In this repackaged edition of What Jesus Demands from the World, John Piper walks through Jesus’s commands, explaining their context and meaning to help readers understand Christ’s vision of the Christian life and what he still requires today.

When Faith Flickers, Stoke the Fire No one sins out of duty. We sin because it offers some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us - until we believe that God is more desirable than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Only the power of God's superior promises in the gospel can emancipate our hearts from servitude to the shallow promises and fleeting pleasures of sin. John Piper shows how to sever the clinging roots of sin that ensnare us, including anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust. Delighting in the bounty of God's glorious gospel promises will free us for a less sin-encumbered life, to the glory of Christ. Rooted in solid biblical reflection, this book aims to help guide you through the battles to the joys of victory by the power of the gospel and its superior pleasure.

John Piper brings a lifetime of theology, Bible meditation, and pastoral ministry to bear on the doctrine of God's providence, showing how God's all-pervasive governing of all things glorifies Christ, and is spectacularly good news for those who trust him.

In this bestselling book, John Piper makes a passionate plea to the next generation of Christians to not waste their lives, but to live for Jesus with all their hearts.

"A Parable of Permanence . . ."
Reflecting on 40 years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant for the right reasons. Even when people commonly stayed married "till death do us part," there has never been a generation whose view of marriage was high enough, says Pastor John Piper. That is all the more true in our casual times. Understanding God's design according to his Word can awaken a glorious vision capable of freeing every person from small, Christ-ignoring, romance-intoxicated views. As Piper explains: "Most foundationally, marriage is the doing of God. And ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It's mainly about telling the truth with our lives. And staying married is not about staying in love. It is about keeping a covenant and putting the glory of Christ's covenant-keeping love on display."
"Una parabola de permanencia . . ."
Reflexionando sobre cuarenta anos de matrimonio, John Piper enaltece el sentido biblico del matrimonio por encima de la emocion, exhortando a las parejas a mantener su pacto por las razones correctas. Incluso cuando la gente comunmente permanecio casada "hasta que la muerte nos separe," nunca hubo una generacion cuya perspectiva del matrimonio fue lo suficientemente alta, dice el pastor John Piper. Esto es todavia mas cierto en nuestra informal epoca. Comprender el diseno de Dios segun su Palabra puede despertar una gloriosa vision capaz de liberar a todas las personas de perspectivas que ignoran a Cristo y estan intoxicadas por el romance. El matrimonio es fundamentalmente, mas que nada, la obra de Dios. Y, en ultima instancia, el matrimonio es la demostracion de Dios. De una manera mejor que ningun otro evento o institucion, en el matrimonio se muestra al mundo el mantenimiento del pacto de amor entre Cristo y su pueblo. El matrimonio, por lo tanto, no se trata principalmente de estar enamorado. Es, sobre todo, decir la verdad con nuestras vidas. Y permanecer casados no se trata de permanecer enamorados. Se trata de mantener el pacto y demostrar la gloria del amor fiel de Cristo.

In this book, John Piper celebrates the lives and ministries of 27 leaders from church history, offering a close look at their perseverance amidst opposition, weakness, and suffering-inspiring readers toward a life of Christ-exalting courage, passion, and joy.

In this Bible-saturated meditation on the nature of saving faith, John Piper argues that the spiritual affection of treasuring Christ belongs to the very essence of saving faith. If Christ is not embraced as our supreme treasure, he is not embraced for who he is.

In this hardcover edition, long-time author and teacher John Piper draws from the preaching ministry of Jonathan Edwards to encourage pastors and leaders to gladly preach the cross, for the glory of God, to a people hungry for God and his word. Includes four extra chapters not included in the original edition.

When Jesus said to Nicodemus, 'You must be born again', the devout and learned religious leader was unsure what Jesus meant. It would seem nothing has changed. Today 'born again Christians' fill churches that are seen as ineffectual at best, and even characterised by the 'mosaic' generation as 'unchristian'. The term 'born again' has been devalued both in society and in the church. Those claiming to be 'born again' live lives that are indistinguishable from those who don't; they sin the same, embrace injustice the same, covet the same, do almost everything the same. Being 'born again' is now defined by what people say they believe. The New Testament however defines Christians very differently. "When Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again" (John 3:7), he was not sharing interesting and unimportant information. He was leading him to eternal life... If he does that for you (or if he already has), then you are (or you will be) truly, invincibly, finally alive." John Piper

Thomas Chalmers exhorts readers to remove the tangles of sin through the expulsive power of a new and greater affection—desiring God.

