TEXT: Philippians 3:17

SUBJECT: The Puritans #12: At Their Best

For the last year or so, we’ve spent one Sunday afternoon a month looking at the Puritan View of Life. The book we’re using to guide is called Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were. The author is Leland Ryken, a professor of English at Wheaton College, near Chicago. The book is still in print, fairly cheap, easy to understand, and by far the best introduction to Puritan life that I’ve seen.

Last time, we studied the Puritans at their worst. There’s much to recommend these men, but—like the rest of us—they weren’t perfect. Now, we’ll look at the other side of the coin, that is, what the Puritans did best.

The Puritans did a lot of things right. We’ll look at five of them in this lecture, and may God enable us to follow them under the Lordship of Christ.

What did the Puritans most believe in?

Underline the word, highest. The Puritans were not monks, hidden away in a cell trying to penetrate the glory of God. No, for the most part, they were family men who enjoyed life at home, on the job, in church, and as part of society. They believed the whole creation was good—and meant to be enjoyed. They were right about this; it’s in the Bible—I Timothy 4:4, 6:17,

Marriage and kids, good work and fun holidays, eating and drinking, going to parties and laughing with friends are all gifts of God’s love—and good.

But they can never be your highest good or your chief happiness. That, you see, belongs to God. Ryken says,

He’s right, of course, you can open Puritan books at random—and you won’t finish more than a page or two without reading words to this effect. Ryken offers a small sample:

Writing to his daughter just before her wedding, Oliver Cromwell said,

This is good marriage counseling. If your husband is a Christian, then he bears the Image of Christ to some degree. Love Christ in him—and as for the rest of him (the parts not so Christ like), love them too, because they’re touched by the Christ like parts.

On this point, the Puritans were not original. Twelve hundred years before, St. Augustine, confessed,

Neither was he the first to think this way. Four hundred years before Augustine, Paul said,

A thousand years before, godly poets said,

Living for God and putting Him first was Puritanism greatest achievement. They didn’t always live up to it, of course. But they tried. And that’s saying a lot. Now, how about you? I know you have other joys in life, others things to do, other goals to achieve, and so on. But what about this one? Martha, the dear friend of our Lord, was "Cumbered about with many things". But her sister knew better, "There is one thing needful, and Mary has chosen the best part and it will not be taken from her".

Are you putting God before your job or your family or your church or even yourself? You ought to be, for these other things cannot be truly loved or enjoyed until you put them in their place—which is always second place.

Most Christians divide up their lives into three categories: (1) religious, e.g., going to church, reading the Bible, family devotions, and witnessing; (2) secular, e.g., work, hobbies, chores, or going to the movies; and (3) in-between, like family, which is partly secular and party spiritual.

If you or I said this to the Puritans, they would have thought we were Roman Catholic. That, after all, was how they divvied up life. Traditional Catholic parents, for example, would be much prouder of their son the priest, than they would of their other kids who were only doctors, farmers, and housewives. You see what I’m getting at, don’t you? It’s the idea that some parts of life are spiritual and others are worldly. That being a pastor or a missionary is full-time Christian service, while being a CPA or a garbage man allows for only part-time Christian service.

The Puritans did not accept the categories. To their way of thinking, everything is religious. The mom who changes the baby’s diaper is serving Christ no less than the missionary who’s preaching to the cannibals.

This, too, is in the Bible, I Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:23-24,

The carpenter who eats a ham sandwich with thankfulness is spiritual while the pastor who serves the Lord’s Supper—while thinking about something else—is worldly! Or, the believing janitor who mops the floor well is doing the work of a saint. This is what the Bible teaches—and what the Puritans practiced.

A few quotes will bear this out:

The last quote is the one I find most interesting. If I understand Swinnock, he’s not saying both shop and chapel are sacred. No, what’s he saying is Both shop and chapel are equally sacred. For a tailor, sewing a cuff well was an act of worship; charging a fair price was praising God. The effect this had on the Puritan farmer or blacksmith was revolutionary. He didn’t have to feel ashamed about what he did—shoeing a horse is equal to preaching the Gospel! But now—because all work is God’s work—he had to do it well. If sloppy sermons are sinful, then so is bad farming.

A quick word here to the kids and young adults: If God has called you to some secular field, like computers or accounting or construction, never let well-meaning—but stupid—Christians make you feel bad by telling you "You ought to be serving God". If you’re working hard and well and cooperatively, you are serving God.

