Resources

John Calvin is thought of, principally, as a theologian. Of course, he was that. But, as Andrew W. Blackwood once told me, in his day he was first of all considered a preacher. Too few of his sermons have been preserved.1 English translations are mainly in 16th century English!2 Nevertheless, the more I read them, […]

The Banner of Truth has published Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 1-7[1], by John Calvin. John Calvin was, and regarded himself as, primarily a preacher of the Word of God. He wrote theological works which have guided the Church to a biblical understanding of the truth (and we would recommend his Institutes […]

‘A precious work that no serious expositor of the Bible should be without. If you found Calvin’s commentaries valuable, you will discover his sermons to be priceless.’ [Josh Gelatt in giving Calvin’s Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 1-7 an ‘honorable mention’ in his 2008 Book of the Year selection] Below are links […]

Moses struck the rock twice and water poured forth. (Numbers 20:7) Obedience and faith bring power while disobedience and lack of faith yield impotence. When Israel continues to grumble and complain against God while in the wilderness, demanding water, accusing Moses of bringing them into the wilderness only to kill them, both Moses and Aaron […]

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church By N. T. Wright New York: HarperCollins, 2008 352 pp, hardcover ISBN: 978 0 06155 182 6 Bishop Tom Wright has written a book on the resurrection entitled Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. Rejecting […]

The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World By David F. Wells Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008 267 pp, clothbound ISBN: 978 0 80284 007 3 David Wells is an evangelical, and he is concerned with the state of evangelicalism. This is nothing new; he has written […]

The Banner of Truth has published Love Rules: The Ten Commandments for the 21st Century1. Originally published in 2004 by the Church and Nation Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, Australia, this volume was written by Australian Presbyterian ministers and professors. The Introduction explains that this book on the law of God was written […]

Abraham was brought up in the city of Ur, not far from the River Euphrates, in what is now southern Iraq. It was presumably very much a heathen environment. Yet even there the Lord appeared to him and called him ‘to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance’ (Heb. […]

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18) In July, 1997 my wife and I had the privilege of taking tea with Lord and Lady Catherwood in Cambridge, England. Lady Catherwood is the daughter of my favourite preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who so ably preached the doctrines of grace, beginning in Aberavon, Wales in 1927 and […]

John Calvin was not a man who would readily draw attention to himself. When he gave some details of his early life in the preface to his Commentary on the Psalms, his purpose was to draw attention to God’s activity. His father had intended him for the priesthood but, says Calvin, God, by the secret […]

For the past year or so I have been making my way slowly through the reading of a series of sermons preached on Hebrews 11 by the Puritan, Thomas Manton. The book containing these sermons is titled By Faith and it is published by The Banner of Truth Trust1. Most recently I have been reading […]

VOLUME 1 This is a fascinating book which we found hard to put down. Really it tells the wonderful story of the Evangelical Revival in Wales in the eighteenth century. What amazing gatherings there were and what blessing! Originally written in Welsh in 1895 by John Morgan Jones, assisted by William Morgan, this is the […]

Until the age of twenty-six I knew nothing of vital religion, although I lived an outwardly religious, moral and respectable life . . . Brought up under sacramental teaching, I was totally in the dark concerning the grace of God, although . . . I realize that he was leading me all the time. To […]

It is sometimes profitable to trace the use of one word in the Bible – there is much to learn from this method of study, it often brings new thoughts to light. Let us consider the word ‘Exceeding’. When one begins to trace the word in Scripture we soon realise that there is nothing sparing […]

A member of our congregation put to me a question in the light of some teaching on Luke 8:21, where Jesus dealt with a messenger who had come from his own relatives. These relatives wanted to speak to Jesus. ‘But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of […]