Swans Are Not Silent

We admire these men for their greatness, but the truth is Augustine grappled with sexual passions, Martin Luther struggled to control his tongue, and John Calvin fought the battle of faith with worldly weapons. Yet each of these men will always be remembered for the messages they declared-messages that still resound today. John Piper explores these men's lives, integrating Augustine's delight in God with Luther's emphasis on the Word and Calvin's exposition of scripture. Through their strengths and struggles, we can learn how to live better today. When we consider their lives, we behold the glory and majesty of God and find power to overcome our own weaknesses.

When Augustine handed over the leadership of his church in AD 426, his 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 in time. But for 1,600 years Augustine has not been silent-and neither have the men who faithfully 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. John Bunyan suffered long-term imprisonment, even when a simple promise to cease preaching would have freed him, and was moved to rely on God even more. William Cowper, despite month after month of debilitating depression, wrote poems that reflected the sustaining character of God and led him to worship more deeply. David Brainerd so desired to honor God that through the loneliness of wilderness ministry and the agony of tuberculosis, he pressed on, transforming world missions forever. In this noteworthy Swans Are Not Silent book, John Piper invites you into the lives of Bunyan, Cowper, and Brainerd to discover how God takes the privilege of faith and strengthens it with trials so that we experience a greater hunger for him. The perseverance of these godly servants exemplifies the essential fruit that affliction can produce in your own life. Their enduring faith will fortify you in your suffering, reminding you that "behind a frowning providence, God hides a smiling face." And their stories and witness will inspire in you a similar passion for the supremacy of God in your life.

John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce suffered lifelong opposition and endured for the causes of gospel truth, missionary zeal, and political justice. They found, in solid doctrine and humble joy, the tough roots for habitual tenderness in response to their adversaries-without doctrinal or moral flinching. They are examples of remarkable grace. In the third book of the Swans Are Not Silent series, bestselling author John Piper looks at the lives of these three great men and focuses on how they not only endured great opposition but did so with joy and without bitterness. Their lives exemplify how to set a pace and finish the race before us, encouraging every heart that it is possible to jump the hurdles in our paths.

Athanasius. Owen. Machen. When Augustine handed over the leadership of his church in AD 426, his 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 in time. But for 1,600 years Augustine has not been silent—and neither have the men who faithfully 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. In his fourth book in the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper explores the lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen—a bishop, a pastor, and the founder of a seminary. Each of these men stood for the truth of the gospel in the face of intense opposition—all out of a deep love for Jesus and a desire for people to know him in his fullness. They took no joy in controversy for argument's sake, and they were willing to suffer for the sake of guarding the sanctity of the gospel. Threats of harm, years of exile, the death of loved ones, opposition from friends and authorities, sickness and pain—none of these setbacks could keep these three from maintaining their efforts to further the gospel or quench their zeal for Jesus himself. In each of their lives, personal holiness was emphasized publicly and privately despite suffering. They were true soldiers for the sake of the cross, and each man offers life lessons for Christians today. We pray that their perseverance, courage, and resolve will arouse such Christ-honoring passions in you.

In the sixth volume of the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper celebrates the importance of poetic effort by looking at three influential Christians whose words magnificently display a commitment to truth and a love of beauty. Examining the lives of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis, Piper helps us appreciate the importance of carefully crafted words by exploring how Christians can use them to testify to God's glory, wonder at his grace, and rejoice in his salvation. Whether exploring Herbert's moving poetry, Whitefield's dramatic preaching, or Lewis's imaginative writing, this book highlights the importance of Christ-exalting eloquence in our praise of God and proclamation of his gospel.

The fifth volume in Piper's acclaimed The Swans Are Not Silent series illustrates powerful and enduring lessons through the missional sufferings of Tyndale, Judson, and Paton. Jesus' words in John 12 are sobering: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will bear little fruit. The history of Christianity's expansion proves that God's strategy for reaching unreached peoples with the gospel includes the sufferings of his frontline heralds-the missionaries who willingly die a thousand daily deaths to advance God's kingdom. Pastor John Piper's latest addition to The Swans Are Not Silent series focuses on this flesh-and-blood reality in the lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton. The price they paid to translate the Word of God, to pave the way for missionary mobilization around the world, and to lead the hostile to Christ was great. Yet their stories show in triplicate how the gospel advances not only through the faithful proclamation of the truth but through representing the afflictions of Christ in our sufferings. DEDICATIONLETTERPREFACEINTRODUCTIONGOD'S PAINFUL PATHFIRST BIBLEGOD'S PLANYOUR PERSECUTIONFILLING UP THE AFFLICTIONSEPAPHRODITUSFILLING UP OUR AFFLICTIONSBLOOD FOR THE MARTYRSMAY THE LORDCHAPTER 01WHATEVER IT COSTSAS I LIVETHE ONE-NOTETHE VERY FIRST NEW TESTAMENTUNDER GOD, TYNDALEHE GAVE US NEW PROSETWO WAYS TO DIEHOW ERASMUS AND TYNDALEFROM A LIGHTNING BUGTHE DIFFERENCE: CLARITYAT ROOT: A PASSION BLOOD-SERIOUS OPPOSITIONTHE BURNING FURYWHY SO MUCH HATREDTHE BIBLE MUST NOTSORROWS AND SUFFERINGTHE COLD AND FINALHE WILL EASE YOUR PAINCHAPTER 02BAPTIZED WITH THE BLOODTHE DANGEROUS AND HOPE-FILLEDOVERCOMING CRITICISMCOURAGE IN THE FACECOURAGE TO RISKCOURAGE TO FACECOURAGE TO DIETHE OUTCOME OF HIS COURAGEAWAKENING AT HOMESILENCING SKEPTICSWHERE DID THIS COURAGECOURAGE CAME FROM FATHERHIS COURAGE CAME FROM DIVINEHIS COURAGE CAME FROM A SENSECOURAGE CAME FROM CONFIDENCECOURAGE CAME THROUGH PRAYINGCOURAGE CAME FROM JOY COURAGE CAME FROM FELLOWSHIPHAVE YOU A FRIENDCHAPTER 03THE FRUIT OF AFFLICTIONDEEP FAITH IN SOVEREIGNTYTHE ROOTS OF CONFIDENCEA REMARKABLE CONVERSIONTHE PATH TO MARRIAGETHE PATH TO INDIABEGINNINGS OF SUFFERINGSPRICE OF BREAKTHROUGHDARKNESS DOES NOT LIFTFINISHED BIBLE NEW WIFEANOTHER WIFE DEATHGOD PLANNED ANOTHER MARRIAGEPLEA TO BE PARTCONCLUSIONLURE TO LEAVE HARDSHIPHOW LIKELY CRISIS MARTYRDOMDEATH OF MARTYRSWALK SOFTLY TO NATIONS "A must read for every Christian and a feast for the spiritually hungry."