What is Freer Than Gift?

There is a wonderful chapter in Daniel Rogers' “Practical Catechism” on the free offer of the gospel. Below are some extracts from it designed to whet the appetite, stir the appreciation of God’s free offer of grace in the gospel, and in his words, “teach thee to mend thy slow pace, and run, yea, fly to this offer and free gift.” Read the full chapter in the link below from pages 88 to 108. Daniel Rogers (1573–1652) was an English Puritan minister and scholar, son of Richard Rogers, and a student of William Perkins.

Daniel Rogers, “A Practicall Catechisme” in “Two Treatises, First, The Practicall Catechisme, Wherein, Those Principall Truthes, which most directly, tend to life and godlinesse; are handled. Secondly, A Treatise of the Two Sacraments of the Gospell, Baptisme and the Lords Supper.” (1640), pp. 88-101 (slightly edited for spelling):

Article IV.

The gospel and the offer of grace in it, is the revealer of this deliverance.

 “That is his gracious offer, made to the soul therein: which is nothing else, but the expression of the covenant of grace, that he is willing a poor soul may come to him without doubting and fear, because he holds out the Golden Scepter unto it, and bids it, Be reconciled. Hither refer all those texts wherein this offer is made, both in the covenant and in the seal of Baptism, Isa. 55.1, Ho, every one that thirsteth come. And, Let him that thirsteth, drink freely, Rev. 22.17, and John 7.37, In the great days of the feast, Jesus cried, If any man thirst, let him come.

And surely whoso will profit by this Article, must get this lesson by heart: That the Lord who freely purposed, and faithfully sent his Son into the world, still continues his freedom, and doth offer the Lord Jesus with his excellency most freely. A bottom of most unspeakable comfort to all poor, bruised reeds and broken souls. For if he be freely offered, what poor soul should doubt to accept him? What is freer than gift? He that gave him freely, cannot withdraw him again, nor keep back his satisfaction from a needing soul, as if he repented. And having given him once, he cannot recall him, for why then gave he him? And if he be wholly given, even with all his excellency, what particular thing can be denied with him? It behooves us then much to understand the truth of this freedom: which in a few particulars I will name.

 First, God offers Christ of his own accord, therefore freely. It never came into the heart of Angel or man to dream of it, or desire it. Romans 5, When we were yet enemies. The sun doth not arise more freely over the head of a drunkard snoring in his bed, or wallowing in his vomit, than the Lord Jesus came and is offered to a sinner in his blood and woeful misery. Preventing kindness is free, ere we desired it. See Isa. 65.1.

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He offers it to whom he pleaseth, passing by millions of people in the world, and offering it to such and such nations, as he did of old to Israel, neglecting the world; so that it is merely unconditional and free, as when Paul came to Athens or Ephesus, who had never heard of gospel before.
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Q. What are you so large in opening of this?

 A. Because it’s the main hinge whereupon the door of hope and faith turneth: the offer of God satisfied, being the immediate object to which the soul is to resolve and empty itself. The offer I say assisted with a promise. For an offer is no otherwise differing from a promise, than as a general out of which a particular issueth; the promise is included in an offer, but yet in special expressing the Covenant of God to all that receive the offer, that he will receive them, be their God, both in pardon and in all-sufficiency. Into these the soul doth wholly pour forth herself: which that we may understand, consider this, that we have to do with the Father immediately, but with our Lord Jesus only mediately, as a means to lead us with confidence unto him. The Father properly looks at the Son as our surety, and us, for his sake: but we look at him directly, and to our Lord Jesus, as our Mediator. So that look what we can show for our reconciliation, must come from the Father, and that is his offer and promise, oath and covenant of mercy. Into that therefore the poor soul is to resolve itself, all her doubts, fears, temptations and distempers whatsoever, and so to remain settled. So that it mainly concerns the soul to understand the nature, ground, and properties of the offer and promise.