John Piper challenges fellow baby boomers to forego the American dream of retirement and live out their golden years with a far greater purpose in mind.

They say it's a person's reward for all those years of labor. "Turn in your time card and trade in your IRAs. Let travel plans and golf-course leisure lead the way." But is retirement really the ideal? Or is it a series of poor options that ignore a greater purpose-and will kill a person more quickly than old age?

John Piper responds: "Lord, spare me this curse " And his resounding message is for anyone who believes there's far more to the golden years than accumulating comforts. It's for readers who long to finish better than they started, persevere for the right reasons (and without fear), experience true security, value what lies beyond their cravings, and live dangerously for the One who gave his life in his prime. With this brief book, Piper is sure to spur fellow baby boomers in their resolve to invest themselves in the sacrifices of love-and to grow old with godly zeal.

Piper and Carson explore the interrelated role of pastoral ministry and scholarship in their lives.

Following the 2009 Gospel Coalition conference John Piper and D. A. Carson presented two talks at Park Community Church in Chicago, IL, sponsored by the Henry Institute at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The topic of their presentation was on the relationship of scholarship and pastoral ministry. Piper centered on the importance of scholarship and academic pursuits in his role as pastor. Carson, conversely, focused on the importance of pastoral ministry in his career as scholar. The event was enthusiastically received and brought great insight and balance.

Now their talks have been edited with additional content and put into book form. Weaving testimony and teaching, Piper and Carson challenge all those in ministry to think carefully and holistically about their calling. An introduction by Owen Strachan and a conclusion by David Mathis provide context and application to these unique messages.

Pastors and scholars will want to take advantage of this valuable insider perspective from two men who have been acclaimed for their sharp thinking and pastoral hearts.

John Piper explores Scripture’s command to love the second coming of Christ, and what it is about this event that makes it so desirable. While encouraging Christians to have a genuine longing for Jesus’s presence, Piper addresses pressing questions about the end times. 

Since September 11, 2001, I have seen more clearly than ever how essential it is to exult explicitly in the excellence of Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead. Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk. It will not do, in this day of pluralism, to talk about the glory of God in vague ways. God without Christ is no God. And a no-God cannot save or satisfy the soul. Following a no-God--whatever his name or whatever his religion--will be a wasted life. God-in-Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy. To bring us to this highest and most durable of all pleasures, God made his Son, Jesus Christ, a bloody spectacle of blameless suffering and death. This is what it cost to rescue us from a wasted life. The eternal Son of God "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing." He took "the form of a servant" and was born "in the likeness of men . . . . He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6-8). All Things Were Made for Him This Jesus was and is a real historical man in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Since he is "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God," as the old Nicene Creed says, and since his death and resurrection are the central act of God in history, it is not surprising to hear the Bible say, "All things were created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16). For him! That means for his glory. Ever since the incarnate, redeeming work of Jesus, God is gladly glorified by sinners only through the glorification of the risen God-Man, Jesus Christ. His bloody death is the blazing center of the glory of God. There is no way to the glory of the Father but through the Son. All the promises of joy in God's presence, and pleasures at his right hand, come to us only through faith in Jesus Christ. If We Reject Him, We Reject God Jesus is the litmus test of reality for all persons and all religions. He said it clearly: "The one who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16). People and religions who reject Christ reject God. Do other religions know the true God? Here is the test: Do they reject Jesus as the only Savior for sinners who was crucified and raised by God from the dead? If they do, they do not know God in a saving way. That is what Jesus meant when he said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Or when he said, "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him" (John 5:23). Or when he said to the Pharisees, "If God were your Father, you would love me" (John 8:42). If we would see and savor the glory of God, we must see and savor Christ. For Christ is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). To put it another way, if we would embrace the glory of God, we must embrace the Gospel of Christ. The reason for this is not only because we are sinners and need a Savior to die for us, but also because this Savior is himself the fullest and most beautiful manifestation of the glory of God. He purchases our undeserved and everlasting pleasure, and he becomes for us our all-deserving, everlasting Treasure. The Gospel is the Good News of the Glory of Christ This is how the Gospel is defined. When we are converted through faith in Christ, what we see with the eyes of our hearts is "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Gospel is the good news of all-conquering beauty. Or to say it the way Paul does, it is the good news of "the glory of Christ." When we embrace Christ, we embrace God. We see and savor God's glory. There is no savoring of God's glory if we do not see it in Christ. This is the only window through which a sinner may see the face of God and not be incinerated. The Bible says that when God illuminates our hearts at conversion, he gives "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). Either we see the glory of God "in the face of Jesus Christ," or we don't see it at all. And "the face of Jesus Christ" is the beauty of Christ reaching its climax in the cross. The bloody face of Christ crucified (and triumphant!) is the countenance of the glory of God. What was once foolishness to us becomes our wisdom and our power and our boast (1 Corinthians 1:18, 24). Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain.

