Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper. Multnomah. 368 pages. 2011 edition
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I recently re-read this modern-day classic by John Piper, this time the 2011 revised and expanded edition, and with a group of friends. Piper tells us that the book aims to persuade the reader that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. The overriding concern of the book is that in all of life God be glorified the way He Himself has appointed.
This book is not light reading. I would recommend reading it slow and discussing it with others. Piper writes that it is a serious book about being happy in God.
He first introduces the concept of Christian Hedonism, one that may be new to you. He writes that the pleasure Christian Hedonism seeks is the pleasure that is in God Himself. The aim of the Christian Hedonist is to be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy His fellowship and favor.
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Among the topics discussed in the book are conversion, worship, love, scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions and suffering. A helpful Group Study Guide is included to facilitate a ten-week study of the book. The author includes an epilogue giving seven reasons why he wrote the book and an appendix on why he uses the term Christian Hedonism.
Here are 15 of my favorite quotes from the book:
- God’s passion to be glorified and our passion to be satisfied are one experience in the Christ-exalting act of worship.
- Hell is a place of torment. It is not merely the absence of pleasure. It is not annihilation.
- We will never fully appreciate what a deep and awesome thing conversion is until we own up to the fact that it is a miracle. It is a gift of God.
- The faith that pleases God is the assurance that when we turn to Him, we will find the all-satisfying Treasure.
- Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth.
- Love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others.
- Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need.
- Prayer is the very heart of Christian Hedonism. God gets the glory; we get the delight.
- God aims to exalt Himself by working for those who wait for Him. Prayer is the essential activity of waiting for God.
- Money is the currency of Christian Hedonism. What you do with it – or desire to do with it – can make or break your happiness forever.
- There is great gain in godliness when we are content with the simple necessities of life.
- If you want to be a Christian husband, you become a servant, not a boss.
- Missions is the automatic outflow and overflow of love for Christ. We delight to enlarge our joy in Him by extending it to others.
- The call of Christ is a call to live a life of sacrifice and loss and suffering—a life that would be foolish to live if there were no resurrection from the dead.
- We do not choose suffering simply because we are told to, but because the One who tells us to describes it as the path to everlasting joy.
- 6 Ways to Find (and Protect) the Time You Need to Read Books. Tony Reinke shares these helpful tips on how to find those pockets of reading time.
- Best Books on the Best Sermon. Kevin DeYoung shares these four books on the Sermon on the Mount.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.
Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the second half of WCF 11 Of Justification. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section of the chapter:
- We do not rest on anything else in our lives except Christ and His righteousness for our salvation.
- True faith is the instrument by which we are justified, and works flow out of it. Those works contribute nothing to justification, because the only ground of our justification is the merit of Christ. It is His work by which we are justified.
- A Reformed person would call a totally carnal Christian a non-Christian, an unregenerate person.
- The Bible teaches that justification is by the possession of faith and not by the mere profession of faith.
- It is virtually impossible to have genuine faith and never profess it. However, it is possible to profess faith and not possess it.
- We are justified by faith alone, apart from any consideration of our works, but not by faith that is without works.
- Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.
- On the cross, our demerit was transferred or imputed to Christ. He bore all our demerit or sin by Himself.
- Christ took on Himself all our guilt and pollution and became a curse for us.
- Our sins were transferred to Christ, and His righteousness or merit was transferred to us.
- The moment we put our trust in Christ, all that Christ is and all that He has becomes ours, and all that we are becomes His.
