Puritans Living in Relationship to Affliction, Desertion, and Sin -- By: Joel R. Beeke
Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 05:2 (Spring 1996)
Article: Puritans Living in Relationship to Affliction, Desertion, and Sin
Author: Joel R. Beeke
RAR 5:2 (Spring 1996) p. 101
Puritans Living in Relationship to Affliction, Desertion, and Sin
The Puritans were renowned for preaching. Their prolific literature consists largely of sermons made ready for print. Their preaching was nicknamed “plain style” preaching for its biblical, doctrinal, experiential, and practical manner. They aimed, in the words of Robert Burns, “to bring Christianity home to men’s bosoms and business.” In what follows Dr. Joel Beeke aims to expound Romans 8:28 as the Puritans might have preached it in our day; hence the title of this article as well as the large number of Puritan quotations. We hope your appetite will be whetted to dig more deeply into Puritan writings. For this purpose consult Dr. Beeke’s annotated Puritan bibliography supplied later in this issue. In keeping with the Puritan tradition Dr. Beeke’s textual citations are from the King James Version.
Paul states a profound, comforting truth for the genuine Christian in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The life of a Christian resembles the works of a watch. Open a watch, and what do you see? You see that certain wheels which turn in a counterclockwise direction are attached to other wheels that are working in a clockwise direction. Your first thought may be that the watchmaker is either foolish or confused. But he is neither.
Rather, he has so arranged the works of this watch and put in a mainspring to govern all its wheels, that when wound, though one wheel turns clockwise and another counterclockwise, all work together to move the hands around the face of the watch at precisely the right speed. Many wheels appear to counteract each other, but they all work together for the identical purpose of revealing accurate time.
Such is symbolic of the life of God’s people. Some wheels
RAR 5:2 (Spring 1996) p. 102
in their life run clockwise, which provides hope that the events of their lives directed by God’s providence are good for them, but other acts of God’s providence seem to run counterclockwise, that is, they seem to run against them. Only when their eye of faith is fixed on the great “Watchmaker” (and “Watch-preserver”), who has planned everything in His all-wise decree, do they see and understand that He has placed the mainspring of free grace within their “watch-life” so that all providential and spiritual wheels work together for their welfare. Yes, believer, though much often seems counterclockwise and against you when you see one wheel of providen...
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