(upbeat music) - Welcome back to the podcast. Normally on Wednesdays, we feature a sermon clip from John Piper's preaching archive. Not today. Today we have a full message. It's just a short one. And it's a recent one. When Pastor John preached at a gathering of our friends at Crossway.

The gathering met at the most recent Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. That was the occasion for a celebration of the life and work of Lane and Ebeth Dennis on the occasion of Lane and Ebeth stepping down from their positions at Crossway, which they started back in 1978.

If you own an ESV Bible or a book published by Crossway, you have Lane and Ebeth Dennis to thank for that. But they are now in transition. In the transition, Josh Dennis, their son, will take over for his dad, Lane, and will now lead Crossway as a CEO and president.

Lane will continue to serve as the chairman of the board and as executive consultant. Ebeth will continue as an associate consultant. They're not retiring. That's the point. They're not retiring, Pastor John. You're normally not with us on Wednesdays, but you're here today. You're making an exception for this couple.

We're about to play your message in a moment, but introduce us to this couple. A lot of listeners don't know them. Who are they? What do they mean to you? Why are they so precious and important to us at Desiring God? And tell us, what did you hope to accomplish in this brief message we're about to hear?

- Yeah, thanks, Tony. I love the thought of talking about Lane and Ebeth Dennis. Just a little more background before I point to my friendship. In 1938, the parents of Lane Dennis started a small track publishing ministry. And within five years, they were distributing five million tracks a year.

And that good news publishing, as it's still called, grew into a nonprofit ministry spreading Christian literature around the world. And in 1978, as you said, Crossway Books became the book publishing arm of this nonprofit ministry. So Crossway is one of the unusual major book publishing companies that is a nonprofit today.

Lane and Ebeth Dennis have led that ministry for decades until the recent handoff to their son, Josh. Crossway has published, I think, 1,500 titles and is today really quite an influential Christian publisher of biblically faithful books. And I can't really distinguish between my personal friendship with Lane and Ebeth and my relationship with Crossway Books as the primary publisher of the things that I've written.

So let me give you three examples of that intersection between my life and their life and Crossway Books. In 1987, I got a phone call from Lane Dennis. It was my first acquaintance. I didn't know who he was. And he wanted to explore with me the idea of a major book on the nature of manhood and womanhood and the biblical teaching concerning the roles of men and women.

And the outcome of that phone call was the publishing of "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood," affectionately known as "The Big Blue Book," (laughs) that Wayne Grudem and I edited and Crossway published in 1991. That was the beginning of a 35-year friendship and publishing partnership. Then in the late '90s, both Wayne Grudem and I felt the need for a new Bible translation that would lean in a little more in the direction of formal equivalence than only dynamic equivalence, and that would be in the tradition of the King James, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version tradition.

And Wayne and I both spent decades reading and memorizing the Revised Standard Version in spite of its flaws. (laughs) And it went out of print. And so we couldn't give it to anybody. We couldn't ask people to use it in church 'cause they couldn't get ahold of it. And we thought, "What a great idea if Crossway could get the rights from the National Council of Churches and produce an improved version of the Revised Standard Version while keeping it in the same linguistic tradition." And we urged Lane Dennis to make that faithful phone call to the National Council of Churches, and to everyone's amazement, it happened.

And the ESV was published in 2001, and today the ESV is one of the most widely used English versions of the Bible in the world. And the third thing I would mention that has knit us together is that since those days of partnership in recovering biblical manhood and womanhood and the Bible translation, almost all of my books have been published through Crossway.

I made that decision to publish with Crossway knowing that Crossway is not the biggest Christian publisher in America. It doesn't have the most dollars. And more important than that, it seemed to me, I feel this way today, was a theological and philosophical oneness of mind between author and publisher, which I am very happy to say in this case meant a rich friendship and oneness of mind between Lane and Ebeth Dennis and me.

I think in this message that you're about to hear, you will hear some of my affection for them, and I hope it comes through loud and clear. - Yeah, it sure does. And with that, here is Pastor John's message simply titled "God's Providence in the Ministry of Crossway Books and in the Life of Lane and Ebeth Dennis." Have a listen.

- Lane and Ebeth Dennis are two of the most gracious people that I know. And I say that not because of reputation, though that is true and easy to verify, but because of over 35 years of knowing each other and them showing me personally unremitting kindness, even through circumstances that could have been relationally destructive.

And were not because Lane and Ebeth love like they have been loved by their Savior. So I count it an enormous privilege to speak for a few minutes at this juncture in your professional and personal lives. I'm gonna spend the next few minutes exalting with you, all of you, in the preciousness and the greatness and the beauty of God's providence as it relates to you and crossway.

I define providence as God's purposeful sovereignty. It is the all-embracing, all-pervasive, all-wise governance by God of all things for the demonstration of his glory in the Christ-exalting gladness of his people in God. As each of us here lifts our hands in thankfulness to God for his merciful providence that you were not in your house when it burned down.

We know, you know, we know that the very providence that rescued your life could have prevented the fire. Which means that our peace, our joy, our hope does not rest on being rescued from the disaster, the loss, the sorrow. Our hope rests finally on the freedom and wisdom and mercy of God's providence to govern all fires, all calamities, all rescues, all non-rescues so that all things work finally to magnify the fullness of the glory of God and all that he is for us in Jesus.

