Resource Type: Puritans

Classic Puritan works and accessible guides that open up Puritan theology and spirituality for today’s readers.

The Spirit And The Church (8.6)

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
Author: John Owen
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We often speak about the Holy Spirit in general terms, yet the New Testament speaks with concreteness, the Spirit gathers, unites, and strengthens Christ’s people.

Owen writes with theological weight and pastoral nerve, showing how the Spirit applies Christ to the church, sustains communion with God, and produces real holiness in ordinary congregational life.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We need help holding together doctrine and experience. Owen refuses both cold abstraction and untethered enthusiasm. He keeps bringing us back to Scripture, and to the Spirit’s steady, sanctifying work through the means of grace.

For preaching, this is rich soil. It sharpens our language for union with Christ, assurance, adoption, and the Spirit’s witness, then helps us apply those realities to weary saints and tempted leaders.

It also steadies church life. Owen reminds us that genuine spirituality is not private brilliance, it is Christ honouring communion expressed in gathered worship, mutual love, and persevering obedience.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this as a substantial but warmly useful Puritan guide for pastors who want a deeper, steadier grasp of the Spirit’s work in the church.

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Temptation (8.3)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingStrong recommendation
Author: John Owen
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Temptation is common, but we often fight it with shallow tools.

In this compact work, John Owen exposes the ways sin entices, and he directs believers to resist with Scripture shaped faith and watchfulness.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Owen is realistic about the heart. He shows that temptation is not merely external pressure, it is the meeting point between Satan’s schemes and our own remaining corruption.

The counsel is practical without being simplistic, urging believers to keep close to Christ, to kill sin early, and to use the means of grace with seriousness.

For pastors, it offers language for discipleship that is neither condemning nor casual, and it strengthens preaching that aims at holiness rooted in the gospel.

Closing Recommendation

We commend it as a useful, searching book for personal battle and for pastoral care.

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The True Bounds Of Christian Freedom (8.5)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingTop choice
Author: Samuel Bolton
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Christian freedom is often misunderstood, and the results can be either bondage or license.

Samuel Bolton helps us see how grace frees us to obey God with a willing heart, while guarding us from both legalism and carelessness.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Bolton clarifies the role of God’s law in the believer’s life. He shows that obedience is not the ground of acceptance, yet it is the necessary fruit of union with Christ.

The book is valuable for pastors because it gives careful categories for dealing with tender consciences, and for dealing with those who use grace as an excuse for sin.

It also helps with preaching, because it teaches us to press imperatives as gospel fruit, not as a ladder back to God.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it for discipleship, especially where churches need clearer teaching on holiness and assurance.

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Christ Set Forth (8.9)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingTop choice
Author: Thomas Goodwin
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We do not outgrow the need to see Christ clearly, especially in His heart toward sinners.

Thomas Goodwin opens the riches of the gospel by showing what it means that the risen Lord is a merciful and faithful High Priest.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Goodwin’s strength is his ability to unite careful doctrine with deep spiritual consolation. He argues from Scripture, then patiently applies it to anxious consciences that struggle to believe Christ is willing to receive them.

He is also bracing. Comfort is never offered as permission to drift. Instead, assurance is used to strengthen repentance, prayer, and perseverance.

For pastors, this book is a treasury for preaching Christ, and for counselling those who feel disqualified by their sin or bruised by their weakness.

Closing Recommendation

We commend it warmly as one of the most nourishing Puritan works for gospel preaching and personal faith.

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A Heavenly Conference (8.4)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingStrong recommendation
Author: Thomas Boston
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

The Christian life is not sustained by vague optimism, but by clear hope in Christ.

In this short work, Thomas Boston sets eternity before the reader in a way that is both sobering and strengthening.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Boston shows how heavenly mindedness is not escapism, it is fuel for obedience and contentment. When glory is real, temptation loses some of its shine, and suffering is seen in proportion.

The writing has a plainness that suits ordinary Christians, yet it is never thin. He presses the privileges of Christ’s people, the certainty of the promised rest, and the call to walk as those who belong to another country.

It can serve preaching on perseverance, and it also serves as a helpful gift book for believers facing uncertainty.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a brief but bracing read that lifts the eyes and steadies the feet.

