Topic Archives: Christian Living

Every believer who has ever lived has faced and experienced disappointment. There have been and will be no exceptions. Even the perfect Man of faith, our Lord Jesus Christ, experienced disappointments, difficulties, hardships. As he hung alone and abandoned on Calvary’s cross he cried out, ‘My God, My God, why . . .?’ Woven into […]

You are probably reading this as one year ends and another begins. A new year is a milestone in our lives. And we do well to remember that not everyone who passed the last such milestone has reached this one; similarly not everyone who passes this milestone will reach the next. We are on our […]

Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous. There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their ‘earnestness’ makes many think they must be right. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be […]

The following is taken from Puritan Portraits by J. I. Packer, published by Christian Focus (192pp, paperback, ISBN 9781845507008). There are seven Puritan leaders who are evaluated and commended by Dr. Packer in this fine book. The notes have been added. I owe more, I think, to John Owen than to any other theologian, ancient or modern, […]

Mary Moffatt was a remarkable woman. Wife of Robert Moffatt, mother-in-law of David Livingstone, she and her husband served as missionaries in Bechuanaland for 45 years. The early years were hard, their labours resulting in not a single convert. Yet Mary was undaunted. When a friend wrote, asking what useful gift could be sent from […]

To be casual today is usually regarded as a good thing; it is cool. To be ‘non-casual’ (stiff? formal? intense?) is not good. You need to chill. One of the first books I read as a Christian was The Best That I Can Be by J. Oswald Sanders. On the front cover is a photo […]

We look at one verse, Matthew 2:15, in three tenses. ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’. With due deference to Mr Charles Dickens, and especial apologies to Mr Ebenezer Scrooge, we will vary a certain well-known Christmas story by entitling our three points ‘The Quote of Scripture Past’, ‘The Quote of Scripture Present’, and […]

It is only too easy for Christians to become daunted and deeply pessimistic. The world we live in is a dark and presently an ever-darkening, place. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is increasingly and publicly mocked and marginalized throughout society, particularly in the media. Our Government passes legislation that defies the living God. […]

Wednesday night I was on my own in London. Such a void in the schedule gives me the chance to taxi in from Chelsea Harbour to Central London to Foyles, my favorite bookstore in all the world. The distinctive, boxy, black London taxi is a masterpiece of western civilization. In no other city can one […]

Introduction Someone once said that, if you want to be eternally relevant, you need to stop trying to say things that are relevant and focus on saying things that are eternal. Some ministers write their sermons according to what has featured in the news that week. When I was training for the ministry, a former […]

‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.’ For thus says the high and exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit […]

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. Psalm 73:25 After John Wesley’s ‘heart was strangely warmed’ at Aldersgate in 1738, he preached and laboured for the gospel, unabated, until his death in 1791. In that fifty-three year period he wrote over two hundred books, compiled dictionaries in […]

My dear mother, Johanna Beeke, aged 92, passed on into the presence of her Saviour at 3:45 a.m. on July 23, 2012. Though words seem hollow right now, I have tried to write a little of the tremendous legacy she left us five children and our spouses. Some of this material I used for leading […]

Graham Miller was a friend and mentor to many – not least to me – and ‘I thank my God in every remembrance of [him].’ Many will echo this sentiment as they read A Day’s March Nearer Home, compiled from his journals, formed into an autobiography by the Rev Iain Murray, and published by the […]

Let no one look down on your youthfulness. 1 Timothy 4:12a Jesus was thirty when he began his public ministry (Luke 3:23), and Peter must have been close to Jesus’ age when he began to follow him. Some say Saul of Tarsus was in his twenties when he was converted on the road to Damascus. […]

Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, until there is no more room . . . In my ears the Lord of hosts has sworn, ‘Surely, many houses shall become desolate, even great and fine ones, without occupants.’ Isaiah 5:8-9 By now we all know what happened with the […]

Christianity – Not a Religion of Works, but a Religion that Works ‘By grace are you saved through faith,’ writes Paul, before hastening on to add that we are ‘not (saved) by works, so that no-one can boast’, but then affirming that ‘we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which […]

‘Clear, concise, biblical teaching on the ways and means of growing in spiritual maturity . . . sets out the precedent for Christian growth (Jesus), lays down the theoretical foundation for Christian growth (theology), points to the context for Christian growth (Church), and provides examples of Christian growth (Bible). Ferguson’s pleasant style and earnest tone […]

‘For I hate divorce,’ says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘and him who covers his garment with wrong,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.’ (Malachi 2:16) Any pastor or Christian marriage counsellor will tell you that eventually the Christian seeking a divorce will […]

The book is made up of eleven sermons from volume six of Dr Lloyd-Jones Ephesians series first published in 1973. I found this a challenge to read, not just because of the subject matter but because of the dense arguments that Dr Lloyd-Jones is propounding. No doubt the original listeners, who heard one sermon at […]

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was an outstanding American preacher. He lived during times of great revival, but the reality of this revival was questioned by many. In connection with this Edwards was forced to think about what he called the most important question of all – how can we judge whether our religion is true or […]

The Christian life is lived at the intersection of the ages, this present age and the age of the world to come that has already, in Christ, punctuated this present age. In Christ, believers are a ‘new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul does not mean here that believers are inwardly renewed men and women, but […]

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. (Matthew 13:44) When you walk through the doors of your company each morning it is all about making money. […]

In Psalm 45, the Psalmist addresses the divine, eternal King, who rules righteously: ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre’ (v. 6). But in the next verse, the Psalmist goes on to speak of this divine King’s God: ‘Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: […]

Get up. Let us go from here. (John 14:31) After the Passover meal with his disciples, after washing their feet, after comforting them with the promise that he was going to his Father in order to prepare a mansion for them in glory, after promising the Helper, the Holy Spirit who would bring to their […]