Podcasts about desiring god

Faith glorifies God because it is a future-oriented confidence in God's integrity and power and wisdom to follow through on all his promises.

Who is really at work when you obey God? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to Ephesians 1:12–14 to show how God's sovereign will fuels both our willing and our doing.

Life gets harder as we age. We can't do the same ministries forever. How do we cling to joy in God amid the loss and uncertainty?

We don't become heirs of Abraham's promises by working for God but by being confident that God works for us.

What is God's goal in choosing a people for himself? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens Ephesians 1:11–12 to show that election and predestination exist for the praise of God's glory.

Why does faith not nullify the grace of God? Because faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifies it.

The worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands.

Faith nullifies boasting and glorifies grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord.

Why is the gospel bigger than we often imagine? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to Ephesians 1:8–10 to show how Christ's work unites Jews and Gentiles in one redeemed people.

Greg Morse | Men tempted by the love of comfort can learn much from the courage of Nehemiah. Knowing who he was and whose he was steeled him for the work.

When Paul talks about the riches of God's inheritance, is God the one inheriting, or are we? Pastor John offers four clues from the context.

God has wise and holy purposes when he does not answer our prayers as we want. Trust him. He knows what he is doing.

How does Christ define the meaning of all things? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper explores Ephesians 1:8–10 to reveal how the entire universe is summed up in him.

The sovereign grace of God can turn the unplanned place and the unplanned pace into the happiest ending imaginable.

How can we be set free from selfishness so that, at any earthly cost to ourselves, we will love other people in a way that makes Christ look great?

What is the foundation of our forgiveness? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to Ephesians 1:7 to show why the blood of Christ secures redemption.

We can know that our sins are taken away and that we will be safe in the judgment, if we trust Christ in such a way that it makes us eager for his coming.

What does redemption mean for us now and in the future? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper explores Ephesians 1:7–10 to show how our present forgiveness guarantees our future glory.

How do churches decide when repentance is real, discipline is done, and someone removed from membership is ready to be restored?

Patience is indeed a fruit of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit empowers us (with all his fruit) through hearing with faith.

What does it mean to be chosen in Christ? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to Ephesians 1:3–6 to show how God's election and predestination lead to our adoption as sons.

What feels to us like a waste is what God plans. He works through the most hopeless circumstances.

