The following excerpt comes from “Twelve Appeals to Prosperity Preachers” found in the new edition of Let the Nations Be Glad.(John Piper) with a reference to our reading for today, Acts 14. Missing from most prosperity preaching is the fact that the New Testament emphasizes the necessity of suffering far more than it does the … More Paul: through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God
John Piper, in a sermon “History is God’s Story” found at DesiringGod.org This is the first sermon in the book of Acts that we hear from the apostle Paul. And one way to understand it is to see two main points. One point is that everything in the history of Israel was leading up to … More HISTORY=HIS STORY
John Piper concludes a message from Acts 13:1-12 this way: God is a searching and saving God; that he is a God on a mission; he has straight paths that lead to faith; he is still sending us “to seek and to save the lost.” He is not aloof or passive or indecisive. He is … More Piper: Launching pads for missions and straight paths of faith
John Piper, in a sermon, “Execution, Escape, and Eaten by Worms” from Acts 12 This chapter is about God and Herod. This Herod is Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great who was king when Jesus was born and ordered the infants killed in Bethlehem. He was brought up in Rome and made … More John Piper: Execution, Escape, and Eaten by Worms
John Piper preached a sermon, “He Saw the Grace of God and Was Glad,” from Acts 11:23. Here is an excerpt; please read or listen to the entire sermon at DesiringGod.org The Grace of God Uses Suffering In other words, the good news about Jesus Christ came to Antioch because of persecution. Barnabas saw this … More John Piper: The Grace of God Uses Suffering
A few comments on Matthew 8:18-20 “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go”: After witnessing the miracles of Jesus, many folks thought following Him might be more “glamorous” than it really was. I imagine that Jesus may have received many spontaneous offers like this. We, too, tend to buy in to the prosperity gospel … More Would you follow a homeless guy?
The brothers of Joseph had committed great sins. They knew this, perhaps were plagued with guilt, but thought they had gotten away with it. Now, after obtaining life-saving grain in Egypt from Joseph (NOT knowing who he really was) they discover the payment for the grain was back in their sacks. Their immediate response? At … More Sovereign God summons and saves
John Piper, in a sermon, “Exalting Jesus so the Spirit Falls” So my answer to the question: Is there any correlation between the way Peter preached and the coming of the Holy Spirit in power? is YES. The correlation is that Peter painted such a picture of Jesus that the Spirit saw a very attractive … More John Piper: Exalting Jesus so the Spirit Falls
“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.” Genesis 39:20 Henry Law, at “Grace Gems!”– Prison is a place of humiliation and of shame. It is peopled by those who are under accusation of crime, or who are awaiting the sentence of outraged law. As such, … More Henry Law on Genesis 39: “In every page the voice of Jesus is heard”
John Piper helps us understand Peter’s vision in Acts 10, in a sermon, “What God Has Cleansed Do Not Call Common”: Let me try to sum up the whole story for us. Cornelius is a Gentile, not a Jew. But he feared God as best he knew him and he prayed and he gave alms … More John Piper: Barrier to missions removed
