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Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times
‘O that we might advise one another as to what to do; to help one another to recover from our weaknesses!’
Following Jesus is not easy. It involves self-denial, daily cross-bearing, and lifelong obedience. Salvation is promised to the one who ‘endures to the end.’ Christians need much encouragement, especially in ‘difficult times’. This the Lord supplies through pastors who love him and care for his people.
John Owen was such a pastor. One way he sought to help his fellow-believers was to hold occasional meetings for spiritual conference and fellowship at which various topics were addressed and discussed, with Owen providing a concluding summary of the proceedings.
The short chapters in Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times contain a number of Owen’s talks and sermons on a wide range of subjects which are as relevant to Christians today as they were to believers some three and a half centuries ago.
Abridged and made easy to read.
Following Jesus is not easy. It involves self-denial, daily cross-bearing, and lifelong obedience. Salvation is promised to the one who ‘endures to the end.’ Christians need much encouragement, especially in ‘difficult times’. This the Lord supplies through pastors who love him and care for his people.
John Owen was such a pastor. One way he sought to help his fellow-believers was to hold occasional meetings for spiritual conference and fellowship at which various topics were addressed and discussed, with Owen providing a concluding summary of the proceedings.
The short chapters in Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times contain a number of Owen’s talks and sermons on a wide range of subjects which are as relevant to Christians today as they were to believers some three and a half centuries ago.
Abridged and made easy to read.
160 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2019
12 people are currently reading
194 people want to read
About the author
John Owen
1,348 books406 followersJohn Owen was an English theologian and "was without doubt not only the greatest theologian of the English Puritan movement but also one of the greatest European Reformed theologians of his day, and quite possibly possessed the finest theological mind that England ever produced" ("Owen, John", in Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, p. 494)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 9, 2021
Fantastic devotional reading for thinking about the state of the church and the state of your own soul in times of national trouble and faithlessness.
March 17, 2020
Excellent devotional material - easy to read, and John Owen at his best --as a pastor.
The book is a series of devotions Owen gave at various times, like before prayer meetings, in which he addresses questions about suffering, difficult times, God's judgment, etc. Some of the chapters are full blown sermons.
It is a simple and edifying book. It's particularly helpful in that Owen's perspective is just so different than anything else you'll hear now days. I found it challenging and convicting at times.
On the flip side, it is somewhat dated in that his word reflect the historical situation in England at the time, and the church-state situation in our day is just so different than much of the application and analysis fell short. The book is also a bit repetitive.
You can't ever go wrong with Owen, that's for sure! But this isn't his best work either. Nevertheless, it's good devotional reading and I'm going to hand them out at church.
The book is a series of devotions Owen gave at various times, like before prayer meetings, in which he addresses questions about suffering, difficult times, God's judgment, etc. Some of the chapters are full blown sermons.
It is a simple and edifying book. It's particularly helpful in that Owen's perspective is just so different than anything else you'll hear now days. I found it challenging and convicting at times.
On the flip side, it is somewhat dated in that his word reflect the historical situation in England at the time, and the church-state situation in our day is just so different than much of the application and analysis fell short. The book is also a bit repetitive.
You can't ever go wrong with Owen, that's for sure! But this isn't his best work either. Nevertheless, it's good devotional reading and I'm going to hand them out at church.
March 19, 2020
My first Owen book and, from my understanding, not like his other works. But I found it an excellent book for this time in my life. The difficult times Owen is referring to our not so much personal as corporate. He has in mind the general state of England during that time not so much personal trials though the crossover is easy. Owen is personal, direct, and pastoral throughout the book. He is not so much a surgeon cutting out a cancer as a preacher pleading with his congregation to repent and turn. There is his typical focus on obedience. One of my favorite phrases from the book was the idea of "pursuing your prayers." What he means is after you pray you must work to see the prayer answered. If you pray that the Lord would help you defeat sin and yet you refuse to work towards that end your prayer is a lie. There was a lot of really good devotional material in it. Also, it is well organized by the editors
July 25, 2021
Difficult times may come upon us in any number of ways. With pastoral insight, John Owen examines what to do in such seasons of distress—whether personal or national.
Owen preached these messages in the 1670s and they are just as timely and necessary in the 2020s. A sincere thanks to Banner of Truth for making these centuries-old treasures accessible to us today.