John 6:60-71,When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. “Here you go, take a look at this.”That's really all I said, but I'll tell you the whole story …Years ago I worked for a Christian resource ministry called Desiring God (it's a ministry we're still connected to and love) — well, back in those days our office was on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, and for a short season I worked in the customer service department. My desk was closest to the door right next to the sidewalk, and from time to time if we had a visitor drop in, it was part of my job to greet them.So one day a gentleman came inside and he said that he'd like to discuss how we could all work together to blend several different religions to become one. He said it didn't make any sense for religions to be divided because they all basically ‘believed the same things.' This guy was a seeker, and I wasn't trying to discourage him from that, but I told him that all religions did not believe the same things, and that the Christian gospel is unlike anything else, and as a example, I said “Here you go, take a look at this” … I handed him a book then titled, What Jesus Demands of the World by John Piper — it's a book 50-chapters long, and each chapter focuses on a different command Jesus gives, and I figured that if the guy read some of the things that Jesus actually said, he'd change his mind. Well the guy came back the next week and he was mad. He gave me back the book and said, “I'd like to teach a thing or two to the author of this book!”He had read what Jesus says and he was offended … and I still think about this from time to time, and I wonder: Why exactly was he offended? What part in particular did he not like? And then the bigger, existential question: Why was he offended by what Jesus says and I'm not (or at least not ultimately)?This is the question: Why do some people love Jesus and others don't?You ever thought about that before? Our passage today is all about this. At the end of Chapter 6, the longest chapter in the Gospel of John, we're going to see the human response to what Jesus has said and there are two main lessons we find here — and the relevance of these lessons will become obvious. I think we're gonna be able to see ourselves in this passage, but before we look at the first lesson, let's pray again and ask for God's help.Father, you know better than any of us all the different places we're coming from this morning, and you know what you want to say to us through your word. Would you, in these moments, open our hearts to hear from you? Give us humble hearts to receive the words of your Son, in faith. We ask in Jesus's name, amen.The first thing we learn in this passage …1. Those offended by Jesus are expected.Here at the end of Chapter 6, John narrows the focus from the “crowd” (which he's mentioned four times in this chapter) to now he says “disciples.” But when he uses the word “disciples” here, he's not thinking about the twelve disciples, but he's talking about followers of Jesus more generally. So imagine three categories of people: There's the “crowd,” the broadest number of people who had the miracle lunch (10,000 or more when you count men, women, and children).Then there's “the Twelve” mentioned in verse 67 and 70 (these are the twelve disciples whose names we know; they were closest to Jesus).But then, in the middle, there's who John calls “disciples” — which is less than the crowd but more than the Twelve. Somewhere in-between (these are folks who followed Jesus after the miracle lunch and they've heard all of his teaching in Chapter 6).And according to verse 60, of this middle group, these more generic disciples, “many” of them did not like what Jesus was saying. The collective voice of these disciples is at the end of verse 60. They said:“This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”They're talking about all that Jesus has been teaching, but especially the part about his flesh and blood, and we know from verse 61 that this was a grumbly statement. Jesus knew they were grumbling. Verse 60 was not a humble, teachable response — they weren't saying, “Jesus, we don't get it, would you help us get it?” — nah, they were frustrated with him — which means they were angry.You Ain't Seen Nothing YetAt the beginning of this chapter these people were well-fed, now they're fed-up, and look what Jesus says to them at the end of verse 61. He says, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? …”What Jesus does here is really important. There's a tone I don't want us to miss. So just to make sure, everybody find Jesus's question there at the end of verse 61. I'm gonna read it again. I want you to get it. Find verse 61. That question at the end, Jesus says:“Do you take offense at this?”He's saying: Do you take offense at this, my teaching? Oh you ain't seen nothing yet!Jesus is saying: You think my teaching is difficult. You don't like what I'm saying. Just wait until you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before!That's verse 62 — now what is Jesus talking about?Well, at one level, Jesus is talking about the final manifestation of his true identity. We know from the start of this Gospel that Jesus is the Word who was in the beginning. Jesus was with God, Jesus is God! — Jesus is God the Son, the one through whom all things were made, and he has all authority over all things, and in his ascension he is going to resume his seat on his throne in glory. That's in view here.But also, on another level in the Gospel of John, the event of Jesus's exaltation — his resurrection and ascension — is combined with the path he takes to get there, which is the path of his cross. So in this Gospel, Jesus being “lifted up,” before it means lifted in glory, it means lifted in shame. Before the ascension of Jesus took him up above the heavens, he was nailed up on a cross. And John, the writer, intends that double meaning of ascension in this Gospel.Tripping Over the TreeSo Jesus, in verse 62, is talking about his cross, and he's arguing here from the lesser to the greater. The cross of Christ is the ultimate scandal. It's the most offensive fact of Jesus — that the Messiah would be crucified! That's outrageous! It's insane! So Jesus is saying: If you can't handle my teaching (lesser), there's no way you're gonna be able to handle my crucifixion (greater). The teaching of Jesus is small beans compared to how he's going to be killed. See, Jesus is explaining in verse 62 — If you're bothered by my sayings, just wait until my sacrifice. If the difficulty of my doctrine undoes you, what about the degradation of my dying? If you're troubled by the truth you'll certainly trip over the tree.And this kind of tripping, this stumbling over the cross, is to be expected. The apostle Paul tells us this, 1 Corinthians 1:21, “It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…”The cross of Christ has been the problem for people going on now for two thousand years, and it's still the problem today. In fact, today, there's a lot of people who would at least ‘say' that they like the teachings of Jesus. Now they have his own version of his teaching — they're probably not thinking about the over 20 times he talks about hell — but overall, most people are okay with Jesus as a moral teacher.It is his cross that is offensive. Why? It's because the cross makes a very negative assessment of humanity. Because the first thing the cross says is that we are all sinners who need to be saved. Bad News FirstA few years ago I met a neighbor at a coffee shop and I invited them to our church, and they asked me right away, “Oh, is your church affirming?” Now, they were talking about gender and sexuality issues, but I just told them that our church doesn't affirm anybody — “All are welcome, none are affirmed!” — now I didn't make that up, but that's what I said — none of us are affirmed and that's why Jesus had to die!Jesus didn't come into a world full of people who were doing okay without him. He came into a world of sinners destined for God's wrath and at the cross he says to every single one of us: You are separated from God! You deserve judgment! You are wrong!People don't like to hear that. That's a “hard saying.” And it's so hard to hear that