Providence's "beautiful history"

Once again, in returning to John Flavel I'm reminded of the value of reading the English Puritans. Giants of the faith like Flavel and John Owen are spiritual heart surgeons, and their writings like spiritual smelling salts for sleepy Christians, of which I am one. Keeping the Heart -- an extended meditation on Proverbs 4:23 -- is a prime example. Here's a great quote from the section where Flavel talks about the importance of tending to one's heart in times of adversity.

We are clouded with much ignorance, and are not able to discern how particular providences tend to the fulfillment of God's designs; and therefore, like Israel in the wilderness, are often murmuring because Providence leads us about in a howling desert where we are exposed to difficulties; though then he lead them, and is now leading us, by the right way to a city of habitations. If you could but see how God in his secret counsel has exactly laid the whole plan of your salvation, even to the smallest means and circumstances; could you but discern the admirable harmony of divine actions, their mutual relations, together with the general respect they all have to the last end; had you the liberty to make your own choice, you would of all conditions in the world, choose that in which you now are in.

Providence is like a curious piece of tapestry made of a thousand shreds, which single appear useless, but put together they represent a beautiful history to the eye. As God does all things according to the counsel of his own will, of course this is ordained as the best method to effect your salvation.

BTW this book is available in a Kindle edition for 99 cents. If you can overlook the many typos it's a terrific value.

Fullness beyond measure

The Apostle John writes of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word: "For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16)

John Preston (1587 - 1628) exegetes this text with the passion, thoroughness and depth characteristic of his generation of English Puritans in The Fullness of Christ, recently published in an updated e-version by New Puritan Press. This is a short book, so makes a great entry point to the writings of the Puritans. Maybe these quotes will whet your appetite.

Both a little bowl and the ocean can be said to be full. Yet each is filled according to the limits of its present capacity. Christ was full according to all dimensions. He is the length, depth, breadth, and height of fullness.

. . . there was in Stephen and the saints the fullness of a container, but in Christ, there is the fullness of a spring. Their fullness was given to them by someone else and so is derivative. In Christ, there is the fullness of a fountain, which proceeds from himself and depends on no one else. The medieval scholastic theologians expressed this well when they said that Christ's and the saints' fullness differ as fire and things set on fire. The fullness of the ocean is too small to express this. The removal of even a drop or two diminishes it to some degree, but you can light a thousand torches from the fullness of fire and it is not diminished at all.

All excellence in creatures when compared to Christ is but a drop in the ocean, as a spark is to a roaring fire. If therefore we proportion our affections to the object, which ought to be the rule that governs them, we must not bestow upon the creature any more than a drop of love and delight. However, the full stream of our affections should run after Christ, in whom is all the fullness of perfection.

All quotes from The Fullness of Christ, edited and translated by James T. O'Brien (New Puritan Press, 2012)

The advantage of a thankful heart (Flavel)

One more quote from John Flavel's The Mystery of Providence. . .

This I dare presume to say, that whoever finds a careful and a thankful heart to record and treasure the daily experiences of God's mercy to him shall never lack new mercies to record to his dying day.

We are prone to forget God's mercies toward us, which is why the psalmist preaches to himself: "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103). What a good reminder as we gear up for the Thanksgiving holiday!

The greatest mercy of Providence

I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. Psalm 57:2 (KJV)

With typical Puritan thoroughness John Flavel mines that text in The Mystery of Providence. Here David is declaring under perilous duress his faith in a God who is intimately involved in his affairs. Another translation renders the second phrase as "God the transactor of my affairs" and the ESV helpfully translates it "God who fulfills his purpose for me." God is not a dispassionate puppet-master pulling the strings. His providential ordering of the lives of those like David who set him apart as "God most high" is motivated by steadfast love and faithfulness. That's why David can confess in Psalm 16: I say to Yahweh, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

That's quite a statement! No good apart from you, Lord.

Flavel's exposition of the various performances of Providence in the lives of the saints crescendos with a chapter on conversion. Were you born into a Christian home and can't remember a time when you didn't know Christ? This was Providence. Did you respond to the preaching of the gospel as an adult? This too was Providence. Many there are who have heard and not responded. Were you led to Christ by the witness of a roommate in college? Again, this was orchestrated by Providence. Salvation is the greatest blessing that Providence has to give.

Flavel writes:

There are mercies of all sizes and kinds in the hands of Providence to dispense to the sons of men. Its left hand is full of blessings as well as its right. It has health and riches, honours and pleasures, as well as Christ and salvation to dispense. The world is full of its left hand favours, but the blessings of its right hand are invaluably precious and few there be that receive them. It performs thousands of kind offices for men; but among them all, this is the chiefest, to lead and direct them to Christ.

