“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me… and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him… If a man love Me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
John 14:21, 23
“…I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”
Gal. 2:20
“And David was greatly distressed… but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”
1 Sam. 30:6
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Order of Contents
What is Experiential & Experimental Religion?
Website
Experiential Religion Resisting the Spirit
Sermons Fighting Sinfulness
. Spiritual Warfare
Seeking the Lord Spiritual Declension
Salvation Affliction
Sin Bereavement
Repentance Death
Faith
. Devotional
Godly Heart How to Read the Bible
Christian Life Life of Christ
Growing in Grace Bible Commentaries
Christian Character Song of Solomon
Holiness & Practical Religion Systematic Theology
Pleasantness of a Godly Life Confessions & Catechisms
Our Affections Sandemanianism
Prayer Psalm Singing
Meditation Lord’s Supper
Spending Day with God Lord’s Day
Self-Examination Pastoral Ministry
Assurance
Godly Conferencing Novel
Evangelism History
Marriage Biography
Parenting Autobiography
. Diaries
. Letters
. Poetry
. Quotes & Proverbs
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Archibald Alexander
Religious Experience, ‘Preface’
“There are two kinds of religious knowledge, which, though intimately connected as cause and effect, may nevertheless be distinguished. These are
[1] the knowledge of the truth as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and
[2] the impression which that truth makes on the human mind when rightly apprehended.
The first may be compared to the inscription or image on a seal; the other to the impression made by the seal on the wax. When that impression is clearly and distinctly made, we can understand, by contemplating it, the true inscription on the seal more satisfactorily, than by a direct view of the seal itself. Thus it is found that nothing tends more to confirm and elucidate the truths contained in the word, than an inward experience of their efficacy on the heart…
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If genuine religious experience is nothing but the impression of divine truth on the mind, by the energy of the Holy Spirit, then it is evident that a knowledge of the truth is essential to genuine piety… “
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What is Experiential & Experimental Religion?
When one believes upon the Gospel of Jesus, they are given new life (Jn. 5:24) and are become new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). This God-infused spiritual change affects all of the believer’s person, mind, will and affections, and all of their experience. Jonathan Edwards wrote:
“A gracious experience arises from operations and influences which are spiritual, from an inward principle which is divine, a communication of God, a participation of the divine nature [2 Pet. 1:4]: Christ living in the heart, the Holy Spirit dwelling there in union with the faculties of the soul as an internal principle, exerting his own proper nature in the exercise of those faculties. Now it is no wonder that that which is divine is powerful and effectual, for it has omnipotence on its side.”
Thus all of that which we go through in life in its various seasons, circumstances and experiences as we live before the Face of God, becomes sanctified and beneficial to our faith and precious to the saint. The Lord’s ways with us are beautiful. He deals with each of us personally throughout our lives and has a different way for every one of his beloved people (Jn. 21:19-22; compare Jn. 20:16-17 with 20:26-28).
Experiential Religion deeply values the experiential aspect of the Scriptures and the Christian faith.
Experimental Religion is an idea close thereto, and is often used synonymously with it. We are called in Scripture to try, to prove, and to experiment by a close practical working with, and an acquiantace of, God’s promises to find out for ourselves whether they be true or not, to see if God will uphold them if we throw our trust upon them:
“O taste and see that the Lord is good.” – Ps. 34:8
“…prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing…” – Mal. 3:10
“Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” – Mt. 7:7
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” – Jn. 7:17
Experiential and experimental religion is not a fine accessory appendage to Christianity that one might come to with years, or one that can safely be taken or left aside; it is the very fundamentals of Christ’s religion. Christ opened his public ministry not with lectures on systematic theology, but with the experiential Beatitudes (Mt. 5):
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled….
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
These are promises, Friend. Purify your hearts using the invaluable resources on this webpage, and you shall see God and have a closer intimacy with Him than before. Try Christ at his Word and see if He will not show you even greater manifestations of Himself (Jn. 14:21).
For a rich sermon unfolding experimental religion from a very pregnant and fruitful verse of Scripture, let your heart soak in Thomas Boston’s A Discourse on the Experimental Knowledge of Christ (Works, vol. 2, p. 645 ff.) on Phil. 3:10, ‘…that I may know Him.”
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Experiential Religion Today
Experiential religion today has fallen on hard times. Many Christians rest upon their Christian worldview, of being knowledgeable about, and even having convictions of, the Christian faith. But do they savor and relish the things of God to the enlivening of their soul in fellowship with Him? How often and for how long? Does one’s doctrine stifle spiritual experience, or fuel it?
There are many reformed churches that are reformed in their doctrine, in church government, are confessional and are reformed in their ethical practice, and yet remain unreformed according to the Word of God in experiential faith and living. It ought not to be; and in the classical era of puritanism of foregone days, reformed Christianity was widely and naturally married to experiential godly living.
Many conservative, Bible believing and reformed churches are much about expository preaching from the text with a Christ centered focus and making pertinent practical applications to the hearers, yet sadly something vital remains missing. The thing lacking in most sermons today is: worship, worship in living communion with God that stirs the soul. To find out what you are missing, pick up:
Rutherford, Samuel – Communion Sermons Buy
Durham, James – The Unsearchable Riches of Christ Buy Excerpts
In addition to all of this, strangely enough, there are prominent reformed, Christian teachers and churches that are actually hostile to experiential religion. There certainly are imbalances, unbounded excesses and idiosyncrasies to stay away from in some people’s misuse of the subjective aspects of the Christian faith (which things may be rightly criticized), and so we must be on guard against these things and moderate them. Yet, for those who still throw out the subjective, experiential aspects of religion as they are casting away its abuses: such persons have nothing to say; ignore them.
In order to become more familiar with Scriptural, Christian experience and to share with brothers and sisters in Christ who are of the same mind, acquaint yourself with churches and denominations that are committed to it, including:
The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), which has churches in the U.S.
The Presbyterian Reformed Church
The Free Reformed Churches of North America
Heritage Reformed Congregations
and others
Experiential religion is not an end in itself; it will turn into a broken idol if it is made so. But experiential religion is a necessary means to the final, inexhaustible end of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. May we do so with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength.
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Richard Baxter
“Can you truly say, that you have so far taken the everlasting enjoyment of God for your happiness, that it has the most of your heart, of your love, desire, and care; and that you are resolved, by the strength of Divine grace, to let go all that you have in the world, rather than hazard it; and that it is your daily, and your principal business to seek it?
Can you truly say, that though you have your failings and sins, yet your main care, and the bent of your whole life, is to please God, and to enjoy Him forever; and that you give the world God’s leavings, as it were, and not God the world’s leavings; and that your worldly business is but as a traveler’s seeking for provision in his journey, and heaven is the place that you take for your home?”
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A Website
An excellent website collection of numerous quotes and resources on Experimental Religion. Do be aware that it is run by a particular baptist, of the Gospel Standard variety (which has certain leanings to hyper-calvinism).
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On Experiential Religion
Richard Baxter
“The way to have the firmest belief of the Christian faith is to draw near and taste and try it, and lay bare the heart to receive the impression of it; and then, by the sense of its admirable effects, we shall known that which bare speculation could not discover… The melody of music is better known by hearing it than by reports of it, and the sweetness of meat is known better by tasting than by hearsay…”
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Articles
1700’s
à Brakel, Wilhelmus – ch. 81, ‘Concerning Experience’ in The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vol. 4 ed. Joel Beeke, tr. Bartel Elshout Buy (1700; RHB, 1992/1999), pp. 45-53
a Brakel (1635-1711) was a contemporary of Voet and Witsius and a major representative of the Dutch Further Reformation.
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2000’s
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) – Experience of the Truth 5 paragraphs
Isbell, Sherman – Recovering Experimental Religion 13 pp.
Isbell is a retired minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).
Young, William – ‘What is Experimental Religion?’ 6 paragrpahs
Young was a minister in the Presbyterian Reformed Church in America.
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Books
1800’s
Alexander, Archibald – Thoughts on Religious Experience (1841; Banner of Truth) 320 pp.
