Zeal for God’s House Quickened

Oliver Bowles B.D. (1574-1664?) was one of the oldest members of the Westminster Assembly, a learned scholar, celebrated tutor and a man of great piety.
C. Matthew McMahon, Ph.D., Th.D., is a Reformed theologian, and pastor of Grace Chapel in Crossville, TN. He is the founder and chairman of A Puritan's Mind, the largest Reformed website on the internet for students of the Bible concerning Reformed Theology, the Puritans and Covenant Theology. He is the founder of Puritan Publications which publishes rare Reformed and Puritan works from the 17th century, specializing in the Westminster Assembly. He is also a managing partner at Reformed.org, and the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics.

Mr. Bowles, in this excellent and stirring treatise, is addressing the Westminster Divines in their vigilant care for the common good of the church. As Bowles explains from John 2:17, "And his disciples remembered that it was written, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up,"" zeal is the manner that they must do all things for the glory of God. It is a hearty soul-work, for without true biblical zeal, there is no pleasing service rendered to the Christ. What will a cold, lazy, indifferent reformer accomplish? What would a group of cold, lazy, indifferent reformers ever accomplish?

Annexed to this inspiring word on enacting zealous reformation, and setting down the character and work of zealous reformers, Bowles shows how church-reformation is a work of the largest extent, as that which concerns all professing churches, whose eternal happiness or misery will be the outcome of either exercising biblical zeal for the glory of God, or not. For biblical zeal, as it mimics the Lord Jesus Christ, is a holy ardor kindled by the Holy Spirit of God in the affections, improving a man to the utmost for God's glory, and the church's good; and it is without a doubt that church reformation calls for utmost zeal.

Though Bowles spoke to the Assembly in this work, he took time, afterwards, to, as he said, "make bold a supply of that which at the time of the delivery he could not do." So, this work is the expanded piece turned from a sermon into a treatise, which he enlarged. This work is not solely for the historical assembly, but all that would take up the mantle of reformation for the glory of Christ's church. He covers what zeal is in church reform, over and against false zeal; how zeal is manifested in true reformers, what practical aspects zeal plays for the work of reformation, and then gives some uses to the doctrine. His word to preachers as reformers, the concluding section of the work, is something every preacher should hear. That preachers who desire to see Christ's church flourish under the work of the Spirit ought to take up preaching that is zealous, compassionate, convincing (with conviction), sensible to the needs of the people, as frequent as possible, and with all gravity, to the glory of God and the good of the saints.