PURITANS on SermonAudio

Pastor Mark Hogan teaches on sanctifying the Lord's Day (Revelation 1:10) as the Christian Sabbath, taking a positive approach—asking what the day is for rather than listing prohibitions—drawing on Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, and Puritans like Ezekiel Hopkins. He outlines three categories of duty: acts of piety, with corporate worship as the chief part (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16; Heb 10; Ps 122), making the day 'church-shaped' with prayer meeting, Sunday school, and fellowship, plus private and family worship where fathers lead catechism and devotions (Isaiah 58:13–14); acts of charity such as hospitality (Rom 12:13; 1 Pet 4:9) and visiting the sick (Matt 12:12); and acts of necessity like eating and genuine emergencies. Applications from Reformed writers include preparing on Saturday night (J.I. Packer), delighting in the day as the Puritans' 'market day for the soul' (Ps 118), improving the day, and anticipating eternal rest, since Hebrews 4:9 says a sabbatismos remains for God's people—Spurgeon called it a 'dress rehearsal for eternity.' Finally, citing Thomas Shepard's warning against both profaneness and pharisaical strictness, Hogan urges guarding against legalism, closing with Christopher Wordsworth's hymn 'O Day of Rest and Gladness.'

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Whence came you, and what would you have? He answered, I have eat and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets. Then they asked him for his certificate, that they might go in and show it to the King; so he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, Have you none? But the man answered never a word. So they told the King, but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the two Shining Ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the City, to go out and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction.

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The teaching explores the historical origins and theological identity of confessional Baptists, tracing their lineage from the European Reformation through the British Puritan movement to the formation of distinct Baptist congregations in the 17th century. It highlights the development of the First London Confession of 1644 and the Second London Confession of 1677-89 as efforts to clarify Baptist beliefs, distinguish them from radical Anabaptists, and establish unity with Presbyterian and Congregational peers amidst severe persecution. The speaker emphasizes that understanding this history provides clarity on core doctrines like particular redemption and believer's baptism, while also addressing the political and social contexts that shaped these early church documents. By examining the motivations behind these confessions, the transcript argues for a robust, biblically anchored identity that avoids modern confusion and sectarianism. Ultimately, the message calls believers to appreciate their spiritual heritage as a foundation for current faith and future unity within the reformed Baptist tradition.

May we infer, that creatures, thus formed for action, and thus laborious and unwearied in these inferior pursuits, are proportionably vigorous and in earnest in matters of infinitely greater importance? May we con· elude, that they proportion their labor and activity to the nature of things, and that they are most in earnest where they are most concerned? A stranger to our world, that could conclude nothing concerning the conduct of mankind but from the generous presumptions of his own charitable heart, might persuade himself that this is the case. But one that has been but a little while conversant with them, and taken the least notice of their temper and practice with regard to that most interesting thing, Religion, must know it is quite otherwise. For look round you, and what do you see?

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