Friends don't let friends go to Hell

We see a billboard like this on our way to church. It definitely grabs your attention, right? In fact, I almost wrecked trying to read it the first time I saw it-shocking! The source is the AdCouncil (also known for 'Friends don't let friends drive drunk', and 'A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste'.)

The point of this billboard is to speak up if you are in the car with someone driving recklessly ... or else you could end up in a serious accident leaving you paralyzed or dead.

I love the bluntness, the efficiency of words! It is cold-drink-in-a-dessert type of refreshing in our culture of political correctness and tolerance of all things save Christianity!

Speaking of which, I would like to propose that Christians consider the message of the Gospel in these terms. Serious car wrecks are tragic, but isn't eternal judgment and torment infinitely more important?

I am preaching at myself, here trust me. I am far too selfish--too worried about embarrassment or whether so-and-so will like me. Too busy. It is time to get beyond fear of rejection and warn people about the wrath to come. What did Jesus say when He first began his public ministry?

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17 ESV)

Not exactly a PC message, but like the billboard message it is concise and effective.

What about the Apostle Paul? Did he worry about hurting feelings? He was often beaten, some times to the point of near death, all to bring the Gospel to people who didn't want to hear it.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:8-12 ESV)

I love Tim Challies' article about the false perception of God's 'unconditional love' for all mankind. We do an injustice to our non-Christian friends when we allow them to stay comfortable with a life not lived in obedience to God.

Mankind's greatest need is not tolerance but Truth. Let's go tell them--in love--that God is not happy with sin and a judgment is coming.

So speak up and share Christ with someone who is driving recklessly down the highway of life.

Video - The Gospel Song

A friend shared this video on FB. It's amazing! Beautiful animations describing Christ's substitution for sinners.



HT: Jason

Confession is not Propitiatory

Huh? Some might wonder what that means! This is the title of an article a friend sent me today. It basically means that merely saying you are sorry (even repenting) for an offense against God does not make everything better; it does not satisfy the required justice.

Had a discussion in Bible Study today about this very thing. The topic of the study was how God is our Judge. He has every right to be our judge as the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Someone mentioned how He forgives and that He's not all about Law. This is true, but I feel like I failed to clearly communicate that the only basis for His forgiveness of rebellious enemies of God (Rom 5:10) like us, is the Blood of Christ. This article, sent in God's perfect timing, explains perfectly what I was trying to spit out! It answers a question we should all have, and that is, 'What do we do with all our guilt?' It includes a great Spurgeon quote and a beautiful Christian song. Please read! Confesion is not Propitiatory

HT: Ryan

How strong is your faith?

A friend gave me a copy of Justification and Regeneration by Charles Leiter, and it is living up to the frequent recommendations. Here is a very helpful section on how justification is based on the blood of Jesus.

There is nothing in man that causes God to justify him, including his repentance and faith. Repentance does not pay for sin. A criminal's remorse for his crimes adoes not satisfy the just demands of the law. Neither does faith pay for sin! Only the blood of Jesus can pay for sin! Justification is based on the blood of Christ.

Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save and Thou alone.
Augustus Toplady

This explains why a person can have a very weak faith and still be justified. Imagine two bridges crossing a chasm: One is very weak and untrustworthy; the other is very strong. A man may have a very strong faith in the weak bridge and confidently step out onto it. His strong faith will not keep him from plunging to his death. On the other hand, a man may have a very weak faith in the strong bridge and only barely manage with fear and trembling to venture forth upon it. The bridge will hold him securely, regardless of his weak faith. All that is necessary is for him to have enough faith to get him onto the bridge! When someone told Hudson Taylor that he must be a man of great faith, he replied, "No, I am a man of very little faith in a very great God."

When the Death Angel passed through Egypt on the night of the Passover, God was looking for only one thing--the blood on the doorposts. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you. (Exodus 12:13)" Those inside the house might have been full of fear and trembling, but it made no difference as long as the blood had been applied. (p 34-35)

So the question is not how strong is your faith, but how strong is the object of your faith? If that object is not Christ (John 14:6), and Christ alone (Acts 4:12), you will not make it across the bridge.

If you meet that poor wretch who thrust his spear into My side!

