The Supremacy of God in Missions — John Piper

The following message is by Pastor John Piper. More information from DesiringGod is available at www .DesiringGod .org.

The Roots of a Passion for God's Supremacy

Sometimes when I talk about the supremacy of God and emphasize that with all my heart, people ask me, What are the roots of that in your life? Where did that come from? Did you get that at seminary? The answer is yes, but when I have a chance to spell it out a little farther, I go back to the beginning and I pay tribute to my parents.

I brought this book in with me tonight, Desiring God, not because I want to sell it. It does all right on its own, but because I dedicated it to my father, who's here tonight, to William Solomon Hoddle Piper, my father, in whom I have seen the holiness and the happiness of God.

This is moving for me because I don't think Daddy's heard me preach for 20 years, and there's a whole slug of relatives with him, and a few friends, and I want to know where they are. So would you stand up, please?

All of you? Where are you? Oh, there you are. Thank you. Good. And what I say when I'm paying tribute is that when I was growing up, I don't remember theology, but I remember prayer and faith. And I remember when the evangelistic meetings were not lined up the way they needed to be for this traveling evangelist.

The family got together and we prayed, and Daddy was never discouraged, at least not out loud, and he always quoted Romans 8 28. God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, and therefore I absorbed faith in a sovereign God.

And I just want to express out loud the profound gratitude I feel to God for causing me to be born into the family of Bill and Ruth Piper. You do not choose where you are born. If there ever was an act of grace, it is to be born into a Christian home.

And so publicly, thank you, Lord, and thank you, Daddy. Mother's with the Lord. Well, let's get down to business here. This is very important tonight. Let me, for those of you who haven't been here, try to, in two minutes, pull the pieces together and focus it now on missions.

God's Glory and Human Joy in Missions

The supremacy of God in preaching and the supremacy of God in praying came together for us like this. God has a tremendous passion to be glorified in creating and redeeming a world. And every human I know has a passion to be satisfied in their deep heart.

And if these things were at odds, there would be no gospel in the world. But these things are not at odds. The gospel is that in prayer and in worship, they come together as one, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

Now, it's incredibly important to realize that that satisfaction comes to its consummation when it flows over to other people and they are drawn into the experience of it. If you try to bottle up the satisfaction that God gives you in himself, it will rot.

And therefore, missions flows necessarily out of a passion for the supremacy of God, which is why I said that our church mission statement is we exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things.

And then don't forget this phrase, for the joy of all peoples, with an S on the end to highlight that missionary focus. All the unreached peoples in the world are to be brought into the joy that we have in the supremacy of God.

The Promise That the Gospel Will Reach All Nations

Now, I have an outline for tonight as I talk about the supremacy of God in missions. And it's very simple and goes like this. The promise is sure. The price is suffering and the prize is satisfying. Those three points I want to make.

So let me state the promise that I have in mind, and then we'll dig into these three points. The promise is this. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Spurgeon used to talk about how he loved to preach on the shells and the wills of the Bible. And I do, too. I wrote a whole book called Future Grace. And all I mean is I love it when the Bible says it shall be.

Because when the Bible says it, I know it's going to be then. And when the Bible says this gospel will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the peoples or nations, I know it's going to happen.

And so the promise is sure. That's point number one. Now, under that point, I want to develop maybe four reasons why you may be confident tonight that this is sure so that you can say to your young people and say to your retiring people who ought to be entering missions instead of going to golf courses, Nevada or wherever they park their RVs.

They ought to be buying senior discount tickets to Mongolia. You can say to them, one of the most exciting reasons for being a part of this is because it cannot fail. It can't fail. Why be a part of something that is vulnerable and fragile and liable to fail?

God's Truthfulness Guarantees the Promise

Here's reason number one, why the promise is sure. Number one, God never lies. Heaven and Earth may pass away, but my word says the Lord will never pass away. God never lies. Reason number two, the ransom has been paid.

Christ's Ransom Secures the Nations

The ransom has been paid. And when a ransom by God has been paid, what he bought is coming home. He does not purchase in vain. Here's the text. Worthy art thou to open the seals, for thou was slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every nation and has made them a kingdom and priest to our God and they shall reign on Earth.

When the ransom has been paid for people from every nation, they are coming home. Whatever it takes, the ransom will not be paid in vain. Do you remember the Moravians? This story, the Moravians were a great missionary people.

