Christian books should be like cisterns that keep the refreshing waters of life for tired and thirsty souls. The Puritans understood. In his last sermon, to his congregation in 1662, Puritan Minister Thomas Watson challenged his flock with the importance of reading books that satisfy souls: and obtaining those good books that can familiarize him with truths that can warm and affect his heart?[I]
The writings of the Puritans have warmed and affected my heart over the years. Next, you’ll discover some Christ-centered passages of what George Whitefield called “good Puritan writings. “I gladly share these quotations in the hope that weary and discouraged shepherds can see Christ Jesus in his beauty, be strengthened by the grace in him (2 Tim. 2:1) and strive to continue for his eternal glory.
- It is important to remember that puritans knew firsthand the challenges.
- Discouragement.
- And hard work that accompany the faithful ministry of the gospel.
John Flavel (1627-1691): “The work of the ministry will deplete its own bone marrow, accelerate old age and death. They compare the work of men sufficiently in the harvest, the work of a working woman and the anxieties of the soldiers. at the end of a battle. We have to watch while the others sleep. And, in fact, it’s not so much the cost of our work, it’s the distance that kills us. This does not happen to us, like other workers: they go to work and after the trip they leave, but that is not the case with us. Sin and Satan reveal almost everything we do, the impressions we make of the souls of our people in a sermon, disappear before the next. How many truths we must study!How many cases of conscience to solve! Yes, we have to fight to defend the truths we preach, study them to their paleness, and preach them. the point of exhaustion?. [ii]
So what do the Puritans have to say to the tired, exhausted, discouraged shepherd?Look at Christ; by faith, look at Jesus Christ, the mighty and glorious and whose unwavering grace is better than life. glory of God, the word of God and the people of God, puritanical writers always stare at Jesus Christ. As Joel Beeke writes, “They exposed Christ in his goodness, leading us to want to know him better and live entirely for him. “[iii]
The Puritans encourage us, like discouraged shepherds, to consider the greatness of the mercy we have in Christ; Instead of meditating on our faults, satisfaction can be found by immersing ourselves in the sea of God’s mercy and love.
Jeremiah Burroughs (1599?1646) 😕 Name any affliction that comes to you: there is a sea of mercy to swallow it; if you spill a bucket of water on the floor of your house, it will be a great spectacle, but if you throw it into the sea, then the afflictions considered in themselves, it seems that they are very great, but that are considered in the sea of God’s mercy that we enjoy, and then they will not seem so great, will not be anything compared with mercy?. [iv]
Thomas Brooks (1608-1680): “Sit back and admire this condescending love of God. Oh! What makes the Lord give us gifts as He did in your soul or in my soul? We were all equal in sin and misery; More than that, we certainly outnumber the thousands who are denied these precious gifts. So let’s sit back and admire this condescending love of God. Oh! Once we were poor wretches sitting on a heap of stones, yes, wallowing in our blood, and yet we still contemplate the King of kings, the Lord of lords, hitherto condescending in his love, to give himself, his Spirit, his grace and all the jewels of his royal crown upon us. Oh! What heart can conceive, what language can express this matchless love! “I will be yours forever”, said Christ, “My Spirit will be yours forever”, “My grace will be yours forever”, “Will my glory be yours forever?” Y? My justice will be yours forever. “Everything I am and everything I have will be yours forever. ” Oh sirs! What condescending love is this! Oh! What is this Christ ?! [v]
The Puritans knew that the feeling of weakness should not discourage us from approaching Christ. He already knows the weakness of our structure. He knows we’re dust. And he’s merciful to the weak, broken shepherd. God sees the weak saints in the Son of his love and sees them as loving.
Thomas Brooks (1608-1680): “The weakest Christian is justified, forgiven, adopted, and united to Christ as the strongest, and is as interested in Christ as the greatest and noblest Christian breathing. “[Seen]
Richard Sibbes (1577-1635): “What mercy can we not expect from such a kind mediator (1 Tim 2:5), who took upon himself our nature to be kind?Are you a good doctor for all diseases, especially to cure a broken heart?[vii]
The Puritans wrote exquisitely about the transcendent beauty and blessing of Jesus Christ. Exhausted and weary shepherds should be reminded of the glory of being united with Jesus Christ, the glorious and totally loving.
