Thomas Watson (1620–1686): “I am persecuted, but I have peace; I am poor, but I have peace; in a prison, but I have peace; in a wilderness, but I have peace; though all the world be against me, God is at peace, my soul is in peace. He that is the God of peace is the God of power. He promises peace, and he promises no more than he can perform. He can create peace. He can make our enemies to be at peace with us. He can say to the proud winds and waves, ‘Peace, be still,’ and they obey him. He can give us rest from the days of adversity; he can give us rest in the days of adversity. He can give to his beloved sleep.” [xv]
Thomas Brooks (1608–1680): “Once I was a slave, but now I am a son; once I was dead, but now I am alive; once I was darkness, but now I am light in the Lord; once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan’s bondman, but now I am God’s freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage, but now I am under the spirit of adoption, that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person, and the salvation of my soul.”[xvi]
The Puritans understood that Jesus Christ is the One who promised build his church. We are his servants, but being Lord of heaven and earth, he isn’t served by human hands, as though he needed anything. He is the Chief Shepherd of his flock and he alone is the One who sovereignly guides and guards his people all the way to glory.
The day before he died, John Owen (1616–1683) wrote a final letter to his best friend expressing the wonderful confidence all gospel ministers may have in our mighty Lord: “I am going to him whom my soul has loved, or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love—which is the whole ground of all my consolation. I am leaving the ship of the church in a storm. But while the great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable. Live, and pray, and hope, and wait patiently, and do not despond. The promise stands invincible, that he will never leave us, nor forsake us.” [xvii]
May the mighty promises of Christ fuel our faith until, at last, we see him face to face.
[i] Thomas Watson, “Parting Counsels,” as quoted in Sermons of the Great Ejection (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1662/2012), 166.
[ii] John Flavel, “The Character of a True Evangelical Pastor,” in The Works of John Flavel (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1968), 6: 568–69.
[iii] Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 2006), xxi.
[iv] Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1648/2002), 207, 209.
[v] Thomas Brooks, “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ,” The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 3, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 3: 117.
[vi] Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth, in The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 2 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 2: 338.
[vii] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; vol. 1; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1862), 1: 45.
[viii] Thomas Adams, The Works of Thomas Adams, Volume 3 (James Nichol: Edinburgh, 1861–62), 3: 224, 225.
[ix] John Flavel, The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel (vol. 2; London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh and Innes; M. Keene, 1820), 216.
[x] John Flavel, The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel (vol. 2; London; Edinburgh; Dublin: W. Baynes and Son; Waugh and Innes; M. Keene, 1820), 219.
[xi] John Bunyan, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1681/2011), 202-203.
[xii] William Bridge, “A Lifting Up For the Downcast,” in The Works of the Reverend William Bridge, Volume 2(London: 1845), 2: 255.
[xiii] William Bridge, “A Lifting Up For the Downcast,” in The Works of the Reverend William Bridge, Volume 2(London: 1845), 2: 263-264.
[xiv] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 3 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; vol. 3; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 3: 117.
[xv] Thomas Watson, “Sermon VII,” in The Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, Comprising His Celebrated Body of Divinity, in a Series of Lectures on the Shorter Catechism, and Various Sermons and Treatises (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1855), 659–660.
[xvi] Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; vol. 2; Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 2: 345.
[xvii] John Owen, “Life of Dr. Owen,” in The Works of John Owen, ed. William Goold, 24 vols. (Edinburgh: Johnson & Hunter; 1850-1855; reprint by Banner of Truth, 1965), 1: ciii. This letter was addressed to Owen’s best friend, Charles Fleetwood. It was written on August 23, 1683, the day before Owen died.
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