The Reformed Faith

The EU Indoctrinates Our Children

2012-02-01T21:07:00.000Z

The EU has virtually conceded that the majority of people in the UK would want out of the Union at the earliest opportunity. Adults will have the right to vote on this issue when the time comes, but the children and youths have not that right at present.

So what does the EU do? Exactly what the Presbyterian Church in Ireland did about two decades ago when it had lost its battle to stay within the WCC and other ecumenical involvements because the adults had the voting power to make the church withdraw its membership from that cocktail of religious viewpoints and practices. having lost the battle with the adults, the youth department set about an indoctrination programme that would in effect teach them that there was only a few little insignificant doctrinal differences between Presbyterians and Roman Catholicism, and that they ought not to be afraid of meeting with them in 'fellowship,' thus leading to inter-marriage, and the eventual upbringing of any offspring as Catholics.

Our children are being taught in the schools, through EU produced propaganda, that our membership in the EU holds many positives for our lives. But when you look behind it and realise that the EU is a top heavy Roman Catholic institution, it is very clear where this Parliament will take every nation that is part of it. Our religious freedom to worship and serve God will be seriously curtailled and it will become a crime to evangelise, as it is in some places today. This is a full frontal attack on our Evangelical and Protestant faith. But many cannot see it, at least not many within the churches can see it.

Do you want that? Now is a good time to write to your MP or MEP and ask what exactly is going on.

CHRIST NOT MUHAMMAD

2012-02-01T11:38:00.000Z

These words from Dr Alan C. Clifford were never more urgently needed than they are today:

With a continuing and growing assault on our Christian heritage, never was there a greater need to get to grips with the truth of the Bible text: “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7: 46). This was the response of amazed men who heard Christ. What truths explain their astonishment?

1. NO MAN EVER SPOKE LIKE JESUS CHRIST

And why? He was no ordinary man. He was perfect and sinless. He is the ‘God-man’ (Matthew 1: 23); ‘God manifest in the flesh’ (1 Timothy 3: 16); The Eternal ‘Word made flesh’ (John 1: 14).

Thus, He spoke words of truth, purity, love, kindness and compassion. He spoke with divine unction, grace and authority. No one else, before or since, ever spoke like Him. He is Creator, King, and Lord of the Universe.

On the other hand, Muhammad was an ordinary man. He was imperfect and sinful. He spoke words of error, impurity, hate and cruelty.

2. NO MAN EVER LIVED LIKE JESUS CHRIST

His life backed up His words. In lip and life, He was perfectly consistent. He brought blessing, healing, comfort and joy to people. His many miracles confirmed His deity.

His tender touch declared the compassion of God. He liberated women from the abusive treatment of selfish men. He rejected violence as a method of spreading His message. No life has ever been lived to match the life of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, Muhammad's life contradicted many of his more noble sayings. His life is not a good example for ‘private character’. His claims cannot compare with Christ’s. Spreading his message by the sword, he brought violence and bloodshed to those who refused to submit to his ‘Allah’. He humiliated women. His tenderness was reserved chiefly for his own sexual indulgence, and his stomach (according to wife, A’isha).

3. NO MAN EVER DIED LIKE JESUS CHRIST

While His life and preaching angered the religious establishment of His day, nothing could justify the hatred directed at Him. He was guilty of no sin. Expressing God’s mercy to us hell-deserving sinners, Jesus, Saviour of the world, died for our sins.

He died, ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3: 18). In His agonizing crucifixion, He breathed nothing but love and kindness to His enemies. Such dying! Such love!

On the other hand, Muhammad died, burdened by his own guilt. Sadly and tragically, his death did not terminate his cruel conquests. Others perpetuated his vicious legacy.

4. NO MAN EVER BLESSED THE HUMAN RACE LIKE JESUS CHRIST

His impact on history is not just the effect of a perpetuation of His memory. Jesus rose from the dead! He lives! The Gospel is the greatest blessing the world has ever known! It has brought forgiveness, love, joy and peace. Christ has mended broken hearts and lives. He has given hope to those in despair. Through Him, the light of heaven has dispelled the darkness of death.

He has liberated individuals and nations. The Gospel has delivered people from ignorance, slavery, poverty and degradation. All that is truly good, noble, pure and beautiful comes from Him (even if apostate believers - crusading Roman Catholics and deity-denying Protestant Liberals - have corrupted His truth). Christ’s resurrection influence continues still where He is accepted, trusted and served.

On the other hand, Muhammad died, to rise no more, except to be judged by Christ when He returns. His tomb is not empty. His legacy is ignorance, cruelty, fear and oppression. The continued influence of his teachings is a threat to all that Christ represents.

In conclusion, the case for Christ and against Muhammad is compelling in every respect. Assessed by every test that may be devised, there is simply no competition. So let us all respond as did the men in our text! May we all acknowledge, believe, trust, love and surrender to the incomparable Christ. May we all rejoice in Him, and seek to make Him known throughout the world.

I am well aware that many in the secular West desire Christ no more than they desire Muhammad. Therefore, I must warn them. Even if they never suffer from some jihadic atrocity, they will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, when He returns to judge the world in righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5: 10).

While opportunity remains, come to Christ! If you are a Muslim, renounce Muhammad, and come to Christ! Then, everything I have tried to express will become wonderfully and experientially true.

How Missionaries Are Promoting An Islamised Gospel

2012-02-01T11:37:00.000Z

By Joel Richardson
In the world of questionable and sometimes downright silly Bible translations, one would think that it couldn’t get any worse
After all, we’ve seen the “In da beginnin’ Big Daddy created da heaven an’ da earth” Ebonics Bible, as well as the “Apostle’s Log” Star Trek English paraphrase Bible. In a more serious effort, the New Oxford Annotated Bible was created in part by pro-”gay” and feminist scholars in order to set forth a more “gay” revisionist interpretation of Scripture.
But now there is a major controversy developing as the latest altered Bibles are being created by organizations that most would think of as being more conservative and reasonable. At the forefront of the controversy are the Wycliffe Bible Translators, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Frontiers, all of which are producing Bible translations that remove or modify terms which they have deemed offensive to Muslims.
That’s right: Muslim-friendly Bibles.
Included in the controversial development is the removal of any references to God as “Father,” to Jesus as the “Son” or “the Son of God.” One example of such a change can be seen in an Arabic version of the Gospel of Matthew produced and promoted by Frontiers and SIL. It changes Matthew 28:19 from this:
“baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
to this:
“cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.”
A large number of such Muslim-sensitive translations already are published and well-circulated in several Muslim-majority nations such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to Joshua Lingel of i2 Ministries, “Even more dramatic a change is the Arabic and Bangla (Bangladesh) translations. In Arabic, Bible translations err by translating ‘Father’ as ‘Lord.’ ‘Guardian.’ ‘Most High’ and ‘God.” In Bangla, ‘Son of God’ is mistranslated ‘Messiah of God’ consistent with the Quran’s Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah), which references the merely human Jesus.”
In response to these translations, many within the evangelical missions movement as well as many former Muslim converts and indigenous Christians from countries where these translations are being used, are indignant. After numerous appeals have been rejected, a petition has been launched to call for the end to the translations.
More than 3,000 already have signed up.
While the organizations that are promoting these translations are adamant that replacing such terms as Father with Lord or Master best conveys the inspired meaning of the text, many of the indigenous Christian leaders from the countries where these translations are being promoted are broadly rejecting the translations.
The indigenous believers see the introduction of these American-made translations with which they so strongly disagree as a form of American cultural imperialism or colonialism.
According to Turkish pastor Fikret Böcek, such new translations are, “an all-American idea with absolutely no respect for the sacredness of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.”
According to the testimony of one leader from a church in Bangladesh, one of the most problematic aspects of this development is that it gives fuel to the often-heard Muslim claim that Christians are liars who change their Bibles to deceive Muslims. Once a Bible translation is well established within any country, the introduction of such radically different translations reinforces the Muslim charge and undermines trust in the Christian community.
According to Lingel, who can be contacted at info@i2ministries.org, the crisis in translation methodology is largely due to “a postmodern literary bias” that has crept into some translation circles in recent decades. Such translations would seem to demand that the divine author of the Bible change rather than the Muslim reader.
“But Jesus demanded that many of his listeners change,” says Lingel, explaining that instead of demanding that Muslim readers change their understanding of God, these translations seem to convey that God must accommodate the religious prejudices of Muslims.
“Lingel is also the co-editor of a new book, “Chrislam: How Missionaries Are Promoting an Islamized Gospel,” which represents the first major response against Muslim-sensitive translations as well as the larger movement often referred to as the “Insider Movement” or “Chrislam.”
According to reports, of the roughly 200 translation projects Wycliffe/SIL linguists have undertaken in Muslim contexts, about 30 or 40 remove the terms father and son with reference to God and Jesus.
Lingel’s response is quite direct, “These projects need to be defunded.”
Yet according to a recent Forbes “200 Largest U.S. Charities” report, the Orlando-based Wycliffe Bible Translators USA is the third most well-funded religious charity in the states.
Proponents of the Insider Movement claim that this method of reaching Muslims is bearing great fruit. Opponents, however, point out that the so-called converts within the Insider Movement remain “hidden” within their Muslim culture, continue to attend mosque, pray like a Muslim, acknowledge Muhammad as a prophet, the Quran as inspired, and make the Muslim credal confession, known as the “shahada.”
Some now claim that there are as many as 300,000-1.2 million new “Insider believers” in Bangladesh. But one former Insider who left the movement and speaks out in Lingel’s Chrislam book reports that the number of insiders couldn’t be more than 10,000. According to this source, many of the claims are greatly exaggerated so as to bring in more funding from wealthy American missionary organizations.
“Other former Insiders have reported publicly that many Insiders are really Muslims who will do whatever it takes for the jobs and money they are offered by pro-IM ministries to feed their families,” Lingel says.
Further questioning the funding and support of well-known Christian organizations of this movement, Lingel recounts, “I have consulted with the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention on missions and evangelism among Muslims at various times… [Who] stated that there are tens of thousands of Isa al-masih jamaats, or ‘Jesus congregations,’ in northern Africa. But the members of these jamaats call themselves Muslims, do not believe in the Trinity and believe Muhammad is a prophet of God. Are they Christians or Muslims? Why talk about them in terms of missionary success?”
In response to what many Christians see as a heretical movement based on deception, Lingel’s i2 Ministries is in the process of completing a video-based university called Mission Muslims World University, with 40 of the most experienced professors from around the world teaching courses in Muslim ministries, Islamic Studies, apologetics, evangelism and discipleship.

The Calvin/Owen Theological Relationship

2012-02-01T10:24:00.000Z

It would be very interesting to discover what current scholarship on the Calvin/Owen theological relationship is finding out. This is an issue that I am very interested in learning as much about as possible. It is also very important to keep abreast with what current reformed and evangelical scholarship is saying, and more importantly to discover if modern scholarship and the historical theologians whose work is being studied, really do believe in the perspicuity of the Scriptures without feeling the need to squeeze its teaching into some/any manmade mould so that it produces a predetermined result. Logic is a good servant but a very bad master when it comes to maters theological. Given that Owen was involved in drawing up the WCF, which is an Owenite rather than a Calvinistic document, and given that much reformed and evangelical scholarship is embedded within confessional church bodies, its conclusions will be very revealing.

You can discover some excellent resources at Charenton where Dr Alan C Clifford's excellent scholarly treatise on the above issue is available for study. Also, here you will find other works that explore the Calvin legacy.

You might also be interested in Calvin as a pastor; if so, please visit this site.

CARTWRIGHT, CALVIN AND THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

2012-01-30T12:58:00.000Z

CARTWRIGHT, CALVIN AND

THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

Dr Alan C. Clifford

First-time students of English Puritanism soon discover Calvin’s profound influence on his ‘English sons’. The pioneer and leader Thomas Cartwright (1535-1603)provides very specific evidence in this respect in his presentation of the Gospel as well as his principles of presbyterian church order.

When asked for guidance in theological study, he predictably emphasised ‘the study of the Scripture itself’. After insisting that students should remember ‘the saying of our Saviour Christ, that you take no man to be your father or rabbi here upon earth [cf. Matt. 23: 7-10], he did not exclude the writings of ‘the friends and patrons of the Truth’. That said, Cartwright stresses that biblical theology must take priority over systematic theology. Thus, without questioning the use of biblical commentaries, he is careful to place such before theological treatises: ‘I would esteem also that the commentaries might be read before the other works, for that by them the Holy Scripture (from whence all sound knowledge is drawn to judge all other doctrine by) is made more familiar unto us’.

It is striking to see this criterion operating when Cartwright provides a list of worthy authors. His recommendations predictably include Greek and Latin ‘doctors’ among the ‘old writers’, and Augustine in particular. Among the ‘new writers’, he mentions Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr and other reformers. For works ‘wherein the whole body of the Doctrine of the Gospel is professed to be taught’, he unsurprisingly recommends ‘Mr Calvin’s Institutes’ and ‘Mr Beza’s Confession’. However, placing commentaries before treatises, Cartwright places Calvin at the top of the list: ‘I would content myself amongst the new writers with Mr Calvin’ because ‘for the shortness (brevity) he useth he departeth not far from the reading of the text itself’.

This crucial criterion probably explains the similarity between Cartwright’s and Calvin’s phraseology regarding the extent of the atonement. Just as Calvin generally preferred the New Testament’s universal language to even the ‘sufficient for all, efficient for the elect’ formula (which he still occasionally affirmed), Cartwright seems happy to adopt Calvin’s universalism rather than Beza’s particularism:

A Christian [having] sinned never so oft (as who doth not daily offend God) yet whensoever he returneth unto God by true repentance (which consisteth of inward contrition and a sure faith in Christ Jesus) he is assured by the Word of God to recover and receive again the grace, favour and mercy of God (which through his disobedience he had worthily lost) and immediately to enjoy full, absolute and perfect remission and forgiveness of all his sins, through Jesus Christ, in whom he reposeth all his faith, trust and confidence of salvation. The Gospel assureth him no less saying:

So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [John 3: 16, Cartwright’s version].
... What shall I say of Peter, Christ’s Apostle? Had not he a sure knowledge of Christ, endued with the Holy Ghost and grace from above? And yet after this, he had such a fall, [and] he did most cowardly and shamefully forsake and deny Christ, not without blasphemy. But he went forth and wept bitterly, ... and by faith he returned again unto Christ, knowing His mercy to be infinite and without measure; Christ appeared unto him (to his great comfort) after He rose again from death to life. ... And then Peter became a strong Champion, setting forth Christ to be the only Saviour of the whole world, preaching and openly confessing Him before all men, without any fear.

Such universal language is equally evident elsewhere:

It is no small bondage of Christian men’s consciences to compel them to number all their sins particularly [to the priest], with all due circumstances of time, person and place: and how many times every sin was committed... [the Papists] think that their confession is the cause of forgiveness of their sins: by reason whereof, they blot out the blessed benefit of the passion and death of Christ our only Saviour: which is the only obtainer of grace and mercy, for the sins of all mankind... For sure it is, that to God, no man is able to satisfy for sin: for that satisfaction hath only our Saviour Christ wrought in his painful passion and death.

Clearly then (on this evidence at least), Cartwright seems to be an ‘authentic Calvinist’, insisting on a ‘method’ which placed Holy Scripture before human systems. What a pity the Westminster Confession of Faith failed to reflect this!

Man's Alienations

2012-01-27T09:57:00.001Z

Rev. Dr Francis A. Schaeffer wrote:

"From the Christian viewpoint, all the alienations ... that we find in man have come because of man's historic, space-time fall. First of all, man is separated from God; second, he is separated from himself, thus the psychological problems of life; third, he is separated from other men, thus the sociological problems of life; fourth, he is separated from nature and thus the problems of living in the world, for example, the ecological problems. All these need healing."