Thomas Adams (1583 to 1652) 😕 Christ is the sum of the whole Bible, prophesied, typified, prefigured, presented, demonstrated, found in all leaves, almost in all lines, the scriptures are like fabrics and bands of the child Jesus . Is it life and light, the sun and everything, the founder and consumerist of any perfect blessing?[viii]
John Flavel (1627-1691): “There’s nothing unpleasant about it, so everything is totally adorable. Because every ray of God is precious, everything in Christ is precious: who can weigh Christ on a ladder and say what his worth is?is aware of all that is good: it seals the sum of all goodness. Things that shine like unique stars with singular glory are found in Christ as a glorious constellation. “Did the Father like that all the fulness remain in him?(Cl 1:19). ). Cast your gaze among all created beings, examine the universe, observe strength in one, beauty in the other, fidelity in a third, wisdom in a room; but you will not find anyone who stands out in them as Christ. It is bread for the hungry, water for the thirsty, clothes for the naked, healing for the wounded; and all that a soul can desire, is it there (1Co 1. 30)?. [ix]
How impressive is this kind man? One died in our place, shedding his precious blood for our sins, as our substitute on the cross.
John Flavel (1627-1691): “If forgiveness is good for a condemned man, how gentle should it be to spray the blood of Jesus for the trembling conscience of a sinner condemned by law?If the rescue of a cruel tyrant is good for a poor captive, how sweet must it be for the ears of enslaved sinners to hear the voice of freedom and deliverance proclaimed by Jesus Christ ???[X]
Through faith, discouraged and dejected shepherds can look beyond the darkness of today’s trials toward the bright hope of God’s promises in Christ. John Bunyan agrees: “Faith sees more in a promise from God to help than in all other things to prevent. “[xi] Faith looks to God and in Christ sees the answers to all our fears, desires, and miseries.
William Bridge (1600?1670) 😕 Faith is a help against all discouragement. Are God’s hope, trust, and expectation the special path, if not the only one, against all discouragement?[Xii]
Bridge continues to describe a conversation between the dejected Christian and God:
Although God is strong and can help me, I am always afraid that God will not want to help me. I know that God is capable and that God is strong enough, but I am afraid that the Lord will not want him and, therefore, I am discouraged?
“However, comfort yoursed, ” said the Lord, “for my name is Merciful. The Lord, the Lord, the strong God, is my name. Therefore, I can help you. And Merciful is my name, so I. “I’m ready to help, take comfort! My name is funny. I show no mercy because you’re good, but because I’m good. I don’t trust your merits either, but do I show my love freely?
“Oh, but I have sinned for a long time, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years. So I’m afraid I have no mercy.
However, the Lord said, comfort yourself, because my name has a long life, and it is too late to be crazy. Are you abundant in sin? I’m full of kindness. Forgive me, even to all types and sins, and is that my name forever?. ?[Xiii]
The Lord Jesus Christ is the complete happiness and strength of the discouraged and weak shepherds, He came into the world to save sinners and transform our hearts to love Him.
Thomas Brooks (1608-1680): “Christ’s greatest purpose in this world is to powerfully transform the hearts of his people to love them. And in fact that was what had been in his eyes and in his heart for all eternity. It was this plan that led him to leave his crown and take our cross, take off his clothes and put on our rags, to be condemned so that we could be justified, to suffer the wrath of the Almighty so that we could. you will always be in the arms of your mercy. He gives his Spirit, his grace, yes, and himself, and all to force the hearts of his people to himself. Oh, what a heart you can conceive of, what language can express this unparalleled love!”I will be yours forever,” Christ said, “My Spirit will be yours forever,” “My grace will be yours forever,” “My glory will be yours forever?”And? My righteousness will be yours forever. ” Everything I am and everything I have will be yours forever. “O lords, what a condescending love this is! Oh!What is this Christ?! [xiv]
Whatever the difficulty or chaos of the ministerial period, the discouraged pastor can rejoice knowing that Christ assured eternal peace with God.
