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Lightly modernized for today's readersThis is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.-1 TIM. 1:15.I. Obs. The salvation of sinners was the main design of Christ's coming into the world.II. God often makes the chiefest sinners objects of his choicest mercy. Regarding the second point, it should be noted that: 1.God has previously extended invitations to such sinners. Look at how sinful they were, as described in Isaiah 1. They were rebels, and rebels against the one who had nurtured them: "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me" (verse 2). In this respect, they were worse than the animals they owned; the dull ox and the stupid donkey were more clever: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not consider" (verse 3). God calls on heaven and earth to judge them (verse 2). He appeals to men and angels as a jury to give their verdict, whether these people had not been the most ungrateful and disingenuous people in the world. If by "heaven and earth" he meant magistrates and people, as is usually the case in prophetic language, then God is appealing to them to let their own natural consciences and common sense judge between them. He accuses them of being "laden with iniquity" (verse 4). They had such heavy burdens on them that they could not move, or they were burdened like crabapples with sour fruit. They had come from a wicked stock; they had corrupted one another by their society and example, as rotten apples putrefy the sound ones that lie near them.

'The Life of God In The Soul of Man' was originally written as a private letter to a 'dear' friend, to explain Christianity. It was never intended for publication. Yet it has become a classic Puritan text and one of the most read and influential treatises ever written for the comfort of God's saints. Henry Scougal was born in 1650 and lived only 27 years, when he died of tuberculosis. Just before his death in 1677, Scougal allowed the private communication to his friend to be published.Nearly 70 years later, George Whitefield 'decided' to live a life of obedience and self denial to obtain the approval of God and assurance of salvation. To deny himself he quit the only thing he enjoyed, the Oxford 'Holy Club' where he was acquainted with John and Charles Wesley. In the spring of 1735, at the age of 20, they handed Whitefield this book 'The Life of God In The Soul of Man.' Whitefield said, "I reallywanted to know God and be assured of salvation, but even strict discipline didn't seem to help. God Showed me (in Scougal's writings) that I must be born again."The rest is history. The brief life of a young Christian, whose only 'work' was a letter to a friend, was used profoundly in the seeding of the great awakening in America. Scougal wrote that Christianity is not about external duties to perform, nor is it an emotion or feeling one has. He defines true religion as the union of the soul with God, a partaker of the divine nature, or in the apostle's words, "Christ in you, thehope of glory."

There is no better introduction to the Puritans than the writings of Richard Sibbes, who is, in many ways, a typical Puritan. `Sibbes never wastes the student's time,' wrote C. H. Spurgeon, `he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.'Since its first publication in 1630, The Bruised Reed has been remarkably fruitful as a source of spiritual help and comfort. Richard Baxter records: `A poor peddler came to the door . . . and my father bought of him Sibbe's Bruised Reed . . . It suited my state . . . and gave me a livelier apprehension of the mystery of redemption and how much I was beholden to Jesus Christ . . . Without any means but books was God pleased to resolve me to himself.' Such testimonies could be multiplied. Speaking of the preacher's need to suit his reading to the varying conditions he finds within, Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones says in his Preaching and Preachers:You will find, I think, in general that the Puritans are almost invariably helpful . . . I shall never cease to be grateful to one of them called Richard Sibbes who was balm to my soul at a period in my life when I was overworked and badly overtired, and therefore subject in an unusual manner to the onslaughts of the devil. In that state and condition . . . what you need is some gentle, tender treatment for your soul. I found at that time that Richard Sibbes, who was known in London in the early seventeenth century as `the heavenly Doctor Sibbes', was an unfailing remedy. His books The Bruised Reed and The Soul's Conflict quietened, soothed, comforted, encouraged and healed me."The prophet Isaiah, being lifted up and carried with the wing of a prophetical spirit, passes over all the time between him and the appearing of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Seeing with the eye of prophecy, and with the eye of faith, Christ as present, he presents him, in the name of God, to the spiritual eye of others, in these words: `Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth' (Isa. 42:1 3). These words are alleged by Matthew as fulfilled now in Christ (Matt. 12:18 20). In them are propounded, first, the calling of Christ to his office; secondly, the manner in which he carries it out.

In this classic work, Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs gives 14 sermons on the regulative principle, meticulously explaining the right manner of appraching and worshipping God."Jeremiah Burroughs, in his classic book Gospel Worship, said, "The reason why we worship God in a slight way is because we do not see God in His glory." Modern man hears about a God who isn't worth worshiping. Why should he worship a God who wants to do good, but can't pull it off because man just won't cooperate? Who then is sovereign? Man is!" - Don Kistler"Jeremiah Burroughs' Gospel Worship has greatly influenced my understanding of biblical worship. It is one of the most important books I have ever read."-R.C. Sproul"This treatise on Leviticus 10:1-3 is a call to propriety and sobriety in the worship of God. It deals with the believer's sanctification through "three great ordinances": (1) Hearing the Word, (2) Receiving the Lord's Supper, and (3) Prayer In a day that promotes man-made forms of worship, Gospel Worship is a call to biblical worship of the Triune God though the means that He has instituted. Burroughs shows how important worship is to God and teaches us how to "give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name" (Ps. 29:2). He makes plain that we do not need new forms of worship to be relevant, but to renew old forms of worship."-Joel Beeke

In his book Preachers and Preaching, Martyn Lloyd-Jones noted, "I shall never cease to be grateful to Richard Sibbes, who was balm to my soul at a period in my life when I was overworked and badly overtired, and therefore subject in an unusual manner to the onslaughts of the devil.... I found at that time that Richard Sibbes... was an unfailing remedy. His books The Bruised Reed and The Soul's Conflict quietened, soothed, comforted, encouraged, and healed me."In this book, Sibbes reflects on Psalm 42:11 - "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."There be two sorts of people always in the visible Church; one that Satan keeps under with false peace, whose life is nothing but a diversion to present contentments, and a running away from God and their own hearts, which they know can speak no good unto them, these speak peace to themselves, but God speaks none. Such have nothing to do with this scripture; the way for these men to enjoy comfort, is to be soundly troubled. True peace arises from knowing the worst first, and then our freedom from it. It is a miserable peace that ariseth from ignorance of evil. The angel troubled the waters, John v., and then cured those that stepped in. It is Christ's manner to trouble our souls first, and then to come with healing in his wings.But there is another sort of people, who being drawn out of Satan's kingdom and within the covenant of grace, whom Satan labours to unsettle and disquiet: being the god of the world, he is vexed to see men in the world, walk above the world. Since he cannot hinder their estate, he will trouble their peace, and damp their spirits, and cut asunder the sinews of all their endeavours.