This is the classic on the subject. Alexander was the first professor of old Princeton Seminary.
“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” – Ps. 119:59
Plumer, William – Vital Godliness: a Treatise on Experimental and Practical Piety (1864) 615 pp.
Plumer was an American, Southern Presbyterian.
Ch. 1: “He who has never exercised faith, repentance, love, humility, hope, and joy, cannot be profited by his theories and speculations on these subjects. All knowledge which is unfelt and inoperative puffs up the mind and hardens the heart. It is better to have the workings of gracious affections than to be able to define them, or to speak ever so learnedly respecting them. The great use of a large part of divine truth is rightly to affect our minds and hearts, and so to control our practice.
…In many cases ministers preach a low experience. The consequence is painful laxity in religious practice…”
See the choice quotes by Baxter, Owen, Newton and others on pp. 9-12.
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John Owen
“Experience is the food of all grace, which it grows and thrives upon. Every taste that faith obtains of divine love and grace, or how gracious the Lord is, adds to its measure and stature. Two things therefore must briefly be declared:
1. That the experience of the reality, excellency, power and efficacy of the things that are believed, is an effectual means of increasing faith and love.
2. That it is the Holy Ghost which gives us this experience.”
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Experiential Sermons
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
Colloquia Peripatetica, p. 166
“Some persons preach only doctrine; that makes people all head, which is a monster. Some preach only experience; that makes the people all heart, which is a monster too. Others preach only practice; that makes people all hands and feet, which is likewise a monster. But if you preach doctrine and experience and practice, by the blessing of God, you will have head, and heart, and hands, and feet–a perfect man in Christ Jesus.”
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Individual Sermons
Gray, Andrew – Sermons 3-5 on Job 23:3 ‘Oh! that I knew where I might find Him!’ in Eleven Communion Sermons in Works, p. 415 ff.
Gray was one of the bright, shining covenanters that died young.
Boston, Thomas – A Discourse on the Experimental Knowledge of Christ in Works, vol. 2, p. 645 ff. on Phil. 3:10, ‘…that I may know Him.”
Appleton, Nathaniel – ‘Some Unregenerate Persons not so far from the Kingdom of God as Others, in a Sermon from Mark 12:34’ 1763 33 pp.
Appleton (1693–1784) was an American congregationalist minister.
‘He said unto him, ‘Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” – Mk. 12:34
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Books of Sermons
Rutherford, Samuel – Communion Sermons Buy
Various – Sermons in Times of Persecution in Scotland from the 1660’s-1680’s 260 pp. including material by W. Guthrie, M. Bruce, J. Welwood, R. Cameron, D. Cargill, A. Peden, A. Shields, J. Livingstone, J. Welch & J. Guthrie
Griffin, Edward
Life & Sermons, vol. 1, 2 (†1837)
Griffin was a reformed congregationalist minister in Connecticut.
Banner of Truth: “Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837) ministered in the remarkable era which, for forty years from 1792, saw a succession of powerful revivals in the north-east of the United States. At at a time when thousands were being added to the Kingdom of God, ‘Probably the labors of no preacher were blessed to the conversion of more souls than were his’ says Dr. Hopkins…
…Men–‘awed by the majesty of a present God’–are in the background. Here is no record of the production of converts by means of ‘revivalism’, but the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which (as Griffin says of Newark) ‘deluged the whole place’, with no means used save ‘clear and earnest presentation of Divine truth, and believing persevering prayer’.
Griffin’s sermons, even without the deep emotion which so accompanied their delivery, are fine examples of the simple, arresting and heart-searching preaching which was so used of God.”
Sermons, Not Before Published, on Various Practical Subjects (1844) 330 pp.
Excellent. These sermons are not included in the 2 volumes above.
Elias, John – The Experimental Knowledge of Christ and Additional Sermons of John Elias (1774-1841) Buy (2006) 164 pp.
Elias (1774-1841) was Welsh, Calvinistic Methodist itinerant preacher and leader.
“Here you will find a feast of biblical, doctrinal, experiential, and practical food that shows how great preachers in ages past proclaimed the whole counsel of God over a period of time while remaining faithful in expounding individual texts in accord with their major themes. These sermons, which richly expound nearly every major doctrine of grace, are as relevant and helpful as when they were first written… Read them slowly and prayerfully, and, with the Spirit’s blessing, you will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.” – Joel Beeke
Free Church of Scotland ministers – The Free Church Pulpit, vol. 1, 2, 3 1848
Ker, John – Sermons, vol. 1, 2 (1872)
Ker (1819–1886) was a minister and professor in the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Glance over the sermons titles and Scripture texts and ponder them for a moment. Ker’s spiritual and experiential insight into the nuances of Scripture (which are usually passed over), was brilliant.
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William Pemble
“Wherefore remember henceforth that a sermon is but half heard, that is only heard from the preacher’s mouth. The greatest part is yet behind to be performed by thyself at home.
Go home then, think of it as thou art in the way, think of it when thou art in thine house: take time to recall things to mind, do it with thy family, do it with thyself; in thy closet, upon thy bed, say such a sin was reproved today, am I, have been guilty of it? Such a duty was urged upon me, have I such a grace? Such a rule was prescribed me, do I follow it or not? If men would be persuaded to make trial of this course, thus to digest what they hear, they would find (as others have done) a plentiful increase of saving knowledge in a short time, whereas now they thrive not a jot, by their daily hearing many years together.”
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Seeking the Lord
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found…”
Isa. 55:6
“And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.”
2 Chron. 12:14
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Sermons
Semple, Gabriel – ‘Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.’ on Isa. 55:6
Preached at the fugitive field-meetings of the Scottish covenanters during the Killing Times of the 1680’s.
Rosebro, J.W. – ‘Seeking the Lord’ on Isa. 55:6 1896 in Southern Presbyterian Pulpit: a Collection of Sermons, pp. 118-127
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“Come to Him, come again, come closer.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Salvation & Looking to Christ
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
Colloquia Peripatetica, p. 156
“Hyper-Calvinism is all house and no door; Arminianism is all door and no house.”
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Articles
Durham, James – ‘Gospel Presentations are the Strongest Invitations’ & ‘The Best Wares at the Lowest Rates’ in The Unsearchable Riches of Christ Buy pp. 43-79 & 136-160 Here are excerpts.
Bonar, Horatius – How Shall Man Be Right with God? 17 paragraphs
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Books
Flavel, John – Christ Knocking at the Door of the Sinners’ Hearts, or the Solemn Entreaty of the Saviour and his Gospel in the Day of Mercy 1689 400 pp.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” – Rev. 3:20
Ambrose, Isaac – Looking unto Jesus, as Carrying on the Great Work of Man’s Salvation, or A View of the Everlasting Gospel Buy d. 1664 Table of Contents
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” – Heb. 12:2
Winslow, Octavius – Experimental and Practical Views of the Atonement 1838 250 pp.
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“By God’s grace we do not give ourselves to Christ and receive Him; but receive Him and give ourselves to Him.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Sin & Confessing Sin
Sin
Reynolds, Edward – The Sinfulness of Sin (†1676) 252 pp. in Works, 1.102-354
Plumer, William – ‘Sin is Horrible’ (1869) 13 pp. in Earnest Hours, pp. 127-140
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Confessing Sin
Causes of the Lord’s Wrath Against Scotland (1653)
This is the most searching and thorough confession of sin ever expunged from a national church over its land. It will break your heart.
For ministers: See your mirror and confess your own sins with A Humble Acknowledgment of the Sins of the Ministry of Scotland. Let the purification of excoriating your soul-decay produce the deep-seated cleansing that brings life.
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Repentance
Thomas Brooks
‘Repentance is the vomit of the soul.’
