Latest / Reformed Thinking / Brothers, Be Bible-Oriented Preachers | John Piper

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Brothers, Be Bible-Oriented Preachers | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reform Thinking and welcome back to the Deep Dive.
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  We're really glad you could join us.
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  Yeah, good to be diving in again.
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  So today we're tackling something, well, absolutely
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  foundational for Christian life and worship.
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  We're looking at authentic preaching.
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  What does it actually look like today?
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  A big topic. It is.
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  We're going to unpack some thoughts from John Piper looking
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  at why some preaching really hits home.
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  You know, connects with the Bible score truth while other
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  preaching maybe doesn't quite get there.
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  Right. It feels like sometimes it
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  misses the mark even with good intentions.
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  Exactly. There often seems to be this
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  tension, doesn't there in the pulpit.
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  Sometimes it feels maybe a bit dry, maybe too academic.
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  Or the opposite. Or yeah, the opposite extreme,
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  this push towards something that feels more like, well,
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  entertainment. Superficial.
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  Almost. Yeah, and Piper seems to point
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  towards a different way, something that brings together
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  seriousness and joy. A.
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  Synthesis like you said. Which leads to our main question
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  today, How does a preacher stand up there, convey the real solemn
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  weight of God's truth, but at the same time have this genuine,
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  robust human joy about them? That's the crux of it, isn't it?
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  It is. So this deep dive, we hope, will
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  shed some light on the kind of presentation that truly
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  communicates God's Word and how that stands apart from just
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  trying to amuse people. Yeah, it's a really important
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  distinction to make. It feels essential.
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  And you frame that tension perfectly.
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  Our discussion, as you said it, leans heavily on John Piper's
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  book Brothers, We Are Not Professionals.
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  It's quite the title. It certainly makes you think.
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  It does. Specifically, we're digging into
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  the section he calls brothers be Bible oriented preachers, not
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  entertainment oriented preachers, and his whole
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  argument there really hangs on two key things that are totally
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  linked. First, where does the preacher's
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  authority actually come from? The source?
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  Right, the source of the message.
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  Exactly. And 2nd, what's the preacher's
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  disposition, their inner posture, their demeanor?
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  You know how they carry themselves when they're
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  delivering that message. So it's not just what is said,
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  but how it's said and where it comes from.
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  Precisely, It's about understanding what gives
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  preaching it's it's real substance and impact.
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  OK, let's start with Piper's idea of earnestness.
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  I've been thinking about that word.
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  It sounds quite serious, maybe even a bit heavy, but he says
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  it's not joyless. How does that work?
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  What does being earnest actually mean in this context?
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  That's a great place to start because it's foundational for
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  Piper. Earnestness is well, it's
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  basically the inner disposition that genuinely matches the
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  immense weight of what's being preached.
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  OK. Matching the weight, yeah.
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  Think of it like and authenticity, an alignment
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  between the message of these huge eternal truths and the
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  preachers own internal state. It's something that helps the
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  message be felt, not just heard. I see, so it affects the
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  delivery. Absolutely.
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  The preachers whole being, their voice, their body language,
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  their spirit, it all communicates that this stuff
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  matters. It's not trivial.
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  It has real spiritual gravity. Got it.
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  And the opposite, then, is not joy.
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  That's the key distinction he makes.
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  The opposite isn't being happy or joyful.
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  The real opposite, the thing earnestness stands against, is
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  being trivial or flippant. Frivolous, maybe overly chipper
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  in a way that just doesn't fit the subject.
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  Like making light of serious things.
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  Exactly. Earnestness means you fully
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  recognize the seriousness, the reality, the glory of the
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  message, and you let that shape how you deliver it and
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  importantly, how the congregation receives it.
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  That makes sense. It's about authenticity to the
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  message. It is.
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  It demands the preacher be truly engaged with the the profound
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  nature of what they're declaring.
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  OK, so that clarifies the seriousness part, but you said
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  joy can still be there. This brings up humor, doesn't
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  it? How does humor fit in?
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  Is it OK to be funny in a sermon, or does that
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  automatically become flippant? It's a really common question,
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  and Piper is careful here. He draws a very clear line
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  between, let's say, healthy, genuine humor and something he
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  calls levity. Levity.