Owen preached these messages in the 1670s and they are just as timely and necessary in the 2020s. A sincere thanks to Banner of Truth for making these centuries-old treasures accessible to us today.
February 24, 2020
This book is not classic Owen. It’s actually taken from the notes of his parishioners during a series of sermons he gave. It is good for the most part, and penetrating at times, but lacks the Owen quality of clinical precision that we’re accustomed to. It is a worthwhile read. The concluding sermons are important.
August 14, 2021
Owen, John. Searching our Hearts in Difficult Times. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2020.
Banner of Truth reformatted several treatises from volume nine of John Owen’s works. The material was compiled posthumously. Notwithstanding, the first half appears to be a long Q&A session from a conventicle meeting. This would have taken place at the end of Owen’s life and after the Great Ejection. That’s important for a criticism I will make later. The second half are several jeremiads bemoaning the rise of Roman Catholicism in England.
The first half offers a number of litmus tests to see if you have grace in your heart and whether that grace is strong enough to enable you to persevere in times of trouble. He begins on a strong note: “Put your faith to work in viewing him as he is represented in the gospel” (Owen 17). He warns of the danger of mere head knowledge (20), but intellectualism isn’t much of a problem for today’s church.
He fields a question on praying to Christ and whether it is lawful. He notes that “all our prayers to him as God and man in one person” (22). When Christ is considered “absolutely, in his own person...he is the immediate and ultimate object of faith and worship.” In such cases, as with Stephen, we may pray to him.
Concerning his mediatorial office, though, “he is not the ultimate object of our faith and invocation. Rather, we call upon God, the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ” (25). Failure to note his mediatorship results in a contradiction: our faith would be on Christ and also on his mediation. In conclusion, Owen notes “The Father is placed before us as the ultimate object of access in our worship; the Spirit is the effecting cause, enabling us this worship; the Son is the means by which we approach to God” (25).
Owen gives us a good guideline on rooting out habitual sin. Simply because we have a particular sin or lust does not mean we have a habitual sin. A particular sin becomes a habitual sin when we give it a particular advantage (36). If your soul is “grieved by it more than it is defiled by it,” then it probably isn’t a habitual sin (39). To the degree we consent, to that degree we are defiled.
If you find arguments against a sin losing force, it is probably a habitual sin (40). In other words, you are rationalizing.
Most of the book is quite excellent. I don’t disagree with anything that is said. I find it strange, however, that when he is speaking of renewing the grace and promises to us, he doesn’t mention the Lord’s Supper at all. To be fair, at this point in England finding reliable ministers might have made this impossible, and if so, then I don’t have any criticism of Owen. He does tell us to “labour to have the experience of the power of every truth in our hearts” (89). Formally, I have no problem. The problem is “what do you mean by ‘experience’”? We are starting to sound a lot like Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we aren’t suggesting that Owen is presenting that. This is where a robust view of the Supper fits perfectly.
Aside from those quibbles, this is quite a good read.
Banner of Truth reformatted several treatises from volume nine of John Owen’s works. The material was compiled posthumously. Notwithstanding, the first half appears to be a long Q&A session from a conventicle meeting. This would have taken place at the end of Owen’s life and after the Great Ejection. That’s important for a criticism I will make later. The second half are several jeremiads bemoaning the rise of Roman Catholicism in England.
The first half offers a number of litmus tests to see if you have grace in your heart and whether that grace is strong enough to enable you to persevere in times of trouble. He begins on a strong note: “Put your faith to work in viewing him as he is represented in the gospel” (Owen 17). He warns of the danger of mere head knowledge (20), but intellectualism isn’t much of a problem for today’s church.
He fields a question on praying to Christ and whether it is lawful. He notes that “all our prayers to him as God and man in one person” (22). When Christ is considered “absolutely, in his own person...he is the immediate and ultimate object of faith and worship.” In such cases, as with Stephen, we may pray to him.
Concerning his mediatorial office, though, “he is not the ultimate object of our faith and invocation. Rather, we call upon God, the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ” (25). Failure to note his mediatorship results in a contradiction: our faith would be on Christ and also on his mediation. In conclusion, Owen notes “The Father is placed before us as the ultimate object of access in our worship; the Spirit is the effecting cause, enabling us this worship; the Son is the means by which we approach to God” (25).