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Fifthly, this should sear us from all infidelity and contempt of God’s offer: Oh! It’s free and from mere good will, the Lord is tied to none; He hath rejected millions of Jews and Turks and baptized ones, and chosen to offer grace to thee. And, shall the contempt of the free offer of that which thousands would have been glad of (upon the price of going from sea to sea for it) be pardonable? Do but consider what woeful punishment will lie upon thee, who refuseth such an offer laid in thy lap, when as many poor souls would rejoice if the spending of days and nights might procure them a tender and believing heart to receive it; and yet complain, that they cannot come by it. Oh, tremble at the freedom of this offer! Be humble and base thyself to consider but this; I am a poor wretch, standing to the mercy of a free God, who hath it to give where he will, and to deny it at his pleasure. If he gave it to a prodigal son, and deny it to a moral civilian: if he give it to one that came into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, and deny it to him that came in at the seventh: if he deny it to the willer and runner, and be found of such as sought him not, who shall allege against freedom? May he not do with his own as he pleases? Oh, despise none! Lest the Lord make the despisers to seek the despised (as the Gileadites sought to Jeptha) and be glad of their portion. Oh! Turn all emulation and scorn into humility; and deep adoring of this freedom.

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Fourthly, let it teach thee to mend thy slow pace, and run, yea, fly to this offer and free gift. 

Rutherford's Christian Directions

Samuel Rutherford, Letter CLIX, in Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp. 292-295:

To John Fleming, Bailie of Leith [Letter LXVIII.]

Worthy and Dearly Beloved in the Lord, -- Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. I received your letter. I wish that I could satisfy your desire in drawing up, and framing for you, a Christian directory. But the learned have done it before me more judiciously than I can; especially Mr. [Daniel] Rogers, [Richard] Greenham and [William] Perkins. Notwithstanding, I shall show you what I would have been at myself; howbeit I came always short of my purpose.

1. That hours of the day, less or more time, for the word and prayer, be given to God; not sparing the twelfth hour, or mid-day, howbeit it should then be the shorter time.

2. In the midst of worldly employments, there should be some thoughts of sin, death, judgment, and eternity, with at least a word or two of ejaculatory prayer to God.

3. To beware of wandering of heart in private prayers.

4. Not to grudge, howbeit ye come from prayer without sense of joy. Down-casting, sense of guiltiness, and hunger, are often best for us.

5. That the Lord's-day, from morning to night, be spent always either in private or public worship.

6. That words be observed, wandering and idle thoughts be avoided, sudden anger and desire of revenge, even of such as persecute the truth, be guarded against; for we often mix our zeal with our wild-fire.

7. That known, discovered, and revealed sins, that are against the conscience, be eschewed, as most dangerous preparatives to hardness of heart.

8. That in dealing with men, faith and truth in covenants and trafficking be regarded, that we deal with all men in sincerity; that conscience be made of idle and lying words; and that our carriage be such, as that they who see it may speak honourably of our sweet Master and profession.
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There are some things, also, whereby I have been helped, as -- 1. I have been benefited by riding alone a long journey, in giving that time to prayer. 2. By abstinence, and giving days to God. 3. By praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them, I have gotten something for myself. 4. I have been really confirmed, in many particulars, that God heareth prayers; and, therefore, I used to pray for anything, of how little importance soever. 5. He enabled me to make no question, that this mocked way, which is nicknamed, is the only way to heaven.

Puritan Classic on Marriage Reprinted After 350 Years

Ruling Elder John Uselding of Liberty and Grace Reformed Church in Warrenton, Virginia, has done the church a valuable service by republishing a Puritan classic on marriage that has long been out of print and difficult to find. Matrimonial Honor by Daniel Rogers was completed in 1634, but first published in 1642. Along with William Gouge's Of Domestical Duties (1622); Matthew Griffith's Bethel (1633); and William Whateley's A Bride Bush (1616); it is considered to be one of the most highly regarded of the English Puritan domestic conduct books.

Chilton Latham Powell, English Domestic Relations, 1487-1653: A Study of Matrimony and Family Life in Theory and Practice as Revealed by the Literature, law, and History of the Period, p. 138, writes:

Daniel Rogers' Matrimonnial Honovr is interesting for several reasons. It was written by a minister of the Church of England; like Gouge's book, it is an exposition of life rather than the Scriptures; it is extremely human in its attitude, kindly towards the much abused weaknesses of mankind, and respectful towards people whose beliefs differed from the author's own. Were it not for the fact that it covers but a small part of the field, although 389 pages in length, it would surely outrank all others of the type. Rogers discusses only two main subjects, the honor of matrimony and the duties of husband and wife, but digresses at times to speak of parental consent to child marriages, of contracts of marriage, and, in an appendix, of chastity and the lack of it.

