Kevin Bidwell

What role should Music and Musical Instruments have in the Church?

2012-03-02T18:34:00.002Z

Sometimes, It can feel like many of the questions that I ask on my blog seem to be going against contemporary streams in the modern church. However, our constant measuring rod for the church is not our personal preferences, ideas or plans, but everything must be brought to the bar of Scripture. Listen to what Paul wrote to the church at Rome: 'For what does the Scripture say?' (4:3). I have travelled widely overseas in the work of the gospel and it seems like there is an invasion of musical instruments into the church. Beatles style 'rock n'roll' bands seems to be the flavour of the month but we have to ask if this is part of the church's ministry.

Do we ever read of the apostles been instructed to use dramas or music to draw the crowds, so that Peter could stand up to give a quick gospel message? Do we ever read of Timothy being told by Paul to use Greek or Roman entertainment methods to keep the young people? What does the scripture say concerning these things? Musical instruments are not mentioned as a means of grace in the church, but preaching is. Once I heard a saying: 'When candles go up in the church, then preaching goes down'. I agree, but I think that I could also say: 'When the music band and PA goes up in the church, preaching goes down!'. Let us all examine these matters in the light of scripture. By the way if someone points us to Psalm 150 and the array of instruments in the ceremonial worship under the law, just ask them a simple question. Are these for the New Testament church? According to 1 Chronicles 16: 37-42, the instruments were at the giving of sacrifices. The supreme sacrifice has now been offered through Jesus Christ, who declared on the cross "It is finished" (John 19:30). Since then, these instruments are not required in the sense of Psalm 150. The church has moved forward! Instruments may help congregational singing but they must never take over the church's worship.

Listen to John Calvin's wise pastoral advice from his Institutes of Christian Religion,Book 3:10:32 on 'Church Singing': 'We should be very careful that our ears be not more attentive to the melody than our minds to the spiritual meaning of the words'. Wise counsel and this is much needed for our generation in 2012.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16.

'The Rules of Right Prayer' by John Calvin

2012-02-03T11:09:00.000Z

The Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin is comprised of four books. This work is a Christian classic but it is more than a classic. It contains so many truths that need to be recovered by today's church, not least John Calvin's doctrine of the church which was presbyterian. We desperately need to see a recovery of the doctrine of the church and Book Four is called 'The External Means or Aids by Which God Invites us into the Society of Christ and Holds us Therein'.

However, this blog post is concerned with a section in Book 3 ('The Way we Receive the Grace of Christ: What Benefits Come to us from it, and What Effects Follow') called 'The Rules of Right Prayer' (Book 3, Chapter 20: 4-16). Oftentimes people in our generation, reject the idea of rules but what are the Ten Commandments? They are rules given by God for the people of God. John Calvin helpfully teaches four rules of right prayer and I hope that these can help us all to be stimulated to more prayer but also to approach God in the right way.

First Rule: Reverence Calvin writes that 'we be disposed in mind and heart as befits those who enter conversation with God' (3: 20: 4-5, p 853). This is exactly what the Book of Hebrews teaches in 12: 28 'let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe'.

Second Rule: We Pray from a Sincere Sense of Want, and with Penitence (3: 20: 6-7, p 856).

This comment guards against hasty petitioning the Lord for our needs. We need to foster a sense of our need of the Lord's help, our helplessness in and of ourselves.

Third Rule: We Yield all Confidence in Ourselves and Humbly Plead for Pardon (3: 20: 8-10)

This rule smashes the notion of brazen self-confidence before God, something that is even wrongly taught in some sections of the professing church.

Fourth Rule: We Pray with Confident Hope (3: 20: 11-14)

This rule exhorts us to obey the teaching of James and to pray with godly confidence. Listen to James 5: 16-18 'The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit'.

May we all grow in the grace of prayer and may Calvin's rule of prayer help us to make sure that we do not pray amiss!

Preaching and Gracious Gospel Invitations

2012-01-23T09:39:00.004Z

Preaching is far more than giving out the information that we have prepared. In my opinion, the best preachers are those who are the best prepared; those who have given much time, with much private work before they enter the pulpit. However, the mode of delivery is not something that we can afford to neglect as preachers. In my personal experience I constantly evaluate my preaching, perhaps sometimes too much, but this is something that we need to be prepared to do.

While preaching in two congregations last year, in both sermons, I applied the sermon to different hearers in the congregation. At times I specifically addressed people and called them to respond to Christ, to come to Christ for the forgiveness of sins. I specifically addressed children during the sermons and I stopped and looked at some of the children in the congregation, to address them and call them to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. What struck me was that in both services, afterwards, someone remarked that they do not hear the use of gracious gospel invitations very often in the circles that they move in. Both comments were said positively and it set me off thinking for the following months.

Listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. Following his denunciation of Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum, he does not shrink back from preaching the gospel and in applying that message by calling people to himself. The doctrine of election does not cause him to shrink back from calling people to respond either (read Matthew 11:25-27). Listen to Christ in Matthew 11: 28-30:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We can use a variety of ways to apply the gospel but apply the gospel we must, in order to call men and women to repent and believe (Mark 1:14-15). These are gospel imperatives! Once I used the title of a book by John Bunyan to call people to Christ, the title is "Come and welcome to Jesus Christ". We must not be wooden in our approach, but gracious gospel invitations should be warm, passionate, repeated and with gravitas.

May all ordained ministers grow in applying the gospel to a lost and fallen world, not least by 'casting the net' to catch men, in a world in desperate need of forgiveness of sins through Christ alone.

Preaching and the use of Rhetorical Questions

2012-01-11T22:24:00.001Z

These blog posts can only achieve so much, but one of my desires is to encourage those who are called to the office of pastor, in order that they can better serve the flock of God. As a fellow pastor-teacher, I regularly evaluate my method and approach in preaching so that I can better serve the church for the glory of the Triune God. In recent times it has come to my attention, how important the use of rhetorical questions are in preaching in order to keep people's attention and to drive home the truth of God.

By preaching I mean expositional preaching, a sermon that draws it's message out of the Bible. The reading of a text followed by preaching based on the text read, with clear headings, the putting forth of clear doctrines and warm-hearted applications. Let me explain what a rhetorical question is, and why they are important.

What is a rhetorical question? It is a question that is asked for effect, where the answer may sometimes be obvious or it may help the listener to understand the message. A verbal answer is not expected. Additionally we can ask why are the use of rhetorical questions helpful in preaching? Such questions invite people to think, question, analyse, examine and evaluate. They raise that attention span of people listening and they just naturally speaking, encourage active listening. The need for such questions also aids the application of the truths of God. A preacher should not be simply 'giving out' information. The preacher needs to connect with his audience so that they can meaningfully apply the truth of God's Word and the use of rhetorical questions in preaching can help that to happen.

However, there is a more important resin why rhetorical questions should be used in preaching. Jesus Christ models this example, God speaking in the Old Testament uses these questions and so have effective preachers in church history.

1. The Lord Jesus used Rhetorical Questions

The Sermon on the Mount illustrates this perfectly. Matthew 5: 13 'You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?'. Matthew 12: 12 'Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!'. It would be an interesting study to read one of the Gospels and to note how many questions our Lord asked in his teaching ministry.

2. God Spoke Directly through the Prophets using Rhetorical Questions

One you become aware of this you begin to see this teaching method everywhere. For example in Amos Chapter 3, the prophet is defending his ministry and the Lord speaks through him in a whole series of rhetorical questions, questions that really make you think. Read Amos 3: 3-8. Another example is the end of Micah Chapter 7:18 and this question really leads us to the throne of grace. 'Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?'.

3. The Example of the Preacher Samuel Davies

In the last Reformation Christianity for Today conference, one of the sessions looked at a sermon by Samuel Davies. Davies was a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards and the title of the sermon was ‘The Vessels of Mercy and the Vessels of Wrath Delineated’, Romans 9: 22-23. The number of rhetorical questions was beyond number almost. Here was a great preacher, one who knew how to drive home his message. What did he use? Rhetorical questions. May we learn to do the same.

Is the 'missional movement' just another wind of doctrine?

2012-01-07T07:31:00.001Z

One of the seeming buzz words at the moment in evangelicalism is the word 'missional'. A new word that has crept into the vocabulary of conference speakers and such like, under the radar. It is quite common for the advocates of these new ideas to assert calmly 'we need to be more missional' or 'a missional approach is needed' and such like. But, what do people mean when they say such things? There lies the problem. Such movements are often fluid and this can be attractive because under the guise of being acceptable, ministers and often younger ministers, can try to reinvent the wheel, often in the quest for success.

Why did I ask if this movement is just another wind of doctrine? Well, firstly because it is biblical to ask such a question. Paul the apostle writes to the church at Ephesus expressing his desire that the church would mature to a 'unity of the faith', to mature manhood, while warning of 'winds of doctrine' (Ephesians 4: 13-14). I have walked with the Lord for over two decades and I have got used to these new ideas regularly coming along. Over the years, I have been misled by some of them myself. We need to 'test everything' 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

Often missionalism proposes new approaches to the church in the pursuit of church growth, or new approaches to connect or engage with a post-Christian society. One initial point we need to make is, that if want to know how to approach a post-Chirstian society, then we need to look at the pre-Christian society, the world of the New Testament. What were the priorities and methods of the New Testament church?

The early church's apostles and elders clearly recognized that the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus Christ was governing his church, growing his church and spreading his church (Psalm 110). This was a crucial undergirding principle. The methods for the spread of the gospel were the establishing of an apostolic blue-print for local churches wherever they went. The apostles were not randomly establishing different practices in different cities. What did this apostolic pattern look like?

1. The church was governed by elders, who were men which met the biblical qualifications (Titus 1:5-9).
2. One of the men had to be clearly equipped to teach and preach sound doctrine publicly (1 Timothy 5:17).
3. The priority of the church was to listen to sound preaching which was declaratory, public instruction through a qualified man. Those church devoted themselves to being diligent hearers and doers of the word of God.
4. There were not many people who were allowed to teach (James 3:1).
5. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper were taken very seriously and they were central to the life of the church.
6. The apostles' doctrine was the basis for fellowship and not the other way around (Acts 2:42).
7. There is no mention of music bands being used to draw people to the gospel!

In our own day, new methods often take root unchecked and they then become a new tradition, sadly sometimes without a fight. Let us not give ground to allow the church to be moved away from a biblical foundation, let us test all things and indeed test our own opinions constantly as well.

Do you need God's Wisdom in 2012?

2011-12-31T11:40:00.001Z

Hopefully your answer to this question is a resounding "Yes!". The Book of James teaches us that there are only two kinds of wisdom and these are 'earthly wisdom' or 'heavenly wisdom' (James 3: 13-18). In order to walk in wisdom we need to live in the light of God's revelation found in the Bible and over the years I have grown to love the Book of Proverbs. In this Bible book we have 31 chapters of heavenly wisdom and almost all topics for life are covered. Do you need wisdom in raising children, your marriage, your vocation? You will find something of great benefit for many areas of your Christian life in the Book of Proverbs.

The Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, therefore it lends itself well for a chapter to be read each day of January where there are 31 days. There are also 31 days in March, May, July, August, October and December. Now, of course it does not mean that we can only read this book in months with 31 days, but this gives a good way to start 2012. As a family we intend, God willing, to read a chapter of Proverbs after our evening meal, when we have a time of family worship. Why not do the same with your family and begin with this year with a time of family worship after your evening meal and maybe use the Book of Proverbs as a source of wisdom for 2012?

Here are three exhortations from the Book of Proverbs:

My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. Proverbs 3:21-23.

The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:33.

Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23.

Take Some Time out for Devotional Reading over Christmas.

2011-12-21T09:16:00.002Z

This post is intended to be one of pastoral encouragement. We live in a busy world, at least for those who live in Western nations that are driven by the need for a successful economy. Therefore, it is especially needful to utilise certain times to ensure that we are spiritually recharged. The Christmas holiday period is often a time of spiritual refreshment for myself, a time during which I can can give to extra prayer but also to reading. Reading that is for my own soul, not simply reading that is for the necessity of a specific purpose. I would like to encourage you all, to take time out during this Christmas holiday to feed your own soul with good reading and personal prayer.

Let us listen to the counsel of scripture on these matters and then I would like to recommend some books for reading, especially for anyone who may not be sure which book to buy or pick up to read.

And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 31:10-13.

The first thing that we must consider is to take timeout to read the scriptures. No second-hand remembrance of the scriptures is sufficient. However when Paul was in prison he also asked for additional reading as well. Listen to his Second Letter to Timothy (4:13): 'When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments'.

Additionally with respect to prayer let us heed the imperative of the Lord Jesus Christ from Matthew's Gospel 6:6 'But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you'.

Here are some books to consider reading, maybe over this Christmas season.

Among God's Giants by J. I. Packer (this is only available second hand as far as I am aware).

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Institutes of the Christian Religion: Volumes 1 and 2 by John Calvin

Jerusalem's Glory by Thomas Watson

A Commentary on John's Gospel by William Hendriksen

Sermons on Romans by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Evangelicalism in Crisis ... Again!

2011-12-15T09:53:00.003Z

In contemplating this blog post, I decided to call it 'Evangelicalism in Crisis ... Again'; for a good reason. The contemporary trends in evangelicalism are no surprise for those who know church history, therefore the addendum, 'again' is necessary. It appears that the second law of thermodynamics seems to come into play in every generation. This law of entropy teaches us, that the natural tendency is towards chaos and disorder. This is the opposite of what God did in Creation in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 (as an aside, it is observable that the theory of evolution contradicts natural laws, however for those determined to pursue a godless theory, suppressing this truth does not seem to matter!).

How does this apply to the church? In my limited experience across the UK, I hear repeated echoes of the need to reinvent the 'church wheel'; in terms of how we do church. The apparent anguish is caused by not seeing the nation evangelised. Evangelism when it drives the agenda will often lead to wholesale changes in the church. Evangelism does not drive the agenda, Jesus Christ the head of the church drives the agenda (Ephesians 1:22, 4:15, 5:23). One of the buzz words currently used to describe the need to change things is 'missionalism'. This rather nebulous term is often a smokescreen to drive unlimited changes to the traditional understanding of the church. Well, what is the real problem?

My observation is that the root problem is Christians and Christian leaders who lose a grip on the authority and sufficiency of scripture. In discussing with people who promote such new ideas, they commonly make only loose references to scripture and instead views are put forward about such things as 'context', the 'need to be contemporary' or 'connecting with this generation'. After over two decades of following the Lord Jesus Christ, it is my firm conclusion that the gospel is counter-cultural in every age and every generation. Therefore to seek to connect with a current generation can open the door for worldly methods into the church.

Here are four questions to be asked and answered by every professing evangelical.

1. Does the New Testament teach a clear apostolic pattern for the church, one that is reproducible in every generation?
2. Does the New Testament teach a clear pattern for the ingredients of biblical worship?
3. Does the Bible teach the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath, a day set apart for worship, rest and fellowship (with God and man)?
4. Does the New Testament teach a clear pattern for church government?

Can you imagine applying for planning permission to build an extension on your house and telling the council that the architect has no plans? Then you go on to explain to the council that you want to go on a journey to explore the right way forward as you build. Silly as it seems this is how many contemporary church leaders approach the church. By abandoning the historic paths that are committed to preaching, the right administration of the sacraments and a well-ordered church where feeding and caring for the sheep is the main priority, new agendas call for unbiblical changes.

Here are some verses that I have found helpful over the years, especially when faced with new calls, for new methods, for the church to adapt if she is to be supposedly successful.

'And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us' Ecclesiastes 1: 9-10.

'Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls". But they said, "We will not walk in it"' Jeremiah 6: 16.

Let us test all things and use church history as a compass to make sure that we have not lost our way, or worse still to endorse methods that contradict the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone head of the church!

"Forever with the Lord"

2011-11-28T11:29:00.001Z

Recently I was informed that a good friend was in the last stage of terminal cancer. He is a fine Christian man and I was able to speak to him over the telephone to encourage him in these remaining weeks before he goes to his eternal reward. We have been learning a new hymn in Sheffield Presbyterian Church, one that was written by a man who spent most of his life in Sheffield. The hymn is 'Forever with the Lord' and the man is James Montgomery. As I discussed the realities of eternal life that only comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, with my friend, we discussed the words of this hymn; they seemed to give him great hope and confidence in the biblical promises of the New Jerusalem!

Here is the first verse of the hymn:

‘FOR ever with the Lord!’
Amen, so let it be!
Life from the dead is in that word,
’tis immortality.
Here in the body pent, absent from Him I roam,
yet nightly pitch my moving tent a day’s march nearer home.

The last line is humbling but also thrilling. If you are a Christian who is reading this blog post then you should be encouraged to know that you are 'a day's march nearer home'. This last phrase is the title of a new autobiography edited by Iain Murray on the life of J. Graham Miller (J. Graham Miller, 'A Day's March Nearer Home: Autobiography of J. Graham Miller', edited by Iain Murray, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2010).

Later in this hymn, in the last verse, we read:

So when my latest breath shall rend the veil in twain,
by death I shall escape from death, and life eternal gain.

Hopefully, this hymn can pastorally help us all to overcome the fear of death because James Montgomery the author (1771-1854) has longed since escaped death but it is through death that we must enter the true promised land of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If anyone is interested in the life of James Montgomery there is a good short biography that is published by DayOne Publications. Paul S. Taylor 'James Montgomery: A Man for all People', 2010. There is a providential link with Montgomery and who lived and worked in Sheffield for most of his life. There is a statue to honour the man's life outside Sheffield Cathedral in Sheffield's city centre.

Let us all heed the exhortation and warning from the last chapter of the last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev. 22:12-17)

The Atonement in its Application

2011-11-23T12:43:00.001Z

Every time I come to do a blog post on this atonement series, I am keenly aware that we are just 'scratching the surface'. However, I can offer some pointers for more study. One of the grand atonement passages in the New Testament has to be Romans 3: 21-26. Regarding this passage, the commentator Leon Morris writes that it is 'probably the most important single paragraph ever written, Paul brings out something of the grandeur of Christ's saving work' (Leon Morris, 'The Epistle to the Romans', Leicester, Eerdmans, 1988, p 173). With this comment in mind, it would take weeks to fully expound this passage, but there are several threads regarding the atonement that need to be understood and applied.

Here are four themes:

1. The Righteousness of God (3:21)

2. Faith in Jesus Christ (3:22)

3. A Propitiation (3:25)

4. By his Blood (3:25)

Here we notice that these grand themes handle what Paul has explained to be the twin subjects that are revealed in the gospel of God: These are the righteousness of God and the wrath of God (Romans 1: 1 and 16-18). It is Christ's propitiation that satisfies the wrath of a holy and righteous God. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus averts the wrath of God upon those who justified by faith. Notice also that the object of our faith needs to be the person of Jesus, but it must also be in the blood of Jesus. Perhaps the significance of the blood of Jesus is downplayed at times to our detriment; the shedding of Christ's blood is central to the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26: 28).

Now, if we want to understand the atonement we need to understand the Book of Romans and here are some commentaries that I recommend.

Leon Morris 'The Epistle to the Romans', referenced above.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 'Sermons on Romans, especially Romans 3-4), Edinburgh: Banner of Truth.
John Murray, 'The Epistle to the Romans, Volumes 1 and 2', Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.

Further additional reading includes;
John Murray, 'Redemption Accomplished and Applied', Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1961.

Now in terms of application; for those who are involved in preaching and the leading of the people of God in public worship, every stage of our ministry should be magnifying Jesus Christ, the mediator. In terms of personal devotions we need to be reminded that the atonement of our Lord is perfect, it is complete and nothing can be added to it or taken away. We need to lean on the merits of Jesus Christ, and Him alone for salvation!

Reflections on a Recent Reformed Conference

2011-11-15T06:27:00.001Z

Last weekend (11th and 12th November 2011) we had our fourth conference for men who want to explore reformed doctrines and practice. We set out in 2008 with around a dozen men and it was called 'A Defence of Calvinism'. Each year men have expressed that they have profited the time together so much, that they wanted another conference the following year. So far there have been attendees from England, Wales, Scotland, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. This year we decided to change the name to 'Reformation Christianity Today' because we want to anchor historic truths in todays world. In other words, looking backwards so that we can look forwards. While we are all so thankful for the work of Luther, Calvin, Bucer and others who have gone before us, the work of ongoing reformation continues in our own generation.

This year has been perhaps our best time so far. There were 18 men registered and there were some excellent sessions by Rev. Brian Norton, the minister of Durham Presbyterian Church on 'Reformed Worship' and a 'Reformed Understanding of the Lord's Supper'. I think that it will take me several months to work through the many helpful theological threads which were positively presented and we all have left with a larger and richer vision of biblical worship and the Lord's Supper. There were devotions given by Andrew Graham (minister of Bradley Road Evangelical Baptist Church, Wrexham) from the Book of Jude and Phil Baiden (minister of URC Church, Doncaster) on Psalm 27; 'The Psalms, an Anatomy of the Soul'. It was a delight to sing Psalms and solid hymns during each session and for some it was a new experience to discover that the Psalms can be sung as well as read.

Time does not permit me to expound further on the details of the sessions but my overall impression is one of thankfulness to our sovereign Lord. My perception is that our Lord is recovering ancient truths to these men, some of whom are under the age of 30 years old. Even though this little conference may appear small in the eyes of some, may we be thankful for men who want to serve the next generation, not with that latest church fads and church growth models, but with historic truths, as prophesied in Psalm 100:5.

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

These are the words of Hugh Latimer to Nicholas Ridley as they were about to be martyred, burned alive, for their Protestant faith: “Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God’s grace, light up such a candle in England, as, I trust, will never be put out.”

If you are interested in the conference for next year (November 2012, Lord willing and to be confirmed) then please email Andrew Graham: andrewmichaelgraham@gmail.com

Atonement in the Westminster Standards: Part 4

2011-11-07T12:17:00.001Z

In this mini-blog series that I have been running on the atonement, one of the aims has been to consider the doctrine of the atonement within the Westminster Standards. However, this was an over-ambitious desire because such a task would require extensive research. Instead, I will offer some general pointers for those who would like to study the atonement in more detail using the Westminster Standards.These Standards comprise a Confession of Faith along with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The organising principle is quite different to the Canons of Dordt; while the respective theological content would be harmonious, the way it is expressed and organised is different.

Personally, I consider the Westminster Standards to be the best explanation of the Christian faith in the English language. The Westminster Confession devotes the whole of Chapter 8 to ‘Of Christ the Mediator’ (with 8 succinct points) and John Murray once wrote that this is ‘one of the most remarkable chapters for fulness of doctrine and condensation of expression’. This comment comes from an essay on ‘The Importance and Relevance of the Westminster Confession’ where he explains that the ‘Westminster Assembly had the advantage of more than a century of Protestant creedal formulation’ and that it is the ‘last of the great Reformation creeds’. Furthermore, he summarises that: ‘No creed of the Christian Church is comparable to that of Westminster in respect of the skill with which the fruits of fifteen centuries of Christian thought have been preserved, and at the same time examined anew and clarified in the light of that fuller understanding of God’s Word which the Holy Spirit has imparted'. These quotes are from: John Murray, ‘The Importance and Relevance of the Westminster Confession’ in Collected Writings of John Murray, Volume 1, Claims of Truth, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2001, 317 and 320.

W. Robert Godfrey has some important comments in his writing on ‘The Larger Catechism’: ‘The Larger Catechism is a mine of fine gold theologically, historically and spiritually (129)’; The Larger Catechism is ‘not at all a difficult document to read and understand. In fact it is simpler in its statements than the Confession (138)' ’; The Catechism uses ‘the covenant as the organising principle of this doctrine [the person and work of Christ] (139)’; ‘the two-covenant theology of Westminster is the best understanding of the structure of biblical revelation and the best key to understand the work of Christ (140)’. These quotations are from: “The Westminster Larger Catechism,” in To Glorify and Enjoy God: A Commemoration of the Westminster Assembly. Edited by John L. Carson and David W. Hall. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994).

Now, for those who would like to study the doctrine of the atonement using the Westminster Confession of faith, then I recommend that they begin with Chapter 3 'Of God's Eternal Decree'. These eight points of doctrine are rich and they need careful reading, but in essence they affirm from scripture that 'some men are predestined for everlasting life and others to everlasting death'. The Westminster divines are pastorally wise though to teach that the 'doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care'. The next chapter to understand the atonement of Christ has to be Chapter 6 'Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof'. This chapter outlines fully that man is utterly sinful and incapable of salvation, in fact fallen man is 'wholly inclined to all evil'. Then, I suggest that you read Chapter 9 'Of Free Will'; the conclusion of this chapter is the same as that of Calvin and Luther (The Bondage of the Will) in that mankind has 'lost all ability of will to any spiritual good ... and are dead in sin'. This chapter slays all Arminian thinking and rightly so because salvation is wholly of God's free grace.

For a further study of the atonement and the benefits of redemption, a good read of chapters 7 and 8 'Of God's Covenant with Man' and 'Of Christ the Mediator', should be followed by the chapters 10-17, effectual calling to the perseverance of the saints. I hope that my blog readers are prepared to work hard because all true disciples should desire the riches of Christ but these jewels need to be mined out.

Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23.

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. Hebrews 2:3.

Have you ever read the Whole Bible?

2011-10-24T21:49:00.000+01:00

My own personal conviction is that the Bible is unique, it is God's only word to humanity that is infallible, authoritative and without error. The Bible is my greatest personal possession and yet as a young Christian I remember wanting to read the whole Bible and yet not knowing how to do it. Have you ever tried to read the whole Bible and given up frustrated?

First of all I tried to read the whole Bible in a year, by using one of those daily reading plans and I could not wait for the 1st January, 1991 to arrive. At the time I had a very pressured and busy career and unfortunately by the middle of January I was so far behind that the backlog to catch up was almost impossible. I found myself speed-reading out loud but I was taking nothing in and I gave up. I also tried to read the Bible by beginning at Genesis and again I think I got as far as Leviticus and then I gave up. Here I was a Christian, one who was convinced that the Bible contained the greatest spiritual treasure, but somehow it remained like a 'locked treasure box' to me. What was the answer?

Following a time of 'racking my brains', I came up with a plan, one that has helped me for years and I hope that this may help some of you. I decided that reading with a strict plan did not work for me. This was because some days I had more time to read than others. My plan needed to be flexible, interesting and driven by my hunger. I found the contents list of Bible books and I asked myself, 'which book of the Bible would I like to read first?'. I think that it may have been Haggai, and it is only two chapters long so I raced through it and I could not wait to get to the next book. I read it and ticked off the book on the contents list. I was single at the time and I was determined to read the whole Bible, when I had the time at least. Working my way through, I ended up reading the whole Bible in about 8-9 months and I can honestly say that by doing so I was never again the same person. Why? God's word is life-changing! I have followed this plan many times and sometimes It has taken me two years to read the whole Bible and I do not read the whole Bible all the time. This pattern has worked for me and I submit this to you as an option.

May we all demonstrate an unwavering commitment to God's word, to read it, to memorise it, to meditate on it and to believe it!
Here are some precious truths from Psalm 119.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word (119:9).

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word (119:16).

Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens (119:89).

'The Books of Moses Revisited' by Paul Lawrence

2011-10-18T13:43:00.000+01:00

I would like to take this opportunity to commend a new book that has just been published by Wipf and Stock (https://wipfandstock.com/store/The_Books_of_Moses_Revisited). It is available directly through the publisher but also via Amazon directly in the coming time. I met Paul briefly in connection to some Bible translators meetings back in 2006 (not that I am a translator) and he has been working on this important book for quite a while, in order to refute an entrenched theological position on Old Testament studies called 'The Documentary Hypothesis'. This hypothesis, and this is what it is, basically denies that the authorship of the first five books of the Bible should be attributed to Moses. Paul Lawrence ably refutes this hypothesis but also in the process he offers some very helpful material on OT Hittite treaties and covenants. This how the publishers describe the book:

Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? Does it really matter who did? The Books of Moses Revisited explores this question by comparing the covenants of Exodus/Leviticus and Deuteronomy with the inter-state treaties of the late second millennium BC. Some compelling similarities come to light, both in the pattern adopted and in many small details. Lawrence clearly demonstrates this with many examples and diagrams, yet without assuming that readers possess a detailed knowledge of ancient history and linguistics. Despite the entrenchment of the widely held theory—the so-called Documentary Hypothesis—that the first five books of the Bible were the product of an anonymous editor living many centuries after Moses, this book argues that the first five books of the Bible bear many hallmarks of being late second millennium BC compositions and that Moses should not be ruled out as being the author. The book also explores how several ancient texts—the Egyptian Story of Sinuhe, the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey—were transmitted in antiquity and suggests that a similar process also lies behind the transmission of the first five books of the Bible.

