Scattered and Kept: Twenty-Eight Lost Sermons of Thomas Boston

Scattered and Kept is a volume of twenty-eight lost sermons of Thomas Boston, in print again for the first time in 250 years.

With startling contemporary relevance, many of these long-forgotten sermons tackle the question of how Christ’s church can recover from being scattered far and wide, losing spiritual vigour and cultural impact. Boston candidly exposes the weaknesses and failures of the church, yet he knows where to turn for help. The Lord who has scattered his church will gather us back to himself – and he will keep his church, like a shepherd keeps his flock.

For generations the works of Thomas Boston have been treasured in his native Scotland and all over the world, both in individual classics such as Human Nature in its Fourfold State and the 12-volume collection titled Complete Works. In spite of its title, however, this collection is incomplete. Here are twenty-five of Boston’s sermons, unaccountably missing from the Complete Works, in print again for the first time since the 1700s. Our edition also includes three further sermons, transcribed from unpublished manuscripts, and presented here in unedited form for the first time ever.

464 pages.

View excerpt here.

Years ago one of my university professors handed me an old notebook. ‘This,’ he
said, ‘is one of Thomas Boston’s sermon manuscript notebooks.’ The sense I had
then of handling undiscovered treasure returns now with the publication of these
long out-of-print (and some unpublished) sermons of a great pastor-theologian.

— Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology,
Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries

There is a certain searcher’s delight in uncovering long hidden treasure in which those with whom he shares his discovery get to participate. I have no doubt this will be the case for readers of this substantial volume of forgotten and newfound material from the pen of Thomas Boston. One would think with twelve volumes making up the published works that not much would remain to uncover from such a well-known author. Such is clearly not the case. Most of this volume contains little-known printed material that for some reason never made the collected works. This would make a notable contribution on its own account, but also in this volume are three sermons taken from a manuscript collection in Boston’s own hand. Hopefully this book is the first of more to come from what appears to be a surprisingly large store of material that remains in manuscript by this great gospel light of the Scottish Presbyterian Kirk. I commend the publishers for their work in uncovering and presenting this treasure to the world.

— Chris Coldwell, Naphtali Press

These rediscovered sermons are an invaluable providential gift to the church. We
sorely need their refreshing Christ-centred gospel truth. Many of them also cast light
from unusual texts on times very like our own.

— Matthew A. Vogan, General Manager, Reformation Scotland

This excellent book is a treasury of truths which Christians today would do well to
read.

— Maurice Roberts, Former editor, The Banner of Truth