Topic Archives: Christian Living

The fourth of six posts containing the substance of teaching given by Albert N. Martin at the 1984 Banner Youth Conference, presenting a basic biblical theology of the Christian life. There is no crisis experience promised or commanded as an essential element in living the Christian life. Some teaching on the Christian life asserts that […]

The second of six posts containing the substance of teaching given by Albert N. Martin at the 1984 Banner Youth Conference, presenting a basic biblical theology of the Christian life. Principle 2: There is no escape from tension and conflict in living the Christian life. I do not say that the Christian life is all […]

The first of six posts containing the substance of teaching given by Albert N. Martin at the 1984 Banner Youth Conference, presenting a basic biblical theology of the Christian life. A question of major importance is ‘How am I to live as a Christian’? It is one thing to be certain on biblical grounds that […]

In the first video of The Covenanter Story, which releases tomorrow, we tell the story of James Guthrie, the first great martyr of the Covenant. On June 1, the day he was executed for high treason, he coursed the following farewell letter to his wife: “My heart,— Being within a few hours to lay down […]

This article first appeared at The Australian Presbyterian and is featured in Issue 749 of the Banner of Truth Magazine (February 2026). Somewhere, Stuart Briscoe has commented that three attributes of a pastor are needed: ‘The mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros.’ The last attribute seems […]

The following excerpt is from Frans Bakker’s Praying Always, truly one of the hidden gems of the Banner’s backlist. ‘And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.’ — Luke 18:13 After the Israelites had […]

The following is taken from William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour, pages 119–121. There is a law in wrestling which must be observed. If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully, 2 Timothy 2:5. He alludes to the Roman games, to which there were judges appointed […]

The following excerpt is from George Newton’s exposition of John 17:24 in the volume George Newton on John 17. DOCTRINE: It is the will of Jesus Christ that all that are his own by the donation of the Father shall be in heaven where he is. There are two things in the doctrine which I […]

The following, which appeared in Issues 611–612 of the Banner of Truth Magazine (Aug–Sep 2014) is from John Angell James, The Anxious Inquirer After Salvation Directed and Encouraged*. We are grateful to Mr Martyn Jolly for bringing this extract to our attention and supplying the text. It may seem strange to some persons, that I […]

1. Jesus Claim: Jesus had no interest in maintaining a male-female requirement for sexual relations. What the evidence really shows: Jesus believed that a male-female requirement for sexual relations was foundational, a core value of Scripture’s sexual ethics on which other sexual standards should be based, including the ‘twoness’ of a sexual union. Jesus predicated […]

There is a great lack of clarity on the subject of the place of God’s law in the life of the believer. One man who sought to address this topic was Ernest Kevan, whose biography the Trust publishes. The following excerpt from the book describes how Kevan brought a Reformed view of God’s law to […]

The following is the first part of Sibbes’s sermon The Tender Heart, which is published with three other sermons as Josiah’s Reformation in the Puritan Paperback series. “And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel […]

The following excerpt is the text of Chapter 5, ‘How to Meditate on Heavenly Things’ in Spiritual-Mindedness, a Puritan Paperback by John Owen which has been abridged and made easy to read by R. J. K. Law. The unabridged text of this treatise, originally entitled The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually-Minded, is contained in […]

The following is taken from Thomas Brooks, The Secret Key to Heaven: The Vital Importance of Private Prayer (Puritan Paperbacks). After detailing the great privilege of private prayer, and why it is of the essence of the true Christian life, he anticipates and answers several common objections to its practice: First Objection. But many will […]

Elizabeth Prentiss lived in a different century, but the challenges she faced, and the way she responded to those challenges, speak powerfully to us today. Early in their married life, Elizabeth and her husband, George suffered the loss of two of their six children. Eddie died aged five and Bessie died when just a few […]