These perceptive words of analysis from Schaeffer remind us that a very big Gospel of salvation is needed to deal with the very big problems of man. And that is exactly what God has provided for us in the Gospel - something which is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believers," Rom.1:16.

Let us rejoice in this great message of salvation, which truly is good news for the world.

Grow in Knowledge

2012-01-26T21:00:00.004Z

If you are interested in reading more information products about matters that matter, please visit here.

There you will find all my recently published books, two of which are free to download immediately. The others are also well worth getting and studying.

If you go to Google and type in Smashwords Hazlett Lynch you will find a listing of all my publications.

PURITANS’ PROGRESS by Dr Alan C Clifford

2012-01-26T19:32:00.002Z

A 350th Anniversary Commemoration of the Norwich & Norfolk Ministers Ejected
from their Churches by the Act of Uniformity, 1662.Dr Alan C. Clifford

"Remember those ... who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and for ever." (Hebrews 13: 7-8)

"Without the preaching of the Word, we can never have faith...Whosoever doth not believe is damned, and none can believe without a preacher. If then we will have the people of the Lord to be saved, let them have preachers...bestow your labour, cost and travel to get them. Ride for them, run for them, stretch your purses to maintain them. We shall begin to be rich in the Lord Jesus."
John More (c.1545-92) St Andrews, Norwich

INTRODUCTION (1)
The National background:

THOMAS CARTWRIGHT - The Father of Puritanism

WHAT WAS PURITANISM?
We begin by reminding ourselves that Puritanism was a religious movement in the Church of
England. It demanded a more thorough application of New Testament principles to the
problems posed by the semi-reformed Anglican Church. The Puritans argued that partial
reformation had taken place in England. The Bible had relevance for the Church’s worship
and government as well as her doctrine. Failure to apply biblical teaching was a failure to
recognise the extent of biblical authority and the sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ in
His Church. Elements of puritan thinking were seen in the teaching of John Wycliffe (1324-
84), William Tyndale (martyred 1536) and John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester (martyred 1555).
However, the real father of English Puritanism was Thomas Cartwright. His life and labours
relate to matters which are still of vital importance for Christians today.

EARLY LIFE AND CONVERSION
Thomas Cartwright was born about 1535 in Hertfordshire, possibly at Royston. His family
and religious origins are shrouded in obscurity. He entered Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1547,
the year of the accession of King Edward VI. In November 1550, Cartwright became a scholar
at St John’s College. In the following year, Thomas Lever was appointed as the new master of
the college. This man was a decided Protestant and a powerful preacher. When Mary became
queen in 1553, Lever and twenty-four fellows resigned rather than compromise their faith.
Cartwright himself did not leave at this time. Very probably because he was not truly
converted to Christ. However, he did leave in 1556, a fact which probably dates his
conversion a little earlier.

After the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, Cartwright was restored to the college by Dr
James Pilkington, the new master, in 1562. The new religious settlement found Cartwright
and many others disappointed. The Queen seemed content to leave matters as they had been
under Edward VI. The Reformation was not carried through according to Scriptural
principles.

ELOQUENT PREACHER
In 1562, Cartwright became a fellow of Trinity College. He was now known as an eloquent
preacher, an able scholar and a brilliant debater. When Queen Elizabeth visited the university
in 1564, a debate was held in her presence. Cartwright was chosen to oppose the motion ‘Is
monarchy the best form of government; is the frequent change of laws dangerous?’ The
Queen was not pleased to hear Cartwright argue that the sovereignty of God did not need the
support of earthly monarchs! In those days, such arguments were dangerous.

The return of the Marian exiles (those who had fled to Geneva and Frankfurt during the reign
of Mary Tudor) occasioned discussion about the ‘ha1f-way-house’ of the English Reformation.

As a result of three sermons preached by Cartwright in the college chapel, the scholars and
fellows of St John’s and Trinity - over 300 of them - appeared at the service without their
surplices. Exchanging the chapel missals and breviaries for their Genevan Psalters and
Service-books, they also pulled down the altar in the chapel. Other matters to do with worship
and the entire structure of the established Church of England began to be freely and openly
questioned.

SEVERELY CENSURED
In this highly charged atmosphere, Cartwright left Cambridge to become chaplain to the
Archbishop of Armagh. The two men shared the same views. Cartwright returned to
Cambridge in 1567 and, two years later, he was appointed as Lady Margaret Professor of
Divinity. He began to denounce the constitution and hierarchy of the Church of England. His
lectures on the Acts of the Apostles were widely influential. Many of the student hearers were
to become eminent puritan pastors in years to come. Cartwright’s sermons were opposed by
John Whitgift, later Archbishop of Canterbury. Cartwright was by far the superior preacher,
and St Mary’s Church was regularly filled when he was preaching. The sexton even removed
the windows for the benefit of the ‘overflow’ congregation.

Cartwright was severely censured by those in authority, including Grindal, Archbishop of
York. In a letter to Lord Burghley, the Chancellor of the University, the otherwise puritansympathiser
Grindal complained that “the youth of the university, who are at this time very
toward in learning, frequent his lectures in great numbers, and therefore are in danger of
being poisoned by him with love of contention and liking of novelties, and so becoming
hereafter not only unprofitable, but also hurtful to the church.”

FAITHFULNESS
Cartwright’s faithfulness to Scripture and undoubted courage even cost him his DD, his
candidature being vetoed by Dr May, the Vice-Chancellor of the University. A prohibition was
also placed on the issues under discussion. Cartwright has been accused of abusing his
position. Ought he not to have shown more loyalty to the Reformed Church of England? The
same charge was levelled at Luther regarding the Church of Rome. No, there was nothing
‘unethical’ in showing greater loyalty to God’s Word than to human authorities. Friends
accordingly defended Cartwright’s exposition of the Scriptures, denying also any justice in the
charge that he was encouraging sedition. Appealing to Lord Burghley, a letter signed by
eighteen leading academics gives us a very full picture of Cartwright’s personal and
professional character:

We know that his religion is sincere and free from blemish: for he has not only
emerged from the vast ocean of papistical heresies, and cleansed himself with
the purest waters of the Christian religion, but, as at a rock, he strikes at those
futile and trifling opinions which are daily disseminated. He adheres to the Holy
Scriptures, the most certain rule of faith and practice. We know that he has not
passed these limits. He is well skilled both in the Latin and Greek languages,...
He has also added that of the Hebrew tongue... He is esteemed by foreigners,
whose state of exile is rendered less painful by the sweetness of his disposition
and learning, and who do not hesitate to compare him to those whose fame is so
illustriously spread among the foreign nations. Though we who beg this from you
are but few, yet we ask it in the name of many: for there is scarcely any man
who does not admire and love him, and who does not think that he ought by all
means to be defended. If therefore, you wish well to the University, you cannot
do anything more useful, gratifying, or acceptable, than to preserve Cartwright to
her.

THE SIX PROPOSITIONS
However, in 1570, Cartwright was deprived of his professorship. In 1571, the year the sworn
enemy of the Puritans Dr Whitgift was appointed as Vice-Chancellor, he also lost his
fellowship. These events were the result of Cartwright’s outspoken opposition to the Church of
England, summed up in the famous six propositions. In essence, these were:

1. Archbishops and archdeacons should be abolished.

2. The church’s officers should be modelled on the New Testament.

3. Every church should he governed by its own minister and elders.

4. Ministers should be responsible for one church, not many.

5. No man should solicit for a church appointment.

6. Church officers should be chosen by the church, not the state.

After the university regulations were changed to prevent men of Cartwright’s outlook being
appointed, Cartwright himself left Cambridge for Geneva where Theodore Beza had succeeded
John Calvin as the Reformation leader. Beza had the highest regard for Cartwright’s abilities
and godliness, declaring to one of his English correspondents, “Here is now with us your
countryman, Thomas Cartwright, than whom, I think the sun doth not see a more learned
man.” Friends in England regretted his absence, and Cartwright was encouraged to return to
England in 1572.

WISE ADVISER
His advice was sought concerning negotiations with Catherine de Medici over Queen
Elizabeth’s possible marriage to the Duke of Anjou. Cartwright’s opinion was clear and
uncompromising: “I am fully persuaded that it is directly forbidden in Scripture that any who
profess religion according to the Word of God should marry with those who profess religion
after the manner of the Church of Rome.” This was far from mere academic advice since 1572
was the year of that crescendo of suffering for the Huguenots in France - the St Bartholomew
Massacre of 24 August. However, while Queen Elizabeth deplored such an atrocity abroad,
she was involved in rigorous suppression of the Puritans at home.

THE PURITAN CASE
In the same year, two London clergymen, John Field and Thomas Wilcox, published their
famous Admonition to Parliament, urging the kind of Presbyterianism Cartwright had
advocated. These good men were sent to Newgate. Cartwright visited the men in prison, and
he supported them by writing A Second Admonition to Parliament. Highlighting the heart of the
Puritan case, Cartwright asked, “What, I pray, have they done amiss? They have published
that the ministry of [the Church of] England is out of square.”

Recalling Bishop Cox of Ely’s view that the English Church should have an ‘English face’,
Cartwright complained that more regard was being paid to the Queen’s injunctions and the
Bishops’ canons than the Bible, or rather “the Bible must have no further scope than by these
it is assigned.” Her Majesty preferred liturgy-parroting priests to Gospel preachers: three or
four per county were quite enough! Cartwright continued, “Is this to profess God’s Word? Is
this a reformation? We say the Word of God is above the church; then surely it is above the
English Church, and above all the books now rehearsed. If it be so, why are they not
overruled by it, and not it by them?”

INTIMIDATED
Outraged by such audacity, the authorities issued a warrant for Cartwright’s arrest in June
1573. How extraordinary was Elizabethan ‘political correctness’. While the Queen welcomed
the Huguenot refugees to England (doubtless for the economic benefits these industrious
people brought), ‘Huguenot cousin’ Cartwright and his friends were proceeded against!
Thoroughly intimidated by this experience, he escaped to the continent, first to Heidelberg
and then to Antwerp where he became minister to an English congregation. In 1576,
Cartwright visited the Channel Islands to assist the Huguenot churches in their organisation.
In all this toil and travel, he even found time to marry the sister of a friend, a godly woman
who was to comfort and encourage him to the end. Since the climate in Antwerp adversely
affected his health, Cartwright secretly returned to England in 1585 contrary to the Queen’s
wishes. Though arrested and sent to the Fleet prison by the Bishop of London, he was
released on the Queen’s instructions.

ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE
After 1577, Cartwright - who rarely enjoyed good health - had declined to publish anything
that might be ‘offensive to her majesty or the state’. However, when the Roman Catholic
Rheims version of the New Testament was published in 1582, many were alarmed at the anti-
Reformation propaganda of its contents. After approaching Theodore Beza for advice, the
Queen and her ministers - following the Genevan reformer’s glowing recommendation -
reluctantly commissioned Thomas Cartwright to undertake a refutation. By 1586, he had
reached Revelation 15 in a critical analysis of the Roman Bible. However, since Roman
Catholic and Anglican errors were unavoidably exposed, Archbishop Whitgift then forbad
Cartwright to proceed with his work. This prevented the publication of A Confutation of the
Rhemists Translation (1618) until after the author’s death. One is tempted to say that the
Anglican establishment succeeded in curbing the Puritans - albeit temporarily - whereas the
mighty Spanish Armada of 1588 failed to conquer Protestant Britain.

A PURITAN CRANMER
Many of Cartwright’s puritan brethren were dismayed that he should yield to the
Archbishop’s order so readily. Dr Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter accused him of cowardice.
However, other factors besides his health explain his compliant attitude. Between them, the
Queen and her Archbishop were a pretty formidable duo! Had it not been for them,
‘Cartwright’s influence on the Church of England might have been decisive’ wrote Dr Leland
Carson. Unlike the Welsh separatist John Penry who, martyred in 1593, left a wife and four
little girls, Cartwright’s life ended relatively quietly. ‘He was a puritan Cranmer,’ concludes Dr
Carson, ‘with much of Cranmer’s learning and of Cranmer’s shrinking from hardship, and it
was not given him to redeem the past by sharing Cranmer’s fate, i.e. martyrdom.’
Cartwright’s latter years were spent in Warwick. He was appointed master of a hospital
founded there by the Earl of Leicester. However, he frequently preached in the town and
neighbourhood. It is said that he was the first to introduce extemporary praying in public
worship, an important development which took place at this time. Thus the Book of Common
Prayer was often set aside. But there were limits to Cartwright’s Puritanism. Believing in
gradual reformation and avoiding extremism, he never agreed with separatism.

INWARD STRUGGLE
Whether or not Dr Carson’s verdict is fair, perhaps Cartwright’s remarks on Peter’s fall are
evidence of an inward soul-struggle:

What shall I say of Peter, Christ’s Apostle? Had not he a sure knowledge of
Christ, endued with the Holy Ghost and grace from above? And yet after this, he
had such a fall, [and] he did most cowardly and shamefully forsake and deny

Christ, not without blasphemy. But he went forth and wept bitterly, ... and by
faith he returned again unto Christ, knowing His mercy to be infinite and
without measure; Christ appeared unto him (to his great comfort) after He rose
again from death to life. ... And then Peter became a strong Champion, setting
forth Christ to be the only Saviour of the whole world, preaching and openly
confessing Him before all men, without any fear.

Certainly, Cartwright’s courage returned in measure in his last decade or so. Indeed, his
sympathy with puritan activities in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire in 1590 brought him
into further conflict with the authorities. He was again committed to the Fleet prison. He
appeared before the Court of the Star Chamber in 1591 which Lord Burghley likened to the
Spanish Inquisition! Through his efforts and the good offices of King James VI of Scotland
(our future James I), Lord Burghley was successful in obtaining Cartwright’s release.

LAST YEARS AND DEATH
Shortly after his release, Cartwright visited Cambridge once more where he preached to large
congregations. In 1595 he again visited the Channel Islands, accompanying Lord Zouch, the
new governor of Guernsey. In 1598, Cartwright returned to Warwick, where his last years
were spent in comfort and peace. Cartwright preached his last sermon on Christmas Day,
1603 from the text ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall
return unto God who gave it’ (Eccl. 12: 7). Two days later, after spending two hours on his
knees in the morning while in great pain, he told his wife that “he found wonderful and
unutterable joy and comfort, God gave him a glimpse of heaven before he came to it.” And so,
this faithful if fearful champion of the Lord died on 27 December 1603. He lived to see an
increasingly popular acceptance of principles which he had striven so manfully to proclaim.
Parliament abolished the Church of England in 1642. By the time of the Civil War and the
Westminster Assembly (1643-9), fragmentation and intolerance among the Puritans sowed
the seeds of confusion and failure. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Oliver
Cromwell’s Protectorate saw civil and religious progress. However, with the ‘backlash’ of the
Restoration in 1660 came the demise of Puritanism. Charles II’s infamous Act of Uniformity of
1662 drove about 2000 Puritan ministers into a religious and social wilderness. Cruel
persecution only ended with William and Mary’s Toleration Act of 1689. The effects of 1662
and a fragmented Nonconformity are sadly still with us. Had the English Puritans followed
some of the more moderate features of the French and Dutch Reformed Churches,
Cartwright’s pioneering labours might have had happier consequences.

CHRIST-EXALTING LEGACY
That said, what do we conclude from the life and labours of Thomas Cartwright?

1. He was a man of solid Scriptural principle. He saw more clearly than most the implications
of the authority of the Bible.

