Topic Archives: Theology

Most Christians all over the world confess their faith in worship using one of two ancient, historical creeds: The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. When we confess the faith using one of these creeds, we not only confess those things we believe, but we remind ourselves that Christianity is a lot older than we […]

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 […]

Pray in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:18) Some time after Peter preached at Pentecost where three thousand were saved, he and John were going to the temple to pray when they saw a lame man begging alms. Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold but what I do have I give to you. In the […]

Apparently extempore, these sermons were delivered in course, in Geneva from the summer of 1549 to the New Year of 1551. Indeed the series went on over the next few years until the Acts of the Apostles was preached through. Only these forty-four sermons survive in this transcribed form, however. The aim is expository, not […]

During my seven years as a campus minister, there were two different women in our ministry who became pregnant out of wedlock. In these cases, since they were associated with a group of students, it was among those students that they had most of their relationships. Of course, a campus ministry group is not a […]

‘A prayer for one who feels that he is approaching the borders of another world’, from Alexander’s Thoughts on Religious Experience),1 pp.259-262. Most merciful God, I rejoice that Thou dost reign over the universe with a sovereign sway, so that Thou dost according to Thy will, in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants […]

If we are to live healthy spiritual and emotional lives as believers, it is vital that we understand clearly the true character of the hearts of those who are regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit. In particular, it is imperative that we understand the distinction between wickedness and wretchedness. The Bible tells us that the heart […]

In the spring of 1856 an English lady by the name of Mrs Colville came to Ballymena from Gateshead because she had ‘time and money to spend for God’. She began a programme of house to house visitation with a view to winning souls for Christ. In November she returned to England in low spirits […]

For several months now the financial world has been in crisis. Banks large and small, particularly in Europe and the USA, have been in dire straits. Many have had to go cap in hand to their respective governments for massive bailouts; these have included the second-largest American bank Citigroup, which has been granted $306 billion […]

Church growth experts tell us that Christmas Eve surpasses Easter as the time when people are most likely to go to church. It’s a recent development but should not be surprising. Religious practices have caught up to cultural preferences. Santa Claus has always won out over the Easter Bunny. It’s an important piece of information […]

Incorporating the Law into the gospel presentation does many things. It primarily shows the sinner that he is a criminal, and that God is his judge. The Law (in the hand of the Holy Spirit) stops his mouth and leaves him guilty before God (see Romans 3:19-20). It reveals that he deserves nothing but judgement […]

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, […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]