It is very affecting that the first offers of grace should be made to those who, of all people in the world--had done it the most harm! One would rather have expected the apostles should have received another kind of charge, and that Christ should have said, "Let repentance and forgiveness of sins be preached--but do NOT carry it to Jerusalem, that wicked city, that has been the slaughter-house of my prophets, whom I have often sent. Last of all, I myself, the Son, came--and with wicked hands, they have crucified and murdered Me! They may do the same to you! Do not let the gospel enter those wicked gates, through which they led Me, its Author, to crucifixion!"

But Christ singles out exactly these--to make monuments of His mercy, and commands the first offer of eternal life to be made to them! As if our Lord had said: "Lest the poor house of Israel should think themselves abandoned to eternal despair--as cruel and vile as they have been--go, make the first offer of grace to them! Let those who spilled My blood--be welcome to its healing virtue. Tell them that there is repentance and forgiveness, even for them!"

"Nay, if you meet that poor wretch who thrust his spear into My side, tell him that there is another way, a better way of coming to My heart--even My heart's love! Tell him, that if he will repent, and look upon Me whom he has pierced, and will mourn--then I will cherish him in that very bosom which he has wounded! Tell him that he shall find the blood which he has shed--to be an ample atonement for the sin of shedding it! And tell him from Me, that he will put Me to more pain and displeasure by refusing this offer of My blood--than when he first drew it forth!"

"For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance!" Matthew 9:13

This is from a sermon by Samuel Davies that you can read here.

A Response to the ABC Story on the Children of the Westboro Church

It was not my plan to watch this ABC piece on the children of the Westboro Church in Topeka (you know, the nice folks who picket with signs that say, 'YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!' and other uplifting messages). But when I saw the video of their children spewing this hatred, I just could not turn away.

Still in shock this morning, I read the entire abc story. I was sickened by the perversion of truth that is so prevelant in their message. I prayed for those kids who are being indoctrinated in this church, and for the families who have to deal with this hatred at the funerals of their loved ones, including young men and women who have served in our military. I prayed that God would vindicate Himself against these blasphemous lies. Worst of all, I discovered that much of their 'doctrine' is based on a twisted version of the theology that I love and embrace (the doctrines of grace, aka Calvinism). It was time to find a level-headed response. I found it on Josh Buice's website, Delivered By Grace.

Buice is the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church located in McMinnville, Tennessee, and author of this helpful blog. He has written several articles about the Westboro church which were compiled into a document called Westboro Baptist Church Revealed: Evangelized, Interviewed, Reviewed.

The 30 page document is worth the read, if you can stomach the inflammatory hatred (coming from the Wesboro members). The first story describes Buice's encounter with the hate group as they protested outside the SBC Conference. I was touched by his willingness to walk across the street to witness to these folks, and his heart for their children. An official interview with the church itself is next, followed by Buice's clear response. The paper concludes with the story of death of the great missionary Jim Elliot, who gave his life spreading the glory and love of God to the Auca Indians of South America.

This article exposes the hatred and ignorance of the Westboro church, and best of all, Buice explains the true gospel that the Scriptures teach.

The Westboro Baptist Church has a skewed view of the Gospel which leads to a very skewed view of missions. Their view of missions is to spread a vile form of hatred mixed with the Old Testament law regarding passages of judgment without moving toward the answer to that judgment which is propitiation through Jesus Christ our Lord. It seems like a strange mixture of hyper-hatred + hyper-Calvinism put into a blender and mixed together. It simply does not make sense. How can people find so much joy and fulfillment in telling people they are damned?

To believe in the sovereignty of God is one thing, but to hide the good news from people who are damned is another! I pray for Westboro Baptist Church. My desire is to see them saved and spared from their incorrect understanding of our God. Yes, God is a God of wrath, but He is also a God of love and mercy. We must be faithful to spread the truth about Him in both respects - God judges Sin, but He saves on the basis of Jesus Christ and His blood sacrifice.

Slain Lamb

There is nothing, no one, more worthy of high and lofty words than Jesus Christ. So when I heard this 'song/sermon' I had to find a way to share it here. This video makes use of the 'Slain Lamb Outro' piece on the album Unpacked (download for free here), by iSix5.

Excerpts are taken from a sermon by Pastor Smedly Yates, a graduate of The Master's Seminary. Yates sermon, God Never Graduates from the Gospel, was preached at Grace Bible Church in Tempe, AZ on 3/7/2010.

This exalted view of Christ is central to the Scriptures. Tim Juhnke has been preaching through Revelation and his last two sermons have been a spiritual feast. From Revelation 5 we see this idea in The Investiture of the Lamb. Consider downloading Part 1 and Part 2.