2. He feared separatism and sectarianism. He rejected the arguments of Robert Browne’s A
Treatise on Reformation without Tarrying for Any. Whilst his warnings about endless
fragmentation still have relevance, he was a man of his time in believing in a state church. He
was also authoritarian and inclined to intolerance.

3. His version of Presbyterian church government avoided the hierarchical idea. He sought to
balance the independency of the local congregation with the need for a wider, visible unity.

4. He teaches us to take seriously the Lordship of Christ in His Church, expressed through
the authority of the Scriptures in the energy of the Holy Spirit. This is surely his foundational
legacy.

5. He also exemplified the three purities of Puritanism - purity of doctrine, purity of worship
and purity of life. Whatever difficulties might attend Cartwright’s legacy, the Christian Faith
cannot survive if these primary purities are ever forgotten.

6. He inspired a nationwide puritan vision. Cities and towns across England felt the godly
influence emanating from Calvin’s Geneva via Cartwright’s Cambridge. Norwich is a typical
example, where John More and other puritan brethren declared the Gospel so effectively.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Edmund Calamy, An Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters and Fellows of Colleges and
Schoolmasters, who were Ejected or Silenced after the Restoration in 1660. By or before, the Act
for Uniformity. Design’d for the preserving to Posterity, the Memory of their Names, Characters,
Writings and Sufferings (London, 1713)
Benjamin Brook. The Lives of the Puritans, 3 vols (London, 1813)
Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans, 5 vols (London, 1822)
A. H. Drysdale, History of the Presbyterians in England (London, 1889)
M. M. Knappen, Tudor Puritanism: A Chapter in the History of Idealism (Chicago, Phoenix ed.,
1965)
C. G. Bolam, Jeremy Goring, H. L. Short, Roger Thomas, The English Presbyterians: From
Elizabethan Puritanism to Modern Unitarianism (London, 1968)
H. C. Porter (ed), Puritanism in Tudor England (London, 1970)
Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (Oxford, 1991)
Muriel McClendon, The Quiet Reformation: Magistrates and the Emergence of Protestantism in
Tudor Norwich (Stanford, 1999)
Patrick Collinson, John Craig, Brett Usher (eds), Conferences and Combination Lectures in the
Elizabethan Church, 1582-1590 (Woodbridge, 2003)
Matthew Reynolds, Godly Reformers and their Opponents in Early Modern England: Religion in
Norwich c.1560-1643 (Woodbridge, 2005)

For further information on Dr Clifford's other writings on historical and theological subjects, lease visit this site. When ordering please quote the code HL.

Dr John Calvin

2012-01-26T15:49:00.002Z

John Calvin (French: Jean Cauvin; 10 July 1509 - 27 May 1564) was the most influential French theologian and pastor during the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation in Europe. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530, around which time he was converted to Christ. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, a reality that was to feature in French history later against the Huguenots, (or French Protestants who were mainly Presbyterians), Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of his seminal work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, in 1536.

In that year, and by a most strange convergence of circumstances in which God's hand was evidently at work, Calvin was recruited by William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva. The city council resisted the implementation of Calvin and Farel's ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees. He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and was eventually invited back to lead its church.

Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, despite the opposition of several powerful families in the city who tried to curb his authority. Calvin came to see that the current arrangements for the government of the church did not reflect the biblical model, nor was the liturgy faithful to Scripture. This was in 1553, and during this time, the trial of Michael Servetus for heresy took place which resulted in the latter being burned at the stake for his denials of clear Scriptural teaching. This was accompanied by the violent opposition of the Libertines who attempted to harass and threaten Calvin. However, since Servetus was also condemned and wanted by the Inquisition, outside pressure from all over Europe forced the trial to continue. Following an influx of supportive refugees and new elections to the city council, Calvin's opponents were forced out. Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe.

Calvin was a tireless polemicist, apologetic writer, preacher, pastor, commentator, letter writer and theological giant who generated much controversy. He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In addition to the Institutes, he wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible (except Revelation), as well as theological treatises and confessional documents. He regularly preached sermons throughout the week in Geneva. Calvin was influenced by the biblical teaching and also, and subordinately, by the Augustinian tradition, which led him to expound the doctrine of God's sovereignty of God in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. He saw the very heart of the his theology, from man's side, as being faith, not predestination, a fact that is everywhere present in his sermons.

Calvin's writing and preachings provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.

For more information on Calvin as a compassionate pastor and strong church leader, see this website, where Calvin's dealing with Servetus and with the Libertines is discussed.

Moise Amyraut

2012-01-26T15:47:00.002Z

Moise Amyraut, also known as Amyraldus, was born at Bourgueil, in the valley of the Changeon in the province of Anjou. His father was a lawyer, and, preparing Moses for his own profession, sent him, on the completion of his study of the humanities at Orléans to the university of Poitiers.

At the university he gained his BA degree (of laws). On returning home from the university, he passed through the city of Saumur. Having visited the pastor of the Protestant church there, he was introduced to Philippe de Mornay, City governor. Impressed by young Amyraut's ability and culture, they both pressed him to change course from law to theology. His father advised him to read over Calvin's Institutions, before finally determining on what course to follow. He did so, and decided for theology.

He moved to the Academy of Saumur, studying under the Scottish theologian, John Cameron, who came to regarded Amyraut as his greatest scholar. He acquitted himself well in his studies, and was in due time licensed as a minister of the French Protestant Church. However, contemporary civil events hindered his advancement. He remained for two years in his first church in Saint-Aignan, Maine. His colleague, Jean Daillé, who moved to the church at Charenton in Paris, advised the church at Saumur to secure Amyraut as his successor, which it did. At the same time, Saumur University had intentions on him to become professor of theology. Two other churches, Paris and Rouen, also contended for him, but to no avail.

Amyraut was appointed to Saumur in 1633, and also to the professor's chair. Amyraut soon gave to French Protestantism a new direction, and in that was true to the teaching of John Calvin.

He published his Traité des religions (Treatise Concerning Religions) in 1631; and from then onward he was an acknowledged leader in the church. He died on 18 January 1664.

For further information on this whole issue, please visit here.

Richard Baxter

2012-01-26T15:45:00.001Z

Rev Richard Baxter (1615-1691) ministered in Kidderminster for almost twenty years. His preaching power and clarity were proverbial, and the Gospel he declared was applicable to all the world. He believed in and preached universal atonement, namely, that Christ died for the sins of all the world, but he did not believe in universal salvation.

He once famously said, "I preach as never sure to preach again, as a dying man to dying men."

For more information on Rev. Richard Baxter, please click here.

Repentance.

2012-01-26T15:40:00.003Z

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us why He came; it was not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. repentance is not for good people, but for bad people, sinners. It is not for upright people, but for the rebellious. The call of the Saviour is directed to specific types of people - sinners. The Bible through Paul tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," therefore all are sinners.

What does that tell us? That true repentance is a crucial part of the religion, not of an innocent person, but of a sinner. The call to repentance is of no avail to those who see themselves as totally innocent. It has no bearing on them whatever. It is something that is produced in the heart of the sinner which is utterly indispensable to the character of the true Christian. Since the Christian sins daily, continually, he needs to be repenting of his sin daily, continually.

If this is so, why is this not required before people are accepted into full church membership? Why is it that they only have to say they are Christians i many places for them to be accepted as such by the eldership? No repentance, no church membership. Would your church tolerate such a biblical stance?

Man - Lost But Great.

2012-01-26T15:29:00.000Z

From the biblical perspective, man is, at one and the same time, both lost and great. He is a responsible human being, responsible primarily to God for all he is and does. Because he is responsible, he effects history both positively and negatively. He can make an enormous contribution to history because he is great. That greatness can show it in actions that promote the greater good of society, or its downfall. Man is responsible for sowing the seeds of new ideas and thoughts, and when these germinate and take hold and grow, they bring in change. It may be a long time in the seeing, but it will come.

We are responsible, then, for what we sow. Is it good, or is it bad? What kind of seed thoughts are we sowing around us?

Dead Preaching Unacceptable!

2012-01-26T15:23:00.003Z

Something struck me today when travelling on the bus to Belfast, and I want to share this with you now. Why are some/many lectures so utterly boring? And why is so much preaching so dead and dull as well? This thought struck me: lecturing degenerates into a boring exercise because lecturers see it as mere presentation of facts, and no more. Some preaching is also like that therefore it is as dry as dust.

But the only thing, humanly speaking, that keeps preaching and lecturing fresh is when it is viewed as an urgent and relevant message from the living God, through the preacher, to the people to whom he is declaring the Gospel.

Spiritual Sayings

2012-01-25T21:06:00.002Z

Preach the Gospel, and, if necessary, use words!

Often attributed to St. Francis, but not traceable to him
.

She Who Kneels Before God
Can Stand Before Anyone

....author unknown

The Paradoxical Commandments

2012-01-25T21:04:00.001Z

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

This gets to the heart of true Christian living. It is a reversal of all that's natural to us. This goes right against the grain. It shows that the mathematics of grace simply do not add up to what we would expect to be a good result.

No Fool!

2012-01-25T21:02:00.004Z

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot, christian missionary, explaining his motivation to go to a headhunter tribe to share the Gospel. They killed him, but the tribe later heard the Gospel, received Christ, and was totally transformed.

This is surely one of the most challenging statements ever spoken by a man. We tend to give what does not costs us too much, and what we do not want anyway; we hold on to what we cherish, therefore we often lose what is most precious to us.

Stay Focussed.

2012-01-25T21:01:00.004Z

He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.

Author: St. John of the Cross

This is a timely warning from an old writer. Too frequently we allow unnecessary interruptions to our devotions and prayers, and the thought occurred to me, What does God think of being placed second (at best) to these other concerns?

Sort Out Your Thoughts

2012-01-25T17:44:00.004Z

Because all truth is God's truth, and because God's common grace enables even the ungodly to do good work, I have decided to mention to you a book which might well be of assistance in getting your mind sorted out. Christians can as easily get themselves into a mental muddle as anyone else, especially when they try to sort out their future life and work.

So I mention this book, Sort Out Your Thoughts, which can be accessed at this website. It can be downloaded immediately.

I trust the contents are based on sound Christian principles, and I trust also that it will help you get what you want in life.

Homosexuality Is Sin!

2012-01-25T11:51:00.003Z

Your article on the conference on homosexuality held recently at Orangefield Presbyterian Church, Belfast, raises a few critically important but apparently forgotten issues.

First, homosexuality is a sin like any other sin, and must be properly named as such. It is a perversion of God's plan for marriage and the relationship between a man and a woman for life.

Second, homosexuality, when properly named as a sin, can be forgiven by our most gracious God.

Third, divine forgiveness must be offered to those involved in this sin with the promise that everyone who repents of his/her sin and trusts Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation, will be pardoned. Does the church today believe in forgiveness for sin, this sin? Or is this a 'preference' that needs no repentance and therefore no forgiveness?

The church of Jesus Christ must exhibit simultaneously God's holiness and God's love. She must maintain His standards and display His compassion. But the church has no right whatever to even suggest that homosexuality is but another acceptable sexual orientation that is on a par with a proper relationship between a man and a woman for life. If the Church believes that Paul got it all wrong in Rom. 1, then let her come out and say so. But if she believes he got it right on this issue, then she is duty bound and honour bound to uphold the biblical standards despite all opposition.

I think the real problem is that the churches no longer know what a Christian is, how a sinner becomes a Christian, or how a Christian is to be defined. The only thing they seem to be interested in are 'professions of faith.' They do not see that entry into the Christian life is via a 'narrow gate,' according to Jesus Christ, and continues until death along this 'narrow road.' It starts 'narrow' and it stays 'narrow.' That 'narrow gate' is repentance toward God for sin, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the church ought to be evangelising all those who got themselves caught up in the sin of homosexuality, and seeking to win them for Christ. But she cannot water down our faith by saying that the 'profession of faith' of those who hold on tenaciously to what the Scriptures describe as an abomination, is acceptable for church membership. That would be like saying that a man can use the foulist of language, including blaspheming the precious and holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and still be regarded as a Christian and church member. There is forgiveness for that man if he repents of his sin and turns in faith to Christ, but not otherwise.

Sadly, the church has been fatally infiltrated and negatively affected by 'the world,' to such an extent that she no longer knows what she believes.

Get Back To The Past.

2012-01-24T19:26:00.001Z

A local church pastor visited me today, and he was saying that so many Christians are living in the past, in the 'good old days' when revival was being experienced in our churches. I said that I disagreed, and argued that the problem with today's church is that it has not re-visited the past frequently enough. The church of today simply does not know its Christian history, and is therefore ignorant of what God has done in the past by His Spirit.

Thankfully, he agreed and saw the point I was making. We need to re-learn our history of the Christian Church, and become more familiar with it so that we can see what good He did then, and be inspired to plead with Him to do it again in our day. We need to return to the greatest days of the Church's history, and learn from those days when God was working mightily by His Spirit, back to the Reformers and Huguenots, to the Covenanters and Puritans, back to the days of the great Methodist Revival in these islands (British isles) and to the Great Awakening in America. Ignorance of the past is what leaves us vulnerable to mistakes in the present and future. In order to go forward properly and with conviction, we need to go back to the days when God visited the churches and poured out His blessings upon them.

For further information on some aspects of those great days, please visit here.

Lloyd-Jones - The Twentieth Century Baxter.

2012-01-24T13:26:00.000Z

There is great confusion, proffered mainly by his friends, over the theological orientation of Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. To many, he is a convinced Owenite, or follower of Dr John Owen. To the undiscerning, he believed and preached the doctrine of limited atonement, because to be truly reformed you must believe in and declare the doctrine of limited atonement. Not so for Lloyd-Jones, as my book makes abundantly clear.

Others believed that the Doctor did not hold that Christ died for all men without exception, and are convinced that because his books were published in the main by the reformed publishing houses, he did not preach a Gospel that has relevance for all men. But he did!.

Still others thought that Lloyd-Jones held that Christ did not die for all, despite his frequent quoting of Heb.2:9. He believed and preached that Christ is the Saviour of the world, that He died for all humanity, for mankind, and for the human race.

If you question these assertions, then please get my book on Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones at this website. At least half of the entire book is a listing of all the quotations that I could find in his evangelistic sermons published to date.

Lloyd-Jones was Baxterian through and through so far as his soteriology, or doctrine of the atonement, is concerned. And Baxter followed Calvin and Amyraut; so, therefore, do Dr Lloyd-Jones.

But don't take my word for it. Get my book and check out the references for yourself. You'll be glad you did.

Lloyd-Jones Anniversary.

2012-01-24T13:11:00.001Z

On 1st March 2012, Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones entered glory and went to be with the Saviour he loved and served so well. That there will be beneficiaries publishing their appreciation of the man goes without saying. My appreciation of his written ministry in particular crosses at least four decades, and I have published those lessons that I learned from him in my newly published book.

Those lessons - spiritual, theological, pastoral and ecclesiastical - have been a mainstay of my life and ministry over some 35 years, and they are now available here to the Christian public for the very first time.

Please support my ministry by getting your own copy now.

Lessons From LLoyd-Jones

2012-01-24T12:54:00.001Z

"Dr. Lloyd-Jones was not another young minister fresh out of a liberal theological college, trimming his message to contemporary opinion and the prejudices of his congregation. He was determined to preach the message with the crystal clarity in which it had come to him. That was too much for some of the congregation and they left. But in their place - slowly at first - there came increasing numbers who were gripped by the truth, the working class of South Wales. The message brought them, and the Holy Spirit converted them. There were no dramatic appeals, just a young man with the clear message of God's justice and his love, which brought one ‘hard case’ after another to repentance and conversion.

