Reformed Christian Studies

By Rev. Brian Schwertley - Posted at Sermon Audio: Direct Link:  Is Full Preterism a Damnable Heresy? Part 3 | SermonAudio Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-23 (King James Version) 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slep

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: Good Morning, Two words we don’t usually associate with each other are: death and comfort. Yet, in today’s catechism lesson that is what we are going to focus on. For the passing away of believers is a blessed time of grace and love where we are able to see with unveiled faces the glory of God grounded in the promises of His Son Jesus Christ. Sometimes when ministers get talking about things like justification, adoption, sanctification, or things like perichoresis or supralapsarianism it can sound like theological navel gazing, yet there is nothing more practical than getting the gospel right. It makes all the difference to life, from the new birth to death itself. One of the more affective portions of the Bible for me personally is the story of the internment of Joseph’s bones into the land of Canaan, at Shechem in the tomb of Jacob, hundreds of years after the former’s death. (Joshua 24:32). There is such a lesson for

 By Tim Challies We live out our Christian lives in a place between Egypt and the Promised Land. We have been justified but not yet glorified—we have been delivered safely through the Red Sea but have not yet forded the Jordan and arrived on its far bank. We may not physically wander as did the Israelites of old and we may not actually follow pillars of fire and cloud, but we no less make a pilgrimage and we are no less dependent upon the goodness, the grace, and the guidance of our God. We are no less reliant upon his promises to sustain us when the path is uncertain, when our enemies rise up, when the way before us seems to stretch on interminably. The Israelites were prone to doubt God—to doubt his strength, his power, his intentions. They were prone to doubt that he would prove true to his promises and lead them to the land that flowed with milk and honey, the land that would be their home and their rest. In so many ways the story of the Pentateuch is the story of God proving his f

"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him" — Proverbs 20:7 Anxiety about our family is natural, but we shall be wise if we turn it into care about our own character. If we walk before the LORD in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeathed them large estates. A father's holy life is a rich legacy for his sons. The upright man leaves his heirs his example, and this in itself will be a mine of true wealth. How many men may trace their success in life to the example of their parents! He leaves them also his repute. Men think better of us as the sons of a man who could be trusted, the successors of a tradesman of excellent repute. Oh, that all young men were anxious to keep up the family name! Above all, he leaves his children his prayers and the blessing of a prayer-hearing God, and these make our offspring to be favored among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead. Oh, that they might be sav

 By Bruce Gore - Posted at YouTube: Description: Following the death of Henry VIII, England experienced the roller-coaster of a strong protestant king following by an even more determined Catholic Queen. The blood and pain inflicted on the English people during this period left a lasting impact that was finally substantially resolved in the policies of Elizabeth, but for the moment, the outcomes were anything but certain. Against this backdrop, careers of courageous spirits on both sides of the controversy paved the way to eventual ideas of religious freedom and liberty of conscience. For more free resources, please visit www.brucegore.com . Direct Link:  (18) Edward VI, Mary Tudor, and an English Tug of War - YouTube

 By Rev. Brian Schwertley - Posted at Sermon Audio: Direct Link:  Is Full Preterism Damnable Heresy? Part 2 | SermonAudio Scripture Text: Acts 1: 9-11 (King James Version) 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: Death and the Christian Howdy! A pressing issue which is on the heart of all men, regardless of time, place, or circumstance is death. Of the things that separate us from the animals there is nothing more central to our identity than that we are aware of death in a way cats and dogs are not. We are haunted by it. There is some irony to that fact that even in our modern technological culture where life is so antiseptic, where the difficulties previous generations faced are not immediately present the way it may have been for them, we are without doubt even more afraid of death than they were. We see it in how our media in its content and marketing is consumed with figuring out what to do about it, how to delay it, or how to prevent it altogether. However, the truth of the matter is barring the imminent return of Christ (Matt. 24:36-44) we will all die. The grave will be our home at some point in the future. Yet for beli

