Meet The Puritans

How to Meditate on the Glory of Christ

Posted on 11. May, 2010 by Ryan McGraw.

Meditation is a difficult duty. Most Christians struggle even with where to begin with respect to this duty. It is particularly important for us to mediate upon the Person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, since beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is the primary means by which we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). In his devotional work, The Glory of Christ, John Owen has provided five useful ways that we can meditate upon the glory of Christ as a divine/human Person. Our congregation in Conway found these instructions particularly helpful, so I pass them along with the hope that they will help you in your devotion to Christ (you can read the full section in Owen, Works, 1, 312–322).

1. Consider that the knowledge of Christ as fully God and fully man in one Person is the most useful object of our contemplations and affections (1, 312–314). Christ’s identity as the God-man places him in a unique position to make your redemption possible. He also reveals the glory of God to your understanding in a unique manner.

2. Diligently study the Scriptures with the express purpose of finding the glory of Christ in them (1, 314–316). The Scriptures assert that Christ is their central object (Lk. 24:26–27, 45–46; 2 Cor. 3:13–16). The three primary ways that Christ is revealed in the Old Testament is by direct descriptions of his Person and his incarnation, by prophecies concerning him, and by the Old Testament ceremonies of worship (Owen richly expands each of these). Too often Christians read the Old Testament in a manner that is no better than the Jews. Even if we do not see Christ in everything in the Old Testament, we must be careful to take our knowledge of Christ with us while reading the Old Testament.

3. Meditate frequently upon the knowledge of Christ that you have already obtained, both from Scripture and from sermons (1, 316–317). Failing to use and to build upon the knowledge of Christ that we have already received is the “fundamental mistake” standing behind the lack of spiritual growth among so many Christians. This is the error of treating the doctrines of Christ as fundamental and basic, thus taking them for granted. Owen adds that although we must not isolate ourselves from the world, we must love solitude as well. Without some measure of regular solitude, meditation upon the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible.

4. Do not simply rely upon fixed times set aside for meditation, but think upon Christ at every possible occasion throughout the day (1, 317–320). This is particularly important during those seasons in which Christ “withdraws” himself from our “spiritual experience.” If we know what it is like to “miss” Christ sometimes, then we should take comfort from the fact that this means that we have truly known what it is to have fellowship with him. When the comforts of communion with Christ diminish, we must seek him with the desperation with which a thirsty man seeks water. Christ acts in this way for our good, since his withdrawals increase our dependence upon him and the fervency with which we seek him. The truth is that Christ is always near to us, but “the principal actings of the life of faith consist in the frequency of our thoughts concerning him” (1, 319).

5. Accompany your thoughts of Christ with admiration, adoration, and thanksgiving (1, 320–322). The more we contemplate our divine/human Lord, then the more we shall realize that he is beyond the limits of our comprehension. This should lead us to love the Lord Jesus Christ with every faculty of our souls. In heaven, we shall exercise all of the faculties of our souls simultaneously in the worship and service of Christ, but in this world both our understanding and our strength is incomplete. Therefore, sometimes our thoughts of Christ should lead to admiration, others to adoration, and still others to thanksgiving according to our understanding and our capacity. You must never lose sight of the fact that the purpose for which you know Christ is worship.

Owen closes this section with the useful reminder that meditation upon the glory of the Person of Christ only occurs in the context of a heavenly-minded life. This is an important thought. Perhaps one reason why meditation is so hard for us is that we have not set our minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father in everything that we set our hands to (Col. 3:1–2). Meditation upon the glory of Christ is a jarring and painful interruption when our minds are trained to run along the well-worn grooves of our earthly routine. Let us never forget that we are pilgrims and strangers in the world! Let us never be surprised at the difficulty of heavenly-mindedness on this side of glory! Let us make use of means to help us contemplate the glory of our Savior more fully! And may we come to our heavenly Father who is able and ready to help us to meditate upon the glory of his Son through the power of the Holy Spirit!

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Audio Lectures through Owen’s “Mortification”

Posted on 06. May, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

I have recently begun a new Wednesday evening series of lectures through John Owen’s, “Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers.” You can follow along reading the treatise online at Google Books here as well as listening to the audio here.

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Review of “A Treatise on Earthly-Mindedness”

Posted on 23. Mar, 2010 by Ryan McGraw.

Jeremiah Burroughs, A Treatise on Earthly-Mindedness (1649, repr., Orlando: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2006). 259 pages.

In his introduction and recommendation of this book, Dr. R. C. Sproul wrote, “My guess is that few people will ever pick up this book and read it. Its theme and content are too alien to modern Christianity to evoke much interest” (pg. vii). Without the awareness of many, modern Christianity has gradually become earthly-minded, shifting its focus away from the glories of heaven without being aware of it. When people do not know that a problem exists, they do not seek a remedy for that problem. This book both diagnoses the problem of worldliness and offers medicine to treat the disease.

In a sense, the title of this book is misleading. The treatise on earthly-mindedness only occupies the first third of the book. The rest of the book is divided into two sections. The first teaches us how to live our lives as those whose citizenship is in heaven, and the second teaches us how to walk with God throughout our lives.

Among many things, one thing that struck my heart closely in this book was Burroughs’ evaluation of anxiety. The Scriptures forbid believers to have anxiety over the things of this life (Luke 12). This is one of the most difficult points of practical godliness for many, if not most, of God’s people, whether they are currently under trials or not. Burroughs argued that the only causes of anxiety are the fear of some evil coming upon us, and the fear that we shall not have the means or ability to prevent that evil (pg. 12). Some people become completely miserable if they have nothing but the promises of God to protect them. All believers shall struggle with anxiety, but if we allow our anxiety to grow unchecked, we are implying that we have relinquished the care of God over us and have decided to take things into our own hands. If this is convicting (as it should be), Burroughs offers many helps and encouragements from the Scriptures. He is a physician who always wounds before he heals, but though he wounds deeply, he always provides what is necessary to heal his patients.

