Apr 26
John Piper’s “Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority Keep Us Safe for Everlasting Joy,” from this year’s T4G. It’s in this sermon that Piper delves into the great paradox of the Christian life: as we hear in Jude, we are told to keep ourselves in the love of God, and then God is said to be the sole preserver of the saints.
Watch it below (or hear the audio here). You won’t regret the hour spent listening. Trust me.
Pastor and missionary Robert Murray M’Cheyne‘s (1813-1843) meditation on Psalm 119, from a collection of his poems:
When Israel knew not where to go,
God made the fiery pillar glow;
By night, by day, above the camp
It led the way- their guiding lamp;
Such is Thy Holy Word to me
In day of dark perplexity.
When devious paths before me spread,
And all invite my foot to tread
I hear Thy voice behind me say-
“Believing soul, this is the way,
Walk thou in it.” O gentle Dove,
How much Thy holy law I love!
My lamp and light
In the dark night.
When Paul amid the seas seemed lost
By Adrian billows wildly tossed,
When neither sun nor star appeared,
And every wave its white head reared
Above the ship, beside his bed
An angel stood, and “Fear not” said.
When tossed upon afflictions’s sea;
When floods come in unto my soul,
And the deep waters o’er me roll,
With angel voice Thy Word draws near
And says, “Tis I, why shouldst thou fear?
Through trouble great My saints must go
Into their rest, where neither woe
Nor sin can come; where every tear
From off the cheek shall disappear,
Wiped by God’s hand.” O gentle Dove,
How much Thy holy law I love!
My lamp and light
In the dark night.
When holy Stephen dauntless stood
Before the Jews, who sought his blood,
With angel face he looked on high,
And wondering, through the parted sky,
Saw Jesus risen from His throne
To claim the martyr as His own.
Angelic peace that sight bestowed,
With holy joy his bosom glowed.
And while the murderous stones they hurled
His heaven wrapt soul sought yonder world
Of rest. “My spirit, Saviour, keep,”
He cried, he kneeled he fell asleep.
Such be Thy holy Word to me
In hour of life’s extremity!
Although no more the murdering hand-
Is raised within our peaceful land-
The Church has rest, and I may ne’er
Be called the martyr’s crown to wear:
Yet still, in whatsoever form
Death comes to me, in midnight storm
Whelming my bark, or in my nest,
Gently dismissing me to rest,
O grant me in Thy Word to see
A risen Saviour beckoning me.
No evil then my heart shall fear
In the dark valley. Thou art near!
My trembling soul and Thou, my God,
Alone are there; Thy staff and rod
Shall comfort me. O gentle Dove,
How much Thy holy law I love!
My lamp and light
In the dark night.
(1838)
This Monday we return to the old pattern of Mission Mondays: praying together for the nations. Today we pray for Uruguay, a small and prosperous South American country on the coast of the Atlantic, where God is doing glorious things.
The most secular place on the continent, Uruguay has a long history, going back more than a century, of non-spirituality. Recently, however, an interest in spirituality has burgeoned and, in the face of growing New Age movements’ swallowing up the nominally Catholic supermajority, evangelicals have made significant progress in the last twenty years. A concerted effort led to the doubling of gospel-believing congregations, and the number of professing believers in Christ (!), between 1998 and 2005.
Here are some specific prayer points for Uruguay:
[Adapted from Operation World, 7th ed. Get it here, and pray for the nations daily.]
