O Evangelho é muito simples e, ao mesmo tempo, muito profundo. O Evangelho diz respeito a Cristo, Seu ser (Deus-Homem) e Sua obra como Redentor (Romanos 1.1–4). Mas, talvez, você ainda não teve verdadeiro contato com Ele. Talvez, aqueles que dizem professá-lO e que estão próximos a você tenham O obscurecido e, por isso, você tenha fechado a porta de seu coração para ouvi-lO. Possa ser que você seja apenas um adolescente querendo entender melhor aquilo que seus pais dizem crer ou o que o seu “colega crente” da escola falou, mas não conseguiu explicar bem. Ou ainda, talvez, você seja um senhor ou uma senhora de idade com pouca instrução, desejoso(a) de aprender ou encorajado(a) a tal por algum filho ou neto crente no Senhor.
Em qualquer caso que seja o seu, agora, você tem em suas mãos um material que se esforça por lhe apresentar o Evangelho em sua essência, de forma simples e acessível. Ele foi organizado pensando em você e no benefício que sua alma pode ter; e pensando na glória de Deus por meio daquilo que a leitura desse material pode trazer para a sua vida. Se há um grupo de crentes no Senhor Jesus que conseguiu se apegar firmemente à essência do Evangelho e apresentá-lo de forma simples foi a destes autores que escolhi, listados na capa (ministros do Evangelho, que viveram entre os séculos XVI a XVIII), para essa missão de lhe apresentar o Evangelho. Reuni e organizei, aqui, brevíssimos textos desses ministros. Quando possível e necessário, acrescentei breves comentários, a fim de lhe ajudar na leitura — eles estarão entre colchetes no corpo do texto. Parte dos textos que selecionei foram escritos no formato de perguntas e respostas (os chamados catecismos), um dos métodos mais simples e mais utilizados para o ensino das verdades da Palavra de forma acessível.
Eu lhe confesso, por experiência pró mesmo já sendo crente no Senhor Jesus há anos, quando comecei a ler os textos desses homens, o Cristo já abraçado por minha alma brilhou ainda mais glorioso. Eles amavam Cristo e a Sua Palavra. Eles pregavam com zelo, convicção e poder o puro e simples Evangelho de Cristo.
Então, neste livreto, você terá acesso a curtas e excelentíssimas explicações sobre o que é o Evangelho, Cristo e Seus ensinamentos mais básicos. São menos de 50 páginas de leitura para um universo de benefícios, para ter acesso a uma singela exposição da maior riqueza que um homem pode Cristo! Vale a pena o pequeno esforço. Eu lhe encorajo. Vá em frente! Leia!
Observaçã Caso você deseje esse e-book em sua versão impressa entre em contato com a Editora Nadere Reformatie pelo e-mail naderereformatiepublicacoes@gmail.com. Os pedidos serão feitos sob demanda e o valor será apenas o da gráfica/frete mais uma pequeníssima taxa de administração. Recomendamos este material às Igrejas, a fim de que sua membresia possa presentear familiares e amigos
Jeremiah Burroughs (or Burroughes) was baptized in 1601 and admitted as a pensioner at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1617. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1621 and a Master of Arts degree in 1624. His tutor was Thomas Hooker.
Burroughs’s ministry falls into four periods, all of which reveal him as a zealous and faithful pastor. First, from about 1627 until 1631, he was assistant to Edmund Calamy at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Both men became members of the Westminster Assembly. Both men strongly opposed King James’s Book of Sports. Both refused to read the king’s proclamation in church that dancing, archery, vaulting, and other games were lawful recreations on the Lord’s Day.
Second, from 1631 to 1636, Burroughs was rector of Tivetshall, Norfolk, a church that still stands today. Despite the best efforts of his patron, Burroughs was suspended in 1636 and deprived in 1637 for refusing to obey the injunctions of Bishop Matthew Wren, especially regarding the reading of the Book of Sports, and the requirements to bow at the name of Jesus and to read prayers rather than speak them extemporaneously.
Third, from 1638 to 1640, Burroughs lived in the Netherlands, where he was teacher of a congregation of English Independents at Rotterdam, formerly ministered by William Ames. William Bridge was the pastor and Sidrach Simpson had established a second like-minded church in the city. Thus, three future dissenting brethren were brought together, all of whom would serve as propagandists for congregationalism later in the 1640s.
In the final period from 1640 to his death in 1646, Burroughs achieved great recognition as a popular preacher and a leading Puritan in London. He returned to England during the Commonwealth period and became pastor of two of the largest congregations in London: Stepney and St. Giles, Cripplegate. At Stepney, he preached early in the morning and became known as “the morning star of Stepney.” He was invited to preach before the House of Commons and the House of Lords several times. Thomas Brooks called him “a prince of preachers.”
As a member of the Westminster Assembly, Burroughs sided with the Independents, but he remained moderate in tone, acting in accord with the motto on his study door: Opinionum varietas et opinantium unitas non sunt ασυστατα (“variety of opinion and unity of opinion are not incompatible”). Richard Baxter said, “If all the Episcopalians had been like Archbishop Ussher, all the Presbyterians like Stephen Marshall, and all the Independents like Jeremiah Burroughs, the breaches of the church would soon have been healed.”
In 1644, Burroughs and several colleagues presented to Parliament their Apologetical Narration, which defended Independency. It attempted to steer a middle course between Presbyterianism, which they regarded as too authoritarian, and Brownism, which they regarded as too democratic. This led to division between the Presbyterians and Independents. Burroughs served on the committee of accommodation, which tried to reconcile the differences, but on March 9, 1646, he declared on behalf of the Independents that presbyteries were “coercive institutions.” Burroughs said he would rather suffer or emigrate than submit to presbyteries. Ultimately, the division between Presbyterians and Independents helped promote the cause of prelacy after the death of Oliver Cromwell.
Burroughs pursued peace to the end. He died in 1646, two weeks after a fall from his horse. The last subject on which he preached became his Irenicum to the Lovers of Truth and Peace, an attempt to heal divisions between believers. Many of his friends believed that church troubles hastened his death.
Burroughs was a prolific writer, highly esteemed by Puritan leaders of his day, some of whom published his writings after his death. Nearly all of his books are compilations of sermons.