My aim in publicising this book is manifold but one reason is that Christians need a closer relationship to the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament is identical to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. This book can enrich the church, refute false ideas, provide valuable historical material to the Old Testament scriptures and in way that is accessible. I commend this book, most especially for ministers of the gospel.

Then he [the Lord Jesus Christ] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24: 44-50.

Preachers need to be thoroughly equipped in the Old Testament scriptures in order to be able to competently proclaim the gospel!

Atonement (Part 3)

2011-10-12T14:40:00.001+01:00

This blog post continues our mini-series on the atonement. Even though I firmly hold to the idea of limited atonement or rather definite atonement, I maintain that we should think simply of 'the atonement' because there is only one atonement. It is that which was made and purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ. In this post I would like us to consider the settled wisdom on the matter of the intent and extent of the atonement as laid down by the Synod of Dordrecht (1618-19). This Synod met in The Netherlands (for about 6 months to discuss these matters) as a result of the false teaching being spread by the dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (he had already died in 1609) and his followers. Arminianism in its various forms argues for the freedom of man's will and that our Lord Jesus made salvation available to all by his death, but that man or indeed woman, must choose Christ if they are to obtain eternal life. These ideas which are dominant in the Western church today, were seen to be a contradiction to the work of reformation, a step back towards popish works-based righteousness and a perversion of the Apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42).

This Synod according to S. M. Hoghton (Sketches from Church History, Banner of Truth, 2001) states that there were delegates from The Netherlands, England, Scotland, Germany and Switzerland ... and in 93 canons the chief points of the doctrine of the Reformed Churches were made clear (143)'. Therefore we should never neglect church history by arrogantly thinking that we are the first to wrestle with a particular doctrinal or pastoral problem. Woe to the church that rejects a thoroughgoing appreciation of church history. So, what did they conclude on the atonement of our Lord? Below are pasted the articles on the atonement made by this Synod.

The Synod of Dordt: Second Head of Doctrine –The Death of Christ and the Redemption of Man by It

ARTICLE 1—THE JUSTICE OF GOD REQUIRES PUNISHMENT
God is not only supremely merciful but also supremely just. And as He Himself has revealed in His Word, His justice requires that our sins, committed against His infinite majesty, should be punished not only in this age but also in the age to come, both in body and soul. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is made to the justice of God.

ARTICLE 2—THE SATISFACTION MADE BY CHRIST
We ourselves, however, cannot make this satisfaction and cannot free ourselves from God’s wrath. God, therefore, in His infinite mercy has given His only Son as our Surety. For us or in our place He was made sin and a curse on the cross so that He might make satisfaction on our behalf.

ARTICLE 3—THE INFINITE VALUE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST
This death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sins, of infinite value and worth, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.

ARTICLE 4—WHY HIS DEATH HAS INFINITE VALUE
This death is of such great value and worth because the person who submitted to it is not only a true and perfectly holy man, but also the only-begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for these qualifications were necessary for our Saviour. Further, this death is of such great value and worth because it was accompanied by a sense of the wrath and curse of God which we by our sins had deserved.

ARTICLE 5—THE UNIVERSAL PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
The promise of the gospel is that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise ought to be announced and proclaimed universally and without discrimination to all peoples and to all men to whom God in His good pleasure sends the gospel, together with the command to repent and believe.

ARTICLE 6—WHY SOME DO NOT BELIEVE
That, however, many who have been called by the gospel neither repent nor believe in Christ but perish in unbelief does not happen because of any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice of Christ offered on the cross, but through their own fault.

ARTICLE 7—WHY OTHERS DO BELIEVE
But to those who truly believe and are by the death of Christ freed from their sins and saved from perdition, this benefit comes only through God’s grace, given to them from eternity in Christ. God owes this grace to no one.

ARTICLE 8—THE EFFICACY OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST
For this was the most free counsel of God the Father, that the life-giving and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect. It was His most gracious will and intent to give them alone justifying faith and thereby to bring them unfailingly to salvation. This means: God willed that Christ through the blood of the cross (by which He confirmed the new covenant) should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and tongue all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and were given to Him by the Father. God further willed that Christ should give to them faith, which, together with other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He acquired for them by His death; that He should cleanse them by His blood from all sins, both original and actual, both those committed after faith and before faith; and that He should guard them faithfully to the end and at last present them to Himself in splendour without any spot or wrinkle.

ARTICLE 9—THE FULFILMENT OF GOD’S COUNSEL
This counsel, proceeding from eternal love for the elect, has from the beginning of the world to the present time been powerfully fulfilled, and will also continue to be fulfilled, though the gates of hell vainly try to frustrate it. In due time the elect will be gathered together into one, and there will always be a Church of believers, founded on the blood of Christ. This Church shall steadfastly love and faithfully serve Him as Her Saviour (who as bridegroom for his bride laid down His life for her on the cross) and celebrate His praises here and through all eternity.

The link to the complete Canons of Dordt is: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/canons_of_dordt.html

Summary by Kevin Bidwell

There are three points I would like to draw in conclusion. Notice that under Article 3 it is asserted that the 'death of Christ has infinite value' The value of the atonement is not limited in any sense, it is of infinite value and worth. In Article 5, the conclusion is therefore, that the gospel should be proclaimed 'universally and without discrimination'. Thirdly, in Article 8, it is made very clear that the atonement is efficacious to extend to all the elect.

While I value the English reformed view of the five points of Calvinism (known as TULIP), I think we need to be aware that this acronym probably misses out some vital points of doctrine made by the Synod of Dordt and a fresh return to these historic canons could invigorate the whole churches worship, evangelism and preaching!

Always be Prepared to Improve your Preaching!

2011-10-04T11:04:00.007+01:00

I intend to continue the series on the atonement but I am just catching up on some work following an intense time preaching overseas. We should always be open to constructive criticism for our preaching, at least for those who are set apart by the church for this most important task. While being away, I received some helpful feedback and I evaluated my own style and method for preaching and a number of practical things have emerged that I need to work on. In explaining these things, I hope that it will help some people.

Reading Scripture

I need to work on reading the scripture as part of the public worship service; in a way that it is less hurried, more clear, and with better intonation at the right places. We need to recognise that we are reading God's inerrant word and the public reading of the scriptures is important. The hearing levels of the congregation may vary and it may also include those with hearing impediments. I am working on trying to get eye contact with the congregation at certain parts of my reading also so that I can keep connected with the congregation. A clear, interesting and lively reading style is desirable.

Looking at the Congregation when Making a Main Point

Preaching should include a persuasive element and I have picked up a bad habit which is looking down at my notes when making a main point. A friend who is a lawyer pointed this out to me graciously and I am endeavouring to persuade men with the precious gospel when making an important point. I think that I was more concerned in getting out the information and reading my notes for my next point. Do you also do this? Listen to Paul the apostle:

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others (ESV) and the KJV translates 2 Cor 5: 11 as Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. The fear of God should lead to persuasive preaching. Is your preaching persuasive or is there room for improvement in this area?

Printing my Notes Using Larger Line Spacing

I have just begun to print off my notes on 1.5 spacing rather than single spaced. This means that I can find my place better in the pulpit, rather than straining to get back to where I left off. I may move to double spaced but for now 1.5 space seems to do the job.

These are just a few points that I am currently working on to better my preaching for the glory of God! I value the prayer of people reading this blog for myself, one who genuinely considers himself in great need of the grace of God. As Paul also said: Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor 2: 16).

Reformation Christianity for Today Conference: 2011

2011-09-13T15:28:00.006+01:00

This is now our fourth conference at Bawtry Hall which is a study conference for men who want to find out more about reformed theology and it's practice. It is held over two days and each year the attendees have expressed their earnest desire for another one each following year.

Reformation Christianity for Today 2011

Conference Programme

Friday 11th November 2011

9:45am Arrival, & Tea and Coffee

10:15am Session 1

Devotion: Andrew Graham

The Three ‘R’s’ of Biblical and Puritan Evangelism (Ruin, Redemption and Regeneration, incorporating a look at some of Toplady’s Hymns): Kevin Bidwell

12:30 Lunch

2:30-5:30pm Session 2

Reformed Worship: Brian Norton

6pm Evening Meal

7:30-9. 30pm Session 3

Preaching: The Analysis of a Sermon by Samuel Davies (Romans 9: 22-23)

Saturday 12th November 2011

9.30-12.30, Session 4 (Coffee Break around 10:45am)

Greek Exegesis: Romans 3: 21-26 (Dominik Frank)
The Lord’s Supper: Brian Norton

1pm Lunch

The Saturday afternoon we will have time to relax and a game of five-a-side football may be organised.

4.00-6.00pm Session 5

Psalm 100: With Some Insights from the Hebrew Text (Kevin Bidwell)

6.00 pm Evening Meal

A Summary of Some of the Men who will be Bringing Papers

Kevin Bidwell is the minister of Sheffield Presbyterian Church.

Andrew Graham is the conference administrator and he is the minister of Wrexham Evangelical Baptist Church.

Dominik Frank is training for the Lutheran ministry at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

Brian Norton is the minister of Durham Presbyterian Church. Brian was a member of Westminster Chapel during the ministry of the late Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

If You Would Like More Information

The conference administrator is Andrew Graham. If you are a member of a church and in good standing where you worship, then you are welcome to attend. Please contact Andrew at: andrewmichaelgraham@gmail.com or phone him on 07546 592 435

Atonement (Part 2)

2011-09-06T07:18:00.003+01:00

This is the second post which handles some questions regarding the atonement. Following discussion with a fellow-minister, I have called this post 'atonement' and not 'limited atonement' because there is only one truth on the atonement from the scriptures. Let us look further to see what that the Bible's teaching is.

There are three main systems concerning the atonement: 1. Universalism which teaches that all mankind will be saved in the end. 2. Arminianism which holds a type of self-salvation and we may say that it is a halfway house between Pelagius and Augustine. 3. Calvinism which declares that God alone is the author of salvation from beginning to end.
But how do we judge these different systems? The answer has to be the scriptures, not what we feel to be right or what we have been traditionally taught. Every generation needs to return to first principles to understand why we believe certain things.

I intend to deal with the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism regarding salvation and the atonement here, but universalism is gaining some ground, surprisingly, among some evangelicals. However, the Bible condemns this position outright and therefore it must be pseudo-evangelicals who have completely lost their bearings and their grip on scripture to foster such false notions of God and the truth. All will not be saved, but sinners and law-breakers will spend eternity under the wrath of God. Listen to the teaching of the Lord Jesus:

'Then he will say to those on his left [the goats] 'Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" ' Matthew 25: 41. But, for now, let us contrast the two systems of Arminianism and Calvinism.

The Five Points of Arminianism

1. Free will or human ability
2. Conditional election
3. Universal redemption or a general atonement
4. The Holy Spirit can be effectually resisted
5. Christians can fall from grace and lose their salvation

Arminianism in all its various forms, one which is probably mainstream today, teaches that God has provided salvation through Christ's death for 'all' but we have to choose Jesus in order to be born-again, to be saved. The final deciding factor in salvation is the individual person who chooses Christ by their free will. This in effect leaves God standing on the sidelines, seeing who will be saved but not effectually ordering the events of life. For me personally this is a step towards Atheism. Atheism believes that life is ordered by random events without purpose and while Arminianism does not explicitly teach this, it is a step in that direction. Over many years I have looked at the subject from every angle, having once held Arminian views myself, in ignorance, and my firm conclusion is that the Bible firmly repudiates the Arminian system.

The Five Points of Calvinism

1.Total Depravity or Total Inability
2. Unconditional election
3. Particular redemption or limited atonement
4. The efficacious call of the Spirit or irresistible grace
5. The perseverance of the saints

This was the discussion of the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618-19 and they condemned Arminianism as teaching that is false. Calvinism teaches that man by his fall is dead in in sin and therefore they are incapable of responding to God, unless the Lord by his free grace makes them willing by regenerating that person. Being made alive and being raised from the dead spiritually is God's act of mercy. It is not man's will that chooses but God's will and when God saves, he saves eternally on the basis of the atoning death of his son who redeemed those whom God the Father has chosen.

Here is some homework for those who want answers from the Bible to compare these two systems. Read John 6: 22-71, 10:1-30; Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:1-10; Romans 9: 6-24. Calvinism is taught in the whole Bible and it is not a system based on a few proof texts. Often the big 3 proof texts for Arminians are: John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9. Compare the Arminian proof texts with the passages I have given you for Calvinism and let us compare scripture with scripture.

Here are two concluding verses for this blog post, ones which defend a calvinistic view of the atonement:

John 10:11 'Jesus said 'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep'. Note it is for the sheep not sheep and goats!

Ephesians 5: 25 'Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her'.

Ps A good book is Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.

Limited Atonement (Part 1)

2011-08-25T15:09:00.004+01:00

This short series of blog posts is in response to a request made on one of my blog articles. It was a request to explain the doctrine of limited atonement. This doctrine handles the redemption of Christ and it considers the intent of the Triune God in the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many voices contend today that doctrine is not important but these kind of claims are totally unbiblical. Our view of the atonement impacts the message that we preach, the way we approach worship, evangelism, missions and the methods that people employ to build churches. Therefore let us consider this sobering subject most seriously.

The apostles all considered that God's purpose in the atonement was something central to Christianity and it must not be neglected or usurped by the latest wind of doctrine. Listen to the apostle Paul:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Cor. 2: 1-2.

There has been much debate concerning the Person of Jesus and also the work of Christ Jesus and we would fully expect sinful men, Satan and the worldview of the inhabitants of this world to 'muddy the waters'. However, the church must be clear minded concerning this subject. In essence, much of the discussion boils down to one simple question, even though there are many threads. The question is this: Who has the casting vote regarding the salvation of a sinner: Is it the sinners free will to choose the gospel or is it God's free grace to choose the sinner? It cannot be both and we need to examine ourselves and ask two further questions: How do I answer the preceding question? and secondly, what does the Bible teach concerning the answer to this question?

The coming blog articles will attempt to cover these topics, Lord willing.

* Two Systems Contrasted: Arminianism and Calvinism.
* The Synod of Dordt's Answer to Limited Atonement.
* The Answer of the Westminster Confession on this Matter.
* How should the biblical doctrine of limited atonement be applied practically?

One final comment is that the doctrine of limited atonement is sometimes called particular redemption or definite atonement. As a taster for the coming weeks, let me suggest that you read the sermon of the Lord Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum, recorded in John 6: 22- 71. One of the statements made by our Lord was this:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:44).

The Christian Race is a Marathon

2011-08-20T20:57:00.005+01:00

Too often people forget that the Christian life is a marathon. Expectations sometimes get shattered, sometimes people view the Christian life with rose-tinted spectacles and disappointment can creep in, but we must never forget that God always remains faithful. Let us listen to the pastoral counsel of the Book of Hebrews (12:1-2):

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Christian life is a race, it is a marathon and it requires endurance. Someone once wisely said, that the only way to learn endurance is to endure. Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us similarly:

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

We need to pray for several things because 'the race is not for the swift'. It is not speed that counts in the Christian race but patience, steadfastness and endurance. We should pray for God's grace to remain faithful and consistent during seasons of disappointment. Attending public worship on the Lord's Day is not an optional extra for Christians, it is the command of God. We should also pray that we would finish our Christian race well and ask the Lord to help us in this. Sadly, one wise minister told me once that 'few men finish well'. This is sobering but let us 'look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith'.

"The Church as the Image of the Trinity": A Critical Evaluation of the Ecclesial Model of Miroslav Volf

2011-08-11T13:38:00.006+01:00

After a good number of recent years of theological research, I am thankful to the Lord that a door has opened for my PhD to be converted into a book format for publication. I sincerely desire that this book will be used for the glory of God, but also as a necessary corrective against politically correct, yet often biblically erroneous theologies, ones that all too commonly pervades theological departments in Universities in the Western world. The publishers summary on the back cover reads:

A resurgence of Trinitarian interest gained momentum in the twentieth century and it is showing little sign of abating in the twenty-first century. This research endeavours to critically evaluate Miroslav Volf’s ecclesial model for “the church as the image of the Trinity,” one which he presents with the English title, After Our Likeness. Volf proposes a social doctrine of the Trinity, one that is heavily influenced by the theological writings of Jürgen Moltmann, and he puts forward that this non-hierarchical Trinity should be reflected in the structures and theology of the church. If Volf is correct, then a radical reshaping is needed for the church to conform to an egalitarian pattern, one that is “after the likeness” (Gen 1:26) of an egalitarian God.
In this critical examination, Kevin J. Bidwell begins by stating the theological influences that are pertinent to Volf’s thesis in After Our Likeness and the assumptions that undergird and inform his whole theological paradigm. An important theological excursus is offered to assess the theology of John Smyth, the first English Baptist, who is Volf’s representative figure for the location of his own ecclesiology, the Free Church. A critical analysis follows of Volf’s engagement with his two chosen dialogue partners who represent both Western and Eastern theological traditions: Joseph Ratzinger and John D. Zizioulas.
Volf presents five theses for “the church as the image of the Trinity,” which could be labeled as Volf’s Free Church in the image of Volf’s revised doctrine of the Trinity. This monograph offers extensive insight into the contemporary debate on the doctrine of the Trinity, but it also assesses many aspects of ecclesiology from both Eastern and Western perspectives.

If you would like to get hold of a copy the link on Amazon is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Church-Image-Trinity-Evaluation-Theological/dp/1610973739/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

It is available as a book or a kindle format. Another link is the Book Depository which is: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Church-Image-Trinity-Kevin-Bidwell/9781610973731

Book Review. Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way by J. I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett.

2011-07-30T14:25:00.006+01:00

J. I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett
Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2010, 238pp, paperback,
ISBN: 978 0 8010 6838 6

J. I. Packer needs little introduction; his co-author Gary A. Parrett was one of Packer’s former students at Regent College, Canada, and he is now professor of educational ministries and worship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the USA.

This book’s ‘Introduction’ (9-19) outlines the reason for these two men teaming together in this noble project, one that seeks to recover the practice of catechesis in the church. Their vision ‘assumes the existence of authoritative truth that needs to be taught’ (11). Every reader concerned about the rise of liberalism and doctrine-less Christianity within evangelicalism, will resonate with this book’s analysis, concerns and assessment of a widespread problem. The authors do not underestimate the challenge and they incisively write that there is a ‘resistance to authoritative instruction within the Christian community’ and that too often ‘today’s agenda is learning Bible stories rather than being grounded in truths about the Triune God’ (11).

This book contains an introduction, followed by ten chapters which argue for the recovery of doctrinal instruction, as something that has practical ramifications for the church. The first chapter ‘Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way’ contends that catechesis is derived from one of the NT words for teaching, katēcheō (Luke 1:3-4, Acts 18:25, for example). Their definition is: ‘Catechesis is the church’s ministry of grounding and growing God’s people in the Gospel and it’s implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight’ (29). They helpfully outline that instruction can be for ‘seekers’, for children or baptismal preparation, and the ongoing teaching of believers (29). The second chapter, ‘Catechesis Is a (Very!) Biblical Idea’, is excellent, in that it spells out for the target audience, evangelical Protestants, that catechesis is not only biblical, but that it is a biblical imperative (50).

The third chapter is ‘The Waxing and Waning of Catechesis’. The authors comment that ‘within evangelical circles, conservative Presbyterians and other Reformed believers probably represent the only major groups that have regular acquaintance with the notion of catechesis’ (33). They pinpoint part of the waning of doctrinal instruction in the church to the rise of the Sunday school model for the teaching of children (71-72). They highlight that Baptists and other denominations would commonly reject reformed catechisms because they taught a different view on baptism, one that upheld that the infants of the members of the visible church are to be baptised (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 95). They propose that catechetical instruction was unfortunately replaced with a form of biblical moralism, one that lacks doctrinal content. This analysis is searching and it is a much needed exposé of a contemporary weakness, one that needs to be addressed within evangelicalism.

Some of the later chapters are perhaps too technical in their handling of this subject and their ecumenical approach, and sympathy with the Roman Catholic Church, most notably in Chapter eight, mars, what is otherwise a much-needed book; one that is highly recommended for ministers, elders and Sunday school teachers.

The recovery of catechesis to enable Christian’s and churches to know their faith well is undoubtedly counter-cultural and those churches that seek to be contemporary at the expense of a historic appreciation of the church would do well to listen to what this book suggests.

What do you Look for, when you are Looking for a Church?

2011-07-26T11:24:00.005+01:00

This is a very important question, one that most often reveals our priorities or even the spiritual temperature of our Christianity. Maybe before you read on, with this blog article, you should pause for a few minutes, get a pencil and paper and write down a list of the things that are important to you when looking for a church.

If you have not made this list, perhaps do so later and examine what you have put down, and ask yourself if your list would match what the NT apostles would counsel you with, were you to live in First Century Corinth or Jerusalem. In talking to people I find it fascinating, illuminating but sadly quite often discouraging to hear what people are looking for when they seek out a church. It can include things such as a church in their own community, a church with a good range of activities for their children, a place where lots of students go, a church with a high quality 'praise band' and so on. However, are these the first priorities that our Lord Jesus Christ would expect his disciples to be looking for?

At the time of the reformation, the Christian church in the face of spiritual abuses, Roman Catholic idolatry and indulgences, they had to ask some hard questions as to what represented the marks or distinguishing features of a true church. In the light of Scripture they concluded that there are two to three marks of a true church. These are:

1. The preaching of pure doctrine.
2. The right administration of the sacraments (there are two only and these are baptism and the Lord's Supper)
3. Church discipline (this means a well-ordered church with discipline for members on moral and doctrinal matters).

Sadly, such distinguishing marks are rarely understood by many Christians or they are not sought for, when people look for a church. I have read a book recently on the church, one that seeks a so-called 'missional' approach to church, but this missional church does not consider that preaching, that is the public proclamation of pure doctrine, as something that is necessary for the advance of the church and the gospel. They claim to be gospel driven without gospel preaching that is public, propositional and filled with pure doctrine. Perplexing, but all too common!

In closing, let us hear the words of holy Scripture:

Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded his apostles: 'That repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations (Luke 24:47)'.

Paul told the church at Corinth that: 'For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2:23)'.

Maybe some of us need to reevaluate what to look for when seeking a church. Certainly the preaching of pure doctrine is essential to our spiritual well-being and if this is not found in our neighbourhood then we need to be prepared to travel rather than commit ourself to a church which may be less-than-best for God's people!

Are you Looking for a Church in Sheffield?

2011-07-12T09:34:00.003+01:00

Maybe you are coming to Sheffield to study at one of our Universities or perhaps you are looking for a church that is committed to biblical preaching. We would like to warmly invite you to come and worship with us at Sheffield Presbyterian Church.

We are a new church plant of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales and we were formally constituted in April 2011. As such we are not huge, but we are enthusiastic concerning the gospel of God and our sense of mission in our world, the North of England. There are a number of values that we consider essential in order for a church to be healthy.

Firstly, we are wholeheartedly committed to doctrinal preaching in order to feed the sheep and to evangelise the lost. We are a confessional church and this means that we uphold the Bible as having supreme authority over the church and our subordinate standards for doctrine are the Westminster Standards. We believe that holding to a historic church confession gives the church stability, like an anchor, and this means that we are connected to God's church historically but also geographically.

Secondly, we believe that our public worship should be ordered so that it is God-centred, focussing on simplicity with reverence, but also great joy at what our God has done in and through the mediator Jesus Christ. In an age where so many churches compete as to who has the best music band, we may seem a little different. However, we explain that our principles are firmly rooted theologically from the Bible's commands as to how God is to be worshipped. We maintain that simplicity marked the New Testament pattern of worship. The ingredients of our public worship includes the reading of the Scriptures, public prayer, the preaching of the Word of God, the singing of Psalms and hymns, with our worship beginning with a call to worship and closing with a benediction.

We have members who testify that they wish that they had found confessional presbyterianism 20 years ago. Our desire is to feed God's sheep, to care for them and to be faithful to the Lord. Confessional presbyterianism has a long history in Sheffield which goes back to at least to the seventeenth century. Presbyterianism was recovered through the Genevan reformation but it is a pattern which, we believe was established by the apostles and set in motion by the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church.

Our church website is www.sheffieldpres.org.uk

We warmly invite you to worship with us on the Lord's Day at 11.00am and 4.00pm and the details of our meeting place can be found on the website.

Paying Tribute to a Living Church Historian: Iain Murray

2011-06-17T11:39:00.005+01:00

Iain Murray, one of the founders of the Banner of Truth, has produced a range of excellent of writings. He has written many books and he is an excellent church historian; I would like to draw your attention to three books particularly. These are Evangelicalism Divided, Revival and Revivalism and his biography on Jonathan Edwards.

His biography on Edwards gave me a 'sense of God' unlike most other books. I often write comments at the front of the book and this is what I wrote in November 2005 after I had read it. 'An excellent biography that stirs me to greater holiness, dedication to study, and preaching ... this stirs up my zeal for God, theology, revival and missions'.

Revival and Revivalism became for me one of those books that marks a turning point in your pilgrimage. Murray nails the issues of our our day by returning to church history, especially 'The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858'. The philosopher George Santayana stated that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” and Murray applies this for the church's profit in his books.

Revival and Revivalism is a monument to biblical truth and I urge all Christian leaders, preachers and elders to read it with a pen or pencil in their hand, in order to underline every dynamic truth that applies to their current situation.

The last of the three books is not least, but it is probably least read. It is Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Change in the Years 1950 to 2000. I have so many markings highlighted in this book, one that I read twice, it is hard to know where to begin. This book highlights the many inroads of liberal thinking into the current so-called 'evangelical' world. It is gracious but firm and it being read by many more people could possibly rescue many from an evangelical collapse that continues unnoticed in the absence of good confessional churches.

Murray writes: 'If we sacrifice the truth today for short term influence we cannot guarantee what our conduct will be tomorrow. When the day to fight is postponed the very will to fight may go from us (p 249)'.

We need to pause and think about this comment and better still go and buy these books, read them and and let church history deliver us all from many errors!

Is it OK to Evaluate Tim Keller's Approach to Scripture?

2011-06-06T10:09:00.008+01:00

In the last 3-4 years I have been surprised how many people are influenced by Tim Keller. I say surprised because I had not read much by him and this left me understandably ignorant and a little non-plussed. Having first met the Lord in 1986, I have grown weary of the latest bestsellers, the latest hot names in the Christian world, and the latest methods in 'how can your church be successful?'. It may sound uninteresting but the ancient paths work best because they steadfastly seek to glorify God and do not need to change to pander to the next generations desires.

What has caught my attention though, has been that when I speak to people, especially Christian ministers who hold Tim Keller in high esteem, is that they often rave about Keller's preaching. One man described him to me as being 'outstanding' and probably the best he had ever heard. Recently, I took time to listen to Keller's sermon on the Trinity where he expounds the baptism of Jesus of from Mark's Gospel (1:9-13). The link is: http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/father-son-and-holy-spirit

Was I surprised? Well I would have been had I not read all of his books in the last year. He begins with the Bible passage and then makes quantum leaps to interpret the baptism of Jesus as a 'divine dance' between the three persons of the Trinity. His method of handling the Bible left me quite simply 'scratching my head'. Where does this 'divine dance' suddenly spring from regarding this passage? It could appear as mystifying at best or at worst to be a form of biblical eisegesis (an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter's own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text). In short, the lesson remains. No matter how successful someone is, we must not put them on a pedestal where they are beyond critical evaluation. (We are not talking about having a critical spirit which is always unhelpful.)

The apostolic injunction remains concerning all of us:

But test everything; hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:21) Testing everything, includes testing our favourite preachers also, in the light of Scripture!

