Passion 2012: Sermon Notes from John Piper's Message

I never expected to take notes from the Passion 2012 conference, because I didn't even know it was going on until I saw it pop up on my Twitter account! I read that 45,000 students packed the Georgia dome and was excited for sure. And then I heard that John Piper was speaking in one of the night sessions; it made me even more excited. Thanks to the team at Passion for being willing to show parts of this great conference.


This sermon is one of the best I've heard in a long time. Of course I would highly recommend that you listen to it or watch it (not sure if its still available to watch). I hope and pray that this will help you. Listening and taking notes in this sermon has certainty been a great exercise for me and I praise God for that.  

Main point: Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus Christ frees you from the slavery of sin for the sacrifices of love.

Step 1: Saving Faith: Seeing, Savoring, and Believing

Piper sees that saving faith is seeing and savoring Jesus and being satisfied in all that God is for you in Jesus. Therefore, when you see and savor Jesus, when you are satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus, and when you believe Jesus (saving faith) you outwardly are set free from the slavery of sin and the sacrifices of love.

The root of your salvation glorifies God privately (seeing and savoring, being satisfied, and trusting Jesus) and the fruit of your salvation glorifies God publically (slavery of sin and sacrifices of love).

The first verse he gives for proof of his main point is John 6:35: “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus are parallel statements meant to interpret each other. The bread and the water are both images of Jesus. So, believing in Jesus is a soul coming to Jesus to be satisfied in all that he is!

Next verse is John 1:12, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Receiving Jesus and believing in Jesus are the same. Receiving or believing Jesus means you see what he is, you want him, and you embrace him! You say yes, yes, yes!


Remember Piper is proving his definition of saving faith from the Bible.

The last verse is Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he is and that he rewards those who seek him.”

The only way to please God is by believing. And he (the writer) unpacks what he means by believing. The believing heart says you are my reward! You are the treasure of my life! Faith is childlike, needy, and hungry. It is a desperate response to glory.

The fact that seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus, being satisfied in all that God is for you in Jesus, and trusting Jesus are equivalent realities is striking and threatening.

It means coming to faith in Jesus requires a resurrection from the dead. You don’t by nature see and savor him. You aren’t satisfied in all that he is for you, and you do not by nature trust him.

Conversion or saving faith is a gift of seeing and savoring! It is morally impossible for someone who is in love with darkness to walk into the light. The new birth awakens us from our deadness to treasure Jesus.

Romans 6:17-18, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart, having been set free from sin, having become slaves of righteousness.”

Having saving faith does NOT mean you won’t struggle in this life. But in heaven there will be no struggle to obey. We will all the way slaves of righteousness and the freest people in the universe!

Step 2: The supremacy of Jesus Christ.

Here Piper sets out to help us SEE so we can SAVOR the supremacy of Jesus by proclaiming who he is and why we should trust him. (Note: I did not include every aspect of what Piper talked about, otherwise it would have been too long.)

The supremacy of his eternality: Jesus Christ never had a beginning. He always was.

The supremacy of his knowledge: That makes all the information on the internet look like a 1940’s farmer’s almanac.

The supremacy of his authority: Without his permission nobody can move one inch. He puts up kings and puts down kings.

The supremacy of his providence: Without him not a single bird falls to the ground anywhere in the world, including the deepest darkest jungle of the Amazon forest.

The supremacy of his power: To walk on water, to open the eyes of the blind, the storms to cease, and the dead to rise with a single word of his power.

The supremacy of his justice: He will render in due time all moral accounts settled either on the cross or in hell.

The supremacy of his patience: To endure my dullness and your dullness decade after decade. And hold back his final judgment on every land so that many can repent.

The supremacy of his sovereign servant obedience: He kept the father’s commandments perfectly. And then he embraced the pain of the cross willingly.

The supremacy of his grace: He gives life to the spiritually dead. He awakens faith in hell-bound haters of God. He justifies the ungodly with his own righteousness.

The supremacy of his love: He willingly dies for sinners while we were against him, that we might have ever-increasing joy in making much of him forever.

He is supreme in every admirable way over everything.

“There is not ONE square inch on this planet where Jesus Christ does not say, mine!”

Oh, that God would grant you to see and savor the supremacy of Jesus.

Step 3: Seeing and Savoring the Supremacy of Jesus Christ frees from sin.

2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

Beholding (seeing, savoring) the glory of the Lord (supreme, glorious) seeing that you are changed!! This verse says, if I could just see with the eyes of my heart I would be changed.

Little hearts give little lusts big power. Big hearts give little lusts little power. You have to see! Your heart has to get bigger and bigger so that this little temptation looks like the stupid, suicidal, insane little monster it is!