The church in Aberavon grew with the steady stream of conversions. Notorious drunkards became glorious Christians and working men and women came to the Bible classes which he and his wife conducted, to learn the doctrines of their new-found faith. Around South Wales other churches that were often starved of sound teaching and of preaching which dealt with the world as it was (in the depth of the great slump), invited him to their pulpits. His reputation grew across the Principality and beyond."

Let this account of the greatest biblical preacher in the UK in the twentieth century encourage all those who are in the preaching/pastoral ministry. Ministers who have made any impact for the Gospel have always faced almost insurmountable problems and opposition. But remember this: the person who is most vicious in his/her opposition is the most likely candidate for conversion. I have seem this in my ministry, and in the ministry of others. These people kick hard against the Gospel because that Gospel has come very close to them; it has impacted their lives in a way that they never knew before. So close is Christ to them that in His amazing grace

they could be in the Kingdom in the twinkling of an eye.

Until that time comes, they can make life exceedingly difficult for the faithful Gospel minister, and for his family. But God is faithful and will not allow his servants to suffer beyond what they are able to bear, but will, with the temptation, opposition, persecution, make a way of escape, so that they are not destroyed by it.

That is the kind of organic growth we want to see in the churches. We pray to that end.

Baxter's Kidderminster Today!

2012-01-24T11:41:00.001Z

On a recent visit to Kidderminster, England, the town in which the celebrated Puritan, Rev Richard Baxter ministered in the seventeenth century, I was amazed at how ignorant the local people regarding their greatest son. The first ‘sign’ of Baxter was at Baxter United ReformedChurch; I asked if this was the church thatBaxter preached in, and was met with ignorance.

To the Parish church of St Mary and All Saints, I strolled, and the over-ruling providence of God allowed me inside. What a joyful and humbling experience it was just to be there. I could easily imaginethe place filled to capacity with earnest hearers and seekers after Christ asBaxter applied the Gospel as understood and taught by Calvin with clinicalprecision to men’s consciences.

I went to the New Meeting House where the Unitarian church meets, andsaw thepulpit (dated 1621) from which he preached “the unsearchable riches of Christ,”(Eph.3:8).

To read a fuller story, may I refer you to Baxter. It is truly amazing how the mighty town and churches of Kidderminster have fallen into unfaithfulness, apostasy, unbiblical ecumenism. May God have mercy on that town and on our country.

Mission and Baptism

2012-01-23T12:17:00.000Z

Mt.28:18-20 are familiar verses. They are used by our Baptist friends to teach the necessity of adult (believer's) baptism by total immersion. Within the context, this is right and proper. Where they go astray is when they apply this teaching to covenant families, and refuse to give to the children born into covenant families the God-appointed sign and seal of the covenant - baptism. They require them to wait until they themselves believe, after which they must be baptised by total immersion.

In Mt.28, the nations knew nothing of God's gracious covenant, or covenant of grace, which He entered into with Abraham (Gen.15). Covenant people stand in a totally different spiritual position to the nations which did not know God. They have privileges that others do not have. So a distinction has to be made between the children of covenant parents and those of parents who are not in the covenant.

Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Parting Words.

2012-01-23T12:10:00.002Z

In an article by his son-in-law, Lord Fred. Catherwood, the following insight into the Doctor's thinking and faith is given.

"In1979 illness returned and he had to cancel all his engagements. He waseven-minded about the prospect of preaching again. He had seen too many mengoing on well after they should have stopped. In the spring of 1980 he was ableto start again, but a visit to the Charing Cross Hospital in May revealed thathis illness demanded more stringent treatment which kept him from preaching.Between wearing sessions in hospital, which he faced with courage and dignity,he carried on working on his manuscripts and giving advice to ministers, but byChristmas he was too weak for this. To the end, however, he was able to spendtime with his biographer (his former assistant, lain Murray).

Towards the end of February 1981, with greatpeace and assured hope, he believed that his earthly work was done. To hisimmediate family he said: 'Don't pray for healing, don't try to hold me backfrom the glory.' On March 1st, St. David's Day and the Lord's Day - he passed onto the glory on which he had so often preached to meet the Saviour he had sofaithfully proclaimed."

My own personal appreciation of this servant of Christ is published here. I never met the man, though I had met Sir Freddie Catherwood (as he then was, if my memory serves me well) while a student at Leeds Poly (as it then was), though I did hear him preach in Leeds in 1973.

More Publications For You.

2012-01-21T19:04:00.002Z

For those interested in my other publications, please go to the Smashwords website.

Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones

2012-01-21T18:02:00.003Z

I discovered a very interesting thing today, and it was this. If you go to Smashwords.com and then type in the name of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, you will find ONLY ONE BOOK that matches the search term. Smashwords has now published in excess of 90,000 books on a wide range of subjects, amounting to some 1.7 million words. It has more than 16,000 authors. Yet only one book has been published by Smashwords on Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Surely that fact commands attention on your part.

Why not have a look and see what it is; then, with your appetite whetted, you can proceed to get your own copy.

Education Is Cheap; Ignorance Costs!

2012-01-18T19:58:00.001Z

The surest way to repeat the mistakes and errors of the past is to remain ignorant of them. If you want to make sure that the church remains in her moribund condition, just live life at you have been doing.

But if you want to be informed about issues of truth, issues that are foundational to life itself, then you owe it to yourself to be better educated. Education does not cost as much as ignorance!

May I refer you to my new book on Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, my mentor and teacher of many years; and he being dead still speaks to me through his written and recorded messages.

I therefore refer you to the website where you can get your own copy of this remarkable book. All of the information is brand new; it records my own personal reflections on DMLJ's teaching, and how it helped me, and sometimes hindered me. It also has a section (about 50% of the entire book) that deals with his understanding of the Gospel message as it pertains to the atonement. This has not been done before - to the best of my knowledge. So get this book and read it, and tell others about it. There is a message here that has to be got out to the multitudes, and we must do our part in spreading the word.

Will you help in this?

Calvin and Courage - Under the Cross

2012-01-18T17:03:00.002Z

Available for download from today, this brand new ebook, written by the author, is long-awaited. Delivered as one of the papers at the Amyraldian Association Annual Conference in Attleborough, Norfolk in Spring 2009, to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of the reformer fro Geneva, John Calvin (1509-1564), this paper shows a side to Calvin that is not readily known - his warm-heartedness and compassion. Sadly, some Calvinists, by their attitude, have portrayed Calvin as an ogre, and have painted him in a light that is simply not a true reflection of the man himself.

This book demonstrates the heart of Calvin in a way that some might not recognise. Yes, he could be firm when circumstances demanded it, and he was. Read how he dealt with Michael Servetus, the Catholic heretic who opposed and undermined true doctrine in several aspects such as the doctrine of the Trinity, which he denied, infant baptism of covenant children, etc. See the reformer's resolution when faced with the violent and immoral Libertines. But, then, in contrast, see him minister to the young ministerial students who were facing martyrdom at the stake for their faith.

The true Calvin just has to be seen to be appreciated and loved. It is so sad that Calvin has been misrepresented in the house of his friends, resulting in Christians dismissing the great reformer out of hand. Visit here and read about a well-balanced Calvin, and your admiration of him will grow by leaps and bounds.

This chapter, contributed by the author, is taken from the book, "John Calvin 500 - A Reformation Affirmation," and is used with permission of the publishers, Charenton Reformed Publishing, Norwich. If you want to read all seven papers, then visit the publisher's website here.

New LLoyd-Jones Book Making An Impact.

2012-01-18T13:33:00.000Z

It gives me great pleasure to report that the author's book on Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones is gaining the attention of the Christian reading public, with the first sales coming in yesterday.

To secure your copy, click here.

This unique book deals with how one minister experienced the Doctor's preaching, and the help and inspiration that gave him.

It also does what no one else has done - it extracts more than 320 quotations from the Lloyd-Jones evangelistic sermons that demonstrate that theologically and soteriologically, he followed Calvin and Amyraut and Baxter rather than John Owen. This will be new to may DMLJ followers, but facts are stubborn things that do not easily give way to speculation.

Click here and discover for yourself a wealth of evangelistic material that will inform your thinking, and hopefully set your soul on fire for Christ and His mighty Gospel.

On the left hand panel of the site, you will find other books by me, two of which are free to download, and the others are priced at a minimum price.

Philip Doddridge - Book Sale!

2012-01-18T13:20:00.002Z

Dr Philip Doddridge
(1702-51)
Read about ‘The Good Doctor’, one of England’s greatest Nonconformists.
A highly-acclaimed tercentenary biography of 2002 is now available at half price
[£5+p&p].
For more details, click on the link.

50% off this excellent book from the pen of Dr Alan C Clifford - not to be missed. Available while stocks last.

The Grand Place, Brussels, and Martyrdom

2012-01-17T23:58:00.001Z

I have had the privilege of visiting many different countries as part of my recent work,and one of the most beautiful places is the Grand place in Brussels, Belgium. Every time I visit the city, I always make a point of going to this outstandingly beautiful location. I would have stood looking up at those high spires and admiring the magnificant architecture, and marvelled at how the workers ever achieved such a fete.

However, just today (17th Jan 2012), I earned that that place has a somewhat different notoriety, because it was at this exact place in Brussels that made its mark on the great Protestant Reformation in Europe in the sixteenth century. Let Dr F. A. Schaeffer tell the story:

When Luther had begun his preaching, he received word about the first Protestant martyrs. Some monks had read his work, turned to his way of thinking, and were burned alive in the Grand Place in Brussels. The spot is still marked where they died. And the story is told that when Martin Luther heard about it, he began to walk the floor and he said, 'I can't go on. I can't do it anymore. because of me other men are being killed. I can't go on!' Then as he wrestled with it, he understood that because it was truth, no matter what the cost to himself or anybody else, he must go on.

Schaeffer continues, "Thank God, Martin Luther marched straight forward - the reformation went forward."

The next time I visit the Grand Place in Brussels, while still admiring its beauty and magnificence, I will remember those godly men who died for Christ and his Gospel.

Courage Under The Cross

2012-01-17T23:44:00.002Z

The author of this blog has today published on the internet his latest book, "Courage Under The Cross In Troubled Times." This book was written at a very tense and dangerous time in the South Armagh area of Northern Ireland and during the worst years of the terrorist campaign there. He was responsible for conducting two of the three funerals of two of the elders who died in that terrorist outrage against a small Protestant Pentecostal church in Darkley. In the weeks that followed, he preached a series of sermons that were designed to encourage that beleaguered and vulnerable people who lived in that area that became known as "Bandit Country."

The fruits of his labours are made available as an ebook and may be ordered here.
Please visit the site by clicking on the highlighted link above, and buy this little book. You will be glad you did!

Is God Pleased With Today's Preachers?

2012-01-17T13:46:00.002Z

This is a most pertinent question to ask; and it is even more pertinent to answer. Is God pleased with the preachers in the modern church? When Christian people are frustrated with what passes for preaching today, how is God feeling and what is He thinking about it all? Let me put it like this: if you believe that God is a holy God and that He is there, do you think He can take it lightly when people spread over the face of the earth and move among God's people, and say, "This message is straight from God," when they are speaking only for themselves? This tells us that it is perilously possible for a preacher to speak only for himself and from himself, perilously possible?

What makes is infinitely worse is when these preachers contradict what God says clearly in His Word. He has revealed His own heart and mind in the Scriptures, in propositional form, yet they seem to disregard what God has said and have made up a message of their own that they then pass off as the Word of God.

Now, do you expect God to take this lightly? What isd He? Is He really an old grey-headed and grey-bearded man sitting in a rocking chair in heaven, blind and hard of hearing, and totally oblivious to what is going on in His church? Well, think again.

Preachers With No Message.

2012-01-17T13:35:00.001Z

How can any preacher affirm that he is bring the Word of God to his congregation when God has not spoken to him? Just because a minister enters the pulpit and serves up a talk to his people does not in any way mean that he got that message from the Lord.

In Jeremiah's day, prophets spoke and prophesied in the name of the God who did not speak to them. Where did their message come from? From their own selves? From their own reading and learning? Out of which pit did it emerge? They have come and spoken in the name of God, and they have said, 'God says...' but God has not spoken to them or given them a message. They are messageless messengers! They did not receive a Word from the Lord.

What have they done, then? They have dished up what are no more than their own words for the people. Their own ideas have been welling up within them, and they have been merely echoing the words of others. They have done their reading by way of preparation, but all they could give their people are the echoes of what others have said or written. Sermons today are exercises in regurgitation of others ideas. But there is no "word from the Lord." These men come and say, "This is the Lord's word for you today," but it is not! It is the message of man.

All such preachers are under the judgement of God for claiming to speak for Him when He has given them nothing to say.

Unsent Preachers

2012-01-17T13:27:00.001Z

In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, we find times that are an exact mirror of our own times. In the country at large, there is great wickedness; and in the church there is even greater wickedness.

Jeremiah talks authoritatively about prophets who have not been sent by God, therefore do not and cannot preach the Word of God. Jer.23:21, God says through Jeremiah, "I have not sent these prophets, yet they run." They are busy day by day on rweligious and church business, but they have not been sent by Me. They are doing their own thing, and following their own bidding. How busy they are at their church work.

But what they have not realised is that the God they purport to serve disclaims that He has sent them. So what on earth are they doing, running when they have not been sent? Who sent them, then? Did they send themselves? But that's not 'sending' in any real sense. Whose will are they doing? What an uncomfortable issue to face up to.

The Doctor's Influence

2012-01-16T22:07:00.003Z

New book on Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones's influence on the author of this blog is available here. Please have a look and buy it for yourself and when you have read it, write a review and place it on the Smashwords website.

As the 31st anniversary of his death comes around on 1st March 2012, learning how one man was influenced by Dr Lloyd-Jones will help you to appreciate his ministry a bit more. See the book at Hazlett Lynch.

True believers

2012-01-16T21:54:00.000Z

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones stresses that you cannot be a Christian unless you believe certain specific things, certain specific truths about our Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian is a believer, a man who believes certain facts, certain verities. But its not just an intellectual thing, this believing. Believing is also a commitment of ourselves to the One in Whom we believe. It is about trust, about entrusting ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. It is about receiving Christ, and receivine the Holy Spirit. You cannot be Christian without the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:9). Impossible.

Nor can you be a Christian without the new birth. Church tries to pretend that you can, but it is impossible. Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, preached Jesus. The vital thing is not are we members of churches, but are we full of faith in these things?

Government Laws Discriminated Against Evangelicals

2012-01-16T16:34:00.000Z

The Act of Uniformity of 1662 was the occasion that led to the great ejection of many of England's greatest preachers and pastors from their charges. This Act demanded that every minister within the Church of that time accept completely the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in every jot and title. While ministers had no real objection to the contents of the Book of Common Prayer, they did object to the imposition of this Book of Prayer for use in the churches.

Whether the ministers, more than 2,00 of them, were ejected by the church authorities, or, as Prof. A. M. Renwick states, "heroically resigned their livings," is a matter to be researched. But the fact remains, that 2,000 and more ministers of the Gospel found themselves outside the national church because of sheer pig-headedness of the church authorities. Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist minsters were nolnger welcome in the English church.

In addition, the Corporation Act (1661), the Five Mile Act (1665), and the Test Act (1673), placed every Englishman who was not also an Anglican churchman, including the servants of the Gospel, under serious disability. This ecclesiastical discrimination paved the way for even greater errors to enter the church, and ushered in the great apostasy that has bedevilled that church ever since.

