Two of Our Deepest Needs

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:1)

We as a church are “in” a Father and “in” a Lord. What does that mean?

The word “Father” implies primarily care and sustaining and protection and provision and discipline. So, to be “in” the Father would mean mainly to be in the care and under the protection of God as our heavenly Father.

The other designation is Lord: We are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Lord” implies primarily authority and leadership and ownership. So, to be “in” the Lord means mainly to be in the charge, under the authority, and in the possession of Jesus as our supreme Lord.

So, Paul greets the Thessalonian church in such a way as to remind them that they are a family (in the care of a Father) and that they are servants (in the charge of a Lord). These two descriptions of God as Father and Lord, and thus of the church as family and servants, correspond to two of our deepest needs.

Every single one of us has a need for rescue and help, on the one hand, and the need for purpose and meaning, on the other.

We need a heavenly Father to pity us and rescue us from sin and misery. We need his help every step of the way, because we are so weak and vulnerable.

We also need a heavenly Lord to guide us in life and tell us what is wise and give us a great and meaningful charge to fulfill, and reason for existence, some usefulness for the way God made us. We don’t just want to be safe in the care of a Father — as precious and needed as that is. We want a glorious cause to live for.

We want a merciful Father to be our Protector, and we want an omnipotent Lord to be our Champion and our Commander and our Leader in some great cause. So, when Paul says in verse 1, You are the church “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” we can take rest and help from the one — God is our Father! And we can take courage and meaning from the other — Jesus is our Lord!

John Piper 

Live Like You Belong to Jesus

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

MATTHEW 25:40

 

PONDER THIS

When you do something for one of the brothers of Jesus, it’s just like you have done it unto Jesus because His friends are our friends. If you love Jesus, you’re going to love what Jesus loves. And if you don’t love the brethren, certain conclusions are in order.

The late, great Vance Havner was a Baptist preacher from North Carolina, full of wisdom. Here’s what he said: “When I see a bird that looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, paddles in water like a duck, and prefers the company of ducks, I conclude it must be a duck!”

When you see people who live like the world, dress like the world, act like the world, and prefer the company of the world rather than the company of God’s people, they’re of the world! If you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re going to love what Jesus loves, and Jesus loves the Church. He loves the brethren. His friends are our friends—“…as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

What evidence does your life give that you are “of Jesus”? “Of the world”?

What changes is God calling you to make to move closer to Jesus today?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider the changes you feel God leading you to make. Take concrete steps toward change today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Is Jesus Working Through You?

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

COLOSSIANS 1:27

 

PONDER THIS

In the gospels, you find out what Jesus did in His human body. In the Book of Acts, you find out what Jesus is doing in His spiritual body, the Church. Jesus is still active and alive on the Earth today, and He still has a body. In the gospels, it was His material, physical body. Now, it is the Body of Christ, the Church.

You see, we’re not here just imitating the Lord Jesus. Any New Testament church is the body of Jesus. We are Him. He is in us. We are the visible part of the invisible Jesus, and He is the invisible part of the visible Church. We must let the thought get into us that Christ began in the gospels, but He continues in us today; the Church of Jesus Christ is the Body of Christ on Earth.

We need to stop doing things for Jesus. We need to start letting Him do something through us. If the Christian life is lived where you hang your hat, where you go to work, and where you go to school, it will not be you living it; it will be Jesus living it in you. If you’re doing things for Jesus, that’s superficial, but if Jesus is doing something through you, it is supernatural.

How have you seen the Body of Christ at work in your area?

What does it look like to let Christ do something through us instead of doing things for Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage your fellow church members today in their purpose to be the Body of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Does Unity Among Believers Mean?

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

PSALM 133:1

 

PONDER THIS

On the Day of Pentecost, one of the first things we see is that the believers were united. The Bible tells us in Acts 2:1, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” The Body of Christ needs a unity that will pass over denominational lines. The problem is that the devil hates unity. God brings us together; the devil divides us. But the altar unites us. And today, we need to restore our unity.