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The Crook In The Lot (8.7)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingTop choice
Author: Thomas Boston
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Few books speak as directly to hard providence as this one.

Thomas Boston teaches us to recognise the Lord’s hand in the crooked parts of our lives, and to bow with faith rather than bitterness.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Boston is realistic about pain and disappointment. He does not minimise grief, but he insists that God’s providence is never random and never cruel.

The chapters press us to self examination, patient prayer, and renewed trust in the Father’s wisdom. The argument is plain, but it reaches deep, and it keeps drawing the reader from complaint to communion.

For preaching and pastoral care, it offers both a framework and a vocabulary for helping sufferers cling to God without pretending that suffering is easy.

Closing Recommendation

We strongly recommend it for pastors, and for any believer learning to endure with humble confidence.

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The Way To true Peace And Rest (8.4)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingStrong recommendation
Author: Robert Bruce
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

True peace is not the absence of trouble, it is the settled rest of the soul in God.

Robert Bruce writes with the seriousness of a shepherd, guiding readers toward gospel comfort that does not bypass repentance and faith.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Bruce addresses conscience, fear, and spiritual turmoil with a rare mix of firmness and tenderness. He does not offer techniques, he offers Christ, received by faith and enjoyed through the ordinary means of grace.

The book is particularly strong on how assurance grows, not through staring at ourselves, but through looking to the promises of God and walking in the light.

Pastors will find wise material for helping believers distinguish between godly sorrow and unbelieving despair.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend this for those seeking settled comfort, and for those tasked with caring for weary consciences.

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All Things Made New (8.6)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingTop choice
Author: John Flavel
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We are prone to shrink the Christian life to coping strategies, yet the Puritans speak of real renewal.

In John Flavel’s hands, regeneration and sanctification are not abstractions, they are the Spirit’s work bringing new desires, new aims, and new obedience.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Flavel is clear that grace does not merely patch the old nature, it creates a new bent of heart toward God. That insistence both comforts struggling believers and confronts empty profession.

The argument keeps returning to Scripture, showing the marks of spiritual life, the means God uses to deepen it, and the dangers of self deception.

For preaching, there is rich help here in how to apply doctrine to conscience, urging assurance where the Spirit has truly begun His work, and urging repentance where religion is only external.

Closing Recommendation

We gladly recommend this as a steadying book for discipleship, pastoral counselling, and personal examination under the Word.

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Flowers From A Puritan’s Garden (8.2)

Advanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingStrong recommendation
Author: Charles H. Spurgeon
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We sometimes need short, well aimed readings that warm the heart and steady the mind.

This collection gathers Puritan and Reformed devotional extracts curated around spiritual themes, offering concentrated sentences that repay slow reflection.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

The strength of a good anthology is not novelty but focus. It helps us to linger on Scripture shaped truth when our attention is thin and our schedules are full.

Used wisely, this kind of book can serve morning meditation, family worship, and sermon preparation, supplying clear turns of phrase that awaken affection for Christ.

As with any selection, it is best read with Bible open, so that the fragments drive us back to the whole counsel of God rather than becoming detached mottos.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a gentle companion volume, especially for pastors who need short portions that still carry spiritual weight.

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Duties Of Christian Fellowship (8.3)

Mid-levelAdvanced students / scholars, Busy pastors, General readers, Lay readers / small groups, Pastors-in-trainingStrong recommendation
Author: John Owen
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We need books that teach us how to live together as Christians, not only how to think as Christians.

In this short volume, John Owen presses the ordinary duties of church life, love, patience, forbearance, encouragement, and mutual watchfulness, and he does so with a firm grip on the gospel that creates that fellowship.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We are tempted to treat fellowship as atmosphere rather than obedience. Owen will not let us. He shows how communion with Christ necessarily overflows into communion with His people, and how private religion that refuses the church quickly becomes self made religion.

The counsel is searching without being clever. It exposes pride, coldness, and party spirit, then calls us back to the slow work of bearing one another’s burdens in faith and love.

For elders and ministry teams, it is especially useful, because it gives language for addressing relational drift before it becomes a fracture.

Closing Recommendation

We commend this as a quick, weighty read for leaders who want to strengthen the bonds of congregational life.

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