Trusting In God’s Unfailing Goodness

2012-01-16T15:39:00.001Z

There is the principle of trust in God’s unfailinggoodness, in good times and in bad. When Fontaine was unable to find a living as apreacher/minister, he would not make himself a burden to others, and consideredways of providing for his family. InBarnstable, he worked as a manufacturer of textiles (a trait that was deeplyembedded within this family), and as an importer/exporter of textiles, while inIreland, he set up a fishing company, commenting that he “was a preacher whohoped to become a fisherman, the opposite of the apostles.” Each of these ventures was blessed with ameasure of success, but due to circumstances beyond his control, each left himpoverty-stricken. Yet he nevercomplained, and with grace he accepted both the good times and the bad as fromthe Lord.

In the church, God, in his sovereign grace, at times blessesthe ministry of the Gospel in quite spectacular ways; believers are encouragedand built up in their most holy faith, and sinners are converted toChrist. What lovely times they are! How sweet are those times when newlyconverted sinners come to you and tell you that God has dealt savingly withtheir souls. To hear the sound of a newconvert’s first words of prayer in the prayer meeting is indescribable. We can give God all the praise and glory forthese special times of blessing. This issummer time in the church.

But when the winter arrives, and things are not proceedingas we think they should; or when active opposition to the Gospel begins toraise its ugly head; or when 'believers' are doing all kinds of “dirty tricks”against the minister, well that’s a different story. It is easier to see the hand of Satan at workin these times, than it is to see the over-ruling providence of God rolling outhis sovereign and mysterious purposes for the church. Yes, we can accept the good times from theLord, but we have difficulty accepting the bad times from him. We need to learn from Fontaine thatglorifying God means accepting whatever his providence supplies. Remember, it is his “provide–ance” for us,for our good, for our ultimate salvation, and for his eternal glory. Fontaine learned this from experience, andstands as a ‘real time’ example and inspiration to us today.

That’s very difficult to accept at times. To have your most precious thing removed fromyou, is extremely difficult to accept. And to see the invisible hand of our good Father at times like this ismost challenging. Only by accepting thegood and the bad from our Father can we know the peace of God ruling in ourhearts.

350 Anniversary of the Great Ejection.

2012-01-16T13:30:00.001Z

Over the next weeks and months, I hope to post articles on the men who were ejected from their pulpits by the largely apostate church of England in 1662. More than 2000 faithful pastors were removed from their charges by that church. In the Anglican ministry there were men of Presbyterian conviction, Independents and baptists. The result of this was a great purging of the church of those intolerable factions - the preachers of the everlasting Gospel. That church has paid very highly for such uncalled for action against the servants of Christ.

Recorded sermons?

2012-01-16T13:26:00.001Z

What do you think of the practice of recording services/sermons? It can be one of the best ways of spreading the Word that is offered today, and why should we not use this technology to preach the Gospel?

However, there is a down-side to this practice; or rather not so much the practice itself as the way it is discounted by many Christians today. What I mean is this: very often when sermons are being listened to on CD, etc, the auditors do not have the same awareness of listening to God's Word as they wold have of sitting in church. They can beak into conversation, thus lose the drift of the message.

I would counsel that when listening to a sermon of CD or on DVD, take a few moments of recollection, reminding yourself that you are about to listen to God's Word, and give it the attention that you would give to it of you were in church.

Was Lloyd-Jones Amyraldian?

2012-01-16T11:10:00.001Z

Have you seen my new book - on Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones? It's a personal appreciation of his life and ministry, and has a unique list of some 321 extracts from his evangelistic sermons (in the main) that reveal the real Lloyd-Jones. If you buy a copy, would you be so kind and submit a review of it for me? Thank you.

It can be downloaded here.

Jacques de la Fontaine

2012-01-14T21:53:00.000Z

Extract for my forthcoming book on Jacques de la Fontaine:

The principle of suffering for the name of Christ was viewedas the greatest honour or title that any Christian can possess. Early on, the family rejected the “de la”prefix to the surname, not because there is any reason to doubt their ancestralnobility, but “because it was full of vanity.” Empty man-made honours played nopart in their life and thinking. Further, all his sons had dedicated themselves to the ministry, and, atthat time in France, ministers had the same privileges as the nobility. Prefixes were therefore superfluous. The Fontaine family knew what true honourswere, and what constituted true nobility, and that conferred by the world didnot come into it!

We see in this family the driving force of correct principlewhen adhered to. It provides perspective onlife’s challenges, yes; but it also enables us to get other things into properperspective and to see the inestimable honour it is to be chosen to sufferpersecution for the name of Christ. What of titlesof state! What of academicachievements! What of the wealth in thisworld! What of a great ancestralbackground! They mean little or nothingwhen compared with the honour of suffering reproach for the Saviour outside thecamp. “For what profit is it to a man toif he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for hissoul?”

You can now get your copy by visiting Hazlett Lynch.

Dr Jacques WHO?

2012-01-14T21:03:00.002Z

Does anyone know anything about Dr Jacques Abbadie, the Huguenot preacher and theologian? Have you heard of his name?

Would you like to know a little bit about what he thinks about the existence of God? Do you want your heart warmed and thrilled?

Then visit here and get this book - you'll be glad you did!

If you have problems worshipping the Lord, then Abbadie is a good guide. His thoughts will impel your heart into the ecstacy of true worship. Go to Hazlett Lynch and discover this for yourself.

Lloyd-Jones - The Welsh Amyraldian

2012-01-14T21:00:00.001Z

For the very first time ever, a painstaking study has been carried out into what the Doctor actually taught about the atonement, and especially its extent. I have completed this research and the results of my study are now being made available to the Christian reading public.

Some of you will be very surprised by what Lloyd-Jones actually teaches. Click here to see for yourself what will be in store for you when you buy this book.

If you find this book interesting and informative, challenging and enlightening, please tell others, especially those on your contact list.

Thank you

Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

2012-01-14T20:51:00.003Z

This latest book from my laptop is one that I have been working on for almost a year now. It is my personal appreciation of the life and ministry of my dear mentor, Dr Lloyd-Jones. This is available for download here.

This is perhaps the most personal book I have ever written. It is so personal that it tends to be rather controversial at times. But that's for you to decide. I deal with lessons learned from the influence of Dr Lloyd-Jones on my life and ministry, and these have resulted in great personal cost to me as a minister.

Have a look and see what you think.

New Book

2012-01-14T20:46:00.002Z

If you are interested in the impact of the French Huguenots on life in England, Ireland and also in America, then you might also be interested in a brand new FREE ebook by me that can be accessed at this site.

There is one on The Huguenots in London, and another on The Huguenots Come To Ballyronan, Northern Ireland.

Have a look and see what you think

TESCO - God Answers Prayer!

2012-01-12T20:19:00.001Z

A short two months after Tesco announced a £30,000 gift to the 2012 London ‘Gay Pride’ (aka ‘World Pride’) they have posted the worse Christmas trading figures of all the ‘big four’ supermarkets, leading to a 14% drop in their share price.

The analysts blame Tesco’s doomed ‘Big Price Drop’ idea. But we say God has answered our prayers for confusion in the Tesco boardroom. Their announcement of the ‘Gay Pride’ money came at the worst possible time for them. It meant we were able to mount a campaign of prayer and action, with emailing to their directors and leafleting at Tesco stores at what should have been their busiest time of the year. We reckon thousands have boycotted Tesco.

I ask you, Is God alive? Is He at work in His world? Does He answer the prayers of the saints? Of course, He does. The poor blinded TESCO managers blame some decision they made about their big price drop idea, but that may well have been part of it. Indeed, God used this very mechanism to embarrass TESCO managers and directors at a time when they would have needed increased sales at the 'harvest time' for most businesses. The sovereign God judged TESCO for its promotion of immorality, and its decided neglect in supporting those whose need is great and real.

This will encourage us to pray on and to work hard in the Lord's Kingdom. He rules over all. Our witness, whether at TESCO stores, by emails to senior managers, or whatever, has been owned and blessed by our Lord. If He did that now, just wait and see what he will yet do.

The Huguenot Story

2012-01-10T20:45:00.002Z

You must really get to know the Huguenots and their enthralling story. Details of future publications of Huguenot stories will be given on this blog and you can click the relevant link that will take you to the website where you can buy your copy. They are very reasonably priced - only a few pence really!

Dr Jacques Abbadie

2012-01-10T20:21:00.001Z

I have written and published my new book on Smashwords, entitled, Huguenot Preacher - Jacques Abbadie's The Vindication of the truth. It can be bought at the Smashwords website .

This is an integral aspect of my ministry, and you support will be very much appreciated. In this book, your heart will be thrilled to the core ad you will learn how to understand our precious faith and be able to present the Gospel in an intelligible manner to the unbelieving world.

Please click here and buy your own copy which can be downloaded immediately to your PC or ebook reading device.

You will also see a free book by me at the top left hand side of the web page, which can also be downloaded. It gives a very brief insight into the Huguenots who settled in London as a result of the persecution of Christians by Louis XIV, King of France.

The Gospel - Too Good To Be True?

2012-01-10T20:00:00.000Z

The world tells us continually, and perhaps we have come to say the same because we too believe it, that if a thing is "too good to be true," have nothing to do with it. But is it true to say that a thing is "too good to be true"? Is this an irrevocable principle? If it is, then we have no Gospel! Is Jesus Christ "too good to be true"?

If it is "too good to be true" that when a sinner turns from his sin and trusts Christ alone as his Saviour, he is forgiven and saved, then the Gospel has been completely undermined. If being saved eternally through faith in a crucified yet risen Saviour actually happens, then for many, it is "too good to be true." These are the people who have the need to work for everything they have - including their salvation; the only thing is that there is no salvation of any real kind that can be worked for.

If it is "too good to be true" that if a Christian seeks the Lord for the anointing of His Holy Spirit and is thereby empowered to do great things for Christ, then we have nothing real to offer the world. NOTHING!

The fact is that there is nothing quite like the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the best thing the world has ever known. There is no message that has the transforming power that the Gospel has because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes in Christ. And for a mere man to preach that Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit with corresponding results is a sheer miracle. And this is something we ought to seek constantly.

The Gospel is 'good' and it is 'true.' Believe it and see!

A Home for the Huguenots in London

2012-01-05T13:13:00.005Z

OrangeStreet Congregational Church is located in the heart of London, betweenLeicester Square and Trafalgar Square, and west of St Martin’s in the Field,and stands on the site of a Huguenot chapel, established in 1693. ThisHuguenot-founded church was opened and dedicated on Easter Eve 1693 by itsfirst minister Daniel Chamier. It was then known as the Temple OfLeicester Fields, the name by whichthe Huguenots called their meeting houses, as in those days theLeicester Square district was indeed a "district of fields."

It wasthere, and at Spitalfields, that a large number of Huguenots settled afterfleeing the terrible persecutions of Protestants in France. From the reign ofFrancis I to that of the opulent Louis XIV, these French Christians, mainlyCalvinists, had endured tortures of every conceivable kind. Many escaped, asbest they could, to such places as England, Holland, Prussia, Switzerland andthe bright new world – the United States of America.

Francethus lost a host of fine men and women of piety, industry and ability, andEngland gained many. The refugee communities were composed of nobles, clergy,physicians, soldiers, manufacturers and artisans, the latter of whom taughttheir English brothers the arts and crafts they had learned in their forsakenFrance.

Therecords show that Jean Pierre Stehelin, minister of the Orange Street Churchfrom 1736 to 1753, "made himself a perfect master of the seventeenlanguages: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, French, German, Italian, Danish,Dutch, Coptic, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic, Chaldean Gothic, Old Tudesco or Druid,Anglo-Saxon, besides Spanish, Portuguese and Welsh."

Charlesde la Guiffardierre, an able minister, was a great favourite at court, and readFrench to the Princesses and to Queen Charlotte.

It isbelieved that Jacques Saurin, the famous French Calvinist and scholar, preachedin the church many times. Saurin wasborn in Nîmes, Jan. 6, 1677, died at the young age of almost 54 at the Hague onDec. 30, 1730. His family went to Geneva after the revocation of the edict ofNantes in 1685. In 1694 he entered the English service as a cadet under LordGalway, afterward served in Piedmont,and then returned to Geneva and studied theology.In 1701 he became pastor of the Walloon church in London.He remained there four years, and passed the rest of his life at the Hague,acquiring a great reputation as a preacher. When hearing him preaching, Dean Jacques Abbadieasked, "Is it a man speaking or an angel?" "To tell the truth",said Weiss, "no preacher among the Catholics or the Protestants could becompared to this sublime genius, whose inspiration is equalled only by that ofthe ancient prophets, and of the most illustrious among the Fathers of theChurch." It was in all likelihoodthat it was during this time that he preached in Orange Street church. What an accolade to be paid to any man.

Sir IsaacNewton (1643-1727), the famous scientist whose house was adjacent to andpossessed by, the church, where he settled in 1696, and attended the servicesand heard Saurin regularly. So did Newton's niece, Catherine Barton, a closeacquaintance of Dean Swift. It has been said of the preacher, who was young andsingularly handsome, that as he warmed to his subject the silence of the intentcongregation was "almost painful."

At thetime of the revival under the John and Charles Wesley, the Orange Street Churchpassed from French to English Protestantism, when the friends of the Rev.Augustus M. Toplady secured the chapel for the evening services. The buildingwas licensed by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, and a new era began.

Afterpreaching at various London churches, Toplady became minister at Orange Street.About this time, he published many hymns, the best known of which is Rock of Ages, first sung in OrangeStreet.

In 1787,being badly in need of repair, Orange Street Church was closed and thecongregation migrated elsewhere. Later the same year it passed from the Churchof England into the hands of the Nonconformists, becoming a CongregationalChurch, with the Rev. John Townsend as its pastor.

Thisenduring Huguenot foundation has had many well-loved ministers, includingSamuel Luke, whose wife, Jemima, wrote that delightful children's hymn, I think when I read that sweet story of old.So at least two of our best-known hymns are associated with the church as wellas the list of illustrious Huguenot preachers who donned the pulpit there.

Unhappy Muslims!

2012-01-04T14:40:00.000Z

The Muslims are not happy!

They're not happy in Gaza.
They're not happy in Egypt .
They're not happy in Libya .
They're not happy in Morocco .
They're not happy in Iran .
They're not happy in Iraq .
They're not happy in Yemen .
They're not happy in Afghanistan .
They're not happy in Pakistan .
They're not happy in Syria .
They're not happy in Lebanon .

So, where are they happy?
They're happy in Australia .
They're happy in England .
They're happy in France .
They're happy in Italy .
They're happy in Germany .
They're happy in Sweden .
They're happy in the USA .
They're happy in Norway .
They're happy in every country that is not Muslim.
And who do they blame?

Not Islam.
Not their leadership.
Not themselves.
THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN!
AND THEY WANT TO CHANGE THEM TO BE LIKE THE COUNTRY THEY CAME FROM WHERE THEY WERE UNHAPPY.

Excuse me, but how stupid can you get?

The Church Our Mother?

2012-01-04T12:37:00.004Z

Augustine was surely correct when he said that if God is our Father, the church must also be our Mother. This view was also endorsed by John Calvin (1509-1564). But when that ‘mother’ turns out to be an abusive one, uncaring, unloving; when she becomes unfaithful to her Husband and flirts with other gods, thus becoming unfaithful,when she becomes drunk with notions of her own self-importance, blinded by power and pounds, when she becomes the end of all things, she then has departed from her high calling – to be the Bride of Christ, and to submit to His will in all things. When that mother turns from and against the very children her Husband gave to her, and treats them in a most abusive manner, the entire scenario has changed drastically. The sad reality is that it is the blood-bought church of Christ that behaves in this despicable way!

