Old Truth, New Effects

Richard Baxter, the renowned Puritan pastor, spoke of his own conversion in the following way:

The same things which I knew before came now in another manner, with Light,and Sense and Seriousness to my heart.

It seems to me that this ought to be the sentiment of most believers who grow up in a Christian home and who are brought up in a church that preaches the gospel. It's not so much that in conversion they are learning new truth as it is that the truth they know affects them in a new and profound way.

But Thou Art Something Better

From "Purification" in The Valley of Vision:

O God, the Eternal All, help me to know that
all things are shadows, but Thou art substance,
all things are quicksands, but Thou art mountain,
all things are shifting, but Thou art anchor,
all things are ignorance, but Thou art wisdom.

Having the Relish and Savor and Power of Truth in Our Hearts

To be led into a truth is more than barely to know it; it is to be intimately and experimentally acquainted with it; to be piously and strongly affected with it; not only to have the notion of it in our heads, but the relish and savor and power of it in our hearts.

--Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

The Usefulness of the Doctrine of Sin

“…[It] cannot but be extremely useful to let men see what sin is: how prodigiously vile, how deadly mischievous, and therefore how monstrously ugly and odious a thing sin is. Thus a way may be made: (1) For admiring the free and rich grace of God (2) For believing in our Lord Jesus Christ (3) For vindicating the holy, just and good law of God, and his condemnation of sinners for breaking it (4) For hating sin, and repenting for and from it, thereby taking a holy, just and good revenge on it and ourselves (5) That we may love and serve God at a better rate than we ever did in the little and short time of innocence itself (6) And, lastly, that this black spot may serve to set off the admirable, incomparable and transcendent beauty of holiness.”

--Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin

Mourning Most Over Secret Sins

He that conflicts most with heart sins, and is most affected with spiritual sins, and that laments and mourns most over secret sins, invisible sins, sins that be hid and remote from the eyes of the world, he certainly is a gracious soul.



--Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks

To learn more about Thomas Brooks, click here.

Packer on the Puritans as Ministerial Midwives

"God breaketh not all men's hearts alike" (Richard Baxter). Some conversions, as [Thomas] Goodwin said, are sudden; the preparation is done in a moment. Some are long-drawn-out affairs; years may pass before the seeker finds Christ and peace, as in Bunyan's case....No rule can be given as to how long, or how intensely, God will flay each sinner with the lash of conviction. Thus the work of effectual calling proceeds as fast, or as slow, as God wills.

The Puritan minister viewed his part in the process of conversion as that of a midwife, whose task was to see what was happening and give appropriate help at each stage. They also realized they could not foretell, let alone fix, how rapid the process of birth would be. Since God convinced, convicted, and converted a sinner through His Word, the Puritan preacher saw as his task in evangelism the declaration of God's mind as revealed in the passage they expounded, the showing of the lost the way to salvation, and the exhortation of the unbelievers to learn the law, to meditate on God's Word, and to humble themselves before God by praying that God would show them their sins and give them the grace necessary to enable them to come to Christ.

--J.I. Packer, "Puritan Evangelism"

Sister Graces

"...[F]aith and repentance - these two sister graces, the one respects God and the other the Mediator Jesus Christ: 'Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,' Acts 20:21. The offense is done to God, and he is the party to whom we return by Christ. These two graces go hand in hand, and we must not put asunder what God hath joined together."

--Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton

Don't Undervalue Christ's Redemption

These are comforting words from the Puritan, Isaac Ambrose:

Many a humble soul is apt enough to complain, "Oh! if I had not been so great a sinner, if I had not committed such and such transgressions there might have been hope." This is to undervalue Christ's redemption; this is to think there is more in sin to damn, than in Christ's sufferings to save, whereas all thy sins to Christ are but as a little cloud to the glorious sun, yea, all the sins of all the men in the world, are but to Christ's merits as a drop to the ocean.

I speak this not to encourage the presumptuous sinner, for alas, he hath no part in this satisfaction, but to comfort the humbled sinner, who is loadened with a sense of his sins; what though they were a burden greater than he can bear, yet they are not a burden greater than Christ can bear. There is in Christ's blood an infinite treasure, able to sanctify thee and all the world; there is in Christ's death a ransom, a counter-price sufficient to redeem all the sinners that ever were or ever shall be.

A Glimpse into 18th Century Worship

Ever wondered what it would have been like to participate in the corporate worship of an 18th century colonial church in America? "A Divine and Supernatural Light" blog has a great post on that very subject. Check it out here.

Sinclair Ferguson on Lessons from the Puritans

As I was reading Sinclair Ferguson's introductory essay, "Puritans - Ministers of the World," in The Westminster Directory of Public Worship: Discussed by Mark Dever & Sinclair Ferguson, I was struck by two statements he made - one related to expository preaching and the other related to preaching sin.

Why Expositional Preaching Is So Important

"These men (the Puritans that drew up the Westminster Directory of Public Worship) recognized that, as a general rule, the way Christians read the Bible privately is shaped by the model of exposition they regularly hear from the pulpit. That is why this principle is not only essential to the integrity of pastoral preaching but central to the whole ethos of a congregation's life."

Why Preaching Sin Is Essential to Preaching Grace

"The Puritans treated this as a pastoral as well as a theological formula: grace makes sense to us only in the light of the sin to which it provides the remedy. Consequently, the more sensitive we are to sin, misery and danger, the more clearly we will grasp the wonder of God's salvation. Grace is only 'amazing' when we see that it is a 'wretch like me' it saves. Only sinners seek Jesus as a Savior!"

Thomas Watson on Loving the Saints

This is a call for humility, a call for gracious love, and a sober reminder that even "the best of the saints have their failings." Ponder that last line!

We love a saint, though he has many personal failings. There is no perfection here. In some, rash anger prevails; in some, inconstancy; in some, too much love of the world. A saint in this life is like gold in the ore, much dross of infirmity cleaves to him, yet we love him for the grace that is in him. A saint is like a fair face with a scar: we love the beautiful face of holiness, though there be a scar in it. The best emerald has its blemishes, the brightest star their twinklings, and the best of the saints have their failings. You that cannot love another because of his infirmities, how would you have God love you?

--Taken from All Things for Good (Puritan Paperbacks), Thomas Watson

An Overview of Puritanism by Mark Dever

I stumbled across an address on the Puritans by Mark Dever given on Reformation Day back in 1999. It is a great historical and theological overview of Puritanism. You can listen to it here.

For good books on the Puritans, I would recommend the following:

Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were, Leland Ryken

A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, J.I. Packer

Meet the Puritans, Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson

The Westminster Directory of Public Worship: Discussed by Mark Dever and Sinclair Ferguson, Mark Dever and Sinclair Ferguson

Of course, Banner of Truth's Puritan Paperbacks are excellent primary sources.

A Humbling Reminder

"A man may be theologically knowing and spiritually ignorant."

-- Stephen Charnock

Puritan Wisdom

"Not only the worst of my sins, but the best of my duties speak me a child of Adam."

--William Beveridge