a r e n s n o t a s s w i l e e n The Swans Are Not Silent h t t hen Augustine handed over the leadership of his church in A.D. 426, his FILLING UP THE AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST B O O K F I V E Tyndale. Judson. Paton. successor was so overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy that he declared, “The swan is silent,” fearing the spiritual giant’s voice would be lost to time. Each man took to heart the sobering WBut for 1,600 years Augustine has not been silent — and neither have those who faithfully truth of Jesus’ words in John 12: unless trumpeted the cause of Christ after him. Their lives have inspired every generation of believers and should compel us to a greater passion for God. a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will bear little fruit. In their life- long willingness to plant seeds of faith Getting God’s Word into the and hope with tears of blood, these ohn Piper is pastor for preaching common man’s language was Filling up the faithful servants not only embraced Tyndale’s driving passion. He These three men Jand vision at Bethlehem Baptist would be viciously opposed, falsely Christ’s suffering for them but powerfully accused, imprisoned, and martyred were faithful ambas- joined with him in his afflictions—letting Church in Minneapolis. His many for his commitment. Yet, moti- vated by Christ’s example, he was sadors who endured nothing deter them from their mission to books include When I Don’t Desire resolved that every person should AFFLICTIONS reach unreached peoples with the gospel: WILLAIM TYNDALE a thousand momen- have access to the Truth. Not isolation from their families. Not God, Don’t Waste Your Life, and What tary afflictions Reaching an utterly hostile nation threats on their lives. Not disease, impris- Jesus Demands from the World, as well for Christ despite devastating and daily deaths so onment, or banishment from their home- losses, the blackest depression, and a of that others could CHRIST as the others in The Swans Are Not despot’s torture was the price Judson lands. Not even death. paid to display a mighty Savior. reap an eternity in John Piper’s fifth book in The Swans Silent series: The Legacy of Sovereign His unbreakable attachment to the The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Are Not Silent series, Filling Up the Word and faith in God moved him heaven. May their Joy (Augustine, Luther, Calvin), The to pioneer a Christian force that Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Afflictions of Christ, focuses on such flesh- faithfulness and ADONIRAM JUDSON remains to this day. and-blood realities in the lives of William Hidden Smile of God (Bunyan, Cowper, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton sacrifice intensify Tyndale (1494-1536), Adoniram Judson Awakening the cause of world Brainerd), The Roots of Endurance missions motivated Paton to both (1788-1850), and John Paton (1824- your passion to make J rally fellow laborers worldwide to OHN 1907). The price they paid to translate (Newton, Simeon, Wilberforce), and the harvest and courageously live Christ’s love and among cannibals so they could the Word of God, pave the way for world- value known among Contending for Our All (Athanasius, be claimed for Jesus. His ministry P wide missionary mobilization, and draw became a story that would trumpet the nations. I the hostile to Calvary was great. Yet their Owen, Machen). the call of missions for generations P ER JOHN PATON to come. stories show how the gospel advances through the triumphant declaration of BIOGRAPHY Christ’s fame to the nations and through C R the Christlike witness of our wounds. o s s w a OHN I P ER y J P FILLING UP THE AffLICTIONS OF CHRIST Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 1 5/11/09 11:28 AM Other Books in The Swans Are Not Silent Series The Legacy of Sovereign Joy The Hidden Smile of God The Roots of Endurance Contending for Our All Other Books by John Piper God’s Passion for His Glory Sex and the Supremacy of Christ The Pleasures of God (with Justin Taylor) Desiring God Taste and See The Dangerous Duty of Delight Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Future Grace God Is the Gospel A Hunger for God What Jesus Demands from the Let the Nations Be Glad! World A Godward Life Amazing Grace in the Life of Pierced by the Word William Wilberforce Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ Battling Unbelief The Misery of Job and the Mercy Suffering and the Sovereignty of God of God (with Justin Taylor) The Innkeeper 50 Crucial Questions The Prodigal’s Sister When the Darkness Will Not Lift Recovering Biblical Manhood The Future of Justification and Womanhood The Supremacy of Christ in a What’s the Difference? Postmodern World The Justification of God (with Justin Taylor) Counted Righteous in Christ Spectacular Sins Brothers, We Are Not Professionals Finally Alive: What Happens When The Supremacy of God in Preaching We Are Born Again Beyond the Bounds John Calvin and His Passion for the (with Justin Taylor) Majesty of God Don’t Waste Your Life Rethinking Retirement The Passion of Jesus Christ This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence Life as a Vapor Stand: A Call for the Endurance of A God-Entranced Vision of All the Saints (with Justin Taylor) Things (with Justin Taylor) Velvet Steel When I Don’t Desire God Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 2 5/11/09 11:28 AM n s a r e n o a t s w s i l e e n h t t B O O K F I V E s a r e n a n o t s w i s l e e n h t t Filling up the AFFLICTIONS of CHRIST The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton J OHN P I P ER CROSSWAY BOOKS WHEATON, ILLINOIS Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 3 5/11/09 11:28 AM Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ Copyright © 2009 by Desiring God Foundation Published by Crossway Books a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as pro- vided for by USA copyright law. Cover design: Amy Bristow Cover photo: iStock First printing, 2009 Printed in the United States of America Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-1046-5 ISBN PDF: 978-1-4335-1047-2 ISBN Mobipocket: 978-1-4335-1048-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Piper, John, 1946- Filling up the afflictions of Christ : the cost of bringing the gospel to the nations in the lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton / John Piper. p cm. — (The swans are not silent; bk. 5) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-1-4335-1046-5 (hc) 1. Paton, John Gibson, 1824–1907. 2. Missionaries—Vanuatu— Biography. 3. Missionaries—Scotland—Biography. 4. Judson, Adoniram, 1788–1850. 5. Missionaries—Burma—Biography. 6. Missionaries— United States—Biography. 7. Tyndale, William, d. 1536. 8. Reformation— England—Biography I. Title. II. Series. BV3700.P56 2009 266.0092'2—dc22 2009001557 LB 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 4 5/11/09 11:28 AM To those who suffer to spread the gospel “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” Hebrews 13:3 Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 5 5/11/09 11:28 AM Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 6 5/11/09 11:28 AM C o n t e n t s s a r e n a n o t s w i s l e e n h t t Preface 9 Acknowledgments 11 INTRODUCTION 13 Tears of Blood to Bless the World CHAPTER ONE 27 William Tyndale “Always Singing One Note”—A Vernacular Bible: The Cost of Bringing the Bible to England CHAPTER TWO 53 John G. Paton “You Will Be Eaten by Cannibals!”: Courage in the Face of Fierce Opposition CHAPTER THREE 85 Adoniram Judson “How Few There Are Who Die So Hard”: The Cost of Bringing Christ to Burma CONCLUSION 109 This Momentary Affliction for Eternal Glory Index of Scriptures 119 Index of Persons 121 Index of Subjects 123 A NOTE ON RESOURCES 127 Desiring God Ministries Filling Up.10465.i04.indd 7 5/11/09 11:28 AM A letter from John Calvin to five young Frenchmen about to be martyred in 1553 for carrying the gospel into France: We who are here shall do our duty in praying that He would glorify Himself more and more by your constancy, and that He may, by the comfort of His Spirit, sweeten and endear all that is bitter to the flesh, and so absorb your spirits in Himself, that in contemplating that heavenly crown, you may be ready without regret to leave all that belongs to this world.