Flavel's distinction between "left hand" and "right hand" blessings mirrors the distinction often made by Reformed theologians between "common grace" and "saving grace". An example of common grace is the rain that God sends on the "just" and the "unjust" (see Matt. 5:45). The most virulent atheist benefits in hundreds of ways from the common grace gifts of God, but absent the mercy of saving grace those good gifts have an expiration date. All the good things once enjoyed will be taken away, just as they were taken away from Jesus on the cross.

Another writer has said that God is kind to all in some ways, and kind to some in all ways. If you're in the second group you can say with Paul: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.


Quote from The Mystery of Providence, pp. 73-4

Seeing Providence in our economic circumstances (John Flavel)

Debates about economic issues dominate the news and the political discourse in Washington. Slogans and buzzwords fill the air. One man's "economic justice" is another man's "class warfare". One group yells about corporate greed and the evils of big business while another excoriates big government. I'll admit I'm much more sympathetic to the arguments of the first group, and I'll continue to be a participant in these debates since they involve issues that have affected my family. But through it all the child of God can thankfully rest in the fact that God is working even our economic circumstances for our good, and his glory.

I love this quote from John Flavel (The Mystery of Providence).

Though the wisdom of Providence has ordered you a lower and poorer condition than others, yet consider how many there are that are lower than you in the world. You have but little of the world, yet others have less. Read the description of those persons (Job 30:4, etc.). If God has given you but a small portion of the world, yet if you are godly He has promised never to forsake you (Heb. 13:5). Providence has ordered that condition for you which is really best for your eternal good. If you had more of the world than you have, your heads and hearts might not be able to manage it to your advantage. A small boat must have but a narrow sail. You have not lacked hitherto the necessities of life, and are commanded 'having food and raiment (though none of the finest) to be therewith content.' 'A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked' (Ps. 37:16): better in the acquisition, sweeter in the fruition, and more comfortable in the account.

Quote from The Mystery of Providence, p. 78 [italics emphasis mine]

The Redwoods of church history

I came across this illuminating quote on English Puritanism in the biographical introduction to John Flavel's The Mystery of Providence.

The history of Puritanism is quite remarkable. As a movement for thorough reform of the Church on the basis of the Word of God, it was indeed as old as the Reformation. But if the Reformation revived preaching, the Puritans came to stand for preaching of a particular kind. It has been the verdict of competent judges ever since that, for applying the Word of God to the conscience with power, thoroughness and unction, the Puritans stand alone. Yet it is difficult to define in detail how they differ from preachers of other ages. It is as difficult to explain how the movement arose, in a short time producing a host of outstanding preachers, and then, a hundred years or so later, how this supply dried up. If we take the view that the Puritan movement was nothing less than an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in England, then it is a signal instance of the principle of divine working enunciated by our Lord: 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. . . .'

This writer notes that John Flavel was one of the few Puritan leaders still in ministry at the time of the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The overthrow of James II and ascension to power of William and Mary meant that England would never be Roman Catholic. Yet, this decisive victory for Protestantism in England wasn't a victory for the Puritans. In fact, in the wake of the Great Ejection of 1662 which saw non-conformist pastors expelled from the national church, the principles of total reformation advocated by the Puritans had been largely defeated. The high church Anglicanism they saw as only partial reformation had carried the day.

One could look back and say that the Puritan movement was a failure. On the other hand, which English-speaking Christians of that period are still being read today? Who was it that profoundly influenced George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers, helping to spark the great revivals of the 18th century? Answer: it was Puritans like John Flavel, John Owen, Thomas Watson, and many others, who continue to provide a model of robust Calvinistic doctrine and deep piety. Rightly have they been compared to the giant Redwood trees of California.

"As Redwoods attract the eye, because they overtop other trees, so the mature holiness and fortitude of the great Puritans shine before us as a kind of beacon light, overtopping the stature of the majority of Christians in most eras, and certainly so in this age of crushing urban collectivism, when Western Christians sometimes feel and often look like ants on an anthill and puppets on a string. In this situation the teaching and example of the Puritans has much to say to us." (J.I. Packer)

John Bunyan on law and gospel

This is an excellent description of the relation of the law to the gospel -- from Bunyan's book All Loves Excelling.

The law is a servant, both first and last, to the gospel (Rom 10:3-4). When the law is made a lord, it destroys, and when its dictates and commands are dependent upon for life, then it is for sure made a lord and savior.

What happens when the law becomes uppermost in the life of a believer? For one thing, it makes the enemy of our soul very happy. . .

