Reformed Christian Studies

Posted at Purely Presbyterian : Samuel Rutherford, The Covenant of Life Opened , pp. 363-368. Christ, Even After Universal Judgment, Is a Mediatory Head, King, and Lord The Son (saith Camero ) shall leave off to reign, quod attinet ad regnandi actum , according to the act of reigning, but as touching the Kingdom itself, there shall be no end of the Kingdom. But it may appear as there was a time when it was said of Christ, Philippians 2:7, He emptied himself, and took on him the form of a servant. So there is a time opposite to that, Philippians 2:9, Therefore God hath highly exalted him: which is not fulfilled in his resurrection, ascension, and sitting only at the right hand of God, but when all power, friends, and unfriends, and the Man Christ shall be subject to the Lord, yea even the Son, not as God, for Christ-God is equal with the Father, not as man, for so in the days of his flesh as man, he ever was, and is, and shall be subject to God, but the Son shall be subject, a

By W. Robert Godfrey - Posted at Ligonier Ministries : The phrase ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (the church reformed, always reforming) has been used so often as to make it a motto or slogan. People have used it to support a surprising array of theological and ecclesiastical programs and purposes. Scholars have traced its origins to a devotional book written by Jodocus van Lodenstein in 1674. Van Lodenstein, no doubt, had no intention of being a phrase-maker or sloganeer. What was his intention, and what did he mean by this phrase? Van Lodenstein was a minister in the Reformed Church of the United Provinces in what we know today as the Netherlands. This church was born of decades of faithful preaching by ministers—many educated in Geneva—who risked their lives to carry the gospel, first into the French-speaking regions of the Low Countries, and later into the Dutch-speaking regions farther north. Some ministers were martyred for their faith, but they gathered a rich harv

Posted at Reformation Scotland : For many the instruction to “guard your heart” means controlling your emotions, specifically in relation to the opposite sex. Others use it to emphasise resisting impurity. These applications tell us more about current evangelical preoccupations than what Proverbs 4:23 means by the heart and how we are to keep it. It is a much more difficult, comprehensive and urgent task than these specific counsels suggest. It is certainly urgent and essential. John Flavel said that keeping our heart “is the most important business of a Christian’s life”. “It is the great work of a Christian, in which the very soul and life of religion consists, and without which all other duties are of no value with God”. Andrew Gray spent considerable time explaining these matters. The following is extracted and updated from his three sermons on Proverbs 4:23. Read more here.

By Pastor Geoff Ingrum - Posted at Sermon Audio : Series: Judges - 7 of 26 Scripture Text: "...And Othniel the son of Kenaz died." - Judges 3:11b (KJV) Direct Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=9816013569

Some say that Bunyan's famous allegory about Pilgrim's journey to the Celestial City has been second only to the Bible itself in the number of copies sold worldwide over the three and a half centuries since it was first published. Sadly, much of what Bunyan wrote has been forgotten. Included here are all Bunyan's Works as edited by George Offor in 1862. Dr. Barry Horner of Bunyan Ministries has provided the PDF files. Dr. Horner has released these files for personal use only. Reproduction, electronic or otherwise, is not permitted without the written permission of Dr. Horner. Worldwide: Please use the online downloads without charge (PDF, get Adobe Reader ). North America: Chapel Library prints several Bunyan works and The Pilgrim's Progress Part One , complete with Offor's notes. To request these without charge use the shopping cart , write, or email us. Direct link:  http://www.chapellibrary.org/literature/bunyan/

By David T. Myers - Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : The life of Thomas Boston could be considered a walking medical study. Frequently depressed both in life and ministry, in his autobiography he wrote of his recurring miseries, his dry spells, his sense of unworthiness and dullness even in the act of preaching, or while praying in his study. At one point in his life, all his teeth fell out gradually one by one. Try speaking or preaching with that condition! His wife even joined him in suffering from a chronic illness of body and mind. Maybe it was something in the water! Throw in two small congregations which, when he first went to them, were unresponsive to the ministry of the Word, whether publicly or privately. The manse in one congregation was in such bad shape that his family couldn’t stay there. In the other church, for a while they lived in a stable and even had one of their infants born there. Thomas Boston was born this day March 17, in 1676 , in Duns, Scotlan

Psalm 1 (KJV) 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

By Pastor Geoff Ingrum - Posted at Sermon Audio: Series: Judges - 6 of 26 Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=97162343435 Scripture Text: Judges 3:7-11 (KJV) 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

Compiled by Angela Wittman, editor Image from Wikipedia John Bunyan ( /ˈbʌnjən/ ; baptised 30 November 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher [1] best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress . In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons . Bunyan came from the village of Elstow , near Bedford . He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War . After three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker , which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford, and becoming a preacher. After the restoration of the monarch , when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the ne

By Pastor Geoff Ingrum - Posted at Sermon Audio: Series: Judges - 5 of 26 Scripture Text: Judges 3:7-11 (KJV) 7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. 8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. 9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. 11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. Link: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=73116134338

SS Central America - Wikipedia Posted at Gracegems.org : Delivered on September 20, 1857, by Ebenezer Rogers — two days after the steamship  "Central America"  sank during a hurricane. 560 of the 626 people on board lost their lives. "Be still, and know that I am God!"  Psalm 46:10 There is no lesson so hard to learn as that of  Divine sovereignty  and  human dependence . Yet there is none which is inculcated so constantly in the teachings of the Bible — none illustrated so sternly in the dispensations of Providence. No man can study the dealings of God with men, either in the operations of his Providence, or in the plan of salvation, without seeing that they tend to this end, "that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Isaiah 2:11 Creatures of a day as we are, whose habitation is in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, whose s

"He blesseth the habitation of the just" — Proverbs 3:33 He fears the LORD, and therefore he comes under the divine protection even as to the roof which covers himself and his family. His home is an abode of love, a school of holy training, and a place of heavenly light. In it there is a family altar where the name of the LORD is daily had in reverence. Therefore the LORD blesses his habitation. It may be a humble cottage or a lordly mansion; but the LORD's blessing comes because of the character of the inhabitant and not because of the size of the dwelling. That house is most blest in which the master and mistress are God-fearing people; but a son or daughter or even a servant may bring a blessing on a whole household. The LORD often preserves, prospers, and provides for a family for the sake of one or two in it, who are "just" persons in His esteem, because His grace has made them so. Beloved, let us have Jesus for our constant guest even as the sister

By Rev. Richard Monteith (Preached at Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church) - Posted at Sermon Audio : Scripture Text: Matthew 13:24-30 (KJV) 24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn the

By Pastor Geoff Ingrum - Posted at Sermon Audio: Series: Judges · 4 of 26 Scripture Text: Judges 2:11-3:6 (KJV) 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: 12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. 13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : [*An Address delivered under the title, “Safeguarding the Church,” before the Presbyterian Ministers’ Association in Philadelphia, March 1st, 1926 , and (under the title, “What the Church Stands For”) previously in the Washington and Compton Avenue Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, 12 February 1926. Excerpted from The Presbyterian, vol. 96, no.14 (8 April 1926): 8-11.] Before we can consider the mission of the Church, we must determine what the Church is. What are its limits? What forms a part of it and what does not? Where is the true Christian Church to be found? According to the Westminster Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, the invisible Church is to be distinguished from the visible Church. The invisible Church consists of the whole number of those who are saved; the visible Church consists of those who profess the true religion, together with their children. There is absolutely no warrant in Scripture for supposin