Most people, when they ponder what it means to be loved by God, do not think God-centred thoughts. They think of the things that God does for us but which, in their minds, don't have God as the satisfying centre. But it wouldn't be loving of God to give us everything but himself - and so his love doesn't do that. It gives us himself for our enjoyment, and it gives us other things as means of knowing him better and loving him more. In John Piper's reflective, paradigm-challenging book, he drives home the point that what is most loving about God is not his making much of us, but his enabling us, at great cost to himself, to enjoy making much of him forever.

Good News of Great Joy by John Piper invites Christians to make Jesus the center of the Advent season through 25 devotional readings.

According to Warren Wiersbe, The Supremacy of God in Preaching "calls us back to a biblical standard for preaching, a standard exemplified by many of the pulpit giants of the past, especially Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon." This newly revised and expanded edition is an essential guide for preachers who want to stir the embers of revival. Piper has added valuable new material reflecting on his thirty-three years of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church, offering a glimpse of what a lifetime of putting God first has done for the faith of the hundreds of thousands who have heard him preach over the years.

Are There Two Wills in God?
Divine Election and God's Desire for All to Be Saved

In this short, theological essay, John Piper builds a scriptural case that God's unconditional election unto salvation is compatible with God's genuine desire and offer for all to be saved. Helping us to make sense of this seemingly paradoxical relationship, Piper wisely holds both truths in tension as he explores the Bible's teaching on this challenging topic, graciously responds to those who disagree, and motivates us to passionately proclaim the free offer of the gospel to all people.

The rise of evangelical feminism challenges traditional Christian beliefs related to gender roles in society, the home, and the church. This comprehensive defense of complementarianism contributes to the debate with systematic argumentation and exegetical analysis.

The Greatest Chapter in the Bible Adapted from Why I Love the Apostle Paul by John Piper By John Piper The greatest chapter in the Bible is Romans 8. Why? Because Romans 8 spells out all that God is for us in his Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" What are the great obstacles between us and everlasting happiness? One obstacle is our sin. We are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and the wages of that sin is eternal death (Rom. 6:23). Another obstacle is the wrath of God. If God is justly wrathful toward us in our sinful guilt, then we have no hope of everlasting happiness. When Paul calls Jesus God's own Son, the point is that there are no others like him, and he is infinitely precious to the Father. The point of Romans 8:32 is that this love of God for his one and only Son was like a massive, Mount Everest obstacle standing between God and our salvation. Here was an obstacle almost insurmountable. Could God--would God--overcome his cherishing, admiring, treasuring, white-hot, infinite, affectionate bond with his Son and hand him over to be lied about and betrayed and denied and abandoned and mocked and flogged and beaten and spit on and nailed to a cross and pierced with a sword, like an animal being butchered and hung up on a rack? The unthinkable reality that Romans 8:32 affirms is that God did it. He did hand him over. God did not spare him. In this passage Paul is saying the most unthinkable thing: God handed over his Son to death. "This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). God himself handed over his Son. Nothing greater or harder has ever happened. Or ever will. Therefore, God has done the hardest thing to give us everlasting happiness. He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. What does this guarantee? Paul puts it in the form of a rhetorical question (that means a question he expects us to immediately answer correctly): "how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" "All things" is not a promise of a trouble-free life. Four verses later Paul says, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." (Rom. 8:36) Instead, "all things" means all things we need to be eternally happy in God. Since God did not spare his own Son, all things will work together for our good (8:28), we will be glorified (8:30), and nothing, not even persecution or famine or danger or death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ (8:35-39). Paul said, "All the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]" (2 Cor. 1:20). That is because the Father did not spare his Son. He did it so that all things--all these promises--would be absolutely certain for those who trust him. I have fought all the battles of my life with the promises of God--battles against fear and lust and greed and pride and anger. Battles for courage and purity and contentment and humility and peace and love. All of them by the word of God--the promises of God. Behind every one of those battles is the logic of heaven: "I did not spare my own Son; therefore, my promise to you cannot fail. I will help you. Go. Do what I have called you to do." This promise isn't just for me. It's for anyone who reads it and receives, by faith, Jesus Christ as their Savior, their treasure, their hope, and their joy. If you want to receive Jesus Christ as your treasure today, thank God right now that you have this desire. It is a wonderful gift. Then call out to him in prayer and tell him what is in your heart. Perhaps with these words: O God, I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, and that you have opened the eyes of my heart to see the truth of Christ and my great need for him. I see that I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I see that Christ died for sinners and rose again. I see the wonderful promise that all who believe in Christ receive this forgiveness and eternal life. So I do believe, and I appeal to your mercy to save me from my sin, and welcome me, as you promised, into eternal life with you. Put your Spirit within me, I pray, and give me all the help I need to follow Jesus as Lord, and obey his teachings. Please lead me to a Bible-believing church where I can grow in faith and with others who love Jesus. Amen.