 Posted at Reformation Scotland: Our sense that we’ve done something wrong (or indeed something virtuous) is the voice of conscience. An uneasy conscience is a very troubling thing. Whatever else is going well for us, when our conscience niggles and prickles, we cannot be at peace. The epistle to the Hebrews tackles the problem that we have an ‘evil conscience’ (Hebrews 10:22) and that our conscience needs to be ‘purged’ (Hebrews 9:14). The gospel has a solution to a defiled and accusing conscience. Peace of conscience is one of the key benefits that Jesus Christ can give us. However, in a sermon on these two verses in Hebrews, James Durham takes the time to identify four ways that people can temporarily buy themselves some suppression of the voice of conscience. He shows in the following updated extract that a conscience that goes quiet – but not because it’s been purged by the atoning blood of Christ – is a very dangerous thing. In Hebrews 9 and 10, the apostle’s purpose is to commen

"l will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" — Joshua 1:5 This word to Joshua is often quoted; it is the basis of that New Testament word "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Beloved, a life of warfare is before us, but the LORD of Hosts is with us. Are we called to lead a great but fickle people? This promise guarantees us all the wisdom and prudence that we shall need. Have we to contend with cunning and powerful enemies? Here is strength and valor, prowess and victory. Have we a vast heritage to win? By this sign we shall achieve our purpose; the LORD Himself is with us. It would be woe to us indeed if Jehovah could fail us; but, as this can never be, the winds of disquietude are laid to sleep in the caverns of divine faithfulness. On no one occasion will the LORD desert us. Happen what may, He will be at our side. Friends drop from us, their help is but an April shower; but God is faithful, Jesus is the same forever, and t

By Bruce Gore - Posted at YouTube: Description: The Reformation came to England through the back door, as Henry VIII, determined to divorce his Spanish Queen, Catherine of Aragon, sought but failed to obtain the pope's permission to do so. His break from papal authority established an independent church in England, but the church remained fundamentally Catholic in its theology and liturgy, leading to heroic efforts by others to move England toward a posture more fully reflecting the Reformation. The success of those efforts, however, would have to wait for a later time. Direct Link:  (11) 25. Henry VIII and the English Reformation - YouTube

By Rev. Brian Schwertley - Posted at Sermon Audio: Direct Link:  Is Full Preterism Damnable Heresy? | SermonAudio See also:   Writings | Reformed Online | Rev. Brian M. Schwertley Full Preterism .pdf (dropbox.com)

 By Rev. Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: Applying the First Fruits of Faith to Day-to-Day Life Good Morning! There are aspects of the Christian faith that we do not spend enough time considering, partly out of the need to focus on the major theological and cultural battles of the day, and somewhat because we just don’t spend the time we need to contemplating all the blessings which come from our effectual calling, justification, sanctification, and glorification through the decree of the Father, the work of the Son, and the application of it by the Holy Spirit. Our allowance of the busyness of life to get in the way of enjoying the fullness of God’s mercy and grace can cause us to miss the totality of the awesomeness of our new life. The Larger Catechism questions before us are an example that should help to redeploy our attitude to something helpful for the day-to-day life you lead. Here are the Q/A’s for today: Q. 82: What is the communion in glory which the m

 Posted at Beautiful Christian Life: 1. If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, then Christianity isn’t true. The apostle Paul states the following in his first letter to the Corinthians: And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ( 1 Cor. 15:14-15 ) 2. The gospel writers included embarrassing facts about the apostles. The fact that the gospels include embarrassing accounts of the apostles, such as the fact that Peter denied Jesus three times and all the apostles abandoned Jesus when he was arrested, points to their authenticity. It is unlikely that people would fabricate an account that places themselves in a poor light ( Matt. 27:57-60 ; Mark 15:42-46 ; Luke 23:50-56 ; John 19:38-42 ). 3. The marble tablet known as the Nazareth Inscription points to Rome’s concerns about the