The Theology of the Hymns of Augustus Montague Toplady

2011-05-30T09:25:00.004+01:00

Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78) was a preacher. Most of the best hymn writers were. Toplady was an ordained Anglican minister before he left to become the preacher at the French Calvinist Church in London in 1775. What is particularly striking about many of the hymns that he wrote is that they are filled with tremendous biblical theology. Toplady was a thoroughly convinced Calvinist and here is a brief selection of some of his hymns.

The classic for which Toplady is known is 'Rock of Ages' and look at the theology of these words which affirm the doctrine of justification by faith, through trusting in the merits of Christ alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Toplady clearly believed and preached the truth displayed in Romans 3:24 'and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'. The question is 'do we?'.

Toplady's 'A Debtor to Mercy Alone' is another classic; it is because the words are saturated with the 'apostles' teaching (Acts 2:42)'. He knew our just deserve outside of the gospel is the wrath of God as he pens:

A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on, my person and off’ring to bring.
The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.

In the mind of Toplady, God's covenant mercy alone, saves us from the deserved wrath of God. Paul states in Romans 1:17 and18 that there are two things revealed in the gospel; the righteousness of God and the wrath of God.

For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed ... For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

We need to pray for the recovery of these twin truths in the preaching of the gospel in churches.

Finally a Toplady hymn (actually it was altered by him but written by John Bakewell) that is not so well known is 'Hail, Thou Once Despisèd Jesus!'. The words of this hymn fill our minds with thoughts concerning the precious atonement made by our Lord Jesus Christ. The second verse should thrill the heart of every Christian.

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, all our sins on Thee were laid;
by almighty love anointed, Thou hast full atonement made:
all Thy people are forgiven through the virtue of Thy blood;
opened is the gate of heaven; peace is made for man with God.

For those men who are involved in preaching the gospel, may we all make sure that we keep Jesus Christ and him crucified as central to the theme of our preaching and sermon preparation.

The Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ

2011-05-17T17:56:00.002+01:00

Jonathan Edwards describes the incarnation in ‘The History of Redemption’ in these terms: ‘Christ's incarnation was a greater and more wonderful thing than ever had yet come to pass. The creation of the world was a very great thing, but not so great as the incarnation of Christ. It was a great thing for God to make the creature, but not so great as for the Creator himself to become a creature.1

To hold a wrong view of the incarnation is to err regarding the atonement. Therefore in contemplating our subject, great care is needed, great joy is to be expected, and great shall be the praise of the redeemed, when they worship the risen and glorified Lamb of God in the New Jerusalem.

We must not regurgitate the same familiar phrases concerning our Lord week after week in the ministry of preaching. Paul the apostle said that he determined to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Could the same be said of us among our flocks and in our preaching? Do we search the scriptures to gain fresh insights into Christ’s person and his work? This is why Christology is so vital to health of the church and the work of the gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel makes it irrefutably clear that the incarnation of Christ Jesus did not produce ‘a diluted form of God’. Our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood (this is a quotation from the Creed of Chalcedon).

Matthew introduces our Lord to be the Son of David and the Son of Abraham: He is God’s appointed king to fulfill all the biblical covenants and our Lord’s favorite title in speaking of himself is probably ‘Son of Man’. In healing the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8), Jesus openly explains his authority, in that he can do what God alone can do. Namely to forgive sins. The Son of Man is fully God and fully man. Again we meet the doctrine of the hypostatic union of the two natures of Christ as Chalcedon states.

[The] two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence.

The Incarnation and Preaching

Our aim must be to fill the hearts and minds of the worshippers of the Triune God with a rich knowledge of Christ Jesus. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:18:
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Preaching is the high point of worship in the reformed tradition and therefore we need to study hard to ensure that Christ Jesus is centre stage but it must be Jesus without confusion, without notions that lead to error, without division from the Triune God. This is why the Creed of Chalcedon is so helpful and why our historic creeds and confessions must not be neglected.

Bitzer was a Banker!

2011-05-09T07:25:00.002+01:00

A Christian Minister pointed out to me last week an article in a chapter of a book by John Piper called 'Bitzer was a Banker!'. Piper's aim is to encourage but also rebuke the church and preachers who pay little attention to the biblical languages for their ministry. Here is an excerpt of what Piper writes.

His name was Heinrich Bitzer. He was a banker. A banker! Brothers, must we be admonished by the sheep as to what our responsibility is as shepherds? Evidently so. For we are surely not admonishing and encouraging each other to press on in Greek and Hebrew. And most seminaries, evangelical as well as liberal, have communicated by their curriculum emphases that learning Greek and Hebrew may have some value for a few rare folk but is optional for the pastoral ministry.

I have a debt to pay to Heinrich Bitzer, and I would like to discharge it by exhorting all of us to ponder his thesis: "The more a theologian detaches himself from the basic Hebrew and Greek text of Holy Scripture, the more he detaches himself from the source of real theology! And real theology is the foundation of a fruitful and blessed ministry".

The two sources for these quotes are: John Piper, Brothers, We are not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry and Heinrich Bitzer, ed., Light on the Path: Daily Scripture Readings in Hebrew and Greek.

May we all take seriously the need for the recovery of the biblical languages for the evangelical and reformed church. Let us pray for this!

Some Books that have Helped Me.

2011-05-04T08:26:00.005+01:00

Last Monday, we were on a walk in Durham with people from three churches in EPCEW: from Durham, Gateshead and Sheffield. One man asked me 'what books had influenced me over the years?' and it got me thinking again regarding some excellent books that were really guiding lights at certain junctures in my own reformed pilgrimage. Here are some books that I would like to recommend that you get hold of, even though some of them may be out of print and you will need to search out second hand copies.

Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination

Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism

J. I. Packer, Among God's Giants

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Sermons on Romans, especially Chapter 1, Chapters 3-4 and Chapter 9.

Perhaps Romans Chapter 9 is one of the least preached chapters from the New Testament. This is a possibility, but whether this is true or not, one thing I know, it is that when I had read MLJ's sermons on Romans Chapter 9, it took me weeks to recover, as my Arminian thinking was crushed under the weight of biblical truth.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9:16.

What Theological or Pastoral Questions do you Have?

2011-04-28T08:43:00.002+01:00

I have noticed on the statistics of my blog that there around 500-800 hits each month and people view from the USA to Russia, and from Sweden to Australia. This blog is small compared to many, but it tells me that there is a real interest from some people for some serious answers to theological questions.

If there is a specific theological or pastoral question that you would like an answer to, then post your question to this blog post and I will do my best to answer them. If not, I will continue to plod on, doing my best to see the 'ancient paths' of biblical and reformed theology recovered.

Kevin Bidwell

Preaching that is Contemporary!

2011-04-16T10:26:00.005+01:00

Within evangelical and reformed circles there appears to be the usage of the word 'contemporary', as a broad umbrella term, to express the desire for the evangelical and reformed church to move forward, advance, and to see real growth. These may be noble aims, provided that they remain anchored in sound theology. We must not become contemporary at the expense of Scriptural commands. In this discussion I think that 2 Corinthians 4:5 can help us all. What does it say?

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.

Firstly, Paul says that we 'proclaim', that is 'we preach'. Preaching is propositional, it is declaratory, it is not intended to simply stimulate discussion. Now let us think for a moment. Postmodern man does not like preaching, in fact, sinful man hates preaching because it is God's method and it confronts sinful man with God's claims to repent and believe in the gospel. Sadly, I see moves toward downplaying the necessity of preaching in the advance of the church. The word preaching is often replaced with 'speaking', 'giving a talk' or even 'sharing'. This attitude belies a theological downgrade. The apostles Paul and Peter, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Wesley and Whitefield were all preachers: and so must we be, that is those who are called to this office.

Secondly, I hear in some men's preaching, a desire to be contemporary communicators and the way they set out to achieve this is by using a particular style to keep the congregations attention. They read a passage, then they give a bite-sized 'gospel explanation' followed by a story, often about themselves, then a bit more Bible explanation, followed by another relevant story about themselves. What is the problem? Paul states firmly: For what we proclaim is not ourselves!

This trendy method is seriously flawed because in an attempt to be a good communicator, it has ended up exalting the preacher with the many illustrations of himself. For those who would like to read further on this matter: Martin Lloyd-Jones, Sermon on Romans 1:9, For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son.

Thirdly, our message should be filled with truth concerning Jesus Christ our Lord: He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. The Lord Jesus Christ should be the beginning, end and the thread throughout our sermons. If we want illustrations, then why not search the Scriptures for illustration material, but avoid mentioning yourself often, in the sermon. We dare not draw the minds and hearts of worshippers away from Christ to ourselves! Let all those of us who are preachers, examine ourselves and consider 2 Cor. 4:5, in order to reform our preaching according to the pattern of Scripture.

Sheffield Presbyterian Church (April 2011 Update)

2011-04-06T15:09:00.003+01:00

In Sheffield Presbyterian Church we have now been conducting our public worship services on the Lord's Day for over 6 months, and Lord willing, on Easter Sunday, Rev. Brian Norton of Durham Presbyterian Church will be leading the worship and receiving the initial membership of the church. He will also administer our first Lord's Supper, as this new church plant will be constituted. What a joyful day we hope that this will be!

At a time when there is much bad news and spiritual decline, we rejoice in the grace of God and the work of God in this church plant. Many people testify that their spiritual needs are being met, as they are being fed on a diet of 'straight down the line worship (without entertainment)' and carefully prepared exegetical sermons.

Check out our website www.sheffieldpres.org.uk You are welcome to come and join us for worship. Above all, let us join together in praying for an evangelical awakening in England!

Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved! (Psalm 80:3).

Back to the Bible!

2011-03-23T13:42:00.006Z

It seems so obvious that it is almost embarrassing to say it, but it needs to be repeatedly declared: "Back to the Bible". In my life I am constantly surprised by the neglect of biblical commitment and this is seen in many sections of the church. I remember as a young Christian that I recognised that many Christians had a 'pick n mix' attitude to the Scripture and often the Bible was not their first base for Christian ethics, doctrine, and even sermons.

As a new Christian I made a simple vow to the Lord that included two things. Firstly I told the Lord that "I would submit my entire life and every part of my life to the authority of Scripture" and secondly I vowed that "if Scripture convinces me of something that contradicts my opinion, then I will change my opinion to conform to Scripture".

Over the years I have been perplexed by Christians missing the first base: The Bible. As a boy we used to play rounders in the Summer holidays. We would use a tennis racket or a cricket bat and put down four bases. Someone would hit the ball a long way but in their haste they would not run around the outside of the first base and they would be declared out for cheating. Sometimes they would be stumped before they got to first base. Some Christians have not even got to 'first base' which is a wholehearted and total commitment to the authority of Scripture.

Do you submit to the authority of the Bible in its entirety? Are you prepared to change your views where the Bible disagrees with you?

The Lord Jesus Christ often uses this phrase: "Have you never read in the Scriptures?" Matthew 21:42 (also Matthew 12:3, 5; 19:4; 21:42).

Could it be said of you, that 'you have not read' because you have neglected the greatest treasure that this world has to offer?

Learning from the Book of James

2011-03-08T15:21:00.003Z

In our midweek meetings at Sheffield Presbyterian Church (www.sheffieldpres.org.uk) we are going through the Book of James. Many are testifying that they are benefitting from this small New Testament letter. Perhaps one of the reasons why we are profiting so much from it, is because of our approach to the letter. What do I mean?

Many commentaries are quick to point out that the Book of James is a letter mainly concerned with practical instruction. For example Gordon Fee in How to Read the Bible Book by Book, wrongly in my view, puts forward that the material is ‘directed specifically at Christian behavior, rather than propounding Christian doctrine (398, Fee)’. Not only is Fee wrong but a lesson remains. If we get the idea of a theme for a Bible Book wrong, then it straightjackets our approach to learning other things outside of our presupposed conclusion of a books theme.

James is a pastoral letter. It is written for Christians in Christian churches among the Jewish diaspora. There does not appear to be a single dominant theme and some commentators teach that ‘it is more or less a random collection of ethical instructions for believers in general’. However, there are far more rich themes than just a set of ethical instructions. For example James 1:18 is in many ways a condensed summary of Ephesians 1:3-14. It reads:

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (1:18).

This one verse teaches divine sovereignty over salvation, the necessity for the new birth, unconditional election and the need for Gospel preaching (the Word of truth). This Book is like a tree laden with rich doctrinal themes, some of which need to be badly recovered. In many ways a statement in the Westminster Confession (Chapter 11 'Of Justification') helpfully summarises some of the doctrines in James.

Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

May I encourage you to read the Book of James with fresh eyes and with a desire to learn from this majestic epistle!

The Church and the Law of God

2011-02-23T08:31:00.007Z

A brand new book has just passed through my hands by Philip Ross, From the Finger of God: The Biblical and Theological Basis for the Threefold Division of the Law. It is rather a lengthy title and it is a book that is quite academic but it's argument is very important. It is this. The law of God manifests a threefold division; the moral, ceremonial and civil aspects of the law. While our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all aspects of the law in his perfect life of obedience and his atoning death, the moral law does forever bind all, as the Westminster Confession rightly explains.

Does this affect you? Definitely! It is because we see many churches abandoning the role of the law for Christians and churches and the consequences are disastrous. Let me ask you; can you recite the Ten Commandments? Do not feel guilty, but your answer reveals the neglect that the moral law of God has undergone. Of course we are not saved by the law but by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-5) but the law of God frames our way of worship and our way of life.

When the moral law of God is side-lined by the church, there are two immediate consequences. Firstly, worship will be taken over by man-made methods. Why? Because the first four of the Ten Commandments teach us that Scripture regulates how we are to worship God. By abandoning the law of God, indirectly the consequence is, that we now need to decide how to worship God instead of Scripture. Often an obsession with evangelism, rather than the purity of God-centred worship, then begins to drive the agenda.

Secondly, the power of gospel preaching is weakened because an understanding of sin is weakened. Why?
'Through the law comes the knowledge of sin, Romans 3:20'.

Here is some homework for you.

1. Read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17.
2. Read Romans Chapter 7 to hear Paul's positive view of the role of the law in the life of the church.
3. Read Chapter 19 of the Westminster Confession 'Of the Law of God'.

Lloyd-Jones and his Book "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount"

2011-02-12T09:11:00.003Z

In an age where many people like to lay claim to the title 'reformed' but then they sometimes sadly feed on books which do not engage in solid biblical exposition, I would like to recommend a book that John Stott calls 'a spiritual classic'. This is 'Studies in the Sermon on the Mount' by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (IVP). Lloyd-Jones is of course no longer with us but his rich explanation of the beatitudes and the Lord's teachings on the Sermon on the Mount can still help many hungry and thristy pilgrims today!

This book really helped me in a time when I was searching for answers and I found little comfort from many. Sadly, I would observe much preaching and worship services where there was a manifest famine of preaching that was simply 'out of the Scripture'. This book unfolds the Scripture, it takes the biblical text seriously and this is what is needed for truly contemporary ministry. Sometimes, men from good traditions think that they can reinvent the wheel and they think that we need to be contemporary to win a lost world by singing contemporary songs and using contemporary approaches to evangelism. "This is what we need", they say. Sadly this philosophy is at best missing the point, and at worst it creates a form of Christianity alien to what our Lord presented as the pattern for ministry.

This book helpfully expounds man's need in every generation; searching, well prepared sermons that stick close to the Bible. May we have less internet illustrations, less internet jokes and less internet cliches in the pulpit and more solid, faithful, exegetical sermons.

Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Je 6:16). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

The Work of the Pastor

2011-02-07T06:42:00.004Z

Some spare time over Christmas gave me the opportunity to read a range of books simply, ones that were for my personal benefit and not directly for ministerial work. I generally keep a shelf of books set aside for times such as these, and I eagerly devour my collection of personal books, when time permits. One such book that I could not put down was The Work of the Pastor by William Still. It is lively, invigorating, incisive, confirming and encouraging. William Still teaches on the work of the pastor and its great need for the church in every generation. It would be very helpful, not only for ministers and elders but also for congregations, because it helps us all to know what we should be praying for, and that is for faithful pastors.

Here are a few excerpts:

'The pastor is to called to feed the sheep, even if the sheep do not want to be fed. He is certainly not to become an entertainer of goats. Let goats entertain goats, and let them do it in goatland. You will certainly not turn goats into sheep by pandering to their goatishness (23)'.

'We are suffering from an evangelistic complex, an obsession with evangelism, which at its best is too fruitless (81)'.

'Too many ministers find other things to do, either because they do not like the pastoral ministry, and find it too hard, or because it creates too many problems working with people, or because they have gone cold and dead on it and it doesn't cut much ice, and they are discouraged (86)'.

Even if you do not read this book, may we all lay hold of the promise in Jeremiah 3:15, in prayer:

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

The Authority of Scripture (Part 4)

2011-01-24T10:04:00.006Z

The authority of Scripture is so important to the health of Christianity; it is important for me to keep working on this subject on this blog, but to approach the subject from different angles. Hopefully the 'penny will drop' for many and a new resolve and commitment will be given to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Our view of Scripture shapes the church's approach to worship, evangelism, preaching, discipleship, and so much more.

In the Second Reformation in the United Kingdom in the seventeenth century, there was a concern that the authority of Scripture was only being paid 'lip service' and there was the signing of The Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. It pledged to the 'reformation of religion in the kingdoms of England and Ireland in doctrine, worship, discipline and government, according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed churches'.

Here we note that a commitment to the authority of Scripture has to be worked out in practice in four areas.

A. Doctrine
B. Worship
C. Discipline
D. Church Government

The Word of God has explicit teaching on all four aspects of the church. Sadly there has been a movement for many years in the UK that teaches that the Bible does not give clear guidelines on public worship or on how churches should be governed. This opens the door to private interpretations initially, which gives way to unbelief and widescale pragmatism. Simply deciding on the basis of 'what works best' not on the basis of Romans 4:3, 'For what does the Scripture say?'

Ask yourself some questions. Do you believe that the Scripture has clear teaching on the above four categories? Are you concerned as to whether the Bible has clear teaching on these subjects? Does your church believe that the Bible has clear teaching on these subjects?

If your answer is 'no' to each of these questions then you need to engage in personal critical evaluation. You may have unknowingly embraced liberal influences without even knowing it.

Let us join together in prayer for a recovery of the authority of Scripture in the lives of Christians and Churches!

Acts 2:42 'And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching ...'

The Authority of Scripture (Part 3)

2011-01-12T14:24:00.006Z

It is interesting that certain of my blog posts attract more attention than others. I do hope that this one will be of interest because our subject is crucial to the health of the church. I want to briefly mention five tests, to determine whether you accept the authority of Scripture or not. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says 'examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves'. The apostle John also taught that we we must not 'believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1)'. If it was true then, how much more the case today ... false prophets are everywhere, not least on so-called Christian TV channels.

Here are five simple tests to examine yourself, as to whether you hold to the authority of Scripture.

1. Do you seek extra-biblical revelations, dreams, visions and words? If the answer is yes, then you have fallen at the first fence and you really need to re-evaluate your belief system. Paul told Timothy that 'all scripture is breathed out by God 2 Tim. 3:16'. If the extra-biblical words that you are seeking agree with Scripture, then they are needless, and if they disagree they are false! The Bible is sufficient for the church.

2. Do you endorse the ministry of women preachers, elders, and even deacons? If you say yes to this question, then the heart of the issue is your rejection of the authority of Scripture. 1 Timothy 3:1-2, 3:12 and Titus 1:5-6 and all of the New Testament make it plain that the teaching of the Scriptures in the public assembly is to be by the elders, men who are to be qualified for the task. Men qualified in doctrine, gifting, character, while also having been tested by the church's presbytery.

3. Can you read the book The Shack without having a problem with it?
The Shack by William Young has sold millions of copies and most probably it has been read by professing Christians, mostly, and yet it is a blasphemous distortion of the Christian God. If you have read this book without any 'red flags' in your mind, then you need to ask yourself some hard questions.

4. Is your church committed to the exposition of Scripture? This is an easy test because your church preference probably is the most discernible aspect as to whether you are committed to the authority of Scripture. If you can attend a church week in and week out, one that fails to take the Bible seriously or one that only pays lip service to biblical exposition, then you may have become like Samson on Delilah's lap. Either you have fallen asleep spiritually or you are been sincerely misled and you need to seek out a church committed to the authority of the Bible.

In conclusion, let me quote the English puritan Thomas Watson (who was born in Yorkshire) on the matter of reading the Scriptures:

‘Read the Bible with reverence. Think in every line you read that God is speaking to you’
‘Read with seriousness. It is a matter of life and death; by this Word you must be tried’.
‘Read the Word with affection’.
‘Read the Scripture, not only as a history, but as a love letter sent you from God, which may affect your hearts’.

The Authority of Scripture (Part 2)

2011-01-01T20:56:00.005Z

Here we continue with a mini-blog series on the all important theme of the authority of Scripture. Should it be a surprise to any of us, that in 2011, God's Word as revealed in the Holy Bible, will be under attack? It certainly should not be a surprise for any Bible reading Christian. Why? Well let us look at the fall of mankind.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? (Genesis 3:1)".

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4-5)".

What does the Serpent do? Firstly he undermines the authenticity of God's Word; 'Did God actually say ...'. Secondly he undermined the validity of God's commands and he asserts 'you will not surely die'. Thirdly he suggests a false revised interpretation 'you will be like God'. We could call this the first Jacques Derrida style deconstructionist and post-modern reading of Scripture!

The followers of this kind of approach to the Bible are sadly everywhere and they often are allowed to continue unchallenged. The old line liberals would clearly represent this category; people who outright deny the authority of the Bible, that God is the author of the Scriptures, liberals who radically reinterpret God's commands with their fanciful imaginations. However, this erroneous thinking and teaching has also crept in unawares into sections of the church professing to be evangelical and we will look at some tell-tale signs of this rejection of the authority of Scripture in our next blog. The Bible does not simply contain the Word of God but the Bible is the very Word of God; inerrant, infallible, sufficient and thrilling!

The Authority of Scripture:Part 1

2010-12-20T18:45:00.003Z

It is my endeavour to re-visit the issue of the authority of Scripture because in my many dealings with many people this seems to be a fundamental problem. Sometimes I talk with people and after a while it seems as if we are almost talking about two different forms of the Christian faith. One that accepts and rests upon the Bible as revealed in the 66 books of the Bible and another which gives mental assent to the Bible but these people also seek additional revelations outside of Scripture, such as personal prophecies, dreams and personal opinions. A post-modern view regularly places one's personal opinion above the plain teaching of Scripture. The common expression can be heard; "That is your opinion but I don't agree!". Perhaps a question should be introduced instead, one which the apostle Paul asks in Romans 4:3: 'What does the Scripture say?'

It will be my aim to look briefly in the coming time, at a number of issues that impinge on the authority of Scripture. However the first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is a problem. Let us ask ourselves: 'Do we accept the full and final authority of Scripture as revealed in the 66 books of the Bible? Are we willing to search the Scriptures concerning all matters of faith and practice? Do we submit to the plain teachings of Scripture, even when it contradicts our own opinions?

In conclusion for this first blog post on this subject, let us hear the teaching of Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:15-17 where Paul exhorts Timothy to pay heed to the written scriptures:

'... how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work'.

Let us make a New Year's resolution to commit ourselves and submit to, the authority of Scripture!

Some Suggested Books for Christmas Presents

2010-12-10T08:18:00.002Z

The time is drawing near when many of us will unwrap our Christmas presents and what better gift than a quality Christian book, one that is filled with sound doctrine. Here is a list of potential books that you could give some family members of friends.

Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism. A sound panorama of Christian history from 1750-1850 and it will help people to understand the issues that the church faces today. An excellent book, a monument to biblical truth!

Graham Miller, Calvin's Wisdom. An excellent book of pithy quotes from Calvin. An invaluable resource for preachers.

Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision. A heart-warming book of Puritan prayers. This teaches us not just to present a list of requests to the Lord but to fill our prayer with thanksgiving praise and adoration for who God is.

Terry Johnson, The Parables of Jesus. This could be used as a basis for Bible study, family devotions or sermon preparation. As ever Johnson is clear, straightforward, accurate and very readable.

Sing Psalms, Free Church of Scotland. A great resource for recovering the singing of metrical Psalms in modern English.

I hope that this whets your appetite for Christmas shopping.

Kevin Bidwell

Burial or Cremation: What does the Bible Teach?

2010-12-03T09:32:00.002Z

This matter of burial or cremation was forcefully brought to my attention over 15 years ago as my wife and i travelled to The Netherlands for the funeral of my Father-in-law. As I spoke to the undertaker, who was a committed Dutch Reformed Christian, we discussed the matter of burial and cremation. I explained that I did not have a clear view on either and he confronted me in true Dutch style. He asserted that 'Cremation is not Christian!'. Sometimes we need a sharp rebuke to make us think through the issues at hand and as ever must go back to the Scriptures and let God's Word determine our views. This is what I did.

While it is true that burial or cremation does not affect our eternal destiny, because we are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-10), the fact remains that the OT and NT saints have consistently practiced the burial of people, who are made in the image of God, in the hope of the future resurrection. A helpful booklet that handles this matter sensitively is published by the Banner of Truth and it is called: Burial or Cremation: Does it Matter? by D. Howard.

It is not co-incidental that God declared to Abraham 'You shall be buried in a good old age (Gen. 15:15)' when God spoke the promises of the Abrahamic covenant. God had spoken: Abraham would be buried! Similarly our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was buried, consistent with the practice of handling the dead, since the beginning. The practice of the burial of the Christian dead appears to be one of obedience to the Bible, a manifestation of our hope in the future resurrection and a sensitive way of handling a loved one who is made in the image of God.

We cannot alter our past practice but I hope that this little blog article stimulates some people to seriously think through this matter in our own generation.

Paying Tribute to a Living Preacher: Professor Ted Donnelly

2010-11-08T07:22:00.002Z

It is a delight for me to write this article, in the hope that our own generation would rediscover the enormous significance of preachers and preaching for the true welfare of God's church. Calvin wrote many years ago that 'nothing is more ruinous to the Church than for God to take away faithful pastors' (Jer. I: 181). It is also true that a godly pastor must also be a preacher, one who can feed the flock of God and evangelise the lost. Sometimes people say that a man is a good pastor but he cannot preach. This kind of thinking is not the biblical pattern for the office of pastor. A pastor must be able to preach and teach!

One such living example of outstanding pastoral preaching is Professor Edward (Ted) Donnelly. While he has written two fine books, both published by the Banner of Truth Trust (Peter: Eyewitness of His Majesty and Biblical Teaching on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell), he is best known as a preacher. I have had the joy of hearing him on a number of different occasions and in my opinion he is a 'modern day Spurgeon'. Naturally he has his own distinctive style but there is a great sense of being brought in to the presence of God when one sit's under his preaching. Many of his sermons are available on Sermon Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=trinity560

If you are in Northern Ireland then make every effort to visit Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church to hear him in person and to worship with their delightful congregation. The church website is:http://www.trinityrpc.com/

Above all, let us pray for a recovery of fine pastoral preaching in our own generation!

Paying Tribute to a Living Theologian: Robert Letham

2010-11-01T12:20:00.003Z

The Reformed world is often known for it's appreciation of it's rich historical heritage but perhaps it is not so well known for it's commendation of living theologians. We thank God for the lives and works of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owen, Archibald Alexander and many others like them. But who is firmly holding the reformed torch today? I would like to draw your attention to a contemporary living theologian, one whom I know personally.

Rev Dr Robert Letham is currently the Senior Tutor in Systematic and Historical Theology at the Wales Evangelical School of Theology (WEST) and his profile can be found at this link: http://www.west.org.uk/index.php/aboutus/faculty

A Presbyterian minister, Bob has served congregations in New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware, the latter for over 17 years. He has taught theology at London School of Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) and Reformed Theological Seminary (Washington DC/Baltimore). Married to Joan, an American, for 35 years, he has three grown children: two daughters (both married), a son and a grandson. Bob Letham has supervised me through a MTh and PhD since 2007 and therefore I have first-hand knowledge of the man I am commending. Putting this aside, in what way can his writings help the church in 2010/11?

I would like to briefly commend two of Bob's books:

The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship, Phillipsburg: P & R, 2007.

This is perhaps the finest book on the doctrine of the Trinity currently available from the reformed constitution of churches. It is an outstanding piece of scholarship, one that is historically rooted, yet connected to the doctrine of the church. In other words, this theology seeks to enrich real churches in the real world of the twenty-first century.