. . . there is nothing that Satan desires more than that the law abides in the conscience of an awakened Christian, and there to take the place of Christ, and faith. For Satan knows that if this happens, the veil is presently drawn over the face of the soul, and the heart darkened as to the knowledge of Christ, and being darkened, the man is driven to despair of mercy or is put upon to work for life (2 Cor 3:13-15).

This is a great word for pastors and teachers too. The law must be preached and taught, but always as a servant to the gospel. Law without gospel results in despair and/or moralistic religion. Here's the attitude to have. . .

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Philippians 3

Bunyan quotes via The Reformed Reader

Controlling principles

The controlling principle of fire is that fire will keep burning until it's extinguished. As long as there is fuel a fire won't go out on its own. It has to be acted upon. Either you take away its fuel or you pour water on it. The same is true of sin. Sin won't "go out" on its own.

James uses the metaphor of conception and childbirth to describe sin's natural progression.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15

John Owen:

Sin will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, disquieting, but if let alone, if not continually mortified, it will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, soul-destroying sins. . . . Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head.

Is Owen being hyperbolic? I don't think so. "Be killing sin or it will be killing you," he writes. These are scary warnings from the inspired apostle and the Puritan pastor. They should cause us to be more diligent in "killing sin". Sin's ultimate goal and outcome is death. The good news is that by the Spirit's power the child of God will win the fight against sin, and the Spirit's controlling principle is life.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13


Quote from Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, pp. 52-3 of this edition

Highlights from Facing Grief (Flavel)

Following up from this post -- surely if anyone ever had reason to weep it was the Widow of Nain. Yet Jesus motivated by compassion tells her, "Weep not." Taking Luke 7:13 as his central text Puritan pastor John Flavel (1627-1691) applies Jesus' words in order to comfort believers and help them grieve in a way that glorifies God. Here are some tidbits from Flavel's comfort to Christian's facing the loss of someone dear.

The death of a loved one can't take away the believer's salvation in Christ.

. . . as long as our best mercies are all safe, the things that have salvation in them remain, and only the things that have vanity in them are removed, you are not prejudiced or much hindered as to the attainment of your last end by the loss of these things. (p. 45)

The duration of our loved one's life was what God intended it to be. His timing is best.

The time of our life, as well as the place of our habitation, was fixed before we were born. . . . Oh, if this had been done, or that omitted; had it not been for such miscarriages and oversights, my dear husband, wife, or child, had been alive at this day! No, no, the Lord's time was fully come, and all things concurred, and fell in together to bring about the pleasure of his will. Let that satisfy you. . . (p. 47)

Surely the Lord of time is the best judge of time; and in nothing do we more discover our folly and rashness, than in presuming to fix the times either of our comforts or our troubles. (p. 57)

Sometimes death is God's tool to spare one from some future evil.

Just as a careful and tender father who has a son abroad at school, hearing the plague is broken out in or near the place, sends his horse presently to fetch home his son before the danger and difficulty be greater: so death is our Father's pale horse which he sends to fetch home his tender children and carry them out of harm's way. (p. 54)

The ultimate comfort: the sure hope of resurrection and eternal life for us and our loved ones who die in Christ.

You shall have an everlasting enjoyment of them in heaven, never to part again. The children of the resurrection can die no more (Luke 20:36); you shall kiss their pale lips and cold cheeks no more; you shall never fear another parting pull, but be together with the Lord for ever (1 Thess. 4:17). (p. 68)

Angels neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither shall the children of the resurrection; when the days of our sinning are ended, the days of our mourning shall be so too. No graves were opened till sin entered, and no more shall be opened when sin is excluded. (p. 92)

I hope those may have whetted your appetite to check this book out for yourself. If you're a pastor, priest or elder you might want to keep a few copies on hand to give to grieving members of your flock, especially those with deep roots in the promises of scripture.

Quotes from Facing Grief: Counsel for Mourners (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010)

Medicine for Christian mourners

I make it a point not to go too long without reading something from the Puritans. I haven't found another body of Christian literature that does a better job of bringing my spiritual compass back to true north. Thanks to the Puritan Paperbacks series from Banner of Truth these writings are more accessible than ever.

I've been reading John Flavel -- Facing Grief: Counsel for Mourners. Flavel (1627-1691) was a pastor in England and one of the hundreds of ministers who resigned from the Church of England in the Great Ejection of 1662. Along with loss of livelihood this brought other persecutions, including the threat of imprisonment. Flavel's parents died after contracting the plague while being confined in Newgate Prison. Flavel himself buried three wives and a child. He was a man well acquainted with the subject he writes about in this book first published in 1674 as A Token for Mourners. It's written as an extended exposition of Luke 7:13 and was something of a bestseller -- as recounted by Mark Dever in his foreward to the new edition from Banner of Truth.

