Archives for October 2013

Does the Bible Teach “Calvinism”?

Calvin D. Keller writes;

Many people have a very negative view of the term Calvinism. Most people are also ignorant of what true Calvinists believe. This article has been written to present a clear and simple statement of what Calvinism is, along with scriptural support for it. I hope that as you read this, you will find it to be what the Bible teaches. (For every Bible-believing Christian, that should be the end of the matter!) Also, I hope that you will find the truths of Calvinism to be powerful and life-changing, which we ought to expect the truth of God to be.

If you are trusting in your own goodness for salvation, you will be disappointed—no matter how good you are. But if you have a desire to know God and his truth, you will be challenged—and I hope moved—to trust him more and rely on his sovereign grace.

Let me first point out that “the five points of Calvinism” are not a summary of Calvinism or the Reformed faith. They are simply…

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The Gospel According To Genesis 3:15

12-October-13 by Pastor Larry Wilson

Stuart Robinson, a leading Presbyterian pastor-theologian of the 19th Century in the USA, sought to highlight what our first parents could have known from the first preaching of the gospel (Genesis 3:15) in Discourses of Redemption.

Thus it will be seen, on careful analysis of these words, and deducing the truths embodied by implication in them, that they set forth these eight points of the gospel creed.

1. That the Redeemer and Restorer of the race is to be man, since he is to be the seed of the woman.

2. That he is, at the same time, to be a being greater than man, and greater even than Satan; since he is to be the conqueror of man’s conqueror, and, against all his efforts, to recover a sinful world which man had lost; being yet sinless, he must therefore be divine.

3. That this redemption shall involve a new nature, at “enmity” with the Satan nature, to which man has now become subject.

4. That this new nature is a regeneration by Divine power; since the enmity to Satan is not a natural emotion, but, saith Jehovah, “I will put enmity,” &c.

5. This redemption shall be accomplished by vicarious suffering; since the Redeemer shall suffer the bruising of his heel in the work of recovery.

6. That this work of redemption shall involve the gathering out of an elect seed a “peculiar people” at enmity with the natural offspring of a race subject to Satan.

7. That this redemption shall involve & perpetual conflict of the peculiar people, under its representative head, in the effort to bruise the head of Satan, that is, “to destroy the works of the Devil.”

8. This redemption shall involve the ultimate triumph, after suffering, of the woman’s seed ; and therefore involves a triumph over death and a restoration of the humanity to its original estate, as a spiritual in conjunction with a physical nature, in perfect blessedness as before its fall.

Such, then, is the gospel theology here revealed, in germ, through the very terms of the curse pronounced upon the destroyer of the race. It will be seen that here are all the peculiar doctrines of salvation, by grace, which every Christian accepts, who exercises the faith which is unto salvation. And in the broader and higher sense of the terms, Moses, as truly as Mark at the opening of his evangel, might have prefixed to this third chapter of Genesis the title, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”

10 Ways to Squeeze the Juice Out of a Sermon

09-October-13 by Pastor Larry Wilson

Colin Adams writes:

I do believe in preaching. But I also believe – with equal ferocity – in the importance of hearing God’s Word. Ideally, a sermon should be listened to with rapt attention and deep affection. In its wake, the sermon should evoke both faith and action in the life of the believer.

Yet often we achieve less than this ideal. Sermons can be ‘water off’ the Christian’s proverbial ‘back.’

So how can we make more of the sermons we hear? Let me offer ten recommendations to help us squeeze the juice out of the sermon.

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To Prepare for Lord’s Day Worship, 13 October 2013

09-October-13 by Pastor Larry Wilson

13 October 2013 — 10 AM Worship

Scripture:	1 Samuel 3:1–4:1a
Sermon:	“The Sword of the LORD”
Hymns:	TH 98 (stanza 3) — “All Praise and Thanks to God”
	“Before the Throne” (Tune: Before the Throne)
	“Speed Your Servants, Saviour” (Tune: Zion)
	“Almighty God, Your Word is Cast” (Tune: Dundee)
Doxology:	TH 734 — “Gloria Patri”

13 October 2013 — 3 PM Worship

Shorter Catechism #36 (paraphrased into modern English)	What are the blessings in this life that either accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
	The blessings in this life that either accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification are: assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, growth in grace, and perseverance in it to this life’s end.
Scripture:	Mark 4:1–20
Sermon:	“And Grace Shall Lead Me Home”
Hymns:	TH 599 — “Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”
	TH 460 (stanzas 3-5) — “Amazing Grace”
	TH 415 — “Baptised Into Your Name Most Holy” “Almighty God, Your Word is Cast” (Tune: Dundee)
Doxology:	TH 706 (stanza 4) — “Jesus Lives!”