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Welch, John – ‘On Repentance’ Sermons 3-10 on Rev. 2 †1622 in 48 Select Sermons PoD
Colquhoun, John
A View of Evangelical Repentance from the Sacred Records Buy 1825
‘The Difference Between True and Counterfeit Repentance’ 8 points in 37 paragraphs, from his Evangelical Repentance
‘A Word to the Impenitent’ 7 points in 10 paragraphs, from his Evangelical Repentance
‘The Fruits and Evidences of True Repentance’ 10 points in 14 paragraphs, from his Evangelical Repentance
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Faith
“The blood of Christ… having met the demands of justice in God… meets the demands of justice in the awakened conscience.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Articles
Machen, J. Gresham – ‘Faith Born of Need’ in What is Faith?
“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, ‘Will ye also go away?’ Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.'” – Jn. 6:67-68
Pike, Samuel – ‘Distinguishing Faith and Feelings’ 1755 from Religious Cases of Conscience
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Books
Rutherford, Samuel – The Trial and Triumph of Faith †1661 405 pp.
“…and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” – 1 John 5:4
Colquhoun, John – A View of Saving Faith from Sacred Records Buy 1824
Colquhoun was a Church of Scotland minister and one of the last of the tradition of the Marrow Men.
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Cultivating a Godly Heart
Willem Teellinck
“I observe more and more that our spirit overwhelms all our affairs; that all our concerns are to us according to the state of our spirit and heart. Many complain of the difficulty of their calling, or of the grievousness of their condition or standing in life; but all that is of little or no import. What matters to us primarily is the heart: were that right we would turn all vocations and all stations in life which in themselves are not sinful into material for greater virtue. For as a hot fire makes all things fervent, so a good heart turns to good all things which of their own nature are not evil.”
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Books
Heywood, Oliver – Heart Treasure 1666 420 pp.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Mt 6:21
Flavel, John – Keeping the Heart 105 pp.
“My son, give Me thine heart…” – Prov. 23:26
Owen, John – The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded 235 pp. in Works, vol. 7, p. 262 ff.
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“Christ hath come, and run away to heaven with my heart and my love, so that neither heart nor love is mine.”
Samuel Rutherford
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The Experiential Christian Life
Heinrich Heppe
1879
“The Christian who has come to a living faith in God and Christ by the Spirit of God and through the gospel, knows himself to be transferred by faith into a living communion with Christ. The believer then comes here on earth to the place where he or she can say with the apostle, (Gal. 2:20) ‘…I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’”
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1600’s Articles & Books
James Fraser of Brea
Trusting God 46 pp.
“Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us.” – Ps. 62:8
Hungering & Thirsting after Christ 34 pp.
Fraser was a late Scottish covenanter who was imprisoned in the dungeons of the Bass Rock and Blackness Castle.
Gray, Andrew – Loving Christ and Fleeing Temptation Buy See also his works online (which are not complete)
Swinnock, George – Christian Man’s Calling, vol. 1, 2, 3
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1700’s Articles & Book
Pike, Samuel
‘Discerning Providential Guidance’ 1755 32 paragraphs from Religious Cases of Conscience
‘Spiritual Injury from the Undue Pursuit of the Affairs of this Life’ 1755 11 paragraphs
Edwards, Jonathan – Charity and Its Fruits: Christian Love as Manifested in the Heart and Life 380 pp.
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1800’s Books
Alexander, Archibald – Practical Truths Buy 1857 414 pp.
Alexander is very skillful at making short simple illustrations come alive with profound spiritual truth that moves the soul. This is a collection of numerous shorter pieces, many of which were tracts.
Duncan, John ‘Rabbi’ – Pulpit and Communion Table Buy
Duncan was a minister and professor in the Free Church of Scotland.
Martin, Hugh – Simon Peter Buy 167 pp.
Martin (1822-85) was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland. This work is a classic.
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Contemporary
Roberts, Maurice
The Thought of God Buy 1994 242 pp.
Roberts is now a retired minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) was was written for and worked with the Banner of Truth through much of his life.
The Christian’s High Calling Buy 2000 240 pp.
Great God of Wonders Buy 2000 231 pp.
“These writings, originally published in the Banner of Truth magazine, provide thought-provoking, spiritually invigorating, practical and warmly biblical reading.” – the bookflap
Posts about Christian Experience at the blog Holdfast by Matthew Vogan, including many rich puritan quotes and reflections
Vogan is a published author and an elder in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
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Willem Teellinck
“For as a hot fire makes all things fervent, so a good heart turns to good all things which of their own nature are not evil.”
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Growing in Grace
William Bates
“It is the perfection of holiness to do what God loves, and to love what God does.”
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1600’s Books
Rutherford, Samuel – Influences of the Life of Grace 1659 438 pp.
Flavel, John – The Method of Grace in the Holy Spirit’s Applying to the Souls of Men the Eternal Redemption Contrived by the Father and Accomplished by the Son 1691 560 pp.
“…yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire…” – 2 Sam. 23:5
Burgess, Anthony – Spiritual Refining 1652 696 pp.
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Contemporary Book
Beeke, Joel – Overcoming the World: the Grace to Win the Daily Battle Buy
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Christian Character
William S. Plumer
Vital Godliness, p. 568
“This is the secret of a life of usefulness. He who is faithful in the least, is the man whose virtue will not fail him on great occasions.”
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Articles
Murray, John – ‘The Fear of God’ 22 paragraphs from Principles of Conduct
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” – Prov. 1:7
Isbell, Sherman – The Temperate Life 2001 23 paragraphs
“The fruit of the Spirit is . . . temperance.” Gal. 5:22-23 Isbell mines gems from past worthies for insights on how to live a spirit-filled, temperate life. Highly commended.
Guthrie, William – ‘A Sermon on Sympathy’ †1665 in Select Biographies, p. 67 ff.
Pike, Samuel & Hayward, Samuel – ‘The Character of an Honest Man’ 1755 one paragraph from The Spiritual Companion, or the Professing Christian Tried at the Bar of God’s Word
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Video
Wilkerson, Anguish – ‘A Call to Anguish’ 7 min.
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Book
Henry, Matthew – A Meek & Quiet Spirit (†1714) 175 pp.
“Whose adorning… let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” – 1 Peter 3:4
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Richard Sibbes
“It would be a good contest amongst Christians, one to labor to give no offence, and the other to labour to take none.”
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Piety, Holiness & Practical Religion
“I would, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate the pearl oyster. A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. It cannot eject the evil, and what does it do but cover it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl
Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians, so that pearls of patience, gentleness, long-suffering, and forgiveness might be bred within us by that which else had harmed us. I would desire to keep ready for my fellow Christians, a bath of silver, in which I could electroplate all their mistakes into occasions for love.
As the dripping well covers with its own deposit all that is placed within its drip, so would love cover all within its range with love, thus turning even curses into blessings. Oh that we had such love that it would cover all, and conceal all, so far as it is right and just that it should be covered and concealed.”
Charles Spurgeon
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Articles
Alexander, A.A. – Vital Piety 1843 15 paragraphs
Plumer, William – ‘Rites Vain Compared with Hearty Piety towards God and Genuine Kindness Towards Man’ in Earnest Hours, pp. 256 ff.
Griffin, Edward – ‘Love to Our Neighbor’ in Life and Sermons, vol. 2, p. 253 ff.
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Books
Various Puritans – Puritan Sermons: The Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Buy 1659-1689 See also the various supplements to volume 1 at The Great Christian Library.
This 6 volume set of puritan sermons was given over a 30 year period in the late 1600’s on weekday mornings by puritan ministers near London. The ministers were assigned a practical question of the Christian life to address, and proceed to delve into it in detail. This is some of best practical divinity there is.
Here is a table of contents to all of the volumes. The set is well worth your $180, being less than the weekly food budget of many people.
Ryle, J.C.
Practical Religion 1882 500 pp.
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…” – 1 Thess. 4:3
George Herbert:
“Be useful where thou livest, that they may
Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still.
Kindness, good parts, great places are the way
To compass this. Find out men’s wants and will,
And meet them there. All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.”
Holiness 200 pp.
