"The Roots of Endurance" by John Piper

As I have stated before, I love Piper's biographies. He gets to the heart of what made his subjects tick and what makes their lives and testimonies to relevant for us today. There are few things I find more encouraging. The Roots of Endurance takes from the biographies Piper gave at the Bethlehem Bible Conference for Pastors. This is part of his "The Swans are not Silent" series where these biographies are basically put into book form, while focusing on a particular trait. The title for this series comes from when St. Augustine retired as the Bishop of Hippo in 430 A.D. He handed his duties down to Eraclius. During the ceremony in which Eraclius preached as Augustine sat on his bishop's throne behind him, overwhelmed by feelings on inadequacy in his presence, Eraclius stated, "The cricket chirps....the swan is silent". What Piper aims to prove in this series is that these swans are not silent. Their lives and works still admonish us today.

This book deals with the roots of endurance in the lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce. I won't spend any time on what I learned from the life of Wilberforce. That can be found here. I will spend some time discussing Newton and Simeon.

John Newton - Known primarily as the writer of "Amazing Grace", Newton knew much about being a "wretch". He served as a slaveship captain before committing himself to the work of the Lord. There are several things I take away from Newton. The first of which Newton calls "habitual tenderness": "He (the believer) believes and feels his own weakness and unworthiness, and lives upon the grace and pardoning love of the Lord. This gives him an habitual tenderness and gentleness of spirit. Humble under a sense of much forgiveness to himself, he finds it easy to forgive others."

Newton, just like his famous song, was in constant awe that God would show favor upon such a sinner as he and would love him despite his unworthiness. He had such a view of his own sin due to his high view of the holiness of God. This living in the grace of God poured over into his love for his flock, for the depressed, for children, and really for everyone. "Whoever...has tasted of the love of Christ, and has known, by his own experience, the need and worth of redemption, is enabled, Yea, he is constrained, to love his fellow creatures. He loves them at first sight; and, if the providence of God commits a dispensation of the gospel, and care of souls to him, he will feel the warmest emotions of friendship and tenderness, while he beseeches them by the tender mercies of God, and even while he warns them by his terrors." This life is very humbling to me. I tend to ease over the wretchedness of my sin. It comes as no surprise that it in turn causes me to struggle to love others "at first sight"

Charles Simeon - Simeon is definitely the lesser known of the two. I hadn't heard of Simeon until Piper, but now I love him. His ministry was full of persecutions and prejudiced from those he fought so hard to faithfully serve. When asked how he endured these trials, he said to his friend, "My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently; we shall soon be partakers in His victory."
This is the kind of man I want to learn from.

There are so many good quotes from Simeon that I could not write them all. He pastored at the same church for 54 years. The first 12 years there was so much opposition that pewholders in his church locked up the pews and made him preach to a standing congregation who fit in the aisles. He was greatly ridiculed from the university he served at as well. His faithfulness and endurance stung me to read as it revealed how emotionally fragile I am. Recently I was with a group of friends, and I overheard someone talking to another about a man whose ministry has had a profound impact on my life. He basically made fun of him and called him an idiot. I didn't really know the guy who made the comment, but it hurt. My mind ran through snide remarks in response. It would probably be difficult for me to start a close friendship with this guy after that. How fragile am I? One overheard conversation that doesn't even deal directly with me from someone I don't really know.... one disagreement or one blog comment and it seems to disable me. I have so much to learn from Simeon and the patience and tenderness he showed in the midst of opposition.

I very much encourage you to read about the lives of these men. You won't walk away unchallenged or without encouragement.