Now, there are some things we won’t sacrifice. I’m not talking about cult-like unity—I’m talking about people who are blood-bought brothers and sisters in Christ. They may not cross every T and dot every I exactly the same way we do, but if they’re in the family of God, they are our brothers and sisters. We need to pray that all believers in our city, all believers in our state, all believers in our country, and all believers in the world will come together and be as Jesus prayed for us to be: “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21).

Love your brothers and sisters in Christ—no matter the color of their skin, their age, or their social status. Put your arms around them. Bring them in. Don’t shut them out, and don’t divide over unnecessary things. When we get together, we can do wonderful and glorious things.

Who are some of the believers you struggle to greet or welcome into your community at church or into your life?

Why have you struggled with unity in the past?

PRACTICE THIS

Get to know a believer in your church or community you have not gotten to know yet.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Real Love Produces Maturity

“…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” 

EPHESIANS 4:15B-16

 

PONDER THIS

The way all parts of the body work together is beautiful. Joints connect different parts of the body to be a whole. When Paul spoke about the joints, he spoke to not only unity but flexible harmony. My elbow is a joint—it’s what connects my forearm to my upper arm. So, it keeps me connected, but it’s also flexible and enables me to bend my arm. That is how the Body of Christ should be, but some people get stiff. We get spiritual arthritis. And rather than having this flexibility, we become rigid.

When I studied human anatomy and physiology in college, I found out that we have synovial fluid that lubricates these joints. When the cartilage becomes dry and the synovial fluid is not there, the joint gets inflamed, swollen, stiff, and painful. Just like our physical bodies need the right amount of synovial fluid to keep our joints healthy and moving, the Body of Christ also needs “synovial fluid” to keep it healthy and active.

The synovial fluid in the Body of Christ is love. When we love one another, we don’t inflame one another, and we don’t become immobile. We become mature in stature: we become like Christ. We become mature in stability: we’re not blown about. We become mature in speech: we know how to speak the truth in love. And we become mature in service: we serve one another, and the Body works together to serve others.

What have you done intentionally to love those in the Body of Christ?

When have you struggled with being flexible in the Body of Christ? How did you get through it?

PRACTICE THIS

Intentionally love and pour into someone at your church.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How Did God Design the Body of Christ to Work?

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”

1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-7

 

PONDER THIS

God gave you a spiritual gift not for your enjoyment but for your employment. Your spiritual gift is to bless the Church, not to bless you. It is a tool, not a toy. Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift of God, and that’s what we need to do too. We need to study to show ourselves approved to God.

If a person has the natural talent to sing, he or she must develop it. So, you also have a spiritual gift, but you have to study it and work at it to develop it. When we start to pursue the Lord with our gifts, growing in our relationship with Him and improving in our gifts, something beautiful happens. Ephesians 4:13 says, “we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” In other words, God has given His people gifts, and when these gifts work together, the body matures and becomes like its head, the Lord Jesus Christ.

How have you used your spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ?

How have you benefited from someone else’s spiritual gift?

PRACTICE THIS

Take a spiritual gifts test to see what your gifting is, or if you know your gift, put it into practice to build up the Body of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God Made Us to Need Each Other

 

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12

 

PONDER THIS

The foot and the hand both belong to the body. Your hand is relatively attractive. You care for your hands with polish on nails and adorn your hands with jewelry. Feet are not as noticeable as hands, but you would’ve had difficulty getting in here today without them. Each member of the body is important, and God made us where we need one another. We belong to one another. We can’t be in competition with one another, nor should we live in isolation from one another.

Some members of the body that don’t seem necessary are very necessary. When was the last time you ever said, “Lord, I really do thank You for my pancreas,” or “Bless God for my wonderful spleen”? You probably don’t do that. We tend to take these things for granted.

We also don’t know who does all the little things around the church to make our services run smoothly. Who opens the doors of the church on Sunday morning so you can come inside? You don’t know. Who makes the coffee for everyone? You don’t know. Who does so many things we take for granted? You don’t know. What if they all stopped, and we arrived at church on a Sunday morning to find all the lights off, the doors locked, the building cold, and the choir absent? Then, maybe you’d begin to say, “Thank God for the members of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are one Body, and all the members are necessary and vital to the Church.

