Week 28 - John Piper on Holy Ambition

Hey everyone! Happy new year and all that. It's great to be back and I'm thankful to Steve for this opportunity to explore and discover the best of the best in preaching out there to share with you. Since it is still the beginning of the year, I can't think of a better way to kick things off than with some kind of a stirring, big vision message and I think I've got just the one for you. This was preached just a few weeks ago on New Year's Eve.

More to come...

By the way, Steve and I both would appreciate any suggestions you have for sermons or preachers. We'll be happy to check out any leads and share the goodness with the rest.

John Piper- Marriage Is Meant for Making Children...Disciples of Jesus, Part 2

I listened to this sermon quite awhile ago and it has stayed with me many days. I looked back at the sermon and I remembered most of it. That doesn't happen often to me, so I am confident that the sermon is profound and deep and penetrating, especially for the fathers who struggle with anger as I have in my life. I hope it encourages you as it did me.

Here is the link!

Don't Waste your Life - John Piper

The theme this week is based off of the great title by John Piper, "Don't Waste your Life!" Since then John Piper and the crew at Desiring God ministries have printed books, set up a website at www.dontwasteyourlife.com and he has spoke all around the world with this theme. So, what better sermon to start with than "Don't Waste your Life" by John Piper! (The sermon is at the website, Don't Waste your Life.)

Passion Week - The Intensity of Christ’s Love and the Intentionality of His Death - John Piper

The Intensity of Christ’s Love and the Intentionality of His Death

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By John Piper March 19, 2008

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The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. “When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was. Consider these five ways of seeing Christ’s intentionality in dying for us.

First, look at what Jesus said just after that violent moment when Peter tried to cleave the skull of the servant, but only cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:52-54)

It is one thing to say that the details of Jesus’ death were predicted in the Old Testament. But it is much more to say that Jesus himself was making his choices precisely to see to it that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.

That is what Jesus said he was doing in Matthew 26:54. “I could escape this misery, but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” I am not choosing to take the way out that I could take because I know the Scriptures. I know what must take place. It is my choice to fulfill all that is predicted of me in the Word of God.

A second way this intentionality is seen is in the repeated expressions to go to Jerusalem—into the very jaws of the lion.

Taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “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.” (Mark 10:32-34)

Jesus had one all-controlling goal: to die according the Scriptures. He knew when the time was near and set his face like flint: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

A third way that we see the intentionality of Jesus to suffer for us is in the words he spoke in the mouth of Isaiah the prophet:

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)

I have to work hard in my imagination to keep before me what iron will this required. Humans recoil from suffering. We recoil a hundred times more from suffering that is caused by unjust, ugly, sniveling, low-down, arrogant people. At every moment of pain and indignity, Jesus chose not to do what would have been immediately just. He gave his back to the smiter. He gave his cheek to slapping. He gave his beard to plucking. He offered his face to spitting. And he was doing it for the very ones causing the pain.

A fourth way we see the intentionality of Jesus’ suffering is in the way Peter explains how this was possible. He said, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).

The way Jesus handled the injustice of it all was not by saying, “Injustice doesn’t matter,” but by entrusting his cause to “him who judges justly.” God would see that justice is done. That was not Jesus’ calling at Calvary. (Nor is it our highest calling now. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord, Romans 12:19.)

The fifth and perhaps the clearest statement that Jesus makes about his own intentionality to die is in John 10:17-18:

For this reason the Father loves me, because 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. This charge I have received from my Father.

Jesus’ point in these words is that he is acting completely voluntarily. He is under no constraint from any mere human. Circumstances have not overtaken him. He is not being swept along in the injustice of the moment. He is in control.

