Christmas and the Cause of Truth - John Piper

Love Builds Up - 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

This is from desiringgod.org.  Thanks to John Piper and the many who make these videos possible.

Watch more at - http://www.desiringgod.org/labs

No Book Like the Bible

By John Piper


We believe the most effective way to make everyone everywhere truly, deeply, lastingly happy is to teach them to meet God in his word.

This September, John Piper will be launching an initiative inspired by the legacy he wants to leave. Look at the Book is a new online method of teaching the Bible. It’s an ongoing series of 5–10 minute videos in which the camera is on the text, not the teacher. You will hear John’s voice and watch his pen underline, circle, make connections, and scribble notes — all to help you learn to read God’s word for yourself. His goal is to help you not only see what he sees, but where he sees it and how he found it.
 

Our National Conference, this September 26–28, here in Minneapolis, will be the twelfth and final fall conference as we have known them. We are calling it Look at the Book: Reading the Bible for Yourself. John will do five sessions, modeling Look at the Book from Romans 8 and unfolding the biblical foundations and fruit of seeing the Bible in this way. Jerry Bridges, Nancy Guthrie, Ben Stuart, and others have agreed to come and speak on topics related to personal Bible reading.
We’re excited to see how God might use Look at the Book to inspire and equip people all over the world. Would you prayerfully consider investing in our new initiative? We want to make this ministry — and all of our 10,000+ resources — available free of charge. God does that again and again through the prayers and financial support of friends like you. Gifts can be made online.\

Find out more at - http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/no-book-like-the-bible

John Piper on forgiveness

Sermon from March 15, 2008 - This John Piper clip scared the hell out of me, made me fall to my knees, and get my relationship with God back on track. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for using Dr. Piper to show me my sin.

The full sermon can be found here:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-l...

"You Will Suffer" by John Piper

All who follow Jesus Christ will indeed suffer...now, later, maybe both will be true.  But the faithful will suffer.  Are we ready?

The Supremacy of Christ- Symphonic Sermon Jam Video

The Character, the characteristics of God are eternal and perfect.  Each part of His person is one part of His eternal perfection.  His Justice is eternally perfect.  His mercy is eternally perfect.  His wisdom, unsearchable, unknowable, is eternally perfect.  His Goodness is both perfect and eternal.  His love is never-ending and without limit.  He is our God, our Lord, our Savior, El Elyon, Possessor of Heaven and Earth.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

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The Supremacy of Christ - John Piper

The Gospel in 6 Minutes - John Piper

Nice presentation of the gopel by John Piper.  This is also a plea to Christians to hold fast to the gospel in every day of their life.  I personally fall short of the gospel on a daily basis, yet I am lifted up daily by the mercy of God, and again seek to portray this to the world every day in word and deed.

What Jesus Christ Accomplished With The Resurrection

by John Piper

Let’s stir up our thankfulness and joy and admiration and amazement at what the resurrection of Jesus means for us. The curse of our fallen nature is that what once thrilled us becomes ordinary. The reality hasn’t changed. We have changed.

This is why the Bible exists. Peter says of his two letters that they are written to “stir up” or “arouse” by means of “reminder.”

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder. (2 Peter 3:1)

So let’s stir up our sincere minds by way of reminder.

What has God done in raising Jesus from the dead? Here are a few biblical answers.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, death will never have any dominion over him again.

Romans 6:9: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”
Acts 13:34: “He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption.”

Because of the resurrection, Jesus intercedes for us in heaven before God.

Romans 8:34: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning and guarantee of our resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
2 Corinthians 4:14: “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”

We were raised with Jesus so that our true life is hidden now in him.

Ephesians 2:6: “[God] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 3:1-4: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. . . . Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are born again to a living hope.

1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we now enjoy his personal fellowship with us always.

Matthew 28:20: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, he has a name above every name and every knee will bow to him.

Philippians 2:9-10: “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

The resurrection of Jesus means that Jesus kept his word.

Matthew 17:22: “Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’”

The resurrection of Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures and the promises of God.