Yet when preachers tell their congregations that it is their Christian duty to commit to ‘mother church,' regardless of her track record, then they have gone too far. And some just that! They have taken Augustine and Calvin totally out of context, and made what they say a Christian requirement. That it is is not doubted; but whether Christians are required to submit to an abusive mother is another question altogether.

In society at large, if anyone suggested that children commit to a mother who has proved to be abusive towards her children, they would be roundly turned upon, and let know what reasonable people think about such a suggestion. Also, if it was even suggested that children have a duty to submit to what has proved to be an abusive mother, the full rigour of the law would be called into action. But not in the church. I have heard very senior churchmen say o radio that his church was a family centred church, meaning that looking after the family lay at the centre of its concerns. But where is the proof, where's the evidence that this is the case? Are ministers also entitled to be cared fr and looked after well by the church? When ministers are subjected to indescribable abuse at the hands of the church and her authorities, then she forfeits any right to be regarded as a good mother. In fact, in society and in the natural realm, her children would be taken from her - and rightly so!

Call in the Church Authorities for Jesus!

2012-01-04T11:13:00.000Z

Our Lord Jesus Christ was the meekest and most loving ManWho ever walked this earth. He wentabout doing good because He had a heart for people. He not only taught them the ways of God, butactually showed God to them. When theysaw Him, they saw the Father.

But the more His disciples stayed with Him and learned fromHim, the more clearly they saw the implications of what He was saying forthem. The stage came when His followerssaid that he was saying “hard” things to them, and they just could not hackit.

So what did they do? They walked no longer with Him, (Jn.6:66). They voted with their feet. They cut their links with Him because He wassaying things to them that they did not like! Indeed, they were not prepared to have Christ to rule over them. They were living rebellious lives, shown intheir hearty rejection of the Son of God’s teaching and His legitimate demandson their lives.

Now, let’s bring this into the 21^st century. Here was the church gathered together to betaught the Word of God by none other than Christ Himself. But what He was saying to them was notfinding favour with the members or with the elders. They had tried to get Him to change Histeaching and the way he was preaching, but he refused. And He refused because He saw that it was therefusal to submit themselves to his discipline that they were saying thesefalse things.

So what do they do? They set up a delegation to meet with the Presbytery to inform them thattis Man is teaching things that they have not heard before, and they wantedPresbytery to persuade Him not to continue in this way, but to tone down Hispreaching. Indeed, what He was preachingto them was wholly inappropriate for that particular group of people. They were the most religious people around. OK, they didn’t believe everything theirfaith taught them, but most of it. Jesustaught about the need for the ‘new birth,’ but they didn’t believe that kind ofthing; in fact, it was irrelevant so far as they were concerned.

Now the Presbytery was in a pickle! These men regarded themselves as the onlypeople who were holding to the traditional faith, most others having departedfrom it years ago. They were the truedefenders of the faith, and they only. They held to the traditions, unlikethose who weakened under slight pressure. They were the people! Now this new preacher has come amongst them and Heis preaching what they ought to have been preaching and weren’t (though theybelieved that they did preach the true faith faithfully). Yes, there was some overlap between them, butwhat made His preaching stand out was that He was making clear what they weresaying in riddles. He was dividing thecongregation, whereas they were assuming that because their hearers hadprofessed their faith they were genuine Christians. They had no place in their thinking for thefalse, or spurious, professor.

But Jesus believed in and taught that it was possible tomake a false profession of faith. Yes,He cautioned carefulness when dealing with this situation, and to give thebenefit of the doubt to the weak Christian. But He gave no place whatever to the religious professors who persistedin their unbelief. And that’s where the ‘rubberhit the road.’ He drew the distinction;and the Presbytery could not handle it. Theirprimary concern was for the church, their denomination, not the Gospel. They had to maintain their church structuresat all costs, and keep the members on board, irrespective of the consequencesfor the preacher.

How do Presbyteries ‘resolve’ situations like these? Well, the truth is the first thing that isset at naught. Let’s forget about theGospel issue, and let us work on the assumption that all parties believe theGospel – we’ll not even question that presupposition. They are all Gospel people, so we will dealwith what is essentially a breakdown in inter-personal relationships. The congregation is committed to thebiblical Gospel and so is this preacher. So to remove the troublesome preacherwill maintain the gospel in the church and enable things to get back to wherethey were before his arrival. Right?

Wrong, and a thousand times ‘wrong.’ What a false assumption it is that the churchis infallible – a distinctly Roman doctrine which reformed churches have nowembraced. To remove the man who is teachingand preaching the Gospel may well be, in the providence of God, God’s way ofremoving His candlestick from that church! Oh, church authorities need to be very, very careful. To remove the herald of a clear Gospelmessage, and then replace him with a “good churchman,” is essentially an attackon the Gospel of Christ. It is to say, in this practical and observable way,that the Gospel clearly preached and applied has no place in ourchurch/denomination. The peace and unityof the church is more important that the Gospel, even though church unity andcongregational unity can only be on the basis of the Gospel. But forget that. Silence this clear preaching, and then thechurch will settle down.

How wrong church leaders can be in these matters! It is cowardice that drives them? Or, the desire to be seen as ‘good churchmen’? Or, are they, as Al. N. Martin, woulddescribe them, “wicked pragmatists”? Hasthe church become much more important to them than the Gospel? Have they lost their concern for the souls oftheir members? Has the Gospel of Christbeen discounted to this extent? It seemsso. But the lesson here is that nochurch can deal so shabbily with the Gospel without their being serious consequencesto follow. So beware!

"Church Society" Polarisation

2012-01-03T23:05:00.000Z

There is growing polarisation between the communities in Northern Ireland,according to research carried out by Dr Peter Shirlow, UU, c.2000. Hisresearch suggests that the communities in Northern Ireland are further polarised now than they werebefore the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998. Social polarisation is acurrent reality forthis part of the world.

Yet, what is happening in society is but a reflection of what is going on within the Christian church here. The main, that is, larger denominations are theologically liberal and ecumenical, while smaller one have been imbibing the attitudes of liberalism for many years. Then, when the biblical Gospel arrives in these churches, they do not know what has hit them. At first, the congregations tolerate this new message, but as the impact of the gospel begins to register on their minds, there is an antagonism welling up within a section of the membership, which eventually spills out into outright opposition to the minister and his message. Polarisation within the congregation is created, and this infiltrates into the wider denomination, forcing ministers to take sides either with the gospel or against it.

This is happening within the churches at this time. What we see in the country is a true reflection of what is happening in wider society. Hence, there should be no great surprise at what is happening within Northern Ireland's divided society. It is a case of "like church, like people." A hopelessly divided evangelical church can but create an equally hopelessly divided society.

Northern Ireland knows what this is like,for the contexts are similar. But,it must be qualified to a degree because our nearest international neighbour,the Irish Republic, acted as a bad neighbour when in the early seventies andunder Jack Lynch’s premiership, it supported, financed and trained republican terrorists (the IRA) toengage in acts of international terrorism against the UK. Over the years, other premiers gave theirsupport to IRA terrorism, and to its allegedly political counterpart, Sinn Fein.

In like manner, it is neighbours who are involved in opposing the Gospel of God (Rom.1:1). These people belong to a different kingdom, serve a different master, and march to a different drum beat. the Gospel people belong to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, whereas their enemies belong to the Prince of darkness, Satan. Their aspirations are fundamentally different, the one excluding the other, and their methods are also fundamentally different. The very existence of these two kingdoms means that there will be strife and conflict and outright war between them. There will be casualties on either side, and the capacity of Christ's kingdom will grow and increase, being strengthened by the power of God's might (Eph.6:10). The other kingdom has already been defeated, but its master has not yet informed his servants; but time, and eternity, will tell.

In the Northern Ireland situation, thoseattackers were from our own towns and countryside, our neighbours; they spoke the samelanguage, or at least used the same vocabulary. It was neighbour who set up neighbour for attack and assassination andit was neighbour who passed on information to terrorists about the movements ofneighbours who were security forces personnel. Most of the terrorist attacks came from within Northern Ireland, but they found the proximityof the Irish Republic most convenient to escape toafter completing their dastardly deeds.

The context of the church tells the same sorry tale. The people who are setting up the minister for attack probably live on the same street or road, or in the neighbouring farm or district; they have been friends for years. They, too, speak the same language and use the same vocabulary, but the difference is that they mean totally different things by the words they use. They talk amongst themselves, passing on the latest information that is opposed to the best interests of the minister and of the Gospel he preaches. Sometimes they operate in small numbers so as not to draw attention to themselves, while on others they will only work in larger numbers, where they have the numerical strength to intimidate those "Christians." Like wolves, they meet in packs and come together when they consider it safe to do so - they do this without realising that there is nowhere safe for the enemies of the Gospel to be. Their purpose? To tear the minister and his supporters in the Gospel to pieces, if they possibly can. After their foray is over, they return to the safe haven of their Irish Republic - their homes and into their familiar communities.

This is church life in Northern Ireland - not unlike societal life in Northern Ireland. And in common with both, there will be and can be no coming together unless and until God sovereignly and graciously changes hearts and gives to all a completely new disposition - one of love to Christ and his Gospel.

What do you think of this analysis? Are the parallels between the two situations acceptable? Do you see them? In fact, this is not just a parable about life in NI; this can be taken to any place on earth, and you will find that the Kingdom of Light is being opposed and attacked relentlessly by the kingdom of darkness. But GOD MUST WIN!

Can You Really Blame Christians...!

2012-01-03T15:17:00.004Z

It isa fact that those Christians who associate with the everlasting Gospel of salvation have possibly never felt so excluded from the church as they now do with thecurrent ecclesiastical processes that have been initiated by church leaders. Their feeling ofestrangement and alienation from the entire church process is palpable. Theyfeel excluded from the very ministries that were established to help them recover, make spiritual progress, to claim back their lives again, and to give them a better future. Many seeno point in getting actively in their local church, for, to them, it is nothing but a battlefield where in-fighting is the order of the day. And sadly, this growing apathy willcreate further detachment from and disenchantment with church life in Northern Ireland.Apathy does not serve the purposes of Christian service and evangelism; on the contrary...

Why cannot the church authorities see this? Why is there no one with spiritual maturity who can recognise what is really going on within church life today? Have church leaders, on the basis of the Peter Principle (a principle known within management circles), been "promoted to the level of their incompetence"? The situation is becoming increasingly worse by the day. When you see godly ministers being hounded to within an inch of their lives by church members and elders, with the majority of people being best categorised as 'on-lookers' and 'bystanders,' people who simply could not care less about what is going on so long as it doesn't happen them or in their church, then genuine support for such godly pastors is not a given.

This is exactly the situation in Bosnia today. The majority of the people feel desperately cut-off from mainline society, a situation that creates feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness and alienation. This is not just in the former Yugoslavia and among the Bosnian people - this is happening to Christian ministers and pastors in our country! In Bosnia, you could generally well who your enemy is; but in Northern ireland, the enemy operates from the shadows, skulks around corners, uses others for cover, and generally wrecks havoc in the church of Christ. A godly minister cannot always or readily tell who the enemy is!

Further, what disillusions God's people there is the fact that in some cases, leadership positions within the churches are held by unscrupulous people. In Bosnia, what hurts the people very deeply is that war-lords now hold very senior position within the government, men who are well known for their human rights violations, and who are war criminals. Sadly, a growing number of Christian people view their leaders in a similar way - they just do not trust them to do the right thing, namely, to defend and promote the Gospel witness of the church.

In light of all this, can you really blame Christians for not wanting to get involved in their churches? What can you say to real Christians who adopt this position? What biblical counsel can you give them?

Churches Are Dangerous Places for Christians!

2012-01-02T20:16:00.002Z

This is an utter shame within the Christian church. There are many ministers and manse families that are being persecuted by the church members and elders and fellow ministers. The absence of empathy shown to them by their colleagues and other church members is appalling. They are hounded, stalked, hated, set-up to fall, entrapped, wrong-footed, etc, all in an attempt to bring the servant of the Lord down.

What is more hurtful is that when these people, when they fail to get at the minister, re-focus their attention and attacks on his wife. She is most vulnerable, is the homemaker, and feels for her husband when he is being attacked and hurt. She carries burdens as wife and mother and homemaker that no one else knows anything about. On top of all, she does not always know everything about what's is going on, and that exasperates her anxiety. When her husband is attacked, she is attacked; and so are her/their children. And all this happens within the church of Jesus Christ, the caring profession par excellence. If that is care for each other, then dear help the church members. From another perspective, church members often receive more care than does the minister's wife. But that's for another day/post.

Often, the enemies of the Gospel, whether they are Christians or not, will turn their depraved attention to the manse children and use them to get at their father. Oh how utterly inexcusable such a policy is. And this happens. not only did I find myself the focus and target of Gospel enemies within the church, so also did my wife and our children. I now of other manse families where exactly the same had been done. And it's very hurtful.

It is evident that where loyalty to the firm supercedes loyalty to Christ and the Gospel, those whose orientation is the opposite of that are deemed to be expendable. These 'firm's men' see that manse family as being expendable, unwelcome, surplus to requirements.

This reminds me of the experiences of the Bosnian people at the hands of their enemies, where they became an unwanted population in their own land. Theterrifying message: "You do notbelong in our society. You should be isolated, humiliated andextinguished" is not unknown to both communities in Northern Ireland, and in church life in Northern Ireland. We have had the "Brits out" call from nationalist republicansfor many years, and despite their attempts to limit this mantra to the BritishArmy and British institutions, they have not convinced the pro-Britishcommunity that they are exempted fromthis call. Church-based opposers of the Gospel are making precisely the same call concerning those who stand for the Gospel. They want these Gospel people out at all costs. The "ethnic cleansing" and genocide that was enactedagainst the pro-British community along the border region is proof of thatnationalist republican policy. In many church denominations in Ulster, there is the ecclesiastical form of ethnic cleansing and genocide, but few are able to recognise it as such. People from this grouping have beenexcluded from their local towns for shopping purposes, excluded from many ofthe normal social activities of any normal society, and ministers and their families are likewise being made to feel most unwelcome in many places.

What happened in national Bosnia between 1993 and 1996, has been happening under the cover of "church" for many years in Northern Ireland. Faithful evangelicals are no more welcome within these denominations today than the Bosniacs were in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The message they too are hearing is, "You are not welcome in our church. We are not used to that kind of preaching. We are not heathens, so go and take your 'born again' message to those outside the church and who lives on the streets. We are respectable people who want to live comfortable lives, lives of ease, so don't bring that message to our church! We hope the church will isolate you and remove you from our church altogether."

The lessons from Bosnia are clear, and most disturbing. The only ones who recognise them are those who are being targeted for 'the treatment.' The perpetrators of 'the treatment' believe they are doing God a service, just as Paul did in his pre-conversion days!

Have a Most Blessed 2012.

2011-12-31T20:31:00.004Z

Since time of God's creation and His gift to the world, may I wish all my readers and visitors God's richest blessing in 2012. Some of you will have already entered 2012, and the rest of us have to wait a short time longer to do so. But our God is the God of time and space, and He has His sovereign hands firmly at the controls, and whatever 2012 brings for us, we can be assured that He is the Master of time and history.

Put your trust in Him for your future and for the future. God bless you all.

Paul Preaches the Cross.

