There are times that the Lord greatly uses encyclopedic or multi-volume books written by prominent scholars or authors, ancient or contemporary, to influence one's life and ministry.
I think, for example, of John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion" or Francis Turretin’s “Institutes of Elenctic Theology” or Herman Bavinck's "Reformed Dogmatics." I’ve even heard a few pastors who were significantly impacted by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones's Romans and Ephesians multi-volume commentaries. These books have made great impression on some pastors and theologians in the past and at the present.
I can even think of Klaas Schilder's Trilogy, which is a collection of Schilder's sermons on the suffering and death of Christ, making an impact on some people in the Reformed community.
While I believe that Christians should read some of these massive volumes in theology and the Christian life at some point in their lives, yet I could also say that the Lord, at times, can use smaller treatises or booklets to ignite the fire of devotion and renewal in a Christian's life.
Earlier, I've related how God used John Stott's "Basic Christianity" to strengthen my grip of the gospel. Inter Varsity people in the Philippines know this, especially those who went to Kawayan Camp (KC) since the 80s (or maybe even earlier). Part of the requirements to be accepted in the month-long Inter Varsity leadership camp is to read and write a review of Stott's booklet of 140-plus pages.
I started reading the booklet in March 1990. I was able to finish it in early April before the camp started. Through "Basic Christianity," Stott left an imprint in my soul as I tried to understand and live out my new life in Christ. In a real sense, Stott taught me basic Christianity.
In that booklet, the late Dr. John Stott, former rector of All Soul's Church, Langham Place, systematically explained man’s universal sinfulness as well as his violation of God's law as summarized in the Ten Commandments. Dr. Stott also expounds in this booklet how God satisfied and and propitiated His wrath in the death of Christ. In other words, at the cross, Jesus died on behalf of and for the sake of sinners like me.
Through God's gracious provision in Christ, man receives the gift of salvation through faith in the person and work of Christ. As the good news is proclaimed, man must repent from his sin, ask God’s pardon, and believe in the death of His Son as the only means to be reconciled with Him.
Another short treatise that has probably the most impact in my life and ministry is the Heidelberg Catechism written primarily by a young theologian, Dr. Zacharias Ursinus in 1563. He was twenty-nine (29) years old when he wrote the catechism intended to be used for the instruction of the youth in the Palatinate region of Germany in sixteenth century. In writing the cstechism, he was ably assisted by a fellow minister, a preacher at the city of Heidelberg, Caspar Olevianus.
The catechism is divided into three parts. The first part pertains to man’s sin and misery. The second section discusses the redeeming work of God in Christ. In this section, the catechism expounds the twelve articles of the Apostles’ Creed. The third part focuses on the believer’s thankful response to the saving work of God. The third section explains the meaning and implications of the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer in the life of the believer.
Other people though may have been deeply influenced by reading Henry Scougal's "The Life of God in the Soul of Man," or John Owen's Puritan Paperback "The Glory of Christ," or John Murray's "Redemption: Accomplished and Applied."
Still some have been spiritually awakened by reading Walt Chantry's "Today's Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic?" or J. I. Packer's "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God," or A. W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God,” or even Jerry Bridges's "Pursuit of Holiness." These are not lengthy volumes. Yet I have known some people whose lives were revived or revolutionized in reading one of these booklets.
How about you? What booklet or short treatise on theology or the Christian life has made a great impact in your walk with the Lord?
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