The church I grew up in put pressure on young men to become preachers. I knew a dozen young men who went forward at the end of the sermon to "Surrender to the ministry". I heard every one of them preach—several times over the years—and, in my opinion, not one of them had the gift of preaching. Yet, they were pressured into becoming preachers and shamed into keeping up the pretense. That may explain why very few of the pastors in that denomination can preach a lick! They’re not called; they’re not equipped, but they want to serve the Lord—and they feel there’s no way to do it but by being a pastor or a missionary.

Baloney! If

…then all work is sacred and ought to be done for the glory of Jesus Christ.

The Puritans emphasized this. We’d do well to learn from them.

The Puritans differed on many issues. But on one point there was total agreement: God is in charge—in charge, not just of the big picture, but of every little detail. And again, they got their doctrine out of the Bible. Psalm 135:6 is a good example,

That pretty well covers it, doesn’t it? The Ancient world saw the universe as a three-story building: heaven above, hell below, and the earth in-between. Whatever the Lord wants to do—in any of the three floors—He does. Without asking permission or waiting for our consent.

Some people think the sovereignty of God negates hard work. This is why Arminians reject the doctrine and why many who accept it are so lazy and apathetic. If God has decreed to save the Elect, to build His Church, and to bring everything under the Lordship of Christ, then why should we worry about these things or work ourselves to death trying to bring them about? Why not believe the promises of God and sit back?

The Puritans had an answer for that. Ryken sums it up,

In other words, the decree of God is absolutely certain—He will do everything He has willed to do. But He’ll do all these things, partly, through the hard work of His people.

The Puritans knew that God would one day save every one of His Elect, that He’d purify the Church, and that the whole universe would one day submit to Him with joy. But these great goals would not be achieved by miracle, but as God works in us and we work with Him. Paul said we are

The sovereignty of God relieves no Christian of His duty to run after holiness, to fight against temptation and to win others to Christ through many tears. No, these are the very means God uses to effect His decree.

Calvinist are always tempted to "trust" God in an ungodly way—to use faith in His promises to excuse laziness and disobedience. But John Bunyan warned,

It’s a lot easier to believe, "God will save the lost" than to go out and get them. But the Puritans both trusted…and obeyed.

If you know the Puritans at all, you know this is true. They didn’t always interpret the Bible correctly—it seems to me—but they never doubted its inspiration or its authority. And this saved them so much time and effort and made decisions we agonize over very easy to make.

Ryken says,

Quoting William Perkins, he goes on,

When I hear people laughing at the Bible and denying its authority, I get mad at them. I ought to weep for them. Not only have they lost their only hope for heaven, but they’ve made their earthly lives impossible to live!

How do you make a decision without a standard to go by? Do you consult the polls? But they’ll change before long. Do you sort out your feelings? Feelings are notoriously unreliable. Do you ask your friends—and if so—which ones? Do you turn to the experts—and if you do—which one is right?

Think of abortion. The public opinion polls are split right down the middle. Your feelings are all mixed up—you love the baby, yet you fear not being able to take care of it. One friend will tell you to have the procedure, another will tell you to have the baby. Your boyfriend is begging you not to have the baby, but your parents are begging you to have the baby. You turn to the doctors—but this is not a medical decision at all (unless pregnancy endangers your life). Ethically, all they can do is lay out the options. Dr. Edell will urge you to do it, Dr. Dobson will say don’t.

Everyone says it’s an important decision. But how do you make it without a standard? Is flipping a coin good enough? No. You need the Bible for this one.

And for others ones too. How do you decide who has the last word in the family? Do you arm wrestle for it? Draw straws? Take turns? Most people spend their whole married lives fighting for control. But the Christian can turn to the Bible and five minutes learn,

This doesn’t make family life easy all the time. But it answers the theoretical question: who’s in charge? If both husband and wife submit to God’s word, their life together will be much easier and more peaceful than it otherwise would be.

This is the glory of Puritanism. At their best, the Puritans were avid readers of the Word and eager doers of the Word. Why? Because it is God’s Word! The Word of their Savior and of their King.

And not only theirs—but ours too. God gave us the Puritans—not to follow blindly—but to learn from. They have a lot to teach. Now let’s get busy learning the lessons and putting them into practice.

The love of God be with you all. Amen.