God’s Providence in the Ministry of Crossway Books
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Welcome back to the podcast.
00:00:05.600 | Normally on Wednesdays, we feature a sermon clip
00:00:08.320 | from John Piper's preaching archive.
00:00:10.600 | Not today.
00:00:11.440 | Today we have a full message.
00:00:13.120 | It's just a short one.
00:00:14.360 | And it's a recent one.
00:00:15.640 | When Pastor John preached at a gathering
00:00:17.540 | of our friends at Crossway.
00:00:19.800 | The gathering met at the most recent
00:00:21.720 | Evangelical Theological Society meeting
00:00:23.640 | in Fort Worth, Texas.
00:00:25.720 | That was the occasion for a celebration
00:00:27.880 | of the life and work of Lane and Ebeth Dennis
00:00:31.320 | on the occasion of Lane and Ebeth stepping down
00:00:34.680 | from their positions at Crossway,
00:00:36.840 | which they started back in 1978.
00:00:40.280 | If you own an ESV Bible or a book published by Crossway,
00:00:44.480 | you have Lane and Ebeth Dennis to thank for that.
00:00:47.680 | But they are now in transition.
00:00:49.520 | In the transition, Josh Dennis, their son,
00:00:51.680 | will take over for his dad, Lane,
00:00:53.880 | and will now lead Crossway as a CEO and president.
00:00:57.080 | Lane will continue to serve as the chairman of the board
00:00:59.640 | and as executive consultant.
00:01:01.680 | Ebeth will continue as an associate consultant.
00:01:04.520 | They're not retiring.
00:01:06.040 | That's the point.
00:01:06.880 | They're not retiring, Pastor John.
00:01:08.440 | You're normally not with us on Wednesdays,
00:01:10.080 | but you're here today.
00:01:11.280 | You're making an exception for this couple.
00:01:13.640 | We're about to play your message in a moment,
00:01:15.400 | but introduce us to this couple.
00:01:17.280 | A lot of listeners don't know them.
00:01:19.440 | Who are they?
00:01:20.280 | What do they mean to you?
00:01:21.520 | Why are they so precious and important to us
00:01:23.560 | at Desiring God?
00:01:25.120 | And tell us, what did you hope to accomplish
00:01:28.080 | in this brief message we're about to hear?
00:01:30.960 | - Yeah, thanks, Tony.
00:01:31.880 | I love the thought of talking about Lane and Ebeth Dennis.
00:01:36.640 | Just a little more background
00:01:38.160 | before I point to my friendship.
00:01:41.120 | In 1938, the parents of Lane Dennis
00:01:45.000 | started a small track publishing ministry.
00:01:48.240 | And within five years,
00:01:50.240 | they were distributing five million tracks a year.
00:01:55.240 | And that good news publishing, as it's still called,
00:01:59.320 | grew into a nonprofit ministry
00:02:01.720 | spreading Christian literature around the world.
00:02:04.000 | And in 1978, as you said,
00:02:06.400 | Crossway Books became the book publishing arm
00:02:10.880 | of this nonprofit ministry.
00:02:13.480 | So Crossway is one of the unusual
00:02:15.600 | major book publishing companies
00:02:17.760 | that is a nonprofit today.
00:02:20.400 | Lane and Ebeth Dennis have led that ministry for decades
00:02:24.000 | until the recent handoff to their son, Josh.
00:02:27.880 | Crossway has published, I think, 1,500 titles
00:02:32.040 | and is today really quite an influential Christian publisher
00:02:36.000 | of biblically faithful books.
00:02:39.000 | And I can't really distinguish
00:02:41.200 | between my personal friendship with Lane and Ebeth
00:02:44.960 | and my relationship with Crossway Books
00:02:47.280 | as the primary publisher of the things that I've written.
00:02:52.280 | So let me give you three examples of that intersection
00:02:56.360 | between my life and their life and Crossway Books.
00:03:00.240 | In 1987, I got a phone call from Lane Dennis.
00:03:03.360 | It was my first acquaintance.
00:03:05.080 | I didn't know who he was.
