Let the Nations Be Glad!

You know if you're reading a good book when it gets you praying. You know if you're reading an even better book if it gets you praying scripture:

'Let the peoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!'

Psalm 67:3-4

'Let the Nations Be Glad!' by John Piper is a great read. Full of classic Piper meat constructed around a theology of missions. I'm a bit of a fan of Piper and totally agreeing with the concept of Christian Hedonism (when rightly interpreted) so this book was just my thing.

The premise behind the book? 'Missions exists because worship doesn't' (pg 17). The ultimate end of the church is not missions Piper argues but worship. We are made to glorify God by enjoying Him forever and this if considered seriously it will start a fire in our hearts for the evangilisation of the world. Our worship should fuel our missions. When you taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8) you want others to taste the same soul-satisfying sweetness.

This book of theology is meant to move us. Knowledge produces feelings which in turn produce action. It can happen in no other way. If you start learning that 'the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one' (1 John 5:19) your heart should be moved to love. Passion for God and His glory coupled with compassion for humanity motivate people to be risk-takers for the gospel. And these two motives Piper argues are one in the same thing:

'Unbelief not only dishonours God but also destroys the soul. Everything that discredits God damages man. Every assault on God's holiness is an assault on human happiness. Every thought or feeling or action that makes God look wrong or irrelevant increases man's ruin. Everything that decreases God's reputation increases man's suffering. And so missions is driven by a passion not only to restore the glory of God to its rightful place in the worshipping soul but also to rescue sinners from everlasting pain.' (pg 208-209)

The book is divided into three sections. In the first 'Making God Supreme in Missions: The Purpose, the Power, and the Price.' Piper sways the reader to see the purpose of missions to exalt God's God-centeredness to all the nations; that is God's commitment to glorify Himself for all eternity. God is righteous He loves to celebrate and magnify the ultimately valuable (Himself) above everything else: 'God's righteous passion and delight is to display and uphold His infinitely valuable glory. This is not a vague theological conjecture. It flows inevitably from dozens of biblical texts [texts like Is 48:9-11, Rom 9:17, Is 43:25, John 12:27-28, Phil 1:9,11 etc etc] that show God is relentless in pursuit of praise and honor from creation to consummation.' (pg 22)

The power of missions could only be prayer. Not just any prayer but prayer in the Spirit. Not just saying words but feeling God. Prayer needs to be expectant and persevering prayer. Prayer like the prayer of George Mueller who wrote 'I am now, in 1864, waiting upon God for certain blessings, for which I have daily besought Him for 19 years and 6 months, without one day's intermission.' (pg 69). I was convicted by this. I'm too quick to give up! We have to battle on asking, seeking and knocking because our Father loves to give good gifts (Matt 7:7-11, James 1:17).

Suffering is the worthy price of missions. 'Loss and suffering, joyfully accepted for the Kingdom of God, show the supremacy of God's worth more clearly in the world than all worship and prayer.' (pg 71) Taking up our cross is our duty and therefore joy. Being ready to die with Christ so that we fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions (Col 1:24) or to put it another way represent the sufferings of Christ to men, women and children who haven't seen Christ face-to- face. Piper quotes Bonhoeffer: 'The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion wit Christ. When Christ calls a man, He bids Him come and die.' (pg 74) When we are happy to adopt such an attitude Christ will be made to look wonderful. Our calling is to go outside the camp and suffer with Him (Heb 13:12-14). Suffering looks different for everyone; for one it might be cancer, for another persecution. One thing is for sure that if we are to be glorified with Him we will suffer with Him (Rom 8:17).

Part two of the book suddenly becomes more theological and analytical. Drawing on Edwards Piper explains that the consequence of offending infinite beauty equates to an endless time in Hell. Punishment for a crime increases when you the person you offend is more valuable. 'Sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations, must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving infinite punishment.' (Edwards, pg 122). What is needed to escape this wrath? Conscious faith in Christ. Piper labours to prove it must be conscious. People need to know the name of Jesus to be saved, this comes from the word of God delivered by man (Rom 10:14-15). It is the name of Jesus that needs to be named for salvation, an anonymous saviour is not a glorified saviour.

