My Reaction to Hearing Piper's Together for the Gospel Talk

Last updated on: September 16, 2017 at 6:24 pm by Adrian Warnock

My Reaction to Hearing Piper's Together for the Gospel Talk 2017-09-16T18:24:22+01:00 Adrian Warnock

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have to admit that today, when I played the first of my T4G MP3 downloads, the tears started before Piper had even begun to speak. Even Mahaney’s introduction seemed soaked in the Holy Presence of the Spirit of God. I have shared others’ notes and reactions to Piper at T4G in another post, but here are some quotes that stood out to me in addition to some of the ones I have already reported.

First of all, right at the beginning Piper speaks of how, when George Whitfield saw the state of the church in his day, he “summoned by prayer preachers into existence” with these words, which Piper says he can’t improve upon:

“O that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty, and the holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace.

They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be fools for Christ’s sake, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they shall appear before His awesome judgment seat.

They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, who will witness signs and wonders following and the transformation of multitudes of lives.

The emphasis is mine, and perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised that others have missed the last paragraph that Piper read out of this fantastic quote – let’s not assume that omission was deliberate, of course, as writing down something when you are listening is very hard indeed!

But let’s make sure that we don’t miss the sentiment of what Piper is saying and what his heroes Lloyd-Jones and Whitfield also said! We need an “extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit“!

Interestingly for me in light of my promotion of Martyn Lloyd-Jones on this blog, Piper clearly said in his sermon when speaking of the kind of preacher Whitfield was looking for, “In the last century the man who embodied it best was Martyn Lloyd-Jones.”

Piper’s summary of what he is looking for is “broken-hearted, Bible-saturated preachers.” This explains why, when he says things like “Jesus Christ lays absolute claim on planet earth” and “bow or burn,” the atmosphere that comes across is one of love and concern, not arrogance and disdain. This kind of genuine passion can only be birthed in prayer.

Piper is clear that he is looking for something from God to come to change the preacher – as he puts it, there is a “mantle that turns talkers into preachers”.

For Piper that mantle is in part about experiencing and treasuring Christ himself; he bemoans the fact that “most lives look like we treasure the world,” and goes so far as to say that “every sin flows from a failure to treasure God’s glory above all things.”

I especially liked his explanations of those Bible words for what happens to us in salvation:

God is now only merciful to you and never wrathful that’s called propitiation.
You are now counted righteous in Christ that’s called justification.
You are now freed from the guilt and power of sin that’s called redemption.
You are now positionally and progressively holy we call that sanctification.

When we hear preaching like this, it is indeed important that as preachers we recognise that we are all alike in this age in being very far from hitting the mark of preaching as we ought to.

I do honestly believe that if we were able to get our preaching right we would have nothing short of a revival. As I have said before, there is a kind of preaching that is of such a kind that many will be saved. But what kind is that? Is it just intellectual preaching? Emotionally stimulating preaching? Engaging preaching? No, it is more than that- as we said at the beginning – it is preaching that is anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Thus, we should not merely think, “I must improve my technique” or “I must study more” or even “I must earn it by my prayers“. Instead we must learn, improve, study, and pray, but in all that, cast ourselves on the sovereign kindness of God. There must be a brokeness and an earnestness that says I cannot bear to continue to preach unless you, God, come and own it and lives are transformed and eternal destinies changed!

As Piper himself put it in the panel discussion afterwards “The difference between an authentic, feeling Christian and a preacher is that a preacher must have the gift of contagion. The main battle is not fought in the pulpit, it happens as you take hold on Christ and say, I’ve got to have You! I can’t do this without You! I can’t raise people from the dead!”

John Piper

Revival

Previous Post

May 1, 2006

A Day Out at the Royal Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey

Next Post

May 2, 2006 Cliff Shares More T4G Nuggets

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 and 2 Corinthians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Timothy 1 John 300 Leaders A Life of Joy Abortion Acts of the Apostles Adrian on radio Adrian on TV Adrian's Story Albert Mohler Amazing Grace Arminocalvinist Spectrum Assurance Atonement Atonement Series Attributes of God Barnabas Best of the Blog Bible Bible Software Bible Translation Biblical Inerrancy Billy Graham Bob Roberts Books C. J. Mahaney Calvinism Cessationism Charis Warnock Charismatic Spectrum Charles Simeon Charles Spurgeon Church Leadership Colossians Complementarian - Egalitarian Spectrum Complementarianism Conferences Culture Daniel Debates Deuteronomy DGM08 DGM13 Discernment Doctrine Don Carson Ed Stetzer Eddy Leo Ephesians ESV Bible Translators Interview Evangelism in a Post-Christian World evolution Exodus Expository Preaching Ezekial Faith and Feelings Family Florida Galatians General Genesis Get Wisdom - Proverbs sermons Gifts of The Holy Spirit Gifts of the Holy Spirit 2006 Global Faith Forum Godly Attitudes Gospel Gospels Grace Greg Haslam Grudem vs Piper: The Baptism Debate Healing Heaven Hell and Rob Bell Hebrews Henry Tyler Henry Warnock Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Baptism Hope Reborn Hugh Palmer Irresistable Grace Isaiah J. I. Packer Jack Hayford Joel Joel Warnock John John Lanferman John MacArthur John Newton John Owen John Piper John Smyth Jonathan Edwards Josh Harris Justification Justin Taylor Kenneth Ulmer Leadership Leadership Lessons from 1 & 2 Samuel Lex Loizides Liam Goligher Lig Duncan Limited Atonement Lou Fellingham Mark Dever Mark Driscoll Martyn Lloyd-Jones Matt Chandler Mental Health Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours? My Story N. T. Wright Nehemiah NWA08 NWA09 NWA10 Opinion OT History Books Pentateuch Personal Personal Revival Philippians PJ Smyth Podcast Politics Preaching Prophecy Proverbs Psalms Raised With Christ Reformed Charismatic Regeneration Relationships Resurrection Resurrection & Salvation Revival Rice Broocks Rich Man and Lazarus Rick Warren Rob Rufus Roland Allen Romans Sam Storms Sanctification Series Sermons Sermons on Philippians Serving Jesus at Work Sexuality Sin St Paul Steve Chalke Strange Fire Suffering T4G T4G Statement TAB09 Tamasin Warnock Teamwork Terry Virgo The Atonement Debate - Chalke book The Soulwinner The Spirit-Filled Church The Traitor Within Theologcial Spectrums Theosis Tim Challies Tim Keller Titus TOAM06 TOAM07 TOAM08 TOAM09 TOAM10 TOAM11 Todd Bentley Tope Koleoso Total Depravity Video Water Baptism Wayne Grudem Worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 May 2025 April 2025 January 2025 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 February 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 June 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs 22:6 say about training a child?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Guide the young, and they will not stumble. Teach a child discipline, and he will live in wisdom. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Children should be seen and not heard.

Books by This Author Books by Adrian Warnock

See All Titles »