If you see and savor the supremacy of Jesus Christ you will be progressively freed from the bondage and slavery of sin.

Step 4: You will be freed from the sacrifices of love.

"For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one." Hebrews 10:34

What is it that frees you to take risks with your life for the sake of others?

You look up to Jesus, heaven, your inheritance, an eternity of everlasting and ever-increasing joy, and you say that is enough! I don’t need it now. I’ve got it there and I’m going here now. That is how sacrifices are freed by being satisfied in Jesus.

Closing: Isaiah 26:8, “Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.”

It takes a miracle for a desire to be born for a supernatural reality that you can’t see.

May God Almighty make the supremacy of the name of Jesus and the supremacy of the renown of Jesus be your sight, savor, satisfaction, desire, and trust.

Will We Die Alone?

One of my favorite bands has a song that just recently came out. This band is not Christian at all, but there are some things to take away from the song from a biblical perspective.


Everyone lies and cheats their wants and needs and still believes their heart.
And everyone gets the chills, the kind that kills when the pain begins to start.

Notice everyone is the key word for us in this part of the song. Sin is such a universal malady that even a non-Christian band can recognize the utter depravity of every single person's heart (Romans 3:23). We all love ourselves and will do anything to make us look better.

I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "the chills" but I think it means that everyone recognizes that things are not right. Everyone has some sense that we must do something to fill the void that is in our hearts. So we try to fill it by success, money, fame, human approval, pleasure, etc.

Everyone raises kids in a world that changes life to a bitter game.

Here we see the absolute miracle of life and the happiness of it. But notice that this world tends to eat away at us and changes life from happiness to bitterness. Human beings, apart from the grace of God, end up depressed, angry, bitter, and unloving (Romans 1:29). To the point that life just becomes a pointless game.


And everyone lives to tell the tale of how we die alone some day.
Notice everyone realizes they will die someday. It is obvious. Everyone will reap what they sow. But the word alone caught my attention. This is not exactly true of the Christian. Yes we will die alone in one sense; but Christ took our place, he died our death! (Romans 6:8) Therefore we have hope that we will stand the judgement of God against sinners because our Lord Jesus bore our sin and nailed it to the cross.


It grieves me that there is so much hopelessness in this world. Alas, we can only pray that people will realize the value of Jesus Christ for their souls.

Jesus, Thank You!

This song called "Jesus, Thank You" by Sovereign Grace Music is one of my favorite songs. It helps to bring me under the gospel with a thankful heart. The lyrics are below. Enjoy!


The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend
The agonies of Calvary
You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me 

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You

By Your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end 

Lover of my soul
I want to live for You

God's Gracious Restorings

This is an excerpt from Octavius Winslow's book, "The Precious Things of God". All of us believers, at one time, or another have gone through seasons of spiritual decline. We spend less time than normal in the Word of God being refreshed, we spend less time talking with God in prayer, and we spend less time in sweet fellowship with the saints. Let Octavius Winslow's words refresh your soul, as he did mine:


"In circumstances of spiritual relapse, how precious does Christ become, as the Restorer of His saints, as the Shepherd that goes in quest, of His stray sheep, and brings it back to the fold with rejoicing! How unspeakably dear is the Savior to the wandering yet restored heart! 


Our backslidings are perpetual and aggravated, our affections fickle and truant, our faith fluctuating, our love waning, our zeal flagging, our walk often feeble and unsteady; but Jesus does not withdraw His eye from His own work in the soul, and never for a moment loses sight of His stray-going sheep. 


Ah, there are few aspects of the work of Jesus more precious in the experience of the saints of God than His divine and gracious restorings. "He restores my soul," is a declaration of David which finds its response in every believer. Precious, then, is that Savior who breaks the heart, checks its waywardness, restores its wanderings, heals its backslidings, rekindles its love, and once more wakes its languid, silent chords to sweetest harmony."

Jesus Is Big!

This is a chapter from Joe Thorn's book called, "Note to Self". I have been edified by this book tremendously. You can get the book here.


"Dear Self,
Take note-your view of Jesus tends to shrink over time. It is not that your theology itself drifts, but sometimes you so focus on one aspect of Jesus that you tend to forget the rest. The result is a shrinking Jesus (in your faith). And as your shrinking Jesus becomes small Jesus, he is easily eclipsed by your idols and ego.