The third section of Let the Nations goes back to worship. Piper loves to remind, this is wonderful (Phil 3:1). He reminds us again that worship is the chief end of the church and pure worship needs pure motives. So what are the proper motives for missions? The glory of God and the happiness of man. Are these two not mutually exclusive? No, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. In other words 'the pleasure you take in God is the measure of the treasure you find in Him.' (pg 212)

Piper gives an interpretation of John 4:23 - the worship that the Father wants should be in Spirit and in truth. He points out that this worship principle is for everyday life, not just one day a week. We need truth, the right facts about God. And we need the Spirit, the right attitude towards God. Jesus is the new temple of God. He is the new meeting place of God and man. It is there we can behold His glory, full of grace and truth. And if this is true and we have Jesus with us until the end of the age (Matt 28:20). In the words of Luther: 'The worship of God... should be free at table, in private rooms, downstairs, upstairs, at home, abroad, in all places, by all people, at all times. Whoever tells you anything else is lying as badly as the pope and the devil himself.' (pg 222) Inward New Testament worship will manifest itself in a transformed life. Holy living is the over-spill of real worship. If you love God with your heart and mind you'll want to love Him with your tongue, arms and feet as well.

Let the Nations Be Glad is a book that gets you worshiping on the spot by saying things like 'O Lord I want to serve you' or 'O God raise up workers for the harvest field'. It's a book that will increase your view of God as more glorious than everything else and likewise your love for the extension of the gospel so that the nations can be glad as they praise the infinitely beautiful God.

God's Satisfies us by Loving Himself

God loves Himself supremely above all other creatures. He delights in the purity of His character. He observes and analyses every emotion and mental capacity He possesses and declares it good! God is excellent, all together lovely, more beautiful than any landscape or icon. God's reaction to Himself is worship. He worships Himself loving to demonstrate His magnificence to everyone by speaking through creation. He is clearly seen through the testimony of earth.

He is a consuming fire, burning bright with radiance and indescribable light. He is the lion from the tribe of Judah; powerful, strong, the King of all creatures. He's the lamb that was slaughtered; meek and humble. He's the lamb that wanted to be slaughtered. It was His will to redeem a people to give Himself the joy of adoration. He desired worshippers to worship with His Spirit through His truth. He was willing to look guilty in the world's eyes to purchase our innocence. His cross was horrid and bloody. It was brutal and evil to nail the Son of God to splintered wood yet at the same time it works to express the greatness of His glory. He died and suffered to make Himself look wonderful. He did it to make Himself happy. For the joy that was promised to Him He endured the cross.

What do we get from God's efforts to make Himself look wonderful? We get we've always wanted: the happiness that comes from beholding beauty!

'And he [Moses] said, 'Please show me your glory.'' Exodus 33:18

God's Plan to Capture and Captivate You

Here are the notes from a talk I delivered a few Wednesdays ago for the Student Cafe at Montpelier Place....

Introduction:
· If you start to understand this book [the Bible] it will overwhelm you.
· Scripture has always been doing devastatingly powerful things and is still working today
· I want you (if you’re not a Christian) to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour through the power of this book.

Read Gal 4:4-9
(4) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
(5) to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
(6) And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
(7) So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
(8) Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
(9) But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God….

Paul is a writing a letter to a church in Galatia
v8 Paul looks back to what the Galatians were before becoming Christians

1. Not knowing God-
They didn’t have any understanding
They didn’t want to find the real God.

2. Enslaved to things that are not gods- you have to worship something
· Not knowing God always leads to being enslaved to something else
· You’re enslaved to whatever you think God is
· Sin is worshipping everything as God that is not God.
· Enslaved= captured by something that makes you think gives you life (it tells you that it satisfies but never does). You have to serve that god because you believe in it’s preciousness and quality = drugs, alcohol, pornography, getting a good job, education, fashion/clothing, your sex life, food, family, reputation, the thoughts your friends have of you. Everyone serves a god like this.

3. What does the real God think? We worship tiny-created things and adore them as if they were amazing then reject Him- and He is amazing. He’s angry because of that.
We’re supposed to be loving Him and we love everything else in His place and so we are screaming ‘we hate you God’. God will send you to Hell for that. We all deserve to burn for offending spectacular beauty.

But God offers power to change.
Power to stop worshipping other ‘stuff’ as if it is God and to start worshipping Him because He is God.
Power to get things in perspective.
Power to be forgiven so that we can worship Him.

It’s all about Jesus…

God didn’t give up on the world or abandon it-he didn’t divorce His creatures-we’re made in His image
He became a man
He became like us:
1. Born of a woman: he was a real human-ate, coughed, got tired, and went to the loo, suffered in a world full of loneliness and hurt
2. Born under the law-obligated to obey it like us.

· To redeem those under the law:
1. You can’t obey the law perfectly-Jesus can and did.
2. Jesus offers His perfect obedience to you

What’s the point of it all? V5
· To love your Dad
· God wants you in His family –he’s got a birth certificate with your name on it.
· Jesus died for your ‘worship of other god’s’ so that you could know the pleasure of enjoying Him.

What happens if you accept? V6, 7
The Holy Spirit = God, lives in you to help you and comfort you
Then you can say ‘Abba Father’- shows an intimate connection
What was your Dad like? God is a million times better.
You become God’ Son and an heir.