1 Corinthians 15:4: “He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Acts 13:32-33: “We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus.”

Because Jesus was raised, he has received the promise of the Spirit and poured out the Spirit on us.

Acts 2:33: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

Because Jesus is raised, he can still heal the way he did on earth.

Acts 4:10: “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.”

Because of the resurrection, he gives repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 5:31: “God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Because Jesus was raised, he is now appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

Acts 10:42: “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”
Acts 17:31: “He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

God secured our justification by raising Jesus from the dead.

Romans 4:25: “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

The risen Christ takes the place for us that the law once had so that we can bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:4: “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, he now has the glory for which we were made. Our ultimate destiny is to see him as he is.

1 Peter 1:21: “God . . . raised him from the dead and gave him glory.”
John 17:5, 24: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. . . . Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

May the risen Lord Jesus himself arouse your sincere mind to new depths of worship and allegiance and joy.

The Mocking of Muhammad and Condemning of Christ

John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

Jesus’s uniqueness and beauty is on display if his followers respond with grace when he is reviled.
When adherents of Islam counter the mocking of their central figure with outrage and violence, they provide “another vivid depiction of the difference between Muhammad and Christ, and what it means to follow each,” says John Piper.

Piper concedes that not all Muslims approve the violence, but notes that a profound lesson still stands: “The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery.”

A Deep Difference Between Jesus and Muhammad

Jesus is unique. And Christians believe there is a divine beauty in the mocking that he willingly subjects himself to by becoming man—because it’s a mocking and reviling and bruising and dying that is for us and for our salvation. Piper continues in his 2006 article, “Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ’s Work, Not Muhammad’s”:

If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was his saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God. Already in the Psalms the path of mockery was promised: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads” (Psalm 22:7). “He was despised and rejected by men . . . as one from whom men hide their faces . . . and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).

 

When it actually happened it was worse than expected. “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. . . . And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him” (Matthew 27:28–30). His response to all this was patient endurance. This was the work he came to do. “Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

 

This was not true of Muhammad. And most Muslims do not believe it is true of Jesus. Most Muslims have been taught that Jesus was not crucified. . . . An essential Muslim impulse is to avoid the “ignominy” of the cross.

 

That’s the most basic difference between Christ and Muhammad and between a Muslim and a follower of Christ. For Christ, enduring the mockery of the cross was the essence of his mission. And for a true follower of Christ enduring suffering patiently for the glory of Christ is the essence of obedience. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (Matthew 5:11).

Responding with Love and the Gospel of Grace
Piper continues,

During his life on earth Jesus was called a bastard (John 8:41), a drunkard (Matthew 11:19), a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65), a devil (Matthew 10:25); and he promised his followers the same: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matthew 10:25).

 

The caricature and mockery of Christ has continued to this day. Martin Scorsese portrayed Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ as wracked with doubt and beset with sexual lust. Andres Serrano was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to portray Jesus on a cross sunk in a bottle of urine. The Da Vinci Code portrayed Jesus as a mere mortal who married and fathered children.

 

How should his followers respond? On the one hand, we are grieved and angered. On the other hand, we identify with Christ, and embrace his suffering, and rejoice in our afflictions, and say with the apostle Paul that vengeance belongs to the Lord, let us love our enemies and win them with the gospel. If Christ did his work by being insulted, we must do ours likewise. . . .

 

Read more at - http://www.onenewsnow.com/latest-headlines-from-the-web/2013/03/15/the-annual-debunking-of-jesus

The Glory of God in the Cross - John Piper

You Must Suffer (If You Are A Christian) - John Piper

From Little Bethlehem Will Come a Ruler in Israel

Micah 5:1–6

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. 2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; 6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border.

For the sake of the Sunday before Christmas we are taking a little detour from our usual exposition of Romans 11. But the path to Micah 5 does not lead far away from the burden of Romans 11. The burden of Romans 11 is to answer the question: Has God rejected his people, Israel? Is he finished with Israel, or is there a future for this people in Christ?