It's like the CMA and those young men got on the boats there in northern Europe. You remember, and as the boats were pulling out into the harbor, ready to sell themselves into slavery in the West Indies, never to come home again.

They lifted their arms and shouted over the waters to their relatives that they'd never see again. May the lamb receive the reward of his suffering. And you know what they were quoting? It was the will of the Lord to bruise him.

He has put him to grief. When he makes himself an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days. He will see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. He won't lose one of them.

The fruit of the travail of the soul of the Son of God will come home through missions and in no other way. Therefore, the success of missions is certain. Oh, there's so many more texts we could refer to.

I was in Amsterdam last year with the Frontiers folks. You know that mission to Muslims? Oh, what a radical group of martyrs they are, ready to give themselves all over the world to win Muslim peoples to Christ.

And they introduced a young man who had been in jail for 40 days last summer and couldn't come to the annual meeting in prison in a Muslim country. And he got up and gave the testimony. And he said the text that sustained him was Acts 18 .10, where the spirit comes to Paul in the middle of the night and says, do not fear.

Keep on preaching. I am with you. What can man do to you? I have many people in this city. I've redeemed them. I've bought them. And I will see to it that they are found. And I will use you to that end.

God's Glory Is at Stake in Missions

And so my second reason for why you can know this promise is coming true is because the ransom has been paid. Here's reason number three. The glory of the Lord is at stake. I made much of that last night.

I won't belabor it tonight except to say. This text from Romans 15, Christ was made a servant to the circumcised. In order to show the truthfulness of God. In order that he might confirm the promises to the patriarchs and in order that the nations might glorify God for his mercy.

Why did he become a Jew incarnate in Palestine and suffer and die so that the nations might glorify God for his mercy? There are many people who argue about what's the ultimate purpose of God in creation.

And some argue that it is a manifestation of his love. That's almost exactly right. It's just not quite the ultimate thing. Because there in that verse, what you see is he became a servant to the circumcised in order that the nations might glorify God for his mercy.

Mercy is penultimate. The glory of God is ultimate. But the glory of God is at stake in mercy reaching the nations and winning them to himself. And therefore, since the glory of God is at stake, it is the ultimate purpose of God in creation.

Therefore, it cannot fail because God did not create the universe to fail. He will not create in vain. Reason number four that you can count on the promise coming true and be a part of this without any fear of failure is that God is sovereign.

God's Sovereignty Directs Every Missionary Endeavor

Well, A .W. Tozer almost got it right tonight. We should follow our Presbyterian brothers and our reformed forebears. I will not go with them all the way I will now. I don't want to divide the house here, but let me tell you what I mean by that.

Charles Long here said to me beforehand, I don't know what his theology is. I hear some amens coming here, but I don't want to read anything into them. I do, but I won't. He said to me because of his phenomenal experience in giving up his cherished people there in Vietnam to God and watching God do phenomenal things, he believes more than ever in the sovereignty of God.

Come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go up to such and such a town and spend a year there and get gain. What do you know about tomorrow? Your life is but a vapor here today and gone tomorrow.

Rather, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. That's that's a quote from the Bible. James chapter four, verses 12 to 15. If the Lord wills, I will not drop dead before I finish this message.

If the Lord wills, my plane will not crash tomorrow. If the Lord wills, my son Barnabas will not be killed in an uprising in Uganda. And if the Lord wills, my son will die. That's what I mean by going all the way.

Now, it's one thing for John Piper to in his comfort in this air conditioned room with hardly any problems in my life compared to what most people live with in the world to say that it's another thing for people who right now in this room have cancer or had a child die last year.

So let me let others bear testimony. Nathan comes to David having committed adultery, having killed Uriah in effect and says, you are the man. And David repents and confesses after Uriah. I mean, after Nathan says, why did you despise the word of the Lord?

Because you have done this. The child which was born to you will die. And the next verse, verse. Fifteen of Second Samuel 12 says. And the Lord struck the child. Exodus 411, who makes man seeing or blind?

Who makes him dumb or deaf? Is it not I, the Lord? I had a man call me on the phone a few weeks ago. Desperate. He said, I got to come talk to you. I said, where are you calling from? He gave me a city 15 hours away.

I said, why in the world do you want to come talk to me? He said, because I'm in the darkest time of my life. I said, well, surely there's somebody there who can help you. You need to drive to Minneapolis.

And he said, I have consulted with so many people here. And the first thing out of their mouth is to say, God didn't have anything to do with this. And I know God has to do with this. I know God is sovereign over my life.

