‘Lion of the pulpit': 7 reactions to the death of John MacArthur

6. John Piper

Notable theologian, Bible teacher and bestselling author John Piper wrote a column in tribute to MacArthur, saying that the "longer I knew John MacArthur, the more I loved him."

"We valued each other on glorious common ground. Seventy-somethings don't jockey for seniority. Battle-tested, without bitterness, bearing scars with durable joy, we enjoyed each other," wrote Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

"He was kind to me — phone calls to express thankfulness, invitations to his conferences, public conversations where affection abounded."

Piper said he "stood in awe" of what MacArthur could "do in the pulpit with a passage of Scripture." Whether MacArthur was "explaining historical backgrounds or current controversies, he was engaging," Piper stressed. 

"The sheer constancy of such exposition for over half a century was immeasurably fruitful," Piper noted. "Only God knows the countless eternal effects that rippled out from the pebbles of truth he dropped year after year."