Pressing Reformation

Thaddeus Maccarty’s sermons, based on 1 Peter 5:6 — “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” — issue a solemn call to genuine humility as the bedrock of revival. Maccarty exposes the widespread corruption among God’s people, urging patient yet authoritative teaching to awaken hearts resistant to God’s correction.

Benjamin Colman’s sermon, drawn from Psalm 51:13 — delivers a vivid portrayal of a society sick with sin, plagued by wounds that remain unhealed. Colman exhorts the faithful remnant to prayerful perseverance, courageously opposing the moral decay engulfing their world.

Vincent Alsop’s sermon, preached to the Societies for Reformation of Manners in 1698 and rooted again in Isaiah 1:6, challenges believers to examine their own hearts, look upward for divine strength, and stand firm against opposition. Alsop’s pastoral urgency calls for unwavering commitment to God’s work, despite ridicule and hardship.

Together, these sermons form a powerful and practical blueprint for reformation—one that demands personal holiness, communal responsibility, and steadfast reliance on God’s grace. For the modern reader, wrestling with a culture that increasingly abandons godly standards, these sermons offer timeless wisdom and a call to faithful witness that is as urgent today as it was centuries ago.

By engaging with these faithful voices, the reader is drawn into a deeper understanding of the glory due to Christ as the King of hearts and nations. To read these sermons is to profit the soul profoundly—to be stirred to repentance, equipped for endurance, and moved to pursue holiness with renewed vigor, all for the exaltation of Christ’s name and the eternal good of His church.