November 13, 2012

• the 6th sola: "The Price of salvation is the Prize of salvation" ~ John Piper

  the 6th sola: "The Price of salvation is the Prize of salvation ~ John Piper | Letter 153 on assurance & fighting for joy...

  On January 1, 2013, John Piper, having served at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis) since 1980, will be transitioning from Pastor for Preaching and Vision to Associate Pastor (see here). As many of you know, Dr. Piper is one of those whose preaching and teaching God has used in powerful ways in my life (please see the links at the end of this post).

  

  This fall Dr. Piper began preaching a series of sermons on theological trademarks of Bethlehem Baptist Church (though not just of Bethlehem Baptist, but of the Church as a whole). I'd recommend your watching/listening to all of them, for they provide a wonderful summary of essential Biblical doctrines.

  • I AM WHO I AM (Sept. 8, 2012)
  • Eternal Security Is a Community Project (Sept. 15, 2012)
  • Why Did God Create the World? (Sept. 22, 2012)
  • God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him (Oct. 13, 2012)
  • Missions Exists Because Worship Doesn't: A Bethlehem Legacy, Inherited and Bequeathed (Oct. 27, 2012)
  • The Sovereignty of God: "My Counsel Shall Stand, and I Will Accomplish All My Purpose" (Nov. 3, 2012)
  • God in Christ: The Price and the Prize of the Gospel (Nov. 10, 2012)

  This past weekend, in his sermon "God in Christ: the Price and the Prize of the Gospel," Piper preached on Romans 5:1-11. I'm including the video of that sermon here today because I know that despite the fact that I was saved in 1982, for years and years I missed the truth that

  THE PRICE OF SALVATION IS THE PRIZE OF SALVATION...
  

  And my prayer is that as you listen to Dr. Piper, the Holy Spirit might begin to open the eyes of your heart to the truth that the five Solas:

  sola Scriptura ~ Scripture alone
  sola fide ~ By faith alone
  sola gratia ~ Through grace alone
  solus Christus ~ On the basis of Christ alone
  soli Deo gloria ~ For the glory of God alone

  are all leading to the "sixth sola":

  "Full and final joy in God alone"
  
  "that's where it's all going... Psalm 16:11 in Your presence there is fullness of joy, God, at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Whom have I in heaven but You, and on earth there is nothing I desire besides You. My flesh, my heart may fail, but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. That's where the Gospel's going:  for the enjoyment of that, nothing less... nothing beyond. He is the Prize of the Solas." ~ John Piper
  

  God in Christ: The Price and the Prize of the Gospel from Desiring God on Vimeo.

  See the full resource at http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/god-in-christ-the-price-and-the-prize-of-the-gospel

  (Please note:  you can find Piper's prepared sermon text (as well as download audio and/or video of the sermon) at the site above, but I'd remind you that the printed text is only a jumping off point for Piper, so I'd encourage you to watch (or listen) to the entire sermon!)

  Last week, on the 30th anniversary of my new birth, I reflected on my journey in the Christian life in my post "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the word),"  I likened myself to John Newton, who wrote these words in retrospect regarding his initial understanding of Christianity and the Christian life:

  I had no apprehension of ... the hidden life of a Christian, as it consists in communion with God by Jesus Christ...

  I cannot consider myself to have been a believer, (in the full sense of the word,) till a considerable time afterwards.

  As I look out at Christians today, I see many, many of you who were in that very same position as John Newton and myself:  so many of you don't have any "apprehension of the hidden life of a Christian," that "it consists in communion with God in Jesus Christ." Very few of you understand that the Price of our salvation is the Prize of our salvation, i.e. - that the Gospel has been intentionally and lovingly and gloriously and graciously designed by God so we might experience full and final joy in God alone, that God's desire for us is to have living fellowship with Him just like the Psalmists: that we might know Him as our perfect portion and be fully satisfied with and wholly delight in God in Christ. Or, as Isaac Watts put it:

  Religion never was designed,
  To make our pleasures less.

  As you come to know the Price of your salvation is the Prize of your salvation, it is only then that you will begin to understand that the Christian religion was not designed by God to deprive us or to rob us of pleasure but to the contrary:  God planned out salvation in Jesus Christ with an eye to magnify and multiply our pleasures because there is no true and lasting happiness, pleasure, gladness or joy apart from knowing Him and dwelling in His presence, and He in us. God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, rendered Himself an offering for sin in our place so we might be brought to God and experience in God Himself all-surpassing satisfaction and exceeding Joy!

  Psalm 16:11: You make known to me the path of life;
  in your presence there is fullness of joy;
  at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

  Psalm 63:5  My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
  and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
  6  when I remember you upon my bed,
  and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
  7  for you have been my help,
  and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

  (I challenge you to do a study through the Psalms to see how often the Psalmists write (sing!) of God Himself fully satisfying them.)

  Isaiah 55:1  “Come, everyone who thirsts,
  come to the waters;
  and he who has no money,
  come, buy and eat!
  Come, buy wine and milk
  without money and without price.
  2  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
  and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
  and delight yourselves in rich food.
  3  Incline your ear, and come to me;
  hear, that your soul may live;
  and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
  my steadfast, sure love for David.