“That He would grant unto us, that we… might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.” – Lk. 1:74-75
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A warning about selfish Christianity:
“It may assume the form of deepest experimentalism, but it is the experience of a heart whose feelings are knit and contracted and withering in itself.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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The Pleasantness of a Godly Life
“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup… The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”
Ps. 16:5-6
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Henry, Matthew – The Pleasantness of a Religious Life †1714 167 pp.
“A life spent in the service of God, and in communion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that any one can live in this world.” — Matthew Henry’s dying words
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On Our Affections
Jonathan Edwards
“A gracious experience arises from operations and influences which are spiritual, from an inward principle which is divine, a communication of God, a participation of the divine nature [2 Pet. 1:4]: Christ living in the heart, the Holy Spirit dwelling there in union with the faculties of the soul as an internal principle, exerting his own proper nature in the exercise of those faculties. Now it is no wonder that that which is divine is powerful and effectual, for it has omnipotence on its side.”
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Article
Owen, John – The Things of This World 43 paragraphs
Archibald Alexander was accustomed to say that one should read this work once a year.
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” – 1 John 2:17
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Book
Edwards, Jonathan – A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections †1758 415 pp.
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Prayer
Richard Sibbes
“Our life is nothing but as it were a web woven with interminglings of wants and favours, crosses and blessings, standings and fallings, combat and victory, therefore there should be a perpetual intercourse of praying and praising in our hearts. There is always a ground of communion with God in one of these kinds, till we come to that condition wherein all wants shall be supplied, where indeed is only matter of praise.”
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The Best Help for Experiential Prayer
Henry, Matthew – Method for Prayer (1714) 590 pp.
Grow in your closeness to our holy God in prayer immediately. This is the best book there is in learning how to pray well, with feeling, in scriptural form, balance and appropriateness. The whole book is composed of extended prayers, using scripture language. Flip anywhere inside it and start praying.
‘If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.’ – 1 Pet. 4:11
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Prayers
Swinnock, George – Works (†1673)
‘A Good Wish about Religious Duties in General’, 1.104-5
‘A Good Wish about Prayer’, 1.137-40
‘A Good Wish about the Word’, 1.170-71
‘A Good Wish about the Lord’s Supper’, 1:218-22
‘A Good Wish about the Lord’s Day’, 1:255-58
‘A Good Wish to the Lord’s Day’, 1:258-60
‘A Good Wish about Natural Actions’, 1:285-88
‘A Good Wish about Particular Callings’, 1:316-19
‘A Good Wish about the Calling of a Minister’, 1:319-29
‘A Good Wish about the Government of a Family’, 1:356-62
‘A Good Wish about the Duty of a Parent’, 1:428-37
‘A Good Wish to the Duties of a Son or Daughter in Relation to their Father & Mother’, 1:458-64
‘A Good Wish of a Christian Couple’, 1:481-87
‘A Good Wish about a Husband’s Duty’, 1:497-502
‘A Good Wish about the Duties of a Wife’, 1:522-28
‘A Good Wish about the Master’s Duties’, 2:22-29
‘A Good Wish about the Duty of a Servant’, 2:42-45
‘A Good Wish of a Christian in Prosperity’, 2:74-82
‘A Good Wish of a Christian in Adversity’, 2:140-61
‘A Good Wish of a Christian in Relation to his Dealings with All Men’, 2:220-37
‘A Good Wish of a Christian about the Choice of his Companions’, 2:267-79
‘A Good Wish Concerning a Christian’s Carriage in Evil Company’, 2:315-330
‘A Good Wish about a Christian’s Carriage in Good Company’, 2:377-403
‘A Good Wish about the Exercising Ourselves to Godliness in Solitude’, 2:454-85
‘A Good Wish about the Christian’s Carriage on a Weekday from Morning to Night’, 2:510-25
‘A Good Wish about the Visitation of the Sick’, 3:24-37
‘A Good Wish about the Christian’s Exercising Himself to Godliness on a Dying Bed’, 3:69-89
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Articles
Guild, William – Preparation to Prayer, Of Thanksgiving, Of Oblation (offering ourself and our service to God), Of Petition in Prayer
Guild was a Scottish covenanter.
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Books
1600’s
Heywood, Oliver – Closet-Prayer, a Christian Duty, or, a Treatise upon Mt. 6:6 tending to prove that Worship of God in Secret is the Indispensible Duty of all Christians (1687) 128 pp. in Works, vol. 3, pp. 1-128
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” – Mt. 6:6
Brown of Wamphray, John – A Treatise Concerning Prayer and the Answer of Prayer Buy 310 pp.
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1900’s
M’Intyre, David – The Hidden Life of Prayer 1913 †1938 Review
This work is a classic. McIntyre (1859-1938) was initially a Free Church of Scotland minister.
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On Meditation
Nathanael Ranew
“No Christians are warmer at heart, and livelier in holy services, than those who meditate most; but never expect the one without the other. Keep this fountain open and still running; this is the water to drive the mill, the wind that moves the sails, the spring in the watch that carries all the wheels, and keeps them going; I speak as to what is to be done on our part, otherwise God does all in all.”
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Articles
Swinnock, George – ‘Frequent Meditation of the Day of Judgment’ in The Christian Man’s Calling in Works, 3:131-40
Pike, Samuel – ‘How to Perform Serious Meditation’ (1755) 17 paragraphs
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Webpage
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Thomas Brooks
“It is not hasty reading–but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the bee’s touching of the flower, which gathers honey–but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It is not he who reads most–but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.”
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Spending the Day with God
“…on Thee do I wait all the day.”
Ps. 25:4
Richard Baxter
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Henry, Matthew
‘How to Begin Every Day with God’ 42 pp.
‘How to Spend Every Day with God’ 41 pp.
‘How to Close the Day with God’ 44 pp.
Griffin, Edward – ‘Enoch Walked with God’ in Life & Sermons, vol. 2, p. 191 ff.
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Self-Examination
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
2 Cor. 13:5
“For every look at self take ten looks at Christ.”
Robert Murray M’Cheyne
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Articles
Swinnock, George – ‘A Daily Examination of our Hearts’ 8 pp. in The Christian Man’s Calling in Works, 3:140-148
Baxter, Richard – ‘6 Ways to Know if You Love Yourself More than God’ 10 paragraphs
Erskine, Ralph – ‘8 Questions We Should Not Ask’ 10 paragraphs
Chalmers, Thomas – Self-Examination 15 paragraphs
“Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” – Ps. 26:2
Winslow, Octavius – ‘The Fruitless and the Fruitful Professor’ in Personal Declension, pp. 252-293
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Book
Mead, Matthew – The Almost Christian Discovered, or the False Professor Tried and Cast 215 pp.
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“We would not shun the truth, the most searching and most dreadful of the truths of God.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Assurance
“Follow my advice, study the power of religion: it is the power of religion, and not a name, that will give the comfort I find.”
Thomas Halyburton
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Guthrie, William – The Christian’s Great Interest Buy (†1665; Banner of Truth) 255 pp.
Fear not: while puritans such as Thomas Hooker in New England thundered against hardened hypocrites (rightly, as the town churches were filled with them), Guthrie handles the reader gently and winsomely in ‘a most homely and plain style’, not crushing the bruised reed but building up even the smallest babe in Christ to know how to attain an assurance of salvation, even ‘Heaven on earth’.
Thomas Chalmers, one of the fathers of the later Free Church of Scotland, who wrote an Introductory Essay to the work, said that ‘while it guides, it purifies,’ and that it ‘is the best book I ever read’. Be not fooled, though the book is sweetly simple, John Owen said of Guthrie and his work, ‘That author I take to have been one of the greatest divines that ever wrote… I have written several folios [there are 23 volumes in Owen’s Works], but there is more divinity in it than in them all.’
Colquhoun, John – A Treatise of Spiritual Comfort Buy 1822 444 pp.
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Godly Conferencing
Jonathan Mitchell
“If you have a friend with whom you might now and then spend a little time, in conferring together, in opening your hearts, and presenting your unutterable groanings before God, it would be of excellent use: Such an one would greatly strengthen, bestead, and further you in your way to heaven.”