00:03:06.960 | And he wanted to explore with me the idea
00:03:10.600 | of a major book on the nature of manhood and womanhood
00:03:14.440 | and the biblical teaching
00:03:15.520 | concerning the roles of men and women.
00:03:18.680 | And the outcome of that phone call
00:03:20.600 | was the publishing of "Recovering Biblical Manhood
00:03:24.480 | and Womanhood," affectionately known as "The Big Blue Book,"
00:03:27.600 | (laughs)
00:03:28.560 | that Wayne Grudem and I edited
00:03:31.280 | and Crossway published in 1991.
00:03:34.080 | That was the beginning of a 35-year friendship
00:03:37.360 | and publishing partnership.
00:03:39.720 | Then in the late '90s, both Wayne Grudem and I
00:03:44.320 | felt the need for a new Bible translation
00:03:47.320 | that would lean in a little more
00:03:50.040 | in the direction of formal equivalence
00:03:52.400 | than only dynamic equivalence,
00:03:55.080 | and that would be in the tradition of the King James,
00:03:58.320 | American Standard Version,
00:03:59.520 | Revised Standard Version tradition.
00:04:02.000 | And Wayne and I both spent decades
00:04:05.440 | reading and memorizing the Revised Standard Version
00:04:08.920 | in spite of its flaws. (laughs)
00:04:11.440 | And it went out of print.
00:04:13.920 | And so we couldn't give it to anybody.
00:04:17.200 | We couldn't ask people to use it in church
00:04:19.800 | 'cause they couldn't get ahold of it.
00:04:20.960 | And we thought, "What a great idea
00:04:23.920 | if Crossway could get the rights
00:04:26.800 | from the National Council of Churches
00:04:28.600 | and produce an improved version
00:04:32.840 | of the Revised Standard Version
00:04:34.640 | while keeping it in the same linguistic tradition."
00:04:38.440 | And we urged Lane Dennis to make that faithful phone call
00:04:43.440 | to the National Council of Churches,
00:04:45.920 | and to everyone's amazement, it happened.
00:04:48.640 | And the ESV was published in 2001,
00:04:52.560 | and today the ESV is one of the most widely used
00:04:55.040 | English versions of the Bible in the world.
00:04:58.400 | And the third thing I would mention
00:05:00.440 | that has knit us together
00:05:04.360 | is that since those days of partnership
00:05:07.920 | in recovering biblical manhood and womanhood
00:05:11.040 | and the Bible translation,
00:05:13.320 | almost all of my books have been published through Crossway.
00:05:17.760 | I made that decision to publish with Crossway
00:05:21.040 | knowing that Crossway
00:05:23.320 | is not the biggest Christian publisher in America.
00:05:26.480 | It doesn't have the most dollars.
00:05:29.440 | And more important than that, it seemed to me,
00:05:34.440 | I feel this way today,
00:05:36.680 | was a theological and philosophical oneness of mind
00:05:40.960 | between author and publisher,
00:05:43.640 | which I am very happy to say in this case
00:05:46.160 | meant a rich friendship and oneness of mind
00:05:49.720 | between Lane and Ebeth Dennis and me.
00:05:54.280 | I think in this message that you're about to hear,
00:05:58.520 | you will hear some of my affection for them,
00:06:02.320 | and I hope it comes through loud and clear.
00:06:04.920 | - Yeah, it sure does.
00:06:05.920 | And with that, here is Pastor John's message
00:06:08.640 | simply titled "God's Providence
00:06:10.520 | in the Ministry of Crossway Books
00:06:12.320 | and in the Life of Lane and Ebeth Dennis."
00:06:16.120 | Have a listen.
00:06:16.960 | - Lane and Ebeth Dennis
00:06:21.280 | are two of the most gracious people that I know.
00:06:25.840 | And I say that not because of reputation,
00:06:30.600 | though that is true and easy to verify,
00:06:36.560 | but because of over 35 years of knowing each other
00:06:40.840 | and them showing me personally unremitting kindness,
00:06:45.840 | even through circumstances
00:06:51.640 | that could have been relationally destructive.
00:06:55.840 | And were not because Lane and Ebeth
00:06:59.960 | love like they have been loved by their Savior.
