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 by John Piper

Author:John Piper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion, History, Christianity
ISBN: 9781433510465
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2009-07-06T22:00:00+00:00

his shoulders. His lips kept moving in silent prayers for me;

and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks

for which all speech was vain! We halted on reaching the

appointed parting place; he grasped my hand firmly for a

minute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said:

“God bless you, my son! Your father’s God prosper you,

and keep you from all evil!”

Unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer;

in tears we embraced, and parted. I ran off as fast as I

could; and, when about to turn a corner in the road where

he would lose sight of me, I looked back and saw him still

standing with head uncovered where I had left him—gazing

after me. Waving my hat in adieu, I rounded the corner

and out of sight in an instant. But my heart was too full

and sore to carry me further, so I darted into the side of

the road and wept for a time. Then, rising up cautiously, I

climbed the dike to see if he yet stood where I had left him;

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Filling Up the AFFlictions oF christ

and just at that moment I caught a glimpse of him climbing

the dyke and looking out for me! He did not see me, and

after he gazed eagerly in my direction for a while, he got

down, set his face toward home, and began to return—his

head still uncovered, and his heart, I felt sure, still rising in

prayers for me. I watched through blinding tears, till his

form faded from my gaze; and then, hastening on my way,

vowed deeply and oft, by the help of God, to live and act so

as never to grieve or dishonor such a father and mother as

he had given me.47

The impact of his father’s faith and prayer and love and discipline

was immeasurable.

His Courage Came from a Deep Sense of

Divine Calling

Before he was twelve years old, Paton says, “I had given my

soul to God, and was resolved to aim at being a missionary of

the cross, or a minister of the gospel.”48 As he came to the end

of his studies in divinity in Glasgow at the age of thirty-two, he

says, “I continually heard . . . the wail of the perishing Heathen

in the South Seas; and I saw that few were caring for them, while

I well knew that many would be ready to take up my work in

Calton.”49 “The Lord kept saying within me, ‘Since none better

qualified can be got, rise and offer yourself!’”

When he was criticized for leaving a fruitful ministry, one

crucial event sealed his sense of calling, namely, a word from his

parents:

47Ibid., pp. 25–26.

48Ibid. p. 21.

49Ibid., p. 52.

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John G. Paton

73

Heretofore we feared to bias you, but now we must tell

you why we praise God for the decision to which you have

been led. Your father’s heart was set upon being a Minister,

but other claims forced him to give it up. When you were

given to them, your father and mother laid you upon the

altar, their first-born, to be consecrated, if God saw fit, as

a

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