Owen gives us a good guideline on rooting out habitual sin. Simply because we have a particular sin or lust does not mean we have a habitual sin. A particular sin becomes a habitual sin when we give it a particular advantage (36). If your soul is “grieved by it more than it is defiled by it,” then it probably isn’t a habitual sin (39). To the degree we consent, to that degree we are defiled.
If you find arguments against a sin losing force, it is probably a habitual sin (40). In other words, you are rationalizing.
Most of the book is quite excellent. I don’t disagree with anything that is said. I find it strange, however, that when he is speaking of renewing the grace and promises to us, he doesn’t mention the Lord’s Supper at all. To be fair, at this point in England finding reliable ministers might have made this impossible, and if so, then I don’t have any criticism of Owen. He does tell us to “labour to have the experience of the power of every truth in our hearts” (89). Formally, I have no problem. The problem is “what do you mean by ‘experience’”? We are starting to sound a lot like Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we aren’t suggesting that Owen is presenting that. This is where a robust view of the Supper fits perfectly.
Aside from those quibbles, this is quite a good read.
February 1, 2023
This work by John Owen is just as applicable to Christians today as it was when he delivered these sermons/devotionals near the end of his life. The first section was more of a documentation of a Q&A conference that he held at his church. The questions are helpful and his answers are oriented at the hearts of his people. The latter half of the book contains sermons he delivered that primarily focus on how to view the Christian life of faith in God through Christ amidst a time of national or even personal affliction or judgment. I found this work to be really helpful and convicting and would recommend it as another helpful resource at the hands of John Owen.
April 8, 2023
I’ve spent a lot of time with John Owen the prophet lately. It was nice to be with John Owen the pastor.
These are the notes from a dozen or so prayer meeting devotional plus a couple sermons (all from the 70s). His prophetic vision is still apparent here, and I’m still not sure what to make of all of it, but he is speaking to his flock, not to parliament.
The devotionals are especially rich and his guidance on how to live in the times where God has placed us were a blessing to me.
These are the notes from a dozen or so prayer meeting devotional plus a couple sermons (all from the 70s). His prophetic vision is still apparent here, and I’m still not sure what to make of all of it, but he is speaking to his flock, not to parliament.
The devotionals are especially rich and his guidance on how to live in the times where God has placed us were a blessing to me.
February 23, 2021
This is a modernization of material from Vol. 9 of Owen's Works. Good, though certainly not Owen's best. However, chapters 4-10 in Part 1, on backsliding, prayer, applying to Christ for grace, weak faith, prevailing sins, and habitual sin, are worth their weight in gold and worth the price of the book.
August 7, 2023
Tremendous book. Interestingly, there are many similarities between the state of the nation during Owen’s day and the present age, but the need of the land is the same as highlighted in the book - Christ. Well worth reading!
March 1, 2021
When life gets hard, who do we turn to? Does our heart turn to God? In Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times, Banner of Truth has collected and combined some of John Owen’s best work to help us during these darker days.
Relevant and Insightful
Part 1 of the book, Searching Our Hearts, reads like a Q&A conversation between Owen and his congregation. The topics are varied but Owen’s answers are consistently exemplary. While the content of these discussions was delivered between 1672-1680, they are still relevant and remain insightful for today. For instance, when speaking of the sins of the day and age in which we live, Owen says they fall under two categories: unbelief and immorality.
Banner of Truth helped abridge Owen’s words and made them easier to read. I actually appreciate this because I’ve read the Puritans before and could always use a little bit more help to better understand what they are writing! The text has been modernized yet still retains the “Puritan Paperback” feel.
Prayer and Sin
Owen writes logically and coherently. When answering a question on prayer in regards to Christ, he first talks about the nature and worship of Christ while distinguishing him from the Father. Christ acts as our Mediator before the Father, but it is still right and expedient for us to pray to Jesus.
I found it refreshing to read Owen speak bluntly on sin. He addresses habitual sins, whether habitual sins can coexist with grace, and how to be delivered from a habit of sin.
Difficult Times
The title of the book referring to “difficult times” is explicit in Part 2 of the book, where Owen examines 2 Timothy 3:1. In regards to how we can know that we are in difficult times, Owen states that we will see those who claim religious piety while clearly being under the command and control of sin. Another way we can know that we are in difficult times is when men are prone to leave the truth.
While Owen gives several applications from the text, the one that stands out to me is that we must double our watch upon ourselves. God will test our works, and we will see if they will burn or be refined.