For the next 150 years Flavel's Token was printed and re-printed in England and America. The times demanded that the heart-breaking experience of the loss of children be faced by most parents. And generations of Christian parents found comfort through this little book. [viii]

Death was more of a present reality for our forebears than it is to us in our medically advanced society. They had daily personal reminders of how fragile life was. Yet death and the grief it brings is still a universal part of the human experience. I liken this book to a vial of medicine that one keeps on hand knowing it will be needed someday, if not today. Flavel sets out his purpose in an opening letter addressed to "dear friends" grieving the loss of a loved one.

It is not my design to exasperate your troubles, but to heal them; and for that purpose have I sent you these papers, which I hope may be of use to you and many others in your condition, since they are the after-fruits of my own troubles; things that I have not commended to you from another hand, but which I have, in some measure, proved and tasted in my own trials. [xi]

Later in the week I'll share some tidbits from Flavel's pastoral counsel to Christian mourners.

Praying against hypocrisy (Watson)

Thomas Watson:

Christian, if you mourn for hypocrisy, yet find this sin so potent that you cannot get the mastery of it, go to Christ. Beg of him that he would exercise his kingly office in your soul, that he would subdue this sin, and put it under the yoke. Beg of Christ to exercise his spiritual surgery upon you. Desire him to lance your heart and cut out the rotten flesh, and that he would apply the medicine of his blood to heal you of your hypocrisy. Say that prayer of David often: 'Let my heart be sound in thy statutes' (Psa. 119:80). 'Lord, let me be anything rather than a hypocrite.' Two hearts will exclude from one heaven.

All Christians should regularly pray like this. Truth be told even the most godly saint doesn't always live up to his or her profession, nor especially does "the bruised reed." Those of us in the latter category need not despair though. As Watson says elsewhere -- the bruised reed "is as true a plant of the heavenly paradise as the other [the cedar]." God can read the work of his Spirit on our hearts whether it's "written in capital letters" or "only faintly stamped." I continue to be strengthened for the journey by reading this great Puritan.

Wednesday is for Watson

More edifying wisdom from the scripture pencil of Thomas Watson. These come under the heading A GODLY MAN IS A THANKFUL MAN. . .

Praise and thanksgiving is the work of heaven and he begins the work here which he will always be doing in heaven. The Jews have a saying — the world subsists by three things: the law, the worship of God and thankfulness. As if where thankfulness was missing, one of the pillars of the world had been taken away and it was ready to fall. The Hebrew word for 'praise' comes from a root that signifies 'to shoot up'. The godly man sends up his praises like a volley of shots toward heaven. David was modelled after God's heart and how melodiously he warbled out God's praises! Therefore he was called 'the sweet psalmist of Israel' (2 Sam. 23:1). Take a Christian at his worst, yet he is thankful.

In petition we act like men; in thanksgiving we act like angels.

A gracious soul is thankful and rejoices that he is drawn nearer to God, though it be by the cords of affliction. When it goes well with him, he praises God's mercy; when it goes badly with him, he magnifies God's justice. When God has a rod in his hand, a godly man will have a psalm in his mouth.

A child of God keeps two books always by him: one to write his sins in, so that he may be humble; the other to write his mercies in, so that he may be thankful.

The Godly Man's Picture (Carlisle: Banner of Truth Trust, 1992) - quotes from pgs. 128, 129, 131 & 132

Thomas Watson's scripture pencil

In my devotional reading I've been enjoying The Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson (1620 - 1686). To be more precise, the full title is a characteristically (for a Puritan writer) long one: The Godly Man's Picture Drawn with a Scripture Pencil, or, Some Characteristic Marks of a Man who is Going to Heaven. Pithy isn't a word one normally associates with the Puritans, but it applies to this wonderful book.

Watson draws out 24 characteristics of a godly man, or woman. Don't be put off by the title, ladies. These are bracketed by several short chapters of additional encouragements to godliness, and warnings against it's deadly enemy -- hypocrisy. All the things I've heard about Thomas Watson are born out here. His style is warm and a delight to read. He combines deep human insight with rich application of scripture. Here are some gems from the section on prayer.

