Description: Christ declares, ""Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me"" (John 15:4). A branch derives life from the vine by virtue of its union with the vine. Similarly, Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. There is a vital, organic union between us. We draw on Christ's life through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. We must, therefore, abide in Christ by cultivating close and constant communion with him. That is to say, we must continually look ""unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith"" (Hebrews 12:2). The present work seeks to explain what this looking implies. It does so by turning to the writings of two largely forgotten Puritans and Baptists from the seventeenth century--Thomas Wilcox and Vavasor Powell. Together, they teach us that to abide in Christ is to behold him in his manifold roles and relations. As we do, Christ becomes our all in all. Endorsements: ""Stephen Yuille loves the Puritans (as do I). There are four themes that cause him to continually return to their writings: God-fearing, heaven-seeking, sin-hating, and Christ-exalting. It is this latter theme he pursues in Looking Unto Jesus, particularly through the writings of Thomas Wilcox and Vavasor Powell. Though not well known, both men have a word for those whose passion is Christ. The Puritans must never be lost. This work will help in ensuring this does not happen."" --Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ""From the pen of pastor Stephen Yuille comes a refreshing and enlightening look at two lesser-known seventeenth-century Baptist Puritans: Thomas Wilcox and Vavasor Powell. I love the Puritans. Though I do not ascribe to a Reformed soteriology myself, I have always been drawn to the genuine piety and holiness of life to which the Puritans aspired and about which they wrote with evangelical passion and warmth. Aptly titled Looking Unto Jesus, this book will help you do just that. Take up and read, and be blessed."" --David L. Allen, Professor of Preaching, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ""Stephen Yuille, a wise guide to the Puritans and their texts, has made available spiritual gems from two largely forgotten Baptists: Thomas Wilcox and Vavasor Powell. A few of their works have been prized as classical statements of Puritan piety down through the years, and I am excited to recommend them to a new generation of readers. Read and be strengthened in our most precious faith!"" --Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary About the Contributor(s): J. Stephen Yuille resides in Glen Rose, Texas, with his wife, Alison, and their daughters, Laura and Emma. He is the Teaching Pastor at Grace Community Church and Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas. He is the author of The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety (2007), Puritan Spirituality (2008), Trading and Thriving in Godliness (2008), and Living Blessedly Forever (2012).
Christ declares, Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me ( John 15:4). A branch derives life from the vine by virtue of its union with the vine. Similarly, Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. There is a vital, organic union between us. We draw on Christ's life through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. We must, therefore, abide in Christ by cultivating close and constant communion with him.We must continually look unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith (Hebrews 12:2). The present work seeks to explain what this looking implies. It does so by turning to the writings of two largely forgotten Puritans and Baptists from the seventeenth century - Thomas Wilcox and Vavasor Powell. Together, they teach us that to abide in Christ is to behold him in his manifold roles and relations. As we do so, Christ becomes our all in all.
Psalm 119 is noted for its call to delight in the word of God. But we must not fail to realize that this great psalm is also infused with great lament. In The Path of Life , J. Stephen Yuille follows the psalmist through his many ups and downs in order to see how he gives voice to the song in our soul. Here is comfort for bearing sorrow, strength for enduring difficulty, trust for facing uncertainty, and peace for overcoming anxiety. Even in his extremity, the psalmist finds joy in the blessed God. This is how Jesus persevered through trials and endured the cross. And in Christ, you too can take up this psalm, follow the path of life, and find blessedness in your seasons of lament.
Without minimizing the validity of the social, political, and ecclesiastical approaches to this field of study, Yuille affirms that the essence of Puritanism is found in its spirituality. He demonstrates this by turning to a relatively unknown Puritan, George Swinnock (1627-1673). At the root of Swinnock's spirituality was his concept of fear of God as the proper ordering of the soul's faculties after the image of God. This concept is pivotal to Swinnock's spirituality, because he viewed it as the Christian's true principles of practice. Yuille shows the prevalence of this paradigm among Swinnock's fellow Puritans, and sets it in a historical tradition extending back to Augustine through Calvin.