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  OK, what's the difference? Well, levity as a vice, he
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  describes describes it as flippant, hollow, unreal.
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  It's the kind of light heartedness that sort of trifles
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  with everything. It takes really weighty subjects
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  and makes them seem light. Like trying too hard to be
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  funny. Yeah, we're always angling for
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  that clever line, that witty turn of phrase.
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  It feels calculated, maybe forced.
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  And Piper argues that this kind of light heartedness actually
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  diminishes the significance of truth.
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  It makes eternal things seem less important.
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  So it undermines the message. It can, yes.
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  It risk turning the sermon into more of a performance than a
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  proclamation. Right.
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  So what's the alternative? Healthy humor.
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  Healthy humor, he says, is totally different.
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  He calls it robust laughter that grows up out of the realities of
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  life. It's spontaneous, It's organic.
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  It rises naturally from just observing life.
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  Like Spurgeon's famous quote. Exactly, this person said a
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  hearty laugh is no more levity than a hearty cry meaning real
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  laughter when it's a natural response to something genuinely
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  funny in life isn't a vice, it's healthy.
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  It's human. Piper even says only the sick
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  soul fails to laugh when something truly funny happens,
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  which is a strong statement, but it makes his point.
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  A healthy person isn't just serious all the time.
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  They are, in his words, earnest about being joyful.
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  Earnest about living fully, responding genuinely to life as
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  God made it. And that includes joy, even
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  laughter. So it's about being real, not
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  putting on an act, whether serious or funny.
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  Precisely. The challenge is cultivating
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  that internal posture that just instinctively pulls back from
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  triviality, but embraces real, God-given joy when it comes.
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  That takes self-awareness, doesn't it?
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  Absolutely. Especially in the moment.
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  Yeah, that distinction is really helpful.
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  Contrived humor versus genuine laughter.
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  And you mentioned Spurgeon, but Piper has his own story too,
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  right? The one about the little girl.
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  Oh yeah, the jellyfish story. It's perfect for this.
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  Tell us about it. He was.
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  Preaching, making an analogy about being free like a dolphin
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  versus just drifting like a jellyfish.
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  And he asked this rhetorical question.
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  You know, who in the world would want to be a jellyfish?
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  And this little girl, maybe second or third row, just pipes
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  up clear as day, full of innocence.
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  I would. That's brilliant.
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  And Piper says the whole place just erupted in laughter.
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  And he adds, as it should, because it wasn't a plan joke.
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  It was just life, a spontaneous human moment.
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  It broke the tension, maybe, but not the seriousness of the
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  overall point. Exactly.
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  It was organic, and Piper connects this to his own
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  practice. He mentions quite strikingly
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  that for 32 years he never intentionally told a joke in a
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  sermon. Wow, 32 years, especially
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  compared to his father. Who apparently often started
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  with one. But Piper isn't laying down a
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  law against all humor. He's showing that for him, humor
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  wasn't a strategy. It wasn't a tool for
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  entertainment or to soften the blow.
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  It had to be real. Had to be a real, spontaneous
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  response to life, to truth itself, not some calculated
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  attempt to be funny or hip. The goal always is earnestness
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  about the subject matter, never diminishing the weight of God's
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  word for a chief laugh. Got it.
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  So protect the gravity of the message.
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  Yes, and he then takes this personal approach and applies it
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  more broadly. He observes a trend in preaching
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  today. He says few pastors are actually
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  too serious. The pendulum has swung the other
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  way. That's his view.
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  He sees the dominant trend moving towards a flippant,
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  casual, clever, hip feel of entertainment.
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  And the danger there? The core problem, he says, is
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  that this style is out of sync with the subject matter of the
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  Bible. And, crucially, it diminishes
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  our people's capacities to discern and feel the weight.
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  A glorious truth. So it actually trains
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  congregations not to feel the weight.
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  In a way, yes. It trains them to value
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  cleverness or feeling amused over grasping the real gravity,
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  the glory, the eternal significance of what's being
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  said. It subtly suggests the truth
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  isn't waiting up on its own. OK, that leads us right into the
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  why. Why is this earnestness so
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  critical? What is it about the Bible
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  subject matter itself that demands this kind of serious,
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  weighty disposition from the preacher?