2011-12-31T14:10:00.000Z

What did Paul preach that brought down Holy Spirit? “Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” (1 Cor.2:2). He preached the Cross. He preached the death of Christ for lost mankind. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous, no, not one.” “There is none thatdoes good, no, not one.” All aresinners, therefore all need the Saviour. Jn.3:16 tells us that sent One Who was to be that very Saviour the world needs so badly. Only at the Cross is there salvation for anyone. Christ died for you, my friend. God does not want anyone, not even you, to perish, but to come to repentance, (2Pet.3:9). And all means all. There are no exceptions, no exclusions but those whoexclude themselves. Paul preached this mess “indemonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

Ohfor Spirit-filled preachers in our churches today! Pray for men who will be so surrendered to Christ and so filledwith His Spirit this 2012, that we will see great advances for the Kingdom of God. Pray for a mighty revival in, and reformation of, the Church. For preaching will be totally useless without this. Plead with God to give Him in great measure. Pray to God to bring preachers back to the Cross, and to declareit without fear or favour, and regardless of the smiles or frowns of those who listen to them. This was Paul's message – it must also be ours.

Preaching the Cross!

2011-12-30T16:11:00.001Z

I think that evangelical preachers need to be very careful when preaching about, or better, preaching, the Cross, and not be lulled into the old bankrupt liberalism that distorted and even denied the Bible's own teaching on this vitally important doctrine.

What was achieved at the Cross was more than expiation, more than the dealing with man's sin and guilt. Man's sin was not not the only that confronted God ( and I do not intend to be irreverent here); there was the greater problem of God's wrath to be considered and dealt with, a fact that is often missed by evangelical preachers. The problem is not only on man's side - there is a problem on God's side that has to be addressed, namely, His wrath, His holiness, righteousness and justice.

Let us all be careful to maintain the Bible's own perfect balance.

No Fear of God.

2011-12-28T20:31:00.000Z

Do you know what'swrong with many of us? I will tell you:we have no fear of God. If only we fearedGod more, we’d worship and serve Him better. If you and I knew what it was to fall prostrate before His awful majesty and His blinding purity, then we’d be much better Christians. But alas, that is not the case. And do you know what theconsequence of that is? We have no fear oftreating God and things of God with utter contempt. We have no genuine concern for God’s people – anything goes and anything will do; nor have we any great concern for God’s prophets. We despise His people and His prophets. And why? Because we do not fear God. The fear of God is not in our hearts. We treat Him as a religious commodity, as a kind ofspiritual insurance policy, as a nice thing to believe in. But no more.

That’s why Godgave us His Word, and especially the Pss – they teach us Who and what He is. They teach us His ways; they show to us the wonder of Hisgrace; and they show us how much He reallyloves us. He wants us to kn Him reallywell; He wants our knowledge of Him to increase daily. When we truly know God, we will fear Him. We will stand in awe of His awful Majesty. We will shut our mouths at very thought of His dreadful power and might. And we’ll wonder at Hismarvellous providence in the world and in our lives.

Our problem is that we talk too much, not only about God but. to God. We do not know what it is to stand in dreadful silence before Him. We rush in and babble away, as if we were speaking to our best mate. We have no idea of the fear of God in our hearts.

Did DMLJ's Publishers Distort His Teaching?

2011-12-28T19:37:00.000Z

For over 40 years I have been an avid reader of DMLJ, and I will be eternally grateful to the Banner for making so many of his books and sermons available to a wider reading Christian public.

In my reading, I have noticed something to which I wish to draw your attention. First, when reading through his sermons, he always quoted frequently from the hymns of the great hymn-writers of the past, and used these to illustrate some point he was making. This practice gave me a greater appreciation of Christian hymnody, and saw how hymns could be used to light up a text of Scripture or some truth that was being expounded.

However, when I turned to his sermons on Ephesians, I discovered either that he deliberately skipped that portion (5:19, 20) which is most unlikely, given the Doctor's concern to deal exhaustively with his text; or else someone else made the decision to delete his exposition of these verses for some other reason. If the reason is the former, then that's one thing, however unlikely it might be, but if it is the latter, then someone has decided to distort the Doctor's theology and practice by removing these sermons for the published series. In this series, as in all his preaching, he deals thoroughly with every text, so it is most strange that he skipped over these two verses and proceeded on to v.21.

A similar policy decision was taken by Banner editors not to include DMLJ's sermon on Roman Catholicism (originally sermon 16) also in the Ephesians series where the Doctor was expounding "the wiles of the devil" in Eph.6. One must ask, Why was this done and who authorised such an omission? This can be viewed as shewing the Doctor's teaching, and again I ask, What was the thinking behind this move?

Another Right Question!

2011-12-28T16:09:00.001Z

In an earlier post I suggested that in churches where the minister is having difficulty through opposition to the Gospel, the right question to ask is, What is God doing in our midst?

Another pertinent question that ministers can ask is, What is the Lord doing in my life? This is a profoundly personal question, and one that can shake us to the core. And if the question can do that, what effect will the answer not have on us!

Yet it is a vitally important question to ask. If God is working within His church, it follows as night does the day that He is also working in us. So what is He doing in us? What lessons is He teaching us? What does He want us to learn?

Unnerving questions indeed! But we must ask them if we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. We must face up to what God is doing, not only through us, but IN us.

New Book on Calvin and Calvinism

2011-12-26T20:58:00.000Z

I trust you have a really blessed time as you remembered and celebrated the birth of the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. As we often say, it is as far behind as ever, and we are looking at a brand new year still unspoiled by human sin and corruption.

My reason for writing is to tell you that our new book, John Calvin 500, has just come off the printing presses, and I received mine just before Christmas. This contains the reports/lectures/papers delivered by six speakers and dealt with six different aspects of Calvin's life and thought.

The six chapters are:

1. Calvin and Christ - The Faith (David Bond)

2. Calvin and Calvinism - Amyraut et al (Rev. Dr Alan C. Clifford, the editor of the book)

3. Calvin and Church - Presbyterian Order (Dr Ronald Barnett)

4. Calvin and Covenant - Baptism (Rev. Stephen Quinton)

5. Calvin and Comfort - Assurance (Rev. J. Nigel Westhead)

6. Calvin and Courage - Under the Cross (Rev. Dr J. E. Hazlett Lynch).

A seventh chapter was added, being the paper delivered by Dr Alan Clifford at the International Calvin Congress held in Geneva in May 2009, entitled John Calvin and John Wesley: an English Perspective.

I am sure that not everyone who reads this book will agree with everything that is said, given that its emphasis is thoroughly Calvinistic and therefore Presbyterian in orientation. That said, I doubt if readers will not derive some benefit from these papers, all of which seek to expound authentic Calvinism, or the Calvinism of John Calvin, in a clear and practical way.

You can order your copies from me, price £12.50 plus P&P.

If you know of others who would benefit from this book, please give them my contact details, or perhaps you could order the book for them from me. This will help sustain my work as well as promote the church of the Gospel.

God Sent Forth His Son.

2011-12-24T21:38:00.000Z

God has shown remarkable patience with the world. In His patience, He has given the human race more than sufficient time to prove that it cannot save itself. The world had all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but this could not save the world. The Persian and Assyrian empires were also given time to prove what they could do to change man, but they too failed. Then we had the Grecian and Roman empires with all their great philosophy and debating skills, and all their legal and administrative expertise, but still no improvement came to the world. In fact, the longer man tried to improve the world, the more it nose-dived into moral and spiritual corruption. All these purely human attempts to save humanity from itself, let alone from the coming wrath of God, failed lamentably.

But God! Here are Paul's great words. But God. When the fulness of the time had come, when men had more than sufficient time to prove themselves, and failed, God stepped in and did what man could not do and never can do - save the world. All man's solutions were but treating the symptoms and did nothing to resolve man's estranged relationship with God, his Creator and Judge. If the world were ever going to be saved, God must do it. And he did. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, born of a woman, the virgin Mary, and born under the law, that He might redeem those under the law.

You see, man's greatest need was for redemption. He needed to be redeemed; and everything he did throughout the whole of history was woefully inadequate. But God's action was adequate, adequate to save the entire human race, on condition of faith. If man would but believe in the only Saviour of the world, he would be saved. God would redeem him and bring him into fellowship with Himself. He would deliver him from this present evil world/age.

But man still thinks he knows best, better than God. Man is still trying to work his own salvation, but he is destined to fail, and face divine judgement. Man still needs Christ. And the Christ he needs was sent on the first Christmas to redeem mankind. This is what Christmas is all about. It is about God's way of salvation. The Son of the Virgin is our only hope for time and for eternity. His mother cannot do anything for you, so don't be deceived by those religious people who tell you she can. That blessed woman was a saved sinner like me and many others; she too needed a Saviour. So she cannot help you. But the fruit of her womb can and will do for you what no one else, including yourself, can do - he can save you the moment you trust in Him alone for salvation.

Unbiblical Authoritarianism Within the Churches.

2011-12-23T20:46:00.000Z

The sad reality amongst some of the churches in Northern Ireland is that some of God's dear servants are being opposed by professing evangelical and reformed ministers. It is strange, but true. These are reformed evangelicals who have elevated the church denomination way above the Gospel. For them, being a 'good servant of the church' equates with being a 'good servant of the Gospel.' These ought to be synonymous realities, but the truth is that this is not the case. It is so sad that Gospel preachers within these denominations are being harried and 'monitored' and 'watched' by the "eyes and ears" of the establishment bodies, namely, their colleagues in the ministry and their 'agents' in the pews.

Now there are also ministers who are being - at this very time - opposed and persecuted by non-believers who have been accepted as Christians by the church's elders and therefore as church members. This is what Gospel ministers must expect in what are imperfect churches. But the servants of Satan masquerading as Christians is another matter altogether. Even within the ministry there are those who not only do not preach a clear Gospel message but even undermine and deny it.

My heart yearns for these brethren, knowing, as I do, what this means in experience, not only for the minister, but for his wife and children as well. That's why, I believe, the important place of the Christian minister within the churches and his teaching role there, must be reinforced robustly because they are people within the churches that are determined to silence the preaching of the gospel, and therefore the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God. There is too much at stake in our province to allow this to happen. Irish writer James Joyce once said, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." I do not intend this to happen in my country without a passionate effort on my part to maintain the centrality of the preaching ministry within the churches.

We often hear of the persecution of ministers in foreign lands, and we pray for these brothers who are facing death every day. But we are allowing the devil to proceed uninhibitedly in Ulster when we believe that this is still a Gospel preaching land, and that the churches here are faithful to the Gospel. I only wish this were the case, and pray that ere long, this will be a Gospel preaching and Gospel believing land once again.

The church in Ulster is in a sorry mess. So deep are the spiritual problems that it defies understanding to know what way to move in order to form a biblical church. These churches belong to high orthodoxy, so for anyone to question their adherence, say, to the WCF, would be tantamount to heresy. These churches have been paralysed to an alarming degree by their official acceptance of Owenism, that it is difficult to see how such churches can be reformed according to the Scriptures, and to live under the Lordship of Christ. Have you ever heard of an Owenite church being reformed? "They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick." These are righteous churches that "need no repentance." Only God by His Spirit can bring such dead orthodox churches to see the need to seek Christ to revive and reform them. In addition, clericalism is becoming a real problem, if not a nuisance, with reformed evangelical churches in Ulster. Thankfully there are some who are prepared to confront and challenge this unbiblical authoritarianism.

Amyraldian Unorthodoxy?

2011-12-23T20:11:00.000Z

Reflecting on the view of some concerning the orthodoxy of Amyraldianism, I reckon that those same men would not have DMLJ, J. C. Ryle, Thomas Chalmers, R. M.McCheyne, John or Chas Wesley, Philip Doddridge, J. Edwards, Joseph Bellamy, Richard Baxter, Jean Daille, Moise Amyraut, or even the great John Calvin himself, to preach in their pulpits. How sad! But, I trust that those who hold such views will come to see that my theological position, according to Macleod and Muller, is an integral part of our cherished reformed tradition; more importantly it is biblical because it takes the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture with utmost seriousness. How Owen can exegete "world" in John 3:16 to mean "the world of the elect" defies comprehension! This is to prostitute Scripture.

The rush by reformed men to squeeze the texts of Scripture into the WCF, or any other, mould, is a denial of the supremacy of Scripture in the life and witness of the Christian and of the church. It is surely a cardinal aspect of Romanism that Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) is not enough, having to be supplemented by the church's magisterium. Is the WCF, in the minds of many reformed men, not their equivalent of the Roman magisterium? How would they answer that? It is no good their saying that it is a 'subordinate standard' when they elevate it in practice above Scripture! Does it not smack of Rome's elevation of Mary above Christ? I think so. Oh, I hope wiser counsels prevail.

How dangerous a thing it is for men to defer in everything to any man-made document, however good it is deemed to be, while not granting to Scripture its rightful place! What does God think of that, I wonder? Is He pleased that a subordinate standard has been elevated over His infallible Word? Has the church prospered when this has happened in the past? I don't think so.

John Calvin 500 Now Available.

2011-12-22T22:48:00.000Z

I am so pleased to inform you that the book "John Calvin 500 - a reformation affirmation" has now come off the presses, and is available for you to read and study. Published by Charenton Reformed Publishing, the book deals with Calvin and Christ, Calvin and Calvinism, Calvin and Church, Calvin and Covenant, Calvin and Comfort, and Calvin and Courage. £12.50 (postage extra). The six lecturers provide us with a lot to think about and assess. The author of this blog is privileged to be amongst them.

Get your copy NOW through this blogsite. £12.50 plus p&p.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

2011-12-22T22:27:00.000Z

May I take this opportunity to wish all my readers and followers a very blessed Christmas, the time of the year when we remember with thanksgiving the glorious and miraculous birth of the Saviour of the world.

Thank you so much for following this website; I hope you are challenged and convicted by what you read, but also encouraged and built up in your faith. When going through troubles times, it is an encouragement to know that there are others who are experiencing the same things in different places. We are not on our own, as Satan would want us to believe. And he also wants us to believe that he is supreme! He's NOT! Christ, by His coming, life, death and resurrection has defeated him totally, and what we are experiencing are merely the dying flings of a fatally wounded enemy. Praise the Lord.

This is the message of Christmas. Our Saviour is victorious. As Calvin maintained, GOD MUST WIN!

May God bless you all at this time, and give you a most blessed 2012.

The Right Question!

2011-12-22T22:21:00.000Z

I think the one big question we have to ask ourselves in church work is this: What is the Lord actually doing here? How easy it is to get our eyes off Him and see only the activity of Satan through his servants. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the whole range of the forces of darkness at every level. When God removes the unbelievers from a church and replaces them with true Christians, then He is at work; and so is Satan! Then He will start to draw other unbelievers in under the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Gospel of God's sovereign rule and reign over all things.

I am just finishing DMLJ on The Christian Warfare, and hope to move on to The Christian Soldier very shortly. What a read, and what ministry to my soul. While there are church ministers whose decided purpose in life is to oppose the Gospel ministers amongst them, DMLJ was the very opposite. He was the great encourager of Gospel preachers regardless of denominational alignment. He wasn't too concerned about the accuracy of a man's theology so long as he gave him a sense of the presence of God. Orthodoxy is important and we should always strive to be as orthodox as we can; but never at the expense of the Gospel. I am also reading Francis Schaeffer's books, and what a taste of heaven these are. His ability to dissect what passes for Christianity, especially within the evangelical world, is unsurpassed.

Perverted Pastors

2011-12-21T21:11:00.002Z

When the Bible condemns the false prophets who preach error to their people, the danger is for us to see the reference to those other churches, the 'unfaithful' ones, but not ours, the 'faithful' ones. Our church, our denomination, is faithful and true to the Gospel, but these others have 'sold the pass' and have apostasised. In the northern kingdom of Israel, the church and her prophets were condemned by Jeremiah, and rightly so. Now, the southern kingdom, Judah, would have breathed a sigh of relief because he condemned the northerners. But now, he turns to the south and he says they are no better. Come right into the HQ of the Jewish church, and what do you see? "I have seen ... evildoers," (Jer.23). He sees "a horrible thing," a thing that causes horror, terror, fear. And He sees this "in the prophets of Jerusalem."

