In Thy Presence is Fullness of Joy Part 2

In Thy Presence is Fullness of Joy
Isaac Ambrose (1604-1664)

4. CHRIST WELCOMES THEM INTO HIS GLORIOUS PRESENCE.

If the father could receive his prodigal but repenting son with hugs and kisses, how will Christ now receive His saints, when they come as a bride to the solemnization of the marriage? His very heart springs (as I may say) at the sight of His Bride! No sooner [does] He see her and salute her, but He welcomes her with such words as these: "O my love, my dove, my fair one—come now and enjoy thy Husband! Many a thought I have had of thee: before I made the world, I spent my infinite eternal thoughts on thy salvation. When the world began, I gave thee a promise that I would betroth thee unto me in righteousness, in judgment, in loving kindness, in mercy, and in faithfulness (Hos 2:19-20). [For thy sake I] was incarnate, lived, died, rose again, and ascended. And since My ascension, [I] have been interceding for thee and making ready the bride-chamber, where thou and I must live forever and ever. Now I come hither into the clouds to meet thee more than half the way. My meaning is to take thee by the hand and to bring thee to My Father. Now do I take thee for My own—O My sister, My spouse, thou art as dear to Me as My own dear heart! Come, see into My bosom, and see here love written in the golden letters of free grace. Come near, for I must have thee with Me...Sometimes thy sins have made a wall of partition between Me and thee. Sometimes I withdrew and was gone; I hid Myself beyond the curtains. And for a time, thou hast lain hid in the closet of the grave. But now we will never part more: Anon, I will bring thee to My Father, and I will say to Him, 'Father, behold! Here [is] My spouse that I have carried unto Myself.' In the meantime, welcome to thy Jesus. I have purchased thee with My blood, I have paid dear for thee, and now I will wear thee as a crown and ornament forever."

5.CHRIST SETS THEM ON HIS RIGHT HAND...

This is the sign of Christ's love and respect to His saints: when He Himself ascended up into heaven, then said the Father to Him, "Son, sit Thou down at My right hand." No sooner are the saints ascended up to Christ, but He speaks the same to them, "Sit thou down at My right hand." Christ entertains them, as God the Father entertained Him—He at the right hand of God, and they at the right hand of Christ. And herein is set forth the great exaltation of the saints: Christ being set at God's right hand, God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name. So now are the saints highly exalted by Jesus Christ, now are they filled with unmatchable perfection, now is the fullness of perfection, [the] fullness of honor and glory conferred upon them. "Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir" (Psa 45:9), i.e., in the best, richest, finest gold. The Lord now puts upon His saints heaven's glory. He adorns them with all His ornaments fit for the marriage day...All the glory of this day is for nothing else but to set out the solemnity of the marriage. As the bridegroom on the day of nuptials comes forth in his glory; as the bride on the marriage day comes forth in her best array; and as the servants, parents, friends, and all appear on the marriage day in as much glory as they can, so Christ on this day comes forth in His glory with all His angels in their glory and the saints, the Lamb's wife! The King's daughter is all glorious without and within (Psa 45:13). Though stars may lose their shining when the sun ariseth, yet the glory of the saints shall be no less because of the Sun of Righteousness, but rather more.

This is the day that Christ shall honor His saints before all the world. "Come," He will say, "and sit you down at my right hand. As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, so will I separate you from wicked reprobates. Why, you are they for whom the eternal counsels of My Father did work. You are they in whom I am now to be glorified forever. Therefore, now will I exalt, advance, and honor you. Sit here or stand here on My right hand. O come! Come hither to the right hand of your Savior!"

6. HEREUPON CHRIST FULLY AND ACTUALLY JOYS IN THEM AND THEY IN HIM.

He joys in them because now He sees of the travail of His soul (Isa 53:11). He sees the issue of all His doings and sufferings here on earth. He sees now the great work He hath brought about, to wit, the glory of His saints; and He cannot but rejoice therein. As a man that makes a work that is very curious and glorious, He takes abundance of delight to look upon it. When God made the world, He looked upon what He had made, He saw it was good, and He delighted in it. So Christ looks on His saints, and when He sees what He hath done in raising so poor a worm to so high an excellence, He takes infinite delight therein. Now He sees that He hath attained His end in the great design and deepest counsels that He had before the world! He was then resolved to save a number of sinners and to bring them at last to Himself that they might behold Him in His glory and manifest the riches of His grace. To that purpose hath He still been carrying on the great work of souls' salvation...and now that He sees it accomplished and fulfilled in them, He must needs delight: "In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zep 3:16-17).

