Shepherd the Flock

Summary: A warm, devotional exposition of 1st John 3:3, “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Though Jeremiah Burroughs is personally not my favorite Puritan to read, I find him to be one of the the very easiest of Puritans to read. This book is no exception, and I would strongly recommend it to young Christians, women, and to friends/family as a short gift book.

But having read a few Burroughs’ books before, I think he is at his very best when he is discussing the vanity of earthly pursuits. The SDG work, A Treatise on Earthly-Mindedness (I’ve blogged excerpts from this work before) is a marvelous work on this topic, and I mention it here because Hope also deals with a lot of the same thing.

Overview:
Hope is a book with two separate sections, the first being and exposition of 1 John 3:3, and the second half of the book being a sermon on Psalm 17:14 entitled ‘The Misery of Those Who Have Their Portion in This Life‘. I personally found the first half to be exceptional, with the second half of the book a little forceful and long-winded.

But the essence of the book deals with the phrase ‘purifies himself’ in 1 John 3:3, where Burroughs rightly shows how the Christian’s hope (i.e. the true Christian’s hope, as opposed to a false professor’s hope) is a a hope that purifies us, prepares us for and greatly anticipates the second Coming of Jesus Christ when “we shall be like Him”.

I greatly benefited from Burroughs expounding on this ‘hope’, as opposed to the ‘hope’ of the ungodly, who prove by their lives that their professed hope really isn’t the hope of Christ’s second coming. Oh, what our churches would be like if this type of exposition took place in pulpits across America! The true ‘hope’ in Christ is a hope that causes the saints to purify themselves, purge themselves from sin, and cast all of their hope in Christ to set things right at His coming! There is no room here for ‘carnal Christianity’, or those who continue unabated in their sinful behavior, even after professing Christ.

Quotes:

While the summary above captures the gist of the book, below I’d like to add a few choice quotes to give you a glimpse of Burroughs’ tone:

“Objection (to the preacher): “But the best of men have some sin”. Answer: Since the best of men have some sin, therefore you hope that all is well with you? The worst of all may have some good in them, just as the saints have had some ill in them. So you hope that, notwithstanding your evil, you may go to heaven. Then I tell you that some reprobates have had more good in them than you have; and notwithstanding your good you may go to hell…Never tell me of some sin in the saints as being your comfort. Rather, look upon the good that was in the wicked and reprobate, and see whether that is not more for your discouragement.” – P40

“When the wicked and ungodly have sin in them, it comes into them as filthy water, and there it putrefies. But the saints sin is as a running water, the principle that they have is stirring in them, and so comes to be cleansing. Indeed, the more active Christians are, the more clean. Christians, if you would be clean, let grace be active. If grace is stirring and active, you will be clean. A man who is most active and stirring usually has the most clean body, and people who stir but little find diseases growing on them. Grace makes the saints active and stirring, and so by that means they purify themselves.” – P46

“It’s not what we have in the world, or what comforts we have in our families; nothing can give rest to the heart but the cleansing it from sin.” – P54

“The main thing that hardens others in their sin is their hope: They hope that they shall be saved when they die and that God loves them; therefore they are secure in their evil and sinful way. The hope of the wicked is the very thing that makes them more secure in their evil ways. The hope of God’s mercies that the saints have is the thing whereby the come to purge out corruption; yea, to purify themselves as Jesus Christ is pure.” (1J ohn 3:3). The hope of the saints makes them purify themselves.” – P56-57

“The very first work that shall draw the heart to believe and hope in Jesus Christ will draw the heart from the love of every sin and corruption whatsoever.” – P80

“What was the great plot in His election? He has chosen us that we might be a holy people unto Him. Now if you think, ‘I hope that God intends good to me,’ and yet go on in wickedness, you cross the plot of God’s election.” – P83

“God gives wicked men a portion here to show unto them what little good there is in all these things, and to show the world what little good there is in all the things that are here below in the world. Certainly, if there were much good, they should never have them. It is an argument that there is no great excellency in the strength of body, for an ox has it more than you; an argument there is no great excellency in agility of body, for a dog has it more than you; an argument no great excellency in gay clothes, for a peacock has them more than you; an argument there is not any great excellency in gold and silver, for the Indians who know not God have them more than you. And, if these things had any great worth in them, certainly God would never give them to wicked men…God, in giving all the things of the world to Turks and wicked ones, His enemies, shows there is not much excellency and good in them.” – P98

Conclusion:
This is a tough call. While the first part of the book (86 pages) is excellent, the second part of the book is simply average (63 pages). Thus given the shortness of the first half and the steep price of this nice hardback, I simply cannot rate it very high. If this book was cheaper, or if this book was simply the first half only, I’d rate it much higher, but because of these things I’m going to give it three and a half stars. If you can find it free to read online, or at a cheap price used, definitely pick it up.