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Frank W. Boreham
Frank W. Boreham (March 3, 1871 – May 18, 1959) was a British-born preacher, pastor, and author whose ministry within the Baptist tradition spanned over six decades, captivating audiences with narrative sermons and prolific writings. Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, to Francis Boreham, a solicitor’s clerk, and Fanny Usher, he was the eldest of ten children in a devout Anglican family that later attended a non-conformist church. Converted on New Year’s Day 1888 at 16 after hearing Dwight L. Moody in London, he trained at Spurgeon’s Pastors’ College—likely the last student personally admitted by Charles Spurgeon—graduating in 1894 before sailing to New Zealand in 1895. Boreham’s preaching career began at Mosgiel Baptist Church near Dunedin, New Zealand (1895–1906), followed by pastorates at Hobart Baptist Tabernacle in Tasmania (1906–1916) and Armadale and Kew Baptist Churches in Melbourne, Australia (1916–1928). His sermons, blending storytelling with biblical truth, drew crowds and filled newspapers, as he wrote over 3,000 editorials for the Hobart Mercury and Melbourne Age. Author of 55 books, including A Bunch of Everlastings and The Luggage of Life, he preached on “immensities, infinities, and eternities,” influencing figures like Billy Graham, who visited him in 1959. Married to Stella Cottee in 1896, whom he met as a student preacher, they had five children—Stella, Esther, Frank, Rachel, and John. Boreham died at age 88 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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Frank W. Boreham delves into the profound truth that purity of heart is crucial for experiencing divine revelations, emphasizing that God reveals Himself more readily to those with pure hearts than to those with great intellect. He illustrates how purity of heart leads to a deeper desire for God and a continuous cycle of spiritual growth and revelation, contrasting it with the tragic consequences of spiritual blindness caused by impurity.
Purity in Heart
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). Two stupendous principles underlie this searching utterance. The first is that heart-purity is the essential condition to the reception of a divine revelation. God can reveal himself more readily to the pure in heart than to the mighty in intellect. The testimony of a little child who has learned to love God is, in spiritual matters, more to be trusted than the witness of gray-haired sages whose hearts are alienated from him. It is the pure-hearted Samuel who, while Eli slumbers, hears the voice divine. "With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure. " "The pure in heart shall see God " The second is that, in the spiritual life, there is a law of action and reaction constantly at work. Those who are pure in heart see God; the vision of the Eternal intensifies the purity of their hearts; and this again increases their desire and their capacity for fresh revelations. When a leak occurs in the famous dykes of Holland, the water rushes through the cavity with such tremendous force that it tears the opening larger and larger. The enlarging vacuum makes room for a greater rush of water, while the growing volume of water constantly expands the vacuum. The two processes act and react one upon the other. The leaves of the tree inhale vitality from the atmosphere, and thus minister to the life of the remotest roots. Simultaneously, the invigorated roots suck up the nutriment from the earth and communicate strength to the loftiest boughs. There is constant action and reaction. Every vision of God increases a Christian's hatred of sin and intensifies his struggle after holiness; while at every inch of progress in that divine path he gets a more radiant vision of the face of God. This law of reaction proceeds unbroken until time melts into eternity. The pure in heart become purer and yet purer as the revelations of the divine become clearer and yet clearer, till at last, pure as God is pure, they stand in his insufferable presence and behold with seraphic rapture the beauty of his face. The blurred gaze of the impure, on the contrary, deepens into total blindness until, destitute of all moral perception and spiritual vision, they stagger tragically out into the everlasting dark.
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Frank W. Boreham (March 3, 1871 – May 18, 1959) was a British-born preacher, pastor, and author whose ministry within the Baptist tradition spanned over six decades, captivating audiences with narrative sermons and prolific writings. Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, to Francis Boreham, a solicitor’s clerk, and Fanny Usher, he was the eldest of ten children in a devout Anglican family that later attended a non-conformist church. Converted on New Year’s Day 1888 at 16 after hearing Dwight L. Moody in London, he trained at Spurgeon’s Pastors’ College—likely the last student personally admitted by Charles Spurgeon—graduating in 1894 before sailing to New Zealand in 1895. Boreham’s preaching career began at Mosgiel Baptist Church near Dunedin, New Zealand (1895–1906), followed by pastorates at Hobart Baptist Tabernacle in Tasmania (1906–1916) and Armadale and Kew Baptist Churches in Melbourne, Australia (1916–1928). His sermons, blending storytelling with biblical truth, drew crowds and filled newspapers, as he wrote over 3,000 editorials for the Hobart Mercury and Melbourne Age. Author of 55 books, including A Bunch of Everlastings and The Luggage of Life, he preached on “immensities, infinities, and eternities,” influencing figures like Billy Graham, who visited him in 1959. Married to Stella Cottee in 1896, whom he met as a student preacher, they had five children—Stella, Esther, Frank, Rachel, and John. Boreham died at age 88 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.