Let us focus on the One who is both Lion and Lamb, and who will return to earth to judge the world.

Guarding the Gospel

This is some good preaching by Steve Lawson. The video is just a few pictures rotated, but the Truth in the sermon is powerful!



Give us some men who know the truth!

T4G Video

Couldn't make it to T4G? They have made video available of all the speakers! Click here.

Resurrection by J.I. Packer

Resurrection: Jesus Christ was Raised from the Dead
by J.I. Packer

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 24:1-3)

Jesus’ resurrection, which was a divine act involving all three Persons of the Godhead (John 10:17-18; Acts 13:30-35; Rom. 1:4), was not just a resuscitation of the ruined physical frame that was taken down from the cross for burial. It was, rather, a transformation of Jesus’ humanity that enabled him to appear, vanish, and move unseen from one location to another (Luke 24:31, 36). It was the creative renewing of his original body, the body that is now fully glorified and deathless (Phil. 3:21; Heb. 7:16, 24). The Son of God in heaven still lives in and through that body, and will do so forever. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, Paul envisages that Christians who are alive on earth at the moment of Christ’s return will undergo a similar transformation, though in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 he shows himself aware that Christians who die before the Second Coming will be “clothed” with their new body (the “eternal house in heaven”) as a distinct event, at or after the time of the old body’s return to dust (Gen. 3:19).

Christianity rests on the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection as a space-time occurrence in history. All four Gospels highlight it, focusing on the empty tomb and resurrection appearances, and Acts insists on it (Acts 1:3; 2:24-35; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30-32; 13:33-37). Paul regarded the Resurrection as indisputable proof that the message about Jesus as Judge and Saviour is true (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15:1-11, 20).

Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated his victory over death (Acts 2:24; 1 Cor. 15:54-57), vindicated him as righteous (John 16:10), and indicated his divine identity (Rom. 1:4). It led on to his ascension and enthronement (Acts 1:9-11; 2:34; Phil. 2:9-11; cf. Isa. 53:10-12) and his present heavenly reign. It guarantees the believer’s present forgiveness and justification (Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:17) and is the basis of resurrection life in Christ for the believer here and now (John 11:25-26; Rom. 6; Eph. 1:18-2:10; Col. 2:9-15; 3:1-4).

From: Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs

What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert

What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert looks like a great book. Can't wait to get it! Here is what the author says about the purpose for writing the book.



I'll write more after I've read it! In the meantime, this post talks about the basics of the Gospel in a very similar outline to what Gilbert uses in his book: God, man, Christ, and a response.

Paul's daring word about propitiation

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Christ as the Substitute for Sinners

The true Christian realizes ... God's way of salvation in Christ. This is the great good news. 'This is the thing I am preaching,' says Paul, in effect, to the Romans, 'this righteousness that is of God, that is in Jesus Christ, His righteousness.' What is he talking about? It can be put in the form of a question if you like. What is your view of Christ? Why did He come into the world? What has God done in Christ? Is He merely a teacher, an example, and so on? ... No, this is something positive, this righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Salvation is all in Christ, and unless you feel yourself shut up to Christ with everything else having failed, you are not a Christian, and it is not surprising that you are not happy. 'The righteousness of God in Jesus Christ' means that God sent Him into the world in order that He might honour the Law and so men might be forgiven. Here is One who gave perfect obedience to God.

Here is One, God in the flesh, who has taken human nature unto Himself, and, as man, has rendered perfect homage to God, perfect allegiance, perfect obedience. God's law He kept fully and absolutely without a failure. But not only that ...

Before man can be reconciled to God ... this sin of his must be removed. God has said that He will punish sin, and that the punishment of sin is death and banishment from the face of God ... God has set Him forth as a propitiation . . . [this] means that God has made Him responsible for our sins. They have been placed upon Him and God has dealt with them and punished them there, and therefore ... He can justly forgive us.... It is a daring thing for the Apostle to say, but it has to be said ... God, because He is righteous and holy and eternal, could not forgive the sin of man without punishing it. He said He would punish it, so He must punish it, and, blessed be His Name, He has punished it.

He is just, therefore, and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.
Spiritual Depression, pp. 32-3

You spit in the very face of God!

I came across a neat website with good reading for Christians. In it there is a section on evangelism, including this excerpt from a Spurgeon sermon. Oh that we would have this passion for the lost and the love-that's right LOVE-to tell them the truth! If you are reading this as an unbeliever, please cry out to Christ, your only hope of being made right with God!

