The Christian’s Great Vocation
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - For me, the most anticipated message of the year
00:00:07.340 | from John Piper comes in his annual message
00:00:09.420 | at the Passion Conference in early January.
00:00:12.060 | And this year in Atlanta, he preached on Revelation 13
00:00:15.220 | in a message titled,
00:00:16.400 | "The Beast, the Book, and the Beauty of the Lamb."
00:00:19.200 | He did not disappoint.
00:00:21.040 | And we talked about it a little bit last Wednesday.
00:00:23.080 | But the entire message is worth listening to,
00:00:25.960 | and you can find it on our site, of course.
00:00:27.560 | But here's a clip of him explaining his greatest fear,
00:00:31.000 | his greatest hope, and his greatest delight.
00:00:33.840 | It's all in the context of understanding what it means
00:00:36.720 | that Christ died for us,
00:00:38.020 | and that our names are found in the book of life.
00:00:40.980 | Here's Pastor John.
00:00:42.740 | - There are three purposes.
00:00:45.360 | What does it mean for you personally?
00:00:48.280 | Did you see yourself there?
00:00:51.080 | What does it mean for you that the Lamb was slain
00:00:53.040 | in the mind of God in eternity past?
00:00:56.920 | What does it mean for you that you were purchased
00:01:00.440 | in the center of history?
00:01:01.280 | And what does it mean for you that you'll be singing
00:01:04.480 | if your names are in the book?
00:01:05.980 | Three things.
00:01:08.080 | Number one, your name is in the book
00:01:12.280 | so that you will see the glory of the Lamb.
00:01:16.960 | Seeing the Lamb as beautiful
00:01:21.240 | is the great vocation of the Christian.
00:01:26.040 | This is the fountain of all the godliness in your life,
00:01:29.960 | seeing the Lamb as supremely beautiful
00:01:33.840 | and satisfying and compelling.
00:01:36.100 | The devil knows this.
00:01:38.640 | And that's why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4,
00:01:42.920 | "Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers
00:01:47.280 | "to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel
00:01:51.700 | "of the glory of Christ."
00:01:54.960 | (audience laughing)
00:01:57.240 | This is the most terrifying thing in the world to me,
00:02:00.600 | that people I love or myself may be so blinded
00:02:07.040 | by the devil that they look at Jesus
00:02:12.400 | and he is not beautiful.
00:02:15.840 | He's not their treasure.
00:02:19.160 | Money is their treasure.
00:02:21.280 | Videos are their treasure.
00:02:22.700 | Making grades are their treasure.
00:02:24.320 | The boyfriend is their treasure.
00:02:26.040 | That to me is the most terrifying thing in the world.
00:02:28.960 | Death is not terrifying.
00:02:30.380 | To be so deceived that you can't see Jesus
00:02:35.180 | as the treasure of your life,
00:02:37.240 | that's the most terrifying thing.
00:02:39.480 | The great, first, decisive result of being in the book
00:02:44.480 | is that Jesus is beautiful to you.
00:02:51.580 | You see him for who he is.
00:02:54.460 | That's the effect of being in the book.
00:02:58.160 | So the risen lamb says to us in Revelation 1:18,
00:03:07.780 | "I died and see, I am alive forevermore.
00:03:13.560 | "See."
00:03:17.960 | It's a command.
00:03:19.340 | Revelation 5:5, the elder says to John,
00:03:22.980 | "Weep no more.
00:03:24.180 | "See, the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered."
00:03:29.100 | Revelation 22, seven, the lamb says,
00:03:31.500 | "See, I am coming soon.
00:03:34.280 | "See, I'm alive.
00:03:35.740 | "See, I conquered.
00:03:37.160 | "See, I'm coming."
00:03:38.620 | Do you?
00:03:39.460 | Do you see?
00:03:44.280 | To be in the book is to see.
00:03:47.860 | And then in chapter one, he tells us what he saw
00:03:58.300 | when he looked at the risen lamb.
