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Revival and Christ-Exalting Joy (Introduction) | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking and to another deep
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  dive. Today we're digging into a stack
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  of material. You sent over some interesting
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  sources. Here we're looking at the lives
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  and maybe more importantly, the connections between three key
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  figures and how they really shaped the thinking of a
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  particular author that, well, many of you will know.
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  That's right, we've got quite a collection here.
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  Articles, notes, different pieces.
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  And our job really is to sift through it and, you know,
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  understand what these specific sources are highlighting.
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  Who were these men? What was the, the connecting
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  thread between them? And I think, crucially, what
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  made their influence so, so significant for this author's
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  theological perspective? Yeah, and the sources jump right
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  in, don't they? They point us pretty clearly to
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  three specific individuals, Bill Piper, Jonathan Edwards and
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  Martin Lloyd Jones. Exactly.
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  And when you first get into this material, something that kind of
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  leap out is how the sources differentiate the levels of
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  influence. OK.
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  So it's not just these three were influential.
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  How does the material break that down?
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  Well, according to these sources we have, you're talking about
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  influence at the, you know, the very deepest personal and
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  theological level 2 names stand out quite dramatically for this
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  author. That's his father, Bill Piper,
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  who lived from 1919 to 2007, and the, well, the towering figure
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  of Jonathan Edwards, 17 O 3 to 1758.
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  The material is pretty explicit here.
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  It says that these really core levels, nobody else even comes
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  close. Right.
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  So you might think of other names, maybe like CS Lewis, who
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  the author mentions elsewhere, but these sources are making a
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  very specific claim for that foundational, personal,
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  theological shaping. It was the father in Edwards.
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  They were in a category of their own.
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  Precisely. The sources really draw that
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  line quite sharply. Now, that's not to diminish the
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  third figure, Martyn Lloyd Jones, the Welsh preacher, 1899
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  to 1981. He's definitely presented as a
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  very significant influence too. But the sources, they're careful
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  to add a nuance there. They note his influence, while
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  really important, wasn't quite at that same bedrock personal
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  and theological depth as his father and Edwards.
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  That distinction itself is interesting, isn't it?
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  2 at the absolute core, Lloyd Jones maybe a major influence,
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  slightly different. Yet even with that difference
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  in, let's say, personal depth, the sources then reveal
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  something that really unites all three Something powerful.
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  What's that shared element the sources bring out?
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  Yeah, this is where it gets really fascinating, I think, how
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  the material connects the dots because despite those varying
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  levels of personal impact, the sources state that these three
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  men are, and this is the phrase used, knit together in the same
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  passion knit. Together in the same passion
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  that's that's strong language from the sources.
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  So what passion does this material identify?
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  What was it they all shared so intensely?
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  It's quite direct about it. The sources say all three were
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  passionate in their pursuit of revival in the church.
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  They shared this deep, consuming desire.
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  They hungered after a great awakening among God's people.
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  This wasn't just, you know, a side interest.
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  It seems it was a central driving force for each of them.
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  And the sources pushed that even further, saying they essentially
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  gave their lives in the pursuit of it.
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  I mean, that really speaks to how absolutely central this
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  longing must have been for them. It really does.
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  And the sources also give us a working definition of revival,
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  one that seems to fit their shared view, you know, rooted in
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  a Reformed understanding of God's sovereignty.
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  It's described as a great sovereign outpouring of the Holy
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  Spirit, leading to conviction of sin and vibrant faith in Christ
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  and fresh assurance, joy, courage and obedience.
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  So the emphasis is on God's sovereign action.
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  The spirits work not something humans can just, you know, whip
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  up. It results in this profound
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  spiritual vitality and transformation.
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  OK, so this deep longing for God to sovereignly move to awaken
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  his people, that was the fire they all shared.
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  But how did they actually pursue this?
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  You know, their day-to-day lives and ministries?
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  The sources must touch on their different contexts.
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  Oh, definitely. The sources detail how this
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  shared passion played out in, well, quite different
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  ministerial spheres for each man.
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  Take the author's father, Bill Piper.
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  He lived his his entire adult life as an itinerant evangelist.
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  An itinerant evangelist? What did that actually involve
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  for him, based on what's in these sources?
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  Well, the picture painted is one of constant movement, almost
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  relentless, from his college years right up until he
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  physically couldn't do it anymore.
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  His life was defined by going from city to city and church to
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  church. He wasn't pastoring one place.
