How a Puritan Lived

by C.H. Spurgeon
We have been of late greatly struck
with the placid, heavenly lives of some
of the Puritans. In these days piety is
frequently superficial, and meditation
and religious exercises are much neglect-
ed. We thought it would be one of the
best rebukes of this evil, and one of the
surest ways of stirring up our brethren
to better things, if we gave them a
specimen of how a believer has lived,
and how he thought and spoke. The per-
son whose way of life is here described
was John Row, of Crediton, a county
magistrate, who died in 1660. Reader,
look at his life, and then at your own,
and see wherein to amend.
In his accounts, which he made up
every day, the method that he used in
his meditation was to consider what
God had done for him, and what his
carriage had been towards God; and he
said, when he considered what God's
carriage towards him had been, he saw
that God had been doing him good in a
constant tenor, but when he reflected
upon himself he saw many failings;
whereupon he said there was no action
done by him that was ever so good but
that he could see and lament some cir-
cumstance or other in which it was de-
fective; and he said, I have accounted it
a great pitch when the Lord hath shewed
me some defects in my best actions,
that I may go clean out of myself unto
Jesus Christ. By this constant practice
of reviewing his life and actions he kept
much inward peace of conscience, and
C.H. SpurgCOII wu
a Baptist preacfler
In London In the
middle of the last
century. He was,
by any standard,
one of the greatest
preachers or all
lime. He was,
doubUcss, the most
knowlegeable person, outside the
Puritan era, or the hi!otory of the
Puritans, having the largest library of
Puritan works In existence.
usually at the close of the day, after the
casting up his accounts and fervent pra-
yer, the Lord made it out to him that all
was pardoned, and by this means he
attained to such an habitual persuasion
of the love of God, so that he for the m-
ost part walked in the light of God's
countenance from day to day. Much of
his prayers were that his faith might be
so strengthened as to see and behold the
love of God in all the passages of his
life, that [with Abraham] he might give
the Lord glory by believing.
He was very jealous of losing this
blessed privilege, namely, the sense
that he had of the love of God and the
light of his countenance that he walked
in. He said there were two things that
he mainly desired of God - ftrst, that
having been a professor of religion so
long, he might be kept from scandalous
sins. Secondly, that God would not hide
his face from him, saying that he was a
man of low spirit, and that without
God's presence he could not subsist.
And, therefore, said he, I saw it
necessary to be kept under affliction,
that I might be humble, knowing that
God would not reveal himself to proud
persons.
He was much in prayer, and had a
singular ability in meditation, and this
made him a wise man and a wise
Christian. He would seldom answer any
serious matter but he would fust pause
awhile. He was much delighted in a
saying of Dr. Preston that the greatest
rousers are the best artists. He was so
much taken up in meditation that he
found himself much spent by it, and
would say that meditation was a
spending thing. Sometimes in a
morning, before he rose, he would be
meditating an hour or two together.
When he was riding or walking abroad
[if he was alone] he would still be in
meditation. When he went about his
worldly affairs he would contrive them
beforehand, and spend what spare time
he had in heavenly contemplation. He
seldom prayed in secret without pre-
paring himself for it by meditation, say-
ing he preferred a short prayer after long
meditation above a long prayer without
meditation. Whenever he heard a ser-
mon he spent a considerable time in
meditating upon what he had heard.
He used to say, 'That if he were in a
place wherein he might have opportuni-
ty of hearing more than two sermons a
day he should not like it so well to hear
much, unless he could have liberty to
digest it by meditation.' In meditating
upon the things he heard he would dili-
gently look into all the texts that were
quoted, often speaking of that famous
instance of the Bereans, of whom the
Holy Ghost testifies that they were
more noble than those of Thessalonica,
because they searched the Scriptures
whether those things were so. This
meditation helped him greatly, inso-
much that by a diligent enquiry into the
Scriptures, and musing upon what he
had heard, he was sometimes carried
much further than what the minister had
touched upon: and when he came to
repeat those sermons in his family [as
his constant practice was], having medi-
tated upon them beforehand, he would
clear up those passages which had most
difficulty in them. or that had been de-
livered more darkly. And if the preacher
was of meaner parts and gifts, and what
he had delivered might not seem so
useful, he would so explain and illu-
strate what he heard that the sennon
was always rendered profitable in his re-
petition of it
After his repetition on the Lord's
days, he used to call his children and
servants to an account of what they had
learned of that which had been taught If
any had been careless, he would ad-
monish and reprove them for their negli-
gence, and show them the danger they
were in, by reason of their unprofitable-
ness under the means of grace. Such as
were apt and forward to remember he
would commend and encourage them,
often mentioning that speech of our
Saviour, 'To him that hath shall more
be given; but from him that hath not
shall be taken away even that which he
hath.' And, though where there was o ~
The Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988
--------------------------------------------------PageS
casion, he would speak with great
authority, yet when he came to dis-
course with his children and servants he
would speak with muchfaJniliarity and
condescension to the meanest of their
capacities; thereby insinuating hirilself
into their affections, begetting a love iil
them to the Word, and taking oppor-
tunity thereby to make things more
plain and easy to their understandings.
