Christ and His Threefold Office (John Flavel)

Christ and His Threefold Office

Flavel’s The Fountain of Life, Part 1

Flavel explores the glory of Christ becoming a man “to qualify and prepare Him for a full discharge of His mediatorship, in the office of our Prophet, Priest, and King.”

“Salvation,” says Flavel, “is revealed by Christ as a Prophet, procured by Him as a Priest, applied by Him as a King. In vain it is revealed, if not purchased; in vain revealed and purchased, if not applied.”

Flavel’s treatment of the subject is always heart-warming and practical, only polemical when necessary and painstakingly detailed when he believes the truth is at stake. The whole book is a work of adoration, of meditations upon the transcendent excellency of Jesus Christ.

Table of Contents:

1. The Excellence of the Subject
2. Christ’s Essential Glory
3. The Covenant of Redemption
4. God’s Admirable Love
5. Christ’s Wonderful Person
6. The Authority of the Mediator
7. The Consecration of the Mediator
8. The Nature of Christ’s Mediation
9. The First Branch of Christ’s Prophetical Office: The Revelation of God’s Will
10. The Second Branch of Christ’s Prophetical Office: The Illumination of Man’s Understanding
11. The Nature and Necessity of Christ’s Priesthood
12. The First Act of Christ’s Priestly Office: Oblation
13. The Second Act of Christ’s Priestly Office: Intercession
14. The First Effect of Christ’s Priesthood: A Full Satisfaction
15. The Second Effect of Christ’s Priesthood: A Blessed Inheritance
16. The Kingly Office of Christ: Executed Spiritually upon the Redeemed
17. The Kingly Office of Christ: Executed Providentially for the Redeemed

About the Author

John Flavel (1628–1691) was an English Puritan who became a non-conformist after the ‘Great Ejection’ of 1662. It was 10 years before he was licensed to preach again, and then only in his own home. His writings, when collected in the 19th century, filled 6 volumes. Flavel’s writings are known for their practical nature. He was instrumental in promoting the ‘Happy Union’ of Presbyterians and Congregationalists.

Endorsement

“It’s difficult to find a more compelling, heart-searching, affection-producing, and biblically sound expositor of experiential Christianity than the seventeenth-century English Puritan John Flavel. Combining pastoral warmth and theological depth, Flavel sought to display the loveliness of Christ as Mediator so that the believer might grow in greater spiritual maturity and conformity to Him. I cannot commend Flavel highly enough!”

— Brian H. Cosby, senior minister of Wayside Presbyterian Church, Signal Mountain, Tennessee; and author of John Flavel: Puritan Life and Thought in Stuart England and Suffering and Sovereignty: John Flavel and the Puritans on Afflictive Providence