Have you ever known true joy? Do you have this joy in your life right now? If you are longing for fulfillment, for true joy, please read on--this tract may assist you in your quest. 1. God Created Us For His Glory "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth... whom I created for my glory" (Isaiah 43:6-7). God made us to magnify his greatness--the way telescopes magnify stars. He created us to put his goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display. The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is. This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God created us so that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. 2. Every Human Should Live For God's Glory "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). If God made us for his glory, clearly we should live for his glory. Our duty comes from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by being satisfied with all that he is for us. This is the essence of loving God (Matthew 22:37) and trusting him (1 John 5:3-4) and being thankful to him (Psalm 100:2-4). It is the root of all true obedience, especially loving others (Colossians 1:4-5). 3. All of Us Have Failed To Glorify God As We Should "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). What does it mean to "fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our satisfaction in other things and have treated them as more valuable than God, which is the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23). Since sin came into the world, we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our all-satisfying treasure (Ephesians 2:3). This is an appalling offense to the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13). 4. All Of Us Are Subject To God's Just Condemnation "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23). We have all belittled the glory of God. How? By preferring other things above him. By our ingratitude, distrust, and disobedience. So God is just in shutting us out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). The word "hell" is used in the New Testament twelve times--eleven times by Jesus himself. It is not a myth created by dismal and angry preachers. It is a solemn warning from the Son of God who died to deliver sinners from its curse. We ignore it at great risk. If the Bible stopped here in its analysis of the human condition, we would be doomed to a hopeless future. However, this is not where it stops... 5. God Sent His Only Son Jesus To Provide Eternal Life And Joy "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy 1:15). The good news is that Christ died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found. 6. The Benefits Purchased By The Death Of Christ Belong To Those Who Repent And Trust Him "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). "Repent" means to turn from all the deceitful promises of sin. "Faith" means being satisfied with all that God promised to be for us in Jesus. "Whoever believes in me," Jesus says, "shall never thirst" (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by grace through faith that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a free gift (Romans 3:24). We will have it if we cherish it enough to receive it and treasure it above all things (Matthew 13:44). When we do that, God's aim in creation is accomplished: He is glorified in us and we are satisfied in him--forever. Does This Make Sense To You? Do you desire the kind of gladness that comes from being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus? If so, then God is at work in your life. What Should You Do? Turn from the deceitful promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from the guilt and punishment and bondage. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. You can break the power of sin's promises by putting your faith in the superior satisfaction of God's promises. Begin reading the Bible to find his precious and very great promises, which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible-believing church, and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7).

Short and practical, this book by best-selling author John Piper encourages those struggling with illness to focus their attention on God and his grace through reflections on ten lessons he learned while in the hospital.

Originally published in 1948, and edited by the artist John Piper, An English Farmhouse is Geoffrey Grigson's careful survey of the old English farmhouse, and its associated buildings, whether made from sarsen, thatch, timber, tile or brick. Grigson paints a vivid and human picture of rural life in the preceding centuries and creates a delicate weave of social history.