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THOMAS WATSON PURITAN PAPERBACKS (two at this time)
Thomas Watson
WE NEED SAY NOTHING TO COMMEND THE GREAT THOMAS WATSON. WE ARE FEATURING SOME OF HIS MOST POWERFUL WORKS ON THIS PAGE. CONSIDER THE INCREDIBLE VALUE OF THESE BOOKS.
(1) THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS: or Religion Our True Interest
C.H. Spurgeon had a well-stocked library of around 12,000 volumes. However, one rare book was not to be found amongst that valuable collection: Thomas Watson on Malachi 3:16-18. With a note of sadness in his voice he said to his College students: ‘This volume would be a great find if we could come at it, for Watson is one of the clearest and liveliest of Puritan authors. We fear we shall never see this commentary, for we have tried to obtain it, and tried in vain’.
In this reset and lightly edited edition you can now read the book that was on Spurgeon’s ‘wish-list’! The Great Gain of Godliness is Watson’s exposition of Malachi 3:16-18. In it he aims ‘to encourage solid piety and confute the atheists of the world, who imagine there is no gain in godliness.’ This book has all the hallmarks of Thomas Watson’s other writings: a combination of rich spirituality, nourishing doctrine, and sane practical wisdom coupled with fascinating illustrations and a very pleasant style.
Author’s Preface vii
Publisher’s Preface ix
PART ONE
THE CHARACTER OF THE GODLY
1 Holding Fast in Evil Days 3
2 The Godly and the Fear of God 12
3 Reasons to Fear God 17
4 Walking in the Fear of God 19
5 The Excellence of the Fear of God 25
6 Is the Fear of God in Our Hearts? 37
7 The Godly Should Speak of God 62
8 The Godly Should Meditate on God’s Name 76
PART TWO
THE GOOD EFFECTS OF GODLINESS
9 God Regards the Piety of His People 95
10 God Records the Piety of His People 101
11 God Rewards the Piety of His People 111
12 God Rewards His People by Owning Them 119
13 God Rewards His People by Honouring Them 126
14 God Rewards His People by Sparing Them 141
15 The Righteous and the Wicked Discerned 150
16 A Consolation in Affliction 155
(2) ALL THINGS FOR GOOD: A Practical Exposition of Romans 8:28
Thomas Watson’s book All Things For Good provides the biblical answer to the contemporary question; Why do bad things happen to good people?
Thomas Watson, the 17th century minister of St. Stephen’s Walbrook, believed he faced two great difficulties in his pastoral ministry. The first was making the unbeliever sad, in the recognition of his need of God’s grace. The second was making the believer joyful in response to God’s grace. He believed the answer to the second difficulty could be found in Paul’s teaching in Romans 8.28: God works all things together for good for his people.
First published in 1663 (under the title A Divine Cordial), the year after Watson and some two thousand other ministers were ejected from the Church of England and exposed to hardship and suffering, All Things For Good contains the rich exposition of a man who lived when only faith in God’s Word could lead him to such confidence.
Thomas Watson’s exposition is always simple, illuminating and rich in practical application. He explains that both the best and the worst experiences work for the good of God’s people. He carefully analyses what it means to be someone who ‘loves God’ and is ‘called according to his purpose’.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Extract from Preface of 1663 8
Introduction 9
1 THE BEST THINGS WORK FOR GOOD TO THE GODLY 13
1) The attributes of God
2) The promises of God
3) The mercies of God
4) The graces of the Spirit
5) The angels of God
6) The communion of Saints
7) The intercession of Christ
8) The prayers of Saints
2 THE WORST THINGS WORK FOR GOOD TO THE GODLY 25
1) The evil of affliction.
2) The evil of temptation.
3) The evil of desertion.
4) The evil of sin.
3 WHY ALL THINGS WORK FOR GOOD TO THE GODLY 52
1) The reason why all things work for good.
2) Inferences from this proposition.
4 OF LOVE TO GOD 66
1) The nature of love.
2) The ground of love.
3) The kinds of love.
4) The properties of love.
5) The degrees of love.
Use: A reproof to those who do not love God
5 THE TESTS OF LOVE TO GOD 74
6 AN EXHORTATION TO LOVE GOD 88
1) An exhortation to become lovers of God – twenty motives for loving God.
2) An exhortation to preserve your love to God.
3) An exhortation to increase your love to God.
7 EFFECTUAL CALLING 104
1) A distinction about calling.
2) Our condition before we are called.
3) The means of our effectual calling.
4) The method God uses in calling sinners.
5) The properties of this effectual calling.
6) The end of effectual calling.
Use: An exhortation to make your calling sure.
8 EXHORTATIONS TO THEM WHO ARE CALLED 119
1) Admire God’s free grace.
2) Pity those who are not yet called.
3) Walk worthy of your high calling.
9 CONCERNING GOD’S PURPOSE 124
1) God’s purpose is the cause of salvation.
2) God’s purpose is the ground of assurance.
(2) THE GODLY MAN'S PICTURE: Drawn with a Scripture Pencil
Few preachers in the Puritan era (or any other period of church history) match Thomas Watson for his ability to combine rich spirituality, nourishing doctrine and sane wisdom with fascinating illustration and a pleasant style. Watson is remembered chiefly for his posthumously published Body of Practical Divinity (reprinted by Solid Ground in One Volume). But his extant sermons also include this marvelous series on the character of the Christian – The Godly Man’s Picture. It is, as C.H. Spurgeon said of his other work, ‘a happy union of sound doctrine, heart-searching experience and practical wisdom’.
