Category Archives: Christian Living

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“The Modern Reformed Church is in trouble, Not because of her traditional forms…”

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Someone in advocating a new Confessional Standard wanted to cut out some of the sticky points of contention that seem to plague the Reformed Church. His position was that minimalizing the standards a bit would bring more Unity.

http://www.puritanboard.com/f30/time-new-reformed-confession-62902/index3.html#post811544

A then Prominent PCA Pastor Jason Stellman asked,

“Wouldn’t that minimalization have a unifying effect?”

Jason Stellman is now Roman Catholic.  https://rpcnacovenanter.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/did-jason-really-know-the-gospel-and-presbyterian-covenant-theology/

Reverend Matthew Winzer responded splendidly in my opinion. His last statement is spot on as usual. 

Quote Originally Posted by armourbearer View Post

In what universe could it have that effect? While there are men who conscientiously act with the vows of God upon them there is obviously going to be a group of people who maintain, assert, and defend every article of the confession which they have subscribed with their own hand in the sight of God and men. And why shouldn’t they? Afterall, they not only promised to the church that they would do so, but the church also promised her support and nurture in the process.

The modern reformed church is in trouble, not because of her traditional forms, but because her traditional forms are being maintained without traditional values of integrity, respect, and trust

http://www.puritanboard.com/f71/why-traditional-reformed-churches-struggling-79049/#post999996

In a recent post by Reverend Winzer he made this statement.

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

“But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”

The carnal kingdom of the Jews is a tempting prospect but in the end it comes to nothing. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world but will also outlast the world. Let’s adhere to the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, be faithful to the corner of the vineyard He has committed to us, and leave the numbers with the Lord be they few or many. As Isaiah also says, “the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” If it is the Lord’s work it is not in vain regardless of what it looks like to the eyes of men.

Amen Reverend Winzer! added 5/15/13

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I am so saddened for my Children at this time.

In light of the 2012 political elections in the United (not really in heart) States of America…

I miss my Commander and Chief who recognized evil, Ronald Reagan. Atheism, Communism, and Socialism are creeping into our country. My President Ronald Reagan believed in the Ten Commandments and saw the Blessing and common grace God pours upon those who seek to keep His Law.

At the same time I have not put my hope in man. It is solidly upon the Lord. He is the Mediatorial King over all and He has all authority.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,… (1 Timothy 2:1-5)

I appreciated this counsel from Pastor Steve Bradley who posted this quote from Charles Spurgeon.
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“Do not watch the clouds or consult the wind; in season and out of season witness for the Savior, and if it transpires that for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s you must endure suffering in any shape, do not shrink, but rejoice in the honor conferred upon you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord. And find joy also in this—that your sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a platform from which with more vigor and with greater power you will witness for Christ Jesus. Study your great example, and be filled with His Spirit. Remember that you need much teaching, much upholding, much grace, and much humility if your witnessing is to be to your Master’s glory.”- Charles Spurgeon

(1Ti 4:13-16) Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

We have sinned as a Nation. Including Me. We have become like sinful Israel. Now we will reap what we have sown. We are becoming forsaken by God and going down the path of Romans Chapter 1:18-32 and we will be cut off from Grace and Mercy if we don’t repent and call Evil what it is.
‎”They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off” (Hos. 8:4).

(Gal 6:7-10) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

(Pro 14:34) Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

(2Ch 7:13-14) If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I am in tears over the condition of our people and how we are voting for murdering unborn children, recreational marijuana usage, and sexual sin to be accepted norms. We are so fallen from grace and mercy.  The thing that bothers me most is that my Children are going to reap what we have sown and our Grandchildren are going to pay a really big price of debt for our sin.  We have forsaken God who is our lover.  How can we keep forsaking TRUE LOVE and not reap what we sow?  Christ paid a big price to bring us to Himself.  Why are we forsaking Him and His Law?

Please hear me. Repent. There is no goodness in man when he forsakes God. He is cutting himself off from the very image he was created in.

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Gospel Influenced Living. Becoming the Gospel we profess.

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I have been greatly challenged about Loving others and being like Christ by Jeremiah Burroughs. He has stretched my thinking greatly concerning my conduct and attitude towards others. I pray my soul is not just gaining knowledge but that it will actually spill forth the truths and life of the Gospel of Christ by His Spirit.

Yea, and when you are reconciled to your brother, be so reconciled as to be firm in your reconciliation. Not as some; there is a peace made between them, but how? So as they are ready to take advantage against one another upon any miscarriage afterwards. God does not do this with you. The Gospel does not hold for such a peace as this, that God shall be at peace with you for the moment, but look to yourselves afterwards; as though God will take all advantages against you as He can. If there had been such a peace made between God and you as that, you would have been in hell long before this time. And therefore, let your peace be a firm, settled, and constant peace.
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Gospel Conversations

What’s that but as Christ Himself said, “Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful.” Oh, have a merciful heart one towards another; look with a merciful eye upon those who are in great misery! This is that which becomes the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, a harsh rugged, and cruel disposition is infinitely unbecoming the gospel of Christ! To see a Christian, one who professes the gospel, who makes more profession of the knowledge of God and of the free grace of God in Christ than others, and yet, when it comes to dealing with such as are in misery he has a hard heart? Oh, a hard-hearted Christian is a monster! I say a hard-hearted Christian is a monster in the world, not to be ready to forgive others, and to do anything for others who are in misery is devilish; but to rejoice that they may have any object to show pity and compassion unto, Oh, this is that which becomes the gospel of Christ! Though they are strangers to you in that misery, yet be merciful to them, for you were strangers to God.

