Piper on Hope and Plunder

I finally enjoyed a John Piper video.

Whenever modern Reform theologians are discussed, the name John Piper will always come up. This is due, I believe, in large part to his having penned The Justification of God, wherein he conducts an “objective, historical-grammatical exegesis of Romans 9:1-23”¹ and provides one of the most unassailable apologetics ever on the doctrine of election. It's a great book and Piper is a terrific scholar, but I have to say, as a preacher and pastor, I’ve always found him less than appealing ... until today, when I got this in my Twitter feed:

7-minute video about the wakening of the church from the dreamworld of 350 years of cultural approval. http://t.co/hI9xJXUBea
— John Piper (@JohnPiper) January 29, 2015

The description intrigued me, but I was sceptical because it was a Piper video. There’s something about his breathy, faux-awestruck delivery that always grates on me and I end up clicking back to a James White or Phil Johnson video. And while Piper’s voice in this sermon is no exception (sorry, but it actually sounds to me like he’s a bit tipsy), the pointed, no-holds-barred message he preaches jacked me straight up in my chair. Ho-ho, I thought, Uncle John’s got something ugly gnawing on him. “Seat belts on, beloved, the Pastor’s about to flay the front five rows.”

Now, the seven minute excerpt on the tweet is good, but I highly recommend you listen to the whole thing here.

Enjoy.

1. John Piper, The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23, Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1993), 217.