The bigger and more biblical your understanding of who Jesus is, the more likely he is to be such an object of love and adoration that the idols that aim at capturing your attention and swaying your allegiance will lose their power. This is why you sometimes lack earnestness for the kingdom and the glory of God while you overflow with passion concerning temporal things. Instead of making a joyful noise and singing earnestly for the victory Christ has over sin and death, you express a dispassionate approval and mouth the words to the songs sung in worship. But there is often fire in your belly and shouts of joy when your favorite college football team is victorious over the competition. This is probably why the church is shrinking in North America-because small Jesus does not inspire awe, command respect, lead to worship, or compel us to talk of him (much less suffer for him). And small Jesus is too little to arrest the attention of the world.


So please remember-Jesus is bigger than you tend to think.  He is the perfect revelation of God, the radiance of his glory, the exact imprint of his nature; he is the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. Everything belongs to him and exists for him. He is the author of your salvation, the perfecter of your faith, and the only one in whom you can find life."

Everlasting Love of Christ

On one of his seven trips from Britain to America, George Whitefield was battling depression and feelings of failure and was stabilized finally only with meditation on God's love in Jesus Christ:

 Nothing could possibly support my soul under the many agonies which oppressed me when on board, but a consideration of the freeness, eternity and unchangeableness of God's love to me.

I need not fear the sight of sin when I have a perfect, everlasting righteousness wrought out for me by . . . Jesus Christ. The riches of His free grace cause me daily to triumph over all the temptations of the wicked one. . . .

 May he enlighten me more and more to know and feel the mystery of his electing, soul-transforming love. Nothing like that, to support us under present and all the various future trials. . . . But the Lord has apprehended us and will not let us go. Men and devils may do their worst; our Jesus will allow nothing to pluck us out of His Almighty hands.

--quoted in Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great EVangelist of the 18th Century Revival (2 vols; Banner of Truth, 1970, 1980), 1:407

HT: Thoughts On The Way 

Study God in the cross of Jesus!

Oh, do not study God in the jeweled heavens- in the sublimity of the mountain- in the beauty of the valley- in the grandeur of the ocean- in the murmurs of the stream- in the music of the winds. God made all this, but all this is not God. Study Him in the cross of Jesus! Look at Him through this wondrous telescope, and although, as through a glass darkly, you behold His glory- the Godhead in awful eclipse, the Sun of His Deity setting in blood- yet that rude and crimsoned cross more fully reveals the mind of God, more harmoniously discloses the perfections of God, and more perfectly unveils the heart of God, and more fully exhibits the glory of God, than the combined power of ten thousand worlds like this, even though sin had never marred, and the curse had never blighted it. 


Study God in Christ, and Christ on the cross! Oh, the marvels that meet in it- the glory that gathers round it- the streams of blessing that flow from it- the deep refreshing shadow it casts, in the happy experience of all who look to Jesus and live- who look to Jesus and love- who look to Jesus and obey-who look to Jesus and embrace that blessed "hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began."


-Octavius Winslow from The Precious Things of God

The Deep Deep Love of Jesus

Sovereign Grace Music


Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of Your love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Your glorious rest above

Oh the deep, deep love
All I need and trust
Is the deep, deep love of Jesus

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread His praise from shore to shore
How He came to pay our ransom
Through the saving cross He bore
How He watches o’er His loved ones
Those He died to make His own
How for them He’s interceding
Pleading now before the throne

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Far surpassing all the rest
It’s an ocean full of blessing 
In the midst of every test
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Mighty Savior, precious Friend
You will bring us home to glory
Where Your love will never end

He is Just the Christ I Need!

The believer, too, beholds a suitability in Christ, sees Him to be just the Savior adapted to the necessities of his soul; and this renders Him peculiarly precious.

“I see Him,” exclaims the believer, “to be exactly the Christ I need- His fulness meets my emptiness- His blood cleanses my guilt- His grace subdues my sin- His patience bears with my infirmities- His gentleness succours my weakness- His love quickens my obedience- His sympathy soothes my sorrows- His beauty charms my eye.

He is just the Savior, just the Christ I need, and no words can describe His preciousness to my soul!”

–Octavius Winslow

HT: Erik Raymond

Christ has Risen! YES!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3




See, what a morning, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce, "Christ is risen!"
See God's salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, "Where is He laid?"
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It's the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow'r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead! 



Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Watch the Dogs; Glory in Christ

The book of Philippians, written by the apostle Paul, is such a great and instructive book.  We have incredible statements like Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  We also have the great example of our Lord Jesus Christ in his humility (Phil. 2:5-8). We have the purpose of the book, which is in chapter 1 verse 27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

I could go on and on, but what I want to focus on is Philippians 3:2-3, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

In these two verses we have counterfeit Christianity and true Christianity.