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  Piper lays out five huge, unavoidable realities that just
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  inherently command earnestness. And the first one, the
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  foundation for everything else, is God.
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  God himself. Just the.
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  Thought of God, a sheer thought of God, His Holiness, His
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  Majesty, His glory, and how to make his tremble.
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  Really to joke about God or be overly casual, or try to make
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  him seem small and manageable. Purpose says that shows an
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  obliviousness to reality. A failure to grasp who he truly.
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  Is exactly He warned strongly against what he calls the
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  domestication of God? Making God fit into our little
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  boxes, He calls His domestication a curse on
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  preaching in our day. A curse.
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  Strong words. Very strong because it shrinks
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  God down. It makes him seem comfortable,
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  predictable, maybe less awesome in the true sense of the word.
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  Instead of incomprehensible and holy.
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  Right, Piper says. We desperately need to recover
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  the language of majesty and holiness and awe and glory.
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  Not just fancy words, but the reality behind them.
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  Think about Exodus 15.11, who is like you, O Lord, Majestic and
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  holiness, awesome and glorious deeds.
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  Where Isaiah 6. Yes, Isaiah sees the Lord high
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  and lifted up the Seraph from crying.
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  Holy, holy, holy. And what's Isaiah's reaction?
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  Woe is me, I am lost. That's the proper response to
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  the undomesticated God. Utter awe and awareness of
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  unworthiness. Yes, So what a preacher really
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  gets who God is His transcendence, his power, his
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  purity. That sense of solemnity, of
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  earnestness just naturally follows in their preaching.
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  Anything less feels like of distortion.
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  It's a powerful reminder to keep God's immense nature central.
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  OK, so after God, what's the second reality?
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  Demanding earnestness? Sin I imagine.
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  Exactly. Sin.
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  And just like with God, Piper doesn't want this softened.
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  He says sin is intrinsically ugly and outrageous in the
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  universe. Not just a mistake, but
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  outrageous. Yes, it's a cosmic rebellion
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  against a holy God. And he says, to trifle with sin,
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  to treat it casually, is to miss what it is.
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  It's moral horror is so vast that all the physical suffering
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  and agony in the world, Piper argues, serves as a kind of grim
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  testimony to sin's devastating reality.
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  Wow, all suffering points back to Sin's horror.
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  That's the implication. Brokenness, disease, violence,
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  decay. It's all an echo of that initial
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  rebellion and. If that's not enough.
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  If the present reality of suffering isn't enough to make
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  us serious about sin, Piper points to its final penalty.
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  He says this should make a shiver.
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  He uses Revelation 14, doesn't he?
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  He does that terrifying imagery of drinking the wine of God's
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  wrath, poured full strength, being tormented with fire and
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  sulfur in the presence of the Lamb, with the smoke going up
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  forever and ever, having no rest day or night.
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  Eternal misery. That's the phrase he uses, an
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  unending conscious reality for those who remain in rebellion
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  against God's holiness. That's incredibly stark.
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  It is, and then he makes his critical point.
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  Of all the evils we face, Satan, sickness, insanity.
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  Only sin can actually damn a soul.
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  Only sin leads to that final separation.
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  Right. Satan temps, sickness afflicts,
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  but only sin carries that ultimate eternal consequence.
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  Therefore, Piper concludes, any flippancy in and around our
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  preaching communicates to people that sin is not as serious as
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  the Bible says it is. It actually disarms them.
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  It does. It undermines their
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  understanding of their need for a Savior.
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  If sin isn't that bad, why do I need rescuing so desperately?
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  A preacher who fails to convey the horror of sin isn't doing
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  their congregation any favors. That's a heavy responsibility.
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  Yeah. OK, so God's sin.
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  The next logical step seems to be hell.
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  How does that fit in? Hell is the third reality, Piper
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  points out something striking Jesus spoke about Hell's horrors
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  more than anyone else in the Bible.
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  He didn't shy away from. It not at all.
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  He used vivid, frankly terrifying descriptions.
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  Outer darkness, separation from God's presence, weeping and
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  gnashing of teeth, unimaginable regret and anguish.
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  Mark 9 talks about the worm not dying, the unquenchable fire.
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  Yes, and Luke 16. The rich man cries out from a
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  place of torment. These aren't mild images.
