Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ Author:John Piper Tyndale. Paton. Judson. — Each of these men took to heart the sobering truth of Jesus' words in John 12: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will bear little fruit. And unless a man despises his life in this world, he will lose it for eternity. — In their lifelong willingness to plant seeds of faith and hope with tears of blo... more »od, they not only embraced Christ's suffering for them but powerfully joined with him in his afflictions - all for the sake of the gospel. Understanding that God's strategy for reaching unreached peoples includes the sufferings of his frontline heralds, these faithful servants let nothing deter them from their mission: Not isolation from their families. Not threats on their lives. Not disease, imprisonment, banishment from their homelands, or cruel opposition. Not even death. Their biographies offer essential lessons for our Christian witness to all.
Pastor John Piper's 'Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ' focuses on such flesh-and-blood realities in the lives of William Tyndale (1494-1536), John Paton (1824-1907), and Adoniram Judson (1788-1850). The price they paid to translate the Word of God, to pave the way for missionary mobilization around the world, and to draw the hostile to Calvary was great. Yet their stories show in triplicate how the gospel advances not only through their triumphant declaration of Christ's fame to the nations but through the Christlike witness of our wounds.« less