Joel Beeke presented what the Puritan movement was, providing 14 valuable lessons we can learn from these men, seven for personal life, and seven for ministerial life.
I pray you, before God and Christ Jesus, that you will judge the living and the dead by their manifestation and for their kingdom: preach the word, exhort, whether it is opportune or not, correct, rebuke, exhort with patience and doctrine. . For there will be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine; on the contrary, they will surround themselves with teachers according to their own lusts, such as itching in their ears; and they will refuse to listen to the truth, giving in to fables. But you, be sober in everything, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fully fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4: 1-5)
- What can you learn from puritans for your ministry and personal life?I want to quickly describe seven fundamental lessons for our own lives and another six for the Ministers of the Word.
But first, who were the Puritans? In the history of the Church, when we have an awakening in one generation, there is always the danger that the next generation will ignore the truths preached, without considering them properly. The Puritans were a reaction to this generation that came after the generation of Reformers, being a movement that took place in the late 16th century to the early 18th century.
The Puritans relyed on the theology of reformers, seeking to apply it to all aspects of life and thus purify the family and the Church; emphasized (1) the need to restore preaching, (2) the need for personal piety and the Bible. accompanying preaching, and (3) the need to restore the purity of public worship.
Due to the depth of the books written, a new interest in Puritan books and theology has emerged over the past 50 years.
They called the Bible the Living Book, the Library of the Holy Ghost. They believed that God had transformed them through the Bible. They taught their children to read the Bible and alphabet through biblical examples. They have guided everything in their lives through the Bible. Scriptures.
Have you lived your Bible-shaped life or decide what you will believe and obey from the scriptures?Do you set aside what you disagree with in the Word or do you put it as a rule for life?
The Puritans prayed in their daily devotions, but they also sought to pray incessantly, doing daily actions of life in prayer, for example, when they were dressed, they prayed to be covered by the righteousness of Christ.
The Puritans understood that prayer was a Trinitarian thing, they expressed it through a chain: true prayer is born in eternity in the heart of the Father, receives its merit for the death of Christ, is prayed by the Christian by the Spirit, who carries Christ, who returns him to the Father.
The Puritans were not content with superficial prayers, that he encouraged us to pray.
A meditated sermon is better than a thousand sermons swallowed without meditation.
The Puritans have talked a lot about the trials. The attitude they had was very different from what we have today, they did not want a good year, in the sense that someone would not have any problems, but a blessed new year, wishing they could go through all the tests that God brought. in a submissive way.
John Bunyan said: “God’s people are like bells; the more they hit them, the better they sound.
Puritans had a particular hatred for pride, because they knew that God hated pride in a special way. Pride is an attack on God that lifts our hearts above God and seeks induction. Jonathan Edwards said pride is like an onion?I think we’ve removed one layer, we found another.
John Bunyan told a woman who praised his sermon: “You are the second person to say this; the first was the devil?.
The Puritans teach us to depend on the Holy Spirit. Thomas Watson said that the preacher can knock on the door, but it is the Spirit who opens it, showing that the minister must always remember that it is the Spirit who converts sinners through the preaching of They said that in each preaching there were two ministers : the preacher is the external minister and the Holy Spirit is the interior.
The Puritans have said that we have two eyes: one must be in eternity and the other in time.
Puritans teach us to believe in preaching. They thought God used every sermon.
They believed in the union of doctrine and practice. In sermons, they sought to reach the spirits clearly (exposing the scriptures in a simple and methodical way?They believed that spiritless Christianity would create columnless Christianity), firm consciousness (many today preach unententionally) and heart with passion (they showed that Christ was desirable and attracted the sinner to Christ). Through the mind, through conscience, they reached the heart and brought sin to Jesus Christ, through the blessing of the Holy Ghost.
The Puritans filled their preaching with applications for different types of audience: believers, non-believers, deviants, new believers, etc. They’ve been giving spiritual advice since the pulpit.
Puritans teach us to preach so that doctrines can be experienced in the soul.
It was as if they were lighting every verse of the Bible in search of Jesus to exalt Him. “Preach a Christ, for Christ, for the praise of Christ,” concludes a book of Homotics of puritans.
Maintain the balance between the objective gospel and subjective experience, God’s sovereignty, and human responsibility.
Puritans teach us the importance of categorating the church and children. They usually went to the homes of believers to teach how to do a home service and teach parents how to educate their children.
What we learn above all from puritanies is this global spirituality, they were not perfect, but today they tell us a pious life, with an eye on eternity, we have much to learn from them and much to follow in what they have followed. Christ, applying his teachings to our generation, for the glory of God and the good of every soul, through Christ.
By: Joel Beeke. Faithful Editor 2006? 2012 © All Rights Reserved
Summary by: Let’s Go back to the gospel ©. Website: www. voltemosaoevangelho. com
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