A Conversation with John Piper and John MacArthur

Piper and MacArthur answer questions from Justin Taylor about their lives and ministries. Listen to or watch their helpful (and sometimes humorous) responses. The question: * How do you counsel younger ministers and missionaries when their ministries seem fruitless?

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ministers
• missionaries
• gifts
• faithfulness
• John
• Piper
• MacArthur

[JunkBucks]

MacArthur is Calvinist.

[immobilemilk]

are these guys friends? as in the same beliefs?

[ddfrisky]

to all those Christians who argue with each other on this page, if you know this much how about you go preach to the lost cause they need this more than the saved once rather than arguing on stuff you will never agree on!!!!

[Pyro7502]

@JunkBucks All great preachers are more or less. :)

[OnTaRgEt16]

@JunkBucks Both are

[tandemtwinning]

Noah preached for over 100 years and had not 1 conversion outside his family. He was never rebuked for being unfruitful.

[HermitintheRain]

that the Holy Spirit is indeed present in them. where the trials of their faith is not to prove if it is genuine to God or not. for it is God who gave that soul that faith. God knows it is genuine and enduring. the purpose of those many trials is for the assurance to that child of God; that they might be made to know how precious the grace of God's gift of faith is to their soul; knowing that he who is the Author and finisher of it shall not fail to sustain a single one of his chosen people.

[HermitintheRain]

..the believer is among those few-the latter of the 4 in that parable. they are those who find faith at the preaching of the gospel; by which the faith that saves, that produces fruit reflective of that life-giving faith; is demonstrated in and through their lives. this being the evidence, not to the world, but to that chosen child of God,

[HermitintheRain]

@TheKJVberean the 'many' of that verse refers to the general preaching of the gospel by which many do indeed hear the gospel, with only the few being those who repent unto faith. this same truth is taught by the Lord in the Parable of the Sower; where in that parable 3 of 4 of the groups all heard the gospel, whereas their unbelief-there inability to hear what the Spirit was saying-was reflected in the various responses...

[HermitintheRain]

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16

*this choosing was not just for the apostles; but as John later reveals in his epistle (1 John 5:13-15), for all that believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: