The Supremacy of God in Preaching: Conclusion
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Hello everyone, this is Tony
00:00:05.320 | with a special episode for you today.
00:00:07.820 | A special episode because we have a new book release
00:00:10.380 | this summer.
00:00:11.500 | Preachers and aspiring preachers will wanna know about it.
00:00:15.140 | Pastor John's book, "The Supremacy of God in Preaching"
00:00:18.340 | is now out as a hardcover for the very first time
00:00:21.980 | from our friends at Crossway Books.
00:00:23.940 | Here's the deal.
00:00:25.260 | If you order a print copy of this new printing
00:00:27.820 | of "The Supremacy of God in Preaching,"
00:00:29.940 | you'll receive a free copy of John Piper's other book
00:00:32.660 | I'm preaching, "Expository Exaltation,"
00:00:35.460 | free of charge to you.
00:00:37.780 | Two books I'm preaching for the price of one,
00:00:39.620 | available exclusively through our friends
00:00:41.940 | at Westminster Books online at WTSBooks.com,
00:00:46.340 | WTSBooks.com.
00:00:49.140 | Of these two preaching books,
00:00:50.140 | "The Supremacy of God in Preaching"
00:00:52.020 | and "Expository Exaltation,"
00:00:54.240 | Pastor John calls them bookends and quote,
00:00:56.720 | "The sum of what I want preachers to know
00:00:59.380 | "about the miracle of preaching," end quote.
00:01:02.500 | And you can get them both from Westminster Books
00:01:04.100 | for the price of one by the hardcover
00:01:06.300 | of "The Supremacy of God in Preaching"
00:01:07.900 | for 50% off, it's just $9.99.
00:01:10.840 | And with it, you'll get "Expository Exaltation,"
00:01:13.260 | a $30 book free of charge, all while supplies last.
00:01:17.940 | It's amazing.
00:01:19.000 | How is this possible?
00:01:20.180 | Well, it's made possible by the incredible generosity
00:01:22.620 | of Desiring God's ministry partners.
00:01:24.980 | And with that, today we have Pastor John
00:01:26.660 | reading his brief conclusion to "The Supremacy of God
00:01:30.020 | in Preaching."
00:01:31.100 | He did not record the full audio book, no,
00:01:32.980 | but he did record the conclusion for you,
00:01:36.180 | the APJ audience.
00:01:37.860 | Here he is.
00:01:38.700 | - The "Supremacy of God in Preaching" conclusion.
00:01:43.620 | People are starving for the grandeur of God,
00:01:49.040 | and the vast majority do not know it.
00:01:54.140 | Those who do say, "Oh God, you are my God.
00:01:58.260 | Earnestly I seek you.
00:02:00.340 | My soul thirsts for you.
00:02:02.420 | My flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land
00:02:05.920 | where there is no water," Psalm 63, 1.
00:02:09.540 | But most do not discern that they were made to thrill
00:02:14.780 | at the panorama of God's power and glory.
00:02:18.660 | They seek to fill the void in other ways.
00:02:22.020 | And even those who go to church,
00:02:24.140 | how many of them can say when they leave,
00:02:27.300 | "I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
00:02:30.140 | beholding your power and glory," Psalm 63, 2.
00:02:34.540 | The glory of God is of infinite worth.
00:02:39.220 | It is the heart of what the apostles preached,
00:02:42.740 | the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
00:02:46.000 | in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4, 6.
00:02:50.260 | It is the goal of every Christian act.
00:02:53.700 | Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God,
00:02:56.660 | 1 Corinthians 10, 31.
00:02:58.440 | It is the focus of all Christian hope.
00:03:02.640 | We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, Romans 5, 2.
00:03:07.100 | It will someday replace the sun and moon
00:03:11.520 | as the light of life.
00:03:13.540 | The city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it
00:03:17.020 | for the glory of God gives it light,
00:03:20.060 | Revelation 21, 23.
00:03:22.580 | And even now, before that great day,
00:03:25.380 | the heavens declare the glory of God, Psalm 19, 1.
00:03:30.380 | When people discover the worth of God's glory,
00:03:35.460 | when God says, "Let there be light,"
00:03:38.660 | and opens the eyes of the blind,
00:03:41.640 | they are like people who find a treasure hidden in a field
00:03:45.740 | and full of joy,
00:03:48.100 | sell all that they have to buy that field, Matthew 13, 44.
00:03:53.100 | They are like Moses who cried to the Lord,
00:03:56.920 | "Please show me your glory," Exodus 33, 18.
