This delectable book (the original title was A Divine Cordial) is an exposition of that verse, not neglecting the last phrase (as so many are apt to do). This is no pop treatment to pat the back of all professing Christians. It is a serious consideration of all things that go into making everything work together for good. This starts with the attributes of God, His promises and mercies, the graces of the Spirit, the intercession of Christ, etc. A key to understanding why and how things work together for good to ''the ones loving God'' lies in recognizing that all things begin with God's eternal decrees. Literally everything that happens was first decreed. For it is written, ''in whom we also have been chosen to an inheritance, being predestinated according to [the] purpose of the [One] working all things according to the counsel of His own will.'' (Ephesians 1:11)
Watson lays out the evils of affliction, temptation, desertion, and sin, and how and why God makes these things work out to the good of the saints. Watson also excels in fixing just what a loving God means, and what it means to love God. There are many highly instructive pages on the subject of Christian love for God and man.
The Grand Reason All Things Work for Good: It is the near and dear interest that God has in His people. He has covenanted with His people, They shall be My people, and I will be their God'' (Jer. 32:38)
This leads to a distinction about calling: (1) our condition before calling; (2) the means of our effectual calling; (3) the method God uses; (4) the properties of this calling; and, (5) the purpose intended by our effectual calling. He then finishes with a discussion of God's purposes. It behooves everyone professing to be a Christian to study the purposes of God.
This book is a pure delight for any true lover of God! How many have studied this question, Why do all things work to good for us?
Thomas Watson (1616-1688) was one of the more famous Puritan preachers, also a victim of the 1662 ejection of evangelical preachers from their pulpits. He authored a great many books, all of which are still revered, and many are classics still being printed.