00:04:00.880 | His eyes were like a flame of fire.
00:04:05.300 | His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace.
00:04:10.100 | His voice was like the roar of many waters.
00:04:14.100 | In his right hand, he held seven stars.
00:04:18.380 | From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword,
00:04:22.140 | and his face was like the sun, shining in full strength.
00:04:27.140 | The first and decisive effect of being
00:04:34.320 | in the book of life of the lamb that was slain
00:04:38.460 | is that you see the lamb as supremely precious.
00:04:43.820 | Precious.
00:04:44.660 | More than anything else in your life.
00:04:47.940 | Do you?
00:04:50.060 | Second, this means that since your name is in the book,
00:04:56.220 | you will live and die humbly and happily
00:05:02.860 | to show that Jesus is more precious than life.
00:05:06.540 | So I'm moving from seeing to showing.
00:05:10.420 | First effect of being in the book is you see.
00:05:13.620 | Second effect of being in the book is that you live
00:05:17.460 | and you die humbly and happily
00:05:23.420 | in order to show Jesus is more precious than life.
00:05:28.680 | If your name is in the book,
00:05:31.780 | your calling is not to stay alive, but to stay in love.
00:05:37.140 | Death is a small thing compared to hell,
00:05:40.660 | a very small thing.
00:05:43.000 | So many today that are trying to figure out ways,
00:05:49.140 | we're gonna keep ourselves alive, gonna take them out.
00:05:53.340 | If you're in the book, that's not your goal.
00:06:04.920 | The purpose of being in the book,
00:06:09.680 | of being known, appointed, loved, purchased, singing,
00:06:14.680 | the point is not to keep yourself alive,
00:06:19.120 | but to keep yourself in love with Jesus,
00:06:21.800 | to love Jesus so much, nothing, not even death,
00:06:25.080 | will stop it.
00:06:26.520 | This is the spirit that must run in our day.
00:06:32.640 | We're ready to die for the world.
00:06:34.440 | We don't kill for the world, we die for the world.
00:06:39.000 | That's what Christians do.
00:06:40.780 | We keep ourselves in love, we don't keep ourselves alive.
00:06:46.180 | And by your life, humble, happy,
00:06:52.920 | by your death, humble, happy,
00:06:55.620 | the lamb is seen to be more precious than anything.
00:07:00.620 | Isn't that the way it works?
00:07:02.720 | If you can die happily in fellowship and security
00:07:06.960 | with Jesus, you make him look really good, really precious.
00:07:11.720 | But if you are, at any cost, you're not killing me,
00:07:15.920 | what does that show?
00:07:17.320 | Like, you're just like everybody, that's what it shows.
00:07:21.000 | The world will not rise up and say,
00:07:24.280 | tell me the reason for the hope that is in you.
00:07:26.360 | They'll know where the hope that is in you,
00:07:28.760 | it's in your holster, that's where it is.
00:07:31.400 | - Yes, such a great clip from a message
00:07:33.520 | you don't wanna miss, titled,
00:07:34.560 | The Beast, the Book, and the Beauty of the Lamb,
00:07:36.800 | based on Revelation chapter 13, verses one to 10,
00:07:39.240 | and preached on January 3rd at the Passion Conference
00:07:42.380 | in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:07:44.460 | The entire message, audio, and video
00:07:45.880 | can be found right now at DesiringGod.org.
00:07:49.440 | Well, Paul says that God's invisible attributes
00:07:52.200 | are made plain and obvious to everyone,
00:07:54.800 | so what exactly does that mean?
00:07:56.880 | That question is on the table
00:07:57.920 | as John Piper joins us again tomorrow.
00:08:00.400 | For everything you need to know related to this podcast,
00:08:02.640 | go to DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.
00:08:07.160 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke, I'll see you tomorrow.
00:08:09.600 | (upbeat music)
00:08:12.180 | (upbeat music)
00:08:14.760 | [BLANK_AUDIO]