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  He was preaching in these specific revival meetings or
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  sometimes larger evangelistic crusades.
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  And these weren't just quick visits.
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  They could last, you know, one 2-3 weeks, sometimes even longer
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  if it was a bigger citywide campaign.
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  The sources describe his life as untiringly diverted to pursuing
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  the salvation of lost people and revival in God's church kind.
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  So it was this focus, ministry of preaching for conversion and
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  renewal, moving from place to place.
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  That's a very specific kind of ministry, isn't it?
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  Very different from the other two figures.
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  The sources say Edwards and Lloyd Jones were distinct in
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  that they were not traveling evangelists, but local church
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  pastors. Let's let's look at Jonathan
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  Edwards first. Where was he based and what was
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  his situation regarding revival? Right Edwards was the pastor of
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  the Congregational Church in Northampton, MA, and he was
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  there for a good stretch from 1727 until 1750.
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  That's, what, 23 years? And his ministry wasn't just
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  happening during a major spiritual movement, the sources
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  say. It was an essential part of it.
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  He was ministering right in the midst of the First Great
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  Awakening, which, you know, swept through the American
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  colonies and phases during the mid 1730s and early 1740s.
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  Yeah, that was a really significant period, a widespread
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  spiritual awakening across the colonies.
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  And the sources mentioned one particular sermon of his that's
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  become, well, incredibly famous in connection with this time.
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  Yes, absolutely sinners in the hands of an angry God.
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  And the sources give us the specifics.
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  Preached July 8th, 1741, interestingly not in his own
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  church in Northampton, but in Enfield, CT.
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  And there's a note from his great grandson Serena Dwight,
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  cited in the material claiming this one sermon was the cause of
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  an immediate revival of religion throughout the place.
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  Whether that's precise or not, it shows the impact.
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  But Edwards wasn't just preaching powerful sermons, the
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  sources emphasize. He devoted years of his life and
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  much of his preaching and writing to describing, advancing
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  and correcting the Awakening. So he was deeply involved
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  intellectually and theologically, trying to
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  understand it, promote what was genuine, and correct excesses.
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  Think of his work, the religious affections.
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  He was a key interpreter and guide of the Awakening.
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  OK, so Edwards was right there in the middle of a massive
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  revival, preaching into it, analyzing it, guiding it.
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  Now shift over to Martin Lloyd Jones.
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  What was his pastoral setting as he pursued this same passion for
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  awakening? Lloyd Jones had a long
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  pastorate, too, but in a very different setting.
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  He was the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London.
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  He served there from 1939 right through until 1968.
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  So that's 29 years. And the sources point out that
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  his perspective on awakenings was really shaped by his deep
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  dives into church history and his solid grounding and reformed
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  theology. From the very beginning of his
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  ministry, it seems he felt this strong conviction that Britain,
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  and especially its churches, desperately needed another great
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  awakening, and this longing remained his lifelong passion,
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  something he prayed for and preached towards within the
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  context of this major London church.
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  So three men, one consuming passion, but such different
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  stages. The traveling evangelist, the
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  colonial pastor witnessing a national revival, and the 20th
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  century London pastor praying for one.
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  What did the sources say about the actual results, the scale of
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  revival each one experienced? Yeah, the sources highlight a
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  pretty stark difference in the outcomes, at least from our
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  vantage point. It seems that among the three,
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  only Edwards was, as the material puts it, granted the
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  gift of seeing a widespread national revival during his
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  ministry with the First Great Awakening.
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  Bill Piper and Lloyd Jones, while they did witness smaller,
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  more local awakenings at times, the sources state quite plainly
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  that they never saw the great work of God that they long for
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  on that kind of national or, you know, international scale that
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  Edward saw. That's quite poignant, isn't it?
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  To share that same intense lifelong desire, dedicate your
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  life to it, but see such different results in terms of
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  scale. Now, you mentioned Lloyd Johns.
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  The sources indicate he had some particularly notable views about
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  the Holy Spirit's work. Distinct views maybe?
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  Yes, that comes through the sources specifically focus on
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  his teaching regarding the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
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  He drew a distinction here that was, well, somewhat
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  controversial or at least notable in his time.
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  He differentiated this experience from the Spirit's
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  work in regeneration. You know when someone first
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  becomes a Christian, and also from the spirits indwelling,
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  which is true of all believers. OK, So what was the essence of
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  that distinction he was making according to these sources?