Daniel Rogers (1573–1652), the son of Richard Rogers (1550?-1618), was married twice, first to Margaret Bishop, and later to Sarah Evered. His first marriage, from which he had one son, Daniel, who became a minister himself, seems to have been a difficult one. From the second marriage, he had four more children: Hannah, Samuel, Mary and (named for his first wife) Margaret. Margaret married Renatus Jordain, a French Huguenot refugee, and was the mother of John Jortin, the English church historian. Mary became the wife of Puritan William Jenkyn.

In an age when marriage is lightly esteemed, and greatly trampled upon, Rogers' defense of the honor of matrimony is needed more than ever. He wrote:

Marriage is the Preservative of chastity, the Seminary of the Common-wealth, seed-plot of the Church, pillar (under God) of the world, right-hand of providence, supporter of laws, states, orders, offices, gifts and services: the glory of peace, the sinewes of war, the maintenance of policy, the life of the dead, the solace of the living, the ambition of virginity, the foundation of Countries, Cities, Universities, succession of Families, Crownes and Kingdoms.

Edification Press has made Matrimonial Honor available at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This is a book which I am very pleased to see in print once again, and that I highly recommend. Elder Uselding notes that Barnes & Noble has the best price:

Currently Barnes & Noble is offering the book at a much lower price than Amazon. Receive an additional 15% off at barnesandnoble.com using coupon code U3D8B4J. The coupon code is valid until October 28, 2010 at 2:59 a.m. Eastern Time.

Elder Uselding also plans to republish future Puritan works, Lord willing, including Robert Bolton's A Three-Fold Treatise.

In Praise of Marriage

Daniel Rogers, Matrimonial Honour: or, A Treatise of Marriage (1642), p. 7:

Marriage is the Preservative of chastity, the Seminary of the Common-wealth, seed-plot of the Church, pillar (under God) of the world, right-hand of providence, supporter of laws, states, orders, offices, gifts and services: the glory of peace, the sinewes of war, the maintenance of policy, the life of the dead, the solace of the living, the ambition of virginity, the foundation of Countries, Cities, Universities, succession of Families, Crownes and Kingdoms.

God's Covenants

Francis Roberts, who wrote many theological works and a version of the metrical Psalms, is the author of the largest single Puritan treatise on covenant theology. In the introduction The Mysteries and Marrow of the Bible: viz. God's Covenants with Man, he wrote that his compendium was the product of "weekly lectures, to treat of God's Covenants, [which he commenced] on Sept. 2, 1651, and have persisted therein till the very publication of this book, in May, 1657." It consists of 1,721 pages in folio.

Charles Pastoor and Galen K. Johnson, Historical Dictionary of the Puritans, pp. 270-271:

ROBERTS, FRANCIS (1609-1675). English Puritan preacher. Roberts was born at Methley, near the town of Leeds. He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and became a proponent of Presbyterianism, subscribing to the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. In that same year, Roberts became the pastor of the St. Augustine's Church on Watling Street. He served doubly as the chaplain to the Earl of Essex in Dublin, and, in 1649, he became the rector at Wrington, Somerset. His theological legacy lies chiefly in his book The Mystery and Marrow of the Bible, a massive tome that elaborates the history of God's dealings with the human race in terms of six covenants, arranged successively through Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and Jesus Christ. His additional writings include Believers Evidences for Eternal Life, The Key of the Bible, and True Way to the Tree of Life.

Won Taek Lim in The Covenant Theology of Francis Roberts, pp. 3-4, writes:

Among the works of those inappropriately neglected Puritan thinkers, Roberts' immense book on covenant stands out. In 1657 Roberts published The Mysterie and Marrow of the Bible: viz. God's Covenants with Man.... Considering the size of books published at that time, it was extraordinary to write more than 1,700 pages in folio on a single subject. In God's Covenants Roberts' citation of authors ranges widely from the early church to his own days. Roberts cites St. Augustine and John Calvin more often than any individual Puritan thinkers, including the divines of the Westminster Assembly.