He was much arid frequertt in prayer;
he often prayed With his wife alone;and
when any great occasion fell out in the
day he would retire into his closet to
ask counsel and a blessing from the
Lord . . Every month .he kept a private
fast by . himself,. besides what he did
upon emergent occasions, to seek the
Lord; and the better-to prepare himself
for the.I...Otd's Supper, at which time
also he had much -upon his heart the
concernments of the church. Whenever
any affliction befell him, ot any in his
family, or of his relations, his constant
course was to seek the Lord in an
extraordinary way. And if there were
great business. that he wa8 to under-
or any great strait wherein he
needed divinecourtsel orproteetion; he
still set; time apart in a more than
dinary manner, so to obtain a special
blessing from the ,Lord, or render
cial i . .
. Besides his senime of prayer, he wa8
frequent in holy ejaculations, which prO-
ceeded fropt the spiritual frame of his
heart; he was punctual in keeping
his ti.tnes anp.''seasons for prayer,
irig, and meditation. Though his world-
ly businesses were ,sQmetimes very ur-
yet w.as he always very loth to
.abridge hinlself in his .wonted enjoy-
ment of holy exercises; arid if at any
;time w.as of his full time,
he would redeem the next opportunity
;to regain what time. he had lost. He
.used to say, that when he did -hasten
over duties an eager desire
.to follow his worldly business, he did
'many times meet with a cross in them,
;but when he spent his ordinary time in
'devoti.ori .O.odOid' -inake his otlier busi-
D,ess to th_ e bettf;l'i or, if not, his
mind was .broU,ght to submit to the will
of God. , . ' ... , . .
If he Awoke in a hu:ming before his
ordinary time, yet he would get up; and
his manner was to spend some time in
meditation, for the most part abOut the
great work of our redemption, and on
the eternal sacrifice of the Lord Jesus,
which he offered up to his Father for
the taking away of his people's sins;
and he used to counsel his children
every morning to take a tum at the
cross of Christ, and to think of his
sufferings, which; said he, will be a
m.eans to make you love Christ the
more. As he dressed hiniself in a mon'l-
ing he would drop some holy in-
structions or other among those that
were about him; and when he was ready
his first work was to retire into his
closet, where he spent a considerable
time in reading, meditation, and
Every morning he read in some part
of the Scriptures, with some commen-
tary upon the same, especially with
Calvin's Expositions which he m.uch
delighted in for the spiritUality and solid-
ness thereof.
Having. ended his private devotions
he used to call his family together to
whom he communicated what he had
learned by his own meditation, and
what he had learned from the authors
which he read; and whatsoever his world-
ly business were, he would rarely omit
this exercise in his family: and such
was his modesty and humility in
managing this busiiless, that he would
tell them that he would not take upon
him to interpret the Scripture; but only
would communicate to them what he
had learned from judicious divines. By
this constant course of reading and medi-
tation he became expert and mighty in
the Scriptures, so that in his family
duties he would open the Scriptures
With much clearness of judgment, the
Lord enduing him with a more than
ordinary ability to make things plain
and familiar to the meanest capacity;
and when he came to apply things to
those of his own family he would care-
fully consider every one's condition, and
to those whom he feared to be still in
the state of nature he would lay open
the danger of their present condition,
and what a sad thUJ.g it was for them. t:O
remain out of Christ; and whatever the
matter was that he had been speaking
of, his exhortation still was to press
themto look after Christ, in whom the
Father had laid up aU grace, and from 1
whom they must expect to receive all
grace. His exhortations were attended
with great authority: and thete was so
great a presence of God with him, thil.t
many,\ besides his own family, who
occaSionally came to his house, and
heard him, will have cause to bless God
for' him 1:0 all eternity,
Having Spent a quarter of an hour, or
a little more, in these exhortatiOns, he
would close up the duties with prayer,
wherein he would not be long; but his
prayer was so substantial that he would
comprehend the whole of religion in a
short prayer. His prayer seeined to be
nothing but a digested meditation acted .
by. the Spirit of GOd; every passage in
it ha,d its weight; and not one sentence
could well be spared. Though he varied
in his form, yet the substance and
materials of his ' prayers were for the
most part the same, yet still he took .in
the other necessities of his family as
the various providences of God gave oc-
casion. The main scope itt which his
prayers were leveled was the glory of
God. He was still cattied above himself
to eye and aim at that, and still he
would thus be expressing it 'Lord,
glorify thyself in our salvation; glorify
thyself in bestowing this or that grace
upon us.': The matter of his prayer WaS
still coriunensurate to the word of God;
what Scripture required of us as a duty,
either in our general or . particular . call-
ings, or in relation to the various J)ro-
vidences of God, that was still the
ter'of his'prayers; he was most eminent
in this, for having a very large and
comprehensive charity he would still
take in the concernment of the churi::h
Catholic, and woiild constantly prai for
that election wherever they were.