  Matthew 5:6  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

  John 6:27  Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28  Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30  So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32  Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34  They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

  35  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

  For those of you who are already Christians, I certainly hope all of you could tell me the facts about the price of your salvation, i.e. - you could tell me that Jesus Christ was fully God, and He humbled Himself and became incarnate, He lived a perfect life on this earth, and then He suffered and died for our sins on the cross, was buried and resurrected on the third day, and He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father until He comes again in glory, at which time we will be forever with Him. And I hope you could tell me about Jesus' atoning work on the cross, the necessity of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, and the imputation of our sin to Christ and of Christ's righteousness to us, that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone to the glory of God alone... and so on... but my challenge to you today is this:
  

  Jesus was sent to reconcile us to God so we might rejoice in God (Romans 5:6-11). The Good Shepherd came to bring sinners like us who were alienated from God's presence back into the presence of God...

  I Peter 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...
  

  
  – so we might experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore there. This is Jesus' desire for you, and for each and every one of His sheep.

  John 10:10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
  

  
  Have you tasted and seen God in Jesus Christ as the prize of your salvation, so you know and value and enjoy and treasure and exult in Jesus Christ as your perfect portion and all-satisfying pleasure? Can you truthfully say along with David that you have entered into an experiential knowledge of fullness of joy in God's presence and pleasures forevermore at His right hand?

  If you only know Him as the price of your salvation, but you've never tasted and seen Him as the prize of your salvation, would you ask God's Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of your understanding, so you might diligently seek Him and begin to apprehend and enjoy that hidden life of a Christian – communion with God by Jesus Christ?

  Jeremiah 29:13  You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart...

  For those of you who are not Christians, you may have been sold (and then bought) the lie that Christianity is a religion to make men miserable, but that is so very, very far from the truth! If you hear Jesus Christ calling to you today, if you are hungering and thirsting, repent that your sins might be blotted out, trust in Christ's all-sufficient sacrifice for sin and receive His perfect righteousness, so you might enter without guilt or shame into God's glorious presence, where you might be filled to overflowing with the all-surpassing pleasure that God alone provides in Himself.

  Revelation 22:17  The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.”
  And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

  "You have made us for Yourself, Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." ~ Augustine

  ---

  
  From Desiring God, God-centered resources from John Piper:

  Who is John Piper?
  Desiring God Resource Page (includes links to Piper's sermons, articles and much more)
  John Piper's Biographical Messages
  Desiring God Blog
  Desiring God online books (free downloadable PDFs & ebooks)

  
  More on John Piper:

  John Piper's writing leave (& his impact on me)
  Thank you, John Piper
  Happy Birthday, John Piper ~ reflections on year-ends, aging, fruit bearing & Christian hedonism
  Kingdom-Obsessed People Don't Retire
  my holy ambition
  adopting God's purpose for the nations is for your joy & His glory (Letter 76 on joy)
  blogging to build up the ruined Church of God
  Get gnawing, put your nose down in the Book to feed the white-hot flame of God's gift
  "Saving faith is wanting Jesus" ~ Are you loving His appearing or this present world?

  
  More on knowing and enjoying God in Christ as our Prize:

  my other "Letters on Assurance and Fighting for Joy" including:
  

  five years ago ~ for your joy (AND an inheritance | Richard Sibbes & the Sealing of the Spirit) ~ Letter 136
  Lenten Reflections: Why did Jesus die? ACCESS! | Letter 140 on assurance & fighting for joy
  Dancing & Skipping with Mrs. Durham | Letter 147 on fighting for joy
  Martin Luther: "The Spirit ... renders the heart glad & free, as the law demands" | letter 151
  "An unknown joy pervaded him" ~ "Such is the character of the Reformation" | letter 152

  Advent #1 WHY HAS JESUS COME? that we might have life & life more abundantly
  Advent # 5 WHY HAS JESUS COME? So we might draw near to God | Even a Vapor
  The Father's Inheritance (Eleven days' journey ~ A lamentation & an exhortation)
  birthday reflection: "the great & glorious possibilities" ~ "Now therefore, give me this mountain"
  "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the word)"
  don't waste your new year ~ teach us, satisfy us, make us glad (Psalm 90:12-15)
  The flags unfurled ... Christ's eternal banner | Lloyd-Jones ~ a third type of assurance
  The Christian should not just believe the truth, and know it..." | the Father's assurance
  Finding pleasure in Him
  Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from Jonathan Edwards
  Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from George Whitefield
  How's your spiritual appetite? (Jonathan Edwards)
  "The inestimable Benefits of Christ's Death, inferred from the excellency of his Person"
  a little child set in our midst leads us into the New Year
  this earthly manna ~ the Christian hedonist's plea

  Other profitable preachers...

  Lloyd-Jones 30 years later ~ Thank you, Dr. Lloyd-Jones for preparing the way
  Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Biography & Series Links
  Profitable Preaching ~ Kenneth Stewart: "And your soul will be a damp squib..."

  Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  • 2:36 PM
  • 5 Comments