According to the author, he aimed to do three things with this book: "to relieve and comfort those who are poor in spirit and humbled in the sight of sin, to lead the Christian in an even course, unto the haven of eternal happiness, and to give solid and substantial consolations, which are firmly grounded upon God's undoubted truth." J.I. Packer wrote, "Downame stands with Perkins, Greenham, and Richard Rogers as one of the architects of the Puritan theology of godliness." Joel Beeke wrote, "With the possible exception of Gurnall's 'Christian Armour, ' this book is the finest Puritan work on...