To study the writings and sermons of the Puritans is one of the most profitable religious exercises the elect-saint can undertake. Those likeminded saints from bygone eras should be regularly read to exercise the Spirit’s influence upon us through the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel they preached should be worked into our souls. Those Puritans, however, are not alone, for they stood on the shoulders of other men, reformers, who desired to see the world transformed by the Gospel of God. In this first volume, A Puritan’s Mind has collected ten individual unpublished writings that will be a blessing to the saint’s journey here on earth while Christ tarries. They are refreshment for the soul ministering the Balm that may aid the most wearied Christian, or the most seasoned saint. Writers include William Tyndale, Arthur Salwey, William Ames, John Wallis and many others.
During the seventeenth century, English Puritan pastors often encouraged their congregations in the spiritual discipline of meditating on God and His Word. Today, however, much of evangelicalism is either ignorant of or turned off to the idea of meditation. In God’s Battle Plan for the Mind , pastor David Saxton seeks to convince God’s people of the absolute necessity for personal meditation and motivate them to begin this work themselves. But he has not done this alone. Rather, he has labored through numerous Puritan works in order to bring together the best of their insights on meditation. Standing on the shoulders of these giants, Saxton teaches us how to meditate on divine truth and gives valuable guidance about how to rightly pattern our thinking throughout the day. With the rich experiential theology of the Puritans, this book lays out a course for enjoying true meditation on God’s Word. Table of Contents: 1. The Importance of Recovering the Joyful Habit of Biblical Meditation 2. Unbiblical Forms of Meditation 3. Defining Biblical Meditation 4. Occasional Meditation 5. Deliberate Meditation 6. The Practice of Meditation 7. Important Occasions for Meditation 8. Choosing Subjects for Meditation 9. The Reasons for Meditation 10. The Benefits of Meditation 11. The Enemies of Meditation 12. Getting Started: Beginning the Habit of Meditation Conclusion: Thoughts on Meditation and Personal Godliness
There is nothing like this interactive workbook anywhere in the Reformed community. It is a unique workbook designed to bring Reformed Theology to students of the bible in its various facets. In old England, an apprentice is a novice who engaged in a covenant with a tradesman to learn a particular trade. A workbook of this kind was created to engage the student of scripture to be apprenticed under the teachers of Reformed Theology, thus, a Reformed Apprentice. The purpose of the workbook is to come into a deeper knowledge and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as he has revealed himself to the church in his Word and by his Spirit through the centuries in Reformed Theology. The workbook covers logic, hermeneutics, theology, creeds and confessions, covenant theology, worship, the sovereignty of God, the solas of the reformation, the doctrines of grace, church government, and much, much more. It extensively quotes the early church fathers, the Reformers, the Puritans, and Reformed theologians from various ages in order to aid the Reformed Apprentice in coming to a knowledge of what truly constitutes Reformed Theology and the Reformed Faith. This workbook is not to be completed in a short timeframe, nor is it governed by a specific amount of time. The Reformed Apprentice has as much time to complete each section at their own pace as they need in order to walk more closely with Jesus Christ.
“Here is a book to be welcomed enthusiastically, to be read carefully, and to be returned to frequently.” –Sinclair B. Ferguson In our world, we use the word heart to refer to our emotions. But the Bible uses the word heart to refer to the governing center of life. We need to grasp the true meaning of the heart in order to better understand ourselves, our sin, and our need for redemption. As we rediscover the heart as the source of all our thoughts, fears, words, and actions, we will discover principles and practices for orienting our hearts to truly love and obey God with all that we are.
In this study, McMahon considers the universal and perpetual teaching of loving God and loving one’s neighbor, as it pertains to the heart, soul and mind of a Christian. His main text is taken from Christ’s words in Matt. 22:37-39, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” The love that Christians ought to have in light of biblical reformation, consist in loving God with all the heart, soul and mind, and loving one’s neighbor. Though this is often thought of as a nice “religious” sentiment, many Christians have no idea how that works out in the life of the Christian. Where did Jesus get such a notion, and what was he teaching? Biblical reformation is set within this “love to God” and that without it, no one can ever be reformed, and no revival will ever take place in the whole world. In this, Jesus’ words are far reaching, and they are a basic fundamental tenant of the Christian religion. Jesus did mean what he in fact said, to love God in heart, soul and mind is loving him in a superlative degree, the highest degree. Does this seem impossible? How does reformation and loving God fit together? And how does reformation of the heart, soul and mind for God’s glory and our good work itself out in light of Scripture? This is the substance of this work.
Every now and again, a work will be published by a reformer or puritan that Christians find to be of such great spiritual worth, that it is hard to put into words the incalculable and infinite good that such a work is to the Christian soul. This book, friends, is one of those works. Burroughs expounds Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Christ invites sinners to come to Him for rest. Sinners, in this way, can be either Christians or unbelievers. Both are beckoned to “come.” In this work Burroughs shows first, the burden of sin, the burden of the Law, the burden of legal performances with the misery of those that are under them, the burden of corruption, and the burden of outward affliction. Secondly, he shows that Christ graciously offers to them that come to him, rest from all those burdens. In this he demonstrates what it is to come to Christ; that Christ requires nothing but to come to him. Several Rules to be observed in right coming to Christ, the means to draw souls to Christ, that in coming to Christ God would have us have respect toward ourselves, that there is no rest for souls out of Christ, and the reasons for this, with some conclusions from it. Thirdly, Burroughs shows the rest believers have from sin, that the deliverance from the Law by Christ is, privatively, and positively. He will show the rest believers have from the burden of the Law by coming to Christ, how Christ gives rest from the burden of legal performances, how Christ gives rest from the burden of corruption; in which is shown how sanctification and holiness comes only from Christ. And Burroughs demonstrates encouragements to come to Christ for holiness. He will explain how Christ gives rest from outward afflictions, and then considers some directions on how to get rest from Christ in spiritual desertions. God’s people have been personally helped by Burroughs throughout the centuries by all his works, and in this volume on coming to Christ, he again shows the inestimable spiritual value of his preaching and writing. This is a life-transforming work which will enable Christians to inwardly examine themselves as they consider how the Law of God correlates to their abiding in the Lord Jesus, and what steps they must take to come to Christ in a saving and sanctifying manner. This work is not a scan or facsimile, has been carefully transcribed by hand being made easy to read in modern English, and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.