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  They depict conscious eternal suffering.
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  In the urgency. The urgency comes from the fact
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  that, as Jesus warned, many people are heading that way.
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  The gate to destruction is wide, and crucially, it's the Word of
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  God, the gospel proclaimed, that saves from hell.
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  So the stakes are ultimate. Ultimate this reality, the
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  eternal dangers so many are in, and the fact that the preached
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  word is the means of rescue. This makes a preacher earnest,
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  Piper says. If it doesn't, that preacher is
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  basically out of touch with reality, oblivious to the
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  eternal consequences, hanging in the balance.
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  It certainly puts casual preaching in a different light.
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  OK, God, sin, hell. Now the cross.
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  How does the Cross demand this earnestness?
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  The cross is the 4th reality, and it's central, isn't it?
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  Piper describes Jesus's death as unspeakably horrible, and it's
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  horrible on multiple levels. How so?
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  First, there's the moral hideousness.
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  Think about it. The perfect, pure, innocent Son
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  of God being mocked, tortured, condemned by sinful humans.
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  It's an outrage beyond our comprehension.
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  The ultimate injustice. Yes, but then there's the
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  physical horror, too. Crucifixion was designed for
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  maximum pain and humiliation, Piper suggests.
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  If we'd actually bend there, we'd likely have been physically
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  sickened by the brutality and then overwhelmed with grief,
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  seeing the suffering of the most precious person ever.
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  It's hard to even imagine. It is.
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  And this event, the central saving event, this brutal,
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  horrific yet glorious act was the price for all we offer in
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  preaching. Everything flows from the cross.
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  Everything Forgiveness, eternal life, reconciliation, adoption,
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  the spirit, Piper says. Virtually every benefit or hope
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  we offer in preaching was obtained at this cost.
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  This immense cost. This infinite cost which leads
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  to his piercing question, How can any of it be trifled with?
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  How can we possibly treat lightly a message purchased with
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  the blood of the Son of God? To do so would devalue the
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  sacrifice and diminish the hope we proclaim it.
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  Would be an insult, really. Deeply so OK.
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  That's powerful. God, sin, hell, the cross.
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  The 5th reality you mentioned was perseverance.
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  How does the ongoing Christian walk connect to the preacher's
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  earnestness? How is every sermon a salvation
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  sermon? This is such a crucial point,
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  and maybe less obvious. It comes down to believing what
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  Scripture teaches. Like in Mark 1313, the one who
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  endures to the end will be saved.
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  Salvation isn't just a one time decision, it includes
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  persevering in faith. Continuing in faith throughout
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  life. Right.
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  And Piper holds that this ongoing perseverance is
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  sustained by the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God
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  week by week. But if that's true.
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  Then every sermon is vital for that endurance.
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  Exactly. Virtually every sermon is a
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  salvation sermon. Not just the ones aimed at
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  conversion, but every message preached to believers is crucial
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  for sustaining their faith, nurturing them, guarding them,
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  helping them endure. So there's no less important
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  message for Christians, Piper argues.
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  No, there isn't a less serious and less critical message for
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  the Saints compared to the message for the lost.
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  Every single sermon is crucial and critical in sustaining the
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  faith of the Saints and so bringing them safely to glory.
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  Wow. That raises the stakes for
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  Sunday mornings. Doesn't it The eternal destiny
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  of believers, their ongoing spiritual health, their final
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  arrival and glory? It's all bound up with their
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  continuing faith, which is fueled by the preached Word.
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  So this demands great earnestness every single time
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  the Word is opened. A flippant approach risks
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  undermining that very perseverance.
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  OK, understanding those five massive realities, God, sin,
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  hell, the cross, perseverance really underscores the weight.
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  Now let's look at the act of preaching itself.
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  How does the simple command preach the Word carry such
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  immense significance? What makes preaching so
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  momentous? Well, Piper directs us to that
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  incredible charge Paul gives Timothy in Second Timothy
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  chapter 4 verses one and two. It's just stunning in its
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  solemnity. Read it for us.
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  Paul writes, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ
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  Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his
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  appearing and his Kingdom preach the Word.
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  Just preach the word. 3 simple words. 3 words.
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  But look at the introduction, the context Paul wraps around
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  that command. It's designed, Piper says, to
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  make any preacher pause and feel the weight.
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  OK, breakdown that introduction for us.
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  He says I charge you. That's not a suggestion, it's a
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  solemn command. Then where does Timothy stand?
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  In the presence of God before the Almighty Creator.
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  Not just the congregation. No, and also in the presence of
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  Christ Jesus, the judge himself. And Paul specifies this.
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  Jesus is to judge the living. Everyone currently alive.
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  And the dead, Everyone who has ever lived.
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  His judgment is universal and final.
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  That's already overwhelming. And there's more.
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  Paul adds 2 more anchors by his appearing as the second coming,
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  the climax of history, and by his Kingdom, God's eternal reign
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  breaking in now, fully coming then.
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  So Paul links preaching to the biggest reality is imaginable.
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  Exactly God's presence, final judgement, Christ's return, the
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  eternal Kingdom, Piper says. Paul deliberately frames
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  preaching this way to ensure we grasp its profound gravity and
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  responsibility. It's not just public speaking,
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  it's a divine Commission embedded in ultimate reality.
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  OK, so if I'm tracking this, the significance of preaching
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  doesn't come from the preacher's skill or personality.
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  Primarily. No, it comes because it's tied
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  directly to these huge realities and ultimately to God's own
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  authority. The preacher is more like a
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  messenger. You've got exactly That's a core
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  principle Piper drives home. Preaching is momentous not
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  because it is done by great men, but because it is tethered to a
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  great book, the Bible. Tethered to the Bible.
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  Its authority, its power, its life changing potential flows
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  from its source, the inspired Word of God, not from the
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  messenger's own abilities. The preacher is a steward, a
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  herald, delivering a message that isn't his own.
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  And understanding that fundamental point is what leads
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  Piper to distinguish so sharply between different ways of
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  approaching the pulpit. OK, let's get into that
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  distinction now. Bible oriented versus
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  entertainment oriented preaching.
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  How does Piper describe the differences?
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  Let's start with the entertainment oriented preacher.
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  What does that look like? The contrast is pretty stark.
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  The entertainment oriented preacher, Piper says, often
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  gives the impression that their message is not tethered to an
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  authoritative book, or at least not firmly.
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  It feels like their own ideas. Yeah, their words seem to have a
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  kind of self standing worth as interesting or fun.
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  The goal feels more like being engaging or amusing in itself.
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  Rather than clearly deriving authority from scripture.
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  They can come across as untethered to objective
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  authority. Like the Bible is just one
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  source among many for illustrations or points.
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  Sometimes, yes, and they often seem quite at ease talking about
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  many things that are not drawn out of the Bible, maybe
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  referencing pop culture heavily, or telling long personal stories
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  that aren't clearly connected to explaining the text.
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  It might even feel like they enjoy talking about those other
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  things more. Piper suggests that can be the
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  impression that they enjoy talking about other things more
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  than he enjoys talking about what the Bible teaches.
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  It's a subtle but significant shift in focus.
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  And crucially, you don't get the strong sense that they see
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  themselves standing there as the representative of God before
• 19:28
  God's people to deliver God's message.
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  Their illustrations might wander off too.
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  Right. They might be cut, sprawling,
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  not tightly controlled to illuminate the biblical point.
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  The overall feel tends toward that flippant, casual, clever,
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  hip feel you mentioned earlier. It often prioritizes making the
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  listener feel good immediately rather than focusing on deep
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  spiritual formation through the text.
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  OK, that paints a clear picture. Now contrast that with the Bible
• 19:52
  oriented preacher. What defines their approach?
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  It's a fundamentally different mindset.
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  The Bible oriented preacher sees himself first and foremost as
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  God's representative, sent to God's people to deliver a
• 20:04
  message from God. Not their own message.
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  Absolutely not. And this isn't arrogance.
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  It's a sense of Commission. They approach the task with, as
• 20:12
  Piper puts it, a trembling sense of unworthy servanthood.
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  Under the authority of the Bible, they feel the weight of
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  it. Aware of their own limits and
• 20:21
  the Bible supremacy. Yes, they know deep down that
• 20:25
  the only way to faithfully deliver God's message is by
• 20:29
  being rooted in it and by saturating His sermon with God's
• 20:32
  own revelation in the Bible. Preparation for them means
• 20:35
  digging deep into the text. And that comes across in the
• 20:38
  sermon. It shouldn't.
