(upbeat music) - For me, the most anticipated message of the year from John Piper comes in his annual message at the Passion Conference in early January. And this year in Atlanta, he preached on Revelation 13 in a message titled, "The Beast, the Book, and the Beauty of the Lamb." He did not disappoint.

And we talked about it a little bit last Wednesday. But the entire message is worth listening to, and you can find it on our site, of course. But here's a clip of him explaining his greatest fear, his greatest hope, and his greatest delight. It's all in the context of understanding what it means that Christ died for us, and that our names are found in the book of life.

Here's Pastor John. - There are three purposes. What does it mean for you personally? Did you see yourself there? What does it mean for you that the Lamb was slain in the mind of God in eternity past? What does it mean for you that you were purchased in the center of history?

And what does it mean for you that you'll be singing if your names are in the book? Three things. Number one, your name is in the book so that you will see the glory of the Lamb. Seeing the Lamb as beautiful is the great vocation of the Christian. This is the fountain of all the godliness in your life, seeing the Lamb as supremely beautiful and satisfying and compelling.

The devil knows this. And that's why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers "to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel "of the glory of Christ." (audience laughing) This is the most terrifying thing in the world to me, that people I love or myself may be so blinded by the devil that they look at Jesus and he is not beautiful.

He's not their treasure. Money is their treasure. Videos are their treasure. Making grades are their treasure. The boyfriend is their treasure. That to me is the most terrifying thing in the world. Death is not terrifying. To be so deceived that you can't see Jesus as the treasure of your life, that's the most terrifying thing.

The great, first, decisive result of being in the book is that Jesus is beautiful to you. You see him for who he is. That's the effect of being in the book. So the risen lamb says to us in Revelation 1:18, "I died and see, I am alive forevermore. "See." It's a command.

Revelation 5:5, the elder says to John, "Weep no more. "See, the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered." Revelation 22, seven, the lamb says, "See, I am coming soon. "See, I'm alive. "See, I conquered. "See, I'm coming." Do you? Do you see? To be in the book is to see.

And then in chapter one, he tells us what he saw when he looked at the risen lamb. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. His voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars.

From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun, shining in full strength. The first and decisive effect of being in the book of life of the lamb that was slain is that you see the lamb as supremely precious. Precious. More than anything else in your life.

Do you? Second, this means that since your name is in the book, you will live and die humbly and happily to show that Jesus is more precious than life. So I'm moving from seeing to showing. First effect of being in the book is you see. Second effect of being in the book is that you live and you die humbly and happily in order to show Jesus is more precious than life.

If your name is in the book, your calling is not to stay alive, but to stay in love. Death is a small thing compared to hell, a very small thing. So many today that are trying to figure out ways, we're gonna keep ourselves alive, gonna take them out. If you're in the book, that's not your goal.

The purpose of being in the book, of being known, appointed, loved, purchased, singing, the point is not to keep yourself alive, but to keep yourself in love with Jesus, to love Jesus so much, nothing, not even death, will stop it. This is the spirit that must run in our day.

We're ready to die for the world. We don't kill for the world, we die for the world. That's what Christians do. We keep ourselves in love, we don't keep ourselves alive. And by your life, humble, happy, by your death, humble, happy, the lamb is seen to be more precious than anything.

Isn't that the way it works? If you can die happily in fellowship and security with Jesus, you make him look really good, really precious. But if you are, at any cost, you're not killing me, what does that show? Like, you're just like everybody, that's what it shows. The world will not rise up and say, tell me the reason for the hope that is in you.

They'll know where the hope that is in you, it's in your holster, that's where it is. - Yes, such a great clip from a message you don't wanna miss, titled, The Beast, the Book, and the Beauty of the Lamb, based on Revelation chapter 13, verses one to 10, and preached on January 3rd at the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The entire message, audio, and video can be found right now at DesiringGod.org. Well, Paul says that God's invisible attributes are made plain and obvious to everyone, so what exactly does that mean? That question is on the table as John Piper joins us again tomorrow. For everything you need to know related to this podcast, go to DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.

I'm your host, Tony Reinke, I'll see you tomorrow. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)