A Brief Glance at John Owen

August 24, 1683

Puritan John Owen Focused on Christ

Dan Graves, MSL

John Owen's later years were hard. As a young man, he had been majestic in appearance; but long hours of study, the many troubles of his life, and disease wasted him. He died on this day, August 24, 1683 at Ealing (a few miles from London). But his funeral showed how highly he was regarded, for throngs attended, including many notable men.

At Oxford University, which he entered in 1628 at twelve years of age, John pored over books so much that he undermined his health by sleeping only four hours a night. In old age he deeply regretted this misuse of his body, and said he would give up all the additional learning it brought him if only he might have his health back. Naturally, he studied the classics of the western world, but also Hebrew, the literature of the Jewish rabbis, mathematics and philosophy. His beliefs at that time were Presbyterian, however, his ambition, although fixed on the church, was worldly.

John was driven from Oxford in 1637 when Archbishop Laud issued rules that many of England's more democratically-minded or "low" church ministers could not accept. After this, John was in deep depression. He struggled to resolve religious issues to his satisfaction. While in this state, he heard a sermon on the text "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" which fired him with new decisiveness.

After that, John wrote a rebuke of Arminianism (a theology which teaches that man has some say in his own salvation or damnation although God is still sovereign). Ordained shortly before his expulsion from Oxford, he was given work at Fordham in Essex. After that he rose steadily in public affairs. Before all was over, he would become one of the top administrators of the university which expelled him and he even sat in Parliament.

He became a Congregationalist (Puritan) and took Parliament's side in the English Civil Wars. Oliver Cromwell employed him in positions of influence and trust, but John would not go along when Cromwell became "Protector." In spite of this, many of Parliament's leaders attended John's church.

John's reputation was so great that he was offered many churches. One was in Boston, Massachusetts. John turned that down, but he once scolded the Puritans of New England for persecuting people who disagreed with them.

He also engaged in controversy with such contemporaries as Richard Baxter and Jeremy Taylor. Through it all, John focused his teaching on the person of Christ. "If Christ had not died," he said, "sin had never died in any sinner unto eternity." In another place he noted that "Christ did not die for any upon condition, if they do believe; but he died for all God's elect, that they should believe."

John wrote many books including a masterpiece on the Holy Spirit. Kidney stones and asthma tormented him in his last years. But he died peacefully in the end, eyes and hands lifted up as if in prayer.

Bibliography:

   1. John Owen. http://www.theocentric.com/johnowen/

   2. "Owen, John." Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith and Elder, 1901.

   3. "Owen, John." Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica Corp., 1911, 1968.

   4. "Owen, John." The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956.

   5. "Owen, John." Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.

   6. Thomas, I. D. E. A Puritan Golden Treasury. Banner of Truth, 1975.

God, the Gospel, and Glen Beck

What happens when a well-known Mormon calls the nation to revival? Is that a good sign? What do evangelicals think about it? What SHOULD they think about it? Many Christians seem excited about Glen Beck's attention to religion in the national media. But don't be fooled, dear Christian. Please, please be careful in this arena. Mormons simply are not Christians in any sense of the term! Read the following article for a well-written, insightful approach to this subject. Thank you Dr. Moore. 

Moore to the Point by Russell D. Moore

REVIVAL! A People Saturated With God

Edwin Orr, one of our greatest authorities on the subject of revival, reported having seen two churches in a town in America both advertising revival meetings. One displayed a board saying, “Revival here every Monday night,” while the other promised: “Revival here every night except Monday!”

If nothing else, that reminds us how loosely the word has been used. In America it has often been used in place of the word mission or campaign. It is something a church arranges, men organize, and God may or may not bless it.

Revival swallows up all other words as the shark swallows the shrimp. So, historically, what does the word revival refer to? The church historian James Buchanan defined revival as “the imparting of life to those who are dead, and the imparting of health to those who are dying.” But that does not take us far enough. Jonathan Edwards, who saw revival in his church in America 250 years ago, explained it as “God’s major means of extending his kingdom,” and more recently Edwin Orr defined these outpourings of the Spirit as a “movement of the Holy Spirit bringing about a revival of New Testament Christianity in the church of Christ and its related community.”

One thing is clear: almost as soon as you try to define the word revival, you find yourself describing what a revival is. Duncan Campbell, “who was himself involved in revival this century, described it simply as ‘a community saturated with God’, and I am not sure that we shall ever get closer to the heart of it than that.

Of course, some churches are growing and some sinners are being converted, but by and large we have become expert at simply shuffling the pack as dissatisfied or grumbling Christians move from church to church. Revival is not when the churches exchange members, but when the Holy Spirit changes lives. Revival is needed, not because of the state of the world, but because of the state of the church. Only when we realize this can there be any hope of God sending us revival.