And as He joys in them, so they cannot but rejoice in Him; as He delights in their glory, so they cannot but delight in His glory. Are they not at Christ's right hand? Is not that the place of pleasure, the Paradise of God? "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psa 16:11). The very setting of them on Christ's right hand is the beginning of heaven's joy. The presence of Christ makes joy, "exceeding joy" Qude 24). Oh! But what joy? What fullness of joy? What exceeding joy will it be to be set at Christ's right hand? Now begins that joy that never, never shall have an end! O the complacency that the blessed feel in their seeing, knowing, loving, and being loved of Jesus Christ! "O my Christ! Let me have tribulation here, let me here spend my days in sorrow, and my breath in sighings; punish me here, cut me in pieces here, burn me here, so that I might there be placed at Thy right hand." For then will joy come and sorrow will vanish; sorrow is but for a night, this night of life. But joy will come in this morning of the resurrection, and it never shall be night again.

In Thy Presence is Fullness of Joy Part 1

In Thy Presence is Fullness of Joy
Isaac Ambrose (1604-1664)

For Christ and the saints meeting at the Judgment Day: No sooner are the saints lifted up and set before the Judge, but these things follow,

1. THEY LOOK, GAZE, DART THEIR BEAMS,' AND REFLECT THEIR GLORIES ON EACH OTHER.

Oh, the communications! Oh, the darlings of beams between Christ and His saints! When two admirable persons, two lovers meet together, their eyes sparkle! They look on as if they would look through one another. So Christ and His saints at first meeting: they look on as if they would look through one another. Such is the effect of these looks that they give a luster to each other...Did not Moses' face shine when he had been with God? And shall not the faces of the elect glitter and shine when Christ also looks on them?...As they shine by Christ, so shall their shine reflect on Christ and give all glory to Christ! This I take to be the meaning of the Apostle [Paul], "When he shall come to be glorified in his saints" (2Th 1:10). Not only in Himself, but in His saints also, whose glory, as it comes from Him, redounds also to Him. "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things" (Rom 11:36).

2. THEY ADMIRE THE INFINITE GLORY, BEAUTY, DIGNITY, AND EXCELLENCE THAT IS IN CHRIST.

The glory they reflect on Him is nothing to the glory that is in Him. Oh! When these stars—the saints—shall but look upon Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, they exceedingly admire [Him]. So the Apostle: "When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe" (2Th 1:10). All that believe shall break out into admiration of Jesus Christ. At the first sight, they shall observe such excellence in Jesus Christ that they shall be infinitely taken with it. Here [on earth] we speak of Christ, and in speaking, we admire. But how they will admire [Him] when they shall not only speak or hear, but also see and behold Him, Who is the express image of God, and the brightness of his Father's glory (Heb 1:3)! O the luster that He casts forth each way! Is not His very body more sparkling than the diamond before the sun? Yea, more" than the sun itself now shining at noonday? How should the saints but wonder at this sight? Oh! There is more beauty and glory in Jesus Christ than ever their thoughts or imaginations could possibly reach! There is more weight of sweetness, joy, and delight in Jesus Christ than either the seeing eye, hearing ear, or the vast understanding heart (which can multiply and add still to any former thoughts) can possibly conceive (ICo 2: 9)! Every soul will cry out then, "I believed [I would] see much glory in Jesus Christ when I saw Him. I had some twilight or moonlight glances of Christ on earth: but—O blind I! O narrow I!—[I] could never have faith, opinion, thought, or imagination to fathom the thousand thousandth part of the worth and incomparable excellence that I now see in Him!"

Why, when we see more than ever we could expect, this causeth admiration. The saints shall then cry out and say, "I see more, ten thousand times more than ever I expected! I see all the beauty of God put forth in Christ, I see the substantial reflection of the Father's light and glory in Jesus Christ, I see thousands of excellencies in Jesus Christ that never were revealed to me before!"...The glory of Christ will then exceed all former apprehension. O they admire to see the King in such a beauty! They admire to see the Judge in such a glittering and glorious robe of majesty! They admire, and they cannot but admire.

