I'm wondering was the further reformation of Holland really necessary and did it do more harm than good in an attempt to separate the sincere Christian from pretenders of the faith.

I know Brakel is held in very high regard by the Dutch. I have the Christian's Reasonable Service but have yet to open it, is this work recommended?

Quote
In the eighteenth century, subsequent to à Brakel's ministry, when the goal of national reformation had become an ideal rather than a reality, the Dutch Second Reformation internalized. Consequently, the preaching and the writing of the later representatives of the Dutch Second Reformation increasingly focused on the internal experiences of the heart, since an external piety which did not issue forth from internal piety became prevalent. This explains why the ministries of Alexander Comrie and Theodorus Vander Groe, two of the final representatives of the Dutch Second Reformation, are very discriminating in nature and focus more on the constituent elements of saving faith and its exercises than on the life of sanctification.

http://www.abrakel.com/2009/11/lectures-on-brakel-christians_06.html

The mercy of God is necessary not only when a person repents, but even to lead him to repent, Augustine