The Westminster Assembly: Reading It's Theology in Historical Context: Phillipsburg: P & R, 2009.

This work seeks to recover the historical context of the vital work of The Westminster Assembly. It is highly readable, informative, helpful and theological necessary.

Bob is a theologian, preacher and churchman. He has written a number of other books, which you can quickly source with a search on google or ABE books.

Comfort for the Mourning

2010-10-23T19:36:00.006+01:00

In recent weeks we have suffered bereavement twice as a family. Firstly with the passing of a precious Dutch Christian from London, called Hetty Archbutt, who in her nineties entered 'Immanuel's Land'. She was a key person in my conversion to Christ and we have remained friends ever since and I am thankful that in God's providence, that I have been richly blessed with my Dutch wife, Maria.

A few days ago, James Wheatcroft, one of my uncles, died sooner than expected, though he was in his early eighties. He also was a Christian and there was a marvellous testimony from my auntie, as to how he knew that heaven was his destination, most clearly, especially in his final days. God is faithful to comfort all of his sheep in their final hours of death. As Psalm 23: 1 and 6 tells us: 'The Lord is my shepherd ... goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever'.

However, the Lord also comforts those who are bereaved and I have been ministered to richly in my mourning through the life, example and letters of Samuel Rutherford. Rutherford was exceptionally gifted theologically and he was one of the Scottish divines who worked to produce the Westminster Standards between 1643-7. He was also a pastor, one who had great compassion. A visiting Englishman said of him, that he 'heard a little fair [blonde-haired] man, and he showed me the loveliness of Christ'.

Rutherford wrote in one of his letters (74): 'I see grace grows best in winter'. It is in these winter seasons, especially in mourning, that we taste the sweet grace of Christ afresh. Rutherford's poems and letters are particularly comforting to those people who are grieving. Faith Cook writes; 'it is perhaps true to say that Rutherford excels most when he writes to the bereaved (Faith Cook, Grace in Winter: Rutherford in Verse, Banner of Truth, 1989, 86.)'.

I would highly recommend this book and the letters of Rutherford (which I have not read yet) in preparation for the time when you may find yourself unexpectedly or surprisingly mourning. At times like these we need a book like this already on our shelf, because grieving is not a time that you may feel like shopping for the book on the internet.

Thank God for faithful pastor's of Christ's flock like dear Samuel Rutherford and may we pray for the Lord to raise up men of his calibre in our spiritually thirsty land of the UK again!

Remember Your Leaders ...

2010-10-11T12:32:00.003+01:00

Hebrews 13:7 teaches us to 'remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith'.

One such 'leader' that I would like to draw your attention to, is the godly example of Archibald Alexander. You may be thinking, 'who is he?'. Alexander is no longer alive, but he is one of those godly men that I personally look forward to meeting in heaven. Dr SInclair Ferguson writes: 'The name [Archibald] "Alexander" is virtually synonomous with the story of the first one hundred years of Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and is woven deeply into the tapestry of its origin, development, and justly-deserved international fame'.

Alexander was a highly gifted, self-effacing and godly minister, one who devoted much of his life to training the next generation of godly Christian ministers, in his own day.

This gifted man taught his students: 'Cultivate habitually a sense of your own insufficiency' because he believed that this 'much depends on the blessing of God'. He is often filled with great pastoral insight and wisdom. Alexander taught his students that the committed pastor is someone who will exercise 'courtesy or affability'.

If this all-too brief blog posting has whet your appetite, then I highly recommend the following book.

James M. Garretson, Princeton and Preaching: Archibald Alexander and the Christian Ministry, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2005.

This book is a mine of precious gold for those called to the office of eldership and preacher.

Commending the Heidelberg Catechism

2010-10-04T12:55:00.003+01:00

This is a brief blog post to simply commend the reading and studying of the Heidelberg Catechism. It is filled with pastoral warmth, sound theology and pointed application. Here is a sample:

Question 5: Can you live up to all this [the law] perfectly?
Answer: No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbour.

As you can read, it is not written in a post-modern and politically correct style; thankfully.

The best way to find out about this 'gem of a document' is to get hold of a copy (they are quite cheap to buy I may add) from Amazon or elsewhere and just read it.

Enjoy!

Can we Learn Anything from a Presbyterian Understanding of the Local Church?

2010-09-27T16:45:00.003+01:00

There are perhaps four aspects of a Presbyterian pattern for a local church that comprise a compelling argument for this form of a church order. The headings chosen all begin with the letter ‘C’ and this is in some measure coincidental but it does however aid our remembrance. The headings that describe this suggested NT church model are confessional, connectional, church polity and covenantal theology. Let us begin by explaining these terms and their correspondence with the NT.

1. Confessional

The Presbyterian confession of faith for the English speaking world is the Westminster Confession along with the Larger and Shorter Catechism’s. These form a subordinate standard to the Bible but they give a summary of what is believed to be the Apostle’s doctrine (Acts 2:42). Obviously these documents were not known to the first century apostles and they are not infallible, however the doctrines they contain were known and written about by the early church elders and in a sense these doctrines are infallible. The nineteenth Century theologian Benjamin B. Warfield wrote about these three forms of unity and stated: ‘They are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion and of all that must be safeguarded if evangelical religion is to persist in the world’.[1]
To be reformed means holding to a reformed confession as a basis for church membership, preaching and as a means of interpreting Scripture. It is not uncommon to hear some Christians boldly assert that ‘all I need is the Bible’. It sounds right and yet it is profoundly mistaken because the real question centres on how we interpret the Bible. There are three options when it comes to church tradition. Tradition is something that is seen in a negative light, as if all tradition is ugly and something to be rejected as utterly false. According to Heiko Oberman there are two ways to understand the relation between Scripture and tradition, called Tradition I and Tradition II. [2]
Tradition I is the Reformed principle of Sola Scriptura which accepts the Scripture as the single and unique authority in the church while maintaining a high regard for tradition to learn from the past, so that we can more accurately interpret Scripture. Tradition II would represent the Roman Catholic Church that places church tradition on an equal footing with the Bible. Alistair McGrath observes a third category called Tradition 0 which is a ‘fundamentally individualistic approach to Scripture and tradition’.[3] McGrath explains that this places the ‘private judgement of the individual above the corporate judgment of the Christian church concerning the interpretation of Scripture’ and furthermore he believes it is ‘a recipe for anarchy’.[4]
This poses a searching question for anyone who would claim the name Christian. Which approach to tradition best represents your faith and your church? Presbyterian churches should hold to Tradition I but always need to be aware of the danger of allowing their confession to be exalted above Scripture. However, to live without any confession of faith at all, opens the door to rampant individualism that exalts human opinion above every form of authority.

2. Connectional

A second dynamic attribute of Presbyterianism is labelled as connectionalism. This means that local churches are in some measure inter-connected while maintaining their own identity and local church government. Thomas Witherow explains that there are three forms of church government and writes:
Prelacy is that form of church government which is administered by archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical office-bearers depending on that hierarchy; and is such as we see exemplified in the Greek Church, the Church of Rome, and the Church of England.
Independency is that form of church government whose distinctive principle is, that each separate congregation is under Christ subject to no external jurisdiction whatever, but has within itself—in its office-bearers and members—all the materials of government; and is such as it is present in practical operation among Congregationalists and Baptists.
Presbytery is that form of church government which is dispensed by presbyters or elders met in session, presbytery, synod or general assembly; and are such as presented in Presbyterian Churches.[5]

Undoubtedly God blesses different forms of church government but if we look at the NT it seems there was inter-church connection for ministry, accountability and support. For example the conference in Acts chapter fifteen that discussed doctrinal matters on behalf of local congregations and then Paul’s example in collecting diaconal aid for the saints in Jerusalem and Judea from many Gentile churches (1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2Cor. 8-9; Rom. 15: 22-9).
One pastor-theologian has commented that what led him from independency to Presbyterianism was the witnessing of gross injustices without any recourse alongside recognition of the interconnection of the one and many, the particular and universal. It is our contention that a Presbyterian form of church government principles, best represents the NT apostolic pattern.

3. Church Polity

In recent years there has been a lot of debate as to what are ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ doctrines for evangelical unity. While much of this discussion has been valuable it has sadly relegated the doctrine of the church to a position of secondary importance. This may have led some to altogether dismiss this crucial doctrine of which the NT has much to say.
The Presbyterian example that was modelled by the church in Geneva led by John Calvin and others has been replicated all over the world because men believed that a triform church office best represents the NT. This blueprint anticipates the offices of pastor (or minister), ruling elders and deacons. The pastor is primarily responsible as a man called, trained and equipped to lead the spiritual ministry of the church and most especially the preaching of pure doctrine. The elders are men who are to rule alongside the pastor and to oversee the church’s organisation, care and discipline (moral and doctrinal). The deacons do not constitute church rule but they are responsible for practical care and compassion. One of our aims must be faithfulness to Scripture, with an attitude that believes that we cannot improve on God’s plan. Obviously God’s plan will lead to the best care of the church and the best administration of the gospel. This three-fold pattern of church offices held by many Presbyterian Churches seems to faithfully describe the NT model for ministry.

4. Covenantal Theology

One of the exciting marks of Presbyterianism is its relentless pursuit for the accurate exegesis of Scripture and pure biblical theology—both are often sadly neglected in much of the modern church. Presbyterians emphasise a covenantal approach to theology which produces an important lens for biblical interpretation. This approach upholds continuity from Genesis to Revelation and the general view is that there was a covenant of works given to Adam before the fall and then the covenant of grace begins to unfold throughout the Bible, beginning from the first gospel statement in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15). J. V. Vesko explains that this covenant of grace is unfolded in four main covenants: Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic.[6] These covenants point the way to their climax which is the grace and redemption of the New Covenant purchased by Jesus’ own blood (Jer. 31:31-4; 1 Cor. 11:23-5; Heb. 8:1-13).
Four ways in which this covenantal continuity is manifested is in preaching, the law, baptism and the Lord’s Day. In preaching, sermons usually draw on the whole Bible and do not exclusively focus on passages from the NT and exposition should connect the Bible as a whole without apparent contradictions. This also means that the Law and especially the Ten Commandments have an important role for the church’s sanctification, even though we are saved by grace and never by the law. Baptism is administered to infants of believing parents as a connection to the OT covenant sign of circumcision but also to adult believers from non-Christian backgrounds. The Lord’s Day is seen to be a gift from God and this day (Sunday) is set aside for rest and the public worship of God. This is not a legalistic obligation but a joyful gift of the New Covenant that goes back to an ordinance given by God in Creation.

Summary

If this outline does not convince you fully, hopefully it will lead many to freshly investigate the importance of the local church to be organised in a way that is ‘decently and in order’ (1 Cor.14:40). Many significant theologians have unreservedly held to a Presbyterian pattern and these have included John Calvin, John Knox, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield and William Hendriksen, to name a few. Presbyterianism is boldly proposed by Witherow who states: ‘Of all the churches now existing in the world, the Presbyterian Church comes nearest to the model of apostolic times’.[7]

However, it must also be stressed that though these principles are gleaned from Presbyterian theology, not all Presbyterian Churches put this into practice. Liberalism and other winds of doctrine have influenced many parts of Presbyterianism as it has many segments of the Christian Church. Additionally it must be pointed out that the Presbyterian Church does not hold the copyright to these ideas because they are believed to be drawn from the Scriptures. For example the concept of connectionalism is something that all churches should seek out to avoid the pitfalls of Independency. We need to be realistic in putting these lessons into practice as we minister in a world of diversity. May this brief paper, at the least, spur us on to place the doctrine of the church to the same place of priority that the NT writers gave it. It was not a secondary non-essential to them and it should not be to us.

[1] Benjamin B. Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings, Vol. II, ed. John E. Meeter, Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1973, 660.
[2] R. Scott Clark, Recovering the Reformed Confession: Our Theology, Piety and Practice, Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2008, 8-11.
[3] Ibid., 27.
[4] Alistair E, McGrath, Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell, 1993, 144-5.
[5] Thomas Witherow, The Apostolic Church: Which is it?, Edinburgh: Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, 1967, 14.
[6] J. V. Fesko, Last Things First: Unlocking Genesis 1-3 with the Christ of Eschatology, Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2007, 79-81.
[7] Witherow, The Apostolic Church: Which is it?, 76.

The Ingredients of Public Worship

2010-09-13T21:05:00.007+01:00

Many people ask me the question, 'what does a Presbyterian Church look like in practice?'; and it is perhaps helpful to partially answer this in this blog article. Of course the best way is for people to come and join us for public worship in Sheffield (www.sheffieldpres.org.uk) on the Lord's Day and we identify eight ingredients for public worship. Let us look briefly at these in turn.

1. A Clear Call to Worship the Triune God in the name of Christ the Mediator.

Our worship services will most often commence with a formal 'call to worship', a call which will include a verse from Scripture but also an exhortation to focus our hearts and minds on the Triune God. Our Lord Jesus Christ remarked to the woman at the well in John 4:22, that 'you worship what you do not know'. We do not want this to be said of ourselves, while pursuing a pattern of biblical and reformed worship and hopefully a clear call to worship minimises this possibility.

2. Public Prayer by the Minister

The public worship service is not an open prayer meeting but prayer should be a dynamic thread throughout the whole service. The organising minister prays publicly on behalf of the congregation as an act of worship, something that should direct our hearts and minds in adoration of God, the confession of sin, the request for forgiveness, along with intercession for God's church and God's world.

3. Congregational Singing

The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian Church and he exhorts them; 'Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart (5:19)'. The New Testament does not teach much about singing. Congregational singing is important but it must not dominate the proceedings at the expense of our next ingredient.

4. The Public Reading of the Scriptures

Need I say more! The public reading of the Scriptures forms a vital aspect of our worship and as the Scripture is read we must anticipate that this is God himself addressing us, from His Holy Word.

5. Preaching

Christ told Peter to 'feed my sheep (John 21:16)'. This is primarily exercised through the expositional preaching of the Word of God which is to be diligently heard by the sheep.

6. Rightly Administering the Sacraments

The two sacraments of the church are baptism and the Lord's Supper. Historically the right administration of these two sacraments has been deemed as the second mark of a true church. Their orderly administration is vital for the correct functioning of a New Testament church.

7. Benediction

Each service will be formally closed with the use of a benediction. The benediction is the pronouncement of the blessings of God that are made available to the church, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Examples from the New Testament are: Romans 16:25-7; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Hebrews 13:20-1.

8. Sunday is the Lord's Day

The whole day is ordained by the Head of the Church, as a day for the public and private exercises of God's worship, for the spiritual profit of the saints and the glory of God'. Hopefully this day should be a 'foretaste of glory divine.

These eight ingredients have been explained only very briefly, but at least this blog article introduces us to the crucial matter as to the importance of what happens in the public worship of God, by Christians.

Sheffield Presbyterian Church

2010-08-10T20:38:00.000+01:00

We are delighted to announce that from Sunday September 19th, 2010, that public worship services will commence. A church planting Bible study has been meeting in our home where we continue to discuss the Scriptures especially in the light of the Westminster Standards (the confession, the larger and shorter catechisms).

The Meeting Times:

10.00am Sunday School
The Larger Catechism for Adults
The Child's and Shorter Catechism for the instruction of children

11.00am Lord's Day morning worship

4.00pm Lord's Day evening worship

The Meeting Place:

The Source at Meadowhall, Sheffield (rooms 15 and 16) and the website for directions is http://www.thesource.meadowhall.co.uk/

This new church plant is part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales (http://www.epcew.org.uk/). We are currently building our website which should be ready, Lord willing, toward the end of the summer and the address is: www.sheffieldpres.org.uk

Dr Kevin Bidwell
Church Planter with EPCEW

Some Suggested Books for Reading Over the Summer

2010-07-22T00:43:00.005+01:00

Here are four books for suggested reading. They have blessed me and often the summer is a time of the year when people are able to find some extra time for personal and devotional reading.

Book One: Recovering the Reformed Confession by R. Scott Clark
This book was one of my favourite books in 2009. The author is incisive in pinpointing a contemporary church illness; the neglect of reformed confessions. Challenging and stimulating, but it needs concentration.

Book Two: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes
This book is intensely pastoral and it may help those who have been bruised or for those who are helping those Christians who are bruised. Richard Sibbes 'never wastes the student's time' wrote C. H. Spurgeon, 'he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands'.

Book Three: The Worship of God: Reformed Concepts of Worship (published by Christian Focus)

This book was another one of my favourite books in 2009. It has a range of contributors who each explain different facets of the regulative principle of worship. Some authors do not agree with each other on every point but this makes the book all the more stimulating. It will help many, but especially those who need a clearer vision of biblical worship.

Book Four: The Westminster Assembly by Robert Letham

This book combines church history, British history and theology magnificently. Maybe I am biased because Dr Letham was my supervisor for my MTh dissertation and my PhD. None the less this book is valuable and it uncovers the richness of the much neglected Westminster theology of the Westminster divines from the seventeenth century.

Happy summer reading!

Some Advice When Going to Bible College

2010-07-14T08:58:00.005+01:00

Recently a young man who I know from Germany contacted me. He wanted some advice because he is going to Bible school in Germany in September to prepare for the pastorate. His questions are helpful and my answers to him may benefit some who are already studying theology or those will be in the future.

Question 1: What general advice on going to Bible college can you give me?

Never forget that it is the Holy spirit who ultimately unlocks the treasures of the gospel, therefore critically assess all you read and hear but with a teachable spirit. Pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:17f) throughout your whole studies and indeed your whole life. Psalm 25:14, 'the friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant'.

A further comment is that you should take the biblical languages seriously. Give Hebrew and Greek 100% of your effort and see this as an investment for the years ahead!

Question 2: What are some dangers I should be aware of? How can I deal with them?

You must never forget that pride is perhaps the number one danger in ministry and what is worse is not being aware of the danger of pride. Theological knowledge can be dangerous so pray for a humble mind. The apostle Paul reminds us when he wrote 'knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1)'.

Question 3: How can I practically connect academic and spiritual life?

I think by asking your pastor to take you under care throughout the whole process and to be asked for opportunities to grow in practical theology during your training. This should include not just preaching but all aspects of Christian ministry. Many people overlook the importance of inter-personal skills in Christian ministry. Consider how you could get feedback in this area of your life during the Bible college training also.

Question 4; What are some good study habits you can suggest?

Firstly get to know yourself. Are you a morning or evening person? It is difficult for me to fully answer this without superimposing onto you what works for me. However the art of good time management is crucial and therefore constantly evaluate your use of time critically; daily, weekly and monthly.

Question 5: In what areas did you feel that Bible College did not educate you where it was needed? As a pastor?

Perhaps three areas come to mind. As I have already mentioned inter-personal skills are often over-looked. Also practical theology can be neglected and this is where you need your pastor to mentor you. Perhaps the significance of the office of pastor and ecclesiology in general is often downplayed but maybe this is just my personal experience.

Question 6: What books, authors would you suggest for this time? Who are the really valuable, deep, long-lasting authors?

Without a doubt you should study the Westminster Standards; that is the Westminster Confession, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. I recommend that you memorise the 107 questions and answers in the Shorter Catechism. As regards theologians and authors there is none better than Calvin, especially his commentaries. Read Calvin much, in fact very much. You will be blessed and instructed but what is more you will become a better minister of the gospel.

Sheffield Presbyterian Church

2010-07-13T10:32:00.006+01:00

The New Covenant Commission

2010-07-06T09:25:00.003+01:00

Read Matthew 28:16-20

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of the covenant of grace and in this passage we read of the commission that he gives to his eleven men. These men he had trained, discipled and equipped to continue the work of the gospel, as shepherds under the chief Shepherd. This appointed meeting took place in Galilee, sometime between the resurrection and the ascension. It is worth noting that this appointed commissioning meeting is one that is collegial not individual, with collective responsibility for what Christ is about to tell them.

From this passage we want to focus on three things;

Firstly that our Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church;
Secondly by looking at the commands that are at the heart of this commission.
And thirdly to conclude with some final encouragement.
Hopefully we will all receive pastoral encouragement from this passage in order that we may leave today with a renewed vision for this great task of gospel ministry.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church

Christ had executed his earthly ministry as prophet, priest and king.
As prophet he had revealed the ‘whole will of God’ concerning salvation.

As our merciful and faithful high priest he had made propitiation for the sins of his people (Heb. 2:17). This included his perfect, active obedience of the law of God and he had taken the guilt, shame and punishment of law-breaking in his own body on the tree. Through his triumphant bodily resurrection from the dead, he was declared to be the ‘Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4)’.

Christ executes the office of king ‘by subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining his and our enemies’ but also by ‘powerfully ordering all things for his own glory’ (WLC, Q 45).

In verse 16 we read that the eleven disciples went to the mountain in Galilee that ‘Jesus had directed them’ to. The Lord Jesus as the head of the church, models the principle of doing ‘all things decently and in order’. He had already told them in advance before his crucifixion in Matthew 26: 32, 'But after I am raised up I will go before you to Galileee'.

Also in the midst of the emotional turmoil of the events surrounding his crucifixion, an angel of the Lord at the empty tomb, graciously reminded the two Mary’s to tell the disciples and he said: ‘Behold he is going before you to Galilee, there you will see him’ (Matt 28:7). The risen Christ then appeared to the women as they were running to tell the disciples and Christ said to them: ‘Do not be afraid: go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me’ (Matt 28:10).
This meeting in Galilee between Christ and his disciples was no ordinary meeting.

In verse 17, Matthew records that when the Eleven did see him ‘they worshipped him, but some doubted’. There are different views on this passage but it records the fact of the situation and it provides pastoral encouragement to us all. How often our own worship is tarnished by doubts and how we can all relate to the man in the gospel’s, the father of the boy who was being convulsed, who then cried; “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Jesus did not rebuke them but he came to them and gave words of great comfort.

In verse 18 Christ declares: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’. This was not a new revelation because the Eleven had witnessed first hand that he had power over the ‘wind and waves’, the laws of gravity, sickness and demons, and now with his resurrection even death itself. In Matthew 11: 27 Christ had taught them that ‘all things have been handed over to me by my father’; he had proclaimed that he would ‘build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it’; and in the Garden of Gethsemane at his arrest he had explained that ‘more than twelve legions of angels could be sent at once by his Father (Matt 26:53)’.

Let us stop, pause and meditate on the extent, the magnitude and the majesty of the authority of our head of the church; none other than the Lord Jesus Christ! This is most likely related to the fulfillment of Daniel’s vision in Chapter Seven;

I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him (7:14).

The commission that Christ now gives to his disciples flows from the finished work of the exalted Christ and Psalm 110:1 especially comes to mind: The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool’.

The New Covenant Commission (or Great Commission)

What are the instructions given in this great commission or ‘new covenant commission’? There are four main directions given by Christ to his men and these are ‘going’; ‘making disciples of all nations’; ‘baptising’; and ‘teaching’.

A. Going
This is connected to the ‘making of disciples’ of all nations. They were not expected to stay on this mountain in Galilee for quiet devotion but they were commanded to go even to the ‘ends of the earth’. These instructions were not passive but they required an obedience that is outward-moving, dynamic and extending to all nations. This is no static commission; and truly it takes faith to obey Christ.

Today in the UK in 2010 we have ‘all nations’ on our doorstep and irrespective of their apparent resistance to the gospel, we are lovingly to pray for a harvest among them so that our churches can represent the cities where we live.

B. Making Disciples
While it is true that the main imperatival force lies in ‘making disciples’ this task is interwoven into everything else that Christ requires of his apostles. The context of the passage means that these four key activities are inseparable; and this also reminds us of the central themes of Christian ministry.

What is a disciple? A disciple is a learner and a follower. Disciples of Christ joyfully take ‘his yoke upon them’, they are to ‘learn from Christ’, they ‘find rest for their souls’ (Matt. 11:28-30) and in their following him, their aim is to be like him (Matt 10:24).
Christ has given himself as a ‘ransom’ and he has purchased the church with his own blood, therefore those who engage in this honorable task of ‘making disciples’ need encouragement and but also a reminder of the gravity and soberness of this ongoing work.

Making disciples involves the application of truth for the whole of life and all of a disciples life.

C. Baptising
The sacraments are at the heart of this commission. Our Lord had instituted the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26 and now the second sacrament of the new covenant is to be seen as integral to the churches responsibility, namely baptism. While the Lord’s Supper particularly celebrates our ‘union and communion with Christ’, our baptism declares our ‘ingrafting into Christ’, our partaking in the benefits of the covenant of grace and our engagement to to be the Lord’s.

Note that the Triune God is an unbreakable thread in every stage of redemption, not least the ongoing ministry of Christ, through the church. It is the singular name and the three persons each have the definite article; the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our God is unique and distinct from all other gods. One God, Three persons, of the same substance, equal in power and glory. Our leading of disciples to worship the Triune God publicly, in the mediation of Christ alone, is something vital to the making of disciples in the church of God.

D. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you
This teaching is not to be theoretical but it must lead to practical holiness; ‘Obeying all I have commanded you’.
Teaching ‘all I have commanded you’: Other phrases are used elsewhere in the NT to lay stress on the importance of not leaving out vital aspects of biblical teaching. In Acts Chapter Two the Jerusalem Church devoted themselves to ‘the apostles’ doctrine’ (Acts 2:42); Paul spoke of not shunning to declare ‘the whole counsel of God’ to the Ephesian Church elders (Acts 20: 27). This is why the Westminster Standards are so valuable to us and it does not pay us to neglect their clarity of expression. Also we can study the standards to examine ourselves that we are not missing out vital aspects of gospel doctrine. For example we may read the Standards afresh and realise that it has been a long time since the doctrine of adoption has come through in a sermon.

Calvin in writing his dedicatory epistle to his commentary on the book of Acts maintains this aspect of the Great Commission and he asserts that ‘purity of doctrine is the soul of the church ... discipline ... the sinews (Acts I: xxi).

3. Final Encouragement

The apostle Paul asks the rhetorical question: ‘Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor. 2:16)’. I certainly feel my great inadequacy as I write this article. We all go through different seasons in life and ministry, faithfully plodding on ‘in season and out of season’. However let us remind ourselves today of this mighty covenant promise or rather covenant certainty: ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’. These words would no doubt have been ringing in the disciples’ ears that night, as they put their heads on the pillow to try to sleep. ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age’.
No matter what circumstances you are in today in your church this covenant promise is heart-warming. If you need wisdom for a new building due to recent growth, Christ says ‘I am with you always’ and he will guide you. Perhaps you face a different situation and you are fed up with persistent pastoral problems, a lack of converts and on top of that constant financial pressure, be reminded Christ is with you always! In all of our feelings of weakness, inadequacy and insufficiency the apostle Paul also adds that ‘our sufficiency is from God (2 Cor. 3:5)’.

Finally, no matter what ministerial pressure or discouragement you face, our ‘slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor. 4:17)’. This promise is eternal ‘even to the end of the age’ and therefore it points us to the new heaven and the new earth.

As you finish reading this article today, I hope that you will mediate on this promise ‘I am with you always even to the end of the age’. Christ is our Immanuel in the church today, in our continuation of Christ’s ministry on earth, but also for all eternity, he will never leave us or forsake us.

Book Review: 'Against the Tide' by Miroslav Volf

2010-06-14T08:15:00.002+01:00

Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities
Miroslav Volf
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 2010,
211pp, paperback,
ISBN: 978 0 8028 6506 9

Miroslav Volf is a distinguished scholar. He is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School and he is the director of the Yale Centre for Faith and Culture. His theological trajectory includes being the son of a Pentecostal pastor in Novi Sad (former Yugoslavia) during the communist regime of Marshall Tito; he gained a BA at the Evangelical–Theological Faculty in Zagreb, Croatia; an MA at Fuller Theological Seminary; and Dr Theol., at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

It is well known that he is a close friend to his mentor and research supervisor, Professor Jürgen Moltmann. Arguably, Moltmann provides one of the most significant influences upon Volf’s thinking and two theological impulses that run through his writings are the themes of liberation and the Trinity. These themes are particularly expressed in Volf’s books Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996), winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award; and After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (1998), winner of the Christianity Today award. Additionally, Volf’s Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (2005) attains the esteem of being the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official, 2006 Lenten book.