And I've read your book, The Pleasures of God. And I can't find anybody that will start at a biblical starting point. And I think maybe you could help me. Has evil befallen a city unless the Lord has done it?

Divine Providence in the Deaths of Missionaries

Amos chapter three, verse six. I wonder how many of you saw in Christianity today, this amazing article a few months ago. Now, you all remember those of you who are old enough. The martyrdom of the five missionaries in Ecuador, Nate Saint, Peter Fleming, Ed McCulley, Jim Elliott, who was the fifth one?

Udarian, Roger Udarian. They were all speared to death with nine foot long spears. January 8th, 1956 was the 50th anniversary. 40th anniversary last year. That's why this article came out, written by Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint.

So you have a son writing about a father who was speared to death by the Alka Indians. He has interviewed extensively the tribal people who did the killing. He's talked to the very murderers. And he discovered intrigue in the tribe regarding marriage things and some other things that were all part of why this came about.

It was not a happenstance killing. There were things happening behind the scenes that accounted for this. He came to one point in this article. I carry this around with me because I was stunned by this sentence.

I read it over and over again to see if I was reading it correctly. Here's his conclusion after interviewing and studying the situation as to why his father was murdered. As they described their recollections, it occurred to me how incredibly unlikely it was that the Palm Beach killing took place at all.

Palm Beach was the little island where all the blood was shed. How unlikely it was that the Palm Beach killings took place at all. It is an anomaly that I cannot explain outside of divine intervention.

Did you hear that? That's exactly the opposite of what almost everybody says about the work of God in missions in order to get him off the hook when people suffer. And it isn't the way St. Steve St. chose to do it.

Let me read it again because you got to get this. This is not me talking now. This is a testimony of a son who lost a father. It occurred to me how incredibly unlikely it was that the Palm Beach killing took place at all.

It is an anomaly that I cannot explain outside of divine intervention. May I paraphrase that? God killed my father. Praise his name. Or to use the words of Job, the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. I go all the way because I believe the Bible goes all the way. And because God is that sovereign, he cannot lose. Nothing is in vain. Not one drop of blood has ever been shed meaninglessly or in vain.

The Price of Missions Is Suffering

That's point number one. The other two are shorter. The promise is sure. Here's point number two. The price is suffering. We're already into it, aren't we? I want to read you the verses leading up to.

Matthew 24, 14, that I quoted as the promise, namely Matthew 24, 9 following. They will deliver you up to tribulation, put you to death. You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Many will many false prophets will arise and lead many astray because wickedness is multiplied. Men's love will grow cold, but he who endures to the end will be saved. And then comes the promise. He who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

Martyrdom and the Completion of God's Plan

But it's going to take suffering. Let me give you two passages of Scripture that fill me with a sense of fear and confidence as the end draws near. Revelation 6, 11 pictures the martyrs under the throne.

How long? How long, O God, until you vindicate our blood? And he clothed them with robes and said, be at peace for the number of your brothers who are to lose their lives is not yet complete. God's got a number of martyrs and they're not done yet.

When they're done, we'll be done. And some are in this room right now. Believe that with all my heart. It cannot be otherwise in a room this size in this kind of organization. It's always been true of the CMA was told by one pastor earlier.

At one point, there were more dead CMA missionaries overseas than there were living ones. When the number of the martyrs is complete. I'll vindicate you and we'll stand forth with great power and authority.

The other text is Colossians 1, 24, where Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings of for you all. And in my sufferings, I complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. Now, that's almost heresy.

As though anything could be lacking in the redeeming work of the sufferings of Christ. And nothing can be lacking in the atoning merit of Jesus. What's lacking. And I could take a long time to defend this exegetically by a parallel passage in Philippians 230, but I won't.

I'll just give you my conclusion. What's lacking in the sufferings of Christ today. Is a personal presentation on behalf of Christ to those for whom he died. A personal presentation of sufferings to those for whom he died.

And Paul says, that's my job. In my sufferings, I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions by making a personal presentation of suffering to those for whom he died. You're called to do that. I heard Oswald Sanders, great missionary statesman before he died a couple of years ago, say a great thing.

I snuck into a chapel at Trinity Seminary to hear him preach because I admired him so much. And he was 89 years old at the time. And he quipped that he had written a book a year since he was 70. And I said, oh, right.

Yes, 70. What a great time to start a ministry. Go for it, retired folks. Start a ministry at 70. I mean that. America has sold older people one rotten bill of goods. The AARP sends me a piece of mail every week.

