Piper at New Word of Life Conference

Sooner or later, it will become evident to the reader of this blog that I have been and continue to be a student of John Piper. His books, his messages and his conferences have been places where God has met me to reveal to me the glorious reality of His Glory and my one and only real purpose – to reflect that glory as much and as far as He enables me to.

Piper has much to say about this subject of suffering, and most recently, he delivered two messages at the New Word of Life Conference in Wales. I highly recommend these. They may be heard and downloaded at:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2008/2718_Treasuring_Christ_and_the_Call_to_Suffer_Part_1/

and

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2008/2722_Treasuring_Christ_and_the_Call_to_Suffer_Part_2/

Below are some personal applications I took from these talks. If you take time to listen to them, you will, most likely, find even more.

(Note: Unless otherwise noted, the reference numbers are verses in Romans 8)

1. I must embrace my suffering as a means to my glorification. (17: “we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him.”) Therefore, each suffering prepares me more for my glorification.
2. I must look upon the suffering of all creation (which includes natural disasters) as God’s demonstration of the horror of sin. (20-21)
3. Because I, and all others who have received the grace of Christ, no longer stand under condemnation, I must receive my own suffering, and that of by fellow Christians, not as judgment, but as purification. (1-2)
4. I must look through my sufferings to see its ultimate purpose – and the ultimate purpose of the universe – to perceive the glory of God in the crucifixion of the Lamb of God. (Rom 8:20-21, Eph 1:6; 2 Tim 1:9; Rev 13:8)
5. I must magnify Christ in my suffering as the one who will, now or in the age to come, deliver me from all suffering and heal me of all infirmities. (1 Peter 2:24)
6. I must glorify Christ in my suffering as the one who is infinitely satisfying even as I suffer – so satisfying, in fact, that the greater my suffering, the greater His satisfaction is revealed. (18-19)
7. I must rest on the promises that:
1. After this suffering, we will see His all-satisfying beauty and greatness. (18)
2. My sufferings will lead me to a glorious state where I will have the capacity to enjoy the glory of God fully.(19)
3. All creation will be freed from its present futility to become a fitting place for the eternal, unfettered worship of God. (21)