Thomas Watson was one of the most famous Puritan preachers in history, and his seventeenth-century writings are still read across the world today. A highly influential example of Puritan writing, The Great Gain of Godliness is Watson's study of Malachi 3:16–18.

British Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon bemoaned the fact that he couldn't find a copy of The Great Gain of Godliness. Spurgeon told his scholars, "This volume would be a great find if we could come at it, for Watson is one of the clearest and liveliest of Puritan authors." We no longer face Spurgeon's dilemma, and listeners can now experience this classic text in a way unimaginable to seventeenth-century scholars.