Inspirational Quotes by John Piper
“So saving grace, converting grace, for Augustine, is God's giving us a sovereign joy in God that triumphs over all other joys and therefore sways the will. The will is free to move toward whatever it delights in most fully, but it is not within the power of our will to determine what that sovereign joy will be.”
“Christmas cut history in two ages, the Age of Promise, and the Age of Fulfillment.”
“The only way out of spiritual immaturity is to walk by faith when the affections are dry and the presence of God appears to have been withdrawn.”
“God is not grieved that indwelling sin remains in us, as a father does not lament the weak muscles of his infant. But God is grieved (like any father) when the child he loves willfully disobeys him. In response to our willful sins, God is pained, and he will often choose, for a time, to send into our lives dark clouds that hide his face and “suspend his influence” in our communion with him (Psalm 51; Eph. 4:30). Our justification remains untouched. But the lack of our experienced communion with him and the drought of our joys and affections are intended to expose our weaknesses.”
“But often the preaching is just motivational speaking, waterless clouds blown by the wind that offer inspiration without information (Jude 12). Sermons aren’t built on biblical theology, but employ an occasional verse to springboard toward the preacher’s pre-chosen point. They don’t point people to the biblical gospel of what Christ has done, but call them to the burdensome “gospel” of what they must do.”
“The most precious gifts you can think of are not ends in themselves. They all lead to God. Ultimately, that is what all His gifts are for.”
“We ascribe to God. We don't add to Him.”
“One of these days lightning is going to fill the sky from the rising of the sun to its setting, and there is going to appear in the clouds one like a son of man with his mighty angels in flaming fire. And we will see him clearly. And whether from terror or sheer excitement, we will tremble and we will wonder how, how we ever lived so long with such a domesticated, harmless Christ.”
“You can't ever be your heroes, but you can love their gifts.”
“The best thing in the universe is to be united to Christ. To be in Christ. To enjoy union with Christ.”
“Humility is the soil in which everything good in the Christian life grows.”
“Enjoyment of Jesus is not like icing on the cake; it’s like powder in the shell.”
“A godly life is lived out of an astonished heart—a heart that is astonished at grace.”
“One great function of Bible verses: To keep us from drawing false inferences from other Bible verses.”
“The reason God knows the future is because he plans the future and accomplishes it.”
“The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours”
“Just being an obedient Christian is increasingly becoming a social, political, legal issue...”
“Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.”
“The sins that should have brought condemnation on us, God laid on Jesus. God’s love planned an amazing exchange: Jesus endured what we deserved so that we might enjoy what he deserved—eternal life. And the way we come to enjoy this life is by believing in Jesus. That’s what he said: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life' (John 6:47; cf. Luke 8:12).”
“Jesus came into the world with good news, not bad news. He does not call us to a willpower religion that feels only duty and no delight. He calls us to himself and to his Father. Therefore, he calls us to joy. Of course, it is not joy in things. Jesus is not preaching a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel—one of America’s most lamentable exports to the world. It is joy in God and in his Son.”
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John Piper (1946 - Present)
is a Calvinistic Baptist Christian preacher and author currently serving as Pastor for Preaching and Vision of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His books include ECPA Christian Book Award winners Spectacular Sins, What Jesus Demands from the World, Pierced by the Word, and God's Passion for His Glory, and bestsellers Don't Waste Your Life and The Passion of Jesus Christ. The evangelical organization Desiring God is named for his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986).In 1980, after what he described as an "irresistible call of the Lord to preach", Piper became Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he has been ministering ever since. Piper hit the evangelical scene after the publication of his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (1986) and has continued to publish dozens of other books further articulating this theological perspective. In 1994, he founded Desiring God Ministries, which provides all of Piper's sermons and articles from the past three decades, and most of his books online free of charge, as well as offering for sale books, CDs, and DVDs and regularly hosting conferences.
John Stephen Piper is a Reformed and Baptist theologian, preacher, and author, currently serving as Pastor for Preaching and Vision of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the author of numerous books.
Piper's motto in ministry, preaching, and teaching is: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." He calls those who live out this motto Christian Hedonists. Piper places a heavy emphasis on the objective and absolute nature of truth and is confident in the Christian's ability to grasp that truth through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.