Who are some of the members of your church that serve behind the scenes? How can you start paying attention to who does the little things?

What have you contributed to the Body of Christ?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage and thank a member of your local church community who serves behind the scenes.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Finding Unity Within Diversity

PRAY OVER THIS

“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:4-5

 

PONDER THIS

What goes into assembling a jury for a trial? Typically, the desire is to assemble a group of people who can come together to give a verdict on the decision in question. That’s what our Lord did when He took the apostles. These apostles had been with our Lord for three years: They lived with Him. They walked with Him. They were companions. They ate together. They fellow shipped together.

They were not the type of jury you would expect. John was a young man. He was a visionary. He was sort of a philosopher type. Simon Peter was the opposite of John, a big, hardworking fisherman. Then there was Simon the Zealot. He was a political activist. And then there was Matthew the tax collector. Matthew had sold out to the Roman government. Many thought of him as a turncoat.

Can you imagine having Simon and Matthew on the same jury and trying to ask them to reach a unanimous verdict about anything? All these men had different backgrounds, viewpoints, ideals, and ideas but they all agreed on one thing: what they witnessed in Christ. We are to function the same way today as the Church.

What are some of the differences between you and some others in your congregation? How do you overcome those differences in Christ?

How have you seen God work through differences to bring Himself glory?

PRACTICE THIS

Think about someone in your church you struggle relating to. Pray Christ’s blessing on that person and seek unity in Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Meets Your Deepest Need?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know why they crucified Jesus? They said, “This man is a friend of sinners.” That’s why they crucified Him. Do you know I’m so glad He is? Where would I be if He were not? Where would you be if Jesus were not a friend of sinners? Jesus did “not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32). He doesn’t love us because we’re good; He loves us by His grace. He doesn’t make us good so He can love us; He loves us so He can make us good. Isn’t that wonderful? Have you received that love today?

Your deepest need is not for physical intimacy but for emotional and spiritual intimacy. The deepest need is to have somebody who understands us—our fears, hurts, aspirations, and disappointments. The human heart yearns for such a friend. His name is Jesus. It’s Jesus you need. What a friend we have in Him.

How has Jesus been a friend to you?

What are some things you look for in human friendship that only God can provide?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some time in prayer thanking Jesus for being a friend to you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Final Reality Is Here

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. . . . They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:1–2, 5)

We’ve seen it before. But there’s more. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing.

Hebrews 8:1–2, 5 is a kind of summary statement. The point is that the one priest who goes between us and God, and makes us right with God, and prays for us to God is not an ordinary, weak, sinful, dying priest as in the Old Testament days. He is the Son of God — strong, sinless, with an indestructible life.

Not only that, he is not ministering in an earthly tabernacle with all its limitations of place and size while getting worn out and being moth-eaten and being soaked and burned and torn and stolen. No, Hebrews 8:2 says that Christ is ministering for us in a “true tent that the Lord set up, not man.” This is not the shadow. It’s the real thing in heaven. This is the reality that cast a shadow on Mount Sinai for Moses to copy.

According to Hebrews 8:1, another great thing about the reality which is greater than the shadow is that our High Priest is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. No Old Testament priest could ever say that.

Jesus deals directly with God the Father. He has a place of honor beside God. He is loved and respected infinitely by God. He is constantly with God. This is not shadow-reality like curtains and bowls and tables and candles and robes and tassels and sheep and goats and pigeons. This is final, ultimate reality: God and his Son interacting in love and holiness for our eternal salvation.

Ultimate reality is the persons of the Godhead in relationship, dealing with each other concerning how their majesty and holiness and love and justice and goodness and truth shall be manifest in a redeemed people.

John Piper 

Are You Available to Jesus?

PRAY OVER THIS

“If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” 1 Corinthians 12:17-18

 

PONDER THIS

Now my body is not supposed to have any plans of its own. I would be afraid of my body if it had plans of its own. My body is to serve me; I’m not to serve it, and it’s only to serve me at my command. Suppose I woke up this morning and my hand somehow had the ability to speak and say, “Good morning, Mr. Rogers. I have some plans today. I’m going to scratch your ear, I’m going to shave you, I’m going to take a pen and write some words for you, and I’m going to shake some hands for you.” I’d say, “I don’t want you to have any plans of your own. Just be there.” I would be afraid of that thing!

