In the conclusion of his biography of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin entitled, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, John Piper offers four lessons that we can learn from the lives of flawed saints who have gone on before us. Below they are listed along with some Scripture passages to reflect on. Pastors, as inadequate as you are, press on in the calling that God has placed on your life, to make much of Christ! Press on in Him!
1. Do not be paralyzed by your weaknesses and flaws.
-“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10
2. In the battle against sin and surrender, learn the secret of sovereign joy.
-“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” – Philippians 3:8
3. Supernatural change comes from seeing Christ in his sacred Word.
-[I pray] “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” – Ephesians 1:17-18
4. Therefore, let us exult over the exposition of the truth of the Gospel and herald the glory of Christ for the joy of all peoples.
-“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” – 2 Corinthians 4:5