00:04:01.920 | This is the heart pang of every human being.
00:04:07.500 | Only a few know it.
00:04:10.880 | Only a few diagnose the longing beneath every human desire,
00:04:16.820 | the longing to see God.
00:04:18.620 | If only people could articulate
00:04:22.300 | the silent cry of their hearts,
00:04:24.920 | would they not say, "One thing have I asked of the Lord
00:04:28.980 | and that will I seek after,
00:04:30.740 | to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord," Psalm 27, 4.
00:04:35.740 | But instead, people in their unrighteousness
00:04:39.340 | suppress the truth
00:04:41.460 | and do not see fit to acknowledge God.
00:04:45.980 | And even many who name the God of Israel
00:04:48.820 | have changed their glory for that which does not profit,
00:04:52.540 | Romans 1, 18 and 28, Jeremiah 2, 11.
00:04:56.080 | Christian preachers more than all others
00:05:00.140 | should know this truth,
00:05:02.500 | that people are starving for God.
00:05:06.320 | If anyone in all the world should be able to say,
00:05:09.320 | "I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
00:05:11.500 | beholding your power and glory,"
00:05:13.700 | it is the herald of God.
00:05:15.800 | And as we look out over the wasteland of our secular culture,
00:05:20.720 | must we preachers not ask,
00:05:23.060 | "Who but us will say to this people, 'Behold your God?'
00:05:29.020 | Who will tell the people that God is great
00:05:32.060 | and greatly to be praised?
00:05:34.780 | Who will paint for them the landscape of God's grandeur?
00:05:39.180 | Who will remind them with tales of wonder
00:05:42.160 | that God has triumphed over every foe?
00:05:45.780 | Who will cry out above every crisis, 'Your God reigns?'
00:05:50.780 | Who will labor to find words that can carry
00:05:54.820 | the gospel of the glory of the blessed God?"
00:05:59.020 | If God is not supreme in our preaching,
00:06:02.700 | where in this world will people hear
00:06:04.980 | about the supremacy of God?
00:06:06.860 | If we do not spread a banquet of God's beauty
00:06:10.400 | on Sunday morning, will not our people seek in vain
00:06:15.080 | to satisfy their inconsolable longing
00:06:18.140 | with the cotton candy pleasures of pastimes
00:06:20.760 | and religious hype?
00:06:22.740 | If the fountain of living water does not flow
00:06:26.120 | from the mountain of God's sovereign grace
00:06:28.720 | on Sunday morning, will not the people
00:06:31.700 | hew for themselves cisterns on Monday,
00:06:35.480 | broken cisterns that can hold no water?
00:06:39.760 | Jeremiah 2.13.
00:06:41.140 | "We are called to be stewards of the mysteries of God."
00:06:47.240 | 1 Corinthians 4.1.
00:06:50.280 | "And the great mystery is Christ in you,
00:06:53.720 | the hope of glory."
00:06:55.400 | Colossians 1.27.
00:06:57.700 | "And that glory is the glory of God.
00:07:01.640 | And it is required of stewards that they be found faithful,
00:07:06.920 | faithful in magnifying the supreme glory
00:07:10.200 | of the one eternal God, not magnifying like a microscope
00:07:14.860 | that makes small things look bigger,
00:07:18.000 | but magnifying like a telescope
00:07:20.600 | that makes unimaginably great galaxies of glory
00:07:24.440 | visible to the human eye."
00:07:26.160 | If we love our people, if we love the other sheep
00:07:32.280 | that are not yet gathered into the fold,
00:07:36.480 | if we love the fulfillment of God's global purpose,
00:07:41.200 | we will labor to spread a table in the wilderness.
00:07:45.400 | Psalm 78.19.
00:07:47.240 | "People everywhere are starving for the enjoyment of God.
00:07:53.120 | For as Jonathan Edwards said,
00:07:56.600 | "The enjoyment of God is the only happiness
00:08:00.240 | with which our souls can be satisfied."
00:08:03.940 | To go to heaven fully to enjoy God
00:08:07.080 | is infinitely better
00:08:08.640 | than the most pleasant accommodations here.
00:08:11.760 | Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children,
00:08:16.000 | or the company of earthly friends are but shadows,
00:08:19.760 | but God is the substance.
00:08:22.200 | These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun.
00:08:27.200 | These are but streams, but God is the ocean."
00:08:33.080 | The ocean.
00:08:33.920 | (music)
00:08:35.920 | (music)
00:08:37.920 | (music)
00:08:39.920 | [BLANK_AUDIO]