So many times, we’re telling Jesus what we’re going to do for Him. He doesn’t want us to do anything for Him. Does that surprise you? He wants to do something through you. Your body is here to minister to you! Our purpose as followers of Jesus is to hear what the head says and to do it. That’s what we’re here to do. And therefore, we must listen to what our Lord is saying. We are to minister to Him.

The best ability is availability. That’s it. Are you available? Are you responsive to Him? In a body, there is a ministering purpose. The body is to minister to the purpose of the person who lives in that body.

When have you told God what you were going to do for Him?

How have you made yourself available to be used by God?

PRACTICE THIS

Think about a time recently you told God what you were going to do. Repent and ask God to help you trust His purpose for you.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Do You Love What Jesus Loves?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

 

PONDER THIS

In Scripture, there are many ways that the Church is described. For example, the Church is described as the bride of Christ. He is the Bridegroom, and we are the bride. The Church is described as His building, not a physical building, but a spiritual building with Christ as the foundation and us as living stones. The Church is described as a flock of sheep. We’re the sheep of His pasture, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads His flock. Finally, the Church is the body of Christ. He is the head, and we’re the members. Whether it be a bride, a flock, or a building, all these illustrations of the Church speak of community. None speaks of individualism. It speaks of togetherness. We’re in this together. The Bible teaches we are members, one of another.

Now if people say, “I believe in Jesus, but I don’t believe in the Church,” there is a lot they don’t understand. Jesus and the Church are not identical, but Jesus and the Church are inseparable like a bride and a groom; a head and a body; a foundation and a building; or a shepherd and a flock. All of these go together. So don’t say yes to Jesus and no to the Church. When you say that, you are missing a major part of the heart of God. Love for Jesus and love for what Jesus loves are inseparable.

When have you struggled to love the Church? Why can this be difficult?

How have you been blessed by the Church?

PRACTICE THIS

Find a way to practically love and serve others in your church.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why We Pursue Unity

PRAY OVER THIS

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” John 17:22

 

PONDER THIS

Jesus wants unity in His Church. One of the things that gives Joyce and me great joy is to see our children loving one another. We pray for our children and grandchildren. We want them to love Jesus, we want them to love us, and we want them to love one another. Likewise, God wants you to love your brothers and sisters in Christ, all His children.

Unity is the delight of the saved. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than to be in a church where there’s division. There’s nothing more glorious than to be part of a church in which you have sweet fellowship and oneness of spirit. What a fellowship and what a joy divine!

Unity is the dread of Satan. Satan gets very nervous when God’s people dwell together in unity because this makes us a winning team. The celebrated basketball coach, John Wooden of UCLA, was asked, “What does it take to make a winning team?” He said, “Get the players in condition. Teach them the fundamentals of the game. Teach them to play together as a team.” Isn’t that simple? That’s exactly what it takes to make a great church. Get in condition, get right with God, learn the fundamentals of the game, learn what being a Christian is all about, and then, live in unity for the Lord Jesus Christ.

When have you struggled to pursue unity in your church? Why?

What are some steps that you can take toward pursuing unity in your church now?

PRACTICE THIS

Reach out to one person for the sake of pursuing unity and reconciliation as needed.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

We Are His House

Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:3–6)

The people who boast and hope in Jesus Christ are the house of God. Which means that Jesus this very day — not just back in Moses’s day or in his own days on earth — but this very day is our Maker, our Owner, our Ruler, and our Provider.

Jesus is called the “builder” of this house. Moses was not the builder. He was part of the house. So it says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” So Moses, as great as he was in leading the house, and giving God’s word to the house, was still just a part of the house. But Jesus built the house.

So if we boast in Jesus and hope in Jesus, we are the house, and Jesus is our Builder, and Owner and Ruler and Provider. He does not let his house be destroyed or fall into ruin.

