This week's
"thoughts" come to you from a selection of different Puritans.
Yes, Puritans! I know many are prejudiced against the Puritans from the
start (often by exposure to exaggerated and untrue propaganda) but I would ask
you (if you are such a person) to let them speak for themselves and not read
them through the filter of another person's opinion of them. Ryken's Book
"Worldly Saints" is a wonderful corrective to many of the common
myths.
Overall (with a few
minor exceptions) they were a very gospel-centered and grace-oriented group of
people. Yet you would only know that if you took the time to read the things
they actually wrote themselves, instead of things others have written about
them (often without ever having taken the time to do what I just
suggested)! After all, wisdom and fairness would say we should never
formulate an opinion of someone until we get to know and interact with them
personally.So, with that said, here are some "Puritan" thoughts! In terms of a time frame, the vast majority lived between the years 1600 - 1690. Enjoy.
"The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves... dreams of her in the night, has her in his eye and apprehensions when he awakes, muses on her at he sits at table, and walks with her when she travels... She lies in his bosom, and his heart trusts in her, which forces all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength."
Thomas Hooker
"There
is no relationship more near, more entire, more needful, more kindly, more
delightful, more comfortable, more constant, more continual, than the
relationship of a man and his wife, the main root, source, and origin of all
other relationships."
Thomas Gataker
"Creatures,
like pictures, are most beautiful from a distance. But it is not so with
Christ. The nearer the soul approaches Him, and the longer it lives in the
enjoyment of Him, still the sweeter and more desirable He becomes... He is
bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, and healing
to the wounded. Whatever a soul can desire is found in Him."
John Flavel
"What
is the Gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ's obedience is
esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon Him, wherein God, from being a judge,
becomes our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though
feeble and blemished."
Richard Sibbes
"Men
would sooner believe that the Gospel is from heaven, if they saw more of its
heavenly effects in the hearts and lives of those who profess it."
Richard Baxter
"One
word of seasonable, prudent advice, given by a minister to persons in need, may
be of more use than many sermons."
Richard Baxter
"It
is the same impossibility for a thing to be created out of nothing, as to be
created by nothing."
William Law
"He
only that stills the stormy seas, can quiet the distressed and tempestuous
soul."
John Flavel
"A
man may easier see without eyes, or speak without a tongue, than truly mortify
one sin without the Spirit."
John Owen
"Humility
is a strange flower -- it grows best in winter weather and under storms of
affliction."
Samuel Rutherford
"There
are two aspects to love; the one is to give, the other is to
forgive."
John Boys
"In
marriage a husband must choose his love, and then he must love his
choice."
Henry Smith
"God
commands nothing but what is beneficial... To obey God is not so much our
duty as our privilege."
Thomas Watson
"If
you neglect instructing your children in the way of holiness, will the devil
neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No. If you will not teach
them to pray, he will teach them to curse, swear, and lie. If ground
remain uncultivated, weeds will spring up on it."
John Flavel
"Prayer
will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from
prayer."
John Bunyan
"All
married persons must above all things, love, respect and cherish grace in one
another."
Thomas Taylor
In the Bonds of
Christian Affection, Pastor Jeff