Taken from "Revival! A People Saturated With God" by Brian

H. Edwards, Evangelical Press, Faverdale North Darlington

DL3 OPH, England (pp. 25-26; 37-38)

A Lost Letter to Wormwood (conclusion)

I quote Kevin DeYoung's article below. It can be found on his blog HERE. Many of you will recognize the style as coming from C. S. Lewis. It is not his, but a take-off. And he hits the nail on the head. Take the time to read this carefully. I have included one follow-up comment which bears repeating. NOTE: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis are fictional communications between two devils, Screwtape and his young nephew, Wormwood. Throughout, Screwtape is offering his nephew advice on how to destroy or at least minimize the effectiveness in disciples of the enemy (God).

We pick up the letter with Screwtape’s instructions on how to keep his nephew’s college-aged subject away from church and perfectly wretched…

At the risk of insulting your diabolical intelligence, allow me to remind me of your course in Youth Misery. Recall the Three S’s of Satan, our Sinister Snake (I know, he sometimes gets carried away with alliteration, but it does help jog the old memory). The Three S’s of youth misery: Keep them separate. Keep them selfish. Keep them searching. Allow me to expound.

The First S: Keep them separate. Our Bureau of Statistics (remember there are lies, damned lies, and statistics) has documented evidence proving that the best way to keep young people from growing into devoted followers of the Enemy is to keep them far away from any of his grown-up, devoted followers. Church attendance allows for too much interaction between old and young. With this interaction come manifold dangers: modeling, mentoring, service, and hospitality.

Listen closely. Groups of students meeting together for prayer and study is, it’s true, a pernicious influence, but gladly, the influence is often short-lived. Soon, your subject will graduate and he will find that the rest of the planet is not like his university. He will not be surrounded by peers all his age with his same interests. It is to our advantage that he be unable to relate to anyone above the age of 25. This not only makes for misery, but it makes church involvement, and therefore the Christian life, much less likely.

This, of course, goes hand in hand with the Second S: Keep them selfish. It’s really quite simple.  All of our human subjects are selfish, but the young especially. It’s hardly their fault. They have no spouse or children to think of, only themselves. They have food handed to them on plastic platters. And they live in a country that believes for some strange reason, pleasant enough to us, that history doesn’t matter, that the old are useless, and that youth culture should be prized above all else. And yet, I must hasten to add, don’t underestimate your subject. Human youths are capable of extraordinary acts of courage and bravery and accomplishment, as the Annals of the Enemy record. Keep your youth far away from such examples. See to it that no visions of nobility or self-sacrifice or inspiration enter his head.

Which again, if I may repeat myself, is why church must be foresworn at all costs. It is at church that he will see examples of lived-out bravery and sacrifice. And, more importantly, it is at church that he will have to face his own selfishness. He will encounter music he doesn’t like and old people who do strange things and babies who smell and cry. (Incidentally, I only mention babies because your subject is male, as is mine. The female youth I am told must not, under any circumstances, be surrounded by small children, those children enticing the females to re-visit church rather than repulsing them away as with most male subjects). My point is that so long as the spiritual experiences of our youthful subjects can be catered to the whims and fancies of 18-22 year olds, the students will not likely stick with a church when they discover that churches must also deal with the whims and fancies of 8 year olds and grandmothers.

One more thing, students today love the idea of community. Do everything in your power to keep them loving the idea of community rather than loving their community. As long as they love their vision of community instead of loving the actual fleshly people around them, they will never have real community and they will stay far away from church.

The Third S, and I here I draw to a close, is to keep them searching. Use the native restlessness of this time to your advantage. Students think it is their inalienable right to be irresponsible and uncommitted. Feed this conviction. Do not, in any way, allow for your subject to consider commitment or service or what they call “accountability.” If he must be interested in God, keep it peripheral. Let him come and go and flit in and out of whatever spiritual venue suits him for the day. But see to it that he makes no promises, no commitments, no investment. And in the unlikely event that you cannot prevent such blunders, make sure there is no one in his life to hold him to his promises and commitments, especially those who are older and wiser. This goal is best served by keeping our patients away from church. Remember the cross-stitch (pardon my use of the foul word “cross”) above auntie’s fridge: “Keep them searching for the soul; never finding and never whole.”

All that’s left is for me to thank you for your patience in reading what has turned out to be a rather lengthy correspondence. Please do not hear my harsh words as anything but familial concern for your welfare and the good of our Infernal Kingdom.

Would you be so kind as to write me back as soon as possible? These are weighty matters and we truly live in troubled times. Might I suggest you use the post instead of email–what with your past internet struggles and dalliance with sermonography?

Say hello to your father for me. Best wishes in your malfeasance, malevolence, and malediction.

Unscrupulously yours,

Uncle Screwtape

Comment by LEW

This is good and helpful, but may I humbly suggest that it doesn’t adequately address the chief reason why the devil wishes to keep people away from the church, even weak and warped churches? That is, because that’s where the means of grace — especially Word and sacraments — are. He wants to keep them away from the means of grace because he wants to keep them away from the God who can strike straight blows with crooked sticks, who can convey heavenly treasures via weak and foolish jars of clay. Praise God that he can do end runs around the means of his appointment, but take heed because we cannot. Satan and his minions know that.

 

Don't Jump Ahead of God!