00:07:06.080 | So I count it an enormous privilege
00:07:10.080 | to speak for a few minutes at this juncture
00:07:13.320 | in your professional and personal lives.
00:07:16.600 | I'm gonna spend the next few minutes exalting with you,
00:07:22.680 | all of you, in the preciousness and the greatness
00:07:27.880 | and the beauty of God's providence
00:07:31.440 | as it relates to you and crossway.
00:07:35.000 | I define providence as God's purposeful sovereignty.
00:07:39.400 | It is the all-embracing, all-pervasive,
00:07:44.640 | all-wise governance by God of all things
00:07:49.320 | for the demonstration of his glory
00:07:51.880 | in the Christ-exalting gladness of his people in God.
00:07:58.400 | As each of us here lifts our hands in thankfulness
00:08:03.400 | to God for his merciful providence
00:08:13.480 | that you were not in your house when it burned down.
00:08:18.360 | We know, you know, we know that the very providence
00:08:26.200 | that rescued your life could have prevented the fire.
00:08:31.080 | Which means that our peace, our joy,
00:08:38.120 | our hope does not rest on being rescued
00:08:44.120 | from the disaster, the loss, the sorrow.
00:08:49.000 | Our hope rests finally on the freedom and wisdom
00:08:54.680 | and mercy of God's providence to govern all fires,
00:08:59.560 | all calamities, all rescues, all non-rescues
00:09:04.560 | so that all things work finally to magnify the fullness
00:09:10.160 | of the glory of God and all that he is for us in Jesus.
00:09:15.560 | So let us exalt together in seven manifestations
00:09:23.000 | of God's providence in the history of crossway books
00:09:26.560 | and your lives in particular.
00:09:28.360 | Number one, providence and deity.
00:09:31.520 | I am God and there is no other.
00:09:34.720 | I am God and there is none like me.
00:09:39.200 | Declaring the end from the beginning
00:09:40.920 | and from ancient times saying, my counsel will stand
00:09:45.920 | and I will accomplish all my purpose.
00:09:51.680 | So the most fundamental thing that God is making clear
00:09:56.680 | in the mouth of Isaiah in Isaiah 46
00:10:00.560 | is that his sovereignty in accomplishing his purposes
00:10:05.560 | is what it means to be God.
00:10:10.640 | I am God, my counsel will stand.
00:10:16.320 | I am God, I accomplish my purposes.
00:10:20.640 | Only God depends on no one but God,
00:10:25.640 | no one but himself informing his purposes
00:10:30.180 | and accomplishing them.
00:10:32.520 | That's the ultimate foundation of good news publishers,
00:10:36.280 | crossway books and what makes this morning so happy
00:10:41.280 | is that you know that and you are glad to have it so.
00:10:49.540 | Number two, providence and purpose.
00:10:52.840 | The God of all embracing providence
00:10:57.600 | has not left us in the dark at all
00:11:00.060 | about his ultimate purpose in redemption and creation.
00:11:03.700 | It's not hidden, it runs like a golden thread
00:11:08.040 | from Genesis to Revelation.
00:11:09.840 | Bring my sons from afar,
00:11:11.240 | my daughters from the ends of the earth,
00:11:13.120 | everyone who is called by my name,
00:11:15.040 | whom I created for my glory.
00:11:19.240 | It's not unclear why you're in existence.
00:11:24.200 | It's just gloriously clear.
00:11:27.440 | We were predestined according to the purpose of him
00:11:31.560 | who works all things according to the counsel of his will
00:11:34.800 | so that we who were the first to hope in Christ
00:11:39.600 | might be for the praise of his glory.
00:11:44.640 | That's why we be, we exist for the praise of his glory,
00:11:49.640 | the meaning of the universe.
00:11:53.800 | Now praise is not a sad affair,
00:11:58.640 | especially when the last vestige of evil
00:12:03.520 | is wiped from the new earth.
00:12:06.480 | Therefore, the final goal of all providence
00:12:10.740 | is the glorification of God in the gladness
00:12:15.660 | of the blood bought people of God in God.
00:12:20.080 | And when we search as I did online,
00:12:25.660 | all the documents available for good news publishers
00:12:30.140 | and crossway books back to 1938,
00:12:33.860 | the refrain is as clear there as it is in the Bible
00:12:38.420 | that you exist for the glory of God.
