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 notion … More Don’t be surprised at suffering
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 God makes persecution a launching pad for missions
The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, (Acts 11:22-23 ESV) John Piper preached a sermon, “He Saw … More The grace of God in spreading the good news through persecution
John Piper, in a sermon on Job 38-42 What we have seen so far, then, is that Job’s suffering has a twofold explanation: its purpose at the outset was to demonstrate God’s value and glory, and its ongoing purpose was to refine Job’s righteousness. His suffering is not punishment. It is not a sign of … More Purposes in suffering
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints … More On a leash
John Piper explains Elihu’s view of suffering in Job 36:6–15 The helpful thing in these verses is that Elihu makes clear that there is such a thing as a righteous person who still has sin that needs to be revealed and rooted out. To call a person righteous does not mean that the person is … More Suffering Refines the Righteous
For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men, and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from … More The Saving Purpose of the Great Physician’s Knife
“…but words will never hurt me?” Really? Dr Riddlebarger says that the accusations made by Job’s friends may have hurt more than the sores on his skin. He comments on Job 29, our Bible reading for today: Chapter 29 of Job is very poignant, given what Job once enjoyed in light of his current suffering. … More Sticks and stones may break my bones…
In Job 24, we see that Job does not understand how God can allow the strong to exploit the weak? When will judgment come? Why? When? How? Kim Riddlebarger comments in a sermon on this section of Job: None of this fits with Job’s hope in a coming redeemer. It is not until we come … More For a little while…
In Job 22:5, Eliphaz, one of Job’s “friends” says to him “Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.” Hmmm, probably not the best example for us to follow when visiting a friend who is suffering! Can we learn something from Job’s friends about how to help the hurting? John Piper’s … More Many people are helped just by the loving presence of another
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