Yea, be merciful to your enemies, not only be willing to be at peace, but be merciful. Do not let them perish, but let the bowels of compassion even work towards them. Oh, that our hearts yearned towards all! Christ, when He came near to Jerusalem, wept over it. Oh, that the same spirit were in us as was in Jesus Christ!

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Gospel Conversations
Jeremiah Burroughs

Thank God for all of those who have lived the life of the Gospel being breathed out through them by the Spirit of God. For the Gospel is the Power of God unto salvation to those who believe. We are living by the fruit of Christ’s working in and through many forefathers who shed their lives sacrificially that we might obtain an incorruptible inheritance given to us in the Person and Work of Christ.

Every Christian should make it appear that he is so set upon peace that, if the laying down of his life could procure peace, he should be willing to do it, that if we may make up breaches by standing in the gap and offering up ourselves as a sacrifice of atonement and pacification, let us thus prove ourselves to be the true followers of Christ our Lord and Master, who has left us His own example here in for our imitation. This would be an excellent thing, becoming the gospel that we profess. Yea, we should not only be willing to admit peace, but seek it. Seek it for our inferiors. Do not say that such a man has wronged me and, therefore, let him seek me. Oh no! It becomes you who make profession of the gospel of Christ not to stay until he who has wronged you comes to you, but for you who are wronged by another to seek those who have wronged you so that they would be at peace with you.

Gospel Conversation
Jeremiah Burroughs
p. 93

(Rom 1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
(Rom 1:17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

(Gal 2:20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

(Php 1:27) Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

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Time for A Spiritual Examination. It can be hard if not harder than the physical one.

 

 

(1Pe 2:2,3)  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 

I am writing this for open encouragement to myself and my household so that we might examine ourselves. It is time for a spiritual examination. It can be hard if not harder than the physical one. It is a lost art that I have grown negligent of during seasons of my life and I ended up grieving the Holy Spirit of God and hurting the ones I loved. Fortunately for those around me and myself I didn’t grow totally deaf and still heard God during those times and found God to be faithful in chastising me and granting me repentance. What a loving faithful God we have.

So I thought I would just share some passages and a few short thoughts that have kept me from totally losing it and going completely off the rails a few times in life. God always remained faithful and kept telling me where I needed to be and what I needed to do even if I didn’t want to listen to him. I just didn’t want to listen sometimes. So metaphorically God patiently would make me march another time around the mountain and dessert to teach me about my rebelliousness and His goodness as he did with the Hebrews after the great Exodus from their bondage in Egypt. One scripture that always comes to my mind for examination is 2 Corinthians 13:5.  After I note that passage I will just keep on posting others and hope you are edified.  

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 

The Lord’s table is a great place for this examination and as a means of Grace it is quite effective to ponder upon anytime.

1Co 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
1Co 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Co 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
1Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

1Pe 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
Heb 12:4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Heb 12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.

If the Lord is not prodding your conscience about sin or encouraging you in righteousness then you should be fearful He isn’t chastising you for acting sinfully or encouraging you in your time of abiding. God loves to encourage us by His word and he is faithful to convict us when we are out of line. He leads us in paths of righteousness for His own names sake according to Psalm 23:3. If we do sense conviction, encouragement, and prodding we have much to rejoice for since God is our Father. If we are not sensing a prodding or a nagging conscience when we are acting sinful we should be greatly concerned that the Lord is not our Father and that we might be bastards concerning the faith. The reason why that is true is because the very essence of Grace is active and influential in a child of God’s life. It is divine empowering influence from the Spirit of God witnessing and encouraging us that we are the Children of God as we cry out Abba Father from our hearts.  Let’s confirm some of what I have just mentioned with what the writer of Hebrews says.

Heb 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Heb 12:7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb 12:8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Another thing I like to consider in light of this is the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. Jesus gives us a lot to understand here in this parable as he compares the word and soil with our intake of His Word and our lives. We all receive the word at some point of our lives. When we receive it and it bares fruit we have much to rejoice over. If we don’t bare fruit we should be alarmed. We should try to consider why it isn’t or hasn’t bore fruit if we have heard it.

Mar 4:3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
Mar 4:4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Mar 4:5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.
Mar 4:6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
Mar 4:7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
Mar 4:8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Mar 4:13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
Mar 4:14 The sower sows the word.
Mar 4:15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
Mar 4:16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
Mar 4:17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
Mar 4:18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,
Mar 4:19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Mar 4:21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?
Mar 4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.
Mar 4:23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mar 4:24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
Mar 4:25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Christian life is about a reconciled relationship between God and man. Its basis is the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is about being conformed to the image of Christ which is a long and hard process. It is a joyous one because it is about being reconciled to God (solely based upon His work of earning our salvation and not our earning it) and establishing a familial relationship with Him. But the process of being conformed to Christ’s image varies from person to person and some of us experience seasons of life when we wish we had not been called by Christ at all. I know that is hard for some people to understand but it is true. Some of us have acted pretty sinful and dealt with spiritual wickedness that is life draining. As examples I will mention King David in Psalm 51 and Elijah in 1 Kings 19. But God has called us to Glory and is doing a work in us if we are called.

One important sign of that calling is that we grow in our desire for the sincere milk of the Word as it is called. As a newborn baby desires milk at feeding time a Christian should desire to hear and take in God’s word. If that desire is gone something is wrong. Either sin has choked a lot of life out of an individual and they are spiritually anemic or the individual is simply a spiritual bastard who doesn’t have God for their spiritual father. Both are situations which should invoke great fear but the later should have more urgency placed upon it for seeking a remedy since it leads to a worse consequence for not heeding the warning signs. Eternity without God will hold nothing good for that individual. Nothing good! No good at all. No relief. They only have misery to look forward to and separation from everything good and blessed. And that is for all eternity after they pass from what life they had here.

So let me make a simple recommendation at this point. Jesus said that man cannot live by bread alone. We are to live by every word that proceeded from the Mouth of God according to Him. Let’s see if we can first confess what God says about our sin and seek forgiveness. 1 John 1:8-10 was placed in His book for a reason.

1Jn 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
In response to His word above we can all probably just call out to him the same way, “Lord, Please forgive me for my neglect of you and your word and for following my sinful desires.” He knows we need this promise concerning confession and forgiveness. After that prayer of confession let us stir up that natural desire that is found in New Creatures of Christ. As newborn babes crave milk let’s drink in the milk of the word and stir up the gift that is in us. He said he knocks on the door and seeks to fellowship with His Church in Revelation 3:20. Let us open it and fan the flame of our relationship with God by opening up our Bibles and reading them. After all, He did pay an unfathomable price to ransom our lives so that we could be His children. Let’s start listening to His word. It is life giving. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God. So maybe it is time to put down the Xbox controllers or things that want to choke the word out of our lives and go listen to our Father. He loves us. I know as an older struggling brother in the faith.   Randy

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Kindgoms Apart “Engaging the Two Kingdoms Perspective” Pre-release….

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Kingdoms Apart
Engaging the Two Kingdoms Perspective

Ryan C McIlhenny

There is a portion of this book that has been made available and downloadable. I heartily recommend you download it and read it. Dr. Venema’s part is most excellent. It correctly and clearly brings David VanDrunnen’s views and interpretation of Calvin’s Two Kingdom / Natural Law Theology into question.

After you open the link just click on ‘Sample Chapters: PDF’
Then click ‘save page as’ in your browser so you can retain a copy. I will buy the book as soon as it is made available.  It is suppose to be available Oct. 2012.

There are three broad topics that are considered in Venema’s critique of Van Drunnen’s interpretation of Calvin concerning Two Kingdom’s / Natural Law.

First, Does Calvin view them (the two kingdoms) primarily in terms of two separate realms? Does he make clear identification of the spiritual kingdom with the institutional church and the natural kingdom with the remainder of human life and culture?
Second, Is there a strict correlation between the natural kingdom, which is governed by Christ as Mediator of Creation through natural law, and the spiritual kingdom, which is governed by Christ as Mediator of redemption through moral law as it is set forth in scripture?
Third, What is the relation that Calvin emphasizes between God’s purpose and work as Creator and as Redeemer. How does Calvin construe the relation between God’s purposes in creation and redemption?

http://www.prpbooks.com/Kingdoms-Apart-Engaging-the-Two-Kingdoms-Perspective-2210.html&session=7c179173247ef610b5aeab10bdcb61e1#.UGHyN9plTY0.facebook

http://www.prpbooks.com/samples/9781596384354.pdf

Please sit up and take notice of this issue.  I couldn’t agree more with the assessment of Gideon Strauss, Senior Fellow, Center for Public Justice, Washington, DC, “This is not only an academic debate. The outcome of the debate will have broad implications for Christian schools, colleges, seminaries, and churches and for Christians in the academy, politics, business, the arts, and other realms of cultural activity.”

I venture to even go a bit farther and state that this effects our understanding of Christ (Christology) and how we live our life inwardly as well as outwardly.

The download to this might be rather short lived so get it while you can.

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From Samuel Rutherford’s letters concerning the passing of children.

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I know the language is tough but it is from the 17th Century Scottish Pastor Samuel Rutherford who bore the burdens of his parish deeply in his heart. I take comfort in his insight. His ability to comfort came at a cost.  He knew what it was to suffer loss and experience much pain and sorrow.  He also knew that our Children are not ours fully as they are God’s.

You can read a biography that I wrote about him here.

https://rpcnacovenanter.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/samuel-rutherford/

Here are a few small portions of The Letters of Samuel Rutherford to comfort the afflicted upon the loss of life on this side….

‘Take no heavier lift of your children, than your Lord alloweth; give them room beside your heart, but not in the yolk of your heart, where Christ should be; for then they are your idols, not your *bairns. If your Lord take any of them home to his house before the storm come on, take it well, the owner of the orchard may take down two or three apples off his own trees, before midsummer, and *ere they get the harvest sun; and it would not be seemly that his servant, the gardener, should chide him for it. Let our Lord pluck his own fruit at any season he pleaseth; they are not lost to you, they are laid up so well, as that they are coffered in heaven, where our Lord’s best jewels lie.’

‘The child hath but changed a bed in the garden, and is planted up higher, nearer the sun, where he shall thrive better than in this out-field moor ground’

‘Go on and faint not, something of yours is in heaven, beside the flesh of your exalted Saviour, and ye go on after your own.’

‘He (she) is not lost to you who is found to Christ. If he (she) hath casten his bloom and flower, the bloom is fallen in heaven in Christ’s lap; and as he (she) was lent awhile to time, so is he now given to eternity, which will take yourself; and the difference of your shipping and his (hers) to heaven and Christ’s shore, the land of life, is only in some few years, which weareth every day shorter, and some short and soon reckoned summers will give you a meeting with him.’

*bairn [bɛən (Scot) bern]
n
Scot and northern English a child
[Old English bearn; related to bearm lap, Old Norse, Old High German barn child]

*ere [ɛə]
conj & prep
a poetic word for before
[Old English ǣr; related to Old Norse ār early, Gothic airis earlier, Old High German ēr earlier, Greek eri early]

(2Co 1:2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2Co 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

(2Co 1:4) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

(2Co 1:5) For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

(2Co 1:6) If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

(2Co 1:7) Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

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What is the Gospel?

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Jeremiah Burroughs…. Gospel Conversation.

The good tidings concerning Christ, for so the word “gospel” in the Greek signifies nothing else but the good tidings.… All mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, and was put under the sentence of death…. God has thought upon the children of men. He has provided a way of atonement to reconcile them to Himself again. Namely the Second Person in the Trinity takes man’s nature upon him and becomes the Head of a second covenant, standing charged with man’s sin, and answering for it by suffering what the Law and Divine Justice required. He made satisfaction and kept the Law perfectly, which satisfaction and righteousness He offered up unto the Father as a sweet savor of rest for the souls of those that are given to Him.

And now this mediation of Christ is, by the appointment of the Father, preached to the children of men, of whatever nation or rank, freely offering this unto sinners for atonement for them, requiring them to believe in Him and, upon believing, promising not only a discharge of all their former sins, but that they shall never enter into condemnation, that none of their sins or unworthiness shall ever hinder the peace of God with them, but that they shall, through Him be received into the number of sons. They shall have the image of God renewed again in them, and they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. These souls and bodies shall be raised to the height of glory that such creatures are capable of. They shall live forever, enjoying the presence of God and Christ in the fullness of all good.This is the gospel of Christ. This is the sum of the gospel that is preached unto sinners.

Gospel Conversations pp. 4,5

What is the Gospel.. Antinomian view?

https://rpcnacovenanter.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/depraved-christianity-might-be-antinomian-christianity-pt-3/

The Gospel includes more than just our justification. It also includes our sanctification and glorification. Some theologians today remove the Good News (Gospel Truth) of our Sanctification and future Glorification from the Gospel.   I am not willing to go as far as some are going in their Modern Reformed Thought.  I have heard some who teach at a School in Escondido, California say that theology like the theology mentioned in the following  link are “serious error”.  https://rpcnacovenanter.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/sundry-quotes-from-solid-reformed-men-on-law-and-gospel/  I disagree whole heartedly and would plead with them to reconsider.

https://rpcnacovenanter.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/depraved-christianity-might-be-antinomian-christianity-pt-3/

 

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By Affliction He Teaches Us Many Precious Lessons

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Expository Thoughts on Mark – Mark 4:35-41

THESE verses describe a storm on the sea of Galilee, when our Lord and His disciples were crossing it, and a miracle performed by our Lord in calming the storm in moment. Few miracles recorded in the Gospel were so likely to strike the minds of the disciples as this. Four of them at least were fishermen. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, had probably known the sea of Galilee, and its storms, from their youth. Few events in our Lord’s journeyings to and fro upon earth, contain more rich instruction than the one related in this passage.

Let us learn, in the first place, that Christ’s service does not exempt His servants from storms. Here were the twelve disciples in the path of duty. They were obediently following Jesus, wherever He went. They were daily attending on His ministry, and hearkening to His word. They were daily testifying to the world, that, whatever Scribes and Pharisees might think, they believed on Jesus, loved Jesus, and were not ashamed to give up all for His sake. Yet here we see these men in trouble, tossed up and down by a tempest, and in danger of being drowned.

Let us mark well this lesson. If we are true Christians, we must not expect everything smooth in our journey to heaven. We must count it no strange thing, if we have to endure sicknesses, losses, bereavements, and disappointments, just like other men. Free pardon and full forgiveness, grace by the way and glory at the end,—all this our Savior has promised to give. But He has never promised that we shall have no afflictions. He loves us too well to promise that. By affliction He teaches us many precious lessons, which without it we should never learn. By affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world, makes us long for heaven. In the resurrection morning we shall all say, “it is good for me that I was afflicted.” We shall thank God for every storm.

Let us learn, in the second place, that our Lord Jesus Christ was really and truly man. We are told in these verses, that when the storm began, and the waves beat over the ship, he was in the hinder part “asleep.” He had a body exactly like our own,—a body that could hunger, and thirst, and feel pain, and be weary, and need rest. No wonder that His body needed repose at this time. He had been diligent in His Father’s business all the day. He had been preaching to a great multitude in the open air. No wonder that “When the even was come,” and His work finished, he fell “asleep.”

Let us mark this lesson also attentively. The Saviour in whom we are bid to trust, is as really man as He is God. He knows the trials of a man, for He has experienced them. He knows the bodily infirmities of a man, for He has felt them. He can well understand what we mean, when we cry to Him for help in this world of need. He is just the very Saviour that men and women, with weary frames and aching heads, in a weary world, require for their comfort every morning and night. “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” (Heb. 4:15.)

Let us learn, in the third place, that our Lord Jesus Christ, as God, has almighty power. We see Him in these verses doing that which is proverbially impossible. He speaks to the winds, and they obey Him. He speaks to the waves, and they submit to His command. He turns the raging storm into a calm with a few words,—”Peace, be still.” Those words were the words of Him who first created all things. The elements knew the voice of their Master, and, like obedient servants, were quiet at once.

Let us mark this lesson also, and lay it up in our minds. With the Lord Jesus Christ nothing is impossible. No stormy passions are so strong but He can tame them. No temper is so rough and violent but He can change it. No conscience is so disquieted, but He can speak peace to it, and make it calm. No man ever need despair, if He will only bow down his pride, and come as a humbled sinner to Christ. Christ can do miracles upon his heart.—No man ever need despair of reaching his journey’s end, if he has once committed his soul to Christ’s keeping. Christ will carry him through every danger. Christ will make him conqueror over every foe.—What though our relations oppose us? What though our neighbours laugh us to scorn? What though our place be hard? What though our temptations be great? It is all nothing, if Christ is on our side, and we are in the ship with Him. Greater is He that is for us, than all they that are against us.

Finally, we learn from this passage, that our Lord Jesus Christ is exceedingly patient and pitiful in dealing with His own people. We see the disciples on this occasion showing great want of faith, and giving way to most unseemly fears. They forgot their Master’s miracles and care for them in days gone by. They thought of nothing but their present peril. They awoke our Lord hastily, and cried, “carest thou not that we perish?” We see our Lord dealing most gently and tenderly with them. He gives them no sharp reproof. He makes no threat of casting them off, because of their unbelief. He simply asks the touching question, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

Let us mark well this lesson. The Lord Jesus is very pitiful and of tender mercy. “As a father pitieth his children, even so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” (Psalm 103:13.) He does not deal with believers according to their sins, nor reward them according to the iniquities. He sees their weakness. He is aware of their short-comings. He knows all the defects of their faith, and hope, and love, and courage. And yet He will not cast them off. He bears with them continually. He loves them even to the end. He raises them when they fall. He restores them when they err. His patience, like His love, is a patience that passeth knowledge. When He sees a heart right, it is His glory to pass over many a short-coming.

Let us leave these verses with the comfortable recollection that Jesus is not changed. His heart is still the same that it was when He crossed the sea of Galilee and stilled the storm. High in heaven at the right hand of God, Jesus is still sympathizing,—still almighty,—still pitiful and patient towards His people.—Let us be more charitable and patient towards our brethren in the faith. They may err in may things, but if Jesus has received them and can bear with them, surely we may bear with them too.—Let us be more hopeful about ourselves. We may be very weak, and frail, and unstable; but if we can truly say that we do come to Christ and believe on Him, we may take comfort. The question for conscience to answer is not, “Are we like the angels? are we perfect as we shall be in heaven?” The question is, “Are we real and true in our approaches to Christ? Do we truly repent and believe?”

Bishop J. C. Ryle

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Living Worthy Reflecting God’s Image (Jeremiah Burroughs)

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Jeremiah Burroughs

Member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines

The gospel of Christ is the good tidings that God has revealed concerning Christ. As all mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, put under the sentence of death, God, though He left His fallen angels and has reserved them in the chains of eternal darkness, yet He has thought upon the children of men and has provided a way of atonement to reconcile them to Himself again.

The second Person in the Trinity takes man’s nature upon Himself, and becomes the Head of a second covenant, standing charged with sin. He answers for it by suffering what the law and divine justice required, and by making satisfaction for keeping the law perfectly. This satisfaction and righteousness He tenders up to the Father as a sweet savor of rest for the souls that are given to Him.

And now this mediation of Christ is, by the appointment of the Father, preached to the children of men, of whatever nation or rank, freely offering this atonement unto sinners for atonement, requiring them to believe in Him and, upon believing, promising not only a discharge of all their former sins, but that they shall not enter into condemnation, that none of their sins or unworthiness shall ever hinder the peace of God with them, but that they shall through Him be received into the number of those who shall have the image of God again to be renewed unto them, and that they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

That these souls and bodies shall be raised to that height of glory that such creatures are capable of, that they shall live forever enjoying the presence of God and Christ, in the fullness of all good, is the gospel of Christ. This is the sum of the gospel that is preached unto sinners.

When you hear someone speaking of the gospel, your thoughts may be about this glad tiding that is come into the world for the salvation of sinful creatures through Jesus Christ, and all the good things that Jesus Christ, by His blood, has purchased for sinners. When ministers are called the ministers of the gospel, the meaning is that they are appointed by God as ministers to declare and to preach these glad tidings to the world. Oh, it is glad tidings to the world indeed! Could there be such glad tidings preached at hell’s gates, that there was any such way of reconciling them to God, we could not conceive of the joy that would be there. They would count it as acceptable news indeed.

Now, then, those who believe this gospel, or profess that they have entertained this gospel, these glad tidings, must be careful to walk in their conversation so it becomes this gospel, as becomes such glorious glad tidings sent to them from heaven.

As becomes. The word signifies “worthy of the gospel.” But this cannot mean that our conversation should be such as deserves all the good that there is in the gospel. No, the worthy, that is, as much as becomes the gospel, as is meet for the gospel, or as it is translated in your books, “becoming the gospel.” The Scripture says that he who eats or drinks unworthily eats and drinks to his own damnation. Why, can one eat and drink so as to be worthy of the body and blood of Christ? No, but he who eats and drinks so carries himself so in that ordinance of the Sacrament as is unbeseeming the body and blood of Christ that he comes to receive. On the other hand, those who eat and drink so as to sanctify God’s name in that ordinance (as you have heard) do it worthily, for so the same word is here in the phrase, “worthy of the gospel of Christ.” “And so bring forth fruit worthy of repentance,” said John to those who came to him. It is the same as saying, “Bring forth fruits fitting for, or meet for, repentance,” such fruit as may manifest your repentance, such fruit as may manifest your repentance, such fruit as is suitable for men or women who profess repentance for their sins. Further, I find that the word that is here translated “becoming” in another place is translated “convenient” and “meet.” It can be understood in no other sense. In 1 Corinthians 16:4 we read, “If it be meet that I shall go also…” The word translated “meet” is the same word which is translated “worthy” or, in this passage, “becoming.” If it is a comely thing, or a meet or convenient thing, then I’ll go. So, then, it’s clear that this word which we have here is “meet”, “convenient”, “suitable”, or “becoming the gospel.” “Let your conversation be such as is meet for, or becoming the gospel.”

pp.4-6 Gospel Conversation by Jeremiah Burroughs

God delights to have His image held forth in the world that men may behold something of the glory of His image. But how can the world see the image of God? They cannot see it in your hearts, but God would have it conspicuous. Therefore, have a care of your conversations (conduct) that, in your conversations, you may hold forth the image of God in the world. p.12

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Samuel Rutherford

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This is a short biography that I did for Dr. Roy Blackwood’s last History Class at 2nd Reformed Presbyterian Church. I wanted to do this since Samuel Rutherford is my youngest son’s namesake, Samuel Rutherford Snyder. May he and my other two children inherit the same heart for the Lord their namesakes had.

Born in 1600 in the village of Nisbet, Samuel Rutherford was born to a well to do Scottish farmer and his wife. He had two brothers George and James. All three of the boys received the best education the times could afford. Upon seeing the talents and ability of Samuel, his parents decided to send him to the University of Edinburgh in 1617 where he completed a Master of Arts degree in 1621. 

Samuel was not yet converted to Christ when he graduated from the University. In fact, he stated that his home town of Nisbet was a place where Christ’s name was scarcely spoken. 1624 is the year that is recognized to be the year of his Conversion. It was not a long drawn out process for him apparently. He describes his salvation in this way. “Oh ,But Christ hath a saving eye! Salvation is in His eyelids! When He first looked on me, I was saved; it cost Him but a look to make hell quit of me.”1

After two years of theological training he was called to a new parish, Anwoth of Galloway. Samuel Rutherford was the Parish’s first Pastor. Pastor Rutherford was very laborious, it has been noted by another Pastor that he seemed to always be praying, preaching, visiting the sick, catechizing, and writing or studying. He saw little fruit of his ministry at first but the Lord enlarged the people’s hearts toward him as he had a deep affection for them. Christ was all-loving to Samuel Rutherford. The Lord gave Samuel great ability to show the beauty and love of Christ for His people.

Rutherford also suffered loss during his early ministry at Anwoth. Both his children died in infancy in 1629 and his wife Euphum took ill. She died after 13 months of illness. He was placed in a school of affliction that made him a tenderhearted, compassionate, and faithful Pastor to a people who suffered much of the same brokenness. In his brokenness and sorrow, he learned the consolation of God and was able to lead others to the Man of Sorrows whom was also acquainted with Grief, the Lord of Glory.

Samuel Rutherford also loved God’s book. It revealed the person he desired to know more than anything else in life. It revealed Jesus Christ, truth, salvation, and a peaceful comfort, which was immeasurable to Samuel. He was a man of God’s book. He ordered his life by the love that revealed this God.

Samuel lived during a time when true revival was going on. The Reformation was that time of Revival. But the Reformation was also a time of trouble, trials, and persecution. In Samuel Rutherford’s love for the truth he started writing theologically. In 1636 he wrote a book that exposed the errors of arminianism. Arminianism is a belief that man is capable of coming to Christ without mans need to overcome spiritual deadness. This teaching says that man is the chooser of his own destiny despite what God wills or does. By exposing this false teaching Samuel exposed the bad teachings of a very prominent Archbishop of King Charles I.

Archbishop Laud was King Charles I right hand man and he had no sympathy for the Reformers, Presbyterians, nor the Covenanters of Scotland. Under the authority of Archbishop Laud, Bishop Thomas Sydserff, the Bishop of Galloway, summoned Samuel Rutherford to face charges of non-conformity.

In England the King was pronounced as head of the Church. This was very unbiblical as Christ is the only King over His Church. The King appointed how the worship was to be done and whom should lead the congregations. Most of the men the King placed in positions of authority in the Church could not tell you the differences between the Old and New Testament. They did not know the Ten Commandments, Lord’s prayer, nor the four gospels. Yet these men were placed in the Churches as Pastors. The King was violating his boundaries and he was ruining the Church Christ loved and died for. If someone didn’t recognize the King’s authority over Christ’s Church he was considered a non-conformist and faced charges of treason.

At the trial Samuel Rutherford was sentenced to banishment from being a Pastor and Preacher. He was commanded to leave the area and live in exile in Aberdeen. While he was banished he didn’t stop having a Pastor’s heart. He started communicating with the members of his congregation by writing letters. They are some of the most comforting letters full of God’s expressed love and counsel. The reason they are so good is because Samuel Rutherford was a man who loved God’s book. Those letters are full of wisdom and encouragement because they express what God wrote to His Church. After Samuel’s death those letters were gathered up and made into a book. The ‘Letters Of Samuel Rutherford’ are published by Banner of Truth Trust to this day.

During his banishment the Church in Scotland was still striving to reform from the influences placed upon it during the time the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings were prominent. It was also striving against the King who wanted to be in power over the Church in Christ’s stead. In 1637 the King (Charles I) tried to enforce the Five Articles of Perth which his father (James VI) introduced. The Five articles were a step backwards for the church in that they provided a way for kneeling during communion, private baptisms, private communion, confirmation by bishops, and observance of holy days. These were steps to reintroduce some of the Roman doctrines and to bring the power of the King back over the church.

The King sensed that he needed to reintroduce and enforce the Articles or his hold over the Northern part of his Kingdom would be weak. King Charles I then enforced Archbishop Laud’s new liturgy upon the Church. This enraged the Scots so much that it became a riotous situation. The result of his enforcement of the Articles and Laud’s new liturgy backfired on the King.

The Presbyterian Scotsmen decided to answer the King by way of Covenant. The Scots were a Covenanting people. Covenanting was a personal way to declare ones spiritual intent and resolve before a Covenanting God. They did this in the presence of each other very often. In February of 1638 the National Covenant was written up on deer skin and signed by men of all backgrounds. It was based upon the Kings Covenant of 1581, which was the beginning of the Covenanting Church and the breaking of the bondage which Rome had placed upon the people. The Kings Covenant emphasized Scotland’s loyalty to King James VI but would not tolerate any moves toward Roman Catholicism. The signing of the National Covenant brought a great revival and binding of the hearts of the Scotsmen to one another and a great recognition of Christ as King over all things for the Church.

The National Covenant was read and signed at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. It repudiated popery, forms of worship that were alien to God’s written Word, and it confirmed Reformation principles that the signers adhered themselves to in both civil and church matters. Copies were distributed throughout the land for all to sign. It appears that Samuel Rutherford had not yet returned home from Aberdeen till June of that year so he could not have been one of the initial signers.

After 22 months in Aberdeen, Samuel Rutherford decided to risk his return. So he was received back into his Parish only to be summoned by the General Assembly a short time after to become a Professor of Divinity at St. Mary’s College in St. Andrews. He agreed only as long as he got to share the pulpit and preach on the Sabbath. He was so burdened for people that for him to stay silent and absent from the pulpit just wore on him physically and mentally. Being away from his flock at Anwoth caused him to worry for their souls. Not capable of feeding his flock face to face worried him so much. It was a pain he never forgot. He referred to his Sabbaths while in exile as ‘Dumb Sabbaths’. I can only imagine what that meant.

His time spent at St. Mary’s was very active and beneficial to the Kingdom. He lectured on theology, Hebrew, and Church History. He shared the pulpit with Robert Blair at St. Andrews. He also played a prominent role in the General Assembly.

In 1640, shortly after his arrival at St. Andrews, Samuel Rutherford remarried after having been a widower for ten years. He married a woman of remarkable Christian Character named Jean McMath. The Lord brought him a help meet to heal up the scars that wounds leave behind.

After the signing of the National Covenant a great revival in the Church started to appear. Along with that also came the Bishop’s Wars. King Charles I made many unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the Covenanters. During this period of time Parliament and the Royalists grew at odds. A Civil War ensued which brought Parliament and the Covenanters together against the Royalists. This resulted in what is known as the Solemn League and Covenant.