00:12:42.260 | It's clear in every mission statement
00:12:44.780 | that has been written that I could find.
00:12:47.080 | Glad news for the lost from your parents,
00:12:53.700 | from you and glory to God through Jesus Christ.
00:12:58.320 | Number three, providence and gospel.
00:13:02.500 | In this city, they were gathered together
00:13:05.820 | against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed,
00:13:08.600 | both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles
00:13:12.060 | and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand
00:13:15.380 | and your plan had predestined to take place.
00:13:20.900 | So at the moment in history when the greatest evil
00:13:26.140 | was perpetrated against the greatest good,
00:13:30.260 | the all governing hand of God
00:13:33.840 | was most lovingly active and sovereign.
00:13:36.900 | Herod scoffed, Pilate prevaricated,
00:13:40.560 | the mobs cried, "Crucify!"
00:13:42.540 | The soldiers drove the nails.
00:13:44.600 | And in it all, God was doing his plan
00:13:50.920 | and his purpose to save sinners.
00:13:59.020 | If God's providence did not extend
00:14:02.600 | to the greatest evil ever done,
00:14:05.800 | there would be no good news
00:14:07.520 | and there'd be no good news publishers
00:14:11.240 | and there would be no crossway books.
00:14:14.600 | For 83 years, good news publishers and crossway books
00:14:19.480 | has flooded the world with the good news
00:14:24.480 | that it was God who bruised his son.
00:14:29.560 | To save millions of sinners.
00:14:32.200 | Number four, providence and conversion.
00:14:37.080 | When Jesus said to the departing rich young ruler,
00:14:43.180 | "It's easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle
00:14:49.680 | "than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."
00:14:53.380 | His disciples were dismayed and said,
00:14:58.400 | "Well, then who can be saved?"
00:15:01.860 | To which Jesus answered, "With man, it is impossible,
00:15:06.860 | "but not with God, for all things are possible with God."
00:15:14.940 | Good news publishers has cast upon the waters of this world
00:15:23.700 | billions of gospel tracts
00:15:28.220 | and more recently, millions of gospel-laden books.
00:15:34.500 | And surely it is no exaggeration to say
00:15:41.320 | that thousands upon thousands of persons
00:15:46.080 | have miraculously passed from death to life
00:15:51.220 | reading that good news.
00:15:54.540 | Every one of them a miracle.
00:15:58.320 | Because with man, it is impossible, but not with God.
00:16:04.280 | Number five, providence and loss.
00:16:09.120 | Every godly life, every fruitful ministry
00:16:13.560 | advances through loss.
00:16:17.200 | Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom.
00:16:20.520 | And through many tribulations,
00:16:21.940 | we must advance in godliness and fruitfulness.
00:16:25.600 | When the final word of loss came to Job
00:16:31.960 | that your 10 children are dead,
00:16:34.880 | Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head,
00:16:40.080 | fell on the ground and worshiped.
00:16:42.940 | And said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
00:16:48.200 | "naked shall I return the Lord gave,
00:16:51.940 | "the Lord has taken away.
00:16:56.140 | "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
00:16:58.920 | So whether by flood or fire or relational heartache
00:17:05.140 | or physical challenges, crossway and you,
00:17:11.220 | Lane and Ebeth, have known loss on your way
00:17:15.480 | to godliness and fruitfulness.
00:17:19.020 | And we today join you in saying,
00:17:23.160 | blessed be the name of the Lord.
00:17:25.780 | Six, providence and humility.
00:17:30.500 | God intended and designed his meticulous providence
00:17:36.600 | in order to shut the mouth of all self-reliant pride
00:17:44.640 | and to awaken in us God-dependent humility.
00:17:49.640 | Come now, you who say today or tomorrow
00:17:54.360 | we will go up to such and such a town
00:17:56.360 | and spend a year there and trade and gain.
00:17:58.540 | What is your life?
00:18:01.640 | You do not know about tomorrow, you're a vapor.
00:18:04.840 | Rather, you ought to say,
00:18:08.840 | if the Lord wills, we will live and do this.
