Audio Transcript

We start a new week looking at the distracted heart. What do we do when our hearts are too distracted to focus on Christ? Two listeners asked it, Pastor John. First is Tess. Tess writes, “Hello, Pastor John! Thank you for such an amazing and unique platform to minister to people’s hearts through this podcast. When it comes to setting my mind on the things of Christ, like it says in Colossians 3:2, I know how to preach truth to myself and remind myself of God’s promises in Scripture. However, when I think about my ex-boyfriend dating one of my dear friends that have both walked away from the Lord recently, my mind is so fixed on that one thing, I cannot focus on the word. How can I train my distracted mind away from this world and its worries and stresses, and instead set my full gaze on Christ himself? I’d love some insight on this.”

And then Michelle from Canada writes in: “Pastor John, you have no idea how helpful this podcast has been for me. Thank you for responding to every question with thoughtfulness and love. Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep, and what’s helped me the most is daydreaming about things that will probably never happen to me. I imagine my dream home with lavish furniture, traveling to remote places, being a CEO of a company, and so on. Although it helps me fall asleep, I’m left feeling guilty that thinking about the Lord and what he’s doing in my real life doesn’t bring me the same peace. I’m now finding that these imaginary scenarios consume me during my day-to-day routine outside of sleep — during my commute to work, getting ready in the morning, cooking, and more. Given that the Bible tells us to ‘Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,’ in Colossians 3:2, is it a sin to daydream in these ways?”

These two questions both raise a question about Colossians 3:2 — namely, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth” — but they point to almost opposite ways of struggling with this verse.

Losses and Dreams

Tess is struggling with the controlling thought about something she has lost (a boyfriend and more), and Michelle is struggling not with something she has lost, but something she dreams of having (a dream home, traveling, being a CEO). The very fact that setting our minds on things that are above can be hindered by both regrets and by dreams is very instructive for us. It’s instructive because it reminds us that the heart of our problem is not what we had and lost or what we never had but desired to have. The problem is deeper.

It’s similar to the instruction we get when we realize that being wealthy and being poor might both be characterized by being greedy and covetous. The person who has a lot may trust and love his possessions, and the person who has little may crave earthly things with as much passion as a rich person loves them. So the essence of the problem is not in the wealth or the poverty. The essence of the problem is in the heart and what it desires and where it rests. That’s what I would say we learn from Tess and Michelle. The essence of the problem is not that something has been lost or something has not yet been gained. The essence of the problem is deeper.

Our Breathtaking Identity

In both cases, setting the mind on things that are above is hindered by a recurring pattern of thought — in one case, a pattern of thought about what she had lost, and in the other case, a pattern of thought about what she doesn’t yet have and dreams of having. And I think if we read Colossians 3:1–4, the Lord will show us what may be the common, deeper root of the problem here. So let’s read it.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Now, these words are simply breathtaking. They are breathtaking in what they show us about the reality of who Tess and Michelle are and who Jesus Christ is.

Who We Are

So, consider five things that Tess and Michelle need to know about themselves:

They have died (verse 3). Because of their union with Christ by faith, their old, unbelieving, rebellious, perishing self died when Christ died.
They have been raised with Christ from the dead (verse 1). They are a new creation in Christ. This is not something to be achieved, but something that has happened to them. God has done this.
The essence of their new life in Christ is hidden with Christ in God (verse 3). They are as real and as secure as Christ is in heaven.
Their life is not only hidden with Christ in God, but Christ himself is their life (verse 4). Their life is as indestructible as Christ because he is their life.
At the coming of Christ in glory, Tess and Michelle will appear with him as the everlasting, glorious beings that they really are, even though very few people can see that in them now.

Those are five staggering realities that Tess and Michelle need to know about themselves.

Who Christ Is

And here are the four realities about Christ in those verses:

Christ is alive forevermore (verse 1).
Christ is right now seated at the right hand of God (verse 1). He is a coruler of all things in the universe.
Christ is now the life of his people (verse 3). All our new, everlasting existence flows from him and consists in our union with him.
Christ is going to appear on the clouds with great glory to establish his kingdom (verse 4), and with him, all his people will shine like the sun with his kingly glory.

Set Your Minds

Now, embedded in those nine truths is this: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth” (verse 2). That’s embedded in those glories. And what I’m suggesting is that the deeper issue that Tess and Michelle are dealing with, and all of us deal with, is that they may be trying to obey this exhortation — to set their minds on things that are above — without getting a clear, deep, satisfying grasp of these nine glorious realities about themselves and about Christ.

“It’s hard to set your mind on something if that something is not clear and great in your mind and heart.”

In other words, it’s hard to set your mind on something over against your losses and your dreams if that something that you’re trying to set your mind on is not clear and great and beautiful and desirable in your mind and your heart.

Reservoir of Glory

Now, I realize someone is going to say to me, “But how does that help them, since they’re saying that thoughts about loss and thoughts about dreams are precisely what is keeping them from setting their minds on the greatness and the beauty and the desirableness of these realities? So you haven’t said anything helpful, Piper.”

Now, my response is that it’s not quite like that. Let me explain. When I lie awake at night, knowing that I need sleep, and it’s not coming, and I’m tempted to set my mind on something earthly that I want or that I regret, what helps me turn my mind toward things that are above is that I have devoted significant time and energy on a few passages of Scripture to penetrate through to the clarity of the greatness and the beauty and the desirableness of the reality that is there.