Therefore, when John says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16), we should feel the intensity of his love for us to the degree that we see his intentionality to suffer and die. I pray that you will feel it profoundly. And may that profound experience of being loved by Christ have this effect on you:

The love of Christ controls us . . . . He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

John Piper - Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer

Believe me, I'd like to have another preacher to recommend, but there are so few that are as consistently good and speak to both the heart and mind with the passion Piper brings to it. Apologies again for this being a series of conference messages rather than a sermon, but this is a really rich set of messages, given at Wheaton College just a few weeks ago. And don't cheat yourselves by skipping over the Q & A...the students at Wheaton bring some great questions out and I think you'll be edified by Piper's response. Here's the list of messages:

• Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer, Part 1
• Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer, Part 2
• Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer, Part 3
• Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer, Part 4
• Q & A
  

And with that, I'm done. Thanks Steve for the privilege of sharing these with others, I hope that you all were as helped and fed by these as I was.

Until next time...

John Piper - How Justified Sinners Love Each Other

That settles it. If Steve's going to bring up Piper then we might as well have a selection from Piper for today's audio. This is what I refer to as the "soup sermon." Great message on hospitality and service.

John Piper - Proud people don't say thanks.

This week are going to focus on Thankfulness and its importance to the health of the christian life. Paul says in 1 Thess 5:18-give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What are all circumstances and how does this apply to our lives... We will kick it off with Dr. John Piper...

I love the title of this sermon and I love how he exegetes this passage in Romans 1. You will be challenged and encouraged as John explains how everything fits into living for the glory of God.






Click here for the link!

John Piper - How to do good so God gets the glory

Piper and glory... Boom! This is a great way to end the week, making practical the glory of God... Solid Deo Gloria!!!

Click here for the link!

John Piper - To Him Be Glory Forevermore

Piper on his second to last Romans sermon, talking about the glory of God. A must listen, read or watch!

Here is what ackendrick from Soli Deo Gloria blog wrote about this sermon!

Today I was watching a John Piper sermon online and I thought it exactly went along with the overall pupose of our blog. To Him Be Glory Forevermore was the title for the text of Romans 16:25-27. Piper gave this sermon to Bethlehem Baptist Church on December 17, 2006 as he is wrapping up a series through the entire book of Romans. He started this series on Romans back in 1998 starting with chapter 1 and now just wrapping it up in 2006. What a great expositional preacher of today to go striaght through an entire book. Piper claims that Romans was the greatest letter ever written and I might have to agree with him. Piper tries to do the impossible and define the glory of God but he does so by contrasting the glory of God to God’s holiness. Piper’s definition: “The glory of God is the infinite beauty and greatness of his manifold perfections.” An easier way to look at his definition is, “the glory of God is the manifestation of His holiness” or the “going public of His holiness.” This sermon helped me to understand the glory of God on a new level and I pray that you will read it or listen to it for yourself at DG . I also pray that we do what we were created for: Glorifing God.

Here is the link!

John Piper - Future Grace of Faith, Part 1 and 2

This is a lecture classroom setting and a little less structured, but wow, talk about content, clarification and power. Especially the ending of part 1 where he explains how faith sanctifies. Worth the listen.

Here is the link!

John Piper - For God's Sake, Let Grace be Grace

Piper again, bringing it home. Hard not to have Piper on a week like this!!! The title says it all!

Click here for the link!

John Piper - A biography of Martin Luther

A fitting time to have this biography of Martin Luther during Sola Scriptura week!

So good, challenging, insightful and powerful!

Here is the link!

John Piper - Prayer - The Power of Christian Hedonism

As I am trying to get different angles of prayer, I thought this was a great magnum opus sermon of Joh Piper. It discusses prayer within this idea of Christian Hedonism.

The quote that sums it up: "prayerlessness always produces joylessness..."

Here is the link!

John Piper - Meditate on the Word of God day and night

Why did I pick this Piper sermon during Prayer week? Piper answers this question in the first line of his sermon, " So why begin Prayer Week with this psalm and this focus on delighting in the law of God? Well, where is this psalm? It is the beginning of the book of Psalms. And what are the psalms? Many of them are prayers. In fact, the Psalter is the prayer book of the Bible. Millions of Christians go to the Psalms to find words for the cry of their hearts in the worst of times and the best of times. So I begin Prayer Week with Psalm 1 because the Bible begins its prayer book with Psalm 1."