I'm 51. And they want me to buy this glossy magazine and, you know, fight for the rights of old people to rot while they play. What an asinine way to get ready to meet the king. Well, Oswald Sanders at 89 was telling stories about missionaries, and he told the story about an Indian missionary.

Poor evangelist walked all day up to a high village, unreached, and his feet were bloodied and he was exhausted. He wanted to just rest before he went into the village to preach, but he just felt a sense of God given urgency.

And so he walks into the village and he declares the Christ that he loved in a simple way. And they scorned him. And ran him out of town. And discouraged and weary, he lay down under a tree and fell asleep.

And just at dusk. He awoke suddenly and all the people were hovered over him. And he thought, I'm a goner here. They're going to hurt me or kill me. And the head man of the village leaned over him and said, we came out to see you.

And when we saw your bloodied feet, we knew you were a holy man. And wanted very much for us to hear this message. And we would like you to come in and say it again. And many believed. And the point was, of course, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings.

But really, the point is Colossians 124. In my sufferings, I complete what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. In that, my sufferings are a personal presentation to the world of what Christ offers them.

The Prize of Missions Is Satisfying

In my sufferings, they are to see Christ's sufferings. In my martyrdom, they are to see Christ's martyrdom. The price will be suffering. Finally, the prize is satisfying. David Livingston, I quote in the book here on page, I think it's page 204.

I want you to hear this amazing testimony. For my own part, David Livingston said to University of Cambridge in 1857. For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office as missionary.

People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending much of my life in Africa. Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blessed reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?

Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger. Now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life.

May make us pause and cause our spirit to waver and the soul to sink. But let this only be for a moment. All these things are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us and for us.

I never made a sacrifice. Amen. Oh, that we would remember the word of Jim Elliott. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. You can't out-sacrifice God. The problem with Peter.

The Missionary Reward and Eternal Gain

You remember Peter after the rich young ruler. Remember that story? The rich young ruler walks away because he has great riches. Oh, the deadliness of America and its prosperity. He walks away because he has great riches.

And Jesus says how hard it is for a rich man to get into the kingdom. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. And the disciples are reeling at that and say, then who can be saved?

And Jesus says with men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. And Peter pipes up and says, we've left everything and followed you. What about us? And Jesus says to him, Peter, nobody has left houses or lands or mother, father, brother, sister for my sake in the gospel who will not receive back in this age houses and lands and mother and sister and brother and in the age to come eternal life.

You cannot out-sacrifice my goodness. It is emphatically, Jesus says, no sacrifice to die for me. The text that was read earlier was to live is Christ and to die is say the word gain. Say it again gain.

Now, if you believe that it will put such an end to murmuring in our lives, one of the effects of going overseas and not having air conditioning and not having indoor plumbing and not having 9 -1 -1 and not having roads and having many bugs and many diseases is that when you come home, you don't murmur as much.

And if you believed that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now, I think our hospital visitation would look different. We might pray a little different. And our weeping would not be as those who have no hope.

A Better and Abiding Possession

Let me close with this question. How do you become that kind of person? How do you become the kind of person who's ready to lay down your life joyfully? And I'm just going to from all the many texts that I could look at with you, if you'd like to look at one as we close, it's Hebrews chapter 10, verse 32 following.

I love this paragraph almost as much as any paragraph in the Bible, because I want so much in America to be this counter cultural. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 32 to 34. Let me give the setting for you.

In the early days of this church, there had been suffering and persecution, and some of the Christians had been put in jail. The others were faced with the question, did we go visit them in jail and risk losing our property and maybe our lives?

Or do we go underground and hide and be safe? And they made the decision. Perhaps they had a little prayer meeting and sang Martin Luther's hymn, even though it was 1000 years, 1500 years too early, let goods and kindred go this mortal life also the body they may kill.

God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Let's go. Let's go. And they went. Now let's read and see what happened. Verse 32, Hebrews 10. Recall the former days when you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, sometimes being partners with those so treated.

So they went and they partnered with them. For you had compassion on the prisoners. Here comes and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. Now, just stop there. I want to be that way, don't you?

You choose your neighborhoods to be safe. You go to the suburbs to be safe. Is your first thought in a call to ministry? Will my kids be safe? I got so tired of hearing that question. When we were looking for associates at my church, is your neighborhood safe?

