Trust Your Bible — Not Your Experience

From Gospel Translations

Audio Transcript

I know something absolutely sure as I look at you. If you say from the heart — it’s really you, it’s what you really hold to, moves you, grips you, this is you. If you really say, “He’s Lord of the universe. He’s Lord of my life. He’s Lord of this university. He’s Lord of my future,” then the Holy Spirit is in you. That’s an awesome statement, because he’s God.

I know that to be the case because he said so. You can’t say that — not from your heart — and not mean it, not in any kind of life-changing, authentic way. You can’t say it without the Holy Spirit. That’s a sweet thing to know.

Sometimes you kids . . . can I call you kids? I probably shouldn’t. Sometimes you young adults, you people who were saved when you were six — or don’t remember when — and you love Jesus today feel a little bit odd about that.

It is far more important that you interpret your experience from the Bible than from your memory. Far more important. I don’t remember trusting Jesus at six years old. My mama said I did. If you can’t even remember it, how can you testify with any kind of bells and whistles? Guess what? I know exactly what happened when I believed, though I can’t remember it because I learned it from the Bible, which I think is 10,000 times more important than remembering it. The Bible says, “Little John Piper, by the power of almighty God, at six, according to his mom, said, ‘I need you. Please forgive my sins. You are Lord’” — and a miracle happened.