Description
The Comfort of Christ to Weak Believers by John Durant (1620-1686)
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eISBN: 978-1-62663-476-3
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ISBN: 978-1-62663-477-0
John Durant (1620-1686) was a popular independent puritan minister, and was described by Edmund Calamy as an excellent practical preacher of the word of God.
Christ is such an inexhaustible fountain that sinners cannot ever out desire His mercies. He is an overflowing fountain of infinite mercy and comfort. All other temporal mercies find their eternal significance in him. Nothing will delight the sincere believer, or be enjoyed, if such believers do not in some way partake of His comfort, and His tenderness. They must tap into Christ’s virtue. How will they do this?
Durant’s discourse explores the sweetness of Christ’s relationship with weak believers, addressing various aspects of this theme. He shows the fallacy of Satan to keep souls from Christ; and the sweetness of Christ to those in His service. His work is taken from Isaiah 40:11, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
The structure of the discourse includes the dependence of the words, their division, and the doctrines derived from them. His main doctrine, is that central teaching presented, emphasizes Christ’s sweetness in His dealings with weak members. Most Christians will not admit they are weak. And the idea of the word “weak” seems to be negative. But Durant’s work reaches to all Christians. He shows that Christ’s carriage, and the sweetness of that carriage, is demonstrated in not casting off weak believers, but that He preserves their weak graces, strengthens them, bears with their infirmities, not burdening them with tasks they can’t handle, and accepts their efforts despite failings. These reasons are drawn from God the Father’s commission to Christ, the truth of the inherent weakness in believers, and Christ’s intention to build them up as his lambs. The discourse concludes with applications for information, lamentation, reproof, comfort, encouragement, imitation, and exhortation.
This work is not a scan or facsimile, and has been updated in modern English for easy reading. It also has an active table of contents for electronic versions.
Table of Contents
Meet John Durant by C. Matthew McMahon
Christ is Sweet to the Taste by C. Matthew McMahon
To the Reader
SECTION 1: Declaring Christ’s Gentle Care for His Weak Members
~~~~CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the Text, with the Purpose of the Words
~~~~CHAPTER 2: The Context, the Division of the Words, and the Doctrines Arising from Them
~~~~CHAPTER 3: The Main Doctrine Explained
~~~~CHAPTER 4: A More Detailed Explanation and General Proof of the Point
~~~~CHAPTER 5: Six Specific Ways that Illustrate Christ’s Tender Care for His Weak Members
~~~~CHAPTER 6: Explaining the Reasons for Christ’s Tender Care for Weak Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 7: Uses of All This
SECTION 2: Christ’s Gentle Treatment of the Weak
~~~~CHAPTER 1: Christ Sweet to Those Weak in Circumstance
~~~~CHAPTER 2: Of the Kindness of Jesus Christ towards the Weak in Their Labors
~~~~CHAPTER 3: On the Kindness of Jesus Christ to Working Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 4: Christ’s Sweetness to Working Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 5: Reasons for Christ’s Sweetness to Working Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 6: Some Applications of the Principle
SECTION 3: Christ’s Gentle Care for Believers Weak in Sins
~~~~CHAPTER 1: The God Who Provides
~~~~CHAPTER 2: Some Preliminary Points for Understanding the Matter and Its Proof
~~~~CHAPTER 3: Evidence of Christ’s Sweetness to Believers Weakened by Sins
~~~~CHAPTER 4: A General Demonstration of Christ’s Sweetness to Sinning Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 5: Some Specific Demonstrations of Christ’s Sweetness to Sinning Believers
~~~~CHAPTER 6: Some Reasons for This Point
~~~~CHAPTER 7: Some Uses and Application of This
SECTION 4: Christ’s Tender Care for Believers Weak in Suffering
~~~~CHAPTER 1: The Sweet Conduct of Christ
~~~~CHAPTER 2: Some Preliminary Points and the General Proposition Established
~~~~CHAPTER 3: A Significant Example to Prove the Point
~~~~CHAPTER 4: Eight Specific Instances Illustrating the Truth of the Point
~~~~CHAPTER 5: Some Reasons for the Point
~~~~CHAPTER 6: Some Applications and the Conclusion