Against the Tide reads as a collection of loosely tied, short (two to three pages) devotional essays, which are systematised into nine broad categories. As a Yale scholar, Volf leads a ‘less than ordinary life’ and these essays are peppered with stories from around the globe. Illustration material is drawn from skiing trips, visits to Jerusalem, India, Jordan and the Balkans, a research sabbatical in Tübingen, and inter-faith dialogue meetings. Volf states that his overall aim in this book is what he calls ‘project love’ (x–xii), where he seeks to expound on this single divine attribute, so that Christians can ‘reflect’ in their ‘lives, the love that God is’ (xi).

‘God and the Self’ (1–20) is the first heading. In the six discourses that follow, Volf attempts to magnify the attribute of love at the exclusion of other divine characteristics such as mercy, righteousness, wrath, truth and grace, none of which are adequately handled. (Volf does mention God’s wrath later in the book and he expounds; ‘God’s wrath is nothing but God’s stance of active opposition to evil’ (30). This re-interpreted notion deserves further critical scrutiny.) It is immediately evident that Volf is well-read and he refers to Søren Kierkegaard (5), Antonio Salieri (6), Martin Luther (9), and Friedrich Nietzsche (12). The last essay of this sub-section is entitled ‘Dancing for God’; this metaphor deserves further comment because it appears to be gaining ground in some circles. For example Timothy Keller writes of ‘The Dance of God’ in The Reason for God (Hodder & Stoughton, 2008, 213–26).

The theological origin of this ‘dancing for God’ metaphor is not revealed in this book but it actually derives from feminist re-envisioning of God. Patricia Wilson-Kastner proposes that the ‘Greek word—perichoresis—signifies a dance around; and at the root of the theological term perichoresis is the image of dancing together’. Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel affirms this idea: She states that Wilson- Kastner ‘sees in the Trinitarian conception of perichoresis (dance, intermingling) of persons in the image of dance a confirmation of feminist conceptions of relationships and mutuality in the most beautiful way’. Volf endorses the need to highlight the femininity of the Holy Spirit (Exclusion and Embrace, 169) in his egalitarian Trinity; one that downplays monotheism and squeezes his Trinitarian paradigm into the all-controlling concept, for him, of perichoresis (After Our Likeness, 208–20).

An early warning needs to be sounded. In this first section it becomes evident that Volf’s methodology lacks biblical exegesis and this style continues throughout this monograph. Theology without thoroughgoing biblical exegesis moves the church into hazardous waters.

A second set of nine articles are gathered under the umbrella ‘The Reality of Evil and the Possibility of Hope’ (21–49). In many ways this kind of theme is a real strength, both in this book and in a range of Volf’s other writings. His personal experience of hate and ethnic cleansing in his native Balkans has prepared him so that he can adequately proclaim this important message of forgiveness in the face of impossible hostility. He persistently calls for reconciliation and forgiveness, something which inevitably involves ‘loving the evildoer’ (28). He also critiques the potential selfishness that can often hide behind the ‘all-American dream’ and he states that such dreams, ‘without God’, are ‘nothing but self-contradictory and unrealizable’ (43). He calls Americans back to God and he writes that ‘Augustine and [Jonathan] Edwards believed that if the world is to be enjoyed, it must be enjoyed in God’ (43).

In the following section on ‘Family Matters’ (51–76), Volf make his unashamed claim for egalitarianism which he anticipates for marriage. While many may beg to differ with his conclusions on biblical and exegetical grounds (Eph. 5:21–33; Col. 3:18–22), Volf inserts the significant clause that ‘egalitarianism in and of itself will not make a marriage thrive’ (53). These articles continue to display a style which protests against much in Western or rather American culture, and the call ‘rings out’ for Christians to swim ‘against the tide’ of inherent selfishness. However, each essay, though rich in devotional thought, lacks argumentation that is undergirded with sound exegetical evidence. Most Christians who stress a high value on the authority of scripture will therefore, legitimately, find this book troubling.
Two sections follow on from this line of thought, ones that deal with the ‘Church’ (77–102)’ and ‘Mission and Other Faiths’ (103–28). Here we begin to see Volf’s current line of theological emphasis come to the surface; namely inter-faith dialogue (113, 123). He mourns the ‘loss of biblical literacy in the West’ (81) while simultaneously writing a book that lacks biblical engagement. Volf promotes the notion of women’s ordination (85–88) without qualification and he reminds readers of his unchanging vision that he maps out in his own book (After Our Likeness). This ideal seeks to develop a Trinitarian, non-hierarchical understanding of the church (98), within an ecumenical context (100–102).

The remaining chapter headings are: ‘Culture and Politics’ (129–63); ‘Giving and Forgiving (165-80)’; ‘Hope and Reconciliation’ (181–206); and ‘Perspective’ (207–11). In these essays he makes a number of valid critiques concerning the direction that Western civilisation is generally heading and many of them will resonate with readers who hold a Christian worldview.

Unfortunately though, Volf’s pursuit of inter-faith dialogue has led him to re-think fundamental doctrines and this causes him to propose bewildering assertions. He declares ‘God is the Holy Trinity, but also … the God whom Muslims worship as Allah’; and he asserts that ‘to speak in a Christian voice’ is not to make ‘exclusively Christian claims in distinction from all other religions’ (124–5). While he may gain an audience within politically correct circles that are trying to grapple with religious pluralism, one wonders how the son of a Pentecostal minister has arrived at his current position. The Lord Jesus Christ is clearly at odds with Volf when he states: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me’ (Jn 14:6).

Volf’s newly released book comprises sixty-five essays (including the introduction) and it will give the reader a window into politically correct academic theology that is currently being spawned at the highest level in the United States. The Yale Divinity School may be able to court the favour of politicians, such as the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who teaches for them (http://www.yale.edu/divinity/notes/080401/blair.shtml), or they may attempt to find ‘A Common Word’ between the three monotheistic world religions, (http://www.yale.edu/faith/acw/acw.htm) but Volf will find the task of convincing Christians who earnestly and regularly read their Bibles more difficult. If you set out to read this book, perhaps you would do well to read the Gospel of John first and see how Christ is presented in His uniqueness, majesty and glory, as the ‘Saviour of the World’ (4:42), the ‘Bread of life’ (6:48), and the only hope for sinners who remain under the righteous judgment of God.

Kevin J. Bidwell has completed a PhD, in 2010, at the University of Wales (Lampeter) and the dissertation title is: ‘The Church as the Image of the Trinity’: A Critical Evaluation of Miroslav Volf’s Ecclesial Model. He is commissioned as a church planter to the city of Sheffield by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales. He is married to his Dutch wife Maria and they have two daughters, Melody and Rivka.

Is the Local Church Important to You?

2010-06-04T15:00:00.002+01:00

Quite often on this blog, I ask questions and I think that this may be connected to the value that I place on Reformed catechisms. The Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms use a 'question and answer' teaching method and this is every effective! Asking the right questions can often lead people to seek for truth.

In many circles today the value that is placed on the local church is undermined. Through various means, probably not always intentional, the church is not always seen as the mainstream of God's plan in the world. Missions for example is commonly seen as belonging to a missions agency and people forget that the local church is itself mission.

Through sustained criticism of the state of the church in the UK, some people withdraw from fellowship, preferring to feed themselves through internet sermons and they become a kind of 'self-feeding' Christian. However in a New Testament and biblical sense, Christian's are always committed to the local church. So, are you?

One of my desires in this blog is the recovery of Reformed doctrine and practice; something that should be thoroughly biblical. For this to happen there has to be a recovery of many things. This includes the recovery of the importance of the local church in our lives. May we cry out to the Lord of the harvest to thrust out godly pastors in England so that a host of godly congregations can be seen where the preaching is pure, the worship is God-centred (Is there any other kind of worship?) and the lost are evangelised. Let us listen to Jesus, the head of the church:

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He [Jesus] felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
38 "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Let us pray for a fresh commitment to the church by Christians and for the raising up of godly shepherds who are sent forth by the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is the Church a Wax Nose?

2010-05-26T16:57:00.004+01:00

This may seem like a strange question. However, I have to say that wherever I go there seems to be much confusion not only in Protestantism but in evangelicalism as to the purpose and plan of the church. For many, the church is treated like a 'wax nose'; something to be moulded into whatever shape people desire.

For some, this means the church is to be shaped around all-out evangelism, for others the church becomes a centre of social activity, while some leaders openly treat the church as a platform to fulfil their lustful desires for success, wealth or even fame.

My last article on this blog focussed on the three marks of the church. A friend of mine asked me to give more information recently and so I would like to direct the readers to a number of books to explore this matter of the church further.

These are;

John Calvin,The Institutes,Book IV, Chapters 1-3.
Edmund Clowney, The Church
R. B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ

May the importance of the church awaken in our hearts and minds. There is a clear apostolic plan laid down in the Scriptures for the doctrine, public worship, government and order of the Church of God. Therefore, the church should not be treated as a 'wax nose' to be shaped according to man's personal preferences. Note it is the 'church of God', not the 'church of man's organisation'; we must be cautious lest we face the judgement of God for treating the Church of Christ as ours.

May we all cry to the Lord, in all humility for a mighty awakening in the church, so that we comprehend the importance of the church to God, and his plan of redemption in the world. Here are a few key Bible verses in conclusion.

Matthew 16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it".

Colossians 1:18 And He [Christ] is the head of the body.

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth.

2010-05-17T08:25:00.002+01:00

Looking for a Church? Some Things to Consider

It is surprising that when some people move house that they do not look for the right church before moving in to a particular area. They often just assume that there will be the right church at the end of their new road all ready to service their every spiritual need. Maybe this is a little sarcastic but many a family have ended up in a spiritually barren place through failing to adequately research this question before buying a house. So, what do we look for in a new church?

If I were to ask people to make a list of what they desire of their new church it would be interesting to think what would be on the list. What would be on your list? Maybe a friendly environment, lively worship, a good youth programme, a church in your community so that you can reach out to people or perhaps a pastor who is a good communicator. While these may have their place, they are not primary. Overall in England today we face real confusion over a single question: What is a church? A church is not a social club that meets my needs, but it is firstly a place to worship the one, true and living God. The reformers in the 16th Century in battling with the false worship of the Roman Catholic Church had to contend that there are three things that mark out a true church and these are:

1. The preaching of pure doctrine which is heard, loved and acted upon by the congregation
2. The right administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper
3. Church order and discipline (moral and doctrinal)

Maybe some think that this is a little heavy but if we are concerned for the spiritual condition of our nation we should also be concerned for the spiritual condition of ourselves and the church we worship at. Listen to Acts 2:42:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Notice the divine order; they devoted themselves first to the apostles’ teaching (this is pure doctrine) which is the first mark of the church and this precedes a friendly atmosphere. We need apostolic doctrine; and this may mean that we cannot find a church at the end of our road and we have to travel. Additionally we need to pray for the Lord to raise up many new churches in the UK which will faithfully pursue and display these marks of the church. For this to happen we will need to see a host of new godly pastors to emerge which is exactly what the Lord Jesus told us to pray for:

Matthew 9:36–8 Seeing the people, He [Jesus] felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Let us pray for and support churches that display these three marks of a true church because this is where the sheep should be best cared for, under the hand of godly under-shepherds. Maybe next time you are looking for a new church, think through again the kinds of questions you need to ask of a future church that you would consider joining.

Some Lessons from Presbyterians in the Southern Part of the USA

2010-04-26T08:04:00.008+01:00

I have just returned from three and a half weeks of ministry in the Southern part of the USA (Georgia and Mississippi, especially). The purpose of the visit was to sow the vision that in 2010, England is a mission field! I particularly worked with the conservative wing of the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America).

Here are three websites of churches that I worked with and there are a number of resources available through the website:

http://www.fpcjackson.org/

http://www.grace-pca.net/

http://www.ipcsav.org/

There are many lessons for all of us, not just from the activity in the congregations but from the Christians I met. I experienced perhaps the best hospitality in the world, generosity of spirit, serious-mindedness and warm-hearted fellowship. No matter what your stereotype of American Christians may be, let me tell you that we can all learn lessons from Presbyterians in the Southern part of the USA.

Serious-Mindedness

So many people I met with, were quite simply modern Puritans in their sincere approach to take Christ and the gospel seriously. What a role model in an age where superficiality is sadly all-too common in sections of the professing church.

Warm-heartedness

A warm-heartedness was often combined with a serious commitment to biblical doctrine; this left a wonderful fragrance. The two need to go together and I certainly witnessed that in way that was exemplary.

Generosity

What generous people! It is simply part of them and it was in no way forced: I am sure that these qualities are the fruits of the gospel. Paul writes this to the church in Corinth:

2Corinthians 8:7 ¶ But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.
8 I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

And again we see the example of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Acts 20:35 "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Hospitality

Hospitality was another mark of God's grace that I observed. Again, the New Testament teaches that this gift is essential to healthy Christianity.

Romans 12:13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Humility

Last but by no means least, I witnessed terrific humility among many saints. I saw very able businessmen and in some cases multimillionaires, welcoming people into the church on Sundays. There was a joy in this service as opposed to people wanting to perform tasks that may appear more grand to some. In Presbyterian churches the only men who lead the public worship of God are ordained ministers and elders and yet these able men were not frustrated because they could not occupy a public or prominent church role. What a testimony!

Again the apostle Paul counsels all of us in Romans 12:3:
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

May we all learn from these five lessons and pray for them in our own lives and the church where we are members. These lessons are: Serious-mindedness; warm-heartedness; generosity; hospitality; and humility.

What is Worship (Part Two)?

2010-03-29T09:21:00.003+01:00

A theology of worship is necessary for churches to re-think how their theology informs their architecture, furniture, room layout, the administration of the sacraments and church government. Everything we do is an image of something, either consciously or unknowingly. Edward Donnelly explains that for the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ireland, their theology guides their design of church buildings, so that the pulpit is central, to signify that the Word of God rules over everything. Beneath the pulpit and in permanent full view before the congregation is the Lord’s Table, with the communion plate, the communion cup, and the baptismal bowl. Michael Horton similarly observes that worship is not neutral and he writes:
The Reformation, in its recovery of the preached Word, gave a fresh visual prominence to the pulpit. Along with the font (baptism) and the table or altar (the Lord’s Supper), the high pulpit stood over the people as the minister himself stood under the Word that he preached.

These are some of the visual aids that the Westminster Confession of Faith permits, while excluding others.
The Westminster Larger Catechism expounds the Second Commandment, as expressly forbidding any ‘monuments of idolatry’ and it condemns the worship of images as false worship, describing them as ‘not instituted by God himself’. It condemns ‘the making [of] any representation of God’ or ‘of all or any of the Three Persons’. Donald G. Bloesch explains that the ‘Christian faith is founded on God’s self-revelation in his Word’ and he warns that it is an ‘incontrovertible fact that an image [Ex. 20:4–6; Ps. 78:58; Is. 40:18] invariably gives a false picture of God because it is necessarily limited in what it can denote’.

The Westminster Directory of Public Worship connects the Trinity to Christ as mediator but this idea needs to be further sharpened, advanced and moved further in this direction. The Westminster Confession of Faith summarises the regulative principle for worship:

The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.

Seven facets of public worship are gleaned from the Westminster Directory of Public Worship and it is our intention to encourage these elements in the Church of God.They are:

The Christian Sabbath
A Clear Call to Worship the Triune God in the name of God's mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ
The public reading of Scriptures
Congregational Singing (of which the singing of Psalms is singularly encouraged in the writings of the Westminster Confession).
Preaching Pure Doctrine, Pastorally.
The Right Administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
A Closing Benediction

Let us all pray for a recovery of biblical worship in the Church of God!

2010-03-09T07:14:00.002Z

What is Worship?

This question may seem like a ‘no-brainer’ to most people and it may be the kind of question which is never asked but just simply assumed. However, do we need to ask this question again for the 21st century church?
Recently I was invited to two different services in the same day and after returning from the evening service, a relative commented to me, that he could see on my face that I had enjoyed the evening service: my countenance was obviously different and he could see that. I remarked; “to be honest, you could say that what I have witnessed today, actually represents two different religions!” Yet, both would claim the name Christian, so what was the difference?

In the service in the morning the first thing that struck me as I entered a hired hall with about 300 people and a bustling atmosphere, was the noticeable lack of Bibles. I seemed to be about the only person carrying a Bible to ‘church’ and there were no church Bibles available either. The service commenced in a very casual way with a very professional music team, power point etc. There was almost no reading of Scripture, the majority of the time was spent singing emotional ‘trendy’, supposedly worship songs and the preaching was short and in fact was not preaching. The message was more like a positive pick-me-up for Christians where the Bible was nothing more than a promise box. However this did not seem to worry the congregation. They responded most enthusiastically with more singing, hands raised and then a hot cup of tea/coffee.

This service left me bewildered with many questions and the words of Jesus to the woman at the well sprang to mind: "You worship what you do not know (John 4:22)”.
In the evening I attended a church service that I suppose the morning crowd would consider ‘non-contemporary’, traditional or even boring and out of touch. On a different note I do find that the word ‘contemporary’ is a greatly misused term in evangelicalism, it is often used as a smoke screen to introduce unbiblical worship practices in the name of being relevant. Our aim is not to be traditional or contemporary but rather biblical.

This service began with a clear call to worship based on Psalm 124:8, everything was saturated with Scripture, including Bible readings, the singing of Psalms, the occasional hymn and we sang the Apostles’ Creed. There was a clear order to what we were doing and everything was conducted in a dignified way with a sense of the fear and awe of the God that we worshipped. Needless to say the high point of this worship was a 40 minute exposition of a passage from Luke that was Christ honouring, effectively explained, and it left us contemplating the majesty and beauty of God (not man or what God wants to do for man). Jesus said, “we worship what we know Jn 4:22)”.

Once again I ask the question ‘what is worship?’Hopefully you will see that this question is absolutely a ‘contemporary’ issue and if God permits, I would like to answer that question from the Bible on the next blog. Perhaps this article has most probably highlighted ‘what worship is not’.

Church Planting in Sheffield

2010-03-02T12:48:00.003Z

On February 1st 2010, I officially began as a church planter for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales (http://www.epcew.org.uk/). Durham Presbyterian Church have commissioned us to the work of church planting in Sheffield with the intention of establishing a long term work in the city. The aim and desire is to establish what we hope will become Sheffield Presbyterian Church. Please check out our website for more details:

http://www.gatesheadpres.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33&Itemid=42

We have begun a Westminster Bible study in our home for those interested in finding out more about the work. If you are interested then do please contact us.

The distinctive elements of this future church will be:

A Commitment to the Westminster Standards as our confession.

Public worship that seeks to be wholly committed to the expositional preaching of the Scripture.

Pure and simple worship that includes the singing of Psalms/hymns, prayer, preaching, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Hopefully the church will always be outward looking in a nation that is clearly a mission field.

Our desire is that the church will be filled with men, women and children who are serious minded about God and warm hearted at the same time.

Your prayer is valued.

Warmly,

Kevin Bidwell
Church Planter for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales

2010-01-22T07:23:00.002Z

What is Missions?

This is a hugely important question for the church to face because enormous amounts of finance and energy are expended in ways that might not be biblical. Furthermore the constant promotion of ‘new’ church growth methods and church evangelistic movements tend to foster ever-increasing frustration and confusion as their promised methods fail to produce real fruit. So what is missions? I think the apostle gives us a clear answer in Romans chapter 10 which reads:

Romans 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?"
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Here Paul raises a logical progression of rhetorical questions which indicate the New Testament plan for missions. The sequence is as follows:

1. Authorised Messengers (who are trained and ordained men).
2. Proclamation (preaching, especially in the context of the church is the primary instrument for the extension of the gospel. Not drama’s, music, plays, healing meetings, Christian TV etc.).
3. Hearing (note the gospel is to be heard, not seen in an audio-visual production).
4. Faith.
5. Calling on the Lord’s name.

This sequence is a challenge to many contemporary mission movements who are often dislocated from the church and they commonly do not see the need for ordained men to carry that message. Instead young people are often sent on short term missions trips with little equipping in the content of the gospel message. Perhaps a major missions rethink is needed and hopefully the passage in Romans 10:13-17 can be a good place to start. Our starting point must always be the Bible and not our private opinions as Paul also wrote in Romans 4:3, ‘For what does the Scripture say?’

2010-01-06T18:29:00.001Z

Watch Out for ‘Liberals in Evangelical's Clothing’

Our Lord Jesus Christ warns us repeatedly that we are to be on our guard against deception, false teachers and also wolves who come to devour the sheep. Listen to these warnings:

Mt 24:4-5 ¶ And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many”.

Mt 7:15 ¶ “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”.

This last warning is especially relevant to the church in 2010 because I believe that there is a new and subtle form of a ‘false teacher’ which comes in the guise of what I would call a ‘Liberal in Evangelical clothes’. The old Liberals were quite obvious and they would boldly deny the deity of Christ, the inerrancy of the Scriptures or the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus. This old-style liberalism still exists but within the Evangelical ranks no one would deny these things and remain credible.

However many men and women minister who are liberal in their approach to Scripture but they do not openly say so and this makes this heresy quite difficult to spot. Here are some examples of this new liberalism.

• The support for female pastors and women in church leadership is in reality a denial of the authority of Scripture (1 Tim. 2:12, 3:1-7). Scripture forbids women pastors and elders and therefore to support such a view actually usurps the authority of the Bible.

• An obsession by many is expressed in their pursuit for extra-biblical revelation which includes a desire for angelic visions, claims of receiving prophetic knowledge of the future (often in detailed ‘supposed’ visions), visitations to heaven etc. This is virtually inner-light Quakerism gone wild! These false preachers masquerading as Bible teachers lead many astray from a steadfast commitment to the written Scriptures toward a subjective, experience based Liberalism.

• Some claim “all that matters is that we love Jesus”. Beware! This statement is probably a cover-up for a doctrinal downgrade. Luke records in Acts 2:42: And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The question remains open: are you continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine? This includes a commitment to the authority, sufficiency and finality of Scripture. This blog comment is brief but hopefully it will stimulate your thinking. In conclusion listen to the Westminster Confession (Chapter1:10) on the doctrine of Scripture.

The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

Preaching Clear Sermons (Part Four)

2009-12-23T12:08:00.001Z

5. Sermon Delivery: Connecting with Your Audience

Well prepared sermons are greatly needed, especially ones that have been bathed in prayer. However a sermon only truly becomes a sermon when it is preached and Martyn Lloyd-Jones often said that there are three people involved in its delivery.
A. The preacher
B. The attentively listening congregation
C. The Holy Spirit.
We must always pray for the help and power of the Holy Spirit, without which our sermons will be lifeless and will not bear long-term fruit. Once I asked a man who had been training up preachers for decades to give me feedback on a sermon he had heard me preach. He gave me a lesson to remember for a lifetime. He said that ‘sometimes I was more concerned in getting the sermon out that I had prepared, than in getting the sermon across to the congregation’. He further stressed to me that ‘sometimes you connected with the congregation very well and other times you did not’. He explained that our aim must not be to simply give out what we have prepared but to ask ourselves: ‘Am I connecting with my audience all the way through the sermon?’ This is a valuable lesson for all of us.
Here are three questions to ask yourself, before, during and after each sermon. Also do not be afraid to ask some trusted congregation members for feedback.
1. Was your speech and delivery clear?
2. Were your explanations simple? Could a ten-year-old child understand your sermon?
3. Did you connect with your audience all the way through the sermon?

These three questions answered and applied honestly could transform most preachers and their preaching!
How do we close a meeting after preaching?
There are perhaps three things to consider here. Firstly, always close in prayer by asking the Living God to help everyone to be ‘doers of the word and not hearers only’ (James 1:22–5). Secondly, choose a song that is full of relevant biblical content, one that relates to the message. Thirdly, close the meeting with a benediction taken from the New Testament (some examples are: Romans 16: 25–7; Ephesians 6:23–4; Philippians 4:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–4, 28; 2 Thessalonians 3:16, 18; Hebrews 13:20–21; 2 Peter 3:18; Jude 24–5). The benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 is suitable for most occasions. It has an important Trinitarian structure and this probably deserves a sermon on its own to bring out the richness of this benediction to the hearers.
What about altar calls and forced responses?
We must always avoid a forced response, even though we always want to persuade men and women to turn to God through Jesus Christ. With respect to what are commonly known as altar calls, we must ask ourselves: ‘Are they found in the New Testament?’ There is no problem in making yourself and other mature Christians available for enquirers but do not demand a public show of hands or, even worse, lead people to believe that if they simply respond in a meeting then they are genuinely converted. Jesus said, ‘By their fruits you shall know them’ (Matthew 7:20). It takes time for fruit to grow and for others to know if a profession is genuine. However, we must not encourage doubt concerning other people’s profession of faith because we want to help people to look to Christ for salvation and for the assurance of that salvation.

Summary
In summary, there are been five main stages identified for preaching sermons that will hopefully be clear and not easily forgotten. This goal may seem unattainable for many of us, but at least it is the right thing to prayerfully aim for. These stages are:
1. The Importance of a Single Idea
2. The Intended Meaning of the Text
3. A Clear Sermon Structure
4. Doctrines, Illustrations and Application
5. Sermon Delivery: Connecting with Your Audience

Here are some closing exhortations from preachers that have gone on to their eternal reward. The English Puritan from the seventeenth century, Richard Baxter, said that ‘I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men’. All preachers stand in need of the gracious help of the Holy Spirit to see lives changed. Remember that we want to impact not just people’s heads but also their hearts as Jonathan Edwards once said: ‘Our people do not so much need to have their heads stored, as to have their hearts touched; and they stand in greatest need of that sort of preaching which has the greatest tendency to do this.’

Preaching Feedback: Did I Preach a Clear Sermon?

1. The Importance of a Single Idea

• Was a clear title used?
• Did the title communicate a single idea and did this shine through the whole sermon?
• Did the chosen text/passage fit with the intention of the single idea that was preached?
• Was the text relevant to the subject?

2. The Intended Meaning of the Text

• Was the wider context of the passage and its setting in relation to redemptive history made clear?
• Was the context of the passage given in relation to the rest of the book that it came from? Did the preacher understand the literary style of the book? Was the historical context and purpose of the book explained?
• Were other parts of Scripture understood in relation to the passage used (analogy of faith which means comparing Scripture with Scripture)?

3. A Clear Sermon Structure

• Was a natural and unforced structure used? Did it flow from the chosen text?
• How many points were used?
• Were clear headings used for each point? Did they harmonise with the title? Were the hearers able to remember the points that were used?

4. Doctrines, Illustrations and Application

• Were doctrines correctly labelled and explained?
• Were the illustrations for each point easily understood, relevant, biblical and contemporary?
• Did the application communicate a clear and practical way for putting the truths into action in real life?

5. Sermon Delivery: Connecting with your Audience

• Was the speech and delivery clear?
• Were the explanations simple? Could a ten-year-old child understand the sermon?
• Did the preacher connect with the audience all the way through the sermon?

Preaching Clear Sermons (Part Three)

2009-12-17T09:01:00.001Z

3. A Clear Sermon Structure

Hopefully you have now reached the stage where you have a clear title that summarises the single idea that you want to preach, with a Bible passage that explains this truth, and also you will have worked hard to grasp the intended meaning of the passage. What is needed next is the third stage, the development of a clear sermon structure.
Imagine a wooden stool in your mind. How many legs are there? This is a good illustration for a sermon structure because the minimum number of legs that normally support a table or stool is three and a maximum of four. Aim for three or four headings because we all have memories that forget easily. It is much easier to remember a sermon with three simple points and this method has proved to be extremely effective for many preachers over the centuries. Here are some guidelines to help you.
A. Use a natural and an unforced structure that flows from the chosen text. An illustration that explains this idea is the peeling of an orange, because each orange segment separates naturally in preparation for eating.
B. Develop three or four points.
C. Have clear headings for each point and these should link to the main point of the sermon, as explained in our first stage.

Exercise 3
Determine a clear sermon structure from these three passages with a clear sermon title and three headings.
1. Ephesians 1:3–14.
2. Ephesians 2:1–10.
3. Ephesians 5:21–6:4.