Then the writer changes the imagery — from builder and house, to son and servant. “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant . . . but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” So Christ did become part of the house — part of the household — he built. But even so, his honor is far above Moses. Moses was a servant. Christ is the Son. The heir.

And we are part of this household. Hebrews 3:6: “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” By all means, let us respect and give Moses his due. But the point of the whole book of Hebrews is: Christ is greater. Greater in every way. He is the builder of the house of God’s people. And he is the Son in the house of God’s people. Let us respect Moses. But let us worship Jesus — our Maker, our brother.

John Piper 

Are You a Part of the Body of Christ?

PRAY OVER THIS

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

(1 Corinthians 12:12)

 

READ THIS

It is important that we understand that while Jesus Christ and the Church are not identical, they are inseparable. We cannot forsake the Church; we must remain faithful in fellowship.

This passage describes the Church as a body, with Christ as the head. As our bodies inhabit our humanity, the Church inhabits Jesus Christ. The body serves the life of the person who lives inside of it; likewise, we are Jesus’ hands and feet.

Jesus is the invisible part of the visible Church, and the Church is the visible part of the invisible Christ.

The formation of the Church Body begins when the members are spiritually born again and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we are bound together as a single body in fellowship. We share a common life, unified by the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us. We belong to one another, casting aside isolation as well as any competition with one another.

CONSIDER THIS

How does it change your view of the Church to remember that the Church is part of Jesus and Jesus is part of the Church?

How does it change your view of your relationships in the Church when you remember that the Holy Spirit, and not just the efforts of people or chance, brought you together?

DO THIS

What are some ways you might grow in fellowship with other believers this week? Act on this!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Have You Opened His Door?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” Revelation 3:20

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

A man once told me, “Back in the depression, we had three meals a day. We had oatmeal for breakfast, corn meal for dinner, and no meal for supper.”

You may feel like that. You may not feel as if you have much now. But I don’t care what is set on your table today, Friend, listen—when you become a Christian, whether or not you have a freezer full of filet mignon, it makes no difference. There’s Someone else who prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian, you eat at the King’s table.

ACTION POINT

If you have opened the door to Him, you feast in Him. You are in the Lord’s fellowship. You sit at His table! And no matter how poor you are, you eat with the King! Open your heart’s door to the Lord Jesus Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Two of Our Deepest Needs

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:1)

We as a church are “in” a Father and “in” a Lord. What does that mean?

The word “Father” implies primarily care and sustaining and protection and provision and discipline. So, to be “in” the Father would mean mainly to be in the care and under the protection of God as our heavenly Father.

The other designation is Lord: We are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “Lord” implies primarily authority and leadership and ownership. So, to be “in” the Lord means mainly to be in the charge, under the authority, and in the possession of Jesus as our supreme Lord.

So, Paul greets the Thessalonian church in such a way as to remind them that they are a family (in the care of a Father) and that they are servants (in the charge of a Lord). These two descriptions of God as Father and Lord, and thus of the church as family and servants, correspond to two of our deepest needs.

Every single one of us has a need for rescue and help, on the one hand, and the need for purpose and meaning, on the other.

We need a heavenly Father to pity us and rescue us from sin and misery. We need his help every step of the way, because we are so weak and vulnerable.

We also need a heavenly Lord to guide us in life and tell us what is wise and give us a great and meaningful charge to fulfill, and reason for existence, some usefulness for the way God made us. We don’t just want to be safe in the care of a Father — as precious and needed as that is. We want a glorious cause to live for.

We want a merciful Father to be our Protector, and we want an omnipotent Lord to be our Champion and our Commander and our Leader in some great cause. So, when Paul says in verse 1, You are the church “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” we can take rest and help from the one — God is our Father! And we can take courage and meaning from the other — Jesus is our Lord!

John Piper 

Let Us Adore the Lamb

I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. (Revelation 5:4)

Have you ever thought of your prayers as the aroma of heaven? This is the picture we get when we read Revelation 5. Here is a glimpse of life in heaven.

