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Jeremiah Burroughs – Contentment with God and Christ

7 Mar

Before your conversion, before God wrought upon your souls, you were contented with the world without grace, though you had no interest in God nor Christ; why cannot you now be contented with grace and spiritual things without the world? If you yourselves were content with the world without grace, there is reason you should be content with grace without the world. Certainly there is infinitely more reason. You see that many men of the world have a kind of contentment; they do not murmur or repine with the world, though they have no interest in God and Christ. Then cannot you have as much contentment with God and Christ, without the world, as they can, with the world, without God and Christ? It is an infinite shame that this should be so.

~Jeremiah Burroughs~


The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Edinburgh, Scotland; The Banner of Truth Trust; 2009) p. 213.

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Sign-up for the Old Guys Book Giveaway

The Old Guys Book Giveaway!

6 Mar

Starting today and ending this Friday, March 9th any who wish will have the opportunity to win a copy of a book written by one of the old guys! We hope to have these giveaways from time to time and our desire is that this will help someone have the opportunity to dive deeper into a specific work by one of our beloved old guys.


The Author:
John Bunyan

The Book:
Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ




“Of all John Bunyan’s writings, this book most fully expresses his delight and joy in the free and gracious welcome given to sinners by Jesus Christ.” – Publisher


WTS Books describes the book this way:

“It is a thorough exposition of John 6:37: All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Bunyan not only explains the meaning of the terms used in the text, but also labours to remove the doubts and difficulties of sinners and backsliders in their approach to Christ.

This work could be said to have given rise indirectly to the modern missionary movement, since it strongly influenced Andrew Fuller, the first secretary of the pioneering Baptist Missionary Society, and helped him to set his denomination free from the grip of hyper-Calvinism. It is a Christian classic that deserves a wide modern readership. ”


To Win All You Have to Do Is:

1. Leave a comment below and and let us know that you want to be entered.
2. Subscribe to The Old Guys via RSS, Email, Facebook or Twitter and help get the word out about the old guys!


A winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email.

John Calvin – The Watchful Eye of God

6 Mar

The elect are gathered into Christ’s flock by a call not immediately at birth, and not all at the same time, but according as it pleases God to dispense his grace to them. But before they are gathered unto that supreme Shepherd, they wander scattered in the wilderness common to all; and they do not differ at all from others except that they are protected by God’s especial mercy from rushing headlong into the final ruin of death. If you look upon them, you will see Adam’s offspring, who savor of the common corruption of the mass. The fact that they are not carried to utter and even desperate impiety is not due to any innate goodness of theirs but because the eye of God watches over their safety and his hand is outstretched to them!

~John Calvin~



The Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol. 2 (Louisville, Kentucky; Westminster John Knox Press; 1974) p. 976.

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Herman Bavinck: Inspiration – A Confession of Faith

4 Mar

Scripture itself claims that it proceeded from the Spirit of God and maintains this claim over against all criticism. Every attempt to divest it of the mysterious character of its origin, content, and power has up until now ended in defeat and in letting Scripture be Scripture. A [doctrine of] inspiration, therefore, is not an explanation of Scripture, nor actually a theory, but it is and ought to be a believing confession of what Scripture witnesses concerning itself, despite the appearance that is against it. Inspiration is a dogma, like the dogma of the Trinity, the incarnation, etc., which Christians accept, not because they understand the truth of it but because God so attests it. It is not a scientific pronouncement but a confession of faith. In the case of inspiration, as in the case of every other dogma, the question is not in the first place how much can I and may I confess without coming into conflict with science, but what is the witness of God and what, accordingly, is the pronouncement of the Christian faith? And then there is only one possible answer: Scripture presents itself as the word of God and in every century the church of God has recognized it as such. Inspiration is based on the authority of Scripture and has received the affirmation of the church of all the ages.

~Herman Bavinck~


Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic; 2003) p. 436.