Live by Faith
Part 3, Living by Faith in Difficult Times, presents four of Owen’s sermons that deal with faith. The fourth sermon resonates with me as it addresses “the use and advantage of faith when true religion is declining.” Owen cites spiritual decay, a lack of love, a lack of delight and diligence in ordinary gospel worship, and worldly-mindedness in the form of conformity to the world and complacency in sanctification.
Movingly, Owen says that our response for those who have faith should be to do something about it! We must examine ourselves, mourn the losses, watch ourselves, and have a greater zeal for God. Owen is not calling us to works-based salvation. Rather, he is calling us to have true faith that works out our salvation with fear and trembling. This book has helped me see a God who is in control and knows what he is doing. He is worthy of our trust, and faithful until the end.
I received a media copy of Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times and this is my honest review.
Relevant and Insightful
Part 1 of the book, Searching Our Hearts, reads like a Q&A conversation between Owen and his congregation. The topics are varied but Owen’s answers are consistently exemplary. While the content of these discussions was delivered between 1672-1680, they are still relevant and remain insightful for today. For instance, when speaking of the sins of the day and age in which we live, Owen says they fall under two categories: unbelief and immorality.
Banner of Truth helped abridge Owen’s words and made them easier to read. I actually appreciate this because I’ve read the Puritans before and could always use a little bit more help to better understand what they are writing! The text has been modernized yet still retains the “Puritan Paperback” feel.
Prayer and Sin
Owen writes logically and coherently. When answering a question on prayer in regards to Christ, he first talks about the nature and worship of Christ while distinguishing him from the Father. Christ acts as our Mediator before the Father, but it is still right and expedient for us to pray to Jesus.
I found it refreshing to read Owen speak bluntly on sin. He addresses habitual sins, whether habitual sins can coexist with grace, and how to be delivered from a habit of sin.
Difficult Times
The title of the book referring to “difficult times” is explicit in Part 2 of the book, where Owen examines 2 Timothy 3:1. In regards to how we can know that we are in difficult times, Owen states that we will see those who claim religious piety while clearly being under the command and control of sin. Another way we can know that we are in difficult times is when men are prone to leave the truth.
While Owen gives several applications from the text, the one that stands out to me is that we must double our watch upon ourselves. God will test our works, and we will see if they will burn or be refined.
Live by Faith
Part 3, Living by Faith in Difficult Times, presents four of Owen’s sermons that deal with faith. The fourth sermon resonates with me as it addresses “the use and advantage of faith when true religion is declining.” Owen cites spiritual decay, a lack of love, a lack of delight and diligence in ordinary gospel worship, and worldly-mindedness in the form of conformity to the world and complacency in sanctification.
Movingly, Owen says that our response for those who have faith should be to do something about it! We must examine ourselves, mourn the losses, watch ourselves, and have a greater zeal for God. Owen is not calling us to works-based salvation. Rather, he is calling us to have true faith that works out our salvation with fear and trembling. This book has helped me see a God who is in control and knows what he is doing. He is worthy of our trust, and faithful until the end.
I received a media copy of Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times and this is my honest review.
December 11, 2022
I rather enjoyed this simple yet profound devotional. It's a collection of John Owen's speeches and sermons to the church of Britain, published posthumously.
He touches on various topics of sin, backsliding, weakness, faith, false security, Antichristianism, national trouble, and more.
Though his reflections and warnings to the church are centuries old, I found them especially relevant to today's perilous times.
Encouraging and edifying.
Some quotes I underlined:
"Faith is not only that grace by which we were implanted into Christ, but also the grace by which we abide in him."
"A man hears a good word of truth and, instead of taking the power of it into his heart, he takes the ideas of it into his mind and is satisfied with that."
"Truth will do no good to any man if he does not love it."
"The Father is placed before us as the ultimate object of access in our worship; the Spirit is the effecting cause, enabling us in this worship; the Son is the means by which we approach to God."
"Do you profess the truth, but at the same time love unrighteousness? The result will be a sense of security, when under superstition and ungodliness."
(The "groaners" of Ezekiel 9)
"This, then, is one part of our duty today - that we should humble our souls for all the abominations that are committed in our country and for our lack of mourning over them."
"People tend to excuse their own lesser evils when they see every day the greater wickedness of other men."
