William Tyndale and one key to his ministry

Yesterday I read John Piper's biographical message on William Tyndale. I am truly humbled when I compare my life to his. There were many memorable sections from this article but in two paragraphs Piper sums up what enabled Tyndale to accomplish the massive work of translating the entire NT and a good deal of the OT (interrupted only by his death). In this is a call to pastors to be willing to die in his ministry:

The question arises: How did William Tyndale accomplish this historic achievement? We can answer this in Tyndale’s case by remembering two ways that a pastor must die in the ministry. We must die to the notion that we do not have to think hard or work hard to achieve spiritual goals. And we must die to the notion that our thinking and our working is decisive in achieving spiritual goals.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” First, think. Work. Don’t bypass the hard work of thinking about apostolic truth. But second, remember this: “the Lord will give you understanding.” You work. He gives. If he withholds, all our working is in vain. But he ordains that we use our minds and that we work in achieving spiritual ends. So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” The key to spiritual achievement is to work hard, and to know and believe and feel and be happy that God’s sovereign grace is the decisive cause of all the good that comes.

I will be thinking and working much harder today and I trust in the future whenever I think of William Tyndale's life. And I am delighting in the sovereign grace of God in my life (Genesis 32:10).