The gift or preaching is none other than the power of the Holy Spirit – we are utterly dependent on it. The cross witnesses to the inline worth of God and the infinite outrage of sin.”. Piper writes “What should shock us is that we have brought such contempt upon the worth of God that the very death of his Son is required to vindicate that worth. “It horribly skews the meaning of the cross when contemporary prophets of self-esteem say the the cross is a witness to my infinite worth, since God was willing to pay such a hight prices to get me.”. But the God-centered Bible is amazed that God should withhold judgment from sinners.”. “Preaching is the heralding of the good news by a messenger sent by God.” This is essential, for without the cross there is no solution to the fundamental problem of how sinful humans can be reconciled to a perfect, glorious God? Quoting Sproul “Man-centered humans are amazed that God should withhold life and joy from his creatures. This isn’t possible without the ground of preaching, which is the cross of Christ. Preachers – this is our job – proclaim the glory of the glorious God. Do people take away from our worship services, and particularly our sermons a sense of the glory of God? He quotes Mather “The great design and intention of the office of a Christian preacher is to restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men.”. The goal of preaching is the glory of God.

Part 1 he further sub-divides into the Goal, Ground, Gift, and Gravity of Preaching. Piper divides the book up into two main parts – Why God Should be Supreme in Preaching and How to Make God Supreme in Preaching. The majesty of God is an unknown cure.” No matter what the trouble is, this “vision of a great God is the linchpin in the life of the church, both in pastoral care and missionary outreach…the living out of a God-bosotted life and worldview.” This sets the foundation for the rest of the book. But most of them would not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. In the Preface, Piper starts by dropping “People are starving for the greatness of God. You can guess how nicely that will set up a huge Piperian wordfest – and it does. Piper comes out swinging right from the Preface – “Preaching is worshiping God over the Word of God – the text of Scripture with explanation and exultation…this includes understanding with the mind and feeling in the heart.”.

So naturally, I absorbed The Supremacy of God in Preaching.įirst written in 1990, when I had a sweet mullet and used to wear argyle socks, it was revised in 2004. He was so instrumental in my coming to faith…so helpful, so powerful…I could go on.

The supremacy of god in preaching