I’m not a very smart guy. I get some things, to be sure, but on the whole, I have neither the capacity nor the inclination to be a ‘brain’.
But I have just enough sense to know a good thing when I see (read) it, and for me, the Puritans have consistently given a plentitude of “Wow!” moments. I plan to try and read some going forward.
I’m also not very good at consistency. Check the archives to see what I mean… and so I pulled out the shortest book by a puritan author I know – Joseph Alleine’s A Sure Guide to Heaven. You may know it by the title I know it by: Alleine’s Alarm.
Iain Murray gives a great peek into Alleine’s life in a short preface to the book, sketching a broad strokes biography of his life. It’s interesting to read and makes me realize I really need to understand more of the 17th century history of the church in Scotland if I really want to get to the root of my quest to know what it is to be Presbyterian. But that’s another book!
In his introduction to the reader, Alleine spells out his earnest desire to see their conversion:
With what shall I win them? O that I could tell! I would write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins for ink, I would petition them on my knees. O how thankful should I be if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn.
His zeal for the lost is something that Murray pointed out as a solid underpinning of his entire life and work. It’s no wonder that his passion rises here as he considers the best way to reach those in danger of damnation.
His conclusion about the best way to present his argument for conversion is masterful. He outlines his plan for the rest of the treatise, how he will empty out the ink in argument to prevail upon them to repentance. He writes:
Some of you do not know what I mean by conversion, and in vain shall I attempt to persuade you to that which you do not understand. Therefore for your sakes I will show what conversion is.
Others cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they continue as they are. For them I must show the necessity of conversion.
Others are likely to harden themselves with a vain conceit that they are converted already. To them I must show the marks of the unconverted.
Others, because they feel no harm, fear none, and so sleep as upon the top of a mast. To them I shall show the misery of the unconverted.
Others sit still, because they do not see the way of escape. To them I shall show the means of conversion.
And finally, for the quickening of all, I shall close with the motives to conversion.
Chapter One is entitled Mistakes about Conversion and looks set to put paid to faulty ideas before examining more closely the nature of conversion in Chapter Two. I’m looking forward to getting into Ch. 1, and beyond, and letting my soul just luxuriate in these basic, but essential truths, written as only the Puritans can write – in a way that makes the truth like a comfortable coat I can’t wait to wear, knowing it will keep me safe and warm from the buffeting winds that life will bring along.
Should be fun! You can get this book at Banner of Truth – or even read along online.