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  Well, the sources actually quote him directly on this, he said.
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  I am asserting that you can be a believer, that you can have the
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  Holy Spirit dwelling in you and still not be baptized with the
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  Holy Holy Spirit. So for him it was an experience
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  subsequent to conversion and additional work.
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  And he also had a specific take on who performs this baptism.
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  He argued, based on passages like Matthew 3.11, that it's
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  something done to the Lord Jesus Christ, not by the Holy Spirit.
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  Christ is the baptizer with the Spirit, and the sources
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  mentioned that these views, especially stressing this
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  distinct post conversion experience, LED some people to
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  view him as a charismatic in a good way.
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  Meaning not necessarily aligning with every aspect of the later
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  charismatic movement, but recognizing his strong focus on
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  the Spirit's power and personal work beyond just conversion.
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  Right, I see. So a distinct work of Christ
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  after conversion empowering the believer.
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  How did he connect that specific idea back to his big passion
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  revival? For Lloyd Jones, the connection
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  was actually very direct. It was almost definitional.
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  He basically saw revival as the same experience, just happening
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  to many people at once. The sources quote his view on
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  the relationship like this. The difference between the
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  baptism of the Holy Spirit and a revival is simply one of the
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  number of people affected. OK, so revival in his view is
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  essentially a corporate or mass baptism in the Holy Spirit.
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  Exactly. That's how he defined it.
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  The sources quote his definition of revival as a large number a
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  group of people being baptized by the Holy Spirit at the same
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  time, or the Holy Spirit falling upon coming upon a number of
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  people assembled together. Yeah.
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  So when he prayed for revival, he wasn't just praying for
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  general spiritual improvement. He was praying for this
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  specific, powerful, Christ mediated work of the Spirit to
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  fall on the church. Corporately, he would point to
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  historical examples, people he believed received this distinct
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  baptism after they were already believers and saw their lives
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  marked by, you know, new levels of assurance, power for ministry
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  and deep joy. That certainly clarifies the
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  link between his specific theology of the Spirit and his
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  intense longing for revival. Very interesting.
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  OK, so we have this shared passion for revival, understood
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  maybe slightly differently, pursued differently, experienced
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  differently. But the sources then pivot,
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  suggesting there's something even deeper that united these
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  men, something that shaped the author's theology even more
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  profoundly than the revival theme itself.
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  Yes, this is presented as maybe the foundational insight the
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  author took away from studying these figures.
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  The sources introduce it as one other common denominator among
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  these three servants shaped the way I see the world and what I
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  emphasize in my theology and ministry.
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  So it's positioned as something even more fundamental than the
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  pursuit of revival. Significant as that.
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  What? And this deeper common thread,
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  this foundational element is identified as what exactly?
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  It's identified simply as the role of joy in God.
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  The role of joy in God. OK, how central was this idea of
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  joy to their thinking based on the sources?
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  Was it just a nice side effect or Oh no.
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  The sources are really emphatic on this point.
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  They state it was not peripheral in their thinking.
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  It was not marginal or merely optional.
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  Instead, it was profoundly central and foundational for
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  these men. It seems the believers joy in
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  God wasn't just a bonus future of being saved, it was somehow
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  woven into the very fabric of salvation and God's ultimate
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  purposes. And the sources articulate a
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  really critical belief that tied them together on this specific
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  point, didn't they, about Joy's necessity?
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  Yes, a very powerful statement uniting them according to the
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  material. Their shared conviction was
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  this. Without it meaning joy in God,
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  there would be no salvation and God would not be duly glorified.
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  I mean, just pause on that. It connects our experience of
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  joy and God directly to both our salvation and God's glory.
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  It suggests joy isn't just a fruit of salvation, but somehow
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  essential to it. And it's fundamentally tied to
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  God getting the glory he deserves.
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  Which of course resonates deeply with Reformed thought,
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  emphasizing God's glory as the chief.
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  End. Let's unpack that a bit more,
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  starting with Jonathan Edwards. The sources suggest he was the
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  one who really fleshed out this connection between our joy and
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  God's glory most thoroughly. That's right, the sources
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  pinpoint Edwards as the one who fleshes out most fully the
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  relationship between our joy in God and the duty of our
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  glorifying him. He saw them not as separate
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  aims, maybe even competing aims sometimes, but as intrinsically
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  linked, almost two sides of the same coin.
