A Lifting Up For The Downcast (Vintage Puritan)

A great analysis of sorrow and struggle in the life of a true christian. He covers a multitude of scenarios from the feeling of reprobation to the lack of duties and God’s presence in one’s life. The book is structured in which each chapter has a particular subject that presents common questions. He starts his arguments by supposing a question and then answering it. The entire book is almost like a f.a.q dealing with the feelings of despair in the walk of a christian. A must read for any bible follower.

This book is quite thorough and biblical in its various diagnosis and remedies for spiritual depression and discouragement. Lack of assurance of salvation, the lack of God's presence in life, sickness, neglect of various christian duties and work, persecution, besetting and persistent sins, excessive temptations; nearly all aspects of life that would cause a christian to despair are covered within this book. Though the english in this book can be a bit outdated (the author was a 17th century English Puritan) those who manage to patiently work their way through this book will be rewarded with a wealth of theological knowledge that is rarely obtainable even in today's most bible-based christian books. Well worth the effort to read through it multiple times.

In our culture, the Puritans of old are often derided as dour, morbid, and fear-mongering. This is unfair; this book shows the author as a compassionate man, earnestly assuring the reader that he/she is not without hope, whatever their reason for despair. Christ said "him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out". William Bridge looks at many different concerns of people who fear they won't be forgiven by God and assures them with scripture that they do indeed have reason to hope.

Good book!!

If you're a pastor and have not read this book - shame on you! If you're one of us "downcast" get it - read it - mark it up and give it to your pastor. Though the writing style can be tricky to get used to - slugging your way through this book is well worth it. As a Biblical Counselor I find myself going back to it again and again. A real challenge and inspiration.

Great work to have by your side when going through hard times. Well all need encouragement and comfort. The Puritans are the ones who can teach us 'so called' modern day saints how to get through the mire and muck of our modern age.

This book is a thorough evaluation of those various circumstances that all in the Christian life experience at some point. In the midst of those discouragements it can be easy to forget the truths of God's Word. Bridge's book systematically reminds the believer of the hope that is theirs in Christ.

Very good book. The Puritans are very overlooked and lied about. I good Puritan book is worth 10-15 modern hip purpose-driven whatever books. You can grow more spiritually after this one book than reading trash such as the Shack.

We are losing our bearing in life. I can’t say if this is more so than the past generations. People are hard pressed within and without the church. There have been campaigns to raise awareness of mental health. We are encouraged to talk. For example, in the past month, the young Royals launched Shout – the 24 hour text helpline for mental health. The impact of social media on children and teenagers is beginning to emerge but systematic and comprehensive study perhaps is still lacking. There seems so much pressure in life from all sides and it seems to hit us at an ever younger age.The church community is not immune from depression or feeling downcast. There is an urgency for us to be equipped in dealing with these issues, because we are bound to come across it – if not in ourselves, it will be in someone else we know. We would like to be ready when we are struck or walk alongside someone who is.This book deals with our soul-sickness. It attempts to bring us to the truths and doctrines, giving us new light and perspective to see our situations. Apart from the content, the puritans never fail to impress me with their pastoral hearts for their flocks. Bridge works with painstaking attention to every possible scenario and argument he can think of and dispel them with biblical teaching. He first tries to explain our reasoning and our psyche, followed by the rebuttal from the Bible. The comprehensiveness of the book’s coverage shows the heart of the author in speaking relevance to his audience. The second thing that is impressive about puritans always is how finely they read the Bible! They know the Bible so well that put us to shame. The fine points they could see and connections they can make across different passages in the Bible are like gems of brilliance that sparkle. How many hours they spent in reading AND meditating on God’s Word cannot be overestimated! We will never see what they saw if we are not prepared to invest the time and effort to learn and study God’s Word with affection and diligence.I would like to suggest that what we can learn from the book is not just the arguments presented but the relationship with Christ that goes behind the arguments. It is about the skills with the Bible, the character of God that has been manifested and the attitude of a godly servant’s heart.The overriding conclusion is that Christians have no reason to feel discouraged or downcast. I do not know how it will fall onto the modern ears. There may be many “buts”, and to be fair, Bridge deals with many many “buts” in this book. Will we take it as hope and encouragement or discouragement and condemnation on those who are depressed? All that he says are true, but I have heard a comment that the doctrines are beautiful but they sound judgemental on the sufferers who need help. Reading on the subject on social media, it is not hard to see how people can be offended if you say their condition can be improved. I fear that with the heightened awareness of mental health, more are comfortable to hide behind a “label” or “diagnosis” which then does not call for spiritual lessons to be learnt. Our psychology is complex and we have more ways to justify ourselves and inaction. This book gives pastoral caregivers a comprehensive toolbox which then has to be applied in due care and sensitivity for the good of those whom we seek to help. We need the Spirit’s help in each case to navigate us through how to speak the truth in love.

This timeless classic has been such a source of solace for me in all kinds of troubles. Here is a master preacher with a gifted pastoral heart applying gospel balm to the wounds of sin and discouragement and sickness and so on. I think there have been times when despair might have overwhelmed me had I not been able to turn to these great biblical truths expounded with such care and thoroughness.

Another book which speaks to the heart as well as to he head. As the book claims it is written by "a physician of souls" but better still it points in every place to the true Physician, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can bless and heal every "sin sick" and spiritually concerned soul. For those having long and dark times in their souls, under God, it will give some light. A very good book.

The book is excellent but I was disappointed that it did not have the earlier edition cover of the "Hopeless Dawn as advertised. That was the reason I chose to buy it from this sight and not another.

I really rate this book. It is so thoughtful and deep and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the kinds of difficulties Christian believers sometimes experience due to misundertanding the true nature of God's grace. However the language is archaic (it was written in 1649!) and it would be great if someone would abridge and update it.