• 20:39
  This preacher constantly tries to show the people that his
• 20:42
  ideas are coming from the Bible. They want you to see the
• 20:44
  connection, to know it's not just their opinion, It's about
• 20:47
  transparency. Demonstrating where the
• 20:49
  authority lies. Precisely, They are hesitant to
• 20:53
  go too far toward points that are not demonstrable from the
• 20:56
  Bible. There's a restraint and
• 20:58
  intellectual honesty. Even their stories and
• 21:01
  illustrations are chosen carefully, constrained and
• 21:04
  reined in to keep the focus squarely on what the Bible says.
• 21:07
  Serving the text, not the other way around.
• 21:10
  Exactly. This whole approach shows a deep
• 21:12
  sense of submission to the Bible and a conviction that the Bible
• 21:16
  alone has words of true and lasting significance.
• 21:19
  They are stewards pointing constantly back to the Word.
• 21:22
  That difference is huge. So what's the long term effect
• 21:25
  of these two styles on the people listening?
• 21:27
  What do people walk away with? The impact is profoundly
• 21:30
  different and this is really Piper's core concern.
• 21:32
  When people regularly sit under entertainment oriented
• 21:35
  preaching, they often leave feeling well entertained.
• 21:39
  They remember the jokes or the cool story.
• 21:41
  Right. But Piper's worry is that this
• 21:43
  subtly diminishes our people's capacities to discern and feel
• 21:47
  the weight of glorious truth. It trains them, maybe without
• 21:50
  them realizing it, to value amusement over spiritual depth,
• 21:54
  biblical substance, and the convicting power of God's Word.
• 21:57
  They learn to seek a good feeling rather than truth
• 22:00
  itself. That's the danger.
• 22:02
  They might value being pleased over being challenged or
• 22:05
  changed. But compare that to the impact
• 22:08
  of Bible oriented preaching. When people leave that kind of
• 22:11
  service, they walk away with a sense that the Bible is
• 22:15
  supremely authoritative and good news.
• 22:17
  They might feel less entertained, Piper says, but
• 22:20
  more struck at the greatness of God and the weighty strength of
• 22:24
  his word. Instead of amusement.
• 22:26
  Exactly. They're arrested by divine
• 22:28
  truth. Their souls feel nourished
• 22:30
  because they've encountered God through his Word.
• 22:33
  They leave with reverence, maybe conviction, understanding the
• 22:36
  Bible isn't just an old book, but living and active.
• 22:39
  So the big take away is. Piper sums it up bluntly.
• 22:42
  Entertainment is not what our people need, and it's not what
• 22:45
  the world needs either. What people are desperate for,
• 22:48
  whether they know it or not, is the authoritative, weighty, life
• 22:51
  changing truth of God proclaimed with both earnestness and
• 22:55
  genuine joy. This has been really clarifying,
• 22:57
  laying out those two different paths and the consequences.
• 23:01
  So as we bring this deep dive towards a close, what's the
• 23:04
  bottom line here for pastors today and for all of us
• 23:07
  listening, what should we be looking for in preaching?
• 23:10
  What's the posture we should hope to see?
• 23:12
  It really comes down to the pastor embracing what Piper
• 23:15
  implies is a stance of humble authority.
• 23:19
  It sounds like a paradox, doesn't it?
• 23:21
  Humble authority? How does that work?
• 23:23
  Well, the humility isn't shown through timidity or constant
• 23:26
  self deprecation, it's shown through clear, visible
• 23:30
  submission to the Bible. It's recognizing that the Bible
• 23:33
  alone has the true and lasting significance, not the preacher's
• 23:38
  own cleverness. So humility is Bible
• 23:40
  centeredness. In this context, yes.
• 23:43
  And the authority, interestingly, doesn't come from
• 23:45
  the preacher pucking themselves up or being overly assertive.
• 23:48
  It flows naturally when they faithfully and clearly express
• 23:50
  the Bible's meaning and its inherent weight.
• 23:53
  The authority is in the message manifested through the
• 23:55
  messenger. Precisely.