Micah, like most of the prophets, was burdened by that same question in view of Israel's sin and God's judgment. Micah is writing at the same time as Isaiah in the 8th century before Christ and was alive when Assyria captured the northern kingdom and took the ten tribes into captivity. He knew this was all owing to God's judgment. So the question of Israel's future was heavy in his mind.

Look at verse 3: "Therefore he [God] shall give them [Israel under God's judgment] up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth [referring to the time of the coming of the Messiah]; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel." Typically prophets are vague about timing. "Then the rest of his brothers will return." He does not tell us when. It's after the Messiah comes, and it's connected with his coming, but when he doesn't say. He just knows this: The Messiah is coming, and his coming will mean some great ingathering of Israel.

This is what Paul sees in the prophets and teaches in Romans 11. For a season there is a hardness on Israel and they are unresponsive. But the day is coming when the hardness will be taken away, and all Israel will be grafted in to the tree of true, redeemed Israel--that is, into Christ.

Listen to the way Leslie Allen makes the connection between Romans 11 and Micah 5:

Paul is heir to Micah in Romans 11, where in [a] similar vein he views a mainly Gentile Church as a lopsided thing and looks forward to the time when Jewish believers would be added in appropriately large numbers. (The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, NICOT, 1976, p. 351).

In other words, when verse 3 says, "The rest of his brothers will return," this is Micah's way of saying all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25).

But let the focus today be on the wonder of the prophesy of Christ's coming. Let it be not on fact that all Israel will be saved, but that you and I will be saved because this Messiah is coming. And let Micah himself help us feel the wonder of being saved and the greatness of our Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

The Connection Between Micah 5 and Jesus Christ

First, let's get the connection between Micah 5 and Jesus Christ crystal clear. In Matthew 2:1-6 it says:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet [then they quote, and partially misquote, our text]: 6 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

The chief priests and the scribes knew that Micah 5 was a reference to the Messiah. So they told King Herod: he will be born in Bethlehem. That is why God saw to it that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though his mother and Joseph were living in Nazareth when she got pregnant. He had to be born in Bethlehem, because he was this ruler of Micah 5.

This was the popular understanding among the people as well, because in John 7:42 they ask, "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?" So both the leaders and the people knew that Micah 5 predicted the coming of the Messiah-the ruler who would be king in Israel. And oh so much more than king in Israel.

Micah 5:4b says, "For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth." The coming Messiah--the coming king--was not just a tribal king. He would be King of kings and Lord of lords. He would be great to the ends of the earth, not just in Israel.

Now let's look at what Micah tells us about Jesus the Messiah.

The Insignificance of Bethlehem and the Great Significance of the One Born There

First, is the contrast between the insignificance of Bethlehem and the great significance of the one born there. Verse 2:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah [an old name for Bethlehem meaning "fruitful"; see Genesis 48:7], who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

Bethlehem is scarcely worth counting among the clans of Judah, yet God chooses to bring his magnificent Messiah out of this town. Why? One answer is that the Messiah is of the lineage of David and David was a Bethlehemite. That's true, but it misses the point of verse two. The point of verse two is that Bethlehem is small--not that it is great because David was born there. (That's what the scribes missed in Matthew 2:6). God chooses something small, quiet, out of the way, and does something there that changes the course of history and eternity.

Why? Because when he acts this way we can't boast in the merits or achievements of men but only in the glorious mercy of God. We can't say, "Well, of course he set his favor on Bethlehem, look at the human glory Bethlehem has achieved!" All we can say is, "God is wonderfully free; he is not impressed by our bigness; he does nothing in order to attract attention to our accomplishments; he does everything to magnify his glorious freedom and mercy."

The apostle Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 1:27-31.

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.… Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

God chose a stable so no innkeeper could boast, "He chose the comfort of my inn!" God chose a manger so that no wood worker could boast, "He chose the craftsmanship of my bed!" He chose Bethlehem so no one could boast, "The greatness of our city constrained the divine choice!" And he chose you and me, freely and unconditionally, to stop the mouth of all human boasting. This is the point of Romans 11 and this is the point of Micah 5.