So let us exalt together in seven manifestations of God's providence in the history of crossway books and your lives in particular. Number one, providence and deity. I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times saying, my counsel will stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

So the most fundamental thing that God is making clear in the mouth of Isaiah in Isaiah 46 is that his sovereignty in accomplishing his purposes is what it means to be God. I am God, my counsel will stand. I am God, I accomplish my purposes. Only God depends on no one but God, no one but himself informing his purposes and accomplishing them.

That's the ultimate foundation of good news publishers, crossway books and what makes this morning so happy is that you know that and you are glad to have it so. Number two, providence and purpose. The God of all embracing providence has not left us in the dark at all about his ultimate purpose in redemption and creation.

It's not hidden, it runs like a golden thread from Genesis to Revelation. Bring my sons from afar, my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory. It's not unclear why you're in existence. It's just gloriously clear. We were predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory.

That's why we be, we exist for the praise of his glory, the meaning of the universe. Now praise is not a sad affair, especially when the last vestige of evil is wiped from the new earth. Therefore, the final goal of all providence is the glorification of God in the gladness of the blood bought people of God in God.

And when we search as I did online, all the documents available for good news publishers and crossway books back to 1938, the refrain is as clear there as it is in the Bible that you exist for the glory of God. It's clear in every mission statement that has been written that I could find.

Glad news for the lost from your parents, from you and glory to God through Jesus Christ. Number three, providence and gospel. In this city, they were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So at the moment in history when the greatest evil was perpetrated against the greatest good, the all governing hand of God was most lovingly active and sovereign. Herod scoffed, Pilate prevaricated, the mobs cried, "Crucify!" The soldiers drove the nails. And in it all, God was doing his plan and his purpose to save sinners.

If God's providence did not extend to the greatest evil ever done, there would be no good news and there'd be no good news publishers and there would be no crossway books. For 83 years, good news publishers and crossway books has flooded the world with the good news that it was God who bruised his son.

To save millions of sinners. Number four, providence and conversion. When Jesus said to the departing rich young ruler, "It's easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle "than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." His disciples were dismayed and said, "Well, then who can be saved?" To which Jesus answered, "With man, it is impossible, "but not with God, for all things are possible with God." Good news publishers has cast upon the waters of this world billions of gospel tracts and more recently, millions of gospel-laden books.

And surely it is no exaggeration to say that thousands upon thousands of persons have miraculously passed from death to life reading that good news. Every one of them a miracle. Because with man, it is impossible, but not with God. Number five, providence and loss. Every godly life, every fruitful ministry advances through loss.

Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom. And through many tribulations, we must advance in godliness and fruitfulness. When the final word of loss came to Job that your 10 children are dead, Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on the ground and worshiped. And said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, "naked shall I return the Lord gave, "the Lord has taken away.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord." So whether by flood or fire or relational heartache or physical challenges, crossway and you, Lane and Ebeth, have known loss on your way to godliness and fruitfulness. And we today join you in saying, blessed be the name of the Lord. Six, providence and humility.

God intended and designed his meticulous providence in order to shut the mouth of all self-reliant pride and to awaken in us God-dependent humility. Come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go up to such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and gain.

What is your life? You do not know about tomorrow, you're a vapor. Rather, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this. This or that. As it is, you are arrogant in saying, I will get on the plane this afternoon and go to Minneapolis.

If you do not, also say, if the meticulous providence of God orders it so. If God wills, we will do this or that. That's why I use the term all-embracing, all-pervasive providence. But the existential reality is this. That meticulous providence is designed to remove boasting from human beings and to instill humility.

And I just want to bear public witness, happy witness with all of you, that God has wrought this in you, Lane and Ebeth. He has wrought this in you. We need examples today of your kind of strong backbone and conviction mingled with humble contrition and dependence. We need it very badly.

Finally, number seven, providence and perseverance. You and I, you too, and all of us, I am sure, hope to say with the Apostle Paul, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And to those of us who love you and love this ministry, we say that we will pray that indeed both of you will say that cheerfully and confidently in the hour of your death.

And we have good hope that you will. And it isn't in you or me. It's in the keeping providence of God. I will make with you an everlasting covenant and I will not turn away from doing you good. I'll put the fear of me in your heart and you will not turn away from me.

I will not grow weary in doing you good and I will plant you in this land with all my heart and with all my soul, says the Lord. That's your only hope, to say in the hour of your death, I have finished the race. This is our only hope.

If you have another hope, you're building on sand. He who calls you is faithful. He will do it. So I say it on God's behalf and I say it to Lane and Ebeth on all of our behalf, you are greatly loved. And I join with you and the rest of us here in ascribing your keeping to our all-embracing, all-pervasive, all-wise, merciful providence that God has shown to us.

So now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before the presence of his glory with great joy. To God, our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, be glory and majesty, dominion and authority before all time now and forever. Amen. - Amen. A precious couple to us.

Thank you for joining us today for this special episode of the podcast. Next time on Friday, we're going to talk about how to pursue education in this world without thinking like the world. As the apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 2.8, we are to be careful that no one takes you captive by the philosophy of this world.

So how do we pursue education and learning in this world while avoiding the philosophy of the world? It's an important discussion we need to think through. I'm your host, Tony Renke. We will see you back here on Friday for it. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)