Roberts outlines the plan of his work ("a plan devised and partially executed by John Ball," Charles Augustus Briggs, General Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 465, and referenced by Thomas Blake in Vindiciae Foederis; or, a Treatise of the Covenant of God Entered With Man-Kinde in his preface to the reader (1653)):

A Work of vast extent, comprising in it: all the methods of divine dispensations to the Church in all ages; all the conditions of the Church under those dispensations; all the greatest and precious promises, of the life that now is, and of that which is to come; all sorts of blessings promised by God to man; all sorts of duties repromised by man to God; all the gradual discoveries of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator and Saviour of sinners; the whole mystery of all true religion from the beginning to the end of the world; and which as a continued thred of gold runs through the whole series of all the Holy Scriptures,...because I have set my heart exceedingly to the Covenants of my God, which (in my judgment) are an universal basis or foundation of all true religion and happiness, I have shunned no diligence, industry, or endeavor that to me seemed requisite for the profitable unveiling of them.

Ernest F. Kevan, The Grace of Law: A Study of Puritan Theology, p. 116, records the diagram of God's Covenants that Roberts sets forth (p. 16, cf. pp. 177, 739 f.), which I have reformatted here:

God's COVENANT is twofold

1. A Covenant of Works, in the first Adam, before the Fall.

2. A Covenant of faith, in the second Adam, after the Fall; comprehending [1 and 2 below].

1. The Covenants of Promise, under the Old Testament. (1) With Adam. (2) With Noah. (3) With Abraham. (4) With Israel in Mount Sinai. (5) With David. (6) With the Jews about their return from Babylon.

2. The Covenant of Performance, or the New Covenant under the New Testament.

In 2007, I had the privilege to visit the Puritan Resource Center at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which owns a copy of Roberts' tome. A dear friend took a picture of me with that book, along with some others, including another by Roberts, The Key of the Bible (along with the Works of William Perkins and Daniel Rogers' Naaman the Syrian, his Disease and Cure). It is my prayer that one day, massive though it is, someone will take on the project of republishing God's Covenants, for the benefit of the Church, which always stands in need of a deeper understanding of covenant theology.

Six Degrees of Richard Rogers

If you, dear Reader, have heard of the parlor game, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, then this will make sense. It seems like Richard Rogers is at the center of the Puritan universe, although similar levels of interconnectivity can be achieved with other Puritans, methinks. If not, consider this a Puritan family tree with honorary branches. The following is only a snapshot, because many other names of interest and connections have not been included, but it shows just how much influence one godly man has had through his family and ministry.

Puritan minister Richard Rogers (1551-1618, author of the first major Puritan devotional manual on the Christian life, Seven Treatises, and a notable commentary on the Book of Judges, who by the way is NOT kin to the "protomartyr" John Rogers, c. 1500-1555, or, so far as I know, the American composer Richard Rogers, 1902-1979) was the father of Puritan minister Daniel Rogers (1573-1652, student of William Perkins and author of the classic Puritan marriage treatise Matrimoniall Honour) and Ezekiel Rogers (1590-1660, one of the founders of Rowley, Massachusetts); the stepfather of Puritan minister Samuel Ward of Ipswich (1577-1639/1640, who was also cousin [I think] to Puritan scholar Samuel Ward, 1577-1643, one of the translators of the King James Bible and a delegate to the Synod of Dort and an invited, but non-attending, delegate to the Westminster Assembly) and Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward (1578-1652, author of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties), whose son-in-law was Puritan minister Giles Firmin (1614-1697, author of The Real Christian); the grandfather of Puritan minister William Jenkyn (1613-1685, author of a notable commentary on the Book of Jude); the uncle of Puritan minister John Rogers of Dedham (c. 1570-1636, known as 'Roaring Rogers' for his preaching style and author of Sixty Memorials), who was the father of Puritan minister Nathaniel Rogers (1598-1655), who was the father of Harvard University President John Rogers (1630-1684); and the teacher of pupil-turned-Puritan minister Paul Baynes (d. 1617) by whose ministry Puritan minister Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was converted.