No. And who cares? There's people there. Good grief. What does that question have to do with obedience to Jesus? What what happened to these people that they should mark the word joyfully accept the plundering of their property?

I called this book. Meditations of a Christian hedonist. And got myself into big trouble. And I love it. And I wouldn't change this title for anything. Because people who are willing to risk this book know that what I mean by hedonist is somebody who forsakes the two bit short term inadequate pleasures of American security for this kind of security that joyfully accepts the plundering of their property.

That's Christian hedonism. But here's the question. How did they become that kind of person? And the next phrase gives the answer. Verse 34. You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. Since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

Take those two words. Oh, CMA. Oh, Christian. We have a better possession and an abiding one and heaven. Psalm 1611 captures those two words better and abiding. You know that verse. You love it like I love it.

Thou to show me the path of life in thy presence. We're not talking streets of gold. We're not talking even reunion with my dear mother. We're talking God's presence. Thou to show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy.

At thy right hand are pleasures. How long? Forevermore. It's better. It's full and it's abiding forever. That's what this author was talking about. A better possession and an abiding one. A full joy and an everlasting joy.

And you can't get it anywhere else. And every advertisement between the bulls and jazz game this very moment is telling you the opposite. And I'm glad you're here. The more TV you watch, the more you will be numbed out in your spiritual capacity to believe that dying is gain and the plundering of your property in the cause of love to bring Christ to the world is gain.

And therefore, I plead with you, turn it off and look to Jesus. It's not the only strategy, but we haven't had a TV in our home for 28 years. And I've raised five kids and the four who are old enough to care never missed it.

And all of them have pursued missions in one form or another and are now walking with Jesus and they know the street because I live on the street. I don't need the television to show me sin. We live in the middle of sin.

A Call to Repentance, Renewal, and Missions

The promise is sure. The price is suffering and the prize is satisfying. Get to know the prize. Let's bow for prayer. And I I would like to do this tonight because I was exhorted this morning that God might be at work in this way.

And so just very briefly, here's what I'd like to do. I want to pray for those of you in a concerted way by having you come to the front. Let me pray for you. Three kinds of people. Let me tell you very clearly who there are, because I want it.

I don't want everybody to come and stay where you are is not the least indictment. Here's the three kinds of people. I want to come stand here and let me pray for you. Number one, has God touched you in these days concerning some habit or some pattern of life that you are shamed of and that you're struggling with and you want to decisively renounce and forsake tonight?

That's the first person I want to come. The second person I want to come. I've met a few of you is the person who says all the joy has gone out of my ministry and I'm on the point of quitting. And if I don't get renewal and refreshment soon, I'm probably going to leave the ministry.

I desperately need a touch from God. That's that's the second kind of person I want to come. And the third person I want to come is the person who one way or another has felt a very unique and powerful tug from God to be.

A vocational missionary. Now, we're going to sing, so I'm going to invite Steve to sing, and while we're singing, we'll just sing a couple of verses. Come stand at the front when you've come. I'll pray for you and we'll close.

Prayer for Awakening and Perseverance

Oh, Lord, while we're gathered here now, real serious business being done with you. Some ministries are hanging in the balance. Futures are hanging in the balance here. Maybe some marriages are hanging in the balance and maybe faith itself is hanging in the balance.

And I just ask you to come, Holy Spirit, and minister to these people. Let's bless them. Let tonight be a night of awakening. Oh, God, restore unto us the joy of our salvation. Satisfy us in the evening with our steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad in you all the days of our lives.

Lord, I pray that you would slay the dragon of sin in some lives, some lust dragons and some some bitterness and anger dragons. God, just slay them right now. Sever the root of sin where the battle is great right now.

And Lord, for those who felt a calling, seal it, seal it. Oh, God, may they never be able to go behind this moment, but follow it on right into the mouth of the lion if necessary. Oh, God, so work in these brothers and sisters right now that they may be able to say from the bottom of their heart, whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Lord, we want to lift our hearts now and glorify you. And I just invite those of you who are here at the front just to linger as long as you want. Don't feel like when we're done, you need to go anywhere.

And any of you who sees a friend up here, you might just want to come and put your hand on the shoulder and say, can I just bless you? Can I just bless you? I don't know what it is you're doing or dealing with, but I want to bless you.

So let's close with song and then we can just linger and deal with the Lord as long as we need to.

Thank you for listening to this message by John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feel free to make copies of this message to give to others, but please do not charge for those copies or alter the content in any way without permission.

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