Here, too, the preachers come under the searchlight of God's Word, and what is exposed is not impressive. Jeremiah tells us plainly what he sees in the clergy class: "they commit adultery, and walk in lies." Adulterers in the church's ministry! Ministers who walk in lies - in the church! Now what do these people do, what is their purpose and intent of their ministry? "They strengthen also the hands of evildoers that no one returns from his wickedness." In other words, no repentance is preached. Why? Because to do so might resurrect all these skeletons in the cupboard of the preachers' lives. They have no moral authority to preach the truth. Preachers who "walk in lies" have no authority to peach the truth. If they say too much, their hearers might know secrets about them and expose them; so they preach a cosy message that keeps their people anesthetised , spiritually paralysed and inert. That's a safe place fr such people and pastors - each admiring the other.

With this obtaining within the churches of today, is it any wonder that the situation in the nation is so bleak! If the church is rotten inside, we cannot expect the society within which she lives to be any better.

Irresponsible Preachers

2011-12-21T17:49:00.000Z

Dr F. A. Schaeffer wrote, "...in our generation, when men listen at the doors of many churches, what they hear is non-truth." In other words, they are hearing the negative of truth which may be understand as error and falsehood. Truth has been undermined by these 'prophets,' and what they substitute in place of the true Gospel is not Gospel (Gal.1:7), but the opposite; it is a soul-destroying message that allows condemned sinners to go on in their rebellion and guilt to a Christless eternity. It is a message that not only enrages God, but does an irreparable dis-service to those who hear them. It is the very height of spiritual irresponsibility, and will result in eternal loss for all those who preach thus and to those who hear them and it. Whatever else they might imagine it to be, it is not Gospel; it is non-Gospel.

Now. when the preachers of non-Gospel messages do so, it has a clearly designed result; it causes "my people Israel to err," (Jer.23:13-16). It is the wrong messages that the people listen to in good faith that causes them to err - in thought and in action. While the responsibility for choosing to listen to error lies rightly with the people themselves, the greater responsibility lies with the pedlars of false doctrine, error, falsehood, non-Gospel. What a condemnation awaits such people!

Jesus Means Saviour

2011-12-20T19:56:00.000Z

Mary was told to call the Child's name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. The birth of Christ is about redemption, salvation, reconciliation. It is about God taking the initiative and acting for man's eternal salvation. His action is seen in His sending His only Son into this world, with a set purpose. That purpose was one of salvation. He came to save His people from their sins. He is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," (Jn.1:29). He came to save.

Christmas is about God's saving action in Christ, and specifically in Christ's death on the Cross for our sin. He was our Substitute, the divine Substitute. "He died the Just for the unjust to bring us to God," (1 Pet.3:18).

If you see Christmas in this way, you are seeing it properly. If not, then you are turning it into a truly pagan festival.

Do Not Harm My Prophets!

2011-12-20T19:45:00.001Z

The Lord's prophets are those men called and set apart by God to declare His Word to the whole world. They are God's special servants who have vouchsafed to them the protection of the Lord of hosts, God almighty. They have been separated from the rest of God's people to this very special work and the highest of all callings - the work of declaring His Gospel to all men.

The man who dares to harm these called servants of the Lord are placing himself in great eternal jeopardy. He does not realise that to do so will bring dire consequences for him, and for his family. God calls out to the world, "Do not harm my prophets." Yet men do this very thing.

How utterly blind and foolish they are! Only a man inspired with deep hatred for the Gospel and the Saviour would stop to do such a thing. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," (Heb.10:31). The God of the Christian church is the living God. To fall into His hands is a thing too terrible for words. It strikes fear into the heart at the very though of it.

Is anyone out there reading this doing that very thing? Then desist immediately otherwise you will face the living God in a terrible judgement.

Touch Not My Anointed!

2011-12-19T22:25:00.001Z

What a timely warning! What an urgent reminder! And why is it needed? Because many within the visible church do not seem to know that this is in the Bible (Ps.105:15 and also in 1 Chron.16:22). They appear to have this idea - where they got it from one can guess! - that they have the right to abuse God's children in whatever way they choose, and get away with it. They believe that if the prophet of the Lord challenges the church or their own lives from the Word of God, that they can retaliate in kind.

Have they not read their Scriptures? Do they not know their Bible? God said DO NOT TOUCH THEM! Yet they go on and touch them. What a foolish thing to do. They are going against the express command of the LORD to His people. And they do it to their own peril.

God's Favourites

2011-12-19T22:19:00.001Z

In the light of God's precious truth, let us remember that men cannot wrong us unless He allows them to do so. But even then, they are culpable before God for what they do. For any man or woman to breach the divine protection of a saint of God and to harm that saint, is to do massive injustice to the man; but it is also to do despite to the God under whose protection he is. Woe is that man who dares to breach God's hedge of protection that He has placed around that saintly man.

Yet, sometimes in our experience, we find that God allows our enemies to come perilously close to us. But they cannot lay a finger upon us without His permission. He has issued a restraining order on them so that it is 'thus far and no further.' The wicked would devour us if they could, but they cannot do so. Even strangers must be made to respect the servants of God, yea, kings. But C. H. Spurgeon is correct: "the greatest kings are very second-rate persons with God in comparison with his chosen servants."

Divine Protection All The Way.

2011-12-19T22:11:00.000Z

When the Patriarchs wandered about from country to country, they were singularly preserved by Almighty God. That little wandering family might have been cut off root and branch had not a special mandate from the Throne for their protection. It was not the gentleness of their neighbours that screened them; nor was it their own cunning and craftiness that enabled them to avoid hurt; they were, rather, hedged about by a mysterious guardianship of heaven. God was with them all the way. Whether they found themselves in Egypt, or in Philistia, or in Canaan, they were being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. These heirs of salvation, these inheritors of the promises, dwelling in their tents, were always secure.

And this was written for our learning! What God did for the covenant people long ago, He will do for them today. Wherever they go, whatever their circumstances, God is with them to protect and bless them. He will not leave us nor forsake us; He is faithful who promised, and who also will do it. He kept them long ago, and He will keep us too.

Immanuel - God is with us! Let us rejoice in this most glorious of messages. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus.

Christmas - God's Declaration of War Against Satan!

2011-12-19T20:43:00.001Z

The apostle John tells us that the reason the Son of God was manifested was "that he might destroy the works of the devil," (1 Jn.3:8). No, it's not just a nice little children's story about a Baby being born in poverty and in filth in a stable, though that is part of His humiliation. The birth of Jesus Christ was God's declaration of war against the devil and his angels. It was God putting Satan on final notice that his time was up.

Yes, He came to die for our sins, and to reconcile us to God. And in order to do that He had to defeat the devil and his hellish forces and powers that are at work in this sinful world. He came for that very purpose. It was no accident that He came. It was charged with heavenly purpose. God was up to something cosmic when He sent his Son into the world. And we have seen some of what He has in mind;but we must await another day to see fully what was involved in that majestic plan.

Are you excited by the prospect of seeing God's plan unfold before your very eyes? Are you glad that you are part of this great plan? Or are you afraid that this plan might be directed against you, because you still belong to the devil's kingdom and people?

Don't Blame the People!

2011-12-19T20:32:00.000Z

Dr Francis A. Schaeffer denies that most of the blame for the current state of the church lies with the opposing powers outside of her, but with the religious leaders who have set about destroying her from the inside. This was true in OT times, and it is also true today. They knew the truth, but deliberately turned away from it into relativism and apostasy, and became a mere echo of modern secular thought.

True, the biblical diagnosis is not comfortable reading, especially for those charged with responsibility for feeding the sheep, and teaching the people. Jeremiah describes these unfaithful servants as "profane" and "wicked," (23;11). They have brought their wickedness into the very house of God. Imagine that! Profane prophets and priests have brought their filth, their worldly-mindedness into God's sanctuary! The very thought of it is appalling! They cannot blame the people for making them do it, as Aaron did at the bottom of Mount Sinai. No, they introduced their wickedness into the house of God. They polluted God's house with their evangelised secularism; they 'christened' the world, and brought it into the church; they baptised heathenism, and made it part of the worship of God. And on and on it goes.

Ministers cannot seem to get enough of the world - its popular applause, its riches, its plaudits, its recognition. What they forget, of course, is that the praise of man rules out the praise that comes from God, and is an abomination in His sight.

What gross wickedness it is for God's appointed servants to bring what is anti-God right into His house. How will they answer for their wickedness? And how will those who support them and turn a blind eye to what they are doing will be punished by the sovereign Lord.

Christ's First Coming.

2011-12-18T22:47:00.002Z

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." That's the Christmas message in a nutshell. That's why He came. Forget about all the hype and the commercialisation, etc. Christ's coming into the world was a mercy mission that is directed towards YOU. He came because He needed to come if ever you were to be saved. Without His coming into the world as Man, indeed as God-Man, you could never be saved. But He came, willingly and in obedience to His Father's will, to save a wretch like you.

But it was not just His coming that saves; in act that by itself does not save anyone. His coming was to die on Calvary. But not just that. He came to die the cruel death of the Cross so that you might never taste the wrath of God towards sin. And the message of Christmas is God's offer of salvation to you.

Don't put this matter off. You might not even see Christmas this year, let alone 2012. Do it now. Get right with God NOW!

Christmas Resolves Life's Emptiness.

2011-12-18T16:03:00.001Z

Dr John "Rabbi" Duncan was born in Aberdeen at the end of the eighteenth century, the son of a shoemaker. He was brought up in a Christian home by his parents, John and Ann, being the only remaining child of the marriage. His mum died when he was just 5 or 6. He was sent to grammar school, and then moved on to university where he engaged in a philosophical search. And the result? He discovered a godless humanity. Man without God is a godless spectacle that is to be pitied. He is lost, not knowing who or what he is, what purpose he is, or what the future holds for him.

This is true of mankind without Christ. He is heading for the rocks, for shipwreck, and is going to be dashed against the Rock, Christ Jesus, on the great and terrible Day of Judgement.

Man without Christ is like other beasts - living for himself, and for nothing higher than going through the degrading sameness of natural wants and daily supplies. He was born to eat and drink and digest, and then die.

If that is all you have to look forward to, then Christmas time will give you pause to reconsider your life and were it is heading to. Christ came into the world to save the human race, and that includes you. He came to give life, not destroy it. He came to fulfil, not to destroy. He came to give life more abundant and life that is real.

Do you know this life? Remember, Christmas is not a festival; it is an experience. To truly observe Christian, or the birth of Christ, then you must receive Him into your heart. He must be born in your heart spiritually, just as He was born in a stable long ago. He must come and live permanently within your soul, for you to experience the real meaning of Christmas.

Wheat and Arsenic?

2011-12-18T15:46:00.002Z

Could it be said of the church today that what is being served up by preachers is a cocktail of "wheat and arsenic"? Whether a soul perishes in hell forever depends entirely on the proportions ("Rabbi" Duncan). Atheism has no redeeming grain of wheat, nor has any of its children - liberalism, relativism, secularism, pantheism or ecumenism.

Think about that!

Does Believer's Baptism Advance Spirituality?

2011-12-18T14:15:00.000Z

If it is a spiritual thing for Christians who belong to 'reformed' churches to be baptised again as adult believers, the obvious conclusion is that they become much better Christians as a result of having passed through the "waters of baptism." This is a great and practical and observable test of their 'obedience' to God, as they see it and as the pretext for being re-baptised. Those who have done this must assess their spiritual experience and live by this. Are they more spiritual Christians now as a result of being re-baptised as adult believers than before? Are they more obedient to Christ now than they were before? Are they better church members now than they were before? Are they easier to live for now than before? Are they less self-centred now than before? Is Christ seen more in their lives now than before? Are they dying more to sin and living more to Christ and to righteousness than before?

Let a man examine himself - and women too.

Mary the Saved Sinner!

2011-12-18T13:50:00.001Z

The virgin Mary, so she tells us herself in Luke 1:46,47, was a sinner who needed a Saviour, like everybody else. She tells us that her "soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour." This is her personal testimony; Mary is telling us about her spiritual pilgrimage. She came to see herself as a condemned and guilty sinner, lost and undone; then by the work of the Holy Spirit, she came to see that the Saviour she so urgently needed was the God about whom she had been taught as a child. God became her Saviour, therefore, she needed to be saved; and God saved her precious soul.

How facile and wrong it is for Romanism to claim that Mary was immaculately conceived, a doctrine that was only invented in 1854; Rome's theologians were, and are, slow learners, taking almost 1900 years to work out this erroneous doctrine or dogma of the immaculate conception of the virgin Mary. For a religion that accepts the Scriptures as a church authority, her denial of Luke 1:46,47 is culpable. That's why it is very wise to expose and oppose Rome's dogmas, and it is even more wise to have nothing to do with her false doctrines.

Calvin's Conception of Christmas.

2011-12-18T13:33:00.002Z

Why did God send His Son into the world, an event that is commemorated at this time of year? Let the reformer from geneva tell us his view:

"The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of man might become the sons of God."

His purpose in sending His to the Cross is thoroughly evangelistic, redemptive, salvific. Christ came into the world to save sinners, and "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So He came to save all who believe in Him.

Are you saved? Have you come to the Saviour? Do you see your need of the Saviour?

John Calvin Quincentenary Papers 2009

2011-12-15T17:59:00.003Z

AVAILABLE FROM JANUARY 2012.

The John Calvin Quincentenary (1509-2009) proved to be an event of immense importance and fascination. All who admire the Genevan reformer clearly welcomed every opportunity to express their acknowledgment of his greatness as a man of God and Christian leader. Recognising the tendencies to either ‘adore’ or ‘abhor’ Calvin, even the most determined detractors of the protestant reformer par excellence cannot deny his impact on sacred and secular history. It is doubtful if the most vehement enemies are able entirely to ignore him, however hard they might try. In which case, unavoidable bad publicity—as opposed to ‘no publicity’—has probably stimulated even the most ignorant to explore the legacy of the godly genius of Geneva.

Of course, Calvin’s memory continues to be lamented by the vast majority of Roman Catholics whose medieval monopoly on religious truth was so comprehensively assaulted by his magisterial contribution. Liberals of all traditions doubtless respond with a mixture of admiration and scorn, unable as they are convincingly to re-write history to their satisfaction. Conservative Protestants of all hues—in varying degrees—welcomed the Calvin celebration insofar as his emphases appear to vindicate their own. Reformed, Presbyterian and other Christians unashamed to be known as ‘Calvinists’—including Amyraldians—doubtless rejoiced in the opportunity to highlight their doctrinal distinctives at a time when biblical truth is increasingly held in contempt across great swathes of religious as well as secular opinion. This book consists of papers presented at the 2009 Amyraldian Association Conference.

JOHN CALVIN QUINCENTENARY 1509-2009

JOHN CALVIN 500
A Reformation Affirmation
AMYRALDIAN ASSOCIATION
2009 CONFERENCE REPORT
Edited by Alan C. Clifford

Price: £12.50 (p&p extra).

Book your copy now from this site. Limited edition.

Calvin 500

2011-12-14T19:23:00.001Z

The long-awaited book, Calvin 500, being the lecturers delivered at the Amyraldian Association conference in 2009 and to be available very soon. This event marked the 500th anniversary of the reformer's birth, and examined various aspects of Calvin's thinking.

To secure your copy, please get in touch with me ASAP. When details of price are available, you can then decide if you want to get your copy. This will be a tremendous read; it will teach and enlighten you, challenge and inspire you.

So don't lose out - order your copy on this site today