some people can't get past that bad news part to the good news part. But listen to the good news!At the cross, Jesus is not only saying “you're wrong,” he's also saying “You're loved!” You're wrong and you're loved!It's not just that you're so sinful and screwed up that I had to die for you, it's that you're so loved that I willingly died for you.I came to die for you. I pursued the cross for you.Nobody takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord, and I laid it down for you!Look, get this: if we don't know we're sinners, that love means nothing to us. But if you can handle the bad news first — if you can not be offended by the first part — then the second part is the greatest wonder in all the history of the whole world. Jesus Christ really loves you.But many people never get there. It's a fact. We learn here it's expected. We know from Jesus, from Paul, from history — those offended by Jesus are expected.Now, here's the second thing we learn in this passage.2. Those called to Jesus will come and stay.We start to see this in verse 63, and speaking of unpopular teachings of Jesus, this one could be top of the list. Not only are we all sinners, but Jesus says in verse 63:“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.”In other words, Jesus is saying, You can't save yourself! … You need to be saved but you don't have the power to do anything about it. But Jesus says he does — “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” John is reminding us in verse 64 that Jesus is fully aware of how everything will play out, but this is a hard saying:You all need to be saved, you can't save yourself, only I can save you, and some of you won't be.Then verse 65 is most clarifying. Jesus explains, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”Does everybody see that in verse 65? Do you hear what Jesus says? Nobody can come to Jesus unless the Father grants them to come. That's what he says! And oh, we humans don't like that! You mean to tell me that the most ultimate decisive factor in the universe is not my own will but it's God?!Yeah, exactly. That word “granted” in verse 65 means simply to give; and “coming to Jesus” is another way to talk about faith — therefore, Jesus is saying that our faith in him is a gift from God. If any of us has faith in Jesus it's because God gave it to us. And Jesus is just repeating here what he's already said twice in Chapter 6.Verse 37:“All that the Father gives me will come to me…” Verse 44:“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”Effectual CallingThis is the biblical doctrine that historically has been called “effectual calling.” You hear that? Effectual calling.The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith has an entire chapter titled “Effectual Calling.” (The same teaching is found in our Leader Affirmation of Faith, see 8.3.) But in the 1689 Confession, Chapter 10, paragraph 1 reads like this: Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ …Paragraph 4,… [others] not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved …And the footnote attached to this sentence says “John 6:65” — that's our verse. Believer in Jesus, this is your story. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings here, but look, the reason you believe in Jesus is not because you're smarter than people who don't believe. It's not because you're better. It's not because you're lucky.It's because the Father granted you to come. Why are we here this morning? Why am I here? God is why! It's because of God. It's because he chose me before the foundations of the world and in his timing he effectually called me! Paul tells us the same thing again in 1 Corinthians 1. Go back to 1 Corinthians 1:23, … but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.If Jesus Christ is wonderful to you, that is God's doing. He called you. And this is really good news.Look at this — verse 66…You Leaving, Too?After Jesus said verse 65, this middle group of ‘disciples' had enough. Verse 66:“Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”They basically proved his point. And then in verse 67 Jesus looked at “the Twelve” — so this is not the middle group anymore, these are his closest disciples, his chosen Twelve — Jesus looked at them and said,“Do you want to go away as well?”And man, what a question! Do you hear that question? Jesus is gentle and lowly, and he's direct and to-the-point. And as this middle group is thinning out, he says to his Twelve, Y'all leaving too?Christian, Jesus asks that same question to you. I've heard him ask me that. I'm almost 40 years old, which is not old, but I'm old enough to know of too many people who have “turned back and no longer walk with him” … and every time I find out about somebody else, I hear him ask me: You leaving too?You've thought about it. At some point, if it hasn't yet, it's going to cross your mind. Would I — could I — ever want to do life without him? …The answer is No.We answer again and again the way Peter answers here in verse 68. This is Peter's highest moment, in my opinion. It's very similar to his confession of Jesus in Matthew 16. Peter says the right thing here.Called and KeptJesus says,“Do you want to go away as well?”Verse 68,And Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”Jesus, we're not going anywhere. We know who you are. You're the Messiah! You're the Holy One of God. You're the only one who can give us life.And in Matthew 16, after Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus repeats the same theology there that we see here. He says in Matthew 16, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (see Matthew 16:17). Jesus says here in verse 70:“Did I not choose you, the Twelve?”So just in case we were to think too highly of Peter (some do) — in case we were to give Peter the credit for his right answer — Jesus reminds us one last time that he's the one at work. He's the chooser. He's the revealer. He's the Savior. And if you're called, you're kept.This is why the call of the Father is such good news. Look: if our faith was something that we could accomplish, it'd also be something we could lose. If we came to Jesus on our own, then we could leave him the same way.God the Father is the reason we come to Jesus, and that is the reason we stay.For Our SecurityJohn mentions Judas again in verse 71 as a reminder that Jesus is sovereign over it all. Jesus is not surprised by anyone who leaves him. He knows those who are truly his — and he's gonna tell us more about this in Chapter 10, but the goal here, like it is there, is not our unsettledness, but our security. Jesus is not teaching us this so that we say, “Oh no, what if I'm not called?” He's teaching us this to assure us that our faith is grounded in a reality much stronger than ourselves. He's giving us a behind-the-scenes look here. It's like he's saying: this is what is going on at headquarters, but your concern is the field-assignment, and that is to believe. Our concern is to come to Jesus and to keep coming to Jesus — that's what we do — and we do it in the confidence that God is working. Those offended by Jesus are expected; those called to Jesus will come and stay — and if you're here this morning there's good reason to believe that you've been called (because you believe in Jesus!) — or you're being called today …The Gospel of John compels me to go here, and to invite you, everybody in the sound of my voice who has not come to Jesus yet, you can come to Jesus today. You can take that step. Verse 37, Jesus says,“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”The Father is working. Take the step. Come to Christ! Trust in him! Say to him, from the heart:Jesus, I can't save myself and I'm done trying!You came to save me by dying on the cross and being raised from death!I put my faith in you!That is a prayer of faith, and that's what brings us to the Table. The TableAnd for those of us who have come to Jesus, who trust in Jesus Christ, this morning we can rest in the fact that he's our Savior, not ourselves. He called us, he keeps us, thanks be to God!We receive this bread and cup in that miracle. That's why this Table is for Christians. If you believe in Jesus this morning, we invite you to come to him yet again, and give him thanks!

