Topic Archives: Theology

An extract from Words Old and New: Gems from the Christian Authorship of all Ages (pp. 137-139).1 1. In justification we are liberated from the chains of our sins, so far as they bound us for condemnation, yea, even so far as they held us under the dominion of Satan; and this suffices for its […]

The first part of a paper delivered at the 2009 Theological Conference of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The concluding part can be found here. Attacks upon the doctrine that there are no errors in the Bible are not new. As the history of the Scottish Church in the late nineteenth century demonstrates, they […]

The aim of this book is to show the relevance of the Bible’s teaching on the sovereignty of God to our daily lives. In 10 chapters Fred Leahy shows how the sovereign Lord is the hand that creates, governs, provides, redeems, keeps, guides, chastens, blesses, enables and judges. Mr. Leahy writes in an accessible, yet […]

An extract from Words Old and New: Gems from the Christian Authorship of all Ages (pp. 82-83).1 1. The law sheweth us our sin; the gospel sheweth us a remedy for it. The law sheweth us our condemnation; the gospel sheweth us our redemption. The law is the word of wrath; the gospel is the […]

Watch over your own heart with diligence, for from it flows the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23) I have known men who began well, who began their careers and families with a steadfast commitment to honour God, to be faithful to their wives and children, and to keep a lid on their fleshly desires. Sadly, […]

In Geneva, 450 years ago, a new version of the Bible in English began to come off the printing presses. For the first time, English-speaking people in the British Isles could purchase a Bible in their own tongue translated, in its entirety, directly from the original Hebrew and Greek – a notable milestone on the […]

One of the most sobering verses in the Bible is Hebrews 2:3 – ‘How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ The Letter to the Hebrews was written to Christians who were being tempted to turn back to some form of Judaism. Perhaps the pressure and cost of ‘being different’ was beginning […]

I. From the Fathers to the Reformation1 We are familiar with the concise, scriptural definition of The Shorter Catechism: ‘Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone’ […]

You know what Christmas is about. A very special baby was born. That special baby is God himself, the Son of the Father. It’s not about Santa is coming to town, it’s about God is coming to town. Sometimes God seems far off, but he came down to be with us. Isn’t he kind? But […]

. . . often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented thus far). (Rom. 1:13) Steve Johnson, a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, dropped five passes recently [Nov 28, 2010] in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The most damaging drop, however, occurred in overtime when he dropped a perfectly […]

Genesis 15:7-21: He also said to him, ‘I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’ But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?’ So the LORD said to him, ‘Bring me […]

2 Corinthians 13:5: ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?’ It is much easier and it is certainly more pleasant to judge other people than ourselves. The so-called ‘super-apostles’ were demanding proof […]

I hope never to forget the night the Lord brought my soul out of bondage into the glorious liberty of the gospel. It was on a Lord’s Day evening. I went in the morning to the house of God in a very distressed state of mind, and remained so all day. The preaching only tended […]

The Word of God has much to say to us about ‘the deceitfulness of sin’ (Heb. 3:13). The evil that is sin will do all it can to persuade you to taste its wares, to embrace its offers, to sit at its table and eat its food. I would like in this pastoral letter to […]

The translator’s ‘Introduction’ to Faith Unfeigned – Four Sermons concerning Matters Most Useful for the Present Time with A Brief Exposition of Psalm 871 by John Calvin. The last half-century has seen a steady growth of interest in Calvin’s work as preacher. The Reformer’s sermons place us at the centre of his pastoral and theological […]

Again he measured a thousand cubits, and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water has risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. (Ezek. 47:5) I have travelled countless times over the dam at Jinja, Uganda, the source of the Nile River, on my way […]

This is a marvellous read. Based on sermons given at various conferences by the author, the book focuses on three areas of Biblical truth: the character of God, the salvation of God and the church of God. Each of the 16 chapters is a model of Christ-centred expository preaching. There is a clear structure to […]

There is a God and it is possible for us to know him. But he may be known only because he has revealed himself. He has done so in creation. As we look at the world around us and the heavens above us, we should conclude that it was impossible for any part of the […]

It was about four o’clock one October morning. I had been sleeping well, but was awakened by the sound of a wind such as I had never heard in my life before. From the rooftop of my house, tiles were being blown about and seemed to make a most frightening noise as they came crashing […]

And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. (Acts 2:3) If Brett McCracken’s observation is correct – that seventy per cent of those age eighteen to twenty-two, who grew up in the church, leave it never to return again,1 then surely we can agree […]

They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. Westminster Confession of Faith God sovereignly decrees that none of his elect shall perish. As a […]

First published 1893. This was the last book written by the celebrated 19th century preacher C. H. Spurgeon. He was working on it until a few days before his death so it contains the last thoughts that he wanted published. Spurgeon takes Jesus is King as this theme. He divides Matthew into just over 100 […]

At the age of twelve, I joined a local church of one of the large denominations. Previous to this I had received a lapel pin for memorizing the Ten Commandments and the books of the Bible. These things never completely left my mind, but neither did they save me. I can honestly say that I […]

Recently a friend shared a top 10 book list and one of the recommendations was ‘On the Goodness of God’ in volume 2 of The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock.1 It had been a long while since I read any of Charnock, and, oh my, was it a feast for my soul […]

It is easy to see that the world is in a terrible state – with war, civil disobedience and crime affecting, in varying degrees, people across the globe. But, more fundamentally, we must recognise the terrible spiritual state of every individual human being, for frictions between nations and problems within individual countries and communities only […]