I am really trying to focus on sermons on prayer this week that look at different angles of prayer that we don't often think about... I am really encouraged today and reminded of the importance of scripture to my strength and joy of praying.

Be encouraged!

Click here for the link!

John Piper - How Christ enables the church to uphold itself in love

I like this sermon because of his focus on how small groups are necessary for the health of the church. I have had churches talk about how important they are, but not in this type of biblical, expositional way. It is biblical, filled with some good examples and challenging as John Piper always is. I would be suprised if anyone at his church wasn't in a small group after this!

Here is the link!

John Piper - Currency for Christian Hedonism

This is classic Piper, meaning both passionate and convicting and well as really old... 1983!!! I was 12 when this message was preached but it is just as applicable today as it was then. Again, the beauty of this sermon is that you can listen and/0r read them! Some great illustrations, thought provoking thoughts and great exegesis of 1 Timothy 6.

Here is the link!

An fresh idea for spending time in the word...

For the last month I have been studying Romans in the morning. Well, a few weeks ago I decided to study a short passage and then read John Piper's corresponding sermon. Because John Piper writes out his entire sermon, it is great because it provides a wonderful, challenging, insightful, deep, passionate 15 minutes of reading every morning. I love it. It has been fresh, challenging and really encouraging. He has so many resources that he probably has whatever you are looking for:

Here is his website... Enjoy!

A preaching article by John Piper

The Grave and Glad Preacher

For today’s Classic Materials we return to one of my favourite books: “The Supremacy of God in Preaching” by John Piper. One of the great challenges I find in the act of preaching is both to enjoy God and be earnest on his behalf, to be satisfied in truths about God but handle them seriously. How do I preach with gladness and gravitas?

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As you might suspect, John Piper has some suggestions. Find seven of them below, complete with one Piper quote from the subsequent paragraph.

1. Strive for practical, earnest, glad-hearted holiness in every area of your life.
“One of the reasons is that you can’t be something in the pulpit that you aren’t during the week - at least not for long.”

2. Make your life - especially the life of study - a life of constant communion with God in prayer
“Cotton Mather’s rule was to stop at the end of every paragraph as he wrote his sermon to pray and examine himself and try to fix on his heart some holy impression of his subject.”

3. Read books written by those who bleed Bible when you prick them and who are blood earnest about the truths they discuss.
“Jonathan Edwards….Calvin, Luther, Bunyan, Burroughs, Bridges, Flavel, Owen, Charnock, Gurnall, Watson, Sibbes and Ryle!”

4. Direct your mind often to the contemplation of death
“Death and sickness have an amazing way of blowing the haze of triviality out of life and replacing it with the wisdom of gravity and gladness in the hope of resurrection joy.”

5. Consider the biblical teaching that as a preacher you will be judged with greater strictness
“Paul puts it most ominously in Acts 20 when he says to the people that he has been teaching in Ephesus, ‘I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.’ (Acts 20:26-27) Evidently, not to teach God’s counsel with fullness and faithfulness can leave the blood of people on our hands.”

6. Consider the example of Jesus.
“…the crowds heard him gladly, the children sat in his lap, the women were honoured. Yet no one in the Bible spoke of hell more often or in more horrible terms.”

7. Strive with all your might to know God and to humble yourself under his mighty hand.
“Don’t be content to guide your people among the foothills of God’s glory. Become a mountain climber on the cliffs of God’s majesty, and let the truth begin to overwhelm you so that you will never exhaust the heights of God.”

Taken from the blog of the unashamed workmen.

John Piper - The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth

This message was given at the Gospel Coalition conference. It is strong, hopeful and passionate. Be encouraged.

Click here for the link!

John Piper - Blessed are the Persecuted

John Piper is smokin' in a message with Heaven as the reason we suffer persecution. What a great message on why we suffer, how we should suffer and those who have suffered before us. The great thing about John Piper is that you can either read or listen to the sermons. Take a few minutes and encourage your hearts today.

Here is the link!