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  Are there specific quotes from Edwards in the source material
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  that really illustrate this connection he was making?
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  Yes, there are a couple of really potent ones.
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  Sided 1 is the end of the creation.
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  Is that the creation might glorify God.
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  OK, standard enough. But then he asks, now what is
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  glorifying God but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?
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  You see, glorifying God isn't primarily about doing things for
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  him, but about the creature finding its delight, its
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  satisfaction in Him and His revealed glory.
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  Our rejoicing is the glorifying, and another quote reinforces
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  this. The happiness of the creature
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  consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and
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  exalted. So our true happiness, our
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  flourishing, is found in rejoicing in God.
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  And precisely through that rejoicing, God's greatness is
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  showcased. He's magnified.
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  He's exalted. So it's not a 0 sum game.
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  Our highest good finding happiness in God and God's
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  highest purpose, His own glory. They happen together.
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  Our joy in Him glorifies Him. And the sources make it clear
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  this was a massive insight for the author himself, derived from
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  Edwards. Oh, absolutely.
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  The author apparently calls this one of the most important
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  insights I have ever learned. That's quite a statement, and
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  his way of summing up this profound connection drawn right
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  out of Edwards became, well, almost his signature phrase God
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  is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
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  That sentence, the sources suggest, became a real
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  cornerstone for his own theological framework.
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  It implies that when our souls are genuinely finding their
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  deepest pleasure and contentment in who God is and what He's done
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  in Christ, that very state of being satisfied in Him
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  demonstrates His supreme worth and beauty more powerfully than
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  anything else we could do. Our delight puts His glory on
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  display. That is a powerful summary.
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  God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
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  The sources also talk about the broader vision Edwards had that
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  sort of fueled this whole idea. His great vision, they call it.
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  Yes, his vision is described as being centered on the all
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  satisfying God. The sources explained that it
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  was Edward's incredibly deep grasp and powerful articulation
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  of the all satisfying greatness of God that really shaped the
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  author's own view of God profoundly over many years.
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  For Edwards, this wasn't just abstract theology.
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  It was about the overwhelming reality of who God is.
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  How did Edwards spell this out? This idea of God being the
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  ultimate, the all-encompassing good for those he redeems?
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  The sources give details, right? They do.
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  Drawing from Edwards's own writings, he argued, quite
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  simply, that the redeemed have all their objective good in God.
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  Full stop. That's not just poetic language,
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  it's a theological assertion about where true goodness
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  resides, Edwards stated. God himself is the great good.
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  He is the highest good and the sum of all that good which
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  Christ purchased. So what did Christ buy for us on
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  the cross? Primarily, according to Edwards,
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  he bought us God himself, And the sources list some of the
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  ways Edwards tried to capture this using rich biblical
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  imagery. God is our inheritance, our
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  portion, our wealth and treasure, our food, our life,
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  our dwelling place, our ornament and diadem, our everlasting
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  honor and glory. Wow, so it's not just the God
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  gives good gifts, Edwards is saying.
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  God is the gift. He is the ultimate good that
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  satisfies every need and longing.
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  That's exactly it. And he goes on as quoted in the
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  sources, saying the redeemed have none in heaven but God.
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  He is the destination. He is the great good which the
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  redeemed are received to at death and which they are to rise
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  to at the end of the world. Heaven is desirable because God
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  is there. He's the light of the heavenly
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  Jerusalem, the river of the water of life, the tree of life
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  in paradise. All these ultimate images of
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  life and fulfillment are identified with God Himself.
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  And this focus on God is the ultimate source of joy, extends
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  even to our relationships with others in heaven.
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  Yes, Edwards took it that far. The sources quote him saying
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  that whatever delight the Saints will take in angels or in each
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  other, or in anything else whatsoever that will yield them
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  delight and happiness will be what will be seen of God in
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  them. Essentially, all creaturely
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  goodness and beauty will be enjoyed as a reflection of God's
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  own goodness and beauty. He remains the ultimate source
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  and object of the joy. He concludes that the glorious
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  excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever
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  entertain the minds of the Saints, and the love of God will
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  be their ever gusting feast. It's this incredibly rich,
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  comprehensive vision of God as supremely desirable, perfectly
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  satisfying, that was so central for Edwards and, the sources
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  argue, so formative for the author.
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  OK, so Edwards provides this incredibly deep theological
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  foundation for God being the all satisfying good and our joy in
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  him being the way he's glorified.
