Evangelicals are distraught over the state of America because they have not been taught that we're aliens here.
John PiperThere is a war going on. All talk of a Christian's right to live luxuriously "as a child of the King" in this atmosphere sounds hollow - especially since the King himself is stripped for battle.
John PiperIt has to do with seeing God. โBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Godโ (Matthew 5:8).
John PiperAccording to the spirit of this age, the ultimate sin is no longer the failure to honor and thank God but the failure to esteem oneself. Self-abasement, not God-abasement, is the evil. And the cry of deliverance is not "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me?" but "O worthy man that I am, would that I could only see it better"!
John PiperTherefore bread was created for the glory of Christ. Hunger and thirst were created for the glory of Christ. And fasting was created for the glory of Christ. Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly foodโthe Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, โI love the Reality above the emblem.โ In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ.
John Piper