There are at least two sections that I intend to return to often in this volume. Section 1, chapter 8, provides “Five Directions How to Get our Minds Free from Earthly-Mindedness,” and section 2, chapter 22 contains, “Seven Directions How to Get a Heavenly Conversation.” The entire third section on “Walking with God” is very comforting as well, and the latter parts of this section provide many practical helps on how to persevere with comfort and joy in our daily devotional lives.

This book originated as a series of sermons that Burroughs preached for the profit of his congregation. His friends published the sermons after his death and noted that they had been “twice preached”—once in the practice of the preacher, and once in the hearing of the congregation. In my experience, Burroughs stands out even from among the great men of his age.  He is always simple and easy to follow, always profitable, and always eager to comfort God’s people and promote peace between men and God as well as between men and men.

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The Meaning of “Regeneration” (16th Century)

Posted on 16. Oct, 2009 by Mark Jones.

Translating Latin works from the sixteenth century Protestant scholastics will prove to be invaluable to Reformed Christians (I’m toying with the idea of translating a work, perhaps Heidegger or Polanus).  Translations into English will help us to better understand the growth and development of Reformed theology and the different ways terms were used over the centuries.  “Regeneration” has a fairly tricky history, and our ideas of what the term means today may not in fact reflect the way sixteenth and seventeenth-century theologians used the term.  It appears that the term was narrowed in meaning during the debates between the Remonstrants and the Gomarists.  There’s a big debate going on right now in the Netherlands concerning whether Arminius was Reformed or not, especially with the recent publication of William den Boer’s work on Arminius.  Many of the questions at my promotion had to do with Arminius and why I believed he was not Reformed.  A lot can be said on this matter, but one of the problems was that Arminius agreed with Calvin’s use of the word “regeneration”. (I’m not convinced he could agree entirely, however).

Amandus Polanus’ (1561-1610) work called The Substance of Christian Religion is a practical body of divinity.  Regarding the term “regeneration” Polanus writes the following:

“Regeneration is a benefit of God, by which our corrupted nature is renewed to the image of God by the Holy Spirit …. That same is also called sanctification and the gift of grace. Also of schoolmen it is called infused grace … Regeneration is either begun or perfected” (103).

As I alluded to above, Calvin certainly understood regeneration to signify more than an aspect of the ordo salutis.  For him, it incorporated many aspects of the whole Christian life (Institutes, III.iii.9).  Hodge remarked that “Calvin gives the term its widest scope” (Systematic Theology, 3.3).  Calvin affirms that the Spirit makes alive what was once dead: “[The Spirit] regenerates us and makes us to be new creatures” (Institutes, II.ii.27).  But he was not content with such a narrow view of the doctrine.  Before Polanus, Calvin argues that regeneration is akin to sanctification insofar as “it is a renewal of the divine image in us” (III.xvii.5).

There is also a good deal of evidence that the early English Puritans had a very elastic view of regeneration.  Perkins, for example, understood John 3:5 to incorporate sanctification (Foundation of Christian Religion, 278).

Maccovius spends a good deal of time on regeneration in his work on theological and philosophical distinctions and rules.  He does not abandon Calvin’s use of the term, but he makes finer distinctions relative to the Remonstrant and counter-Remonstrant debates.  For example, Maccovius writes:

Regeneratio aliter se habet ratione primi moment, aliter ratione progressus (In respect of its first moment regeneration comes about in another way than in respect of its progression).  Ratione primi moment homo se habet mere passive, ratione progressus cooperatur cum Deo (Regarding the first moment of regeneration man is purely passive; regarding its progression man cooperates with God).

Elsewhere he argues:

Regenerationis gradus dantur in hac vita, non tatntum in se, verum etiam in subjectis (In this life regeneration is by degrees: these degrees do not only concern regeneration by itself but also the subjects).  Magis regignitur unus quam alter, hinc magis adulti quam infantes (Some people are more regenerate than others; hence older prople are more regenerated than the young ones).

Notice, then, that Maccovius uses, like Calvin and Polanus, the term “regeneration” to include what we now call sanctification.  Incidentally, Maccovius viewed Paul as “regenerate” in Romans 7.  Indeed, he had to since the turning point for Arminius, I believe, was when he began his lectures in Romans 7 and decided that Romans 7 described Paul in his unconverted state.  Many think Arminius went wrong at Romans 9 – he did, of course – but his problem started earlier!

* On Maccovius’ distinctiones see “Scholastic Discourse” (Instituut voor Reformatieonderzoek), pp. 239ff.

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Puritan Moralism?

Posted on 13. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

Antinomianism has always been an enemy of the true Christian faith.   As Rabbi Duncan said: “All sin is antinomianism” because all sin is against God’s law.  The recent work of Chad van Dixhoorn has demonstrated that the major enemies of the Westminster divines were not the Roman Catholics or even the crypto-Popish Laudians, but instead Antinomian theologians whose influence in the 1640s was rapidly gaining ground. Other examples, besides the 17thC, would be the Majoristic controversy in 16thC or the Marrow debate in 18thC.  But, in this post, I want to focus on the Puritans and their views on the necessity of holiness for all Christians. [...]

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