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Traditionally, Baptist have been very wary of written prayers. Our Baptist forefathers strenuously objected to the liturgical format of the Church of England, in which the corporate recitation of set prayers was a major element.  For instance, a prominent item at the trial of John Bunyan (1628-1688) in 1661 was Bunyan’s adamant opposition to the […]

The following is abridged from a pamphlet by James Begg (1803-1883), The Art of Preaching, printed in 1863, twenty years after more than 400 ministers had left the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. While in the context in which Begg wrote there were no doubt peculiar historical circumstances affecting the […]

‘Then shall the Kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. . . at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh….. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour […]

‘The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.’ — 2 Timothy 4:13 Paul is in prison and in a short time is to lose his life at the instigation of the Roman Emperor Nero. But in prison he invites Timothy to bring with him […]

It belongs to God to put the world right; the Christian’s first duty is to put himself right. In so doing the believer takes the first step towards influencing others for good. But it is a difficult and an unwelcome task and one in which he can expect little help or encouragement from others. Repentance […]

‘And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’ –Revelation 20:15 Can there be any more sobering reality than what we read in the verse noted above? And should you not, my dear friend, contemplate your own eternal existence after your earthly demise? […]

The statement with which Paul concludes his prayer in Ephesians 3 is so remarkable that it is undoubtedly true to say, as Dr Lloyd-Jones has said, that ‘there is no more staggering statement in the whole range of Scripture than this’. It may be described accurately as the ‘climax of all prayer’. 1 It is […]

Fifty years or so ago, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone who could recognize the name John Owen. Today, he is regularly quoted from pulpits and in articles as though his name were a household word. This is even more surprising because almost everybody who mentions him adds, ‘But he is not light […]

‘For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.’ — Romans 5:6 It goes without saying that we must have compassion for all who are outside of union with Christ, including the homosexual. I think you know that I have ministered extensively in the past to the homosexual community, […]

‘Regeneration’ is a key word in Reformed theology. As with other key words it is possible to approach an understanding of it from a number of different directions. From the point of view of the work of Christ it may be said that regeneration takes place in a human soul as a result of Christ’s […]

I was recently speaking with an evangelist friend of mine who said that he has a friend working in a very poor, developing nation, who is assisting the poor and malnourished children of that nation by providing them a food which helps them overcome the ravages of malnutrition. My friend asked, “Well, that’s good, of […]

‘We rejoice in hope of the glory of God’ — Romans 5.2b The cycle that is called a year is an ordinance of God. ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years’ (Gen. […]

Little does it require proof that Christ is the God of Christians. In the New Testament all divine titles are given to him. He is called God, the true God, the great God, God over all, Jehovah. He is declared to be almighty, omnipresent, immutable, and eternal. He created heaven and earth; all things visible and invisible were made […]

Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. –2 Corinthians 6:2 As I listen to most Reformed preachers today, I hear a very weak appeal in their preaching for people to be saved. Perhaps there are several reasons for this weakness and shall we say, reluctance, to ‘ask for the […]

The Bible teaches that the church is the company of those who are committed to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The Master said ‘Upon this rock I will build my church’ and the foundation to which he referred was expressed in the glorious testimony of Peter ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’ […]

Researchers are taking notice of a disturbing trend: children are spending less and less time outdoors. A recent survey of two thousand parents and children in the United Kingdom found that ‘the average child between 6 and 16 years old spends only an hour a day outside.’ The summary of the study says, ‘Believe it […]

I overheard someone asking a newcomer at the Westminster Conference if he were enjoying the conference. There was a pause and then a thoughtful, ‘. . .yes’. Not a resounding, ‘You bet!’ A considered response as though it was turning out to be not the kind of conference that he was expecting. It is not […]

I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you? –Acts 19:15 Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was truly remarkable. I love reading about it in Acts 19. It always inspires me with what God can do through men filled with the Spirit who consecrate themselves to Christ, willing to live for him and […]

There is usually an interesting story behind an important word in any language. This is certainly true of our English word ‘gospel’. The Greek word evangel, which it now translates, at first meant the reward of good tidings given to the messenger who brought it. In process of time this meaning became altered and the […]

Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire […]

I was at the opening of a new church building in London on Saturday November 17. Its opening is at a time when Britain is currently experiencing Ash Dieback, a disease of ash trees caused by a fungus. It was first identified in the UK in 2012 and is now widespread. Over the next few […]

The following article is taken from chapter eight of Rhett P. Dodson‘s new book, Marching to Zion. * * * Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and […]

In a world which invites us to constantly publicise ourselves, self-description heavily outweighs self-knowledge. Social media and celebrity culture invite us to write our own label and then live up to it, whether or not we have thought through how psychologically accurate or even morally appropriate that description might be. Twitter asks us to compose […]

‘Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.’ — 2 Corinthians 6:2 I tried to show last week that many of us in the Reformed and Calvinistic world are woefully weak in asking for the order in our preaching and one-on-one evangelistic work. I know some are very quick to ‘get […]

November 11th 2018 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the ending of World War One. It had been confidently anticipated that the conflict would be over by the Christmas of 1914. Instead, it dragged on for over four years and proved to be by far the bloodiest conflict in human history to that point. By war’s […]