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Website
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Evangelism
Books
Alleine, Joseph – An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners †1668 160 pp.
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” – Isa. 58:1
Boston, Thomas – The Art of Man-Fishing 105 pp.
A classic. The work is particularly directed to ministers, as ministers, contrary to current practice, are, according to Scripture, supposed to be the chief evangelists.
Beeke, Joel – Puritan Evangelism Buy 78 pp. Here is an excerpt.
The best and most Biblical modern work on how to speak of the Lord and the Gospel to others in a way that brings God’s Word home to the heart.
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Marriage
1600’s
Dod, John & Cleaver, Robert – ‘Duties of Husband and Wife’ {1603) 20 paragraphs
Some of the best marital advice there is, from a standard English Puritan treatment of the ten commandments.
Anonymous – An Antidote Against Discord Between Man & Wife Buy (1685) 154 pp.
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Contemporary
McCurley, Robert – Biblical Marriage (2010) 55 pp. being notes to 4 linked hour-long audio messages
Here are blueprints for a godly and spiritually fulfilling marriage, from a seasoned pastor. These warm audio messages and notes are filled with Biblical wisdom, to guide you into the richest blessings of the Lord. They are helpful for premarital counseling and any stage in marriage, whether one needs an encouraging check-up, or a wholesale turn around.
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Parenting
Abraham Van De Velde
“All parents, fathers, mothers, must take care that they are a good example to their children and families, that they express God’s holy truth in their lives. Godly examples are like the soul of the doctrine to children. Are parents desirous for their children to be religious, love God’s Word, pray much to the Lord, be humble, sober, friendly, modest, righteous; let the parents be a good example, for therewith God’s truth will be pressed into their hearts.”
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Articles
Lawrence, Edward – Parents’ Groans Over their Unsaved Children Buy 1681 43 pp.
Heart-wrenching. There is much ado today in Christian circles about child-raising and methods of discipline which yet misses the heart of the matter. Do we spiritually wrestle with our children’s hearts, and that before the Lord, to bring them safe to Christ?
Anonymous – ‘To One who is Deficient in Parental Vigilance and Control’ 1855 6 pp. in Monitory Letters to Church Members, p. 138 ff.
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Book
Beeke, Joel – Parenting by God’s Promises Buy 314 pp.
The best longer, contemporary, spiritual and exegetical treatment of godly parenting and wisdom in raising children.
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Thomas Manton
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‘Epistle to the Reader’
to the Westminster Confession
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“Would parents but begin betimes, and labor to affect the hearts of their children with the great matters of everlasting life, and to acquaint them with the substance of the doctrine of Christ, and, when they find in them the knowledge and love of Christ, would bring them then to the pastors of the Church to be tried, confirmed, and admitted to the further privileges of the Church, what happy, well ordered Churches might we have!”
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Resisting the Spirit
Chapters
Dyke, Jeremiah – ‘Of Quenching and Not Quenching of the Spirit’ 1640, on 1 Thess. 5:19, ‘Quench not the Spirit,’ in his Diverse Select Sermons on Several Texts, pp. 1-150
Pike, Samuel – ‘Discovering Why the Spirit is Grieved’ 1755 23 paragraphs
Griffin, Edward – ‘Quench not the Spirit’ in Life and Sermons, vol. 1, p. 503 ff.
Winslow, Octavius – ‘On Grieving the Spirit’ in Personal Declension, pp. 218-251
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Fighting our Sinfulness
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
Rom. 8:13
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Article
Black, David – The Deceitfulness of the Heart 1808 24 paragraphs
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Short Book
Owen, John – Of The Mortification of Sin in Believers 86 pp. in Works, vol. 6
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Spiritual Warfare
“Ye will not get leave to steal quietly to heaven, in Christ’s company, without a conflict and a cross.”
Samuel Rutherford
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Books
Brooks, Thomas – Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices 545 pp.
Gurnall, William – The Christian in Complete Armour, or a Treatise on the Saints’ War with the Devil †1679 840 pp. on Eph. 6:11-18
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Spiritual Declension & Recovery
Articles
Reynolds, Edward
‘Meditations on the Fall and Rising of Peter’ 23 pp. in Works, 4.9-32
‘The Misery of a Deserted People’ †1676 25 pp. in Works, 5.205-230
‘Yea, wo also to them when I depart from them.’ – Hosea 9:12
Hayward, Samuel – ‘Renewal after a Time of Spiritual Dullness’ 1755 18 paragraphs from ed. Samuel Pike, Religious Cases of Conscience
Griffin, Edward – ‘The Fruitless Fig Tree’ in Life and Sermons, vol. 1, p. 423 ff.
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Book
Winslow, Octavius – Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul 1841 203 pp.
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“Those that can part with Christ are no Christians.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Contentment Under Affliction
2 Samuel 7:14
“I shall be his father, and he will be my son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: Nevertheless, my mercy shall not depart away from him.”
John Flavel
Keeping the Heart
“Though God hath reserved to himself a liberty of afflicting his people, yet he hath tied up his own hands by promise never to take away his loving-kindness from them.”
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Books
Boston, Thomas – The Crook in the Lot 180 pp.
“Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which He hath made crooked?” – Eccl. 7:13
Willison, John – The Afflicted Man’s Companion †1750 350 pp.
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John Newton
“Experience is the Lord’s School, and they who are taught by Him usually learn by the mistakes they make that they have no wisdom, and by the slips and falls they meet with that they have no strength.”
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Bereavement
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted…”
Isa. 61:1; Lk. 4:18
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Cuyler, Theodore – God’s Light on Dark Clouds 1882 185 pp. reprinted by Banner of Truth
Cuyler (1822–1909) was a leading conservative American, Northern presbyterian and graduate of old Princeton Seminary.
“To the desponding and the bereaved, these words of sympathy and cheer are lovingly inscribed.”
Palmer, Benjamin – The Broken Home: or Lessons in Sorrow 1890 165 pp.
Palmer (1818–1902) was a leading Southern presbyterian minister and orator. He was intimately acquainted with being bereaved of loved ones, having had to bury four of his five children and his wife before writing this book.
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“One year’s time of heaven shall swallow up all sorrows, even beyond all comparison.”
Samuel Rutherford
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Death
“For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.”
Job 30:23
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Boston, Thomas – ‘Death’ 19 paragraphs being excerpts from The Fourfold State
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Devotional
Thomas Watson
“First, I beseech you, keep your constant hours every day with God. The godly man is a man set apart, Ps. 3, not only because God hath set him apart by election, but because he hath set himself apart by devotion. Give God the Aurorae filiam [daughter of the morning]. Begin the day with God, visit God in the morning before you make any other visit; wind up your hearts towards heaven in the morning, and they will go better all the day after!
Oh turn your closets into temples; read the scriptures. The two Testaments are the two lips by which God speaks to us; these will make you wise unto salvation: the scripture is both a glass to shew you your spots, and a laver to wash them away; besiege heaven every day with your prayer, thus perfume your houses, and keep a constant intercourse with heaven.”
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Devotionals
Thomas, I.D.E. – Puritan Daily Devotional Chronicles Buy
This is, in the webmaster’s opinion, the best devotional there is! Consists of a short, one page, puritan quote about a verse of Scripture for every day of the year.
Spurgeon, Charles
Morning by Morning, or Daily Readings for the Family or Closet 1866 420 pp.
“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” – Ps. 55:17
Evening by Evening, or Readings at Eventide for the Family or Closet 1866 420 pp.
“The conclusion of every day should put us in mind of the conclusion of all our days.” — Matthew Henry
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Article
Durham, Margaret – ‘Epistle Dedicatory’ On communion with Christ
Margaret was the wife of James Durham.
This introductory epistle to her husband’s commentary on the Song of Songs is much more spiritually full and edifying (savoring of a rich, experiential acquaintance with the deep truths of Christ’s Word) than even the preface to the reader to the same work by the justly renowned scholar, John Owen.