Watson is always the essence of sanity and reliability. But in addition, this work shows how attractive the grace of God is. Christians of all stages, reading it for the first time, will feel as if they have entered the gallery of a great portrait painter. As his sub-title suggests, Watson works with ‘a Scripture pencil’ in this priceless sketch of the true believer.
SINCLAIR FERGUSON said, "If a poll were to be taken of Puritan writers who have been especially helpful to Christians in the past fifty years, Thomas Watson's name would undoubtedly appear frequently. His exposition is as attractive as it is easy to follow, and as worship-producing as edifying."
TABLE OF CONTENTS
To the Reader 1
1 ‘For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee’ (Psa. 32:6) 3
2 Expounding the Nature of Godliness 7
3 A Reproof to Such as are Only Pretenders to Godliness 11
4 Showing the Characteristics of a Godly Man
(i) A Man of Knowledge 17
(ii) A Man Moved by Faith 26
(iii) A Man Fired with Love 28
(iv) A Man Like God 30
(v) A Man Careful About the Worship of God 34
(vi) A Man Who Serves God not Men 36
(vii) A Man Who Prizes Christ 44
(viii) A Man Who Weeps 56
(ix) A Man Who Loves the Word 61
(x) A Man Who Has the Spirit of God Residing in Him 69
(xi) A Man of Humility 80
(xii) A Man of Prayer 91
(xiii) A Man of Sincerity 101
(xiv) A Heavenly Man 108
(xv) A Zealous Man 118
(xvi) A Patient Man 126
(xvii) A Thankful Man 136
(xviii) A Man Who Loves the Saints 148
(xix) A Man Who Does Not Indulge Himself in Any Sin 156
(xx) A Man Who is Good in His Relationships 165
(xxi) A Man Who Does Spiritual Things in a Spiritual Manner 173
(xxii) A Man Thoroughly Trained in Religion 179
(xxiii) A Man Who Walks With God 188
(xxiv) A Man Who Strives to Be an Instrument for Making Others Godly 198
5 Two Conclusions About the Characteristics of a Godly Man 205
6 An Exhortation to Godliness 207
(i) Let Men Seriously Weigh Their Misery While They Remain in a State of Ungodliness 208
(ii) What Rare Persons the Godly Are 212
(iii) To Strive for Godliness is Most Rational 218
(iv) The Excellence of Godliness 219
(v) There Are Only a Few Godly 222
(vi) Consider How Vain and Contemptible Other Things Are, About Which Persons Void of Godliness Busy Themselves 222
7 Prescribing Some Helps to Godliness 223
8 An Exhortation to Persevere in Godliness 227
9 Motives to Persevere in Godliness 235
10 Counsel for the Godly 241
11 Comfort to the Godly 243
12 Showing the Mystic Union between Christ and the Saints 263
THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT
(3) THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE: A Classic Treatise on a Vital but Oft-Neglected Subject
A good case could be made out for believing that ‘repentance’ is one of the least used words in the Christian church today. In a world that will not tolerate the mention of sin, and in churches where it has been defined only in sociological terms, the biblical teaching on repentance has inevitably been ignored.
Knowing what repentance is, and actually repenting are essential to true Christianity. Jesus Christ himself said that if we do not repent, we will perish! It is vital, therefore, to read and study what Scripture has to say about this theme.
Few better guides have existed in this or any other area of spiritual experience than Thomas Watson. He was a master of both Scripture and the human heart, and wrote with a simplicity and directness that keeps his work fresh and powerful for the twenty-first century.
The Epistle to the Reader 7
A Preliminary Discourse 11
Counterfeit Repentance 15
The Nature of True Repentance (1) 18
The Nature of True Repentance (2) 39
The Reasons Enforcing Repentance, with a Warning to the Impenitent 59
A Serious Exhortation to Repentance 63
Powerful Motives to Repentance 76
Exhortations to Speedy Repentance 86
The Trial of Our Repentance, and Comfort for the Penitent 93
The Removing of the Impediments to Repentance 99
Prescribing Some Means for Repentance
(1): Serious Consideration 106
Prescribing Some Means for Repentance
(2): Compare Penitent and Impenitent Conditions 119
(4) THE LORD'S SUPPER: A Mirror to Gaze on the Sufferings and Death of Christ
To Thomas Watson, the Lord’s Supper was a visible sermon, a mirror in which to gaze on the sufferings and death of Christ. ‘God, to help our faith, does not only give us an audible Word, but a visible sign.’ But more than this, the Supper was a time in which to partake of the benefits of Christ’s death by faith, to be fed and cherished by the Lord in his own banqueting house, and to obtain a foretaste of the glory which will be fully realized only in heaven. Watson’s aim was to stimulate greater love to Christ in His people, and to enhance their appreciation of the Supper as a spiritual feast for all believers. His fine exposition shows the rich provision made in the Supper for all who love the Lord, while it also lays bare the emptiness of all mere sacramentalism.
Epistle to the Reader vii
Publisher’s Foreword ix
1 The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper 1
2 The Consecration of the Elements 7
3 The Benefits of the Lord’s Supper 16
4 Christ’s Love Displayed in the Sacrament 22
5 The Broken Body of Christ 28
6 The Blood of Christ 33
7 Self-Examination 39
8 True and False Faith 48
9 Objections against Coming to the Sacrament 60
10 Thankfulness to God 74
11 Comforts to Believers, and Warnings to Unbelievers 79
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(1) THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS: or Religion Our True Interest, A Practical Exposition of Malachi 3:16-18
SGCB Price: $6.95 (list price $9.00)
(2) ALL THINGS FOR GOOD: A Practical Exposition of Romans 8:28 SGCB Price: $6.95 (list price $9.00)
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THIS INCLUDES 4 HARDCOVERS AND 4 PAPERBACKS
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