Thomas Watson (1620-1686): “I am persecuted, but I have peace; I am poor, but I have peace; in a prison, but I have peace; in the wilderness, but I have peace; though the whole world is against me, God is at peace, my soul is at peace. He who is the God of peace is the God of power. He promises peace and promises no more than He can deliver. It can create peace. He can put our enemies Can he say to the superb winds and waves, “Peace, mute,” and they obey Him; can give us rest from the days of adversity; can give us rest in the days of adversity. give it to your lover while you sleep?. [xv]
Thomas Brooks (1608–1680): “I was once a slave, but now I am a son; I was dead once, but now I’m alive; I was once darkness, but now I am light in the Lord; I was once a son of anger, an heir to hell, but now I am an heir to heaven; I was once Satan’s slave, but now I am free in God; I was once in the spirit of slavery, but now I am in the spirit of adoption, which seals my remission of my sins, the justification of my person, and the salvation of my soul. [xvi]
The Puritans understood that Jesus Christ was the one who promised to build his church, we are his servants, but being the Lord of heaven and earth, he is not served by human hands, as if he needed something, he is the principal shepherd of his flock, and only he is the one who sovereignly guides and guards his people toward glory.
The day before his death, John Owen (1616–1683) wrote a final letter to his best friend, expressing the wonderful confidence that all gospel ministers can have in our mighty Lord:?I go to the one who loved my soul, or rather, who loved me with eternal love?, which is the basis of all my comfort. I leave the church ship in the middle of a storm, but as long as the great pilot is there, the loss of a weak rower will be negligible. Live, pray, wait, wait patiently and don’t be discouraged. invincible, who will never leave us, nor leave us? [xvii]
May Christ’s powerful promises nourish our faith until we can finally see it face to face.
[i] Thomas Watson,? Start tips, as quoted in Sermons of the Great Expulsion (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1662/2012), 166.
[ii] John Flavel, “The Character of a True Evangelical Shepherd,” in The Works of John Flavel (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1968), 6:568-69.
[iii] Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 2006), xxi.
[iv] Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1648/2002), 207, 209.
[v] Thomas Brooks, “The Unsycovering Riches of Christ,” Thomas Brooks’ Complete Works, Volume 3, edition of Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co. ; G. Herbert, 1866), 3: 117.
[i saw] Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth, in The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, Vol. 2 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co. ; G. Herbert, 1866), 2: 338.
[vii] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes (ed. by Alexander Balloch Grosart; Vol. 1; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co. ; W. Robertson, 1862), 1:45.
[viii] Thomas Adams, The Works of Thomas Adams, Volume 3 (James Nichol: Edinburgh, 1861?62), 3: 224, 225.
[ix] John Flavel, The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel (Volume 2; London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh e Innes; Mr. Keene, 1820), 216.
[x] John Flavel, The Complete Works of the Reverend John Flavel (vol. 2; London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh e Innes; M. Keene, 1820), 219.
[xi] John Bunyan, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1681/2011), 202-203.
[xii] William Bridge, “An Elevation for the Dejected,” in The Works of the Reverend William Bridge, Volume 2 (London: 1845), 2:255.
[xiii] William Bridge, “An Elevation for the Downcast”, in The Works of the Reverend William Bridge, Volume 2 (London: 1845), 2: 263-264.
[xiv] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 3 (edited by Alexander Balloch Grosart; Vol. 3; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co. ; G. Herbert, 1866), 3: 117.
[xv] Thomas Watson,? Sermon VII, in The Select Works of the Reverend Thomas Watson, comprising his famous body of divinity, in a series of lectures on shorter catechism and various sermons and treatises (New York: Robert Carter
[xvi] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks (edited by Alexander Balloch Grosart; Vol. 2; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co. ; G. Herbert, 1866), 2: 345.
[xvii] John Owen, “The Life of Dr. Owen,” in John Owen’s Works, ed. William Goold, 24 vol. (Edinburgh: Johnson