These excerpts will take you into the soul-ravishing embraces of your heavenly Husband where you will find that his kisses are better than the choicest wine (Song 1:2).
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John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
“The character of God’s inspired Word and the work of God’s Spirit in the souls of renewed men are in perfect unison. ‘Every word of God is pure.’ ‘The fear of the Lord is clean.'”
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How to Read the Bible & Hear Preaching
Cotton Mather
Manuductio ad Ministerium (1726)
“My Advice to you is, that it be your practice, to read the sacred Scriptures in the Porismatic Way [to draw out corollaries]; or, with a labor to observe and educe, the doctrines of godliness, which this inexhaustible Store House of Truth, will yield unto them that are seeking after it. Make a pause upon every verse, and see what lessons of piety are to be learnt from every clause. Turn the lessons into prayers, and send up the prayers unto the God, who is now teaching of you.”
Jeremiah Dyke
English puritan
“It is not enough to hear the Word [of God] to get grace and truth, but men must so hear as God requires, with such preparation, with such affection, with such attention, with such endeavoring after, as God commands. Ezekiel 40:4, “Son of man, behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you.””
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Articles
Beeke, Joel – ‘Reading and Hearing the Word in a Puritan Way’ 1996 6 pp.
“I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” – Job 23:12
Pink, A.W. – Profiting from the Word 1930-32 36 pp.
Shepard, Thomas – ‘Ineffectual Hearing of the Word’ †1649 21 pp. in Works, vol. 3, pp. 363-384
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J.C. Ryle
“No man was ever sorry that he served the Lord. No man ever said at the end of his days, “I have read my Bible too much, I have thought of God too much, I have prayed too much, I have been too concerned about my soul.’”
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Life of Christ
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
“Oh, it were well for us when we read Scripture to think of the eye of Christ and our eyes meeting on the Scripture.”
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Books
Hall, Joseph – Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments d. 1656 630 pp.
Hall was an influential reformed Anglican bishop. These devotional and practical contemplations savor of deep spirituality and are very insightful. One of a kind and one of the best.
*** ‘Need I commend Bishop Hall’s Contemplations to your affectionate attention? What wit! What sound sense! What concealed learning! His style is as pithy and witty as that of Thomas Fuller, and it has a sacred unction about it to which Fuller has no pretension.’ ‘The work can be readily procured; but if its price were raised in proportion to its real value, it would become one of the most costly books extant.’ – Spurgeon
Reynolds, Edward – The Life of Christ †1676 68 pp. in Works, 1.354-422
Martin, Hugh – The Shadow of Calvary on the last days of Jesus, reprinted by the Banner of Truth
Martin was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland.
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John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
“It’s Christ in the Bible that makes the Bible a glorious Bible.”
“The supreme excellency of these Scriptures is that they testify of Christ.”
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Whole Bible Commentaries
“Search, scrutinize, ransack the Scriptures.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Henry, Matthew – Commentary on the Whole Bible d. 1714 Henry died after completing the commentary through Acts. For a list of the contributors after that, see here.
Henry was a reformed puritan. Here is a thoughtful and helpful Preface to the commentary by Archibald Alexander (1828, 8 pages), the first professor at old Princeton Seminary. While abridged versions of anything are not usually recommended, this Concise Version of Matthew Henry’s Commentary is very suitable for children, family reading-aloud, and for those who just want to make it through the Bible a bit quicker.
Rev. Derek Thomas: ‘George Whitefield read this commentary four times on his knees. It cost, then, a quarter of an average working man’s annual salary!’
Hawker, Robert – Poor Man’s Commentary on the Bible d. 1827
Hawker (1753–1827) was a reformed Anglican.
** ‘Full of devotion and sweetness.’ ‘Gentlemen, if you want something full of marrow and fatness, cheering to your own hearts by way of comment, and likely to help you in giving to your hearers rich expositions, but Dr. Hawker’s Poor man’s Commentary. Dr. Hawker was the very least of commentators in the matter of criticism; he had no critical capacity, and no ability whatever as an interpreter of the letter; but he sees Jesus, and that is a sacred gift which is most precious whether the owner be a critic or no.
It is to be confessed that he occasionally sees Jesus where Jesus is not legitimately to be seen. He allows his reason to be mastered by his affections, which, vice as it is, is not the worst fault in the world. There is always such a savor of the Lord Jesus Christ in Dr. Hawker that you cannot read him without profit. He has the peculiar idea that Christ is in every Psalm, and this often leads him totally astray, because he attributes expressions to the Savior which really shock the holy mind to imagine our Lord’s using.
However, not as a substantial dish, but as a condiment, place the Plymouth vicar’s work on the table. His writing is all sugar, and you will known how to use it, not devouring it in lumps, but using it to flavor other things.’ – Spurgeon
Bonar, Horatius – Light and Truth, vols. 1 (OT), 2 (Gospels), 3 (Acts-2 Cor), 4 (Gal-Jude), 5 (Rev) (d. 1889)
Bonar (1808-1889) was an influential Scot and brother to Andrew Bonar. The contents of the volumes are: (1) Old Tetament, (2) The Gospels, (3) Acts-2 Corinthians, (4) Galatians – Jude, (5) Revelation.
*** ‘One volume is rather short space in which to bring out the light and truth of the Old Testament. If Dr. Bonar required four volumes for the New, we wish he had felt the same need for the Old. The passages selected are popularly expounded, but the thought is not deep. The volumes will be more prized by the ordinary reader than by the minister.’ – Spurgeon
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“A fourth practice, insisting that no text in Scripture can be correctly understood unless viewed in its context, is also to be avoided. Apart from the fact that the context itself is usually obvious, it is generally easy to grasp even for an uneducated but godly reader—easier than some are ready to admit. Where the context is not so readily perceived—one interpreting the context differently from another—it is due to man’s darkened understanding.
A godly person, when reading Scripture in all simplicity and being capable of perceiving its spiritual dimension, will often be more capable of understanding the context than others, even though he frequently will not be able to prove his case as would a scholarly person who is in the state of nature. An awareness of the context is not always essential, however, to the correct understanding of a text or a passage.
There are thousands of expressions in God’s Word which, when heard or read individually, have a precise meaning, give full expression to their doctrinal content, and are sufficiently penetrating to stimulate faith, render comfort, and be exhortative in nature. This is illustrated in the following examples, ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life’ (John 3:36); ‘Ask, and ye shall receive’ (Matt 5:3-12). Yes, many of the proverbs of Scripture are presented without an apparent context; whoever would search for a context in such a situation would be guilty of obscuring the matter.”
Wilhelmus à Brakel
The Christian’s Reasonable Service, Vol. 1, p. 80
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The Song of Solomon
Robert Murray McCheyne
“There is no book of the Bible which affords a better test of the depth of a man’s Christianity than the Song of Solomon.
(1) If a man’s religion be all in his head, – a well-set form of doctrines, built like mason-work, stone above stone,- but exercising no influence upon his heart, this book cannot but offend him; for there are no stiff statements of doctrine here upon which his heartless religion may be built.
(2) Or, if a man’s religion be all his fancy – if, like Pliable from Pilgrim’s Progress, he be taken with the outward beauty of Christianity – if, like the seed sown upon the rocky ground, his religion is fixed only in the surface faculties of the mind, while the heart remains rock and unmoved; though he will relish this book more than the first man, still there is a mysterious breathing of intimate affection in it, which cannot but stumble and offend him.
(3) But if a man’s religion be heart religion – if he hath not only doctrines in his head, but love to Jesus in his heart – if he hath not only heard and read of the Lord Jesus, but hath felt his need of Him, and been brought to cleave unto Him, as the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely, then this book will be inestimably precious to his soul; for it contains the tenderest breathings of the believer’s heart toward the Saviour, and the tendereth breathings of the Saviour’s heart again toward the believer.”
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Commentaries on the Song of Solomon
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Systematic Theology
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
on Jonathan Edwards:
“His experience was all doctrine, and his doctrine was all experience.”
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Article
Martin, Al – The Practical Implications of Calvinism Buy 14 pp.