Our election is unconditional in the strictest sense. Neither our faith nor our obedience is the basis of it. It is free and utterly undeserved.

When we sit down to calculate the cost of following Jesus — when we weigh the “worst” and the “best” — he is worth it. Abundantly worth it.

What is God's ultimate purpose in salvation? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to Ephesians 1:3–6 to unveil how God's grace serves God's ultimate goal — the praise of his glory.

How can faithful parents maintain a meaningful relationship with a wayward child? Pastor John helps moms and dads walk wisely through the pain.

Jesus knows all his sheep by name; that is, he knows them individually and intimately.

Why is grammar essential to knowing God? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens Ephesians 3:1–4 to show how reading Scripture well makes all the difference in our relationship with God.

God is so eager to work for us that he goes around looking for more work to do for people who will trust him.

Tony Reinke | In the age of artificial intelligence, do we still need preachers? Answering that question well takes us to the heart of God-glorifying preaching.

How does the Old Testament prepare us to know Jesus? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to John 5:33–47 to show how all of Scripture bears witness to his glory.

When you love Christ, you don't take much thought for your life in this world. Rather, you live for the glory of God's grace.

What keeps us addicted to human approval? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens John 5:30–47 to expose the restless craving for praise and how Christ sets us free.

Why would a pastor write a theological book on exercise? Would Jesus exercise if he were here bodily today? What does the Bible say about exercise and physical activity? And are Christians sinning if they don't exercise? These are a few of the questions Sean and Scott explore with pastor David Mathis, author of the new book A Little Theology of Exercise. David is senior teacher and executive editor of desiringGod.org, pastor at Cities Church (Saint Paul), and adjunct professor for Bethlehem College & Seminary (Minneapolis). He is author of ‘Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines.' His articles and messages are available online at desiringGod.org/mathis. He is married to Megan and father of four children. Join us for ANCHORED: A Conference for Pastors, Church Leaders and the Community June 9-11, 2025. Hosted by Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in Southern California. Learn more and register at https://www.biola.edu/anchored ==========Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California. Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically. Watch video episodes at: https://bit.ly/think-biblically-video. To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.

If the world was already fallen with Adam and utterly corrupt at the flood, why did God wait thousands of years before sending Jesus?

What makes the whole Trinity rejoice together? The free, electing love of God to hide the true spiritual identity of Christ from the intellectual elite and to reveal it to babes.

What does an unwillingness to believe the gospel reveal about us? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to John 5:30–47 to reveal how our deepest desires shape our beliefs.

Don't replace Christ this summer with trifles. Seek the things that are above. Flight from Christ into Christless leisure makes the soul parched.

Consider these five digital dangers and some accompanying resolutions to avoid and redeem them.

God's electing love is absolutely free. It is the gracious overflow of his boundless happiness guided by his infinite wisdom.

Why is Jesus the source of life? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to John 5:25–29 to show how the Son, like the Father, possesses and gives life as God himself.

How do we face death and broken relationships, especially when they pile on at the same time? Pastor John helps us find wisdom, love, and strength in deep loss.

Trust God. Commit your way to him. Roll onto him your anxieties, frustrations, and plans — indeed, your very life.

What happens when Jesus speaks to the dead? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens John 5:25–29 to unfold the staggering reality that all who have lived will rise at his call.

Hope and love do not come from nowhere. They grow out of ideas — views of reality — revealed in the Scriptures.

A camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle, nor can we turn our own hearts from loving money to loving Jesus. But what is impossible with man is possible with God.

What do Jesus's healings reveal about his ultimate mission? In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper turns to John 5:1–24 to show how every miracle points to the deeper healing we need.

How did you come to be a Christian? Join Charles Spurgeon and joyfully confess, “I ascribe my change wholly to God!”

How can women navigate a corrupt and confusing world? Pastor John offers biblical strategies for confidence, strength, and freedom.