I love John Piper for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is the way he teaches on suffering. Because he believes God is sovereign over everything (as I do), he's able to explain suffering in a way that keeps you from hopelessness. Because God has planned our life out for his glory, the suffering we endure, though difficult, will ultimately be for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28). As Tim Keller would say, just because you don't know the point of your suffering doesn't mean there isn't one.
But Piper brings to the table something most do not. He has an ability to help you believe that suffering should not just be endured but, in some sense, reveled in. Now I do not mean that we should hope for suffering. That is masochism. Rather, when we experience suffering, we know, at the very least, that God has a reason for it and that it will bring about untold amounts of goodness. That is why we are always mourning, but also always rejoicing.
Anyway, here is Piper on this very subject, answering the question: "Does Suffering Always Make Sense?":
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Piper on Suffering
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2 comments:
Sorry, random question...
Any chance you've got some old tapes of John Piper at a Passion conference back in the early 90's?
I'm trying to track down a couple sermons that were instrumental in my faith. I think they were titled:
Did Christ Die for Us or for God?
and
God is Most Glorified in Us, When we are most satisfied in Him.
Just combing the blogosphere trying to find those tapes.
(and no, they aren't available at desiringgod.org)
I might. There was a set of 6 messages Passion put out early on. Piper was on two of them. I'll look and get back to you.
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