PURITANS on SermonAudio

This comprehensive treatise abounds in more than Owen's usual prolixity;—a feature of the work which may, perhaps, be explained by the consciousness under which the author seems always to labour that he is prosecuting an argument with opponents, rather than dealing with the conscience in a treatise on practical religion. He moves heavily, as if he were panoplied for conflict rather than girt for useful work. As he proceeds, however, the interest deepens; weighty questions receive clear elucidation; practical difficulties are judiciously resolved; and momentous distinctions, such as those between gospel holiness and common morality, and between natural and moral inability, are skilfully given.

it must be granted that the things here treated of are in themselves mysterious and abstruse. But yet, the way whereby we may endeavour an acquaintance with them, "according to the measure of the gift of Christ unto every one," is made plain in the Scriptures of truth. If this way be neglected or despised, all other ways of attempting the same end, be they never so vigorous or promising, will prove ineffectual. What belongs unto it as to the inward frame and disposition of mind in them who search after understanding in these things, what unto the outward use of means, what unto the performance of spiritual duties, what unto conformity in the whole soul unto each discovery of truth that is attained, is not my present work to declare, nor shall I divert thereunto. If God give an opportunity to treat concerning the work of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to understand the Scriptures, or the mind of God in them, the whole of this way will be at large declared.

It has been supposed that the class of subjects discussed in the following pages, excite less interest in the Church now than they did at a former period. It must be conceded that the present age has contributed only a few works to the department of casuistical theology,3 to which this book belo ngs. Pre-eminently a book-making age, it is not in keeping with the spirit of the times, to publish works on experimental religion. Immutable in its principles, and insusceptible of the 'progress' which marks the development of the physical sciences, Christianity nevertheless assumes a somewhat different type at different epochs. Under the administration of the Providence and Spirit of God, it is polemic at one period, contemplative at another, aggressive at a third.

CASE 3. A serious person, who scruples to comply with the usual practice of playing cards, desires to know whether  these scruples arise from a needless tenderness of conscience, or from the faithful admonitions of the Spirit of God.

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This study explores the lethal threat of carnal security and spiritual lethargy as depicted in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress on the Enchanted Ground, grounding its warning in the slumbering virgins of Matthew 25:1–13. To understand the internal decay behind this condition, the lesson draws upon John Owen's exposition of Hebrews 3:7–19, which details how the deceitfulness of sin gradually hardens the unwatchful heart, alongside Arthur W. Pink's analysis of Hebrews 6:4–6 regarding the danger of separating intellectual knowledge from a living communion with Christ. Furthermore, Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor exposes how Satan strategically targets teachers and leaders, exploiting intellectual pride and disguised ease to disarm their vigilance. Together with 19th-century observational insights from Joseph Huntington Jones and Grant Powers—who examined how bodily infirmity, heightened imagination, and physical excitement can simulate or obscure true spiritual life—these sources provide a comprehensive diagnosis of spiritual slumber, equipping believers and leaders alike to cultivate active watchfulness, genuine grace, and abiding fellowship with Christ.

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Most of the actions of our faculties, as they are actions, might have been in the state of innocency. Eating is an act Adam would have used if he had stood firm, but not eating to excess. Worship was an act that should have been performed to God in innocence, but not hypocritically. Every action is good by a physical goodness, as it is an act of the mind or hand, which have a natural goodness by creation, but every action is not morally good. The physical goodness of the action depends on God, the moral evil on the creature.