Not that anyone really CAN jump ahead of God. He knows the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10). And because God is timeless, He can never be late, or "miss" an appointment. These seem obvious to us. So it seems so until we're in the middle of a decision and have occasion as did Saul to upend God's clear command. He was to have waited seven days per Samuel's orders. But he didn't. The pressure was on, no doubt. The Philistines were gathered and ready to quell this rebellion and to put Israel back into rank servitude! Saul reasoned, "I have to act! I have to do something!" That's so American, isn't it? 

Disobedience = Rabbit's Foot 

So, Saul overstepped his boundaries and unlawfully offered the sacrifice in Samuel's absence. In so doing, Saul was viewing sacrifice to the God of heaven as, well, . . . a rabbit's foot! He needed divine help against these powerful and well-equipped Philistines. So, he "rubbed" the rabbit's foot to get a little magic. That's what men do when God is reduced to a formula for success instead of a God to be loved and obeyed! Since Samuel was taking so long to show up, he took matters into his own hands (a good leader?), and sought out God's favor by offering sacrifice himself.

But that's not the way God works! We've seen this before. It never works! Sarah couldn't wait for God to fulfill his promise so she had Abraham father a child by Hagar, her handmaiden. Wrong! You shoulda waited on the Lord. ALWAYS!

Samuel's question resounds down through the centuries, "What have you done?" That's always the question, isn't it? When we've usurped God's authority, taken matters into our own hands, and created destruction single-handedly, then we need to hear, "What have you done?" 

Faith waits on God no matter how long He takes. Faith assumes God is always right, always on time, and always wise. And they are wise who give God space to accomplish his perfect designs in His own time! So, because Saul refused to believe God, Samuel spoke: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart . . . (1 Sam. 13:13-14). Wait on the Lord.  

Missionary John Paton on Classroom Discipline

I borrow the following from Ray Van Neste's blog (Oversight of Souls) this past week. It only seems fitting for me to quote this article since we here at Perry Baptist have a goodly number of members involved in education. They would, no doubt, view Paton's methodology with admiration mixed with horror! But not his heart, for that is royal. Oh, that we took God more seriously ourselves!

In honor of our new semester beginning next week, I thought I would post a story from the autobiography of John G. Paton, which was passed on to me by Patrick Brown. This famous, godly missionary knew how to manage a classroom.

“The following week, a young man and a young woman began to attend the Night School, who showed from the first moment that they were bent on mischief.  By talking aloud, joking, telling stories, and laughing, they stopped the work of the School.  On my repeated appeals for quiet and order, they became the more boisterous, and gave great merriment to a few of the scholars present.  I finally urged the young man, a tall, powerful fellow, to be quiet or at once to leave, declaring that at all hazards I must and would have perfect order; but he only mocked at me, and assumed a fighting attitude.  Quietly locking the door and putting the key in my pocket, I turned to my desk, armed myself with the cane, and dared any one at his peril to interfere betwixt us.  It was a rough struggle – he smashing at me clumsily with his fists, I with quick movements evading and dealing him blow after blow with the heavy cane for several rounds – till at length he crouched down at his desk, exhausted and beaten, and I ordered him to turn to his book, which he did in sulky silence.  Going to my desk, I addressed them, and asked them to inform all who wished to come to the School, That if they came for education, everything would be heartily done that it was in my power to do; but that any who wished for mischief had better stay away, as I was determined to conquer, not to be conquered, and to secure order and silence, whatever it might cost.  Further, I assured them that that cane would not again be lifted by me, if kindness and forbearance on my part could possibly gain the day, as I wished to rule by love and not by terror.  But this young man knew he was in the wrong, and it was that which had made him weak against me, though every way stronger far than I.  Yet I would be his friend and helper, if he was willing to be friendly with me, the same as if this night had never been.  At these words a dead silence fell on the School; every one buried face diligently in book; and the evening closed in uncommon quiet and order.” (46-48, in edition linked above)

Heb 13:7:  “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith”

Is This Your Cry?

Those who've endured any trials of faith know and admit freely how weak we are in terms of our own repentance. We fight, and often feel ourselves to lose. Yet, we win and glorify God in the winning. And don't we love it when someone is able to formulate the words that we want to say, but just don't have ready at hand? Hear then the following prayer. Please take the time to read this slowly, meditatively. The true servant of God will find agreement in these expressions:

O GOD OF GRACE,

Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,

   and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul,

   clothing me with a bridegroom's robe, 

   decking me with jewels of holiness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;

   my best prayers are stained with sin;

   my penitential tears are so much impurity;

   my confessions of wrong are so many 

      aggravations of sin;

   my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.

I need to repent of my repentance;

I need my tears to be washed;

I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,

   no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,

   and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,

   for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,

   and always returning home as a prodigal,

   always saying, Father, forgive me,

   and thou art always bringing forth

      the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,

   every evening return in it,

   go out to the day's work in it,

   be married in it,

   be wound in death in it,

   stand before the great white throne in it,

   enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

Grant me never to lose sight of 

   the exceeding sinfulness of sin,

   the exceeding righteousness of salvation,

   the exceeding glory of Christ,

   the exceeding beauty of holiness,

   the exceeding wonder of grace.

Highly recommended for serious seekers of God . . . The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions.