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Topic Archives: The Church

Kevin DeYoung’s recent World news article on evangelical compromise with LGBTQ is immensely helpful. DeYoung points out that such compromise is rarely, if ever, instantaneous. Rather, it manifests gradually, as truth is first omitted, then de-emphasised, and finally deemed to be beyond the pale. ‘Rarely do evangelical leaders and institutions leap all at once from […]

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Date September 26, 2022
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Do you find yourself constantly surprised by the things that God says are important as you read through Scripture? I found this, yet again, just a couple of weeks ago when I came to preach on Exodus 16 and was confronted by a whole chapter about manna. More space is given to it in Exodus […]

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Date May 6, 2022
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‘They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ — Acts 2:42 I, for one, am very thankful that many of our Presbyterian and Reformed churches observe the Lord’s Supper each Sunday. After all, we believe that the Lord’s Supper is more than a […]

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Date September 17, 2018
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‘But we have the mind of Christ.’ — 1 Corinthians 2:16 A Pew Research poll,1 released on December 16, 2015, asked the question, ‘Should homosexuality be accepted by society?’ The percentage who are ‘okay with that’, in all denominations, not just historically liberal ones, but also conservative ones, is very large, and the trend continues […]

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Date March 9, 2018
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I haven’t been to a communion season in the Scottish Hebrides for three or four years and so when Hugh Ferrier invited me to come to their August Communion Season this year, I was delighted to accept. The High Free Church Stornoway The High Church in Stornoway was the largest Church of Scotland congregation in […]

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Date September 13, 2017
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The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another. Some of their claims were silly. One elder accused a teenager of rebelliously going to […]

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Date August 11, 2017
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Let me introduce a contemporary church situation in England, and go back a time (a few hundred years in fact) to give it its origin, a contrast, and a perspective. I must take you back to William Bridge who is about as anonymous a Puritan preacher as you can find. Bare facts are the following, that […]

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Date July 26, 2017
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‘Why do you go to church twice on a Sunday? Isn’t once enough?’ In many churches the Sunday evening service is disappearing. There are two main reasons for this. First, demands from employers have increased enormously over the last 30 years. Weekends have become precious. Two Sunday services are seen as taking up too much […]

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Date July 14, 2017
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This question can be embarrassing, can’t it? Why do you worship on Sunday? Doesn’t the Bible say that the seventh day is the time God consecrated for his people? Where does the Bible say that Christians should sanctify the first day of the week, rather than the seventh day? It’s a good question, you will […]

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Date June 26, 2017
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Taken from an appendix to a new book on holiness by Sinclair B. Ferguson, entitled Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification. In almost any discussion of the role of the law in sanctification there is one commandment that causes considerable debate—the commandment on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8-11). It is certainly the commandment that seems to give evangelical Christians the greatest difficulty. […]

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Date October 24, 2016
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George Rose (1873-1965) was a Baptist pastor in Tamworth Road, Croydon, in the years leading up to the Second World War. His biography has just been reprinted entitled Remembered Mercies Recorded (Gospel Standard Trust Publications, 376 pages). From 1933 he issued a Monthly Circular in which he wrote a message to his congregation, and those […]

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Date October 30, 2015
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How Scotland Lost Its Hold of the Bible1 was first published in The Banner of Truth magazine, No. 623-624 (Aug-Sep 2015). The article can be downloaded as a 28-page print-ready pdf here, and may be freely printed and distributed. Man is now thinking out a Bible for himself; framing a religion in harmony with the […]

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Date July 16, 2015
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Scripture and history tell us that the destruction of men’s best interests is brought about by the reception of error. When churches embrace a lie rather than God’s truth there is an inevitable spiritual and moral decline. R. L. Dabney wrote towards the end of the 19th century: ‘While German scholarship has been busy with […]

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Date October 8, 2014
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People were amazed and critical then and they would be exactly the same today. Here was a star of the British Olympic team, one of the favourites to win the gold medal in the 100 metres, declining to run in the heats because they were being held on a Sunday. The reason? His Christian convictions. […]

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Date July 14, 2014
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One of the great mistakes Christians make with regards to the Christian Sabbath is viewing it as a prison or hindrance. In fact, God has given it to us to bless us. In Isaiah 58:14, God promises three things in connection with the faithful observance of his day: increased delight in him, spiritual victory, and […]

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Date September 13, 2013
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You may be an evangelical and be an Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Brethren or other. You may be Calvinist or Arminian. But we generally need more agreement on points of theology and worship if we are to live and serve together as a church. One of the ways in which churches identify themselves is by calling […]

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Date July 12, 2013
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In 1821 a young clergyman’s son matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford. Amongst the cleverest of his generation, he knew nothing of the wisdom which can only be imparted by the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul. Just previously, another young man, of similar academic capabilities, had graduated with an unexpectedly low third-class degree. […]

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Date September 14, 2010
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The history of the Christian church, if rightly regarded and used, can be a great source of strength, wisdom and stability to the serious Christian. On the other hand, Church history wrongly regarded and misused can be a stumbling block, an occasion of weakness and stagnation. There are three attitudes toward the past history of […]

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Date August 27, 2010
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It is good for us constantly to recall the truths with which we are familiar – both to promote self-examination as to how these truths are being implemented in our lives, and to stir us up to seek more grace, to be more conformed to them. Paul himself said: ‘To write the same things to […]

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Date February 5, 2010
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For the past year or so I have been making my way slowly through the reading of a series of sermons preached on Hebrews 11 by the Puritan, Thomas Manton. The book containing these sermons is titled By Faith and it is published by The Banner of Truth Trust1. Most recently I have been reading […]

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Date December 16, 2008
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At a time when Reformed churches are taking the celebration and frequency of the Lord’s Supper more seriously, the question ‘How should I benefit from Communion?’ is timely. I want, however, at the outset to change the title I was given. The change appears minimal, but it is actually profound. I would like to substitute […]

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Date August 12, 2008
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Several years ago while living in Jerusalem I noticed how the Jews kept the Sabbath. Around 3 p.m. on Friday afternoons the weekend rush hour traffic would increase as workers made their way home. Most of the working mothers were trying to arrive at the market in time to buy needed supplies. This frenzied pace […]

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Date April 29, 2008
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In the book of The Revelation we read of the Lord’s day (1:10), as this is the day that belongs to Christ Jesus – only it and the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:20) bear this title, so why this special significance and where does it come from? The risen Saviour appeared on the first day […]

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Date May 4, 2007
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Exodus 20:8-11. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, […]

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Date November 17, 2006
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KEEPING THE SABBATH DAY Doing the Day “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work…” What do you do with the day the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) calls us to keep holy? It would seem that many Christians would prefer not to think about it, […]

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Date March 21, 2002
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