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  Now, how does Lloyd Jones's passion for revival, which we
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  talked about earlier, connect back into this central theme of
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  joy in God? Well, Lloyd Jones linked his
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  prayer for revival directly to seeing the glory of Christ more
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  clearly. As the sources mentioned, when
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  he prayed for revival, he was praying specifically for the
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  Holy Spirit to do his work of revealing the glory of Christ.
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  He often cited John 16.14 where Jesus says the Spirit will
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  glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to
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  you. Lloyd Johns believe that when
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  the Spirit grants this kind of fresh, powerful apprehension of
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  Christ's glory, it inevitably produces a certain effect in
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  believers. And the sources identify that
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  effect, that primary mark of seeing Christ's glory afresh, as
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  being overflowing assurance and joy.
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  That's exactly right. The sources describe the
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  experience as receiving an overwhelming knowledge given to
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  you of God's love to you in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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  It's presented not just as knowing a fact, but as a deeply
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  felt spirit given experience of God's loving Christ.
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  And the result is overwhelming joy.
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  This isn't just, you know, being happy because things are going
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  well. It's a profound delight that's
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  rooted specifically in seeing and savoring God's love in
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  Christ's glory. So if this intense joy is a
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  direct result of the Spirit showing us Christ's glory, how
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  does that tie back to the Edwards insight about joy
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  glorifying God? Well, the connection becomes
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  pretty clear, doesn't it? As the sources explain it, if
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  the joy is produced by seeing Christ's glory, then that joy
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  itself is a reflection of His glory.
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  Our joy in Christ, prompted by seeing His worth, inherently
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  testifies to His worth. When a heart is overflowing with
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  joy because of who Christ is and what He's done, that heart is
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  acting like a mirror reflecting the very glory that produced the
• 19:31
  joy. It showcases Christ's Prem value
• 19:33
  and attractiveness. Which leads right into how the
• 19:35
  sources wrap up this point, connecting revival, joy and
• 19:38
  glory. Yes, the conclusion drawn in the
• 19:41
  material is quite neat. Christ is glorified in his
• 19:44
  revived church because the revived church is satisfied in
• 19:47
  his glory. Revival, marked by this renewed,
• 19:50
  overwhelming joy and assurance centered on Christ, becomes a
• 19:53
  corporate demonstration of the church's deep satisfaction in
• 19:57
  Christ's glory. And that very satisfaction is
• 20:00
  the means by which Christ is glorified in his people.
• 20:03
  It elegantly ties Lloyd Jones's practical passion for revival
• 20:07
  back to that central theological principle articulated by
• 20:10
  Edwards. OK, we follow this deep current
• 20:12
  of joy and satisfaction in God through Edwards's theology and
• 20:16
  Lloyd Jones's view of revival. Now let's bring it home, so to
• 20:19
  speak, to the author's own father, Bill Piper, because the
• 20:22
  sources reveal something quite personal and fascinating here.
• 20:25
  The author eventually realized that the core idea behind what
• 20:27
  he later termed Christian Hedonism was actually planted by
• 20:30
  his dad years earlier. Yes, this seems to be a really
• 20:33
  significant realization for the author of Looking Back, as
• 20:36
  recounted in these sources, he came to see that this big idea
• 20:40
  he discovered and articulated, drawing heavily on Edwards had
• 20:43
  actually been present, maybe implicitly, in his father's
• 20:46
  preaching much earlier in his life.
• 20:49
  The sources say Bill Piper sowed seeds that would later flower
• 20:52
  into the Christian hedonism that the author initially connected
• 20:55
  more strongly with his later reading of Edwards.
• 20:58
  Before we get into the examples, let's just quickly clarify what
• 21:01
  the sources mean by Christian hedonism as the author uses the
• 21:04
  term. Right, the source provides A
• 21:05
  concise definition. It's described as the worldview
• 21:09
  captured by the sentence God is most glorified in us when we are
• 21:13
  most satisfied in Him, and the consequent duty that we should
• 21:16
  not may, but should pursue our fullest and longest joy and all
• 21:20
  that God is for us in Christ. So you see, it takes that core
• 21:25
  insight from Edwards and turns it into an ethical imperative.