4. Doctrines, Illustrations and Applications

The human body is an example of how we can explain this fourth stage. A human skeleton has a vital place in supporting and strengthening the frame of a human being but it is lifeless without the flesh on the bone. So far, we have hopefully applied these principles to form a good skeleton structure but we now need to make sure that the substance of the sermon to be preached includes doctrines, illustrations and applications.
In the New Testament letters, especially in the epistles, doctrine always seems to come before application. For example in the book to the Ephesians, Paul discusses gospel doctrine for about the first three chapters and then he deals with applying these truths to the daily lives of the first-century Christians for the next three chapters. This is a good pattern for our sermons to follow. The famous British theologian and Puritan John Owen explained it this way: ‘It would be an uncouth [strange, clumsy and lacking in polish] sermon that should be without doctrine and use [application].’

Exercise 4
Illustrations abound in the New Testament, especially in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–7:29) and make a list of the illustrations and applications that Jesus uses (salt, trees etc.). Now write a list of every day contemporary items your listeners are familiar with that you could potentially use to illustrate truths in your sermons (for example: farming, animals, rice etc.).
Each heading of your structure should include the following.

A. Make sure that you explain a single doctrine for each point.
B. A doctrine needs to be correctly labelled and explained, like coat pegs or hooks on which our thoughts can be hung.
C. Use biblical or contemporary illustrations for each point.

Work on developing applications for the hearers for each point and ensure that these are clearly expressed. Try to avoid making applications into one continual challenge because our pastoral desire is to help the sheep to apply the truth of God. Also there may well be non-Christians who need to be pointed to Christ’s command to ‘repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:15).
Now go through the same Ephesian passages from Exercise 3 and identify the doctrines, illustrations and applications that you could use for each of the three headings you have chosen.

2009-12-10T15:48:00.001Z

Preaching Clear Sermons (Part Two)

1. The Importance of a Single Idea

There are a number of spheres in life that have recognised the significance in using a ‘single idea’ in communication. This should be our goal in preaching. So, how do we develop a single idea? Through praying and preparation we should be asking ourselves: What do we believe God wants to speak to a certain group of people? This can come through a specific Bible passage or a specific theme whereby you search the Bible to find an appropriate passage. Once we begin to become settled on the specific theme or Bible passage, we should work on the following:
A. Develop a title that communicates that single idea.
B. Often take your title from the Bible passage you will be using.
C. Develop your structure around that single idea.
Here are some examples of sermons that I have preached in the past; ones that sought to capture the use of a single idea.
i. Romans 8:12–13: ‘The Indwelling of Sin and the Holy Spirit in the Life of Every Christian.’
ii. Luke11:22–31: ‘Ravens and Lilies.’
iii. John 10:27–30: ‘The Sheep of His Hand’; the doctrine was the perseverance of the saints, which means that true Christians cannot perish and lose their salvation.
Exercise 1
Consider these Bible passages and write down what is the main theme of each passage and what title you would give a sermon from that passage.
1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
2. Revelation 1:12-20
3. Genesis 12:1-9
Write down, in a few sentences, an explanation as to ‘why you think a good title is important?’ and ‘how can a focus on a single idea influence your sermon preparation?’

2. The Intended Meaning of the Text

A sermon must always be taken out of the Bible and the reading of a passage should be followed by an explanation of what the particular chosen passage means. This is called expository preaching. We must preach out of the Bible and not about the Bible in a loose way. Two words, eisegesis and exegesis, need defining in order to help us understand our aim when preparing a sermon to be preached. Eisegesis is something we should want to avoid because this means the process of misinterpreting a text in such a way that it introduces one’s own ideas into the reading of a biblical text. This act of reading into a Bible text what is not there can include mystical ideas for interpretation, the use of allegory that is pushed beyond the scriptural limits or even our own opinions that may deviate from the biblical authors’ intended meaning. Exegesis is our aim because this seeks to determine the intended meaning of a text. Here are three principles that can help us to develop the skill called exegetical preaching, whereby we attempt to accurately understand a passage.
A. Find out the wider context of the passage and its life-setting in relation to the unfolding history of salvation from the rest of the Bible.
B. Consider the context of the passage in relation to the whole of the biblical book that it comes from. What is the literary style of the book? What was the historical context and purpose of the book?
C. What understanding do other parts of Scripture shed on this passage (also called the analogy of faith, which means comparing Scripture with Scripture)?
Our aim is always to discover what a passage is actually saying and how that passage was understood by its original hearers.
Exercise 2
Consider these three passages and try to remember how, in your experience, they are commonly interpreted. Write down what you think is the intended meaning of each passage.

1. The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37).
2. Hebrews 6:4–6 (Try to reconcile this passage with the teaching of Jesus in John 10:27–30).
3. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31–46).

2009-12-01T17:22:00.001Z

Preaching Clear Sermons (Part One)

Perhaps one of the highest compliments that you can be paid as a preacher is when someone who has heard you preach, comes to you and says: ‘I will never forget that sermon that you preached on …’ At all times, all the glory must go to God, because this can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit, however it must be our high aim to preach clear sermons that people do not forget.

We need to ask ourselves as preachers some very searching questions. For example: Why does some preaching appear boring and irrelevant, and some dynamic and exciting? Why do some preachers connect with their audience while others do not? How can we avoid preaching sermons that are quickly forgotten? No matter how we deal with the subject of preaching we know that we will all fall short of the supreme standard of the greatest preacher ever, our Lord Jesus Christ—He is our example and we must aim at improving all areas of our sermon preparation and delivery.

We ourselves will always struggle with our own insecurities, our inadequate gifts to express the glorious truths of the gospel and many other failings, but we know that Christ has not left us alone in our ministry. He has promised the precious gift of the Holy Spirit; He is the One who is sent to the church to continue the mission of our Heavenly Father. We are not alone in the pulpit. In the Upper Room on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus repeatedly taught His disciples a Trinitarian view regarding the plan of salvation. This includes the promise that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will be our Comforter and Helper (John 14:16–17, 26; 15:26; 16:7), the One who would come alongside the disciples in their mission. Should we not expect the same in the twenty-first century?

It would be a great encouragement to all preachers to read John 13:1–17:26 with a pencil and paper to make a note of all the specific promises concerning the help and ministry of the Holy Spirit. This would most likely strengthen our faith and give us fresh joy in the high calling of the Christian ministry. Our aim here is to simply look at five stages that are involved in the act of preaching clear sermons and at the end of this teaching, there is a preaching feedback sheet. This helpful tool can be given to your fellow elders or friends in your church, so that they can lovingly evaluate your preaching, in order that you may develop further in your service to Christ.

The Five Stages Involved in Preaching Clear Sermons

1. The Importance of a Single Idea
2. The Intended Meaning of the Text
3. A Clear Sermon Structure
4. Doctrines, Illustrations and Applications
5. Sermon Delivery: Connecting with your Audience

It must be noted that this is not an exhaustive study of the office of pastor and that of a preacher. For example we do not mention the essential need for godly character for the Christian minister (1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Peter 5:1–5), the importance of learning how to handle the Bible correctly or many other aspects that are connected with caring for the flock of God. It should also be noted that the range of topics covered here could also be applied to other areas of life, for example as a guideline for effective communication skills.

What is a definition of preaching? Preaching could be defined as: A public proclamation of the intended meaning of a specific Bible passage (or text), in a way that the hearers understand. The goal of Christian preaching is the worship of the Triune God, who is accessed only through God’s mediator, Jesus Christ (1Timothy 2:5). Many Christians have probably over-looked that the central part of our Lord’s earthly ministry, beyond the redemption of sinners, was actually that of a preacher. Here are a few Bible passages from Mark’s Gospel that drive this point across. Let us walk in grace and humility as we follow in our Lord’s footsteps, learning of Him (Matthew 11:28–30).

Mark 1:14–15 And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
1:35–9 And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” And He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.
3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.
16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

2009-11-16T09:29:00.001Z

Beware! A New Version of Covenant by Michael Horton

At the Affinity conference in the UK in February of this year (2009) Michael Horton presented an extremely troubling view of covenant theology that I find hard to reconcile with the Westminster Standards. It appears to me that the Kline-Horton paradigm is to interpret biblical covenants through the lens of recently discovered, Near Eastern, and especially Hittite treaties. Perhaps the two most helpful books to analyse the source of their theological constructs are:

Meredith G. Kline, The Treaty of the Great King, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963.
Michael Horton, God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.

Horton is an extremely lucid communicator and ‘The White Horse Inn’ appears to have been a blessing to multitudes in spreading the reformed faith. However Horton’s ministry is not primarily in view initially but rather the injunction of Paul in Romans 4:3: ‘For what does the Scripture say?’

I have only engaged in a cursory reading of God of Promise by Horton but here goes the argument.

Chapter 2: ‘God and the Foreign Relations’. Horton puts forward that ‘there are remarkable parallels between ancient (especially Hittite) treaties and the covenantal structure of the OT (24)’. In sum he identifies that there two Hittite treaties, The Suzerainty Treaty and The Royal Grant (or patron covenant); the former is conditional, while the latter is unconditional (33).

Then in Chapter 3 ‘A Tale of Two Mothers’ he makes a huge quantum leap in applying this covenantal framework to biblical covenants. Red flags should be raised immediately because the Hittite gentile practices were the very opposite of God’s intention for establishing a holy nation (Exodus 19). However here we see the connection with T. David Gordon et al., and Horton states:

A covenant of law is established at Mount Sinai, engendering an earthly Jerusalem, which is identified with Hagar the slave; and a covenant of promise is given to Abraham and his seed, engendering a heavenly Jerusalem, which is identified with Sarah the free woman. Confusion of these two covenants, Paul believed, lay at the heart of the Galatian heresy, a charge repeated by the Protestant Reformers in the sixteenth century. (35)’.

Need I say more! He pitches the Abrahamic covenant against the Mosaic and this chapter contends that the Mosaic covenant is a Suzerainty/conditional/law covenant and the Abrahamic covenant is a royal Grant/unconditional/promise covenant (39ff). This Hittite framework is then applied to the New Covenant in Chapter Four and here comes another staggering assertion. Horton concludes:

Concerning the covenantal unity of the two testaments: “Law and promise” do not represent the Old and New Testaments or berit and diatheke, respectively, but characterise two different kinds of covenants that obtain the same history (74-5).

Horton then insists on covenantal discontinuity between the New and the Mosaic covenant and he asserts that the Mosaic covenant is conditional, obsolete (Heb. 8:13) and not a covenant of grace (75). In the last chapter in the book ‘New Covenant Obedience (Chapter 9)’ I find it interesting that Horton somehow seems to lose his ability to teach clearly as he unfolds that he agrees in principle to the threefold division of the law (178) but that we go to the content of the NT for the meaning of the moral law (179-80). I have to admit that I cannot pinpoint him as to whether he is abrogating the moral law for the church but I guess in reality that is what will happen when such a radical discontinuity is taught between the Mosaic moral law and the new covenant.

Historical and contemporary theology teaches us to be extremely cautious when theologians introduce material into their theology that is alien to the community of faith. N. T. Wright, James Dunn et al do this with the use of the Pseudepigrapha, the Apochrypha and the writings from Second Temple Judaism; the result is a new theology of justification that takes hours to unravel and untold confusion. Rudolf Bultmann established hypotheses based on importing Gnostic gospels to explain John’s Gospel; a worldview that has now thankfully collapsed. Here we have Horton and Kline importing Hittite Treaty’s to explain God’s covenants, thus leading to a revision of our whole framework of theology. This is exactly why Horton has gone on to write his four volumes on covenant (published by Westminster John Knox Press). A revisionist view always requires a wholesale change in all of our theology.

This blog comment is far longer than I intended. Perhaps someone could take up the challenge to write a brief essay entitled: Does the Idea of Covenant in the Theology of Meredith Kline and Michael Horton fit within the Framework of the Westminster Standards? I think I have my answer already but it would be good to see something on paper.

2009-11-02T08:15:00.002Z

Another Forgotten Truth!

Only a few decades ago almost all Christian denominations in the UK would have held to the doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. Sadly only few would claim to teach this vital truth and in some ways our forefathers may not have done us justice. After World War II there was still some remnant of Victorian Christianity in the UK but Sunday was seen as list of what you could not do rather than a joyful day. Maybe this has caused many people to mock and pour scorn on this biblical doctrine, but this is hardly a righteous approach to go around undoing the work of the gospel because one does not rightly understand something or because a truth has been wrongly applied.
So, what is the Christian Sabbath? The fourth of the Ten Commandments states:

Exodus 20:8-11. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

The command is clear but, how does this apply to the Christian Church? The Westminster Shorter Catechism supplies the answer:

Q. 59. Which day of the week has God designated as the Sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world until the resurrection of Christ God established the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. From that time until the end of the world the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath.

Sunday is the Christian Sabbath and it is a gift from God so that we can cease from our normal work with all good conscience and seek first God’s kingdom by worshipping God the whole day and by mediating on God’s covenant mercies. The Bible does not teach a half Lord’s Day and therefore we want to encourage Christian’s to attend church twice on Sundays. It is a day to turn away from normal worldly pleasures like the internet, TV, X factor, Sky sports etc and to nourish our souls spiritually. This is not legalism, this is God’s command and it is for our benefit. We need to be creative as families so that we include the whole family and find exciting things to do for the children so that they are not bored and so that they understand what the day is about. Check out an excellent sermon by Ted Donnelly on the subject http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=82409924541

Here are a few reasons that explain the purpose of the Christian Sabbath.

1. Worship; this enables the whole family to worship the Triune God in public and in private.
2. Rest; physical and mental.
3. Obedience; the fourth commandment is partly ceremonial and partly civil that was fulfilled by Christ but there is an aspect of this commandment which is still binding on the consciences of Christians and the Book of Isaiah speaks of ‘calling the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14).
4. Remembrance; we remember weekly on this day that God is our creator and redeemer because this is the day that Christ was raised from the dead.
5. Sanctification; we set our lives apart from normal activity to be sanctified unto the Lord.
6. Spiritual refreshment; a time to let God work on us before we begin the week’s work.
7. An anticipation of heaven; hopefully this day gives us a taste of heaven on earth (Deut. 11:21)

Let us finish this short exhortation by listening to what the ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ has to say on this matter:

Isa 58:13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,
14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

2009-10-21T09:47:00.003+01:00

One is Your Teacher, the Christ

Matthew 23:8-12: "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Here Jesus reminds us that ultimately we have only one ultimate, infallible teacher that is Christ himself. This does not mean that we do not need earthly instructors because Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 4 and explains that the main gift for the church’s edification today, are the gifts of pastor-teachers. However we must always keep things in perspective.

Recently I have encountered some teachings by men whom I respect who appear to have missed the plot theologically on some important points. Do I abandon everything they teach? Not necessarily but we need to continually exercise discernment of teaching and also to critically evaluate our own teachings. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica and asked them to do just this:

1Th 5:19-21: Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.

The prophetic utterances I take to mean biblical exposition that Timothy was engaged in especially as Paul had left him behind (See Acts chapter 17 and note Paul’s method when he was at the church in Thessalonica). We are to ‘examine everything’!

This does not mean that we are to develop a critical spirit but we are to critically examine the content of all teaching and compare it with the ‘whole counsel of God as revealed in the 66 books of the Bible. The Westminster Confession states in Chapter 1:9, ‘Of the Holy Scripture’:

The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one) it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.

Where do we hear the voice of Christ? It is in the reading of or the hearing of the preaching of the Scriptures.

When was the Last Time you Sang a Psalm in Public Worship?

2009-10-12T08:40:00.002+01:00

This is not a trick question. It is a very real biblical concern that relates to the public and private worship of God. Paul writes to the church at Ephesus and instructs them:

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father (5:18b-20).
Clearly the important thing to bear in mind is that our worship comes to God through the name of the only mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). But what about the content of the songs we sing?
There has been much discussion as to the difference between ‘psalms, hymns and spiritual songs’ in this passage but there has not been discussion as to whether this includes the singing of literal psalms. So what has happened to the singing of psalms? Maybe some think it is old fashioned, or maybe people consider that psalms are not available in modern English or perhaps some believe that modern song writers are better able to explain the cross, the Trinity or our contemporary situation. While it is true that the Wesley brothers wrote some great hymns like ‘And Can it Be’, this does not appear to be the main concern of the apostle Paul.
The Westminster Assembly and Westminster Confession clarified the matter regarding ‘Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day’; they conclude:

The reading of Scriptures with godly fear; the sound conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith and reverence; singing of psalms with grace in the heart: as also the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ: are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God.
The literal singing of psalms was the conclusion of the Westminster divines and this practice needs to be recovered in our day. Some may ask ‘does this subject really matter to the church?’ Here are a number of reasons why the singing of Psalms (meaning the 150 Psalms as recorded in the Bible) is crucial:

• Paul commands this in Ephesians 5:19 and Col. 3:16, therefore it is a test of our obedience to the authority of Scripture.
• By singing psalms in modern English to modern tunes (For example I sang a version of Psalm 51 recently to the tune from ‘Rock of Ages’ and also I sang Psalm 136 to the tune from ‘When peace like a river’.) we are singing with pure words, without any human tainting of false doctrine.
• The psalms express the whole range of human emotions. Most hymns or contemporary songs tend to focus on the jubilation or celebratory aspect of praise. This may not be most pastorally helpful.
• Singing Psalms like Psalm 10, 13, 16, 142 etc help the church to see that it is possible to bring praise to God in the deepest trials that we face.

This is enough for now, but I suggest that you think through for yourself why it is important to recover the singing of psalms as part of our worship in our congregational singing. We must not forget that the high point of worship in reformed circles is the sermon and not just singing. How do we respond to this short challenge that I have written? For now, let us turn our face to God in prayer and ask Him to lead the way in this crucial matter, to show us how we can work towards recovering what has in most circles been sadly lost.

Where is the Seat of Church Authority (Matthew 18:15-20)?

2009-09-11T10:07:00.004+01:00

One of the consequences of the Separatist movement that somewhat polarised positions was the evolutionary development of idea as to the exact seat of church authority. During this pursuit of a pure church two ideals or admonitions emerged: some Anglicans and Presbyterians understood that for practical purposes, that authority rested with the ministers and elders; whereas many of the Independents and Separatists favoured the view that this was to reside within the congregation.[1] It must be recognised though, that during this time of flux that there was much variance in the Puritan ideals, and hard and fast boundaries do not always work well in assessing this time period. However, many of its leaders did struggle with the question of church authority and it is perhaps helpful to understand in some measure how these two positions developed.

From the outset, any church that looked to Calvin and Geneva as its theological fountainhead invariably included church discipline as a non-negotiable ingredient for a truly Reformed church. In 1539, during a time of temporary exile in Strasbourg, the pastor from the church, Calvin, clearly defended the Reformed doctrine of the church in a letter to Cardinal Sadolet. He writes that ‘there are three things on which the safety of the church is founded, namely, doctrine, discipline and the sacraments’[2] and also that ‘the body of the church, to cohere well, must be bound together by discipline as with sinews’.[3] This concern for a well-ordered church highlights discipline as an important strand of Calvinistic ecclesiology.

The majority of the Puritan movement, and especially the Separatists up until 1608 at least, were ‘convinced Calvinists’[4] according to White, and besides which, the application of outward discipline would most likely have been more pressing with the use of church covenants to bind believers together. How else could the ideal of a pure church be realised and maintained other than through rigorous discipline? Presbyterians who advocated a different pattern for Anglican government while remaining within the church, White clarifies that in the ‘1570–80s they looked to Calvinistic Geneva as the ideal church’ and they were seeking ‘the one apostolic pattern revealed in Scripture, the Presbyterian pattern’.[5] This discloses a recurring issue that has remained to our day concerning the reformation of church polity and practice. Whether or not there is a single NT pattern and blueprint to be copied has remained a topic for much debate and this matter cannot be side-stepped concerning any vision that may pursue a connection between the Trinity and the church.

The classicus locus for the subject was Matthew 18:15–20 and the precise meaning of the phrase ‘tell it to the church’ (18:17) was hotly contested. Did this mean ‘tell the elders’ or ‘tell the congregation’? White has probably irreversibly established that there was a developed Separatist tradition and he devotes almost one whole chapter to these matters concerning Matthew 18:17. In an analysis of the apparent changing views of the English Separatist pastor in Amsterdam, Francis Johnson (1562–1618), White discerns: ‘In the interpretation of the key text, Matthew 18:17, “tell the church” he [Johnson] now understood “the church” to be “the elders”, and not, as the English Separatists had all held until then, “the whole congregation”.’[6]

The way this passage was expounded, often impacted what was a delicate balancing act between the spiritual authority of the elders and the congregation. This was frequently a reaction to the clerical control of parishes where members had little input in church governance. Church discipline may have been the starting point for discussion but this led to other matters relating to the locus of authority for the calling of ministers and congregational decision making. White maintains that a vital principle throughout Separatism (at least up until the end of Smyth’s ministry) was the conviction that Anglican ministry in its entirety was to be rejected as impure and apostate. Certainly any persistent participation in private fellowship with individual members of parish congregations and the listening to the preaching of even godly parish ministers would have led to excommunication.[7]

The shifting of church authority from the hands of the ordained ministers, into the midst of the gathered believers, led to an irreversible distancing from the Church of England. This left no room for the Episcopal authority of Bishops while simultaneously rejecting Calvin’s Presbyterianism. Perhaps this issue of authority also opened the door for many other unexpected wholesale changes that emerged, such as the validity of Anglican Baptism and Calvinistic soteriology.[8] Hopefully this sketch of the background to the times in which Smyth ministered is helpful, prior to our more detailed investigation of his theology. Crucial ecclesial issues have already arisen so far and these can be summarised with three questions: Is it valid to pursue a single all controlling blueprint for the reformation of the churches? Did a Separatist tendency towards ‘always progressing’, pave the way for unbridled fluidity in all aspects of ecclesiology? Where is the final seat of church authority?

[1] The historical context of English church reform during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century is a much discussed topic. Here are some references that are helpful to give some preliminary insights: Meic Pearse, The Great Restoration, Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998; Nick Lunn, ‘Laurence Chadderton―Puritan, Scholar, and Bible Translator’, Banner Magazine, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2008, 537; J. I. Packer, Among God’s Giants, Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1991, repr 2000; Basil Hall, ‘Puritanism: The Problem of Definition’ in Studies in Church History, Vol. 2, ed. G. J. Cunning. Nashville: Nelson, 1965; Francis J. Bremer, The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1976; Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement, Wotton-Under-Edge: Clarendon Press, 1967, repr. 1990, 86.

[2] John Calvin, ‘Reply by John Calvin to the Letter by Cardinal Sadolet to the Senate and the People of Geneva’ in Calvin’s Tracts Relating to the Reformation, Vol. 1, Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1844, 38. Hereafter called Calvin’s Tracts.

[3] Calvin, Calvin’s Tracts, 55.

[4] B. R. White, The English Baptists of the Seventeenth Century, Didcot: Baptist Historical Society, 1996, 18.

[5] White, The Development of the Doctrine of the Church Among the English Separatists, i–iii.

[6] White, The English Separatist Tradition, 142.

[7] Ibid., 158.

[8] Lee, ‘Chapter 1: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Background’ in The Theology of John Smyth. This offers some helpful background of the historical context of John Smyth. This book also maps Smyth’s theological changes concerning baptism and soteriology that ran parallel to Smyth’s changing views on authority.

The Lost Art of Catechising

2009-09-08T08:45:00.004+01:00

Whatever happened to the use of catechisms in the land of England and among English Christians? Before we go a little further I had better explain what a Catechism is.

Pr 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Some Bibles have a cross reference to the word 'train' which suggests a meaning of 'to catechise'; this verse refers to the training up of children. So, what does catechise mean?

1.To instruct by asking questions, receiving answers, and offering explanations and corrections, - esp. in regard to points of religious faith.

2.To question or interrogate; to examine or try by questions; - sometimes with a view to reproof, by eliciting from a person answers which condemn his own conduct.

The philosophy of this method is crucial to dynamic discipleship in the church. In many areas Maria and I feel that we have been robbed of truth as many things have been simply withheld or not told us by Christian leaders over the years. Catechising is one such area. How does this work practically?

We as a family aim to have our evening meal together around the table at 6.00pm or there abouts and I give thanks for the meal (1 Timothy 4:4-6) and then after the meal we each get out our Bibles (including the children) and and we read out loud one question from the Westminster Larger Catechism and some of the Bible verses that are referenced to it. The children are involved in the discussion around the particular question and it greatly sharpens up Maria and I as well. At the end of the conversation we ask for prayer requests and we close by all praying. This means that family worship is established, the children are instructed and this forms an excellent corporate 'quiet time'.

It would greatly benefit churches also if they based their instruction of children and the youth on the Larger and Shorter (Shorter is generally for children) Westminster Catechisms. Especially if they had Sunday School before the main morning service service for instruction for the adults and children in seperate classes; this should then be followed by the whole family worshipping together for the whole service. This includes the children staying in for the preaching...preaching is the high point of worship and children should not be deprived from hearing preaching. Why? Romans 10:17, 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God'. How can the faith of children grow if they never hear preaching.

May the lost art of catechising be recovered in the church of God!

Wisdom From Martin Luther

2009-09-03T14:41:00.003+01:00

One of the watchword phrases of the early Reformation was the statement of Martin Luther when he disputed with the Roman Catholics as to the source of his authority. Luther declared:

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves-I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen".

The question is; could we say the same thing today? It seems like there is a very subtle attempt to usurp the authority of the Bible where people place alongside biblical revelation, their own impressions, opinions, dreams, visions etc. All subjective 'words' have no place in the church.

God promises that it is in His Word that we will hear Him speaking, indeed God has spoken. Listen to the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1-2:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

God is no longer speaking the way he did in days of old, because he has revealed his gospel and it is found in Holy Scripture, and Scripture alone. This is not bondgage or the dead letter but it is God's will and we must submit to this or else be found rebelling against the very person we profess to love (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The public worship of God should be saturated with the Word of God (found in the Bible) and nothing else. We should be devoted to the pure preaching of Scripture, the reading of Scripture, singing based on Scripture alone, including literal psalm singing. God's Word should be our delight (Psalm 119). We should shun the use of unscripural content in our public worship and freely reject the wild enthusiasms of some, who claim to speak for God, but use their own words in man made prophesies. Let us return, let us return to the Word of God and may there be a fresh exodus from what Luther called the Babylonian captivity of the church.

Listen to Isaiah 8: 20

To the teaching and to the testimony. If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Have We Forgotten Something About John Calvin?

2009-08-20T09:54:00.005+01:00

As many people will be aware this year is the 500th anniversary since the birth of John Calvin and many conferences are devotong sessions to the impact of Calvin's life and teaching. In all the excellent seminars and conference talks I wonder if we have forgotten something about Calvin. What is it? Calvin's doctrine of the church.

Calvin's Institutes ranks among one of the most influential works in the history of the church and it is made up of four books. The fourth book is all about the doctrine of the Church and yet I have not seen a single article or paper commenting on this aspect of Calvin. I would say that if we do not understaand Calvin's doctrine of the church then we do not understand this Reformer at all. Reformation was all about re-forming the church back to its apostolic pattern. So, whata are some of the aspects of Calvin's doctrine of the church.

1. A fourfold government of pastor's, elders. deacons and doctors (this means teacher, and especially those given to the training of pastors). The deacons were responsible for practical mercy and did not form the spiritual government. The spiritual oversight was given to ruling elders and the minister. The minister was trained, examined and equipped to preach pure doctrine and administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

2. The Sacraments were very important. This involved a covenantal view which included the baptism of infants...not so popular among Reformed Baptists today. Could it be that the neglect or silence concerning Calvin's doctrine of the church, actually relates to the suppressing Calvin's view of the Sacraments? Could it be that we tend to 'pick n mix' from Calvin's theology? In reality Calvin's theology and doctrine of the church were an interconnected and integrated whole. If we do not understand Calvin's ecclesiology we probably do not understand Calvin because the whole purpose of the Reformation was to re-form the church back to the apostolic pattern.

Maybe we need to re-think ecclesiology in England because the best summary of the Christian faith in the English language are the Westminster Standards and these were made in England, yet almost unknown at this time in this country. The need for contemporary reformation is immense and at times overwhelming. Yet if we learn from Calvin he did not shrink from the task and copied the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ who said that 'new wine ' has to be put into 'new winsekins (Matthew 9:17)'. Calvin recovered the wineskin and gave the church a framework to build, nothing new, but a recovered apostolic pattern and doctrine (Acts 2:42).