Worship Styles

Shane Rosenthal: What do you think about a niche marketing approach that has by virtue of the different worship styles--teen pop, alternative, and adult boomer--created generational segregation?

J. I. Packer: 'We have separated the ages, very much to the loss of each age. In the New Testament, the Christian church is an all-age community, and in real life the experience of the family to look no further should convince us that the interaction of the ages is enriching.

The principle is that generations should be mixed up in the church for the glory of God. That doesn't mean we shouldn't disciple groups of people of the same age or the same sex separately from time to time. That's a good thing to do. But for the most part, the right thing is the mixed community in which everybody is making the effort to understand and empathize with all the other people in the other age groups. Make the effort is the key phrase here. Older people tend not to make the effort to understand younger people, and younger people are actually encouraged not to make the effort to understand older people. That's a loss of a crucial Christian value in my judgment. If worship styles are so fixed that what's being offered fits the expectations, the hopes, even the prejudices, of any one of these groups as opposed to the others, I don't believe the worship style glorifies God, and some change, some reformation, some adjustment, and some enlargement of spiritual vision is really called for.'

Functional Saviour, Functional Heaven

It's time to get excited!

Yup it is time to get very excited. Why? Well actually not because of Christmas. Actually it's because tomorrow is Sunday. And Sunday for Christians should be the best day of the week!

Tomorrow is a day when we can give our whole selves (heart, soul, mind and strength) to worshipping and adoring God. Now don't get me wrong-even if we eat or drink we're worshipping Him; but Sunday is a time to be in His immediate presence.

Let me clarify: We can worship God though what is carnal (physical/temporary). 1 Corinthians 10v31 states this: 'whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God'.
This means that fajitas and filter coffee are worship!

So out of something carnal comes the worship. The worship is always spiritual though. It should be done in Spirit and in Truth (John 4v24) like our prayers should be' in the Holy Spirit' (Jude 20) true prayer is always in th Holy Spirit becuase God is spirit.

Sunday is a day for worship that is not based on the carnal (ie secular jobs, food etc)-it's just us adoring God through the Bible, Prayer, communion and fellowship with each other. Sunday should be the destination and climax of the Christian week. We should wish for a month of Sundays! Sundays are golden.

How can you encourage someone in your Church tomorrow? Do you need to exhort or rebuke someone who is back sliding? Who can you give comforting scriptures to? Can you challenge an un-believer? Why don't you offer to pray with someone after the service to build them up? Why don't you ask them about their soul? Don't be satisifed with small-talk:

'Hi, how are you?'
'Well thanks, you?'
'Yeah good thanks, see you next week.'
'See you, bye'

How about something like this:

'Hey! How are you doing?'
'Good thanks'
'How did God speak to you through the service?'
'Well he reminded me about grace and how all I need to do is to trust in the cross and not work my way to Him'
'That's really cool! God is amazing he loves to bless us!'

The 2nd is so much better and more encouraging!!

What is Sunday worship to us? Can we spend long amounts of time around the word of God and prayer? If Sunday worship doesn't thrill us then Heaven wont either. The seventh day will be turned into an eternal seventh day or sabbath soon.

'There remains therefore a rest for the people of God' (Hebrews 4v9)

Rest from what...worship? No way! A rest from worship would be a seeking to find happiness in everything apart from God. It's a rest from carnal work. From a sin diseased world. From a corrupted heart. Rest from imperfect obedience and imperfect servant hood. A rest from faith because it will be turned to sight. A rest from picturing Jesus through the scriptures....we will see him face to face. A rest from worry and grief. A rest from the devil hounding us to temptation. A rest from worldliness trying to pollute our mind with anti-Jesus thoughts. A rest from Chrsitians who are luke-warm and half-hearted. A rest from the deception and stalking of the devil. A rest from 'contending earnestly for the faith' (Jude 3). A rest from false prophets and decievers. A rest from tears over our sin. A rest from evangelism (although it's our joy). A rest in Jesus arms-complete comfort and adoration to King Jesus. The rest is in Heaven.

Meditate on this verse for 10 minutes

'Their Redeemer is strong;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their case,
The He may give rest to the land,
And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon' (Jeremiah 50v34)

If this verse doesnt make you praise God then you need to seek God either for salvation or a greater filling of the Holy Spirit.


“God hath made it our duty, by his institution, to set apart this day [the Sabbath] for special seeking of his grace and blessing. From which we may argue, that he will be especially ready to confer his grace on those who thus seek it… The Sabbath day is an accepted time, a day of salvation, a time wherein God especially loves to be sought, and loves to be found…”
Jonathan Edwards

Get excited about tomorrow!