John Flavel Books: A Guide to All Five and Where to Start
John Flavel (c. 1628–1691) was a Puritan pastor in Dartmouth, Devon, who kept preaching in secret after the law put him out of his pulpit in 1662. His books are some of the warmest and easiest to read of all the Puritans. TheWay Library has five of them, all free to read: one on providence, one on keeping the heart, one on how Christ is applied to the soul, a set of evangelistic sermons, and a book of comfort for grieving parents. For his life story, see who was John Flavel.
Here's what's in each one, and where to start.
Where to start
- For most readers: The Mystery of Providence. It teaches you to see God's hand in your own life.
- For your inner life: Keeping the Heart, which is the first half of The Saint Indeed.
- If you wonder whether your faith is real: The Method of Grace, then the second half of The Saint Indeed.
- For a friend who isn't a Christian, or a preacher looking for a model: Christ Knocking at the Door.
- If you've lost a child: A Token for Mourners.
Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For more, see our collection of John Flavel quotes.
Divine Conduct; or, The Mystery of Providence
Flavel's best-known book, built on Psalm 57:2: "God that performeth all things for me." David wrote it hiding in a cave from Saul, and Flavel draws out how he trusted God there. Then he traces ten "performances" of providence in a believer's life: our forming in the womb, the time and place of our birth, the family we come from, the means of our conversion, our work and calling, our relationships, the supply of our needs, our protection from the snares of sin, the care of our bodies, and God's help in putting sin to death.
The longest part teaches how to observe providence: look back over what God has done, compare it with Scripture, see His hand in it, and answer Him with trust and praise.
Providence doth not only undertake, but performs and perfects what concerns us.
Divine Conduct, Introduction
If you only read one Flavel book, make it this one. Read The Mystery of Providence.
The Saint Indeed; and The Touchstone of Sincerity
Two treatises in one volume.
The Saint Indeed is the book usually sold as Keeping the Heart. Its text is Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Flavel says the hardest work of the Christian life after conversion is keeping the heart with God. Then he takes twelve seasons that test it: prosperity, affliction, the troubles of the church, danger, want, wandering thoughts in prayer, injuries, provocation, temptation, dark and doubting times, suffering for the faith, and sickness. For each one he gives practical helps from Scripture.
The heart is a hungry and restless thing; it will have something to feed upon.
The Saint Indeed, The Application
The Touchstone of Sincerity is about telling real grace from fake. Its text is Christ's counsel to buy "gold tried in the fire." Flavel shows how adversity, indwelling sin, the duties of religion and persecution each test the heart, and ends with helps for honest self-examination.
True grace is willing to be tried, and nothing is more desirable to an upright soul, than to know its own condition.
The Saint Indeed; and The Touchstone of Sincerity, That Grace Only Is to Be Reckoned Sincere Which Can Endure Those Trials Which God Appoints
The Method of Grace
Flavel wrote this as a companion to his book on the person and work of Christ. That book showed what Christ purchased; this one shows how it becomes ours. In thirty-five chapters he explains union with Christ, the preached word as the outward means and the drawing of the Spirit as the inward means, saving faith, and fellowship with Christ.
Then comes a long invitation to come to Christ, built on six of His titles (the physician of souls, the mercy, altogether lovely, the desire of all nations, the Lord of glory and the consolation of Israel) and four benefits He purchased (forgiveness, acceptance, liberty and reconciliation). The later chapters give marks of a true believer and close with warnings about unbelief.
The Lord not only draws, but draws home those souls to Christ.
The Method of Grace, The Work of the Spirit, the Internal and Most Effectual Means of the Application of Christ
The scan behind this copy has misread many capital letters at the start of paragraphs, so you'll see some odd words. The sermon on Christ "altogether lovely" (chapter XII) is worth the trouble. Read The Method of Grace.
Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners' Hearts
When freedom of worship came back in 1687 and 1688, Flavel preached a series on Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." This edition arranges those sermons as chapters in updated language. He shows Christ present where His word is preached, the heart barred against Him, and His patience in waiting. Every conviction of conscience is a knock from Christ. He turns no one away who opens, and the great aim of the gospel is the opening of the heart by faith. The last chapters describe the blessings Christ brings in and the fellowship believers have with Him.
Christ and life, Christ and hope, go together: no Christ, no life; no Christ, no hope.
Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners' Hearts, Every Conviction of Conscience and Motion of the Spirit a Knock from Christ
It's the most direct of his books, preaching meant to win the unconverted. Read Christ Knocking at the Door.
A Token for Mourners
Flavel wrote this for his brother-in-law and sister when their only child died soon after his visit. He had buried his own first wife and baby years before, and he says these pages are "the after-fruits" of his own troubles. The text is Luke 7:13, where Jesus meets a widow burying her only son and says, "Weep not."
He begins by saying that to feel no grief at all is beneath our nature. Then he shows the signs that grief has gone too far: when it overwhelms our strength, keeps us from our duties, opens the door to temptation, or turns into complaining against God. He gives reasons to moderate it, answers the pleas mourners make, and closes with the cure: prayer, meditation and comfort in Christ.
It is but a little while, and we shall go to them; we and they are distinguished but by short intervals.
A Token for Mourners, Epistle Dedicatory
The scan has some damage, but the book reads well. It's one of the picks in our guide to Christian books on death and grief. Read A Token for Mourners.
Why read Flavel today
Flavel is a pastor first. He takes the hard things of life, death and want and doubt and temptation, and walks you through them with the Bible open. Begin with The Mystery of Providence, and keep Keeping the Heart close by. For more writers of his time, see the best Puritan books. All five are on the John Flavel author page.