What Do I Think About the Book Called 'The Shack'?

2009-08-18T12:30:00.006+01:00

I was preaching in Germany recently and a lady at the church where I preached, who ran the bookstall asked me what I thought about the book. In German it is called 'Die Hutte' (I Think) and I gave my opinions which were not too favourable but I thought I need to read it to give an informed judgmnent.

The front of the book claims that over seven million copies are in print and the back cover has some dramatic and glowing recommendations. The evangelist J. John declares that 'this is the most heart-warming inspirational story I have ever read in decades'. Eugene Peterson the author of the controversial Bible paraphrase 'The Message' states that 'this book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his'. Wow!! Stunning recommendations.

I have to admit that so far I have not finished the book and I do not need to; at one stage I broke down in tears that so many 'professing' Christians are deceived and mislead by this blasphemous book. The book is fiction and it portrays the Triune God as three human beings where God the Father is an African-American woman, God the Son is a Middle-Eastern handy man and the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman. Need I say more! This book is not Christian and it represents a god made in the mind of the author Wm. Paul Young; merely a god made in the image of what the author would like God to be like. So, what is the problem?

1. It Breaks the First Two, of the Ten Commandments.

A. "You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3)
B. Ex 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This leads people to an unbiblical image of a false god; this is idolatry.

2. There is no mention of Sin

It seems that all that matters with this false god is that all that counts is a relationship founded on love. Jesus displayed his love by dying for sin and taking the wrath of God in the place of sinners (Romans 5:1-9). There is no mention of sin, righteousness or judgment which Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would convince the world of (John 16:7-10).

3. This Book is a Test of our Discernment

If someone read this book and they have no problems with it I would have to say a number of possibilities exist. Either they are:

a. A new Christian
b. Not a Christian
c. A Christian that has lost all sight of biblical discernment (1 John 4:1)

Maybe this book is a good self-test of where we stand before the God of the Bible. I can confidently say that this book is blasphemy, a portrayal of a false god and in no way is the book remotely comparable to Pilgrim's Progress.

2009-08-10T19:15:00.001+01:00

Have We Forgotten Some Things?

There seems to be so many things that the English church has forgotten that it is hard to know where to begin in explaining this. Most likely my experience among English Christians will be repeated in many countries around the world. Imagine that you and I go to your local city centre or a Christian conference to survey Christians and ask them some questions. Here are some possible questions.

Question: What is the Lord’s Day?

Answer: Commonly many people would have no concept that the day we call Sunday is what the Bible calls the Lord’s Day. The Jew’s observed Saturday but Christ rose from the dead on Sunday and ever since this day has been a day when Christians have gathered for worship, in remembrance of the resurrection of the Son of the Living God.

1Corinthians 16:1 ¶ Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
2 On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

Acts 20:7 ¶ And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul [began] talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

Question: What is worship? Or, how do you worship God?

Answer: This question will receive a whole range of answers but most of them will include the idea of music, anointed songs and a sense of the presence of God. In other words it often involves a sense of us engaging with God with our feelings, often with a gifted musician to get us there. However this is a departure from a historic understanding of worship. In Reformed Churches the high point of our worship should be listening to faithful preaching out of the Bible and the whole service is worship. Worship is not restricted to singing, though congregational singing is part of our worship.
The whole idea that when we sing is the only time when are worshipping would be rather strange to most Christians over 2000 years. Worship includes the reading of the Bible (not poems and Christian books), prayer, congregational singing, preaching and the right administration of the sacraments which are: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Question: How important is preaching on the Lord’s Day to the church’s edification?

Answer: I will answer this from one of the Reformer’s called Heinrich Bullinger who wrote:
‘The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore when this word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; that neither any other Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful; that neither any other Word of God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven’.

Bullinger rules out what would commonly be understood to be prophetic words, sharing of ‘pictures’ and people claiming to speak on behalf of the Lord. This alone would cause quite a vacuum in many congregations if they were restricted to the Bible alone!!

The word recover means ‘to get back something that is lost’ The Church has forgotten and lost many things and we need to pray for a recovery of biblical truth in the land where we live.

2009-07-11T09:14:00.001+01:00

Charismatic Influences: Is the Bible Sufficient for the Church Today?

Charismatic movements and influences have impacted many sections of the church, producing a ‘new tradition’ often founded on experience, dynamic worship, the expectation that God will speak through prophetic utterances in gatherings and manifestations of signs and wonders. Commonly, a polarisation of views occurs during conflict and thus an opposing ‘cessationist’ group has emerged, particularly among those who hold reformed and dispensationalist positions. Charismatic claims are judged unbiblical and are seen to undermine a New Testament understanding of authority. Wayne Grudem identifies a third group of ‘Christians who are neither ‘charismatic’ nor ‘cessationist’ and are simply unsure about what to think of the gift of prophecy.’[1] Even if we are undecided, looking briefly at the two groups and their relation to our subject will provide a tool for the examination of their consequences for our faith.
The cessationist argument is cogently defended by Robert L. Reymond[2] and O. Palmer Robertson, with the proposition that prophecy and supernatural signs are erroneous because these gifts ceased with the end of the apostolic era and canonical closure. Spirit-empowered revelations are seen as unnecessary; as Robertson summarises, ‘Christ is the final word’ and our goal ‘is living out of the sufficiency of the final word as it is found in the Christ of the Scriptures.’[3] A dual or competing source of revelation is rejected as a distraction from the uniquely inspired Bible as our sole foundation for authority.
Wayne Grudem and Jack Deere[4] persuasively expound a charismatic position and defend from Scripture a well-thought-through argument to encourage the exercise of spiritual gifts. Grudem hopes to present a middle ground[5] position and while he addresses certain charismatic excesses it would be fair to conclude that his proposition sits comfortably with those endorsing continuing prophetic revelation. The focus of discussion centres on chapters twelve to fourteen of 1 Corinthians and revelations are seen as a supernatural mixture of God revealing and someone speaking fallibly ‘something God brings to the mind.’[6] Potential objections regarding the sufficiency of Scripture are anticipated and explanations offered that prophecy is not equal in authority to the Bible and must be tested by the written word of God.[7] In a sense, providing revelations do not contradict Scripture, they can be sifted and accepted; but this opens the door for subjective impressions that can be neither verified nor falsified.

A. Sufficiency: Is Scripture Our Only, Supreme Authority?

What sense do we make of these polarised views where the issues at stake clearly relate to knowing God, authority and our submission? In many ways the charismatic emphasis on the inerrant authority of Scripture and endorsement of the Bible as being an all-sufficient revelation of God is misleading. The expectation of and emphasis on revelations through prophecy moves the locus of authority and interest from Scripture to additional extra-biblical words, in what could fairly be described as a competing source of revelation, the general revealed will in the written Scriptures being supplemented by more specific guidance and understanding through personal revelations. Therefore the logical conclusion of the charismatic position is that the Bible is not the only all-sufficient source of authority. A reassessment of the finality of the authority of Scripture is urgently needed and it must be stressed that the Bible is the only revelation of God today and should occupy an unchallenged and exclusive place in the church. The inevitable result, when the centre of authority is changed and biblical sufficiency is undermined, is that subjectivism is subconsciously welcomed and human reason ascends the throne of final authority.
The theme of redemptive history needs revisiting because this is perhaps the most persuasive argument by which to demonstrate that prophetic revelation and the offices of apostle and prophet have ended.[8] The definition of prophecy must be freshly reviewed and the suggestion by the puritan William Perkins moves dialogue in a different direction altogether. He defined prophecy as a duty of the Christian minister whereby ‘there are two parts: preaching the Word and public prayer.’[9] Furthermore, confusion concerning the sufficiency of the written word may be either eliminated or increased by the place we assign, within the life of the church, to the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination. The puritan John Owen is helpful in clarifying contemporary debate because he wrestled with the enthusiasm of the Quakers and their supposed revelations, and stated that ‘if their private revelations agree with Scripture, they are needless, and if they disagree, they are false.’[10] Why expend time and effort on fallible subjective impressions when we can have a sure foundation of the unchanging infallible Scriptures?

Conclusion

Solomon foresaw about three thousand years ago that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’[11] and this is a timely reminder to forewarn us when we face the new challenges that will emerge in the coming decades. The disputes between Augustine and Pelagius, or Athanasius and Arius, caused the truth to shine even more clearly and provide encouragement to press on through doctrinal conflict. It is hard to see a way through the maze of confusion which exists today, unless there is a fresh Exodus event which, by breaking the philosophical enslavement of the Bible, will lead toward the crucial doctrine of Scripture alone, founded on the rock of God’s unchanging revelation. Paul wrote from his prison cell at the end of his life to exhort Timothy:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.[12]

The church father John Chrysostom paraphrased these same words written to Timothy: ‘You have Scripture for a master instead of me; from there you can learn whatever you need to know.’[13]

[1] Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1988, repr. 2000), p 17.
[2] Robert L. Reymond, What about Continuing Revelations and Miracles in the Presbyterian Church Today? (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1977).
[3] O. Palmer Robertson, The Final Word: A Biblical Response to the Case for Tongues and Prophecy Today (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1993, repr. 2004), p 135.
[4] Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1993).
[5] Wayne Grudem, op cit, pp 17-19.
[6] Wayne Grudem, ‘The Source of Prophecies: Something God Brings to Mind’ (in) Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1988, repr. 2000).
[7] Wayne Grudem, ‘Appendix C: The Sufficiency of Scripture’ (in) Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1988, repr. 2000).
[8] An alternative Pentecostal position disagreeing with this assertion is presented by Jon Ruthven, ‘The Foundational Gifts of Ephesians 2:20’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology (London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), vol. 10, no. 2.
[9] William Perkins, The Art of Prophesying (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1592, repr. 1996), p 7.
[10] John Owen, ‘John Owen on Communication from God’ (in) J. I. Packer, Among God’s Giants: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1991, repr. 2000), p 113.
[11] Ecclesiastes 1:9 quoted from English Standard Version of the Holy Bible (London: Collins, 2002).
[12] 2 Timothy 3:16-17 from English Standard Version (ESV), (London: Harper Collins, 2002).
[13] William Whitaker, A Disputation on Holy Scripture (Cambridge: The University Press, 1849), p 637.

Does it Really Matter What We Believe About the End Times (A Fresh Look at the Book of Revelation)?

2009-06-26T17:42:00.001+01:00

A Fresh Look at the Book of Revelation

This study was motivated by a number of reasons. Firstly someone from Norway called Haldis was on one of the Intensive Discipleship groups that we ran, and she asked me to give an introduction to the book of revelation. In some ways this is a delayed answer to that question. Secondly a book called ‘Are we living in the End Times?’ By Tim Lahaye caught my attention because he gives 20 reasons why Jesus could come back in our generation. (That is the rapture before the second coming). Thirdly for a number of years I have come to doubt the supposed two stage second coming that many Christians hold as a precious doctrine. I absolutely believe in the second coming, but that Christ will come once and all the descriptions of his coming (Including 1 Thessalonians chapter 4) all describe the one event. Fourthly was because I was recommended a commentary by a man called Hendrickson on Revelation called, ‘More Than Conquerors’. I had wanted to read this for a long time.

Let us look at the book as a whole.

Before we get lost in the details of this book I think we need to ask ourselves some fundamental questions that will help us to have a right understanding. Let us give some insight to these questions before we look at parts of the book.

1. What was the purpose of this book?
· To encourage and correct the 7 churches in Asia Minor.
· To give them strength during difficult times.
2. What were the conditions of the early church that received this letter/revelation?
· Persecution including being fed to lions among, a dark pagan idolatrous world with generally small congregations scattered around in a world controlled by the Roman Empire.
3. Is there a main theme that we must not lose sight of as we work through this book?
· The main theme is Jesus Christ (See Rev 1v1), not end times the anti-Christ etc. This affects the way you interpret the book. If I was to give a one line summary of the theme it would be, ‘The victory of Christ and His church over Satan and all the enemies of the gospel’. Two key words are overcome and wrath!
4. Who wrote the book and where?
· John the apostle while banished to the Isle of Patmos and he received these visions towards the end of his life.
5. What is the Old Testament foundation for these visions? (Note, it is not just the book of Daniel)
· Note the OT quotations through the book. Here are some examples. Compare Rev 4v8 with Isaiah 6, Rev 6v16 with Hosea 10v8, Rev 18v2 with Isaiah 21v9 etc.

There are seven parts to the book of Revelation

As I understand this book there are seven sections to this book that basically explain what will happen between the first and second coming of Jesus Christ. With this in mind we do not need to keep changing or updating our interpretation in the light of world events. This would be an orthodox view from the Reformation and church history. However you need to know that Tim Lahaye, many denominations and bible teachers do not see the book of Revelation this way.

They believe Chapter 4-19 is the time of a seven year great tribulation and that the church is raptured (Caught up to heaven) before this because of the wrath of God being poured out. Multitudes are saved during this period and then the church comes back with Christ in Revelation 19. They say that God will not subject his wrath on Christians? I have a number of questions on this line of interpretation.

I do not believe the visions of revelation can just be interpreted as single literal events. For example in chapter 16v13, it speaks of three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon. This is symbolic language.
The seven-year period of tribulation and God’s wrath has very little evidence except a verse in Daniel 9 and there is no evidence to say most of Revelation must take place during this 7 year period.
If this interpretation was true then almost all of the book of Revelation was irrelevant and of no comfort to Christians through the ages if it is almost all to be fulfilled at least 2000 years later. Jesus spoke nothing of a 7 year Great Tribulation. Note Tribulation means pressure and Christ said there would be a time of great Tribulation (Matthew 24) but he did not call it The Great Tribulation.
These people claim that it would not be righteous for God to pour out his wrath on the church but then Tim Lahaye says there could be billions of people saved in what he calls the Great Trib???? Then this contradicts the interpretation because God’s wrath (As they see it) is still poured out on the righteous anyway.
Finally whatever we believe will affect the way we live our life. Apart from the fact that I do not believe the scriptures teach a two stage second coming, this rapture/ escape teaching reminds me of prosperity teaching. Suffering free Christianity with an attitude of who cares about the world anyway because we are leaving before it gets difficult, rather than a sober longer term view where we are prepared to be salt and light in every area of society in every generation and be prepared for a single sudden coming!!!!

The Seven sections revealed in the book of Revelation.

These seven sections give different summaries of the time between the first and second coming, but remember to keep in mind the big picture and do not get lost in the details.

Section 1: The Revelation of Christ to the church. (1v1-3v22)

The seven churches represent 7 literal but different churches and these are examples of 7 different types of congregations through the ages to the second coming. The letter was written primarily to these congregations in modern day Turkey. Some people say that each church represents what happened to the church up to the rapture. I would say the bible does not teach this for a number of reasons.
Firstly this is what is called Eisegesis (Reading into the text what is not there) and secondly the Chinese would greatly disagree that we are living in the lukewarm church age before the second coming. Here we see the common danger of interpreting world events from a western perspective. I think sometimes these bible teachers could do with 2 years on the Doulos to show them that the world exists outside of Europe and America.

Section 2: The throne of God and the Seven Seals (4v1- 8v5)

The key to understanding the seven seals is to examine who the rider is on the first white horse in 6v2-4. After closely looking at this over many years I have come to the conclusion that I believe this is Jesus (Compare Revelation 19) going forth with his gospel into the nations. Many teach this is the anti Christ but I do not agree with this interpretation. If we remind ourselves about the introduction and purpose of the book, it is all about Christ and his sovereignty not about the Antichrist taking center stage.

First seal =Christ
Second seal = Persecution of God’s people
Third seal = Injustice and economic hardship suffered by believers because of their testimony of Jesus and the Word of God.
Fourth seal = Universal death for all humanity (Christians and the world)
Fifth Seal = A fixed number of saints to be martyred in the history of the church
Sixth seal = the second coming of Christ as a day of vengeance and wrath. The language is found in Matthew 24v29-30 and this is categorically the second coming after a time of tribulation (pressure) in those days.
· A great earthquake
· The sun becomes as black as sackcloth of hair
· The moon becomes as blood
· The stars of the heaven fall to the earth
· The heaven departs as a scroll (See Psalm 102v26)
· People hide themselves from the wrath of the lamb. (Second coming)

Seventh Seal = Fire cast to the earth (8v5) and this is the destruction of earth by fire as prophesied by Peter in 2 Peter 3v10-12.

Section 3: The Seven angels blowing the seven Trumpets (8v5-11v19)

Trumpet 1 = A judgment upon trees and grass of the earth
Trumpet 2 = Judgment upon the sea that becomes blood with sea creatures and ships destroyed ( A modern example would be the 2004 Tsunami)
Trumpet 3 = Judgment upon the rivers and fountains of waters (A modern example would be the floods in New Orleans). Waters also become bitter and many men die because of this.
Trumpet 4 = Sun moon and stars are effected.
Trumpet 5 =Torment and death on all those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (These are true Christians. It is interesting that in the Tsunami in Sri Lanka they told me that Christians were not so affected). Men will seek and desire death. Linked to Apollyon (Literally a destroyer)

Trumpet 6 = war, armies and the judgment of seven thunders in chapter 10 (Compare Psalm 29). The two witnesses and a great earthquake in Jerusalem (Compare Zechariah 14)
Trumpet 7 = the second coming where in 11v15, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms or our Lord and of His Christ. This is followed by worship before the throne where they declare the ruler ship of God and the time of wrath through final judgment.

Section 4: Christ versus the dragon and his allies (12v1-14v20)

Chapter12: Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and coronation with Satan hurled down from heaven. This whole chapter gives an excellent exposition of Genesis 3v15 (And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.) of the war between Christ and His seed with Satan and his seed.

Chapter 13: This reveals the two main enemies of the gospel.
A. The Beast out of the sea, possibly symbolizes anti-Christian government through the ages and will culminate in the Anti-Christ, the man of sin. 13v1-10, note especially the horns and crowns in 13v1=government
B. The beast out of the earth probably symbolizes Anti Christian religions, wisdom and philosophies between the first and second coming. Examples are Islam, Buddhism, Communism, Evolutionism etc.

Chapter 14
· The 3 angels declaring in verse 6 the world wide preaching of the gospel (Compare Matthew 24v14) in verse 8 the fall of Babylon and in verse 10-11 the second coming as wrath and judgment on the unrighteous.
· Verse 14-20 records the second coming of Christ as a day of wrath when the door of salvation closes. Christ returns as judge!

Section 5: The Seven bowls of the Wrath of God 15-16

Bowl 1: Grievous sores on those who did not have the mark of the beast

Bowl 2: Judgment on the sea where it becomes as blood and every living thing in the sea died.

Bowl 3: Judgment on the rivers and fountains of waters. Judgment on those who have killed Christians with the voice of the martyrs rejoicing

Bowl 4: The sun scorches men with fire and heat. God has power over the plagues

Bowl 5: Judgment on the seat of the beast and his kingdom. The people blaspheme God and will not repent (16v11)

Bowl 6: The Euphrates dries and armies come with a gathering of the battle of Armageddon in Israel before the second coming.

Bowl 7: The second coming with the fierceness of wrath and the end of the world

It is very interesting to note the similarities with the seven seals and the seven trumpets and how they all end with second coming of Christ in wrath and the end of the world. Again with one and only one second coming!!

Section 6: The fall of the Dragon’s allies 17-19

The judgment of Babylon (the woman and the beast)
The marriage is prepared before the second coming 19v1-10
The one and only second coming of Christ who defeats the antichristian forces (See Zechariah 14v1-9)
The beast and false prophet were finally judged and cast into the lake of fire (19v20)

Section 7: Victory through Christ.

· I still want to think through more concerning the millennium however when we consider the main part of this book deals with the time and events between the first and second coming this probably represents in 20v1-6 a time when Satan’s authority is limited to enable the spread of the gospel through the world (See Malachi 1v11)
· For the third time this book teaches there will be a final war before the second coming, this time it reveals Satan is involved in 20v7-10 but he is defeated and cast into the lake of fire.
· The end of the age again is recorded as final judgment and here is a detailed view of the great white throne.
· The book of revelation finishes with the last two chapters describing our eternal dwelling place, The New Jerusalem on the New Earth in the New Heaven. Our dwelling is with God and the lamb!!! Meditate on these 2 chapters often.

Summary

In the light of what I have outlined please search the scriptures because we none of us have the whole picture and we are all on a pilgrimage towards what Bunyan called in The Pilgrim’s progress, ‘The Celestial City’. However what we believe, affects the way we live and we must be watching, working and waiting eagerly for the second coming, knowing that Christ may not come back for another 500 years or he could come today!
A lot of what I have outlined would be what most of the church have believed regarding the second coming through the ages with the detailed rapture ideas really only promoted from around the 1850’s. These ideas are mainstream evangelical thinking today but let not the traditions of man hide the truth of God from any us on any biblical subject.

Yours in pursuit of the whole counsel of God and in need of your prayer for this,

Kevin Bidwell

Family Life in the 21st Century

2009-05-26T12:45:00.002+01:00

Single people are not second class citizens but it is a reality that families constitute the glue of any society, not least the church.
There is a great need for teaching on family in churches.

Genesis 1:26 ¶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
· Representatives of all humanity

Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
16 ¶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."
18 ¶ Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought [them] to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 ¶ So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Overview of Genesis
Chapter 1: Creation...In the beginning God. The whole Bible is God-centred.
Chapter 2: Man, Woman and family life in the Garden of Eden
Chapter 3: The Fall and the consequences of the fall.

Jesus appeals to life before the fall as our model: Matthew 19:3-9 ¶ And [some] Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, "Is it lawful [for a man] to divorce his wife for any cause at all?"
4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created [them] from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,
5 and said, 'FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE; AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?
6 "Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND [her] AWAY?"
8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

1. Exposition

V 15 Man is set in the garden to work= work is a blessing despite the curse. ‘Tend’ and ‘keep it’ speaks of order (remember the feeding of the 5000). Guards against laziness.

V16-17 He commanded the man with the Word of God = not speak of free will but that man cannot save himself by keeping the law. If innocent man without sin could not keep himself righteous by obeying one command, then how can we? Salvation and the doctrine of perseverance.
There is to be order in the family and the man is particularly responsible to ensure that the family, knows, reads, memorises and obeys God’s revelation in the Bible.
V18 It is not good that man should be alone= a rich verse relating also to marriage, friendship, social life, fellowship with Christians etc.
Illustration: Give illustration of preaching on a family/marriage conference on the Doulos: Ephesians chapter five and the 8 responsibilities for husbands and 4 for wives.

Helper= Man does not excel the woman, they have different roles, equality and order. There has been much discussion over the meaning of this word but it implies friendship, teamwork, love,
Ship: You cannot have two captains on a ship.
V19-20 Adam names the animals but no helper is found= God’s humour.
V20 seeking marriage = a suitable helper. How do you know who is the right man or woman? The 6 million dollar question.
Ask yourself “Do I want to spend the rest of my life with this person?” Are they a Christian? Are they suitable? If so what is holding you back?

V22 He fashioned a woman that he had taken from man= distinctions between men and women.
Illustration: Babies in church, crèche, children’s work etc. Practical work for a church’s new building =men.
V22 He brought her to man =the first wedding in the Bible. Marriage is a gift from God and must not be taken for granted.
V23 Adam said “Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh”, his greatest gift from all creation
V24 leave and cleave (men and women, but especially men), Mother-in law’s. They shall become one flesh = a process.
V25 Naked and not ashamed = a no secret relationship.

2. Practical Application
· Men working: two problems are laziness and working too much. We need work-life balance.
· Daily Family time: Dutch tradition, 6pm Bible reading and prayer.
· Giving thanks for meals is a good time for prayer and to disciple children in hearing how to pray and being asked to pray themselves.
Paul writing to Timothy: 1Ti 4:3 [men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude;
5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
· Developing family traditions
· Holidays without other people.
· Playing games together, chilling out, taking the children individually to do things...they open up.
· As a couple, always offer a united front to the children and discuss things away from them.
· Church is a must all the days of your lives, in season and out of season. We cannot have Christianity without church.
· Be thankful and encouraging in the home and try to avoid taking things for granted.

Calvin: ‘Every family of the pious ought to be a church’, commenting on Genesis.

Closing Song: Breathe on me breath of God
Benediction: 2Peter 3:18

Can we Learn Anything from a Presbyterian Understanding of the Local Church?

2009-04-22T11:15:00.007+01:00

There are perhaps four aspects of a Presbyterian pattern for a local church that comprise a compelling argument for this form of a church order. The headings chosen all begin with the letter ‘C’ and this is in some measure coincidental but it does however aid our remembrance. The headings that describe this suggested NT church model are confessional, connectional, church polity and covenantal theology. Let us begin by explaining these terms and their correspondence with the NT.

1. Confessional
The Presbyterian confession of faith for the English speaking world is the Westminster Confession along with the Larger and Shorter Catechism’s. These form a subordinate standard to the Bible but they give a summary of what is believed to be the Apostle’s doctrine (Acts 2:42). Obviously these documents were not known to the first century apostles and they are not infallible, however the doctrines they contain were known and written about by the early church elders and in a sense these doctrines are infallible. The nineteenth Century theologian Benjamin B. Warfield wrote about these three forms of unity and stated: ‘They are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion and of all that must be safeguarded if evangelical religion is to persist in the world’.[1]
To be reformed means holding to a reformed confession as a basis for church membership, preaching and as a means of interpreting Scripture. It is not uncommon to hear some Christians boldly assert that ‘all I need is the Bible’. It sounds right and yet it is profoundly mistaken because the real question centres on how we interpret the Bible. There are three options when it comes to church tradition. Tradition is something that is seen in a negative light, as if all tradition is ugly and something to be rejected as utterly false. According to Heiko Oberman there are two ways to understand the relation between Scripture and tradition, called Tradition I and Tradition II. [2]
Tradition I is the Reformed principle of Sola Scriptura which accepts the Scripture as the single and unique authority in the church while maintaining a high regard for tradition to learn from the past, so that we can more accurately interpret Scripture. Tradition II would represent the Roman Catholic Church that places church tradition on an equal footing with the Bible. Alistair McGrath observes a third category called Tradition 0 which is a ‘fundamentally individualistic approach to Scripture and tradition’.[3] McGrath explains that this places the ‘private judgement of the individual above the corporate judgment of the Christian church concerning the interpretation of Scripture’ and furthermore he believes it is ‘a recipe for anarchy’.[4]
This poses a searching question for anyone who would claim the name Christian. Which approach to tradition best represents your faith and your church? Presbyterian churches should hold to Tradition I but always need to be aware of the danger of allowing their confession to be exalted above Scripture. However, to live without any confession of faith at all, opens the door to rampant individualism that exalts human opinion above every form of authority.

2. Connectional
A second dynamic attribute of Presbyterianism is labelled as connectionalism. This means that local churches are in some measure inter-connected while maintaining their own identity and local church government. Thomas Witherow explains that there are three forms of church government and writes:
Prelacy is that form of church government which is administered by archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical office-bearers depending on that hierarchy; and is such as we see exemplified in the Greek Church, the Church of Rome, and the Church of England.
Independency is that form of church government whose distinctive principle is, that each separate congregation is under Christ subject to no external jurisdiction whatever, but has within itself—in its office-bearers and members—all the materials of government; and is such as it is present in practical operation among Congregationalists and Baptists.
Presbytery is that form of church government which is dispensed by presbyters or elders met in session, presbytery, synod or general assembly; and are such as presented in Presbyterian Churches.[5]

Undoubtedly God blesses different forms of church government but if we look at the NT it seems there was inter-church connection for ministry, accountability and support. For example the conference in Acts chapter fifteen that discussed doctrinal matters on behalf of local congregations and then Paul’s example in collecting diaconal aid for the saints in Jerusalem and Judea from many Gentile churches (1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2Cor. 8-9; Rom. 15: 22-9).
One pastor-theologian has commented that what led him from independency to Presbyterianism was the witnessing of gross injustices without any recourse alongside recognition of the interconnection of the one and many, the particular and universal. It is our contention that a Presbyterian form of church government principles, best represents the NT apostolic pattern.

