Topic Archives: Spiritual Growth

Some Christians are doubtful of the help they can find in a Puritan book written some 400 years ago. Tom Richwine, a trustee of the Banner of Truth Trust, addresses this concern with a recent example.

In how many ways may we glorify God? 1] It is glorifying God when we aim purely at his glory. God must be the untimate end of all actions. Thus Christ, ‘I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of him that sent me’ (John 8:50) . . . Oh let us take heed […]

It is the easiest thing in the world to say, ‘The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord’, when all is well with you and yours. When life is sweet, when your children are trusting in Christ, when your church is united and loving, when your spouse loves […]

If you lift a stone in the garden you find all sorts of creepy crawlies underneath. Sin is a little like that. What are secret sins? Psalm 19:12 – Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. It is not entirely clear what these hidden faults or secret sins are. Secret sins are the […]

I was converted to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ fifty-six years ago in January 1957. I had good parents and a stable home but neither my parents, nor I, nor my younger sister Ann, had any true knowledge of God before that date. My religious life amounted to saying private prayers in bed […]

It is clear that the Bible commends the quality of meekness, but what is our understanding of this virtue? Why is it commended to us, and what are its qualities? Most people clearly apprehend that humility is characterized by lowliness. We understand this because it is often contrasted with pride whereby a person boasts and […]

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit, O Lord, Thou wilt not despise (Psalm 51:17). King David wrote, ‘. . . his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night’ (Psa. 1:2). But then David saw Bathsheba, desired her, took her, and […]

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). King David had it going on. He was riding high as king of the unified, prosperous, and militarily mighty nation of Israel. He was a courageous and bold military leader, as well as being a prolific […]

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013, was a very sad day in the history of our nation. Disgracefully, on that day the House of Commons, by a majority of 400 to 175, passed the Second Reading of the bill to legalise same-sex marriages. This is an affront to Almighty God. But not only is it contrary to […]

We should develop the attitude that life is far better if we use our minds actively to whatever degree we are able, and that slothfulness of mind is an unfortunate misuse of the uniqueness God gave men. Consider these reasons for continuing our education through developing a learning posture to life: 1. Learning is exercise […]

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 […]

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, […]

‘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 […]

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 […]