00:18:13.840 | This or that.
00:18:16.040 | As it is, you are arrogant
00:18:20.320 | in saying, I will get on the plane this afternoon
00:18:26.200 | and go to Minneapolis.
00:18:27.640 | If you do not, also say,
00:18:32.880 | if the meticulous providence of God orders it so.
00:18:39.800 | If God wills, we will do this or that.
00:18:44.800 | That's why I use the term
00:18:48.240 | all-embracing, all-pervasive providence.
00:18:52.960 | But the existential reality is this.
00:18:58.220 | That meticulous providence is designed
00:19:03.760 | to remove boasting from human beings
00:19:08.840 | and to instill humility.
00:19:11.280 | And I just want to bear public witness,
00:19:16.040 | happy witness with all of you,
00:19:19.080 | that God has wrought this in you, Lane and Ebeth.
00:19:22.880 | He has wrought this in you.
00:19:26.520 | We need examples today of your kind
00:19:31.400 | of strong backbone and conviction
00:19:35.920 | mingled with humble contrition and dependence.
00:19:39.800 | We need it very badly.
00:19:42.280 | Finally, number seven, providence and perseverance.
00:19:47.560 | You and I, you too, and all of us, I am sure,
00:19:53.760 | hope to say with the Apostle Paul,
00:19:57.680 | I have fought the good fight.
00:19:59.320 | I have finished the race.
00:20:02.400 | I have kept the faith.
00:20:04.760 | And to those of us who love you and love this ministry,
00:20:09.760 | we say that we will pray that indeed both of you
00:20:16.000 | will say that cheerfully and confidently
00:20:22.040 | in the hour of your death.
00:20:24.080 | And we have good hope that you will.
00:20:27.920 | And it isn't in you or me.
00:20:30.880 | It's in the keeping providence of God.
00:20:33.920 | I will make with you an everlasting covenant
00:20:39.440 | and I will not turn away from doing you good.
00:20:44.200 | I'll put the fear of me in your heart
00:20:47.720 | and you will not turn away from me.
00:20:52.040 | I will not grow weary in doing you good
00:20:55.560 | and I will plant you in this land with all my heart
00:20:58.520 | and with all my soul, says the Lord.
00:21:01.120 | That's your only hope, to say in the hour of your death,
00:21:06.960 | I have finished the race.
00:21:09.200 | This is our only hope.
00:21:10.760 | If you have another hope, you're building on sand.
00:21:14.360 | He who calls you is faithful.
00:21:19.040 | He will do it.
00:21:21.040 | So I say it on God's behalf and I say it to Lane and Ebeth
00:21:28.440 | on all of our behalf, you are greatly loved.
00:21:33.440 | And I join with you and the rest of us here
00:21:39.080 | in ascribing your keeping to our all-embracing,
00:21:44.080 | all-pervasive, all-wise, merciful providence
00:21:52.320 | that God has shown to us.
00:21:54.960 | So now unto him who is able to keep you from falling
00:21:59.960 | and to present you before the presence of his glory
00:22:02.800 | with great joy.
00:22:05.440 | To God, our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ,
00:22:08.960 | be glory and majesty, dominion and authority
00:22:12.320 | before all time now and forever.
00:22:17.560 | Amen.
00:22:19.520 | - Amen. A precious couple to us.
00:22:21.200 | Thank you for joining us today
00:22:22.360 | for this special episode of the podcast.
00:22:25.720 | Next time on Friday, we're going to talk about
00:22:27.680 | how to pursue education in this world
00:22:29.920 | without thinking like the world.
00:22:32.520 | As the apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 2.8,
00:22:35.280 | we are to be careful that no one takes you captive
00:22:37.400 | by the philosophy of this world.
00:22:39.240 | So how do we pursue education and learning in this world
00:22:41.840 | while avoiding the philosophy of the world?
00:22:45.080 | It's an important discussion we need to think through.
00:22:46.840 | I'm your host, Tony Renke.
00:22:48.160 | We will see you back here on Friday for it.
00:22:50.520 | (upbeat music)
00:22:53.120 | (upbeat music)
00:22:55.720 | [BLANK_AUDIO]