John Flavel

John Flavel was born around 1627, in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. His father, Richard Flavel, was a Puritan minister. His family was devout. He was educated at Oxford, at University College, and took his degree. He was ordained in 1650 and served as a curate in Diptford, in Devon. He was a man of good learning, and he had an outstanding gift for preaching. In 1656, he was called to be minister at Dartmouth, in Devon, a seaport town, and he served there for most of his life.

His ministry in Dartmouth was one of notable fruitfulness. He preached with great simplicity and warmth. He used homely illustrations drawn from the life of the seaport and from common things. He had a gift for taking a difficult subject and making it plain. He cared for the sailors and merchants. He was also a faithful visitor of the sick and the poor. He ministered to a congregation that included a good number of seafarers, and he preached to them from nautical images. He was widely loved.

In 1662, the Act of Uniformity required all ministers to conform to the Book of Common Prayer, and he refused. He was ejected from his parish with about two thousand other Puritan ministers. He continued to preach to his people in secret, in private houses and in the woods, at great risk. In 1665, under the Five Mile Act, he was forbidden to come within five miles of any place where he had served. He moved to Slapton, a nearby village, and still preached. At times, he was in danger of arrest, and he sometimes preached in disguise.

He was a prolific writer. His best known works include Keeping the Heart, a guide to the care of the inner life, which is based on a passage in Proverbs. He taught that the heart must be watched with care and that the believer needs to examine it daily. Another well known work is The Mystery of Providence, in which he described how God's hand guides the affairs of life. He wrote The Fountain of Life, a series of sermons on the person and work of Christ. His books were full of illustration, and they have been read ever since.

He faced sorrow. His first wife died in childbirth, and his second wife also died. His third wife died, and he buried four wives in all. He also lost a child. He wrote about the way in which he found comfort in the Lord. He suffered in the persecution of the nonconformists. At one time, in 1685, at the time of the Monmouth Rebellion, he was forced to flee to London, and he was in hiding. In 1687, King James II issued a declaration of indulgence, which gave some relief, and he returned to Dartmouth.

He was tireless to the end. In 1691, he went to Exeter to attend a meeting of ministers and to preach. He was in good health. At the close of a session, he gave a sermon, and later that day, while at dinner, he was seized by an attack of apoplexy. He died on June 26, 1691, at about the age of sixty-four. He was buried in Dartmouth.

His life shows that a faithful pastor may serve in times of persecution without bitterness. His books remain in print, and they have guided the souls of many.