3. THEY ADORE AND MAGNIFY THE GRACE AND GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

As it is said of the twenty-four elders that they fell down "before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev 4:10-11). So all the saints, [who have] now advanced to come up to Christ and to stand before the throne, fall down before Christ. They worship Him that lives forever, shouting and singing about Jesus Christ, setting out His glory, grace, and goodness! "After this I beheld," saith John, "and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen" (Rev 7:9-12). Saints and angels will both give glory to Jesus Christ that day. Every elect man will then acknowledge, "Here is Christ that shed His blood for me! Here is the Savior that laid down His life for me! Here is the sacrifice that gave Himself a propitiation3 for me! Here is the Person that mediated, interceded, and made peace for me! Here is the Redeemer that delivered and redeemed me from the wrath to come!" Then they begin those hallelujahs that never, never shall have an end: "Hallelujah!" And again, "Hallelujah! Amen, Hallelujah!"—"for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Rev 19: 7).

Joseph Alleine 11/17/1668

341 years ago yesterday Joseph Alleine, the great Puritan writer, died at the young age of 36 due to declining health brought about by persecutions and imprisonments. Here's a brief sketch of his life and death as found in A Sure Guide to Heaven; probably one of the greatest little evangelistic books ever produced by the Puritans writers.

Biographical Introduction from A Sure Guide to Heaven:

Joseph Alleine was born into a Puritan family at Devizes, in Wiltshire, and baptized on April 8th, 1634. England was then in the throes of the stirring events that were soon to lead to the Civil War, and before Alleine was ten years old the Market Square, where his home stood, echoed with the crash of cannon and the peal of musket as Royalist put Roundhead to flight at the battle of Roundway (July 1643). Two years later the tables were turned and Cromwell himself saw to it that the blue banner of Parliament was raised aloft over the old castle that stood opposite the home of Alleine's childhood. The family circle was also not without its trials. His father, though a clothier of good standing, suffered some of the economic misfortunes of war; and to their grief, Joseph's eldest brother, Edward, already in the ministry, died in 1645.

That same year saw Alleine 'setting forth in the Christian race' and imploring his father that he might be educated to 'succeed his brother in the work of the ministry'. Thus, in April 1649 we find him going up to Oxford to sit at the feet of such divines as John Owen and Thomas Goodwin. In November 1651 he moved from Lincoln to Corpus Christi College - the latter, under the presidency of the saintly Dr Edward Staunton, being a more thoroughgoing Puritan seminary. Here he took his B.A. on July 6th 1653, became a tutor and subsequently chaplain to the College. Doubtless it was partly due to Alleine's influence that Henry Jessey could write in 1660: 'I think there was scarce such place in the world as Corpus Christi, where such a multitude held forth the power of godliness, and purity of God's worship. Even an Eden it was, but now a barren wilderness.'

Alleine's years at Oxford were characterized by piety and diligent study. His warm disposition found him many friends, but if then- visits interrupted his studying time 'he had no leisure to let them in, saying, "It is better that they should wonder at my rude­ness than that I should lose my time; for only a few will take notice of the rudeness, but many may feel my loss of time."' As a chaplain he laboured to evangelize country villages around Oxford and also preached to the prisoners in the gaol every fort­night. Such was his training for his future ministry. Not yet twenty-one, he had already learned to be 'infinitely and insatiably greedy for the conversion of souls and to this end he poured out his very heart in prayer and in preaching'.

It is no wonder that a worthy Puritan divine, George Newton (1602-1681), minister of St Mary Magdalen, Taunton, called Alleine to be his assistant in 1655. Taunton, a wool manufacturing town with a population of perhaps some 20,000, was a Puritan stronghold in the West Country. The spirit of the town had been clearly displayed ten years earlier when, with heroic steadfastness, it had withstood more than one desperate Royalist siege - even when half the streets had been burned down by a storm of mortars and many of the inhabitants had died of starvation! It was here, amidst the hills, meadows and orchards of Somerset, that Alleine was to spend his short but unforgettable ministry.

Immediately following the commencement of his work at Taunton, Alleine was married on October 4th, 1655, to his cousin Theodosia Alleine, a woman of singular spirituality, who left a moving account of her husband's ministry. The only 'fault' for which she chided her husband was that he did not spend more time with her, to which he would reply, 'Ah, my dear, I know thy soul is safe; but how many that are perishing have I to look after? O that I could do more for them!' Alleine's whole life was an illustration of his saying, 'Give me a Christian that counts his time more precious than gold.' When the week began he would say, 'Another week is now before us, let us spend this week for God', and each morning, 'Now let us live this one day well!' 'All the time of his health', writes his wife, 'he did rise constantly at or before four o'clock, and on the Sabbath sooner.if he did wake; he would be much troubled if he heard any smiths, or shoemakers, or such tradesmen, at work at their trades before he was in his duties with God; saying to me after, "O how this noise shames me! doth not my master deserve more than theirs?" From four till eight he spent in prayer, holy contemplation, and singing of psalms, which he much delighted in, and did daily practise alone, as well as in his family.'

