======================================================================== HOW MUCH BETTER THAN ANY EARTHLY FATHER IS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER？ by John Piper ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the profound truth that through Jesus, we can approach God as our Father, highlighting the immense love and goodness of our Heavenly Father who far surpasses any earthly father. It addresses the pain and misconceptions many may have about fatherhood, pointing to the perfect and loving nature of God as our ultimate Father. The message encourages prayer by showcasing the unmatched goodness and purity of our Heavenly Father compared to human fathers, reminding us that God always gives what is best for us. Duration: 5:58 Topics: "God as Father", "The Goodness of God" Scripture References: Matthew 7:11, Hebrews 12:10, Psalm 103:13, James 1:17, 1 John 3:1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the profound truth that through Jesus, we can approach God as our Father, highlighting the immense love and goodness of our Heavenly Father who far surpasses any earthly father. It addresses the pain and misconceptions many may have about fatherhood, pointing to the perfect and loving nature of God as our ultimate Father. The message encourages prayer by showcasing the unmatched goodness and purity of our Heavenly Father compared to human fathers, reminding us that God always gives what is best for us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When we come to God through Jesus, we are coming to our Father. We are coming to our Father. Verse 11, If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father, your Father in heaven, give good things to those who ask? Father is not a throwaway word for Jesus. It's one of the greatest truths in the universe that human beings, sinful though we are, can count God as our Father. And the implications are stupendous. He will never, never, never give us what is bad for us. Never. He is our Father. Now, that leads to number six, which is necessary in every century. And since I haven't lived in every century, I'm not sure whether to say especially this one, but it feels like it. We need number six, especially after number five, because of how many of you right now are saying inside your head, that's not what Father means to me. I knocked and he said, get the hell out of here. That's what he said. I didn't say that. I talked to some of you. I couldn't reproduce some of the pain. So, Jesus is way more aware of this than you are, or I am. So what does he do? And this is not the only place. Well, I hope you get this, because this is so important. This is so important. Number six, Jesus encourages us to pray by showing us that our Heavenly Father is better than our earthly Father. And will far more certainly give us good things than any human father would. There is no evil in our Heavenly Father. There is evil in every earthly father. This is very important. Fathers need to hear this. Wives need to hear this. Children, grown children need to hear this. Verse 11, let's read it carefully. Think on it deeply. If you then who are evil. Now, that's quite unflattering, blunt, the way Jesus is most of the time. I mean, just picture yourself. I'm John, I'm the apostle of love. Don't talk to me that way. I feel beat up. Why does he do this? If you then who are evil, John, Peter, James, Matthew, Bartholomew. If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven, who is in Heaven, give good things to those who ask Him? The Bible not only often draws attention to the similarity between human fatherhood and divine fatherhood. The Bible also often draws attention to the vast differences between human fatherhood and divine fatherhood. Think of any other places. Hebrews 12, your fathers disciplined you as they thought best. God disciplines you always for your good. There's one. There are many others. The Bible is not unaware of this pain, of this reality in the world, that all human fathers are evil. All of us. So, Jesus goes beyond the encouragement of saying, you have a Father. You have a Father in Heaven. He goes beyond that. And He says, you have a perfect Father who has no evil. And He contrasts God and His no evil with all fathers and evil. So, if you have the very best Father, you got a good thing coming. God is 10,000 times better than your good Father. In fact, I'm tempted to walk over to the wall, put my nose against the wall a little millimeter away and say, there's the difference. I'm going to get all mixed up here because I hadn't thought this through. The difference between a good Father and a bad Father is this. And the difference between God and the best Father is infinite. So, you think there's a huge gap between the bad Father and the Father you wish you'd had. And it's really big. Well, compared to how much better God is than the best Father, makes that difference very small. Don't ever limit your understanding of the fatherhood of God to the experience of your own father, no matter how good he was or bad. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/_VHEYhJB9NQ.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-piper/how-much-better-than-any-earthly-father-is-our-heavenly-father/ ========================================================================