What comes to your mind when you imagine a Puritan pastor in the pulpit? Long, boring sermons? Monotone diatribes? Such notions fail to account for the testimony of men like Humphrey Mills who spent three years struggling to quiet his conscience after hearing a sermon by the famous Puritan pastor, Richard Sibbes (1577–1635). Mills’ description of Sibbes provides a more accurate picture of Puritan preachers: “His sweet soul-melting Gospel-sermons won my heart and refreshed me much, for by him I saw and had much of God and was confident in Christ.”[1]
Centuries later, the physician-turned-pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones described Sibbes’ gospel-centered preaching in medicinal terms: “The heavenly Doctor Sibbes . . . was a balm to my soul at a period in my life when I was overworked and badly overtired, and therefore subject in an unusual manner to the onslaughts of the devil. . . . His books [based on his sermons] quieted, soothed, comforted, encouraged, and healed me.” [2]
PHYSICIANS OF THE SOUL
That Sibbes could be effective despite the historical distance evidences just how skilled many Puritans were as physicians of the soul. As a result, they have much to say to us today about gospel-centered preaching.[3]
The
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
