Ian Hamilton Resources
Paul is picturing two men here. There is Adam and there is Christ. It is as if there are only two men in the whole cosmos, Adam and Christ. And all these two men do, they do for those they represent. They are representative heads, they are covenant heads. And what Adam does, he does […]
ReadTo grasp this basic (indeed, very basic) fact, will transform our lives. It is undoubtedly one of the devil’s stratagems to turn the Christian in upon himself/herself by Ian Hamilton "Faith" is perhaps the most used word in the evangelical vocabulary. Without "faith" it is impossible to please God. We are justified through "faith". We […]
ReadPray that we will "rightly handle" God’s truth, to the affectional blessing of God’s people, and to the affectional awakening of lost sinners by Ian Hamilton I recently heard a comment about two preachers that made me stop and ask myself a serious question. This was the comment: "As Mr X’s sermon came to a […]
ReadFor we are a mystery, even a contradiction. When science (so-called) seeks to explain us in purely humanistic, evolutionary terms, we rebel. by Ian Hamilton "Man is an enigma, whose only solution can be found in God." So wrote Herman Bavinck, the great Dutch theologian. What Bavinck wrote is immediately applicable to fallen men and […]
ReadFACING DARK DAYS Many of us perhaps have little idea what it must be like to be in the depths of despair. by Ian Hamilton Sometimes Christians fall into the depths of despair. An extreme example would be Jeremiah, God’s faithful prophet. We can hardly imagine the inner anguish that caused him to cry out, […]
ReadGreenville Seminary Theology Conference Focuses on ‘Communing with Our Glorious God.’ In Taylors, South Carolina (March 12-14, 2002) Reformed Spirituality was the theme for Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Spring Theology Conference. The three-day event, which focused on “Communing with our glorious God,” challenged the participants with regard to personal piety, including Sabbath observance; and also […]
ReadTHE INDISPENSABILITY OF GENTLE INSTRUCTION Everything in our lives matters to God. If there are things wrong in our lives, they need to be dealt with, removed. by Ian Hamilton Our Lord Jesus’ teaching is always deeply searching, sometimes almost unbearably so. Few statements of our Lord are more calculated to search out our hearts […]
ReadTRUTH IS THE CURRENCY OF OUR LIVES Whatever else Christians are to be, they are to be men and women of integrity I recently heard the following cynical quip: How can you tell when a politician is lying? When he opens his mouth. People are increasingly disillusioned with politicians and the whole political system. The […]
ReadFELLOWSHIP WITH GOD – OUR HIGHEST PRIVILEGE In our communion with God we are so prone to look first into our own hearts to see what love to Christ is there The highest privilege a Christian can enjoy this side of eternity is fellowship or communion with God. John holds out the prospect of communion […]
ReadTHE SHEER ORDINARINESS OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE What is so striking about the story of Esther is the sheer ordinariness and unobtrusiveness of God’s providential workings The book of Esther is vastly encouraging and reassuring. Nowhere is God’s name mentioned, but his presence is everywhere evident. Simply reading through Esther confronts you, at every turn, with […]
ReadPRIDE AND THE REFORMED CHURCHES Of all the dangers that can overtake a Reformed church pride is surely the worst and most serious. There is, of course, a right kind of pride, a thankfulness to God for our history or heritage. But the pride I am thinking of is that ugly, self-righteous, self-preening brute that […]
ReadOne of the most staggering verses in the Bible is surely Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are the called according to his purpose.’ What is so breath-taking is the scope of Paul’s conviction, ‘in all things,’ and the unbounded assurance […]
ReadHenry Ford famously, and fatuously, stated ‘History is bunk.’ Far from being ‘bunk’ however history is the unfolding of God’s redemptive purposes, it bears the imprint of his grace and judgements, and is intended, at least in measure, to awaken us to eternal realities. This conviction confronts us every time we open God’s Word. Again […]
ReadI was reading recently some words of George Swinnock (a mid seventeenth century Puritan) that seemed (at least to me) to describe twenty-first century evangelical Christianity: ‘We take the size of sin too low, and short, and wrong, when we measure it by the wrong it doth to ourselves, or our families, or our neighbours, […]
ReadBishop J. C. Ryle was The Puritan Bishop, that is the Puritan Bishop par excellence, said Dr James I. Packer, Professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, speaking in Liverpool on 9 September at a meeting chaired by the present Bishop of that city. His subject was ‘J. C. Ryle, the Puritan Bishop.’ Dr. Packer […]
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