Together this devoted pair laboured for souls. Theodosia Alleine kept a school for children in her home, while her husband spent five afternoons every week following up the urgent calls to the unconverted which sounded forth Sunday by Sunday from beneath the stately tower of Mary Magdalen. He kept a catalogue of the names of the inhabitants of each street and saw that all were visited and catechized. This resulted in a numerous ingathering of souls.1 'His supplications and his exhortations', said George Newton, 'many times were so affectionate, so full of holy zeal, life, and vigour, that they quite overcame his hearers; he melted them and sometimes dissolved the hardest hearts.' It is clear that even in an age when powerful preaching and successful evangelism were comparatively common, Alleine's ministry was outstand­ing in the eyes of his brethren. 'Few ages have produced more eminent preachers than Mr Joseph Alleine', declared that apostolic North Country Puritan, Oliver Heywood. And Baxter speaks of his 'great ministerial skilfulness in the public explication and application of the Scriptures - so melting, so convincing, so powerful'.

A day of grace was nearing its sunset when Alleine entered upon his ministry. Within three years Cromwell was dead. Two years more and the bells at Taunton rang merrily to welcome the homecoming of Charles II and the restoration of monarchy (1660). But the happiness in Puritan hearts was short lived. For the era when, as Philip Henry said, 'a face of godliness was upon the nation' was over and in 1662, by the infamous Act of Uniform­ity, 2,000 of the best ministers England ever had were cast out of their pulpits. Among the eighty-five or so ministers who suffered in this way in Somerset we find, as we might well expect, the names of George Newton and Joseph Alleine. But, though debarred from his pulpit, Alleine refused to be silenced; indeed his wife tells us how, 'laying aside all other studies because he accounted his time would be but short', he increased his preach­ing activity: 'I know that he hath preached fourteen times in eight days, and ten often, and six and seven ordinarily in these months.'

At length after surviving many threats Alleine received a summons on May 26th 1663; the following night he appointed to meet his people 'about one or two o'clock in the morning, to which they shewed their readiness: there was of young and old many hundreds; he preached and prayed with them about three hours'. The next day he was thrown into prison at Ilchester. After a year he was released, but only to be confronted by the rigours of the Five Mile Act and the Conventicle Act. Though now declining in health, he nevertheless resumed preaching in secret until July 10th 1666. On that evening whilst he was preach­ing on Psalm cxlvii 20 to a gathering in a private house, the doors were battered open and he was again taken to prison. Once more he was released, and with undiminished spiritual energy he con­sidered what he might yet do to further the Gospel of Christ. 'Now we have one day more', he would say to his wife as he rose in the morning, 'here is one more for God, now let us live well this day, work hard for our souls, lay up much treasure in heaven this day, for we have but a few to live.' His wife tells us how, with true Puritan spirit, his thoughts turned to the possibility of missionary work in Wales or even in China. Never did the evangel of Jesus Christ burn more fervently in any English heart! But Alleine's work was done, for his physical constitution never recovered from the hardships of his confinements and his body was sinking fast. On November 17th 1668 at the age of thirty-four, God took him away from the evils yet to come, and aged George Newton stood by as his body was laid to rest in the chancel of the church which had once resounded with the 'alarm' of his calls to the un­converted.

Sure Guide to Heaven
By Joseph Alleine / Banner Of Truth

R.J. Rushdoony and the Institutes of Biblical Law

Institutes of Biblical Law
By Rousas J. Rushdoony / P & R Publishing

I finally did it!!! After nearly 3 years of reading it on and off I finally finished Rushdoony’s Institutes of Biblical Law; all 850 pages (well almost, I have a few more pages of Appendices to go but I’m pretty much done).

While there have naturally been a few things that I’m not really sure I agree with overall I have to say it has been very profitable and one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read in a while. He was definitely a gifted teacher with some brilliant insights into Scripture.

In the formative years of my Christian life I spent a great deal of time in Dispensational churches that warned me to stay away from Reformed doctrines or I would get sucked into their many errors. When I finally got the biblical guts to study Reformed teachings for myself (instead of only listening to one side of the story) and compare them to Scripture I found much to my surprise that a great deal of what I had been told about them was skewed, distorted and often taken out of context. I must say I see a similar thing happening to many of the Theonomists. While I can see why some of the criticisms that I have heard of Rushdoony were leveled against Him (he says a few things that no doubt seem strange to modern “Evangelical” ears) I have found that many of these criticisms are outright lies based on statements taken completely out of context.