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Books
Why read dry systematic theologies when these works below will inflame your soul to a greater experiential acquaintance with the Lord your God?
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Beginner
Flavel, John – An Exposition of the Assembly’s Catechism PoD 1688 232 pp.
Colquhoun, John – Sermons, Chiefly on Doctrinal Subjects Buy 1836 229 pp.
Colquhoun was an evangelical minister in the Church of Scotland who wrote in the tradition of the Marrow Men.
Including sermons on: the Incarnation, Christ as his Father’s Servant, the Suretiship of Christ, Christ as the Lord our Righteousness, Union with Christ, Justification, Sanctification, and Salvation from Sin.
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Intermediate
Calvin, John – Institutes of the Christian Religion, vols. 1, 2, 3 Buy 1559 translated by Henry Beveridge. Other translations are available.
Watson, Thomas – A Body of Practical Divinity Buy d. 1686 790 pp. Lectures on the Shorter Catechism
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Advanced
A’Brakel, Wilhelmus – The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4 Buy 1700, translated by Bartel Elshout
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John Milton
“The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him.”
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Reformed Confessions & Catechisms on Experiential Religion
The Heidelberg Catechism was written to give comfort to Christians who were in peril for their lives.
“1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ…”
The Westminster Confession
ch. 12. Of Adoption
ch. 13. Of Sanctification
ch. 14. Of Saving Faith
ch. 15. Of Repentance unto Life
ch. 17. Of the Perseverance of the Saints
ch. 18. Of Assurance of Grace and of Salvation
Gebbie, Douglas – The Experimental Religion of the Westminster Standards 22 paragraphs
Gebbie is a minister in the Presbyterian Reformed Church in America.
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Sandemanianism
Named after the Scottish Robert Sandeman (†1771), one tenet of this distinctive system was defining faith as only (1) comprehension and (2) assent, leaving out the vital aspect of (3) trust, making faith to be no more than a historic faith and nominalism.
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan of the old Free Church of Scotland came out of this influence. Gordon Clark was a late, contemporary proponent of it. Many Christians are practical Sandemanians though they know not the name of it.
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Articles
Fuller, Andrew – Strictures on Sandemanianism in 12 Letters to a Friend 1811 250 pp. See especially Letters 3-8, pp. 45-175
Westminster Confession – Ch. 14.2 – ‘Of Saving Faith’
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Psalm Singing
Charles Spurgeon
“More and more is the conviction forced upon my heart that every man must traverse the territory of the Psalms himself if he would know what a goodly land they are. They flow with milk and honey, but not to strangers; they are only fertile to lovers of their hills and vales. None but the Holy Spirit can give a man the key to the Treasury of David; and even he gives it rather to experience than to study. Happy he who for himself knows the secret of the Psalms.”
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Articles
Roberts, Francis – ‘Directions for the Right Singing of Scripture Psalms’ 1675 12 pp. being pp. 128-131 of his larger The Key of the Bible: Unlocking the Richest Treasury of the Holy Scriptures. This is an updated and easier to read edition than the original.
Roberts (1609–1675) was an influential puritan who wrote a very large introduction to the Bible, from which this work is taken. Roberts gives 8 very helpful directions on how to sing the psalms with the most spiritual profit. Print out these directions as a pamphlet to help fellow saints be encouraged in the Lord.
Murray, David – ‘Therapeutic Praise’ 14 paragraphs
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Henry Cooke
Preface to The True Psalmody, 1883
“The most celebrated hymns of uninspired men were, like Job’s friends, ‘miserable comforters’, when compared with the experience of Christ, in the days of humiliation of which the Book of Psalms is the true prophetic picture.”
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The Lord’s Supper
Puritan meditations before the Lord’s Supper are some of the most moving Christian writings that have ever been penned.
“This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
1 Cor. 11:25
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A Prayer
Swinnock, George – A Good Wish about the Lord’s Supper in Works 1:218-222
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Meditations
Willison, John
Meditations before Partaking, in A Sacramental Directory, p. 283 ff.
Sacramental Meditations and Advices grounded upon Scripture Texts proper for Communicants to prepare their hearts, excite their affections, quicken their graces and enliven their devotions on Sacramental Occasions, being 32 meditations and 14 advices, in Works, 3:201 ff.
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Table Addresses
Gray, Andrew – ‘Four Table Addresses‘ in The Works of Andrew Gray, p 560 ff.
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” – 1 Cor. 10:16
Rutherford, Samuel – An Exhortation at a Communion to a Scot’s Congregation in London, this was reprinted in Rutherford’s Fourteen Communion Sermons as Sermon 12, p. 278 ff.
Welch, John †1684
Table 5, in A Collection of Lectures and Sermons preached upon Several Subjects, mostly in the time of Persecution, p. 545
Welch was a Scottish covenanter.
Table 6, in A Collection of Lectures and Sermons preached upon Several Subjects, mostly in the time of Persecution, p. 548
M’Cheyne, Robert Murray – III. Table Service, in Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, ed. Bonar, p. 427
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Edward Taylor
‘Sacramental Meditation: One’
†1729
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“What love is this of thine, that cannot be
In thine infinity, O Lord, confined,
Unless it in thy very Person see,
Infinity, and finity conjoined?
What hath thy Godhead, as not satisfied
Married our manhood, making it its Bride?
Oh, matchless love! filling Heaven to the brim!
O’er running it: all running o’er beside
This world! Nay overflowing Hell; wherein
For thine elect, there rose a mighty tide!
That there our veins might through thy Person bleed,
To quench those flames, that else would on us feed.
Oh! that thy love might overflow my heart!
To fire the same with love: for love I would.
But oh! my straightened breast! my lifeless spark!
My fireless flame! What chilly love, and cold?
In measure small! In manner chilly! See.
Lord blow the coal: thy love inflame in me.”
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The Lord’s Day
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…”
Rev. 1:10
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George Swinnock
“[The true Christian] is one that of all seasons has the highest respect for the Lord’s day, as having experimentally found that to be the day of his greatest spiritual feasts.
He needs no priest, as the Jews had to sound a trumpet the day before, and give notice of the ensuing Sabbath, for he longs for it more than lovers for the day of their wedding, and the whole week to him is but a preparation for the heavenly works of that honorable day. He empties his heart overnight of those ill humors which may be contracted by the world’s coarse fare, that he may have the better appetite to those dainties which shall be set before him on that day.
In it he cheerfully meditates on God’s works, and carefully attends on God’s Word. He works the work of him that sent him into the world all the day long, and wishes the day longer for the duty’s sake. He esteems every part of this golden season precious, and does gather up the fragments of it, that nothing be lost.
At the night of this market-day for his soul, he calls himself to a reckoning what he hath got, how much he hath gained, and counts it an ill day if he be not more informed in his judgment, or reformed in his affections, and more conformed in his conversation to his Lord Jesus Christ.”
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Prayers for the Lord’s Day
Swinnock, George
‘A Good Wish about the Lord’s Day’ in Works 1:255-258
‘A Good Wish to the Lord’s Day’ in Works 1:258-60
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How to Savor the Lord on the Lord’s Day, Book
Willison, John – A Treatise on the Sanctification of the Lord’s Day †1750 460 pp.