He that prays he knows not how, shall be heard he knows not when. (p. 89)


The reason why so many prayers suffer shipwreck is because they split against the rock of unbelief. Praying without faith is shooting without bullets. When faith takes prayer by the hand, then we draw near to God. (p. 90)


The lower the heart descends, the higher the prayer ascends. (p. 91)


A spiritual prayer is when we have spiritual goals in prayer. There is a vast difference between a spiritual prayer and a carnal desire. The goals of a hypocrite are secular and carnal. He looks asquint in prayer. It is not the sense of his spiritual needs that moves him but rather lust. 'Ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts' (Jas. 4:3). The sinner prays more for food than for grace. (p. 92)


To pray for holiness and neglect the means is like winding up the clock and taking off the weights. (p. 93)

Maybe the best thing I can say about reading Watson, and the Puritans in general, is that they cause me to long for heaven.

In that country there is better employment; while we are here, we are complaining of our wants, weeping over our sins, but there we shall be praising God. How the birds of paradise will chirp when they are in that celestial country! There the morning stars will sing together, and all the saints of God will shout for joy.

Oh, what should we aspire after but this country above? (pp. 111-112)

Like John Owen, Thomas Watson is a "heart doctor" that every Christian would benefit from visiting. In the forest of English-speaking Christianity these 17th-century Puritans are the redwoods.

Watson on Christian contentment

Discontent is to the soul as a disease is to the body: it puts it out of temper and greatly hinders its regular and sublime motions heavenward. For my part, I know not any ornament in religion that doth more bespangle a Christian, or glitter in the eye of God and man, than this of contentment. Nor certainly is there anything wherein all the Christian virtues do work more harmoniously, or shine more transparently, than in this orb. If there is a blessed life before we come to heaven, it is the contented life.

Thomas Watson

Premillenial madness (17th century style)

Thomas Goodwin was one of the greatest of the English Puritans (and I love the Puritans!), but as Mark Jones explains he had some wacky eschatological views too. Apparently it's not just 21st-century televangelists and authors of best-selling Christian fiction who think Revelation is all about us.

HT: Heidelblog

Richard Baxter on Christian unity

Each Sunday at church we corporately confess our belief in the holy catholic church by reciting The Apostles' Creed. Is that just an abstraction, or does my belief in a holy catholic (little c) church "have legs"? Food for thought as I read Richard Baxter on Christian unity in The Reformed Pastor. I continue to be inspired by this book! I'd add that "reformed" in the title refers to practice not doctrine. John Wesley, no Calvinist, recommended Baxter's book to his travelling preachers, and Methodist missionary Francis Asbury considered it 'a prize' when he came across it on his travels. The 'Prince of Preachers' Charles Spurgeon used to have his wife read it to him in the evenings.

Baxter warns his readers about the danger of doctrinal and ecclesiastical controversy descending into mere factionalism, something I've thought of recently while reading several blogs where folks from different theological camps go at each other in tones more appropriate for a college football rivalry. Keep in mind that Baxter was writing at a time of raging controversy too, and not many years removed from a time when Protestants and Catholics were routinely throwing each other into the Tower, or worse. Yet, he wrote:

We are sadly guilty of undervaluing the unity and peace of the whole Church. Though I scarcely meet with any one who will not speak of unity and peace, or, at least, that will expressly speak against it, yet is it not common to meet with those who are studious to promote it; but too commonly do we find men averse to it, and jealous of it, if not themselves the instruments of division. The Papists have so long abused the name of the catholic Church, that, in opposition to them, many either put it out of their creeds, or only retain the name while they understand not, or consider not the nature of the thing; or think it is enough to believe that there is such a body, though they behave not themselves as members of it. If the Papists will idolize the Church, shall we therefore deny it, disregard it, or divide it? It is a great and a common sin throughout the Christian world, to take up religion in a way of faction; and instead of a love and tender care of the universal Church, to confine that love and respect to a party.

Of the multitude that say they are of the catholic Church, it is rare to meet with men of a catholic spirit. Men have not a universal consideration of, and respect to, the whole Church, but look upon their party as if it were the whole. If there be some called Lutherans, some Calvinists, some subordinate divisions among these, and so of other parties among us, most of them will pray hard for the prosperity of their party, and rejoice and give thanks when it goes well with them; but if any other party suffer, they little regard it, as if it were no loss at all to the Church. If it be the smallest parcel that possesseth not many nations, no, nor cities on earth, they are ready to carry it, as if they were the whole Church, and as if it went well with the Church when it goes well with them. We cry down the Pope as Antichrist, for including the Church in the Romish pale, and no doubt but it is abominable schism: but, alas! how many do imitate them too far, while they reprove them! And as the Papists foist the word Roman into their creed, and turn the catholic Church into the Roman Catholic church, as if there were no other catholics, and the Church were of no larger extent, so is it with many others as to their several parties. Some will have it to be the Lutheran catholic church, and some the Reformed catholic church; some the Anabaptist catholic church, and so of some others. And if they differ not among themselves, they are little troubled at differing from others, though it be from almost all the Christian world. The peace of their party they take for the peace of the Church. No wonder, therefore, if they carry it no further.

How rare is it to meet with a man that smarteth or bleedeth with the Church's wounds, or sensibly taketh them to heart as his own, or that ever had solicitous thoughts of a cure! No; but almost every party thinks that the happiness of the rest consisteth in turning to them; and because they be not of their mind, they cry, Down with them! and are glad to hear of their fall, as thinking that is the way to the Church's rising, that is, their own. How few are there who understand the true state of controversies between the several parties; or that ever well discerned how many of them are but verbal, and how many are real!*

Baxter continues on for several pages, then closes with an admonition to simplicity and six practical suggestions to further unity and peace:

We may talk of peace, indeed, as long as we live, but we shall never obtain it but by returning to the apostolical simplicity. The Papists' faith is too big for all men to agree upon, or even all their own, if they enforced it not with arguments drawn from the fire, the halter, and the strappado. And many Anti-papists do too much imitate them in the tedious length of their subscribed confessions, and the novelty of their impositions, when they go furthest from them in the quality of the things imposed. When we once return to the ancient simplicity of faith, then, and not till then, shall we return to the ancient love and peace. I would therefore recommend to all my brethren, as the most necessary thing to the Church's peace, that they unite in necessary truths, and bear with one another in things that may be borne with; and do not make a larger creed, and more necessaries, than God hath done. To this end, let me entreat you to attend to the following things:

(1) Lay not too great a stress upon controverted opinions, which have godly men, and, especially, whole churches, on both sides.

(2) Lay not too great a stress on those controversies that are ultimately resolvable into philosophical uncertainties, as are some unprofitable controversies about freewill, the manner of the Spirit's operations and the Divine decrees.

(3) Lay not too great a stress on those controversies that are merely verbal, and which if they were anatomized, would appear to be no more. Of this sort are far more (I speak it confidently upon certain knowledge) that make a great noise in the world, and tear the Church, than almost any of the eager contenders that ever I spoke with do seem to discern, or are like to believe.

(4) Lay not too much stress on any point of faith which was disowned by or unknown to the whole Church of Christ, in any age, since the Scriptures were delivered to us.

(5) Much less should you lay great stress on those of which any of the more pure or judicious ages were wholly ignorant.

(6) And least of all should you lay much stress on any point which no one age since the apostles did ever receive, but all commonly held the contrary.*

*Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Banner of Truth Trust (1974)

Richard Baxter on "Family Religion"

The Reformed Pastor is English Puritan Richard Baxter's stirring treatise on Acts 20:28 written to the ministers of the county of Worcestershire in 1656. Rarely have I enountered a book that combines readability, practical helpfulness and devotional inspiration in such measure. Baxter, in addition to being eminently beneficial, is also a pleasure to read! Whereas John Owen, who though a superior theologian to Baxter, had a writing style the reading of which can be akin to Chinese water torture. One such example of Baxter's inimitable style and bold directness may suffice to prove my point.

If any minister who hath two hundred pounds a year can prove that a hundred pounds of it may do God more service, if it be laid out on himself, or wife and children, than if it maintain one or two suitable assistants to help forward the salvation of the flock, I shall not presume to reprove his expenses; but where this cannot be proved, let not the practice be justified.
And I must further say, that this poverty is not so intolerable and dangerous a thing as it is pretended to be. If you have but food and raiment, must you not therewith be content? and what would you have more than that which may fit you for the work of God? It is not 'being clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day,' that is necessary for this end. 'A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth.' If your clothing be warm and your food be wholesome, you may be as well supported by it to do God's service as if you had the fullest satisfaction to your flesh. A patched coat may be warm, and bread and water are wholesome food. He that wanteth not these, hath but a poor excuse to make for hazarding men's souls, that he may live on dainties.*

Baxter instructs his readers to direct their energies as ministers to four classes of people within the flock, and in this order of priority: the unconverted, the inquirer (what today we might call the seeker), the converted (and he breaks this down into classes i.e. the weak Christian, the declining Christian, the strong Christian, etc.), families, and the sick. From the section on families I offer this lengthy excerpt, which I believe gets to the heart of the reformation in pastoral ministry that Baxter was seeking to accomplish with the writing of this book.

We must have a special eye upon families, to see that they are well ordered, and the duties of each relation performed. The life of religion, and the welfare and glory of both the Church and the State, depend much on family government and duty. If we suffer the neglect of this, we shall undo all. What are we like to do ourselves to the reforming of a congregation, if all work be cast on us alone; and masters of families neglect that necessary duty of their own, by which they are bound to help us? If any good be begun by the ministry in any soul, a careless, prayerless, worldly family is like to stifle it, or very much hinder it; whereas, if you could but get the rulers of families to do their duty, to take up the work where you left it, and help it on, what abundance of good might be done! I beseech you, therefore, if you desire the reformation and welfare of your people, do all you can to promote family religion. To this end, let me entreat you to attend to the following things:
(1) Get information how each family is ordered, that you may know how to proceed in your endeavours for their further good.
(2) Go occasionally among them, when they are likely to be most at leisure, and ask the master of the family whether he prays with them, and reads the Scripture, or what he doth? Labour to convince such as neglect this, of their sin; and if you have opportunity, pray with them before you go, and give them an example of what you would have them do. Perhaps, too, it might be well to get a promise from them, that they will make more conscience of their duty for the future.
(3) If you find any, through ignorance and want of practice, unable to pray, persuade them to study their own wants, and to get their hearts affected with them, and, in the meanwhile, advise them to use a form of prayer, rather than not pray at all. Tell them, however, that it is their sin and shame that they have lived so negligently, as to be unacquainted with their own necessities as not to know how to speak to God in prayer, when every beggar can find words to ask an alms; and, therefore, that a form of prayer is but for necessity, as a crutch to a cripple, while they cannot do well without it; but that they must resolve not to be content with it, but to learn to do better as speedily as possible, seeing that prayer should come from the feelings of the heart, and be varied according to our necessities and circumstances.
(4) See that in every family there are some useful moving books [I love that phrase!], beside the Bible. If they have none, persuade them to buy some: if they be not able to buy them, give them some if you can. If you are not able yourself, get some gentleman, or other rich persons, that are ready to good works, to do it. And engage them to read them at night, when they have leisure, and especially on the Lord's day.
(5) Direct them how to spend the Lord's day; how to despatch their wordly business, so as to prevent encumbrances and distractions; and when they have been at church, how to spend the time in their families. The life of religion dependeth much on this, because poor people have no other free considerable time; and, therefore, if they lose this, they lose all, and will remain ignorant and brutish. Persuade the master of every family to cause his children and servants to repeat the Catechism to him, every Sabbath evening, and to give him some account of what they have heard at church during the day.
Neglect not, I beseech you, this important part of your work. Get masters of families to do their duty, and they will not only spare you a great deal of labour, but will much further the success of your labours. If a captain can get the officers under him to do their duty, he may rule the soldiers with much less trouble, than if all lay upon his own shoulders. You are not like to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be, here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise much future increase.*

Much has changed since Baxter's era, both in family life and society, but may we 21st-century Christians not learn something from Baxter's "family religion"? I'm picturing a family in my own church, something like Baxter's ideal. It would be saying too much to describe them as the backbone of our church, but from oldest to youngest, the contributions to the life, vigor and godliness of our church would be exceedingly difficult to replace. Would that we had more such! Whether pastor or layperson, married or single, parent or child; let us endeavor to be less careless, less prayerless and less worldly; to the praise of Christ and his church.



*Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Banner of Truth Trust (1974)

Getting to know the Puritans cont'd.

I was discussing the Puritans with a friend yesterday. He asked me what it was that defined a Puritan and if there were any Puritans today. I answered as best I could, but in an effort to better answer his questions found this helpful summary by a Mark S. Ritchie. It's helpful because it gives a brief history of the English Puritans as an ecclesiastical and political movement and places them within the context of church history up until today. J.I. Packer points out that the story of the Puritans is one of failure. They failed to achieve their goals and by 1700 had pretty much died out as a distinct movement. Yet, their influence lives on due to their writings and patterns of Christian living and ministry. Moral of the story? The most lasting legacies are often born out of what seems like failure.

Getting to know the Puritans

This has been the year I met the Puritans. Not the Puritans of myth and fiction, but the real honest-to-goodness pastors, theologians and laypeople who formed the backbone of the English Reformation from the middle of the 16th century to the late 17th century. They weren't perfect of course, and they had doctrinal and cultural blind spots, but I agree with J.I. Packer that the English Puritans (and Jonathan Edwards) are "the redwoods" of church history. I've been immersing myself in their world thru the writings of such as John Owen and by learning from contemporary authorities like Mark Dever and Packer. Listening to Packer one would think he's read everything the Puritans ever wrote. Ironic, since he's an Anglican!