While a few of those in the Theonomy camp have notoriously big mouths, and some of them would probably disown me because I’m a Baptist and hold a little more of an Amillennial view of Eschatology, and while I’m not entirely sure I agree with a few of the things that I have heard from some of them, I have to say that I agree completely and wholeheartedly with their fundamental starting point; God made everything, God owns everything and we must arrange every aspect of this earthly existence according to His Word which addresses every aspect of life. We owe this to Him as His creatures. There’s no way around it, this is the undeniable teaching of Scripture and the core belief of almost all of the Reformers and Puritans.

I find it amusing that many of those who seem to revel and glory in the Reformers and Puritans will quickly condemn the Theonomists when the Theonomists and the Puritans are virtually identical in many of their beliefs and practices. There seems to be a great deal of ignorance of what the Reformers and Puritans were really like. Many in our day seem to read a few quotes or maybe a small book or two and conclude that these great men only concerned themselves with “spiritual,” “heavenly” matters when the truth of the matter is that while they kept their hope fixed on Christ and the glory of the age to come, they brought the Word and the Law of God to bear on everything, much like Mr. Rushdoony has tried to do in this book.

So if you’re interested in some serious thought provoking I would very highly recommend this book to you. I often found it very hard to put down.

The Anatomy of Secret Sins

New at Polemos
Some Good Quotes
Secret Sins

“…sin is like a candle in a lantern, where the shining is first within and then bursting out at the windows, or like boils and ulcer­ous humors that are scabs and scurvy stuff. They are first within the skin, and afterwards they break out to the view on the outside. So it is with sin. It is a malignant humor and a fretting leprosy, diffus­ing itself into several secret acts and workings within the mind. Then it breaks abroad and dares adventure the practice of itself to the eye of the world. Though that sin may never see the light, it is still like a child who is alive, but buried in the womb. Yet as that child is a man—a true man there closeted in that hidden frame of nature—so sin is truly sin, though it never gets out beyond the womb that conceived and enlivened it...”

-Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658) The Anatomy of Secret Sins

“…secret sins will become public sins if they are not cleansed. It is with the soul as it is with the body wherein diseases are first bred and then manifested. And if you suppress them not in their root, you shall shortly see them break out in the fruit. It is like fire that catches the inside of the house first, and there, if you do not suppress it, will make a way to get to the outside. "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin" Jam 1:15). Beloved, remember this: though the first ground of sin is within the heart, yet the propensity of sin is to come forth into public. The child in the womb does not have stronger throes to get out of its private lodging than sin secretly wrought to fly into open and manifest action…”

-Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658) The Anatomy of Secret Sins

“Brethren, how many are there who apparel themselves in the secret thoughts of abhorred wickedness, but even in the secret actings of the same, as if there were no God to look on them, nor conscience to spy on them, nor Judg­ment Day to arraign them! Oh, how infinitely odious you must be in the eyes of that holy God, who dare to court Him in public, and yet dare to provoke Him to His face thus in private. You are like a whorish strumpet who dissembles marvelous affections to her husband abroad, and yet at home she will violate the covenant of her God be­fore her husband's eyes. So you pretend so much for God before com­pany, and yet in private you will presume to sin before His face! He sees you, and your conscience knows that right well.”

-Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658) The Anatomy of Secret Sins

“…hypocrisy, which is a screen to your sin, a holy cover for an unholy heart and practice. [This] makes the sinner so much the more vile in God's eyes, by how much the more that he not only sins against God, but wrests, as it were, something from God to cover and palliate his rebellion against Him.”

-Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658) The Anatomy of Secret Sins

The world is a great inn

"The world is a great inn; we are guests in this inn. Travellers, when they are met in their inn, do not spend all their time in speaking about the inn; they are to lodge there but a few hours and are gone. They speak about their home and the country to which they are travelling. So when we meet together, we should not be talking only about the world; we are to leave this presently. We should talk about our heavenly country."

Thomas Watson (1620 - 1686), Heaven Taken By Storm

Good quote Kent! Thanks.

