piper charismatic?

Is John Piper charismatic? Well I don't know about that but as I abandon Mark Driscoll's teaching and his claim to being "one", I am interested in Piper's view. I'll start with his article Signs and Wonders: Then and Now.

I agree with the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preached in 1965: "It is perfectly clear that in New Testament times, the gospel was authenticated in this way by signs, wonders and miracles of various characters and descriptions. . . . Was it only meant to be true of the early church? . . . The Scriptures never anywhere say that these things were only temporary – never! There is no such statement anywhere. (The Sovereign Spirit, pp. 31-32)"

Are signs & wonders against the Word?

... if we come to God with a heart aching with longing for vindication of his glory and the salvation of sinners ... We are a faithful wife, only wanting to honor our husband... signs and wonders can't save the soul, they can, if God pleases, shatter the shell of disinterest; they can shatter the shell of cynicism; they can shatter the shell of false religion. Like every other good witness to the word of grace, they can help the fallen heart to fix its gaze on the gospel where the soul-saving, self-authenticating glory of the Lord shines.

Of course they can also further harden the hard heart, which is what I think Jesus was confronting in Matthew.

Are signs and wonders signs of the Apostle?

1. Jesus sent out the seventy, not just the twelve apostles, "to heal the sick" (Luke 10:9). And when they returned, they said that the demons were subject to them in Jesus' name (Luke 10:17). These miracles in Jesus' name show that apostolic signs and wonders are not unique to the apostles.
2. In the book of Acts, Stephen "did great signs and wonders among the people" (Acts 6:8), even though he was in the "deacon" category not the apostle category (Acts 6:5). Similarly it says that "the multitudes gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did" (Acts 8:6). Philip was not an apostle, but performed miraculous signs.
3. Paul writes to all the churches of Galatia and says, "Does he who is supplying the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:5). The point is that God is now supplying his Spirit to the Galatians and working miracles among them when he is not there. Hans Dieter Betz notes that "the [present] participle 'supplying' (epichoregon) suggests a continuous supply rather than an initial and momentary 'outpouring'" (Hermenia, Galatians, p. 135). And Ernest Burton says, "In view of the dative 'to you' after 'supplies,' the 'miracles' must be supposed to have been wrought not principally by Paul but by the Galatians themselves, as 1 Corinthians 12:10,28,29 imply was the case among the Corinthians" (I.C.C., Galatians, p. 152).
4. Peter Masters does not adequately deal with this grammatical fact when he says that these miracles refer to Paul's own miracles which he had worked among the Galatians when he was recently among them (The Healing Epidemic, p. 134). Burton also wrestles with our very question concerning "the signs of the apostle" and astutely observes, "2 Corinthians 12:12 indeed suggests that such things were signs of the apostle, yet probably not in the sense that he only wrought them but that the dunameis of the apostle were in some way more notable, or that they constituted a part of the evidence of his apostleship" (Galatians, p. 152)
5. Finally, 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 says that among the spiritual gifts given to the members of the church at Corinth were "gifts of healings" and "workings of miracles." Thus (as Burton suggested) such "signs and wonders" were not the "sign of the apostle" in the sense that only apostles could do them. Various gifted members of the church were also empowered in these ways as well. This is confirmed in verses 27-29, where these gifts are distinguished from the gift of apostleship.

Are signs and wonders until Jesus comes?

... 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 teaches that such spiritual gifts will continue until the second coming of Jesus. There is no reason to exclude from this conclusion the other "imperfect" gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Since these include miracles, faith, healings, etc., with which we associate "signs and wonders", there is clear New Testament warrant for expecting that "signs and wonders" will continue until Jesus comes.

Now add to this conclusion the forthright command in 1 Corinthians 14:1, and you will see why some of us are not only open to, but also seeking, this greater fullness of God's power today. This command says, "Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy." And it is repeated twice: "Earnestly desire the higher gifts" (12:31); "Earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues" (14:39).

I wonder how many of us have said for years that we are open to God's moving in spiritual gifts, but have been disobedient to this command to earnestly desire them, especially prophecy? ...

Well Mister Piper - so far I'm with you! I'm looking forward to listening to the full series.

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