The biggest obstacles a modern person must overcome in meeting the Puritans are the caricatured, incomplete portraits passed down to us in fiction from Shakespeare to Hawthorne to Arthur Miller. Keep in mind that The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are dealing with Puritanism in America. I believe Packer when he says that the Puritans who came to America were of a generally lesser quality than those who stayed behind and ushered in what is sometimes called the "Puritan Century" in England (roughly 1560 to 1660). The myth of Puritans as fanatical killjoys is hard to shake. What comes to mind when you hear the terms "puritannical" or "puritanism"?

What was a typical Puritan really like? Leland Ryken writes in Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were:

If we had worked beside [the] typical Puritan or been a neighbor, he or she would have impressed us as being religious but not odd. He or she would not have been distinguished by outward appearance… The typical Puritan dressed as other members of the same social class did. Conversation would have turned much of the time to topics of Christian belief and experience. Overall, the typical Puritan would have impressed us as hardworking, thrifty, serious, moderate, practical in outlook, doctrinaire in religious and political matters, well-informed about the latest political and ecclesiastical developments, argumentative, well-educated, and thoroughly familiar with the content of the Bible.

That last characteristic is one of the things that most attracts me to the Puritans, along with their relentless pursuit of personal holiness and commitment to precise truth. In fact they were called derisively "precisionists". Packer tells the story of Puritan pastor Richard Rogers who was chided for the Puritans' penchant for precision, "Mr. Rogers, I like you and your company very well, but you are so precise." Rogers reply was perfect, "O Sir, I serve a precise God." Their doctrinal precision, passion for discipline and commitment to holiness didn't mean an absence of joy and pleasure in the good things of life. I especially like the portrait of Puritan marriage that Mark Dever paints (see below). While Rome saw marriage as a necessary evil for the primary purpose of procreation, the Reformers (led by Luther) took back marriage as a positive good in itself and saw forced priestly celibacy as evil. The Puritans focused especially on the Genesis 2:18 aspect of marriage. Companionship. I love how Thomas Gataker (1574-1654) describes it.

There is no society more near, more entire, more needful, more kindly, more delightful, more comfortable, more constant, more continual, than the society of a man and wife, the main root, source, and original of all other societies.

It's amazing how many things that are common in contemporary church and Christian life were originated by the Puritans of England. Here are a few:

- Family devotions

- Journaling as part of private devotions

- Accountability groups (they called it "bosom friendship")

- Evangelistic tracts and booklets

And most importantly, Puritan pastors gave us a model of pastoral ministry that's basically the model we still recognize today. I'm about to start reading Richard Baxter's classic The Reformed Pastor, so I'm sure to learn much more about this. Innovations such as one-on-one counseling, visitation of the sick and small catechism classes all came from them. Incidentally, we might say with truth that Richard Baxter pastored one of the first recognizable "mega-churches". His church in Kidderminster numbered around 1,000. They had to build balconies to accommodate the growth of the congregation. Sound familiar?

The Puritans were not separatists, although they had a remarkable vision of Heaven as their true home. They were fully engaged in the political, intellectual and spiritual life of England. They were advisors to kings and served in Parliament. John Owen was one of the greatest minds England ever produced and John Bunyan wrote one of the best-selling books of all time.

It's a good thing to become acquainted with the Puritans, it's a better thing to be improved by the acquaintance. I give this as an example of how studying the Puritans has caused personal examination of my approach to one aspect of the Christian life. The Puritans had a high view of the Lord's Day. They took the fourth commandment more seriously than the average contemporary Christian does. They didn't have the view that because they were New Covenant/New Testament Christians the Old Testament command to keep the Sabbath holy was no longer applicable. Once the Christian is dismissed from church is he then free to spend the rest of the day doing whatever he wishes? The Puritan would answer no. The Puritan would go on to say that preparation for Sunday morning public worship begins on Saturday evening, especially if one was to attend the Lord's Table. To the Puritan, Sunday was the "market-day of the soul". One spent the entire day taking in spiritual provisions through public worship and private spiritual pursuits. Doing good deeds such as visiting the sick was consistent with keeping the day holy, but spending one's time in unreflective leisure or unspiritual pursuits was not. If this sounds legalistic to modern ears, perhaps it's because we've swung so far in the opposite direction away from a Biblical view of the Sabbath?


FOR FURTHER READING:

Richard Baxter as a Contemporary Model for Local Church Pastors by Reggie Weems (pdf)

The Joy of the Puritans by Alan C. Clifford (pdf)

Christian Hedonists or Religious Prudes? The Puritans on Sex by Mark Dever (pdf 233-258)