In the signing of this Covenant it was pledged by its adherents to promote a uniformity in church confessions, church government, and in the order of worship between the English and Scots. In order to do this an Assembly of Divines (clergymen) was convened which included Episcopalians (Hierarchical), Independents (Congregationalists), Erastians (who believe in states primacy over the Church), and Presbyterians. Their job was to work out a careful definitive confession of faith and practice on behalf of the English and Scottish Churches. This Assembly was the famous Westminster Assembly. The Westminster Divine’s took four years to produce one of the best systematic theologies of the Bible set in the form of a Confession of Faith. It also produced a Directory of Worship and the Larger and Smaller Catechisms, which are still being used today.

Samuel Rutherford was one of six Scottish commissioners to go to London. Samuel Rutherford, Robert Baille, Alexander Henderson, and George Gillispie were the first four commissioners sent from Scotland. Samuel went full steam into his work with unabated zeal to oversee the Presbyterian form of government established in the English Church. He wanted to see the scriptural form of Presbyterianism government to replace the hierarchical form of episcopacy. The episcopal form had threatened the Church of Scotland so much that it needed to be done away with.

During his time in London he produced a trilogy to combat those opposed to Presbyterian system. To Rutherford the glory and honour of Christ was purely bound up in the nature and worship of Christ’s Church. So he worked hard at debating and setting up the right teaching of those doctrines. Even though Samuel was strong in his opinions he was generous in complementing those who differed from him at the Assembly. Rutherford also worked diligently at producing a catechism. He is given credit for producing much of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Life for Rutherford was still full of trials during this time. The civil war was still in progress, he lost a very close friend and two of his children from his recent marriage died during this time. He remained steadfast in understanding that the Lord owned life and could do as he pleased. He waxed poetically upon those situations of trial, with prose of how the Lord picked his roses and lilies as he saw fit. When they were just buds or in full bloom, the gracious Lord never wasted a thing. They were his flowers and he could pluck them up whenever he chose.

In 1647 Samuel returned home. The King and Royalists had been defeated in the civil war. Peace seemed to be coming. But more trials were on their way. By the mid 50’s Samuel had become weaker and sick. He felt like his passage to the next world was coming. He so longed for this final passage. He lived for the next life. He wanted to see the one whom loved him face to face. Rutherford lived life believing that this world was a training ground where Christ’s children were being prepared for their eternal home with Him.

During this time of slow degenerating health the King of England was restored back into power. He had deceived the nobles of Scotland by signing the Solemn League and Covenant pretending that he endorsed the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Vengeance was in the heart of the King against the Covenanters. Shortly after the King’s signing of the Solemn League and Covenant the Marquis of Argyll placed the crown back upon the Kings head. Immediately following this event the King’s deceptive nature was revealed and the Marquis of Argyll was imprisoned in the tower of London only to be executed in May of 1661.

Civil war ensued again and Samuel Rutherford was a marked man. In 1644 he published his famous work ‘Lex Rex’, the Law and the Prince. This book excited a lot of people and enraged the King. It was not original in thought but pointedly called upon the King to recognize that God was the only one who had absolute authority. The book strongly advocated obedience to Kings and authorities but the King who perverted Justice and oppressed the rights of his subjects must be restrained and in some instances removed from power. Lex Rex is one of the best defenses of constitutional democracy. The King condemned the book and copies were collected up and burned outside of St. Mary’s college where Rutherford had taught.

Not content with just the burning of the book the King set his sights on Samuel Rutherford. But he was already dying. When the Kings men arrived with a summons to arrest Rutherford for treason he was unable to go. He told them, “that I have a summons already from a superior Judge and judicatory and I behove to answer my first summons, Ere your day arrives I shall be were few kings and great folks come.”

Samuel Rutherford died with his friends around him on March 30, 1661. His only surviving daughter Agnes was by his side. He commended her care to the Lord and joyed in the fact that he was about to see his Redeemer and be with him forever.

This reveals Samuel Rutherford’s heart in the matter.
“Our fair morning is at hand, the day star is near the rising, and we are not many miles from home; what does it matter if we are ill-treated in the smoky inns of this miserable life? How soon a few years will pass and this life’s lease be expired. We are not to stay here, and we will be dearly welcome to him to whom we go. O happy soul forever! Jesus Christ is the end of your journey; there is no fear, you may look death in the face with joy.” – Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ 

Samuel Rutherford lived like a saint and sojourner in this world. He lived like Abraham the father of all who are in Covenant with God. He died in faith having not seen the final fruit of his desire. Nevertheless, he knew the builder and King who was doing the work. He trusted in King Jesus. He lived, died, and lives evermore as one who built upon the foundation of the Master Builder’s work. He loved God’s book because God spoke to him through it. He was a man of the Bible, recognizing and extoling the King of kings.

(Heb 11:8) By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

(Heb 11:9) By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

(Heb 11:10) For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God….

…(Heb 11:13) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

(Heb 11:14) For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

(Heb 11:15) And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

(Heb 11:16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

References used
Samuel Rutherford and his friends by Faith Cook Banner Of Truth Trust
Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology IVP