Biographical

New at Polemos
Biographical
Puritans, The

1. The Family Life of Philip and Matthew Henry
   Scott Brown
2. The Multigenerational Vision of the Mather Family
   Scott Brown

Biographical
Reformation, The

1. Calvin's Piety: The Heartbeat of the Reformation
   Dr. Joel Beeke
2. Luther - The Monk Who Shook the World
   Rev. John Greer

Puritans and Reformers

The Reformed Pastor - audiobook

New at Pol'-e-store
Puritans, By the Puritans
Audiobook on CD

The Reformed Pastor - audiobook on CD By Richard Baxter / Hovel Audio Inc.

Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards Pt. 2

36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it. Dec. 19, 1722.

37. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,- what sin I have committed,-and wherein I have denied myself;-also at the end of every week, month and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.

38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord' s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.

39. Resolved, never to do any thing of which I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

42. Resolved, frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism; which I solemnly renewed, when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have solemnly re-made this twelfth day of January, 1722-23.

43. Resolved, never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God' s; agreeable to what is to be found in Saturday, January 12, 1723.

44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. January 12, 1723.

45. Resolved, never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.

46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.

47. Resolved, to endeavor, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere temper; and to do at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5, 1723.

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

49. Resolved, that this never shall be, if I can help it.

50. Resolved, I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51. Resolved, that I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age, say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in conversation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, Resolved to endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if, I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. Resolved, when I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as providence orders it. I will as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty, and my sin. June 9, and July 13 1723.

58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.

59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.

60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4, and 13, 1723.

61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty, and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man:‹knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.Š June 25 and July 13, 1723.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. January 14 and July 13, 1723.

64. Resolved, when I find those ‹groanings which cannot be utteredŠ (Romans 8:26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those‹breakings of soul for the longing it hath,Š of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 119:20, that I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

65. Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness, of which I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance; according to Dr. Manton' s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119. July 26, and Aug.10 1723.

66. Resolved, that I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.

67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what am I the better for them, and what I might have got by them.

68. Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

69. Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. August 11, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. August 17, 1723.

Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards Pt. 1

At a time when many are thinking about their New Years resolutions I thought it might be profitable to post these resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. If I'm not mistaken he wrote most of these between the ages of 17 and 23.

THE RESOLUTIONS
of
Jonathan Edwards

BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God' s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. July 30.

9. Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

11. Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder.

12. Resolved, if I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

13. Resolved, to be endeavoring to find out fit objects of charity and liberality.

14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.

15. Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.

16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

17. Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

18. Resolved, to live so, at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.

19. Resolved, never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.

20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance, in eating and drinking.

21. Resolved, never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him. (Resolutions 1 through 21 written in one setting in New Haven in 1722)

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

23. Resolved, frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God' s glory, to repute it as a breach of the 4th Resolution.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

25. Resolved, to examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and to direct all my forces against it.

26. Resolved, to cast away such things, as I find do abate my assurance.

27. Resolved, never willfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.

30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

31. Resolved, never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.

32. Resolved, to be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Proverbs 20:6, A faithful man who can find? may not be partly fulfilled in me.

33. Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.

34. Resolved, in narrations never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.

35. Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.

Alarm to the Unconverted!

New at Polemos
Puritans, The
Audio Links

1. Alarm to the Unconverted! part 1
   Joseph Alleine • Alleine's Alarm • 90 min.
   Grace Audio Treasures

2. Alarm to the Unconverted! part 2
   Joseph Alleine • Alleine's Alarm • 88 min.
   Grace Audio Treasures

3. Alarm to the Unconverted! part 3
   Joseph Alleine • Alleine's Alarm • 90 min.
   Grace Audio Treasures

4. Alarm to the Unconverted! part 4
   Joseph Alleine • Alleine's Alarm • 87 min.
   Grace Audio Treasures

5. Alarm to the Unconverted! part 5
   Joseph Alleine • Alleine's Alarm • 53 min.
   Grace Audio Treasures

Art of Man Fishing

New at Pol'-e-store
Evangelism

Art of Man Fishing: A Puritan's View of Evangelism By Thomas Boston / Christian Focus Public "Thomas Boston penned a classic of the Christian faith, addressing soul winning for every follower of Christ that is still applicable three centuries after he wrote it. In his imperative, convicting tone he calls believers to the relentless spreading of the Gospel and the weight of his words, borrowing heavily from Scripture, carry the message straight to the core of the reader. While remaining unfinished, the book culminates with eight essays on those ways where the fisherman can best imitate Christ, all the while gently imploring the Christlikeness that he himself exhibited in his life and brought to fruition in evangelism."