“Devote certain times to create a reservoir of beauty and glory and greatness with a few passages of Scripture.”

In other words, I don’t expect all of that work to happen on my pillow. The times when I need to direct my thought away from anxieties and earthly cravings is not the time for doing the serious business of understanding texts and penetrating through them to great and beautiful reality that can conquer my wandering thoughts.

So, my suggestion for Tess, Michelle, and all of us is that we devote certain times to create a reservoir of beauty and glory and greatness and desirableness with a few passages of Scripture, so that when in the course of the day or night we try to set our minds on things that are above, we don’t have to fill that reservoir at that moment. It’s already there. We can ask God, “Father, as I recite this verse, or as I recite this passage now, cause me to see — to really see — and savor and stand in awe of the greatness and the beauty and the desirableness of things that are above.”

Knowing God as Father
Knowing that God is our Father is one thing; understanding how we should relate to him as such is another. In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens Malachi 1:6–14 to demonstrate how knowing God as Father should lead us to honor him.

Audio Transcript

In 1 Kings 18, we read the amazing account of God’s defeat of Baal’s prophets. The story is unforgettable. At the time, Israel was torn. Should it follow Baal or follow the living God? As it stood, the people of Israel were “limping between two different opinions,” as Elijah said (1 Kings 18:21). So there came an ultimatum. God’s people would climb Mount Carmel to witness two sacrifices laid out: One sacrifice with a bull would be set on logs by Elijah. Another bull on logs would be assembled by the prophets of Baal. Equal offerings. Then the prophets would call down divine fire to light the sacrifices. Baal’s 450 prophets went first and called out and called out. Crickets. Nothing from their god.

Then Elijah, God’s lone prophet on the scene, set up his sacrifice, had it doused with water three times, and then called for God to act, as we read in 1 Kings 18:36–39. In the words of Elijah:

“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

Powerful. So what’s the takeaway? We heard it in verse 37. Here it is again: “that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Verse 37 needs to be thought about, and that’s what we will do today. A few moments later, after this dramatic event, Elijah goes up to Mount Caramel. Here’s Pastor John to explain.

Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:42–46)

Elijah didn’t limp. You don’t limp when you follow Jesus. I don’t care if you’re in a wheelchair: you don’t limp when you follow Jesus; you run. He ran before the rain. He didn’t limp; he didn’t hobble — he ran. Now that’s the story.

Ruler of Every Heart

Let’s step back and ask, So what’s the main point — the one that everything else is supporting and leading toward? And I mentioned as we were going that I think it’s in verse 37, because Elijah himself says, “This is what I want the people to know.” Not all stories are this clear, but the prophet himself opens his mouth and gathers the whole thing together and says, “God, make them know this. Make them know this about all this.” So what is that? Verse 37: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know.” Know what? Two things:

“That you, O Lord, are God.” You are God. You’re not an idea, you’re not a memory, you’re not a tradition, you’re not a religion, you’re not a projection of our imagination, you’re not a force, you’re not an archetype, and you’re not a symbol. You are God — the living, active, fire-sending, sin-hating, idolatry-destroying, prayer-hearing, personal God. That’s number one: make them know, let them know, you are God. That’s really the basic need of all of us.
“That this people may know . . . that you have turned their hearts back.” The NIV says, “that you are turning their hearts.” Cause your people to know this. This is where I’m landing here. Cause these men to know this. I think that’s God’s will for you from this text. It should be my prayer for you: I pray that these men, from this story, would discern that you, the sovereign God, are the one who turns human hearts to God.

“You are God. You’re not an idea, you’re not a memory, you’re not a tradition, you’re not a religion.”

So their hearts had betrayed God, spurned God, belittled God, devalued God, loved other things more than God, and this entire event on Mount Carmel is aiming to make God’s people know that if anybody turns to God, God turned them to God. That’s the point of the story. So when the people cry from the heart, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God,” God did that (verse 39). God did that. It’s true, the Lord rules fire. It’s true, the Lord rules the flesh of the bull, the wood on the altar, the rocks. He rules the rain — he makes it rain when he wants it to rain.

But this text is mainly about how God rules the heart. He turns hearts. The Lord rules the human heart: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (verse 37). “Know this, Israel.” He doesn’t want to just say it’s a fact. He wants them to know it. He’s praying that God would cause them to know it.

God Must Do It

There must be a value for you this afternoon, tomorrow, ten years from now. There must be a value for you to know this: that if anybody’s heart turns to God, God has turned the heart. There must be a value, a thrilling value, for you to know this, that Elijah would pray it as the capstone of the event: “Let them know this.”

“If anybody turns to God, God turned them to God.”

I mean, there are people all over the world who would say, “Wow! Fire falling from heaven, consuming bulls and water and wood and stones — that’s impressive!” Elijah didn’t pray that they would know that; he prayed that they would know, if your heart, at this moment, is getting really serious about God, God is doing that.

As an American who grew up in the South, where a kind of decisionism was so dominant and rampant, I never heard this emphasis in my childhood — never heard it. When it came to a heart moving from unbelief to belief, you do that. You do that. Nobody stressed, “God, do it. Do it in this room. If you don’t do it, it won’t be done.” That’s what Elijah is pleading for.