Counterfeit Christianity (Phil. 3:2)

The first thing we must do is define the dogs. The dogs in this verse were basically people who were against the faithful professors of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The dangerous thing about these people was the fact that they did believe in Jesus Christ, but they wanted to add to Christ, therefore undermining the gospel of Christ.  They wanted to add that you could not be saved unless you were circumcised according to the law of Moses. Paul wrote about them in the book of Galatians (Gal. 1:6-9). These people were known as the Judaizers.  

Paul says keep a close watch on them so they do not harm the church.  Spurgeon said this about the dogs, “They are like to dogs. If they fawn upon you, they will bemire you, if they do not bite you."

Counterfeit Christianity glories in the flesh. This means that they trust or exalt human merit. 

Counterfeit Christianity says, “Yes, believe in Christ, but also add this…”

In our day, we might not have the influence of the Judaizers specifically, but we definitely do have people who teach similar doctrine. We have people who say they believe in salvation by grace, through faith, and in Christ. I, at one time, and many others would say, “What is wrong with that”? The one word that is missing in that sentence is ALONE. Change that one word and we have a completely different meaning. Counterfeit Christianity misses that one word.

True Christianity (Phil 3:3)

“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

I love this verse; it is a great definition of a true Christian. True Christians glory in Christ Jesus! Alone!

We look away from our own righteousness, because we have no righteousness! Christians look to Christ, who lived perfectly on our behalf, died for us, and rose for us to secure our righteousness. The Christians gaze is upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who the Father is well pleased (Mark 1:11), the one who is infinitely worthy of our worship.

Could it be the command to rejoice in the Lord in verse 1 of Chapter 3 is directly related to the gospel?! Yes, says the Christian, I will rejoice in what Christ has done! I have no other hope for righteousness; I have not other hope except in Christ alone.

So, watch out for the dogs, watch out for those who seek to rob you of the joy of resting in Christ alone, in his righteousness. And glory in Christ by treasuring the gospel of Christ. 

The Precious Blood of Christ

One of the things that has started to weigh heavily on my mind as I mature in Christ is how little I treasure the gospel of Christ. As I learn more about the gospel I see the infinite value of the gospel. As I start to see the infinite value of Christ, I see that I am captive of doing nothing but marveling at such an amazing Savior, for an infinitely unworthy sinner.

1 Peter 1:18-19 explains the price of our redemption, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Peter, writing to these former Jews who had now become Christians, calls Christ a Lamb, reminding his readers of an Old Testament teaching concerning the doctrine of substitution: an innocent victim giving his life for the guilty. Here we see Christ is the fulfillment; the Son of God gave up his life for sinful men!

Octavius Winslow says this about the blood of Christ, “Among all the precious things of God there is not one so precious, so inestimable, so influential, as the "precious blood of Christ." All salvation, all purity, all peace, all holiness, all hope, all heaven, is bound up in the atoning blood of Immanuel.”  In other words, everything is about the blood of Christ. Christian, if you want to grow in devotion to Christ, study the gospel of Christ! The more we grow in our knowledge of Christ, the more we are wholly devoted to Christ!

This is what propels us to press on for Christ. This is what reminds us of our depravity, our sin could only be removed by the death of God’s Son. This is what maximizes our worship. This is what keeps us from indulging in the vanities of this present evil world. Let’s meditate on the preciousness of this wonderful gift of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.

Through The Precious Blood (From Come Weary Saints 2008) by Sovereign Grace Music

You have ordained every breath we take
In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake
Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand
And sufferings brief carry out Your plan
And our fleeting sorrows
Will yield an endless prize
When some bright tomorrow
We’ll see You with our eyes, and

Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver of all grace
Your mercies crown our lives all our days
River of Life, quench our thirsty souls
For no true delight does Your love withhold
And in every season
We are satisfied
For just one reason
Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
Through the precious blood
Through the precious blood

Jesus Is So Kind

I was encouraged last night as I was reading Spurgeon again in his Morning and Evening.

"Our poorest actions Jesus accepts; our deepest sorrow He feels; our slenderest wish He hears; and every transgression He forgives. Jesus is still our servant as well as our Friend and Master. What condescending patience it is when the Savior with much long-suffering bears the repetitive follies of His wayward disciples, day by day and hour by hour washing away the multiplied transgressions of His erring but still much-loved child! While we find comfort and peace in our Lord's daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase our watchfulness and quicken our desire for holiness."

This so encourages me, because I see my sin, I see my follies, yet Jesus still loves me. It reminds me of the gospel, it rivets my affections on Christ, it makes me treasure Him and His work on my behalf. I need the gospel!