As Christians, we’re on a journey fraught with joys and sorrows, pleasant valleys and perilous mountains, encouraging gains and crippling losses. Whenever we feel besieged on our journey, we tend to turn to whatever we think can help us – and in doing so, often lose sight of our destination. In Longing for Home, Stephen Yuille directs our attention to the help God has given us in the Psalms of Ascent. In this collection of Psalms 120-134, we walk with our brothers and sisters through life’s many ups and downs on our way to Zion, the city of God. The Psalms guide us into the path of God-glorifying desires, God-magnifying emotions, and God-honoring thoughts. They shape our perspectives, equip us to pray in faith, regulate our feelings, inform our judgments and beckon us to fix our eyes heavenward as we journey homeward.
Much of evangelicalism has forsaken a Word-based approach to Christian spirituality, so to help us recover a model of biblical piety, J. Stephen Yuille examines Thomas Manton’s sermons on Psalm 119. Following a brief account of Manton as a leading Puritan committed to the ministry of the Word, Yuille leads us on a careful investigation of Manton’s understanding of blessedness, the instrumentality of God’s Word, and the practice of spiritual duties. At the foundation stands the conviction that as we love and obey God’s Word, the blessed God communes with us by His Spirit, conveying sweet influences on our soul through His Word. Manton’s spirituality of the Word is a timely remedy for the subjective mysticism that expects God to speak through inner urgings apart from His Word. Let us learn from Manton how to listen to the Bible as if we heard God speaking to us from heaven, rejoicing like those who find “great spoil” (Ps. 119:162).
In "The Inner Sanctum of Puritan Piety," J. Stephen Yuille demonstrates how the doctrine of the believer's union with Christ lies at the heart of the Puritan pursuit of godliness. He analyzes the whole corpus of Flavel's writings, showing how this mystical union is set upon the backdrop of God's covenant of redemption and established on the basis of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Chapters on the nature and acts of this union help readers gain a better understanding of what this union is, while chapters on the blessings, fruit, suffering, evidence, joy, practice, and hope associated with this union, show more fully the experiential direction of Flavel's approach to theology. Table of Contents: The Covenant of Redemption The Basis of Union with Christ The Nature of Union with Christ The Act of Union with Christ The Blessings of Union with Christ The Fruit of Union with Christ The Evidence of Union with Christ The Suffering of Union with Christ The Joy of Union with Christ The Practice of Union with Christ The Hope of Union with Christ
We use the word adoption very casually today-we speak of adopting pets, books, and highways. Yet the word has a far nobler significance. Adoption is the permanent placement of a child in a family with all its rights and privileges. God has forever placed us in his family. He has forever made us his children. He has forever changed our legal status. A Hope Deferred probes the depths of this wonderful reality and intertwines these blessings with an account of one family's journey to international adoption. The result is a valuable glimpse into the essential relationship between adoption, affliction, and the fatherhood of God over his people. Book jacket.
William Perkins described God’s all-sufficiency as His blessedness. This view of God shaped his understanding of Christian piety, leading him to define theology as the science of living blessedly forever. For Perkins, godliness flows from the enjoyment of God. In Living Blessedly Forever, J. Stephen Yuille demonstrates how Perkins practically taught about God, joy, and the Christian life through his preaching on the Sermon on the Mount. Yuille begins with a brief account of Perkins’s life and ministry, considering several factors that shaped Perkins’s interpretation and application of the Sermon on the Mount. He then examines Perkins’s exposition of Matthew 5–7, identifying six marks of godliness (blessedness, repentance, righteousness, sincerity, contentment, and faithfulness) and concluding with a challenge to join practice with knowledge of the word of Christ. Yuille’s work is more than a simple look at a sermon series given by a Puritan. While you will learn much about Perkins’s approach to the Sermon on the Mount, you will also be challenged to live blessedly forever.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.