Topic Archives: Christian Living

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 […]

It1 was customary among evangelical Christians at this date [the 1920s] to encourage the practice of giving ‘testimonies’ as a form of evangelistic witness, and equally common for ministers to include personal references of various kinds in their sermons. Given Dr Lloyd-Jones’ unusual career and its interest for the general public; given also, the spiritual […]

Thus Noah did, according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. (Genesis 6:22) God has surveyed the corruption of mankind at the time of Noah, saying that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Consequently he told Noah that he would destroy every living thing from the […]

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 […]

The Foreword to Kenneth B. Wingate’s new Banner of Truth book1 There is a long and honourable tradition in the English-speaking world of lawyers who have distinguished themselves not only in their profession as attorneys, but in the exemplary way in which they have served their cities, states and nations with great distinction. The southern […]

How are imbalances in doctrine and defects in faith and practice rightly to be addressed in the Church? One way that is often employed is that of reaction to the problem while another way is the way of reformation. These are not two equally valid and effective responses to problems of ecclesiastical faith and life. […]

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 – […]

Of all the dangers that can overtake a Reformed church, pride is surely the worst and most serious. There is, of course, a right kind of pride, a thankfulness to God for our history and heritage. But the pride I am thinking of, is that ugly, self-righteous, self-preening brute that says with the Pharisees, ‘God, […]

There is nowhere in the Bible where we will find an expression of higher, more exalted joy, than in 1 John 3:1: ‘See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.’ It is as though the elderly apostle John is gathering […]

It was the first day of July 1866. As John Kennedy stood ready to preach on that Sabbath, in the pulpit of his Dingwall church, he gave out as his text: ‘For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better’ (Phil. 1:23). […]

The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10) ‘An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule on their own authority, and my people love it so. But what will you do at the end of it?’ (Jer. 5:30-31). […]

By the sweat of your face you will eat bread. (Genesis 3:19) In 1776 Adam Smith, a Scottish economist and Deist, a good friend of David Hume the sceptic, wrote his famous book Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations that has profoundly affected the capitalist system in our world. Smith […]

An extract from Chapter 6 of Paul D. Wolfe’s book, My God Is True: Lessons Learned Along Cancer’s Dark Road,1 pp. 96-101. One . . . aspect of the church’s life that we ought to consider in connection to suffering [is that] the Lord uses faithful preaching to shape the hearts and minds of his […]

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 […]

A tender farewell The fellowship meal of Abraham with the Lord and the two angels was over, and one part of God’s mission in leaving heaven and coming to Mamre to the patriarch and his wife had been completed. The Lord had assured Sarah that she was going to give birth to a son within […]

Why should Christians be familiar with the great doctrines of the Bible? Let me give you four reasons. 1) The first is the simplest of all: Because we love God. And if you love someone, you want to know everything about them. If a young man meets a girl and falls in love, he’ll want […]

God created man in his own image. (Genesis 1:27) On the sixth day of creation, after making cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts, Elohim, in a marvellous intra-Triune council decided to create man in his own image. The word ‘image’ in Hebrew literally means to cut from a stone, much like what Michelangelo did when […]

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 […]

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 […]