• 23:57
  The preacher becomes a clear window pointing away from
• 24:00
  themselves towards the Word. Their goal isn't to impress, but
• 24:04
  for their own words to seem frankly powerless and
• 24:08
  insignificant in comparison with God's Word.
• 24:11
  The authority flows through them because they are under its
• 24:13
  authority. That makes sense.
• 24:15
  It reframes where the focus should be.
• 24:17
  It does, and Piper actually concludes this whole section
• 24:19
  with a prayer that just perfectly captures this posture.
• 24:22
  It sums up everything we've been talking about.
• 24:24
  Can you share some of that? Yeah, he prays asking God to
• 24:28
  tether us to your mighty word. That's the dependence piece.
• 24:32
  Then he asks God to cause me and all preachers to show the people
• 24:35
  that our word is powerless and insignificant in comparison with
• 24:39
  yours. That's the humility.
• 24:41
  Recognizing the source. Exactly.
• 24:42
  He asked God to grant us to stand before our people as
• 24:45
  messengers sent with God's message to God's people in God's
• 24:49
  name, by God's spirit. That's the sense of divine
• 24:52
  Commission. And he prays, Grant us to
• 24:54
  tremble at this responsibility. There's the earnestness, the
• 24:58
  awareness of the weight. And then protect us from
• 25:00
  trifling with this holy moment before your people.
• 25:03
  That's the direct counter to levity and entertainment.
• 25:06
  Guarding against shallowness. Yes, and he finishes.
• 25:09
  Lord, grant these brothers to be Bible oriented, not
• 25:12
  entertainment oriented preachers of your word in Jesus name,
• 25:15
  Amen. That prayer really encapsulates
• 25:17
  the whole vision. Preaching is a sacred, weighty
• 25:20
  task, totally dependent on God in His Word, aimed at revealing
• 25:24
  truth and sustaining souls. What a powerful way to frame the
• 25:27
  calling. It emphasizes profound
• 25:29
  seriousness, but also, implicitly, the joy that comes
• 25:32
  from handling such glorious truth.
• 25:34
  Hashtag, tag, outro. Well, that prayer really does
• 25:36
  bring it all together beautifully, doesn't it?
• 25:38
  We've covered a lot today, unpacking Piper's call for
• 25:41
  earnestness in preaching, seeing how it allows for genuine joy
• 25:44
  but rejects trivial levity. And looking at those five huge
• 25:48
  realities that demand that earnestness, God himself, the
• 25:51
  horror of sin, the reality of hell, the infinite cost of the
• 25:54
  cross, and the vital importance of perseverance.
• 25:57
  Right. And seeing how the command to
• 25:59
  preach the word is tied to those ultimate realities, making the
• 26:03
  ACT itself momentous. Which then LED us to contrast
• 26:06
  the Bible oriented approach with the entertainment focused style.
• 26:10
  Showing how one aims to reveal God's weighty truth and the
• 26:13
  other risks diminishing it. Exactly.
• 26:15
  So as you, our listeners go through your week, maybe think
• 26:19
  about this, especially when you hear teaching or preaching.
• 26:22
  What kind of preaching is truly feeding your soul?
• 26:25
  What kind honors the gravity and the glory of God's Word?
• 26:29
  Yeah, ask yourself, how does understanding this need for
• 26:32
  earnestness change how you listen?
• 26:35
  Does it make you more discerning?
• 26:36
  Does it raise your expectations? Maybe not for performance, but
• 26:40
  for encountering God through His Word.
• 26:42
  How does it shape what you hope to receive?
• 26:45
  It's a good reflection. Are you looking simply to be
• 26:47
  entertained or amused for a bit? Or are you longing to be
• 26:50
  genuinely struck, maybe even shaken, by the greatness of God
• 26:54
  and the sheer weight and power of His truth found in the Bible?
• 26:57
  Consider the difference between those two experiences and what
• 27:00
  you truly hunger for. It's worth pondering.
• 27:02
  Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for
• 27:04
  joining us for this deep dive into John Piper's thoughts on
• 27:08
  earnest Bible centered preaching.
• 27:10
  Yeah, thanks for tuning in. Until next time, from the deep
• 27:14
  dive, keep seeking his truth.