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John Calvin – Ample Ground for Joy

2 Mar

[4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. – Philippians 4:4]

Hence he enjoins it upon them, that, amidst circumstances of hostility and disturbance, they should nevertheless rejoice in the Lord, as assuredly these spiritual consolations, by means of which the Lord refreshes and gladdens us, ought then most of all to show their efficacy when the whole world tempts us to despair. Let us, however, in connection with the circumstances of the times, consider what efficacy there must have been in this word uttered by the mouth of Paul, who might have had special occasion of sorrow For if they are appalled by persecutions, or imprisonments, or exile, or death, here is the Apostle setting himself forward, who, amidst imprisonments, in the very heat of persecution, and in fine, amidst apprehensions of death, is not merely himself joyful, but even stirs up others to joy. The sum, then, is this—that come what may, believers, having the Lord standing on their side, have amply sufficient ground of joy.

~John Calvin~


Calvin’s Commentaries – Philippians (Spokane, WA; Olive Tree Bible Software; http://www.olivetree.com) Commentary on Philippians 4:4

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John Calvin – Freely Receive, Freely Give

1 Mar

[And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. – 2 Corinthians 9:8]

The reason why God does us good is — not that every one may keep to himself what he has received, but that there may be a mutual participation among us, according as necessity may require.

~John Calvin~


Calvin’s Commentaries – 2 Corinthians (Spokane, WA; Olive Tree Bible Software; http://www.olivetree.com) Commentary on Psalm 2 Corinthians 9:8

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Charles Spurgeon: Get Saturated with the Gospel

29 Feb

One thing more, and it is this. Let us, dear brethren, try to get saturated with the gospel. I always find that I can preach best when I can manage to lie a-soak in my text. I like to get a text, and find out its meaning and bearings, and so on; and then, after I have bathed in it, I delight to lie down in it, and let it soak into me. It softens me, or hardens me, or does whatever it ought to do to me, and then I can talk about it. You need not be very particular about the words and phrases if the spirit of the text has filled you; thoughts will leap out, and find raiment for themselves. Become saturated with spices, and you will smell of them; a sweet perfume will distill from you, and spread itself in every direction; — we call it unction. Do you not love to listen to a brother who abides in fellowship with the Lord Jesus? Even a few minutes with such a man is refreshing, for, like his Master, his paths drop fatness. Dwell in the truth, and let the truth dwell in you. Be baptized into its spirit and influence, that you may impart thereof to others. If you do not believe the gospel, do not preach it, for you lack an essential qualification; but even if you do believe it, do not preach it until you have taken it up into yourself as the wick takes up the oil. So only can you be a burning and a shining light.

~Charles Spurgeon~


An All Around Ministry (Edinburgh, Scotland; Banner of Truth Trust; 1960) How to Meet the Evils of the Age. (HT: Challies)

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John Owen – What Was Accomplished in Christ’s Death?

27 Feb

What is accomplished and fulfilled by the death, blood-shedding, or oblation of Jesus Christ, is no less clearly manifested, but is as fully, and very often more distinctly, expressed; as

First, reconciliation with God, by removing and slaying the enmity that was between him and us; for “when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,” Rom. v. 10. “God was in him reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,” 2 Cor. v. 19; yea, he hath “reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,” verse 18. And if you would know how this reconciliation was effected, the apostle will tell you that “he abolished in his flesh the enmity, the law of commandments consisting in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,” Eph. ii. 15, 16: so that “he is our peace,” verse 14.

Secondly, Justification, by taking away the guilt of sins, procuring remission and pardon of them, redeeming us from their power, with the curse and wrath due unto us for them; for “by his own blood he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” Heb. ix. 12. “He redeemed us from the curse, being made a curse for us,” Gal. iii. 13; “his own self bearing our sins in his own body on the tree,” 1 Pet. ii. 24. We have “all sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” but are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins” Rom. iii. 23–25: for “in him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins,” Col. i. 14.

Thirdly, Sanctification, by the purging away of the uncleanness and pollution of our sins, renewing in us the image of God, and supplying us with the graces of the Spirit of holiness: for “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself to God, purgeth our consciences from dead works that we may serve the living God,” Heb. ix. 14; yea, “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John i. 7. “By himself he purged our sins,” Heb. i. 3. To “sanctify the people with his own blood, he suffered without the gate,” chap. xiii. 12. “He gave himself for the church to sanctify and cleanse it, that it should be holy and without blemish,” Eph. v. 25–27. Peculiarly amongst the graces of the Spirit, “it is given to us,” ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, “for Christ’s sake, to believe on him,” Phil. i. 29; God “blessing us in him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,” Eph. i. 3.

