Topic Archives: Encouragement

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord (Genesis 8:20). The year 1995 was a difficult one for me. I was working far too many hours and the idolatry of my work and my children’s activities had caused me to drift in my devotion to my wife. We were not in danger of divorce (we […]

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF THE WORD I’ve been thinking again about the importance of reading and writing. There are several reasons I write. One of the most personally compelling is that I read. I mean, my main spiritual sustenance comes by the Holy Spirit from reading. Therefore reading is more important to me than eating. […]

I begin with two texts from the Old Testament which we can see are very similar. Psalm 124:1 ‘If it had not been the LORD who was on our side’. Isaiah 1:9 ‘If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors’. What if the Lord were not on our side? Have you […]

Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress1, The Holy War, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and many others books,2 was born into a poor family in England in 1628. He was a tinker, a blue collar worker in […]

Haven’t we all sympathised with Martha? Haven’t we all been there before? Here am I, slaving away in the kitchen preparing the food while my lazy sister is doing nothing to help me. You can imagine her saying, ‘There’s just so much to do!’ It’s all very well sitting and listening to Jesus teaching – […]

A Tale of Two Cities The Christian believer is always living in an inescapable tension! Much as we would love to be free of this tension, until we leave this earthly scene and enter the nearer presence of our great and gracious God, we will be engaged every moment of every day in this tension. […]

Events in 1732 made Ebenezer Erskine consider the time ‘a day of trouble’. Twenty years had passed since Parliament had reimposed patronage on the Church of Scotland. This meant that the right to nominate a minister for a vacant congregation lay with, normally, a local landowner. Now the 1732 General Assembly had agreed, in the […]

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11) Paul is writing to the congregation of new Christians at the heart of the Roman Empire. First of all he has given to […]

Let me begin with a question (not a trick one!): ‘What is the principal exercise of faith?’ It is a straight-forward question and a very important question. For John Owen, the great English Puritan divine, the answer was instinctive: ‘The contemplation of the glory of Christ.’ Saving faith unites the believer to the Lord Jesus […]

Over the years I’ve done a lot of it. I can’t count the books, the articles and the various other items that I have composed. I always had a penchant for writing. In my first pastorate, I bought a Miller printing press; in order to bring it inside, I had to partially knock out a […]

Summary of a 10-minute address at the Banner of Truth Leicester Ministers’ Conference, 2009. Acts 9:1 ‘Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter.’ Acts 9:3 ‘Suddenly a light from heaven.’ What drama in the Early Church! The chief antagonist is on the warpath. His theme as he engages on his latest crusade is described as […]

‘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 women. Science cannot explain who we are and what we are. Science cannot tell us what will ultimately become of us. It cannot explain the […]

God is gathering a people for Himself. He finds them in Satan’s kingdom and calls them effectually by the Holy Spirit in His infinite grace. He convinces them of sin and makes them willing and able to believe in Christ and to follow Him along the narrow way which leads to everlasting life. But will […]

The Apostle Paul exhorts the congregation in Rome in Romans 12:11 ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.’ This text is easily understood; there are no complicated words; the structure is obvious. First of all the exhortation is stated in a negative form telling us we’re never to lack […]

It is a constant surprise to me that many Christians are worried about guidance. Please don’t misunderstand me. I do not mean that Christians should not be concerned about doing God’s will. But why is it that many (and I think ‘many’ is the appropriate word) Christians get worried, confused and at times even spiritually […]