The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2) QUOTES

1 " Suffering in the path of Christian obedience, with joy - because the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3) - is the clearest display of the worth of God in our lives. Therefore, faith-filled suffering is essential in this world for the most intense, authentic worship. When we are most satisfied with God in suffering, he will be most glorified in us in worship. Our problem is not styles of music. Our problem is styles of life. When we embrace more affliction for the worth of Christ, there will be more fruit in the worship of Christ. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

2 " Life is too precious to squander on trivial things. Grant us, Lord, the unswerving resolve to pray and live with David Brainerd's urgency: "Oh, that I might never loiter on my heavenly journey! "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

3 " The problem is not a battle between contemporary worship music and hymns; the problem is that there aren't enough martyrs during the week. If no soldiers are perishing, what you want on Sunday is Bob Hope and some pretty girls, not the army chaplain and a surgeon. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

4 " Satan . . . afflicted Job with loathsome sores," Job's response was, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

5 " Porque nada glorifica más a Dios, que el que mantengamos nuestra estabilidad y nuestro gozo cuando lo perdemos todo menos a Él. Ese día nos llegará a todos y cada uno de nosotros, y haríamos bien en prepararnos, y ayudar a prepararse a las personas que amamos. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

6 " Of all the books which can be put into your hands, those which relate the labors and suffering of good men are the most interesting and instructive. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

7 " No es lo que quieran los enemigos, ni lo que hayan decidido hacer, sino lo que quiera Dios y lo que decida Dios; eso es lo que se hará… Ningún enemigo puede hacer sufrir a un hombre, cuando la voluntad de Dios es otra, de igual forma que ningún hombre se puede salvar de sus manos cuando Dios lo entregue a ellas para su gloria… [así como Jesús le mostró a Pedro «con qué muerte había de glorificar a Dios», Juan 21:19]. Sufriremos o no, a discreción suya64. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

8 " Mental health is, in great measure, the gift of self-forgetfulness. The reason is that introspection destroys what matters most to us- the authentic experience of great things outside ourselves. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

9 " Doubt your despairing thoughts. Whence this great confidence you have in your damnation? A little skepticism is in order here. Who do you think you are making final declarations about your soul that lie hidden in the secrets of the Almighty? No. No. Renounce such confidence. If you have no ability for faith in the love of God for you, make no more such great pretenses to have such certainty of faith in your damnation. This is not yours to know. Rather, yours is to listen to Jesus. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

10 " The spirit of Jesus, when he set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem, runs through the generations of all his most inspiring followers. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

11 " no se consiguen ni la salud ni la santidad a base de escapar de la gente que está pereciendo. El camino del amor, por enlodado y peligroso que sea, es el camino a la salud mental y al cielo. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

12 " You have God- and all that he is for you in Jesus. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

13 " In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" (Job 1:22, RSV). "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

14 " The apostle Paul calls the church to "adorn the doctrine of God" with the fidelity of our lives (Titus 2:10). "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

15 " Dios se mueve de una manera misteriosa Para realizar sus maravillas; Planta sus huellas en el mar Y cabalga sobre la tormenta. Santos temerosos, cobrad nuevo valor; Las nubes que tanto teméis Están hinchadas de misericordia y se abrirán Con bendiciones sobre vuestras cabezas. No juzguéis al Señor con vuestros débiles sentidos, Sino confiad en su gracia; Detrás de una providencia de ceño fruncido Él esconde un rostro sonriente. Sus propósitos madurarán con rapidez, Abriéndose hora tras hora; El capullo tendrá amargo sabor, Pero dulce será la flor. WILLIAM COWPER "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

16 " If we live twenty-nine years or if we live ninety-nine years, would not any hardships be worth the saving of one person from the eternal torments of hell for the everlasting enjoyment of the glory of God? "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

17 " Satan may play his wicked role in the drama and take Job's children and strike him with boils from head to toe, but Job will not give Satan the eminence of ultimate causality. That belongs to God alone, even if we cannot understand it all. When Job's ten children were crushed to death, he "fell upon the ground, and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD'" (Job 1:20-21, RSV). "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

18 " Irony and disproportion are all God's way. He keeps us off balance with his unpredictable connections. We think we know how to do something big, and God makes it small. We think that all we have is weak and small, and God makes it big. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)

19 " Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. "

― John Piper , The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (The Swans Are Not Silent, #2)