Since mid-July, I've been preaching on the book of Philippians. Recently, as I was beginning to wonder about the length of the series, I came across this informative information. John Piper is about to begin a study of the Gospel of John at his church. After making the announcement, he received this note from one of his coworkers:
'I am delighted that you plan to preach from the Gospel of John; it is my favorite gospel. Over the past two years, I have memorized it, and it has been so rich! What a joy to know that you will be preaching from this gospel! Hebrews has 303 verses. You have preached 52 sermons. Romans has 433 verses: you preached 224 messages. John has 879 verses…
Indeed, John Piper acknowledges, it took him eight years to complete his series of messages on the Epistle to the Romans. And now he begins the Gospel of John. which is twice as long. Given his age, 62, he feels that one might well ask him why he would begin a series of messages on the fourth longest book of the Bible, would he intend to die in this book? And he replies, 'I can't imagine a better place to die.'
As for us, we are already in the fourth chapter of Philippians, and what a journey, what a diversity of themes, what lessons learned! This systematic exposition of the books of the Bible is a guarantee of honesty that allows us to take the verses in their context and to confront the text as it is. This is not always usual in our charismatic circles where we tend to address themes more, but it is beneficial for us.
So Abba House is warned, we're not finished with the Epistle to the Philippians. And when it's Romans' turn, I promise we'll finish before 2015.