In Revelation 5, we see God almighty on the throne with a scroll in his hand. The scroll had seven seals. They all had to be pulled off before the scroll could be opened.

I think the opening of the scroll represents the final days of history, and the pulling off of the seven seals represents the kind of history we will pass through as we move toward those days.

At first, John wept that there was no one worthy to open the scroll and look into it (Revelation 5:4). But then one of the elders in heaven says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5).

By dying on the cross, Jesus had earned the right to open the remainder of redemptive history and lead his people victoriously through it.

In the next verse, the Lion is pictured as a Lamb, “standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). Isn’t this a beautiful image of Jesus’s victory on the cross? Standing, not lying, though it had been slain!

It is as sure as though a lion had devoured the foe — but the way he achieved the victory was by letting the foe slay him like a lamb!

So, now the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll of redemptive history from God’s hand and open it. This is such a kingly act that the twenty-four elders of heaven (God’s worship council, as it were) fall down before the Lamb in adoration.

And do you know what the golden bowls of incense are? Revelation 5:8 says they are “the prayers of the saints.” Does not this mean that our prayers are the aroma of heaven, sweet smelling before the throne of God and before the Lamb?

I am strengthened and encouraged to pray all the more often and all the more vigorously when I think that my prayers are being assembled and stored up in heaven and offered to Christ repeatedly in heavenly acts of worship.

Let’s all bless and honor and adore Christ here below with our prayers, and then doubly rejoice that the worship council of heaven offers them again to Christ as sweet smelling incense before the Lamb who was slain.

John Piper 

Christmas Solidarity

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The assembly line of Satan turns out millions of sins every day. He packs them into huge cargo planes and flies them to heaven and spreads them out before God and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Some people work full-time on the assembly line. Others have quit their jobs there and only now and then return.

Every minute of work on the assembly line makes God the laughingstock of Satan. Sin is Satan’s business because he hates the light and beauty and purity and glory of God. Nothing pleases him more than when creatures distrust and disobey their Maker.

Therefore, Christmas is good news for man and good news for God.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). That’s good news for us.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). That is also good news for God.

Christmas is good news for God because Jesus has come to lead a strike at Satan’s assembly plant. He has walked right into the plant, called for the Solidarity of the faithful, and begun a massive walkout.

Christmas is a call to go on strike at the assembly plant of sin. No negotiations with the management. No bargaining. Just single-minded, unswerving opposition to the product. We won’t be a part of making it anymore.

Christmas Solidarity aims to ground the cargo planes. It will not use force or violence, but with relentless devotion to Truth it will expose the life-destroying conditions of the devil’s industry.

Christmas Solidarity will not give up until a complete shutdown has been achieved.

When sin has been destroyed, God’s name will be wholly exonerated. No one will be laughing anymore.

If you want to give a gift to God this Christmas, walk off the assembly line of sin and don’t go back. Take up your place in the picket line of love. Join Christmas Solidarity until the majestic name of God is cleared, and he stands glorious amid the accolades of the righteous.

John Piper 

We Can Do Nothing

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Suppose you are totally paralyzed and can do nothing for yourself but talk. And suppose a strong and reliable friend promised to live with you and do whatever you needed done. How could you glorify this friend if a stranger came to see you?

Would you glorify his generosity and strength by trying to get out of bed and carry him? No! You would say, “Friend, please come lift me up, and would you put a pillow behind me so I can look at my guest? And would you please put my glasses on for me?”

And so your visitor would learn from your requests that you are helpless and that your friend is strong and kind. You glorify your friend by needing him, and by asking him for help, and counting on him.

In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” So we really are paralyzed. Without Christ, we are capable of no Christ-exalting good. As Paul says in Romans 7:18, “Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”

But John 15:5 also says that God does intend for us to do much Christ-exalting good, namely bear fruit: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” So as our strong and reliable friend — “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) — he promises to do for us, and through us, what we can’t do for ourselves.

How then do we glorify him? Jesus gives the answer in John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We pray! We ask God to do for us through Christ what we can’t do for ourselves — bear fruit.

John 15:8 gives the result: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

So how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need.

John Piper