You spit into the very face of God!

(adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, #964
"The Essence of the Gospel" John 3:18)

Do you not see, O unbeliever, how the matter stands?
The infinite Lord of mercy, that you might not perish,
has devised a wondrous way of salvation, which has
astonished cherubim and seraphim, and made heaven
ring with song; and this you utterly reject!

When you imagine that your church goings and
good works will save you, you set a low estimate
upon what Jesus did. These very actions of yours,
which you think to be good, are setting up an
Antichrist in opposition to Him, upon which He
looks with abhorrence.

God says He will save by Christ, and in no other way!

And so long as you seek salvation another way,
you do as it were, spit into the very face of God
by the insolence of your self righteousness!

That God should send a Savior, His one and
only Son, the Lord of heaven and earth; and
that He should come with testimony of love,
the love of God to sinners, and seal that
testimony with His blood; and that men
should refuse to believe in Him, is the most
monstrous iniquity that could be imagined!

O sinner! Will you spurn almighty love?

Can you turn away from boundless mercy?

You must be infinitely wicked, you must be
enormously, monstrously, diabolically at
enmity with God, or else surely a blessing
so precious you would not slight, a plan of
mercy so adapted to your condition you
could not have the impertinence to reject.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:36

Solemn words! Hear them and tremble!

This is no idle threat!

The Lord has power to fulfill His sentence.

What power have you to resist it?

Who is there that can help you to withstand Him?

You are utterly in His hands, you cannot break
prison and escape. If you climbed up to heaven
He is there; if you dived to hell He is there;
the whole universe is but one great prison
for an enemy of God!

You cannot escape Him, neither can you resist Him.
If your bones were granite and your heart were steel,
His fires would melt down your spirit. Against Him
you can no more stand than the chaff against the
fire, or the dust against the whirlwind.

O that you would feel this and desist from your insane rebellion!

O unbeliever! God is angry with you now. This
statement is no invention of mine, it is written by
the pen of inspiration that "God is angry with the
wicked every day: if he turn not, He will whet His
sword: He has bent His bow, and made it ready."

God is more angry with some of you
than He is with some already in hell!

An angry God holds you over the gulf of hell; justice
demands that you fall into it, and it is nothing but
His mercy that keeps you out of it. He has but to
will it, and before the clock shall tick again, you
who are condemned already would be forever where
the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched!

God's wrath, though it has not come on you yet, is like
a stream that is dammed up. Every moment it gathers
force, every hour it is swelling the dyke. Each day,
and each moment of each day in which you remain an
unbeliever, you are treasuring up wrath against the
day of wrath when the measure of your iniquity is full.

How earnestly would I persuade you to escape from condemnation!

It is not within the power of thought to conceive what
God's wrath is! No language, even though it should
make both the ears to tingle, can ever fully express it.

I am not one of those who would so delude your poor
souls, O unbelievers, as to make you think it a light
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

O turn! turn! turn! Why will you die?

Oh, why do you stand out against Jesus, and pull
down upon your heads the wrath of an angry God?

"I will think about it," says one. Think about it!
You will think yourself into hell before long.

What is the Gospel? by John Piper

HT:Jason

Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?

MacArthur says, 'No' and stands on the Scriptures in this article. Jim Elliff has a very helpful book on the subject as well called Going Under: Discussions on Baptism.

Free Book Offer: Ashamed of the Gospel

Receive John MacArthur's Ashamed of the Gospel for free if you get on GTY's mailing list!
Here are the details. Offer expires Feb 17th!

Gospel Translations

I'm real excited about this ministry!

Gospel Translations from Andrew Mahr on Vimeo.

God is the Gospel Review - Pt 5

The conclusion contains some fantastic hymns with great lyrics that point to this truth that God is the Gospel. I will put a bow on this week of posts by quoting three of those hymns:

Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Fairest Lord Jesus
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.