"An honest, good man on hearing his wife or children being reproached with lies and shameful accusations would be concerned because of his love for them, but for those who can hear the ways of God reproached every day and not be concerned about it, so long as all is well with them and theirs, such people can have no evidence that they love God's ways."
He touches on various topics of sin, backsliding, weakness, faith, false security, Antichristianism, national trouble, and more.
Though his reflections and warnings to the church are centuries old, I found them especially relevant to today's perilous times.
Encouraging and edifying.
Some quotes I underlined:
"Faith is not only that grace by which we were implanted into Christ, but also the grace by which we abide in him."
"A man hears a good word of truth and, instead of taking the power of it into his heart, he takes the ideas of it into his mind and is satisfied with that."
"Truth will do no good to any man if he does not love it."
"The Father is placed before us as the ultimate object of access in our worship; the Spirit is the effecting cause, enabling us in this worship; the Son is the means by which we approach to God."
"Do you profess the truth, but at the same time love unrighteousness? The result will be a sense of security, when under superstition and ungodliness."
(The "groaners" of Ezekiel 9)
"This, then, is one part of our duty today - that we should humble our souls for all the abominations that are committed in our country and for our lack of mourning over them."
"People tend to excuse their own lesser evils when they see every day the greater wickedness of other men."
"An honest, good man on hearing his wife or children being reproached with lies and shameful accusations would be concerned because of his love for them, but for those who can hear the ways of God reproached every day and not be concerned about it, so long as all is well with them and theirs, such people can have no evidence that they love God's ways."
March 3, 2021
Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times ~ John Owen
⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
John Owen was such a wonderful pastor as you can tell that his compassion for his congregation comes out in his writings. This was a wonderful book of our problems as believers, namely the coldness of hearts and the remedies. I have to say this book is all application, I have never read a book before with so much application, so on that side it is fantastic and will need to be read again at a much slower pace.
The book is designed to help people who are struggling and focuses mainly on help in these ways.
(1) to examine ourselves as to how far we have been caught up in these decays and have contracted their guilt;
(2) to mourn greatly, because of God's departure from us;
(3) to watch ourselves, and one another, carefully that we should not be overtaken by the causes and attitudes of this decay
(4) to zeal for God and for the honour of his gospel, that they might not suffer because of our mistakes.
⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
John Owen was such a wonderful pastor as you can tell that his compassion for his congregation comes out in his writings. This was a wonderful book of our problems as believers, namely the coldness of hearts and the remedies. I have to say this book is all application, I have never read a book before with so much application, so on that side it is fantastic and will need to be read again at a much slower pace.
The book is designed to help people who are struggling and focuses mainly on help in these ways.
(1) to examine ourselves as to how far we have been caught up in these decays and have contracted their guilt;
(2) to mourn greatly, because of God's departure from us;
(3) to watch ourselves, and one another, carefully that we should not be overtaken by the causes and attitudes of this decay
(4) to zeal for God and for the honour of his gospel, that they might not suffer because of our mistakes.
January 14, 2023
"We are prone to store up truth in our heads and talk about it often, and not let it affect our hearts, and this greatly weakens our spiritual life...It is not the weakness of our memories that is at fault but the weakness of our hearts and affections..." - John Owen
The majority of this book (Part I) consists of Owen's responses to questions from church members dealing with issues such as assurance of salvation, spiritual backsliding, prevailing sin, etc. This is pastoral gold, that I will turn back to frequently. Owen HATES sin and is full of Biblical help for every Christian. The second half of the book (Parts II & III) is two sermons Owen preached during historically difficult times in England. They likewise were doctrinally rich and practically applied, although I found them to be in dissonance with the first half of the book. I could not more highly recommend Part I if you are struggling with spiritual depression or introspection.
The majority of this book (Part I) consists of Owen's responses to questions from church members dealing with issues such as assurance of salvation, spiritual backsliding, prevailing sin, etc. This is pastoral gold, that I will turn back to frequently. Owen HATES sin and is full of Biblical help for every Christian. The second half of the book (Parts II & III) is two sermons Owen preached during historically difficult times in England. They likewise were doctrinally rich and practically applied, although I found them to be in dissonance with the first half of the book. I could not more highly recommend Part I if you are struggling with spiritual depression or introspection.