3. Church Polity
In recent years there has been a lot of debate as to what are ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ doctrines for evangelical unity. While much of this discussion has been valuable it has sadly relegated the doctrine of the church to a position of secondary importance. This may have led some to altogether dismiss this crucial doctrine of which the NT has much to say.
The Presbyterian example that was modelled by the church in Geneva led by John Calvin and others has been replicated all over the world because men believed that a triform church office best represents the NT. This blueprint anticipates the offices of pastor (or minister), ruling elders and deacons. The pastor is primarily responsible as a man called, trained and equipped to lead the spiritual ministry of the church and most especially the preaching of pure doctrine. The elders are men who are to rule alongside the pastor and to oversee the church’s organisation, care and discipline (moral and doctrinal). The deacons do not constitute church rule but they are responsible for practical care and compassion. One of our aims must be faithfulness to Scripture, with an attitude that believes that we cannot improve on God’s plan. Obviously God’s plan will lead to the best care of the church and the best administration of the gospel. This three-fold pattern of church offices held by many Presbyterian Churches seems to faithfully describe the NT model for ministry.

4. Covenantal Theology
One of the exciting marks of Presbyterianism is its relentless pursuit for the accurate exegesis of Scripture and pure biblical theology—both are often sadly neglected in much of the modern church. Presbyterians emphasise a covenantal approach to theology which produces an important lens for biblical interpretation. This approach upholds continuity from Genesis to Revelation and the general view is that there was a covenant of works given to Adam before the fall and then the covenant of grace begins to unfold throughout the Bible, beginning from the first gospel statement in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15). J. V. Vesko explains that this covenant of grace is unfolded in four main covenants: Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic.[6] These covenants point the way to their climax which is the grace and redemption of the New Covenant purchased by Jesus’ own blood (Jer. 31:31-4; 1 Cor. 11:23-5; Heb. 8:1-13).
Four ways in which this covenantal continuity is manifested is in preaching, the law, baptism and the Lord’s Day. In preaching, sermons usually draw on the whole Bible and do not exclusively focus on passages from the NT and exposition should connect the Bible as a whole without apparent contradictions. This also means that the Law and especially the Ten Commandments have an important role for the church’s sanctification, even though we are saved by grace and never by the law. Baptism is administered to infants of believing parents as a connection to the OT covenant sign of circumcision but also to adult believers from non-Christian backgrounds. The Lord’s Day is seen to be a gift from God and this day (Sunday) is set aside for rest and the public worship of God. This is not a legalistic obligation but a joyful gift of the New Covenant that goes back to an ordinance given by God in Creation.

Summary
If this outline does not convince you fully, hopefully it will lead many to freshly investigate the importance of the local church to be organised in a way that is ‘decently and in order’ (1 Cor.14:40). Many significant theologians have unreservedly held to a Presbyterian pattern and these have included John Calvin, John Knox, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield and William Hendriksen, to name a few. Presbyterianism is boldly proposed by Witherow who states: ‘Of all the churches now existing in the world, the Presbyterian Church comes nearest to the model of apostolic times’.[7]

However, it must also be stressed that though these principles are gleaned from Presbyterian theology, not all Presbyterian Churches put this into practice. Liberalism and other winds of doctrine have influenced many parts of Presbyterianism as it has many segments of the Christian Church. Additionally it must be pointed out that the Presbyterian Church does not hold the copyright to these ideas because they are believed to be drawn from the Scriptures. For example the concept of connectionalism is something that all churches should seek out to avoid the pitfalls of Independency. We need to be realistic in putting these lessons into practice as we minister in a world of diversity. May this brief paper, at the least, spur us on to place the doctrine of the church to the same place of priority that the NT writers gave it. It was not a secondary non-essential to them and it should not be to us.

[1] Benjamin B. Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings, Vol. II, ed. John E. Meeter, Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1973, 660.
[2] R. Scott Clark, Recovering the Reformed Confession: Our Theology, Piety and Practice, Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2008, 8-11.
[3] Ibid., 27.
[4] Alistair E, McGrath, Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell, 1993, 144-5.
[5] Thomas Witherow, The Apostolic Church: Which is it?, Edinburgh: Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, 1967, 14.
[6] J. V. Fesko, Last Things First: Unlocking Genesis 1-3 with the Christ of Eschatology, Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2007, 79-81.
[7] Witherow, The Apostolic Church: Which is it?, 76.

A Reformed Understanding of Pastor

2009-04-08T19:05:00.001+01:00

The Reformed Understanding of Pastor

(This was delivered by Ed Collier at the conference called 'A Defence of Calvinism'.)

It’s important to see that historically the reformed understanding of the pastor flowed out of the reformed understanding of justification.

At the heart of the reformation in the 16th century was the rediscovery of the wonderful Biblical truth by Luther (and others) that salvation doesn’t come to us because of our righteousness or our works or our merits. But salvation comes to us because of what God has done for us in Christ, and us simply receiving that by faith alone.

And so Luther came to see that the true Church was that assembly of people who through faith were united to Jesus. And so he went on to ask the question, what was it that had brought these people to put their faith in Christ? What was the reason they believed? He saw the answer was that they’d heard the Word of God preached to them and had responded to that word with faith and repentance.

And so Luther concluded that if people were going to hear and believe then what the Church needed most of all was preachers and preaching. And of course that wasn’t his own logic. He got it from Paul in Romans 10. V 14 ‘how they shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear without a preacher?…v 17 So they faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So Luther was saying if the gospel is justification by faith alone, and faith comes by hearing the word, and hearing the word comes through the preaching of the word, Luther concluded what we need is preachers and preaching. Preaching that would lead people to faith and nurture their faith.

And yet as Luther looked at the Catholic Church he saw that at preaching was inadequate and at worst it was non-existent.

He made this comment: ‘3 great abuses have befallen the service of God. First God’s word is not proclaimed: there is only reading and singing in Churches. Second, because God’s Word has been suppressed, many unchristian inventions and lies have sneaked into the services of reading, singing and preaching and they are horrible to see. Third, such service of God is being undertaken as a good work by which one hopes to obtain God’s grace and salvation. Thus faith has perished and everyone wishes to endow churches or to become a priest, monk, or nun’.

What Luther came to see then was that what was needed was a complete reformation of the ministry. The sacrificing priest of the Catholic Church needed to be replaced by the preaching minister. For Luther the pastoral ministry was fundamentally a preaching ministry. This was essential to the gospel and the life of the Church.

And what Luther emphasised was also emphasised by the other great reformers. Zwingli, Bucer, Calvin all put the highest priority on preaching in the life of the Church. This was seen to be the chief work of the pastor.

Calvin himself gave great emphasis in his own ministry to preaching the Word. Its estimated that each year he would preach 170 sermons with lecturing on top of that - so if you’re someone who complains a bit about having to preach twice on Sundays like I do, just think of Calvin preaching 170 times a year with lecturing on top!

Calvin gave that great emphasis to preaching because he saw that that was his main work as a Pastor. The Pastor, as the word also means, was a Shepherd. And as Calvin looked at the Bible he saw that the way he was to Shepherd God‘s flock, the way he would care for and guide and protect and feed the Sheep was ultimately through the preaching and teaching of God‘s Word.

And that emphasis has carried on to be at the heart of the reformed understanding of the pastor. Through the reformation period, through the Puritan period, down to the present day, reformed Churches put great emphasis on the fact that the role of the pastor is to preach and teach the word. Not just from the front on Sundays, but also in small groups, one on one, to families, in evangelistic efforts, in training up others - the key thing is preaching and teaching God‘s word.

Maybe its best summed up in the words of Paul to Timothy, (2 Timothy 4 v 2) “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching.”

But all this leads to the question, “in the Reformed view, what is the preaching and teaching of the pastor meant to be like? What should characterise the preaching and teaching that should be at the heart of the pastors work?”

The Reformers and Puritans brought out a number of main emphasises.

1) Preaching should be Biblical.

The job of the pastor is not just to feed the sheep with his own ideas and opinions and blessed thoughts. His job is not to lead them in his own ways. The job of the pastor is to bring God’s Word to the sheep.

See 2 Timothy 3:15-17 - Paul says to Timothy its God’s word that leads people to faith in Christ (v15), and its God’s word that enables people to grow in the faith so that they become complete and thoroughly equipped (v 16-17). The Bible contains everything we need. Which is why Paul goes straight on to say to Timothy - preach the word! (4:1-2)

That’s the job of the pastor. To preach the WORD. And that means explaining to people what Scripture means, and then applying it to their lives. Those are the 2 key words - explanation and application.

2) It should be doctrinal.

In other words in our preaching we shouldn’t simply be concerned to bring out the meaning of the text we’re actually preaching on, whether that’s John ch 1 or Exodus ch12, but we should be seeking to show how the truth of that text links in with the truth found in other texts.

So, for example, if we’re preaching on James 2 where it says we’re justified by works, we need to show how that links in with what Paul says about justification, and what Jesus says about justification.

So this is where Systematic Theology comes in. Showing how the different parts of the Bible connect together. Showing that ultimately it’s one mind behind the Bible.

3) It should be evangelistic/ gospel centred.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim 4 v 5 to ‘do the work of an evangelist’. And that reminds us that our preaching and teaching always needs to have a double focus. It needs to focussed on nurturing and encouraging those who are already Christians. But it also needs to be focussed on encouraging and challenging those who aren’t Christians to become Christians.

And gospel-centred preaching is essential to both those aims.
It’s the wonderful message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that the lost need to hear so that they will become Christians. And its that same message that Christians continually need to hear to invigorate them, to encourage them, to excite them, to stir up love for God in them, so that the want to grow and serve God.

And so as preachers we need to continually keep a focus on gospel preaching. On bringing people to those fundamental truths of what God has done for us in Christ and how we need to respond to that.

4) It should be pastoral and practical.

In other words we need to be remember that there are real people out there, living real lives, facing real experiences, asking real questions, facing real difficulties and who need help to know how God’s word applies to their different circumstances.

So in our Churches we’ll have old people and young people, we’ll have single people and married people, we’ll have people trying to bring up children, and people who are grieving because they can’t have children. We’ll have people facing assurance problems, people with depression, people who are ill, people who are dying, people at work, people at university, people who are wondering how they should spend their leisure time, people who are wondering how they should use their money. All sorts of different people. All sorts of different circumstances.

And our job as Pastors then is not just to preach general truth to these people. But our job is to show how the truth of God’s word applies to these peoples different questions, problems and experiences. Whether that’s in our preaching or one-to-one etc.

The puritans were the masters at pastoral and practical preaching. So the first part of their sermons was spent explaining and unpacking the text of the Bible. And the second half was showing the “uses” of that passage. Showing how it could practically apply into peoples lives.
So there are some of the main things that the Reformed tradition has emphasised should characterise the preaching and teaching of the pastor.

But lastly I want to ask what is the aim of all this preaching and teaching. What is its main purpose?

Well the reformers and puritans emphasised that the main aim of preaching and teaching was what Paul says in Col 1 v 28 where he writes “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Maturity in Christ! That was the great aim of the preaching of Paul and of the Reformers and the Puritans and needs to be the aim of our preaching too. We need to be preaching in such a way that leads people to put their faith in Christ so that they’re joined to him. But we also need to be preaching and teaching in such a way so that people will grow in their faith. So that they won’t simply stay as babes but that they’ll become mature.

Mature in their understanding and knowledge of God. Mature in their lives of holiness. Mature in their service to God. Mature in the way that they look to please God and bring his word to bear on every part of their life whether its work, or family, or leisure, or finances or whatever.

Our aim should be to have Churches where people are coming in and getting converted, and then growing in faith to be strong men and women of God. And its our preaching that’s essential to that aim.

One of the missionaries that my Church supports was visiting last year from Peru. And he was saying that if you look at the Church scene in Peru “it’s a mile wide and an inch deep.” In other words there are a lot of people who call themselves Christian, but there’s very little maturity. And I guess that’s a challenge for us and our Churches.
We want wide Churches. We want lots of being saved. But we also want deep Churches. Mature Churches. And our leadership and Biblical Pastoring is key to that.

Also think about Prayer life. Personal life!

A Reformed Understanding of Justification

2009-03-12T13:57:00.001Z

This was delivered by Marius Wahrlich at the conference entitled 'A Defence of Calvinism'.

A Reformed Understanding of Justification

150 years ago, Spurgeon Intro to his sermon on Justification by Faith in April 1867:

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

“WE DESIRE this evening not to preach upon this text as a mere matter of doctrine. You all believe and understand the gospel of justification by faith, but we want to preach upon it tonight as a matter of experience, as a thing realized, felt, enjoyed, and understood in the soul.“

Romans 5:1

“therefore”
Paul talking in chapter 4 about Abraham… 4:20-25

Christ’s death and resurrection closely linked with our justification, with us being counted as righteous before God and therefore having peace with God.
Vers 23: how faith is the means of declaring us righteous

Wayne Grudem in ST:
“A right understanding of justification is absolutely crucial to the whole Christian faith.”
“If we are to safeguard the truth of the gospel for future generations, we must understand the truth of justification. Even today, a true view of justification is the dividing line between the biblical gospel of salvation by faith alone and all false gospels of salvation based on good works.”
(ST 722)

This talk serves to gives us at least three points for latter discussion:

1. use/meaning/content of word: justify
2. manner of justification: by grace through faith
3. implications of having peace with God (application)

1. use of the verb justify in the bible from the sphere of law ® indicates that justification is a legal declaration by God

justify in the NT: dikaioõ
common sense: “to declare righteous”

e.g. Luke 7: 29
did not make God just but declared Him to be just
(many other examples)
Important:
judge when declaring someone not guilty does not
necessarily make that person to be good
internally…
when God declares us to be righteous in his sight
he does that although we are guilty sinners,
having no rigtheousness of our own, actually deserving to be forever separated from His presence

1689 Babtist Confession states it very clearly:
1._____ Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God.

In that view we can discern two parts of
justification:
1. forgiveness of sins
2. imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us

1. forgiveness
® because Christ was punished for our sins at the
Cross, our sins are completely forgiven
(bank account: you need a certain amount to be
allowed to be part of a golf club… from minus back
to 0)
Paul talks about that aspect in Romans 4 when he
quotes David in the OT
4: 6-8

2. become righteous in his sight because God
thinks now of Christ’s life of perfect obedience
as belonging to us
(bank account: you receive exactly the amount of
money on your account to become part of the club)

Pauls talks about that aspect when he calls Christ
our “righteousness” in 1. Cor 1:30

only through Christ can God declare us righteous
in His sight

2. manner of justification

Chapter on faith in Hebrews 11 makes it clear:
6._____ The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament.
When it says: “justified by faith” in the NT and in the OT Abraham’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness”
® talks about faith as the means and not the cause of our justification.
We are justified by faith not because of faith.
Faith does not produce justification but it is the way in which we are justified.
Confession puts it best:
2._____ Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification;

Continues:
yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

no dead faith,
this refers to the kind of faith we must have in order to be justified…
a faith that is followed by good works… true faith can later on be recognized by the fruit it produces…
connection to James 2:24, when he says:
“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Seems to contradict…

Grudem: actually the verb “justify” is here simply used in a different sense as in other places in the NT, meaning: “demonstrate or show to be righteous”
Luke 16: 15 (dikaioõ ¹ declaring so. righteous)
Pharisees did not go around making legal declarations that they were “not guilty” before God (ST 731)…
But to show others that they were righteous by their outward deeds…
Used in a positive sense in James:
“You see that a person is shown to be righteous by works and not by faith alone.”

Reformed view always emphasises:
Babtist Confession: Christ’s righteousness is given to us by God’s free grace…
Even our faith in Christ is a gift from God…

Romans 3:23-24

Summary:
“Justification is an act of God in which he declares sinners to be righteous by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.”

Finally, Justification is part of the whole process of salvation:

Romans 8:30
Predestination…:
4._____ God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rose again for their justification;
nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them.
Effectual calling ® God calls his elect and has called everyone one of us at some stage to trust in Christ for salvation.
At this time we are regenerated that means God imparts new spiritual life to us, we are converted (that is when we respond to the gospel call in repentance for sin and faith in Christ for salvation)
And redemption is then applied to us in that legal act of justification.

Romans 8:30 goes on to say: “those whom he justified, he also glorified.”
That means God makes us his children (called adoption) works in us in such a way that we become more and more like Christ (which is called our sanctification).
We are finally glorified when Christ returns and when we receive a new perfect body and will enjoy God forever in His glorious presence.

3.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Application?

How do people live who have peace with God??

Have the answer already: No dead faith…
Fruit of the Spirit will be seen!

“Great sense of joy and confidence before God”…
Stand before him as “not guilty” and “righteous” forever! (ST 732)

1689 Baptist Confession
Chapter 11: Of Justification
1._____ Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God. ( Romans 3:24; Romans 8:30; Romans 4:5-8; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31; Romans 5:17-19; Philippians 3:8, 9; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Romans 5:17 )
2._____ Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. ( Romans 3:28; Galatians 5:6; James 2:17, 22, 26 )
3._____ Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf; yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. ( Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Isaiah 53:5, 6; Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:26; Ephesians 1:6,7; Ephesians 2:7 )
4._____ God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their justification; nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them.( Galatians 3:8; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:6; Romans 4:25; Colossians 1:21,22; Titus 3:4-7 )
5._____ God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure; and in that condition they have not usually the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. ( Matthew 6:12; 1 John 1:7, 9; John 10:28; Psalms 89:31-33; Psalms 32:5; Psalms 51; Matthew 26:75 )
6._____ The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament.( Galatians 3:9; Romans 4:22-24 )

The Doctrines of Grace

2009-02-22T10:56:00.002Z

THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

These notes were prepared by Sergiy Kutovyy who is training at WEST and he delivered this at the 'Defence of Calvinism' conference in December 2008.

T - total depravity of man
As a consequence of the fall (Genesis 3), man is in a state of spiritual death and thus is unable naturally to appreciate or choose the things of God. Rom 3:9-11; 1 Cor 2:14; Ephes 2:1-3; 2 Tim 2:26; John 6:65.

U - unconditional election
God chose a particular people for Himself and destined them for glory. He chose them not according to their abilities or traits, but solely according to His sovereign will in grace. John 15:19; Acts 13:48; 1 Pet 2:9-10; Rom 9:10-16, 23; 11:2-5; 1 Cor 1:27-30a; Ephes 1:4-6, 11; 2 Thess 2:13.

L - limited atonement
The intention of the death of Christ was to redeem the genuine church of God, which consists of all His elect exclusively. So Jesus stood in their place, bearing the punishment and condemnation which they deserved. His blood atoned for their sins, securing their salvation once for all.
Matt 1:21b; John 10:14-15; Acts 20:28b; Ephes 5:25b; Heb 10:14; Rev 5:9.

I - irresistible grace
All God's elect are converted to Him through the ministry of His word and the inner calling of the Holy Spirit. So having been effectually drawn, they come to Christ for salvation.
John 6:37, 44; John 17:2; Acts 16:14; James 1:18; Gal 1:15; 2 Thess 2:14; 2 Tim 1:9.

P - perseverance of the saints
None whom God has accepted in Christ can either fully or finally fall from the state of grace, being faithfully preserved by His power. Still, they are exhorted to persevere in the faith, and work out their salvation, humbling themselves under the authority of Scripture, exercising the deeds of faith, and mortifying sin in body and spirit.
John 10:27-28; Rom 6:19b; 8:28-39; 1 Cor 10:12-13; Phil 1:6; 2:12-13; Col 2:8; 3:5; Jude 24.

"I have my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel if we do not preach justification by faith without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing unchangeable eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross." Charles H. Spurgeon

"I will go as far as Martin Luther, where he says, "If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly." Charles H. Spurgeon

"All the passages in the Holy Scriptures that mention assistance are they that do away with "free-will", and these are countless... For grace is needed, and the help of grace is given, because "free-will" can do nothing." Martin Luther

"Let all the 'free-will' in the world do all it can with all its strength; it will never give rise to a single instance of ability to avoid being hardened if God does not give the Spirit, or of meriting mercy if it is left to its own strength." Martin Luther

"Rebellion against divine election is often founded on the idea that the sinner has a sort of right to be saved, and this is to deny the full desert of sin." Charles H. Spurgeon

"You must first deny the authenticity and full inspiration of the Holy Scripture before you can legitimately and truly deny election." Charles H. Spurgeon

"A redemption which pays a price, but does not ensure that which is purchased - a redemption which calls Christ a substitute for the sinner, but yet which allows the person to suffer - is altogether unworthy of our apprehensions of Almighty God. It offers no homage to his wisdom, and does despite to his covenant faithfulness. We could not and would not receive such a travesty of divine truth as that would be. There is no ground for any comfort whatever in it." Charles H. Spurgeon

"I would rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of men be added to it." Charles H. Spurgeon
"If Christ on His cross intended to save every man, then He intended to save those who were lost before He died. If the doctrine be true, that He died for all men, then He died for some who were in Hell before He came into this world, for doubtless there were even then myriads there who had been cast away because of their sins... That seems to me a conception a thousand times more repulsive than any of those consequences which are said to be associated with the Calvinistic and Christian doctrine of special and particular redemption. To think that my Savior died for men who were or are in Hell, seems a supposition too horrible for me to entertain." Charles H. Spurgeon

"We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ, because we say that Christ has not made satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved. Now, our reply to this is that, on the other hand, our opponents limit it, we do not. The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it. Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They say, "No, certainly not." We ask them the next question - Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They say, "No." They are obliged to admit this if they are consistent. They say, "No; Christ has died so that any man may be saved if"- and then follow certain conditions of salvation. We say then, we will just go back to the old statement - Christ did not die so as beyond a doubt to secure the salvation of anybody, did He? You must say "No;" you are obliged to say so, for you believe that even after a man has been pardoned, he may yet fall from grace and perish. Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why you... We say Christ so died that He infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. You are welcome to your atonement; you may keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake of it." Charles H. Spurgeon

"When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths in my own soul - when they were as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron; and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown all of a sudden from a babe into a man - that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God ... I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, I ascribe my change wholly to God." Charles H. Spurgeon

"Repentance is a part of salvation, and when Christ saves us, he saves us by making us repent. But repentance does not save. It is the work of God alone." Charles H. Spurgeon

A genuine desire for salvation in Christ is in fact a mark of election, and therefore none who truly come to Him will be turned away.

"I believe that Christ came into the world not to put men into a salvable state, but into a saved state. Not to put them where they could save themselves, but to do the work in them and for them, from first to last. If I did not believe that there was might going forth with the word of Jesus which makes men willing, and which turns them from the error of their ways by the mighty, overwhelming, constraining force of divine influence, I should cease to glory in the cross of Christ." Charles H. Spurgeon

"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, "You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself." My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will." Charles H. Spurgeon

Rom 8:30. "Not others, therefore, but those whom He predestinated, them He also called; nor others, but those whom He so called, them He also justified; nor others, but those whom He predestinated, called, and justified, them He also glorified; assuredly to that end which has no end. Therefore God elected believers; but He chose them that they might be so, not because they were already so." St. Augustine, A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints, Ch. 34

"It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines that are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are truly and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make my pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me . . . Taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren; I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church." Charles H. Spurgeon

What is Calvinism?

2009-02-03T15:58:00.000Z

What is Calvinism?

Three sections:
An Explanation about this conference and its purpose
A Brief exposition of Romans 16: 17-27.
What is Calvinism?

How did this conference come about?
The conference has come together by God’s grace: Explain about the influence and initiative of Sandi Sonteya.

Where did the conference title come from?

Answer:The autobiography of Spurgeon, volume 1, The Early Years, chapter 13 ‘A Defence of Calvinism’.

“We only use the term ‘Calvinism’ for shortness. That doctrine which is called ‘Calvinism’ did not spring from Calvin; we believe that it sprang from the great founder of all truth. Perhaps Calvin himself derived it mainly from the writing of Augustine. Augustine obtained his views, without doubt, through the Spirit of God, from the diligent study of the writings of Paul, and Paul received them of the Holy Ghost, from Jesus Christ the great founder of the Christian dispensation. We use the term then, not because we impute any extraordinary importance to Calvin’s having taught these doctrines. We would be just as willing to call them by any other name, if we could find one which would be better understood, and which on the whole would be as consistent with fact”- C.H.S
“The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.” – C.H.S

‘The Reformed Church is Always Reforming’ Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676) from Utrecht and a delegate of the Synod of Dort (1618-19).

This is needed in every generation
It is difficult work
People do not like change, even though it means Sola Scriptura

A brief summary of church history from the Reformation, however church history spans 2000 years and the gospel springs from the heart of God the Father in eternity.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) and the 95 theses in Wittenberg on October 31st 1517. He was God’s vessel to begin the Reformation and to especially pioneer the recovery of the doctrine of justification by faith, total depravity and Augustine’s doctrine of salvation.
John Calvin (1509-64) and his reforming work in the city of Geneva. Calvin developed a full reformed systematic theology springing from biblical exposition. A pastor, theologian, church planter, reformer of the highest honour. Calvin’s model was a doctrine of the church and society that was replicated in Scotland, Holland, France, Hungary, England in part and later in the USA. Even today, Reformed churches are those who look to Calvin and Geneva in some measure as a prototype for reforming the church.
The second reformation in the seventeenth century. In the Netherlands there was the Synod of Dort to defend the gospel against Arminianism but there was also a need seen for further reformation. For example the Church of England was only half or partly reformed and the Puritans began to grow agitated and impatient.
The Reformed church is always reforming’ is a slogan very much needed in the 21st Century. We need a vibrant expression of Calvinism in our generation!!

Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
17 ¶ Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
19 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil.
20 And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
21 ¶ Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and [so do] Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.
24 [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]
25 ¶ Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, [leading] to obedience of faith;
27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

1. The danger of false gospel’s (v 17-20)

§ Dissensions contrary to the teaching which you learned and turn away from them. The issue is doctrine and this is not a secondary issue to love. To love pure doctrine is to love God purely.
§ V18 Paul’s calls them slaves. Why? Their message is a slavery to sin and leads to legalism rather than freedom. They use smooth and flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting (naïve).
§ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The true gospel of God in our hands crushes Satan’s false gospels and the slavery that follows.
2. The Importance of Relationship’s in the Gospel (the whole chapter but note v21-24)

§ Note the list of names
§ Timothy and other gospel workers= we need teamwork!
3. The Glory of God is the heart of the Gospel

· The purpose of the book of Romans in 1: 1 is ‘the Gospel of God’.
· Key doctrinal theme’s of this book is the Apostles’ doctrine.
· Benediction (blessing):V25 we are strengthened according to A. the gospel (my gospel), do we hold Paul’s gospel? B. The Preaching of Jesus Christ. C. This revelation is rooted in the OT Scriptures. D. Now it is being made known to all nations (a missionary vision)
· The question in missions = What is the content of the message we are delivering?
· V 26. This is all happening according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith (election and the church).
· To the only wise God be glory forevermore! The glory of God runs through Romans.
·

3. What is Calvinism?

A Definition of Calvinism: Spurgeon’s autobiography

A Nickname for the Biblical Gospel

CHS wrote in The Defence of Calvinism:
I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of Hid elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus such a gospel I abhor.

1. Calvinism is the doctrine of the church.

Spurgeon wrote: Calvinism is the gospel and nothing else. Is this true? The answer is yes but it is incomplete because Calvinism is a world view consumed with a God centred approach, Calvinism is also a doctrine of the church.
There is no such thing as Calvinism that is not concerned with the Re-formation (to the biblical plan) of the church.
Look at Luther, Calvin, Knox, The Netherlands, the English Reformers etc.

2. Calvinism is confessional

Explain the three confessions of faith in the English language.

3. Calvinism and the five points

Summary: A definition of Calvinism.

Calvinism is a doctrine of the church that looks to Calvin and Geneva as a model for the reformation of the church that needs to be applied in all ages.
Reform = a dictionary definition,
To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.

To abolish abuse or malpractice in: reform the government.
To put an end to (a wrong). See synonyms at correct.
To cause (a person) to give up harmful or immoral practices; persuade to adopt a better way of life.

A Reformed gospel affirms the five points of Calvinism as agreed at the Synod of Dort and this requires a commitment to educate and train men to preach this gospel. A Reformed church holds to one of the historic confessions of faith as a joyful safeguard of the gospel for the saints to propagate through a reformed church.
Is there the need for church reform in the twenty-first century?