I Will Glory in My Redeemer
I will glory in my Redeemer
Whose priceless blood has ransomed me
Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails
And hung Him on that judgment tree

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who crushed the power of sin and death
My only Savior before the holy Judge
The Lamb Who is my righteousness
The Lamb Who is my righteousness

I will glory in my Redeemer
My life He bought, my love He owns
I have no longings for another
I’m satisfied in Him alone

I will glory in my Redeemer
His faithfulness my standing place
Though foes are mighty and rush upon me
My feet are firm, held by His grace
My feet are firm, held by His grace

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who carries me on eagles’ wings
He crowns my life with loving-kindness
His triumph song I’ll ever sing

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who waits for me at gates of gold
And when He calls me it will be paradise
His face forever to behold
His face forever to behold

God is the Gospel Review - Pt 4

Piper begins Chapter 11 with these words:

The best news of the Christian gospel is that the supremely glorious Creator of the universe has acted in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to remove every obstacle between us and himself so that we may find everlasting joy in seeing and savoring his infinite beauty. The saving love of God is his doing whatever must be done, at great cost to himself, and for the least deserving, so that he might enthrall them with what will make them supremely happy forever, namely himself. Therefore, the gospel of God and the love of God are expressed finally and fully in God’s gift of himself for our everlasting pleasure. “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps 16:11)

In typical Piper fashion, he shocks us awake one last time with this cutting paragraph, which will be my final quote. If this doesn’t completely turn you off to the book, perhaps it will cause you to read it to see where he goes with this:

The God-centered love of God is foreign to fallen human beings, especially those hwo, like most of us, have been saturated for decades with doctrines of self-esteem. We have absorbed a definition of love that makes us the center. That is, we feel loved when someone makes much of us. Thus, the natural, human definition of love is making much of someone. The main reason this feels like love is that it feels so good to be made much of. The problem is that this feels good on wholly natural grounds. There is nothing spiritual about it. No change in us is needed at all to experience this kind of “love.” This love is wholly natural. It operates on the principles that are already present in our fallen, sinful, and spiritually dead souls. We love the praise of man. It feels good. Praise is to the ego what sex is to the body. It just doesn’t get any better—as long as we are spiritually dead.

The ground of natural love is finally me, not God. If you make much of me, I feel loved, because I am the final ground of my happiness. God is not in that place. He should be, but he is not. That is what it means to be unconverted and natural. The deepest foundation of my happiness is me (p 149)

Piper then goes on to talk about how unconverted people can ‘get religion’. There are plenty of churches that nurture this type of self-love, and even those that preach the truth twist the message in their heads to hear what they want to hear.

So it is possible even to see God as “in a sort, lovely” when we are not even genuine Christians. If he can be seen as a servant of our self-love, then we can see him as lovely. If he will make much of us, then we will be willing, up to a point, to make much of him. … The issue is: Where does the foundation of our joy lie? I s it ourselves or is it God? (p 150-151)

God is the Gospel Review - Pt 3

This entire section was such a blessing and I found it very difficult to ‘pull out’ a quote because the entire section is quote-worthy.

The creation of the material world, including our bodies with all five senses, was God’s idea. He did not do it mainly as a temptation to idolatry, but mainly as a display of his glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). That is the purpose of a million species of animals and plants, and a million galaxies. “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:4). Yes, if the thanksgiving is rooted in the sight of the glory of the Giver who is more to be admired than all his gifts, and supremely to be enjoyed in all his gifts (p 138).

It was also very special because by God’s providence, our family rented the Disney DVD Earth during the week I read this section, and as we watched this documentary (secular yet strangely missing all of the ‘millions of years ago’ allusions to evolution), we were enraptured by the majestic and spectacular images of God’s handiwork in creation. We were truly glorying in Christ for giving us such a planet to enjoy!

All the enticements to God that are not God are precious and precarious. They can lead us to God or lure us to themselves. They may be food or marriage or church or miracles. All of these blessings bring love letters from God. But unless we stress continually that God himself is the gospel, people will fall in love with the mailman—whether his name is forgiveness of sins or eternal life or heaven or ministry or miracles or family or food (p 143).

Piper then exposits Habakkuk 3:17-18 and Psalm 63:1-3 and Psalm 73:24-26 to illustrate this God-centered focus. He includes my favorite Augustine quote, “He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake (p 144)”. Finally, he brings in Jesus and Paul.

Jesus put it like this: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). Jesus must be the supreme treasure of our lives, if we are true disciples of Jesus. Jesus died for us and rose again to make it possible for us to see him and savor him above all things with everlasting joy. This is the great good the gospel is meant to accomplish.

Therefore those who are permeated most deeply by the gospel speak like the apostle Paul: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:7-8).

Piper ends the section with an amazing Jonathan Edwards quote (imagine Piper quoting Edwards?!?):

The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is the wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they ar to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the ‘river of water of life’ that runs, and the tree of life that grows, ‘in the midst of the paradise of God’. The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them (p 145).