I just spent lunch with John Piper. He preached a sermon to me from 1984 entitled "Going Hard after a Holy God."
I was convicted by the Holy Spirit that Christ has not been the center of my thoughts and affections lately. I am very convicted that I'm not created primarily to preach, or lead, or dream about church planting, or read great books, or know the Bible, or feel guilty because of my lack of evangelism. I'm created to know and enjoy Christ. All activity must terminate on one idea--one Person--one Reality--who is Jesus.
"There is so much of Christ yet to be known!"
I am dissatisfied with my current experience of the most deeply satisfying Reality in existence. Learning from Piper here...
"When I plead with you to develop a holy dissatisfaction with your spiritual life, I am asking for something rare, not common. I'm not asking you to feel worse about your inability to appear cool and intelligent. I'm asking you to feel worse that you possess so little of Christ. The first step in going hard after God is to feel bad about the right things. Develop a holy dissatisfaction with your spiritual life."
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I'm hearing that exact same thing right now from Owen in "The Glory of Christ." Owen's main point is, "The greatest privilage and advancement of believers, both in this world and to eternity, consists in their beholding the glory of Christ."
From Chapter 3:
"This, therefore, is the highest, the best, the most useful object of our thoughts and affections. He who has had a real view of this glory, though he know himself to be a poor, sinful, dying worm of the earth, yet would he not be an angel in heaven if thereby he should lose the sight of it; for this is the center wherein all the lines of the manifestation of the divine glory meet and rest."
Where does Owen get off seeing Jesus this way? Why does he get to say things like that about Jesus and call me "carnal" when I don't? Punk! Owen's experience of Jesus makes me mad.
Owen didn't have a cd player (or a blog). He had a lot more time to meditate on the glory of Christ.
Or take Edwards: Imagine a horse ride from Northhampton to Boston. It takes an hour on paved roads by car driving 70 miles per hour today. How long did it take on horse back? Probably days. What did he do those many hours? Listen to the latest Shane and Shane CD? Catch up on the news?
Do you catch my point? We have too many gadgets and diversions today.
If he had access to Shane and Shane I like to think he would worship with them. He would listen to Shane and Shane with a short mix of Switchfoot--just to keep him aware of indwelling sin and the state of the world.
Edwards nor Owen would listen to Switchfoot. Maybe Luther and Spurgeon.
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