Fourthly, Adoption, with that evangelical liberty and all those glorious privileges which appertain to the sons of God; for “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons,” Gal. iv. 4, 5.

Fifthly, Neither do the effects of the death of Christ rest here; they leave us not until we are settled in heaven, in glory and immortality for ever. Our inheritance is a “purchased possession,” Eph. i. 14: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance,” Heb. ix. 15. The sum of all is, — The death and blood-shedding of Jesus Christ hath wrought, and doth effectually procure, for all those that are concerned in it, eternal redemption, consisting in grace here and glory hereafter.

~John Owen~






The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Edinburgh, Scotland; Banner of Truth Trust; 1959) p. 158-159.

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Charles Spurgeon: The Gospel Will Triumph!

24 Feb

II. Having spoken thus far upon the gospel rejected, I shall now briefly speak upon the GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. “Unto us who are called, both Jews and Greeks, it is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Yonder man rejects the gospel, despises grace, and laughs at it as a delusion. Here is another man who laughed at it, too; but God will fetch him down upon his knees. Christ shall not die for nothing. The Holy Ghost shall not strive in vain. God hath said, “My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be abundantly satisfied.” If one sinner is not saved, another shall be. The Jew and the Greek shall never depopulate heaven. The choirs of glory shall not lose a single songster by all the opposition of Jews and Greeks; for God hath said it; some shall be called; some shall be saved; some shall be rescued.

“Perish the virtue, as it ought, abhorred,
And the fool with it, who insults his Lord.
The atonement a Redeemer’s love has wrought
Is not for you– the righteous need it not.
See’st thou yon harlot wooing all she meets,
The worn- out nuisance of the public streets
Herself from morn till night, from night to morn,
Her own abhorrence, and as much your scorn:
The gracious shower, unlimited and free,
Shall fall on her, when heaven denies it thee.
Of all that wisdom dictates, this the drift,
That man is dead in sin, and life a gift.”

If the righteous and good are not saved, if they reject the gospel, there are others who are to be called, others who shall be rescued; for Christ will not lose the merits of his agonies, or the purchase of his blood.

~Charles Spurgeon~


Spurgeon’s Sermons – Vol. 1: Sermon 7: ”Christ Crucified” delivered on February 11, 1855, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. eBook. www.olivetree.com

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Jonathan Edwards – Concerning Faith

23 Feb

Any thing that may be called a receiving the revelation of the gospel is not faith, but such a sort of receiving it, as is suitable to the nature of the gospel, and the respect it has to us. The act of reception suitable to truth, is believing it. The suitable reception of that which is excellent, is choosing it and loving it. The proper act of reception of a revelation of deliverance from evil, and the conferring of happiness, is, acquiescing in it and depending upon it. The proper reception of a Saviour, is, committing ourselves to him and trusting in him. The proper act or reception of the favour of God, is, believing and esteeming it, and rejoicing in it. He that suitably receives forgiveness of his fault, does with an humble sense of his fault rejoice in the pardon.

Thus, for instance, he that reads a truth that no way concerns his interest, if he believes it, it is proper to say he receives it, But if there be a declaration of some glorious and excellent truth, that does nearly concern him, he that only believes it. cannot be said to receive it. And if a captain offers to deliver a distressed people, they that only believe what he says, without committing themselves to him, and putting themselves under him, cannot be said to receive him. So, if a prince offers one his favour, he that does not esteem his favour, cannot be said heartily to accept thereof. Again, if one offended offers pardon to another, be cannot be said to receive it, if he be not sensible of his fault, and does not care for the displeasure of the offended.

~Jonathan Edwards~






The Works of Jonathan Edwards Vol. 2 (Peabody, MA; Hendrickson Publishers, Inc; 2007) p. 581. Remarks on Important Theological Controversies: Concerning Faith

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