• 21:28
  It's not just an observation. It's a call to actively pursue
• 21:31
  our deepest, most lasting joy in God, precisely because that's
• 21:34
  how God is most glorified. That's definitely a striking
• 21:37
  phrase. Christian hedonism joining the
• 21:39
  pursuit of pleasure with faith. How did his father Bill Piper
• 21:43
  actually teach this? What specific examples do the
• 21:45
  sources give from his preaching? The sources provide a couple of
• 21:49
  really concrete examples. One comes from a sermon Bill
• 21:52
  Piper preached on Isaiah 8.13 titled Sanctifying God.
• 21:56
  In it he explained that the word sanctify basically means to set
• 21:59
  apart. So when we by our lives sanctify
• 22:02
  God, we are setting God apart as distinctive above all the idols
• 22:06
  that compete for our hearts allegiance.
• 22:07
  The setting God apart is unique, and he connected that directly
• 22:11
  to being in him. Yes, explicitly.
• 22:13
  The sources quote Bill Piper reflecting on preparing that
• 22:16
  sermon. To sanctify him as such, he
• 22:19
  realized I must live a contented life, a life fully satisfied
• 22:22
  with him alone. And then he summed it up in this
• 22:24
  really punchy phrase. God is sanctified in us when we
• 22:27
  are satisfied in Him. The author points to this as his
• 22:30
  father essentially stating the core of Christian hedonism
• 22:33
  decades before he himself formulated it.
• 22:36
  Our finding full satisfaction in God is the very act that sets
• 22:39
  Him apart in our lives as supremely valuable, more
• 22:42
  satisfying than anything else. That reframed sanctification in
• 22:46
  a really interesting way. Not just rule keeping, but heart
• 22:48
  satisfaction in God. Are there other examples?
• 22:51
  Yes, there's another key, one from a sermon called Saved Safe
• 22:54
  and Satisfied. Here, Bill Piper tackled the
• 22:57
  question of how the human heart finds true, deep satisfaction.
• 23:01
  He argued it comes from trusting Jesus specifically because Jesus
• 23:05
  is God. The sources quote his reasoning.
• 23:08
  When you fully trust him, you have all that God is and all
• 23:10
  that God has. Because Jesus is divine,
• 23:13
  trusting Him gives us access to the infinite fullness and
• 23:16
  goodness of God himself, he continued.
• 23:18
  You cannot be otherwise than satisfied with the perfect
• 23:21
  fullness of Christ because he is God.
• 23:23
  He is all you need and more. So for Bill Piper, Christ's
• 23:26
  deity wasn't just a doctrine to affirm, it was a very guarantee
• 23:29
  that He is sufficient to meet our deepest needs and satisfy
• 23:32
  our hearts completely. Exactly.
• 23:33
  That was the argument. He taught that Christ himself
• 23:36
  provides everything we truly need.
• 23:38
  Peace, joy, love, grace, power, all of it.
• 23:42
  And the sources quote his conclusion on this.
• 23:45
  His presence fills and satisfies.
• 23:47
  There can be no empty days in the life of a trusting
• 23:50
  Christian. This wasn't just theory.
• 23:52
  It was presented as the potential reality for anyone
• 23:55
  whose trust is genuinely placed in Christ.
• 23:57
  Because Christ, being God, is infinitely capable of satisfying
• 24:02
  the soul He created. That paints a really compelling
• 24:04
  picture of satisfaction being rooted in the person and
• 24:07
  presence of Christ. But the sources highlight one
• 24:10
  more point from Bill Piper's teaching on this.
• 24:12
  It's particularly striking, maybe even challenging for some
• 24:15
  listeners. Yes, this is definitely a point
• 24:17
  that jumps out from the material.
• 24:18
  It seems Bill Piper didn't just present the satisfaction in
• 24:21
  Christ as a wonderful result or benefit of salvation, he framed
• 24:24
  it almost as a requirement for salvation.
• 24:27
  A requirement that sounds potentially problematic.
• 24:30
  What exactly did he mean by that, according to the sources?
• 24:32
  How did you phrase it? The sources give his specific
• 24:35
  wording. He apparently said something
• 24:36
  like this. God is satisfied with Christ as
• 24:39
  to the perfection of his life and righteousness and as to the
• 24:41
  completeness of his work in the sinner's behalf.
• 24:44
  OK, that's standard substitutionary atonement.
• 24:46
  But then he added, God's only requirement for salvation is
• 24:49
  that you too be satisfied with Christ and his work.
• 24:53
  Now that is a striking way to put it.