August 12, 2024
This book kicked me up and down the street. Don't be fooled by the uplifting title. John Owen does not mince words. Everything here is meant to challenge you and question where you are on your faith journey. That being said, it is a treasure. I have been referencing this book constantly in the back of my mind whenever I feel like I'm in the trenches. Especially, when he discusses Paul concerning his first foray into the faith. Owen states that Paul was praying even though he didn't know where he stood in belief, he still felt obligated to pray, and that is the time we need to be praying most when our belief takes a hit and we ourselves feel like we don't have any, (belief) we pray. His examples of treasures in Heaven are the clearest I have ever seen from any Christian commentary. This is a fantastic resource. I will be reading many more of Owen's works.
There it is and there you have it.
There it is and there you have it.
July 5, 2024
How does the believers respond and live in a culture that is setting itself up against the Christian faith? That is the focus of this book. It seems to be a collection of sermons and some of it, as a result, is a bit repetitive. But still, there are a lot of nuggets in it.
Here are some:
‘Let us examine our peace, and if we find that we have a peace that is able to hold its ground and station even when we harbor an abiding sin, let us not trust that peace anymore.’
‘People may multiply prayers, follow preaching, and attend to other duties when through the deceitful mess of sin, they are only using all these things as a cloak for some prevailing sin, and in all these duties there is no exercising of grace whatsoever.’
‘An inclination to listen to novelties, and the loss of the power of truth in one’s life, are signs of this tendency to decline from the truth.’
Here are some:
‘Let us examine our peace, and if we find that we have a peace that is able to hold its ground and station even when we harbor an abiding sin, let us not trust that peace anymore.’
‘People may multiply prayers, follow preaching, and attend to other duties when through the deceitful mess of sin, they are only using all these things as a cloak for some prevailing sin, and in all these duties there is no exercising of grace whatsoever.’
‘An inclination to listen to novelties, and the loss of the power of truth in one’s life, are signs of this tendency to decline from the truth.’
June 2, 2024
Owen's primary concern is over the spiritual complacency and a feeling of security he observes in the church. This book contains many helpful passages, particularly for elders who may be questioned on topics such as faith, sin and grace, perseverance and spiritual purity. It reads as though it could have been written very recently - Owen observes worldliness and pressures on the church which mirror our modern day experience. A challenging and encouraging read, packed full of Puritan wisdom and insight.
October 26, 2020
This isn’t the great thing Owen ever did. First of all, it’s not a book but a collection of sermons on the same subject. There are some good truths here in places but it is filled with a belief that not only the Puritan way of religion is the best way but also that England is superior and divinely chosen by God to do great things for His Kingdom. So there are some issues but there are also some good pieces.
January 4, 2020
Owen goes from the conversion to the backslider in this series of sermons that will cut any Christian to the core. He has a way of making one know their shortcomings and expresses the need to mortify that sin. This book is a good encouragement to any Christian.
October 8, 2020
Only took us 10 months 🤪 but this book was so full of good truths that a paragraph was enough to meditate on for a week. It’s amazing to me how applicable a book written in the late 1600’s is today....the Word of God and the truths found therein are eternal.
April 16, 2022
Much more accessible than “Mortification of Sin”, due to its format. That is, until the lengthy latter chapters, which include some of Own’s eschatology. But ultimately a practical collection of sermons for the local church to put faith into action, proactively.
March 14, 2024
Another awesome John Owen book. Not what I expected at all, but I learned a lot about practical perseverance in faith through times of apathy and spiritual trial. Definitely want to keep reading Owen’s stuff, we’ll see what’s next!
February 12, 2021
It is just amazing how the concerns of a godly man in the mid 1600's are no different than the concerns of a follower of Jesus today. Truly amazing! This book will make you stop and think.
April 23, 2021
An excellent help for those living in 2021.
January 13, 2022
A tract for our times, particularly the sermons in sections 2 and 3.
April 11, 2022
Great reminder for the soul.
April 15, 2022
Powerful message! Meaningful applications.
“ Oh that we might advise one another as to what to do ; to help one another to recover from our weaknesses!”
“ Oh that we might advise one another as to what to do ; to help one another to recover from our weaknesses!”
January 22, 2024
All I can say, is the church in our day does not sound unlike what John Owen had to deal with. It gives encouragement in a time of declension in the church, and how best to pray about it.
September 1, 2025
This was like a Q and A that John Owen had a church, I think. Really interesting and edifying!
September 5, 2025
It’s been awhile since I read a John Owen work. What a wonderful devotional! Highly recommended. Owen never fails!
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