Book Excerpts

The following excerpt is drawn from the biographical sketch* in Volume 1 of the Works of John Flavel, published by the Trust. Mr. Richard Flavel left two sons behind him, both ministers of the gospel, viz. John and Phinehas. John the eldest was born in Worcestershire. It was observable, that whilst his mother lay in […]

The following excerpt is Chapter 8 of John Flavel’s The Mystery of Providence. Having proved the affairs of the people of God to be conducted by the care of special Providence, and given instances of what influence Providence has upon those interests and concerns of theirs, we come in the next place to prove it to […]

The following extract is taken from Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, pages 249–273.  Note to the reader: before this section, Baxter spends time considering how a minister may winsomely prevail upon his people to submit to being catechised. With this treated of, he proceeds to outline how a shepherd of God’s flock can best carry […]

In the recovery of biblical exposition that has marked the church in our own time, it has not always been recognized that in addition to such exposition the Reformers and Puritans placed great stress on catechizing. We tend to think of this as children learning catechetical questions and answers by rote. But what the Puritans […]

The following extract is taken from Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, pages 168–177. The Duty of Personal Catechizing and Instructing the Flock Particularly Recommended Having disclosed and lamented our miscarriages and neglects, our duty for the future lies plain before us. God forbid that we should now go on in the sins which we have […]

Happy in my work as I felt, and successful by the blessing of God, yet I continually heard, and chiefly during my last years in the Divinity Hall, the wail of the perishing Heathen in the South Seas; and I saw that few were caring for them, while I well knew that many would be […]

Above all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, supplications and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and for those appointed to high office, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, in all godliness and decency. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) As long as we are busy doing good, the devil has less […]

The following testimony is from Near to God: 9 True Stories of a Wonderful Discovery. The love of Christ compels me to give testimony to my conversion from the Roman Catholic priesthood to the born-again life in Jesus Christ. For twenty-five years I was a Roman Catholic priest, strictly following the rituals of a system […]

The following is drawn from the Puritan Paperback Temptation Resisted and Repulsed, an abridged edition of John Owen’s Of Temptation (found in his Works, Volume 6). Having laid the groundwork of the truth to be addressed and improved, I will now make this observation:  It is the great duty of all believers to use all […]

The following is taken from Puritan Portraits by J. I. Packer, published by Christian Focus (192pp, paperback, ISBN 9781845507008). There are seven Puritan leaders who are evaluated and commended by Dr. Packer in this fine book. The notes have been added. I owe more, I think, to John Owen than to any other theologian, ancient or modern, […]

The following is excerpted from ‘Doors of Opportunity’, which constitutes chapter 15 of Faith Cook’s Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. It sketches a period of time in which her patronage of new dissenting chapels and itinerant preachers was beginning to bear fruit. As the Countess’s chapels began to increase, so did the administrative labour of ensuring […]

There be three degrees of discovery of heavenly things: First, in the doctrine of them; and so they are hid to them that are out of the church. And then, secondly, in the spiritual meaning of them; and so they are hid to carnal men in the church. And then, thirdly, in regard of the […]

EDITORIAL NOTE. THE ejection of two thousand ministers by the Act of Uniformity in 1662 could not fail to make a great impression on the minds of the people of England, and especially of the ministers who were ejected, and of the people who had enjoyed their ministry. The last utterances of these ministers in […]

The following excerpt, which witnesses to the pastoral ministry of David Dickson (1583–1663), is taken from Samuel Rutherford and His Friends, by Faith Cook. ‘FROM Irvine, being on my journey to Christ’s Palace in Aberdeen, August 4th 1636.’ So runs the inscription on a letter written by Samuel Rutherford to Robert Cunningham, another servant of […]

The following testimony to the faith and trials of evangelist Kim Yoonsup is excerpted from The Korean Pentecost and the Sufferings Which Followed. Evangelist Kim Yoonsup was born in the village of In-doo in Syenchun County of North Pyengan Province. He was brought up in a non-Christian home and was known as one of the […]

The following is excerpted from Jock Purves’s Fair Sunshine: Character Studies of the Scottish Covenanters.   Richard Cameron (1648? – 1680) Cameron of the Covenant stood And prayed the battle prayer; Then with his brother side by side Took up the Cross of Christ and died Upon the Moss of Ayr. Henry Inglis, Hackston of […]

The following is excerpted from The Incomparableness of God by George Swinnock, which the Banner publishes as a Puritan Paperback, and which appears in Volume 4 of Swinnock’s Works. The incomparableness of God in his being. It is from itself, for itself, and wholly independent. The incomparableness of the divine being will appear in several […]

The child on the moss she laid And she stretched the cold limbs of the dead, And drew the eyelid’s shade, And bound the corpse’s shattered head, And shrouded the martyr in his plaid; And where the dead and living slept, Sat in the wilderness and wept. Henry Inglis, The Death of John Brown The […]