The deepest meaning of the littleness and insignificance of Bethlehem is that God does not bestow the blessings of the Messiah--the blessings of salvation--on the basis of our greatness or our merit or our achievement. He does not elect cities or people because of their prominence or grandeur or distinction. When he chooses he chooses freely, in order to magnify the glory of his own mercy, not the glory of our distinctions. So let us say with the angels, "Glory to God in the highest!" Not glory to us. We get the joy. He gets the glory.

Christ Secures for Us the Promises of God

Then notice a second thing Micah shows us about Jesus, the Messiah. He makes clear that Christ secures for us the promises of God. Christ is the yes of all God's promises, so that if you trust Christ, you will inherit the promises. How does Micah show us this?
Any Jew in those days, hearing Micah predict the coming of a ruler out of Bethlehem who would feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, would think immediately of two people: David the King and the coming son of David, the Messiah. There are at least three links with David in this text. 1) David was from Bethlehem--that's why it was called the "city of David." 2) David was a ruler in Israel--he was the greatest ruler, a man after God's own heart. And 3) David was a shepherd as a boy, and later he was called the shepherd of Israel (Psalm 78:71).

The point of these three links with David is this: Micah is reasserting the certainty of God's promise to David. Recall from 2 Samuel 7:12-16 that God said to David,

I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.… And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

The amazing thing about Micah is that he reasserts the certainty of this promise not at a time when Israel is rising to power but at a time when Israel is sinking toward oblivion. The northern kingdom is destroyed and the southern kingdom will come under the judgment of God.

The point I am making is this: The coming of Christ was the confirmation of the promises of God. Here's the way Paul put it inRomans 15:8, "Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs." Or as he said in 2 Corinthians 1:20, "All the promises of God find their Yes in him." If you are in Christ by faith, you will inherit all the promises of God. Christmas is God's great nullification of all human boasting, and confirmation of all divine promises. So give up all boasting and enjoy all the promises.

Christ Will Protect His People and Give Them Peace

Finally, Micah shows us that Christ will protect his people and give them peace. Verse 4:

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And he shall be their peace.

Look what he offers in this verse.

First, he will stand. He won't lie around waiting for us to serve him. He will be on his toes, alert, working for those who trust him as their shepherd.

Second, he will shepherd his flock. He will not leave us to find our own food. He will lead us in green pastures and beside still waters. There will be no need unmet in Jesus Christ.

Third, he will serve us "in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God." His good intentions for us will not be hindered by lack of strength. The strength of the Lord is omnipotent strength. Therefore, if you are trusting in Christ, omnipotent strength is on your side. Walk behind him like a trusting sheep and he will overcome every obstacle to your purification and joy forever.

Fourth, notice that he shall be great to the ends of the earth. There will be no pockets of resistance unsubdued. Our security will not be threatened by any alien forces. Every knee will bow and confess him Lord. The whole earth will be filled with his glory.
And finally (at the beginning of verse 5) he will be our peace. And, yes, in this context that includes final, earthly, political peace. Micah spoke of it already in 4:3:

He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
One day the ruler--the King of kings and Lord of lords--will return and make that a reality. I do not minimize the glory of it.

The great Christmas carol will finally be fulfilled:

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of his love.

But I end this message with another deeper peace. A peace that must happen before there can be peace on earth. There must be peace between us and God. Our unbelief and his wrath must be removed. That is our deepest peace--and our deepest need at Christmas.

Micah knew it was coming. He had experienced it personally (7:8-9). He describes it beautifully at the very end of his book (Micah 7:18-19)

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

This was the great work of the Messiah yet to be done. Yes there were enemies on earth that must be defeated if we are to have peace. But oh, the great enemy called sin and judgment-that is the greatest and worst enemy. The gospel at Christmas is:

This enemy Christ has trampled under foot at the cross and for everyone who trusts in him their sins are cast into the depths of the sea. Therefore we say, not glory to us, but glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! Amen

Read more at - http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/from-little-bethlehem-will-come-a-ruler-in-israel

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