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Table of Contents:
1 – Concerning the Morality of the Sabbath 17
. Concerning the Divine Appointment of the Lord’s Day 39
. Some objections Answered 63
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2 – Concerning the Sanctification of the Sabbath 66
. The Negative Sanctification: the Holy Rest Requisite 67
. The Positive Sanctification of the Sabbath: 93
. 1. The Frame of Spirit 93
. 2. The Holy Duties Requisite 97
. Public Duties 97
. Private Duties 97
. Family Worship 102
. Family Catechizing & Instruction 113
. Godly Conference 115
. Secret Duties 118
. Meditation on Divine Subjects 123
. Self-Examination 136
. 3. The Special Order, Method & Manner of Duties 139
. Our Preparation for the Sabbath 139
. The Duties of the Sabbath 144
. Of Self-Searching 155
. Concerning Going to Church 159
. Concerning the Public Worship 164
. Concerning Between Sermons 271
. Concerning the Afternoon Worship 174
. Concerning our Behavior after Worship 177
. Family Duties on the Sabbath Night 184
. Secret Duties at the Close of the Day 191
. Our Carriage after the Sabbath is over 196
. 4. The Particular Sins whereby the Sabbath is profaned 197
. Sins of Omission 197
. Sins of Commission 203
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An Exhortation to Sanctify the Lord’s Day 231
Appendix – 6 Meditations for the Sabbath 242
A Fair & Impartial Historical Testimony 267-414
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The Pastoral Ministry
“They [the older writers and pastors] knew well that the success of all their efforts for the promotion of vital godliness depended not on man, not on ministers, not on means, but on the Lord, with whom is the residue of the Spirit.”
– Robert Candlish
from a speech on the floor of the General Assembly of the
Free Church of Scotland, 1847
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Articles
Jennings, John – Two Discourses: the First, Of Preaching Christ; the Second, Of Particular and Experimental Preaching TCP d. 1723 80 pp.
Jennings (c.1687-1723) was a reformed, English, Independent/presbyterian, dissenting minister. His most well-known student was Philip Doddridge.
Beeke, Joel – Ten Commandments for Pastors 2015 10 paragraphs
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Book
Baxter, Richard – The Reformed Pastor 565 pp.
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The Best Preaching Advice
John Livingstone 1603-1672
‘Remarks on Preaching and Praying in Public by John Livingstone’, in Scottish Puritans: Select Biographies, vol. 1, pp. 287-8
“It is most probable that no gift, no pains a man takes to fit himself for preaching, shall ever do good to the people or himself, except a man labor to have and keep his heart in a spiritual condition before God, depending on Him always for furniture and the blessing. Earnest faith and prayer, a single aim at the glory of God, and good of people, a sanctified heart and carriage, shall avail much for right preaching.
There is sometime somewhat in preaching that cannot be ascribed either to the matter or expression, and cannot be described what it is, or from whence it comes, but with a sweet violence, it pierces into the heart and affections, and comes immediately from the Lord. But if there be any way to attain to any such thing, it is by a heavenly disposition of the speaker…”
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Alexander Whyte †1921
Bunyan Characters (Third Series), Ch. 19, ‘Mr. Wet-Eyes’, pp. 157-158
“Spiritual preaching; real face to face, inward, verifiable, experimental, spiritual preaching; preaching to a heart in the agony of its sanctification; preaching to men whose whole life is given over to making them a new heart — that kind of preaching is scarcely ever heard in our day.
There is great intellectual ability in the pulpit of our day, great scholarship, great eloquence, and great earnestness, but spiritual preaching, preaching to the spirit — ‘wet-eyed’ preaching — is a lost art.”
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Novel
Bunyan, John – Pilgrim’s Progress †1688 160 pp.
This has deservedly been one of the most popular books the world over, next to the Bible. Find out why.
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims…” – 1 Peter 2:11
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History
Murray, Iain – Revival & Revivalism Buy
Murray’s work is a modern classic. Murray traces the history of revival in America through the 1700’s and early 1800’s, carefully distinguishing, from the best writers of that time, the difference between spurious revivalism and true revival infused with Biblical spirituality.
“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” – Ps. 85:6
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Biography
“…Of whom the world was not worthy”
Heb. 11:38
Thomas Watson
“…Get books into your houses, when you have not the spring [of the Scriptures] near to you, then get water into your cisterns: so when you have not that wholesome preaching that you desire, good books are cisterns that hold the water of life in them to refresh you. When David’s natural heat was taken away, they covered him with warm clothes, 1 Kings 1. So when you find a chillness upon your souls, and that your former heat begins to abate, ply yourselves with warm clothes, get those good books that may acquaint you with such truths as may warm and affect your hearts.”
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Piper, John
The Hidden Smile of God: the Fruit of Affliction in the Live of John Bunyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd Buy
The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther and Calvin Buy
The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon and Wilbur Wilberforce Buy
A Camaraderie of Confidence: the Fruit of Unfailing Faith in the Lives of Charles Spurgeon, George Muller and Hudson Taylor Buy
Contending for our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen Buy
Filling up the Afflictions of Christ: the Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson and John Paton Buy
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Autobiography
Halyburton, Thomas – Memoirs of the Rev. Thomas Halyburton 380 pp. written by himself
“Halyburton’s Memoirs have been considered by competent judges, for more than a century, as one of the best specimens of religious biography extant. As an exhibition of Christian experience, simple, unaffected, scriptural, and richly instructive, we know not that we could mention a work, of the same extent, more adapted to be useful… It is worthy of a place in every family.” – Samuel Miller & Charles Hodge
“There is no production of the kind, in which the exercises of the human heart, both before and after regeneration, are so distinctly described as in the… biography of Rev. Thomas Halyburton.” – Archibald Alexander
Boston, Thomas – Memoirs of the Life, Times & Writings of Thomas Boston 510 pp. written by himself
Model yourself after Boston.
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Diaries
Whyte, Alexander – Thomas Shepard: Pilgrim Father and Founder of Harvard: his Spiritual Experience and Experimental Preaching Buy 1909 252 pp.
“When I first read Alexander Whyte’s book on Thomas Shepard some thirty years ago, I was frequently moved to tears. Whyte selects a number of individual experiential statements from Shepard’s writings and meditates on them in a most moving manner, persuading the reader of the heinousness of sin, the depravity of our heart, and the richness and glory of Christ Jesus.
This is one of the most spiritual books I have ever read. It is convicting, humbling, uplifting, and enlarging all at once, moving the soul near to God through Word-centered, Spirit-empowered truth. Read one chapter an evening. Meditate on it; pray over it. Let it penetrate your inmost being.” – Joel Beeke
ed. Bonar, Andrew – Memoir & Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne 1892 675 pp.
Both M’Cheyne and Bonar were Free Church of Scotland ministers.
Edwards, Jonathan – The Life of David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians, chiefly taken from his own Diary and other Private Writings with a very experiential Preface by Horatius Bonar
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Letters
Rutherford, Samuel – Letters Buy
‘When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford’s Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men.’ — Charles Spurgeon
Apart from the Bible, ‘such a book as Mr. Rutherford’s Letters the world never saw the like.’ — Richard Baxter
‘The letters flash upon the reader with original thoughts and abound in lofty feeling clothed in the radiant garb of imagination in which there is everything of poetry but the form. Individual sentences that supplied the germ-thought of some of the most beautiful spiritual in modern poetry…’ ‘…a bundle of myrrh whose ointment and perfume would revive and gladden the hearts of many generations, each letter full of hope and yet of heartbreak, full of tender pathos of the here and the hereafter.’ – Andrew Thomson
Newton, John – Letters 385 pp.
“John Newton has long been a favorite. His writings on experimental religion contributed much to the revival of piety in the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries.” – William Plumer
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Poetry
Anonymous – Meditation of a Penitent Sinner, Written in the Manner of a Paraphrase upon the 51st Psalm of David 1560 This was appended to the printing of John Calvin’s sermons on Isa. 38.
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Quotes & Proverbs
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
Prov. 25:11
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Rutherford, Samuel – The Loveliness of Christ †1661 50 pp.
These are short excerpts from Rutherford’s Letters, selected and originally published in 1910.
Dod, John & Philip Henry – Gleanings of Heavenly Wisdom: or, the Sayings of John Dod & Philip Henry 61 pp.
Philip Henry – ‘A Miscellaneous Collection of some of his sayings, observations, counsels and comforts, out of his sermons, letters and discourses’ by his son, Matthew Henry, 29 pp., in Matthew’s biography of Philip Henry
Henry, Matthew – Gems of Matthew Henry 144 pp.
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“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord!”
1 Sam. 2:1
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”
John 5:4-5
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Related Pages
Meditation What Does Keeping the Lord’s Day Entail?
Sanctification Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel