with the word of Christ, and more or less in tune with God’s will when you pray.

Then verse 8 links the praying of verse 7 with the glory of God through fruit-bearing: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” It seems that the answered prayers of verse 7 are prayers that mainly have to do with fruit-bearing. “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

Mission: Enjoy Answered Prayers
This connection is powerfully reinforced in verse 16. You have to read it carefully and watch the connections: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” So far, he says that he chose his disciples to go and bear fruit. That’s their mission- go and change people so that they believe on Christ and become loving people, people who join you in bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

Then he adds at the end of verse 16 the reason they were given this mission: “. . . so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” This is amazing. You are chosen for a mission of fruit-bearing . . . so that the Father would answer your prayers. Go bear fruit “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” You have a mission so that you may enjoy having your prayers answered.

Prayer: A Wartime Walkie-Talkie
This is where I get the image that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. It exists for advancing the mission, not for calling the butler to turn up the thermostat. Not that God is opposed to practical, nitty-gritty daily prayers. He simply wants all of them to relate to the mission of your life- that his name be glorified, that people live for fruitful ministry.

That’s why the first petition in the Lord’s prayer is “Hallowed be thy name,” and the second is “Bring your kingdom,” and third is “Cause your will to happen here the way the angels do it in heaven” – and only now, under this mission, comes the fourth petition “Give us this day our daily bread.”

So Jesus says that our prayers get answered in proportion to the way the word of Christ is shaping our requests according to God’s will (see 1 John 5:14), and that prayer exists for the glory of God, and that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. All requests serve the mission, or the thing malfunctions in our hand.

3. That Our Joy May Be Full
Third, John brings in another great purpose of prayer- our joy. John 16:23-24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Everything we have said so far applies here- only here Jesus says that God answers prayer “that your joy may be full.” How do the aim of prayer to glorify God and the aim of prayer to bring us joy fit together? They fit together because if we find our joy in seeing God’s glory and in the manifestation of that glory for others to see, then when he is glorified, we will be glad. And when we are glad in his glory, he is glorified all the more.

So in all of these three texts, Jesus is calling us to serious, joyful, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying prayer in 2009. So I am joining him in that call: Would you set your heart to pray more earnestly and more seriously and more joyfully and with greater discipline in 2009 as you put your faith in your Mediator, Jesus Christ, and seek to exalt God as glorious in your life?

Practical Suggestions
I have three practical suggestions. First, set aside a set time each day, and don’t leave prayer to chance. Second, I suggest you combine it with reading the Bible and that you take what you find in the Bible and turn it into prayer. Third, I suggest that you pray in concentric circles and make the aim of each circle the glory of God. You can work from outside in, or from inside out. For example, pray for your own soul, then for your family, then for your friends and colleagues, then for your church, then for wider ministries and the global mission of Christ, and then for the political leaders of the land. And let what you ask be at least partly shaped by what you just read in the Bible.

But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals- unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone- and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

The Duty of Prayer
And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? Do I go to pray with many of you on Tuesday at 6:30 a.m., and Wednesday at 5:45 p.m., and Friday at 6:30 a.m., and Saturday at 4:45 p.m., and Sunday at 8:15 a.m. out of duty? Is it a discipline?
You can call it that. It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater. It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers. It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns. It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food. It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water. It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid. It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin. It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey. It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

Means of Grace: gift of God
I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

What About Zechariah?
Now what about Zechariah 13:8-9? It tells us one of the main ways that God awakens earnest prayer in his children, namely, in the refining fires of suffering. Don’t worry about when this passage is talking about. Just see, for now, how God works, and use this word to prepare yourself for God’s prayer school.

Verse 8: “In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive.” So the one third represents God’s remnant- his faithful, imperfect, weak people, who do not pray with the kind of discipline and desperation and joy, and hunger for God, that they should. So what is God’s remedy? What is his school of prayer?

Verse 9: “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.” Notice carefully what is happening. In his great love, God saved the one third from being cut off with the two thirds who perished (v. 8). And then as part of his love for them, he puts them in the fire to be tested and refined. That is normal Christianity. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

Put in the Fire to Awaken Prayer
But what is it that God wants to see change in his people? Verse 9: “I will test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.” That’s all he mentions. Nothing about their sex lives. Nothing about their money lives. Nothing about their power struggles. He just says: “When they come through the fire, they will pray to me, and I will answer.”

God puts his people through the fire to awaken earnest prayer. This was the unexpected jolt from Zechariah at the end of the year. Please don’t be among the number- I am pleading with you- who take the school of suffering, designed to teach us to pray, and make it the reason you have given up on prayer. Do you see what I am saying? Some enter the fiery school of prayer and instead of learning to call on God, learn the opposite. Zechariah 13:9 is in the Bible as God’s sweet promise to help you profit from his school.

He lures us with the promise: “I will say, -They are my people’; and they will say, -The Lord is my God.’”

Resisting Prosperity-Enfeebled Hearts
Almost 500 years ago, John Calvin commented on Zechariah 13:9, and what he said then is more true today:
It is therefore necessary that we should be subject, from first to last, to the scourges of God, in order that we may from the heart call on him; for our hearts are enfeebled by prosperity, so that we cannot make the effort to pray. (Commentary on Zechariah 13:9 [Baker, 2003], 403, emphasis added)

Would you resolve with me that this simply will not be true of us in 2009- “our hearts are enfeebled by prosperity, so that we cannot make the effort to pray.” May the Lord have mercy on us and treat us gently in the fires of 2009. Amen.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

Destroy This Temple, and in Three Days I Will Raise It Up

Destroy This Temple, and in Three Days I Will Raise It Up
December 21, 2008
By John Piper

John 2:12-22
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

You may recall that last week the story of the wedding at Cana ended with the statement that the disciples believed. “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). So the miracle of turning the water into wine was called a sign, and the effect of the sign was to reveal the glory of Jesus- and the effect of that revelation was to bring about belief in the disciples.

Now look at how today’s story ends. The story is about Jesus driving money-changers out of the temple, and being asked for a sign, and telling them he would raise the destroyed temple in three days. And the story ends in verse 22 like this: “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

John Is on Task
So what we see here is that John is on task. In John 20:31, he tells us the reason he wrote this Gospel: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” So he is making explicit in 2:11 and 2:22 that this is in fact the effect the events had when they happened, and that he prays they will have when he tells them- and when I preach them.

And I think it is also true that the reason belief happens is because in these stories Jesus manifests his glory. That will happen again today. So let’s go see how it happens, and see, too, whether this unlikely text may be a Christmas text after all.

Setting the Stage
Verses 13-14 set the stage for Jesus’ action. “The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.” So inside the temple court, a place meant for prayer and other acts of worship, there were pens of oxen and sheep, and cages of pigeons and sellers sitting around them waiting to make a transaction, and others who were prepared to exchange a pilgrim’s money into the right currency so that they could make a purchase.

The outward reason for this set up was probably that the law required sacrifices of oxen and sheep and pigeons, and many worshippers would have come a long way and would not have brought their sacrifice with them. So this made the animals readily available for purchase. You could say it was the loving thing to do. Make the purchase convenient.

Jesus’ Response
Now what is Jesus’ response when he saw this? Verses 15-16:
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

Jesus obviously did not approve of what he saw. Why not? What was the problem?

A Different Event
Don’t jump too quickly to the other Gospels. For example, when Jesus does something similar in Matthew, he says, “It is written, -My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:13). John does not report either of those two things as the problem here. He doesn’t say: “It’s a house of prayer.” And he doesn’t say they are “robbers.”

Is John even reporting the same event? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus drives money-changers out of the temple at the end of his three-year ministry. In John, he is doing it at the beginning of his ministry. It could be that John has moved the event and isn’t claiming to have a chronological order. But there is no compelling reason to think this is not a different event altogether from what happened three years later. Jesus’ response is not the same. And the outcome in Jerusalem is not the same.

What Jesus Says
So what matters here is what Jesus does say. He says, in verse 16, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” Jesus does not say that the sellers and money-changers are robbers, or that the animals are defective, or that the place is a place of prayer- though it is. He says that they have turned his Father’s house into a bazaar. An emporium. A market.

The disciples saw this incredible display of fury- he was using a homemade whip of ropes, and loosing the oxen (oxen are big!), and dumping boxes of money on the ground, and turning over tables, and saying (with who knows how piercing a voice over all the bleating), “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” And when the disciples saw this, they connected it with Psalm 69:9 where David the king says, “Zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”

Jesus was consumed with zeal for his Father’s house. And reproaches were, no doubt, raining down on him like torrents: “What in God’s name do you think you are doing?!”

What Made Jesus So Angry?
So what made Jesus so angry? The contrast he pointed out was between “my Father’s house” and a marketplace. “My Father’s house” means: This house is about knowing and loving and treasuring a person, my Father. In this temple, my Father has supreme place. He is the supreme treasure here. “A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere” (Psalm 84:11). “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalms 73:25).

But that focus has been replaced by a focus on trade. And there is no reference here to the people who needed the animals- the pilgrims who were buying the sheep and pigeons. The anger is all directed at those who were selling and handling the currency. Jesus could see through the veneer of religious helpfulness to the heart. In fact, in verse 25 John says, “He himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25).

Hypocrisy and Love of Money
What did he see? He saw that this bazaar, this emporium, was not advancing communion with his heavenly Father. It was not flowing from the love of God. It was flowing from the love of money. And what made it worse was that religious ritual, and vaunted helpfulness, were being used as a cover for greed- O the entanglements of greed and religion in our city and in our day! Another story just broke this week of a big church-based Ponzi scheme with a pastor bilking his people of $100 million!

That’s what Jesus saw- hypocrisy. Religion used as a front for greed. Empty forms of love for God plastering over the insatiable love of money. Jesus boils when he sees formal godliness as cover for gain (see 1 Timothy 6:5).

Underneath Pharisaical Legalism
Jesus made it very clear that underneath the religious legalism of the Pharisees, he saw the love of money. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Then Luke comments, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him” (Luke 16:14). That’s another form of hypocrisy- shoot the messenger of truth. Rescue yourself with ridicule.

You can hear the zeal of Jesus burning in Matthew 23:25: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” You put up a fine display of religious helpfulness in the temple bazaar. But you are driven by the love of money, not the love of God.

Jesus’ Expos?© of Religious Greed-Covering
And O how sophisticated and subtle it gets! Who but Jesus can ferret out the ways we rationalize covetousness. Listen to this expos?© of religious greed-covering from Mark 7:9-12. Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees,

You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother” ; and, “Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.” But you say, “If a man tells his father or his mother, -Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’” (that is, given to God)- “then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother.”

In other words, “You don’t need to support your needy parents. Just give us your money.” Or as Jesus said in Luke 20:46-47, “Beware of the scribes . . . who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.”

What Jesus saw that day in the temple was not an isolated instance of questionable worship support. It was the outworking of greed cloaked with religion. “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me” (Matthew 15:8-9). My Father is not being worshipped. Money is being worshipped- in my Father’s house. Jesus came into the world to display the infinite worth of his Father and to vindicate his Father’s honor- and to free us from the killing effects of the love of money.

In Response to Jesus’ Fury
What is their response to Jesus’ fury? Verse 18: “So the Jews said to him, -What sign do you show us for doing these things?’” That’s not an encouraging response. Why not? Because it confirms what they are hiding.

There was another time when they asked for a sign from him to prove himself. Listen to what happened. This is Matthew 12:38-39: “Some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, -Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, -An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.’”

Why is it evil and adulterous for them to seek for a sign from Jesus? It’s because when they ask for a sign, it’s a dodge. It’s a trick- a ploy. They don’t need more signs to prove what’s true. They need hearts that love what they know is true. They’re trying to turn a problem of greed into a problem of knowledge. If we can deflect the issue onto his authority, then the light won’t shine so brightly on our covetousness.

Jesus’ Double-Layered Answer
So Jesus takes their question and he gives a double-layered answer. They ask, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them in verse 19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And they responded in verse 20, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” And John comments in verse 21, “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.”

So what did Jesus mean when he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” ?

What Does Jesus Mean?
He was answering at two levels. First, he meant, You are destroying this temple. When you desecrate the worship of my Father with your white-washed greed, you destroy what this temple is, and you expose it to the wrath of God. It will indeed be destroyed. And that happened 40 years later when the Romans leveled it in A.D. 70.

But at another level he was saying: That same materialistic deadness to spiritual reality that destroys this temple will destroy me. Just like you kill worship in the temple with your consumerism and materialism, you will kill me. I and my Father are one. If you destroy his house, you destroy me. If you treasure money more than my Father, you will treasure my destruction- and buy it with 30 pieces of silver.

So he is speaking at two levels: Destroy this temple, the building; and Destroy this temple, my body.

“In Three Days I Will Raise It Up”
And what does Jesus mean when he says, “And in three days I will raise it up” ? Same two levels. I will raise up my body in the resurrection after three days. Remember what he says in John 10:17-18? “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” He lays it down for our sin. He takes it up again. When they destroy it, he builds it again in three days.

But there is another level of meaning. The material temple that would be destroyed, Jesus builds again in three days in the sense that he now replaces this temple and becomes the new “place” where everyone may meet God and fellowship with God. Remember what he said in Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” And he meant himself.

Jesus: The New Temple
And remember what he said to the woman at the well in John 4:21-23, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. . . . The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” In other words, authentic worship will not be attached to Jerusalem (or any other place). It will be in spirit and in truth. It is attached to Jesus.

“I am the new temple. When I raise my body from the dead, everywhere in all the world, people may come to God through me. There will be no pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There will be no hajj to Mecca. There will only the movement of the heart from money to Christ.

A Christmas Quiz
Let me close with a little quiz that puts a Christmas twist on this sermon. How would you respond if someone asked: Does having a Bethlehem Bookstore in the church building contradict this text? Why or why not?
I would say, “This church building is not the temple of God. Jesus is. When Jesus died for us and rose from the dead, he replaced the temple with himself. He is the universal Immanuel, God with us.”

Santa’s Sack of Substitute Treasures
Therefore, the real contradiction of this text is not the bookstore, but Santa Claus (and, of course, I mean Santa symbolically- what he stands for culturally.)

In Jesus we meet God. We know God. We fellowship with God. In Jesus we find the infinite treasure of the all-satisfying God. Santa Claus, with his moralistic legalism and his sack full of substitute treasures, is the new temple for many.

So you have a choice. You can go with the Santa-Claus way of connecting with God- the Santa temple:
You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town.
And this is not good news for people like you and me- sinners.

The Jesus Way of Connecting With God
Or you can go with the Jesus way of connecting with God- the Jesus temple.
“I lay down my life for the sheep. . . and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:15, 18). “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). I am the new meeting place with God. “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). That’s good news. That’s the best Christmas gift you could ever receive.

Come.

For free resources, visit our website: DesiringGod.org.

Prayer and Predestination

Prayer and Predestination
A Conversation Between Prayerful and Prayerless

By John Piper February 14, 1996

Prayerless: I understand that you believe in the providence of God. Is that right?

Prayerful: Yes.

Prayerless: Does that mean you believe, like the Heidelberg Catechism says, that nothing comes about by chance but only by God’s design and plan?

Prayerful: Yes, I believe that’s what the Bible teaches.

Prayerless: Then why do you pray?

Prayerful: I don’t see the problem. Why shouldn’t we pray?

Prayerless: Well, if God ordains and controls everything, then what he plans from of old will come to pass, right?

Prayerful: Yes.

Prayerless: So it’s going to come to pass whether you pray or not, right.

Prayerful: That depends on whether God ordained for it to come to pass in answer to prayer. If God predestined that something happen in answer to prayer, it won’t happen without prayer.

Prayerless: Wait a minute, this is confusing. Are you saying that every answer to prayer is predestined or not?

Prayerful: Yes, it is. It’s predestined as an answer to prayer.

Prayerless: So if the prayer doesn’t happen, the answer doesn’t happen?

Prayerful: That’s right.

Prayerless: So the event is contingent on our praying for it to happen?

Prayerful: Yes. I take it that by contingent you mean prayer is a real reason that the event happens, and without the prayer the event would not happen.

Prayerless: Yes that’s what I mean. But how can an event be contingent on my prayer and still be eternally fixed and predestined by God?

Prayerful: Because your prayer is as fixed as the predestined answer.

Prayerless: Explain.

Prayerful: It’s not complicated. God providentially ordains all events. God never ordains an event without a cause. The cause is also an event. Therefore, the cause is also foreordained. So you cannot say that the event will happen if the cause doesn’t because God has ordained otherwise. The event will happen if the cause happens.

Prayerless: So what you are saying is that answers to prayer are always ordained as effects of prayer which is one of the causes, and that God predestined the answer only as an effect of the cause.

Prayerful: That’s right. And since both the cause and the effect are ordained together you can’t say that the effect will happen even if the cause doesn’t because God doesn’t ordain effects without causes.

Prayerless: Can you give some illustrations?

Prayerful: Sure. If God predestines that I die of a bullet wound, then I will not die if no bullet is fired. If God predestines that I be healed by surgery, then if there is no surgery, I will not be healed. If God predestines heat to fill my home by fire in the furnace, then if there is no fire, there will be no heat. Would you say, “Since God predestines that the sun be bright, it will be bright whether there is fire in the sun or not-

Prayerless: No.

Prayerful: I agree. Why not?

Prayerless: Because the brightness of the sun comes from the fire.

Prayerful: Right. That’s the way I think about the answers to prayer. They are the brightness, and prayer is the fire. God has established the universe so that in larger measure it runs by prayer, the same way he has established brightness so that in larger measure it happens by fire. Doesn’t that make sense?

Prayerless: I think it does.

Prayerful: Then let’s stop thinking up problems and go with what the Scriptures say. Ask and you will receive. You have not because you ask not.

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