He entered Queen's College, Oxford, at the age of twelve, and took his MA in 1635.
He studied ferociously hard, driven forward by his ambitions after political or ecclesiastical eminence; but, though a churchman, he was not yet a Christian in the true sense. In his early twenties, however, God showed him his sins, and the torment of conviction threw him into such a turmoil that for three months he avoided the company of others and, when addressed, could scarcely utter a coherent sentence.
Slowly he learned to trust Christ, and so found peace.
--J. I. Packer,
A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway, 2010; repr.), 191
Since the beginning of this summer I've been working my way through Volume VI of Owen's works, Sin and Temptation. Never in my life have I read a more accurate - or helpful - analysis of sin's power over the body and the Spirit's power over sin. It's personally encouraging to see how God can use spiritually tumultuous seasons for the good of His people across time and space.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you back at Grace Covenant soon. My family very much looks forward to your sermons.