More From The Library

Expository Thoughts on the Gospel by John Charles Ryle

Gospel of Matthew – 1 Volume As the first Gospel in the New Testament, Matthew was, not surprisingly, the first to be published in J. C. Ryle’s series of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (1856). Ryle’s expositions are a rich combination of doctrinal and practical comments on the Gospel text. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts can be used as a help in family worship, or as an aid in pastoral visitation, or simply as a companion to the Gospels in the private reading of Scripture.

Gospel of Mark – 1 Volume First published in 1857, Mark was the second book to appear in J. C. Ryle’s series of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. The earliest of the Gospel narratives to be written, Mark, says Ryle, ‘is singularly full of precious facts about the Lord Jesus, narrated in a simple, terse, pithy, and condensed style’. Those last four adjectives could well be used to describe Ryle’s own comments on the Gospel!

Gospel of Luke – 2 Volumes Within a year of publishing Mark in his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels series, J. C. Ryle had, in 1858, completed the Gospel of Luke. Written specifically for a non-Jewish readership, Luke’s Gospel is perhaps the most ‘accessible’ of the narratives of the life of Christ for modern readers. 

Ryle’s desire for his readers mirrors that of Luke Luke 1:4), that they might gain ‘a more clear knowledge of Christ, as a living person, a living priest, a living physician, a living friend, a living advocate at the right hand of God, and a living Saviour soon about to come again’.

Gospel of John – 3 Volumes ‘The Gospel of St. John, rightly interpreted, is the best and simplest answer to those who profess to admire a vague and indistinct Christianity.’ There were many such in J. C. Ryle’s day, as in our own, and these final three volumes of his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels series provide a detailed commentary upon, and ‘right interpretation’ of the fourth Gospel. 

In these volumes Ryle shows again that, as in all his writing and preaching, he was first and foremost a pastor, and as J. I. Packer has pointed out, ‘alongside the question “Is it true?” the question “What effect will this have on ordinary people?” was always in his mind’.
Source: Banner of Truth

A Golden Chain by William Perkins

William Perkins’ “A Golden Chain” is a guide to Puritan theology - a superb rendering of Reformed doctrine as interpreted by the Puritans. His analysis of the doctrine of salvation is exemplary, especially in his application of the work of Christ to the elect. Perkins affirms that faith is the consequence of God’s effectual call rather than of sinful man’s “free will.” 

Consider these priceless contents:

Chapter 1. Of the Body of Scripture and Theology
Chapter 2. Of God, and the nature of God.
Chapter 3. Of the Life of God. Chapter
Chapter 4. Of God’s glory, and blessedness.
Chapter 5. Concerning the Persons of the Godhead.
Chapter 6. Of God’s works, and his decree.
Chapter 7. Of Predestination and Creation.
Chapter 8. Of Angels.
Chapter 9. Of Man, and the Estate Of Innocence.
Chapter 10. Of sin, and the fall of Angels.
Chapter 11. Of Man’s fall and disobedience.
Chapter 12. Of Original Sin.
Chapter 13. Of actual sin.
Chapter 14. Of the punishment of sin.
Chapter 15. Of Election, and of Jesus Christ the foundation of it.
Chapter 16. Of the Union of the Two Natures in Christ.
Chapter 17. Of the Distinction of both Natures.
Chapter 18. Of Christ’s Nativity and Office.
Chapter 19. Concerning the Outward Means of executing the decree of election, and of the Decalogue.
Chapter 20. Of the First Commandment.
Chapter 21. Of the Second Commandment.
Chapter 22. Of the Third Commandment.
Chapter 23. Of the Fourth Commandment.
Chapter 24. Of the Fifth Commandment.
Chapter 25. Of the Sixth Commandment.
Chapter 26. Of the Seventh Commandment.
Chapter 27. Of the Eighth Commandment.
Chapter 28. Of the Ninth Commandment.
Chapter 29. Of the Tenth Commandment.
Chapter 30. Of the Use of the Law.
Chapter 31. Of the Covenant of Grace.
Chapter 32. Of the Sacraments.
Chapter 33. Of Baptism. The Sacramental Union of the Parts of Baptism
Chapter 34. Of the Lord’s Supper. The Sacramental Relation in the Lord’s Supper
Chapter 35. Of the Degrees of Executing God’s Decree of Election.
Chapter 36. The 1st Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love: Effectual Calling.
Chapter 37. The 2nd Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love: Justification. Imputation of Christ’s righteousness
Chapter 38. The 3rd Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love: Sanctification
Chapter 39. Of Repentance and the Fruits of it.
Chapter 40. Of Christian Warfare.
Chapter 41. Of the 1st Assault: on Calling.
Chapter 42. Of the 2nd Assault: on Faith.
Chapter 43. Of the 3rd Assault: on Sanctification.
Chapter 44. Of the Patient Bearing of the Cross.
Chapter 45. Of Calling upon God.
Chapter 46. Of Christian Apology and Martyrdom.
Chapter 47. Of Edification, and Alms among the Faithful.
Chapter 48. The 4th Degree of the Declaration of God’s love: Glorification.
Chapter 49. Of the estate of the Elect, at the Last Day of Judgment.
Chapter 50. Of the Estate of the Elect After Judgment.
Chapter 51. Concerning the Order of the Causes of Salvation according to the doctrine of the Church of Rome. A View of the Distribution of the causes of Salvation & Damnation as the Church of Rome would have it.
Chapter 52. Concerning the Decree of Reprobation.
Chapter 53. Concerning the Execution of the Decree of Reprobation.
Chapter 54. Concerning a Newly Devised Doctrine of Predestination, taught by some new and late Divines. A Frame of the Doctrine of Predestination
Chapter 55. Of the State and Condition of the Reprobates When They are Dead.
Chapter 56. Of the Condemnation of the Reprobates at the Last Judgment.
Chapter 57. Of the Estate of the Reprobates in Hell.
Chapter 58. Of the Application of Predestination.

"Contemporary scholars have called Perkins 'the principal architect of Elizabethan Puritanism,' 'the Puritan theologian of Tudor times,' 'the most important Puritan writer,' 'the prince of Puritan theologians,' 'the ideal Puritan clergyman of the quietist years,' 'the most famous of all Puritan divines,' and have classed him with Calvin and Beza as third in 'the trinity of the orthodox.' He was the first theologian to be more widely published in England than Calvin and the first English Protestant theologian to have a major impact in the British isles, on the continent, and in North America. Little wonder that Puritan scholars marvel that Perkins's rare works remain largely unavailable until now." 

Dr. Joel Beeke
Source: Monergism