Yearly Archives: 2005

Princeton and Preaching: Archibald Alexander and the Christian Ministry, by James M Garretson. The Presbyterian Church, USA, could never have imagined the enormous blessing that would arise from the decision, by their General Assembly in 1812, to appoint Archibald Alexander as the first professor of their church’s seminary at Princeton. The seminary began in August […]

By Thomas Watson. An extract from ‘All Things for Good’ (Banner of Truth paperback). The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in his people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. ‘They shall be my people, and I will be their God’ (Jer […]

Introduction Of all the Lutheran theologians besides Luther, Melanchthon was the most accomplished. He codified what Luther’s wide-ranging and discursive mind could not. One writer ranks him very highly: “his contributions to the Lutheran movement, to Protestantism, and to the German nation, are monumental.” (R.V.Schnucker) His Life Born in Bretten, Baden, Melanchthon took his bachelor’s […]

[A lecture given at the Dedication of the Puritan Resource Center Grand Rapids on October 20, 2005] Because Dr Joel Beeke, the President of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary is a long-standing friend, propriety and the privilege of years of friendship demanded that I should come and begin to answer this question: “The Puritans: Can […]

[The second half of a lecture given at the Dedication of the Puritan Resource Center, Grand Rapids on October 20, 2005] 2] Recovering the Pulpit (continued) As you read the Puritan sermons you understand that this was their great characteristic: they spoke the truth of the Word of God in the power of the Holy […]

In 1934, aged 18, I joined the RAF. The Methodist chapel that my Christian mother attended presented me with a Bible. I said I would not be reading it, but my Mother persuaded me to take it with me. Jesus at that time was to me only vague head knowledge. Being in a barrack room […]

Reviews of Geoff Thomas’ book ‘Philip and the Revival in Samaria’ In these days when the seeker-sensitive church emphasises all sorts of earthly benefits of salvation — above the righteousness of God as a remedy of our sinfulness — Geoff Thomas’ book provides a timely antidote. Through the events in the life of Philip recorded […]

The Westminster Conference met for the first time after fifty years in a new venue at Friends House, London 2005. About 230 were present, mostly men. The first paper on the morning of December 13 was on “MARTIN LUTHER AND THE ‘BONDAGE OF THE WILL.'” The paper was given by George Curry of Newcastle who […]

Andy Ball the pastor of the Netley Christian Fellowship in Southampton began the second day of the Westminster Conference on December 14th with an address on “The Puritans and the Divine Call to Preach.” (the chairman was Principal Philip Evesham) “THE PURITANS AND THE DIVINE CALL TO PREACH†Many Puritans wrote on this subject. In […]

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22.6. Parents must themselves be disciplined. Let your pattern of discipline be that of the Bible. God loves His children and disciplines them. Sometimes His discipline is severe when that is merited. And […]

Yuri Poltavets Until 1991 Yuri and Larissa Poltavets lived in the Ukraine in a large industrial city called Dnepropetrovsk where the climate was warm and the surrounding land very fertile. Then in 1991 as a young couple with two small children they answered the call to serve as missionaries in Siberia to preach the gospel […]

Recently, while listening to a sermon on the importance of family worship, I was reminded of an incident that took place in our home in Stornoway over fifty years ago, when my father had to take worship with our dog. I don’t actually remember it, as I was only a little child at the time, […]

One area of life with which the Scriptures deal is marriage. A biblical definition of marriage is given in the Westminster Confession of Faith: ‘Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than […]

Every Christmas we face a great problem. We are so familiar with “the Christmas story”, that it is so easy for us to miss its staggering wonder and glory. Truth can become so familiar to us that it no longer grips our minds and quickens the pulse of our hearts. With this in mind, I […]

In the last two articles I have given a rather extended review of a recently published book entitled, “True Sexual Morality, Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis.” I chose as my theme for this review, “The Paganization of the Church”, because one of the main arguments advanced by the author, Daniel R. Heimbach, […]

In his “Expository Thoughts” on Matthew 12:38-50, J. C. Ryle speaks about the danger of a partial reformation. Writing at the end of the 19th century, considering the unclean spirit who goes back to dwell in his old house taking seven other spirits more wicked than himself, Ryle comments: “[Churches] Delivered as they were from […]

The following letter to the editor appeared in the November 2005 issue of New Horizons in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, on page 22. Editor: I would like to thank New Horizons for allowing me the opportunity to respond briefly to the review of my book Inspiration and Incarnation that appeared in last month’s issue. I […]

Perhaps it is because there is a greater than usual concentration of angels, or perhaps it is due to the ministry of the Holy Spirit quickening the graces of our new natures, or perhaps it is because our faith is so much more sharply focused, or most likely because of all of these things, there […]

How a Sinner Comes to Recognise the Inspiration of the Bible How do we become assured that the Bible is the inspired Word of God? If we depend on faith rather than reason for our conviction that the Bible is the Word of God, what is the difference between Christianity and other religions which claim […]

John Owen on the Lord’s Supper; Jon D Payne John Owen was undoubtedly one of the greatest among the Puritan theologians of the seventeenth century. Considerable scholarly attention has been given to his formulation of doctrines such as those of the Trinity, the person of Christ and the atonement, and to his theological method. His […]

There have been men who made the most profound impression upon their own generation, yet whose very names are well-nigh forgotten by posterity. Man ‘fleeth as a shadow and continueth not,’ and another generation takes his place upon the stage of life. Such is the shortness of life that few find time to obey that […]

In Britain, fewer and fewer people make any acknowledgement of God. They live as if He did not exist; they never attend public worship; they assume that beyond death there is nothing – no judgement, no eternity, no heaven, no hell. And behind all this unbelief lies one highly-significant factor – the theory of evolution. […]

Recent title in the Let’s Study series by Sinclair B. Ferguson When Paul wrote Ephesians he was a prisoner, perhaps at Caesarea, though Rome is more likely. In a city dominated by the great temple of Artemis and a notable centre of magic arts (Acts 19:19), Christians needed to know the power of the living […]

We learn from Jonathan Edwards that the inner spiritual life of the minister is the most important part of his life. The scriptural proof of this statement is plain. It is found, for instance, in our Lord’s examination of Simon Peter before the disciple is commissioned again to serve Christ: ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do […]

The All-Sufficient God Sermons on Isaiah 40By Martyn Lloyd-Jones A book by Martyn Lloyd-Jones is like a Mars bar: you may have heard they were great – and feared that they were a bit filling – but once you have eaten a whole one, you always look forward to the next!The All-Sufficient God started life […]