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD" — Jeremiah 31:34 Truly, whatever else we do not know, we know the LORD. This day is this promise true in our experience, and it is not a little one. The least believer among us knows God in Christ Jesus. Not as fully as we desire; but yet truly and really we know the LORD. We not only know doctrines about Him, but we know Him. He is our Father and our Friend. We are acquainted with Him personally. We can say, "My LORD, and my God." We are on terms of close fellowship with God, and many a happy season do we spend in His holy company. We are no more strangers to our God, but the secret of the LORD is with us. This is more than nature could have taught us. Flesh and blood has not revealed God to us. Christ Jesus had made known the Father to our hearts. If, then, the LORD has

By Bruce Gore - Posted at YouTube: Direct Link:  (5) 24. The Life and Times of John Calvin (part 2) - YouTube

 By Jeffrey Stivason - Posted at Gentle Reformation: The book of Hebrews is an incredibly valuable book. It is a superb theological text. Of course, it’s not a complete theology, but the theology in the book is impeccable. For example, in the first three verses of the first chapter, we learn that the Son of God shares in the effulgence of God’s glory because He too is God but, as Son, He is the exact representation of the Father and is therefore a different person. A wonderful and foundational text for building a Trinitarian theology. What is more, Hebrews teaches us about the priesthood of Christ and all that means for our salvation. It is theologically rich. But this sermon is also packed full of pastoral lessons. Before I mention one of those lessons, allow me to remind you of the problem. The context may deepen the impact of the lesson. Put bluntly, people were leaving the church at Rome. I don’t mean that they were leaving the First Reformed Church of Rome and going to the Seco

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms: The Holy Spirit and the Work of Assurance Howdy! One of the most treasured stories from the gospels is the healing of the young boy after the transfiguration in Mark 9. In that telling of the situation immediately following the appearance of Moses and Elijah the men and Jesus come off the mountain to find the rest of the disciples engaged in a conversation with some scribes. Evidently the dispute is around why the followers of Christ were unable to fix whatever was wrong with the man’s son. The father explains to our Lord that he brought the child to where he heard Jesus was and not finding Him decided the best thing to do was to consult those who claimed to be His. The whole circumstance seems to get Jesus in some righteous indignation. After lamenting the faithless generation of which He has come to save He heals the boy, bringing the demon out of him. Yet, in the midst of that Jesus asks a question/makes a comment to

Whitby Abbey - Wikipedia  By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Place for Truth: The name of Hilda of Whitby is almost legendary in English history. She ran two abbeys, educated some of the finest minds in England (including five bishops), discovered and sponsored the first English poet, and convened the crucial Synod of Whitby. Her authority and accomplishments are especially impressive when we think that Christianity was still quite new in England. Hilda’s Early Life Hilda was born in a renowned family around the year 614. Her father, Hereric, was a prince of the royal family of Deira (whose territories covered approximately modern Yorkshire). He was also a nephew of King Edwin of Northumbria, who is usually considered the first Anglo-Saxon Christian king. [1] While Hilda was still a baby, her mother Bregusuit had a dream where she was looking for her husband and couldn’t find him. Instead, she found a precious jewel under her gown, which “cast such a light as spread itself throu

"And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee" — Exodus 23:28 What the hornets were we need not consider. They were God's own army which He sent before His people to sting their enemies and render Israel's conquest easy. Our God by His own chosen means will fight for His people and gall their foes before they come into the actual battle. Often He confounds the adversaries of truth by methods in which reformers themselves have no hand. The air is full of mysterious influences which harass Israel's foes. We read in the Apocalypse that "the earth helped the woman." Let us never fear. The stars in their courses fight against the enemies of our souls. Oftentimes when we march to the conflict we find no host to contend with. "The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." God's hornets can do more than our weapons. We could never dream of the victory being wo

By Bruce Gore - Posted at YouTube: Direct Link:  (1) 23. The Life and Times of John Calvin (part 1) - YouTube