• 24:55
  It seems to place our subjective satisfaction with Christ right
• 24:58
  alongside God's objective satisfaction with Christ's work.
• 25:02
  The author's interpretation, based on the sources, isn't that
• 25:05
  we earn salvation by manufacturing a feeling of
• 25:07
  satisfaction. Rather, it's that genuine saving
• 25:11
  faith inherently includes a heart orientation that finds
• 25:13
  Christ and his saving work supremely sufficient and
• 25:16
  desirable. If you truly trust Christ for
• 25:18
  salvation, it's because you are satisfied that He and He alone
• 25:21
  is your treasure, your righteousness, your hope.
• 25:24
  Your satisfaction in Him is the other side of the coin of your
• 25:27
  trust in Him. OK, so it's maybe not an extra
• 25:30
  condition added to faith, but rather another way of describing
• 25:34
  what true faith is. Saving faith isn't just
• 25:36
  believing facts, it's treasuring Christ, finding him so valuable
• 25:41
  that He becomes your ultimate satisfaction.
• 25:43
  That seems to be the understanding presented in the
• 25:46
  sources based on Bill Piper's words.
• 25:48
  True trust entails satisfaction. If you look at Christ and His
• 25:52
  cross and you're not satisfied, if you feel you need something
• 25:55
  more for righteousness or hope, then you haven't truly grasped
• 25:58
  His sufficiency or rested your soul entirely on Him.
• 26:03
  And the author credits his father as the one who first
• 26:05
  planted these powerful, maybe counterintuitive ideas in his
• 26:09
  own heart and mind. That's clearly what the sources
• 26:12
  convey. The author reflects that his
• 26:14
  father was the first person in my life to sow these wonderful
• 26:17
  seeds of sovereign joy. He sees his father as having
• 26:20
  laid the groundwork, preparing the soil for these concepts long
• 26:23
  before he encountered them. Articulated so extensively by
• 26:26
  Edwards and others, it's a really potent example of
• 26:28
  personal influence shaping theological development.
• 26:31
  Well, this deep dive is certainly illuminated the
• 26:32
  connections. We started with three figures,
• 26:35
  an evangelist, a colonial pastor, a London preacher.
• 26:38
  Seemingly quite different, but the sources trace this common
• 26:41
  thread, first their shared intense passion for revival, and
• 26:46
  then, even more fundamentally, this shared conviction about the
• 26:49
  absolute centrality of joy and satisfaction in God.
• 26:52
  Exactly. And that core insight,
• 26:54
  crystallized by Edwards and reflected in Lloyd Jones's view
• 26:57
  of revival joy and Bill Piper's preaching on satisfaction,
• 27:01
  really boils down to that sentence.
• 27:02
  God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
• 27:06
  OK? For all three, it seems, the
• 27:08
  disposition of the believer's heart, specifically finding its
• 27:11
  ultimate delight and contentment in God himself, wasn't just a
• 27:13
  nice extra, but was somehow essential to God's glory and the
• 27:16
  very nature of true faith. And understanding these
• 27:19
  connections, seeing how these ideas intersected in the lives
• 27:22
  and ministries of these three men, really does give you, the
• 27:25
  listener, a much richer context for understanding the the
• 27:28
  influence, doesn't it? You can see how these themes
• 27:31
  revival God's sovereignty, the Spirit's work, God's glory,
• 27:34
  human joy became so intertwined for him.
• 27:38
  It definitely provides that background, and perhaps based on
• 27:41
  these sources, it leaves us with something quite significant to
• 27:44
  ponder. If satisfaction in Christ isn't
• 27:47
  just a feeling we hope to get after we're saved, but is
• 27:50
  presented, as Bill Piper put it, almost as a requirement, meaning
• 27:54
  it's part of what saving faith looks like.
• 27:57
  And if that same satisfaction is the very means by which God gets
• 28:00
  the most glory from us, well, how does grasping that
• 28:02
  connection potentially change how you think about God's
• 28:05
  ultimate purpose, the place of your own deepest longings for
• 28:07
  happiness, and even the core message of the gospel itself?
• 28:11
  Something to chew on. Reformed Thinking podcast.
• 28:14
  Outro music begins and fades in. That brings us to the end of
• 28:17
  this deep dive into the source material.
• 28:19
  We hope this exploration of these figures and their shared
• 28:22
  passions has been insightful for you.
• 28:24
  Reformed Thinking podcast. Outro Music fades up and then
• 28:27
  out.