-In the evening, before sili'Per, if he
could. get liberty; he would spend some
time in reading the works of s01ne
eminent divine; and he took most
delight in Dr; Preston's books, wherein
he was so conversant that most ofthe
choicest in his writings
came very familiar with him.. Then he
betook. himSelf' to his constant cotirse
ofpiay'er arid rheditation. suppet
' ' ;

The Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988
.,.
he caused his children, and the young
scholars that were in his house [which
for many years was never empty of
such, who were sent to the grammar
school, and by their parents were placed
in his family, to enjoy the benefit of
his instructions and holy example],
each of them to read a chapter; which,
being done, he would call together his
whole family, and would spend the rest
of the evening in catechising, or in
repeating some sermon that had been
preached in the week-day.
When the Sabbath was approaching
he would endeavour so to order his af-
fairs that he might dispatch his worldly
business in due season, and so have the
more liberty in the evening to set his
heart in order for the duties of the Lord's-
day; when it was come he would spend
most of the morning in secret prayer
and meditation, and he used to be
shorter in his family duties on that day
than on others, that so they might not
be hindered from attending upon the
public ordinances: and his care was to
be there at the beginning; and he used
to say that it was fitter for them to wait
for the minister than that the minister
should wait for them; and he would
often mention the example and speech
of Cornelius, Acts 10:33: 'We are all
here present before God, to hear all
things which are commanded thee of
God.' The morning service being ended
he would spend the little time he had
before dinner in looking over his notes,
and in meditating upon what he had
heard.
Dinner being ended, he used to repeat
the sermon to his family, and so hasten
to the congregation. After the sermon
he used to spend a considerable time in
secret, and the rest of the evening was
spent in repetition of the sermon, and
in calling his family to give an account
of the things which they had learned.
His charity towards others was very
exemplary. Where he saw anything of
Christ or sincerity, though mixed with
some errors in judgment, and accom-
p ~ i e with other infirmities, his chari-
ty would pass over those defects, and
embrace the grace of God that he appre-
hended to be in them. He loved to make
the best constructions of the conduct of
others; and if it could possibly admit of
a candid interpretation he would be sure
to construe it in that sense. It was a
rule with him never to speak of the
faults and failings of others behind their
backs, except it were in two cases;
either that it might in some way or
other tend to the person's reformation,
or else to prevent mischief to others.
Neither could he patiently endure to
hear an evil report; and it was the most
unpleasing discourse to him to hear the
infmnities of others blazoned without a
cause.
He was ready to distribute to the ne-
cessities of others to his power, yea,
many times beyond his power. His
house was free and open at all times for
the entertainment of godly ministers
and others good persons that came to
visit him. He was a lover of hos-
pitality, and spent a great part of his
estate that way. Few weeks passed
wherein his house was not a receptable
to entertain and lodge some godly
person or other; and none could be freer,
and more hearty in the entertainment
and respect that he gave unto others,
than he was. His love was truly
according to the apostle's . rule -- 'Let
love be without dissimulation.'
As was his manner of life, so at his
death he was much in the acknowledg-
ment of his own nothingness and vile-
ness, and much in magnifying the free
grace and mercy of God to him. The
minister that preached at his funeral had
this passage concerning him: 'He was
much,' said he, 'in self-denial even to
the last; looking on all that he had done
as nothing, as dross and dung in com-
parison with Christ.' Once, when his
wife came to him and said she prayed
that she might follow his steps, he
replied, 'Follow Christ, follow Christ;
he hath given you an example. Blessed
be God for friends, but blessed be God
for Jesus Christ, who hath saved us
from wrath to come.'
Two or three days before he died he
had a sore fit, and thought he should
then have died; but reviving a little he
called for his wife and children, to
whom he said, 'This is the true grace of
God, wherein I stand; that I expect
salvation by Jesus Christ and by him
alone.' And this he repeated again, and
withal exhorted them, that they should
give themselves up to Christ and live
upon him. A day or two before he died,
when he saw his children weeping
about him he said, Weep for your sins;'
and when his wife was lamenting,
saying what should she do when God
took him away? he said, 'You must
repent for that word. Did Joseph say,
Without me God shall provide for the
life of Pharaoh, and shall not God pro-
vide for you? Yes, he will; only cast
yourself upon him.'
The day wherein he died fell out to be
on the lecture day in that town, and a
near relation coming to see him he
would not suffer him to stay with him,
but seemed to put him off with his
hand, saying, 'Away, away; you will
come too late.' For he would not have
him lose the sermon, though it were
the last time he was like to be with
him.
[Reprinted, by permission, from The
Banner of Truth magazine, Edinburgh,
Scotland, #92, May, 1971.] D
Continuing the series of
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Preaching Christ in the
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The Thoughts and
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Knowing the Mind of God
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The Counsel of Chalcedon, September, 1988
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