The Evangelical Presbyterian - Winter 2016

8/19/2019 The Evangelical Presbyterian - Winter 2016

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P h i l i p p i a n s 1 v 9 - 1 1

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Unapologetic, part 1: The Bible

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Longing to preach

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Five minutes with James Anderson

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God’s gracein our sanctification(Page 10)


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CON T EN T S

03F irst word

04F i v e mi nut es w i t h J ames A nder son

06U napo l oget i c , par t 1 : T he B i b l e

08Long i ng t o pr each : A ser mon onR omans 1 : 8 - 1 5

10G od ’ s gr ace i n our sanct i f i ca t i on

12 Th e ob ed i en t Se rv an t of Go d

15 A dr ea m fu lf i l le d

16M eet J ohn R oger

16 An AW M wo rk er i n Ir el an d18Praise & Prayer

23B ook r ev i ew

24B est o f t he b l ogs

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As I sit to type these words, the headlines are filled

with the news of the horrific terrorist attack carried

out in Paris on the 13th November. Once again, we find

ourselves reminded of the hatred and violence of which

mankind is capable. In God’s providence, the following

Sunday I was due to preach on Micah 4, where we

find some wonderful words which give us comfort

and encouragement in times like this. I n this chapter,

Micah describes what the future will look like for God’s

people.

Firstly, it will be a glorious future. Chapter 3 containedthe warning of God’s judgment against the city ofJerusalem on account of the oppression and injustice

of which their corrupt leaders were guilty. God would

flatten Jerusalem to the ground (3v12). Chapter 4

begins, however, with a contrasting image. In the latter

days, “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be

established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall

be lifted up above the hills.” It is a picture of the true

worship of the true God being finally lifted high above

everything else in all the universe.

Secondly, it will be a global future. Micah describes

people from the surrounding nations turning to the true

and living God, to worship him and to hear his word so

that they can live as his people. They say, ““Come, let us

go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the

God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we

may walk in his path s.”

And thirdly, Micah assures us that it will be a peaceful

future. Whilst these people from the surrounding

nations used to live in enmity with God and with his

people, they now live at peace with them. Through

coming to worship the true God they have found

reconciliation not only to God, but also to one another.

The dividing walls of hostility have come crashing down.

True and lasting peace is established. Micah writes:

“they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and

their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up

sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any

more.”

In the light of those awful events in Paris, we see that

this is the kind of world that we long for. Thank God,

this is a reality, not a pipe dream. We catch a glimpse of

it even today. As the message of the gospel goes out

into the world, the true worship of the true God is being

lifted up, and men and women and boys and girls from

many nations are being added to the people of God,

drawn into fellowship with one another through Jesus

Christ. But we long for the day when this picture reaches

its culmination, at the return of Christ.

Only then will true and lasting peace be established

forever. Come, Lord Jesus!

FIRST WORD


3/13

5

r. Anderson, thank you for taking the time to speak with

s. Your book What’s your Worldview? is an excellent

esource, both for Christians and non-Christians.

or those who haven’t come across it yet, can you explain

he concept of the book?

What’s Your Worldview? has three basic goals: (1) to help

he reader understand what a worldview is and why it’s

mportant; (2) to prompt the reader to be more self-conscious

bout their own worldview and the effect it has on their

hinking; (3) to encourage the reader to think more critically

bout their own worldview in relation to other worldviews.

owever, as I make clear in the introduction to the book, it

n’t written from a neutral perspective! I’m open about the

act that I’m a Christian and I’m convinced that the Christian

orldview is true. So the book also functions as an indirect

pologetic for Christianity.

here are already dozens of great books on worldviews, but

hat’s distinctive about this book is its non-linear, interactive

ormat. Instead of reading the book from front to back in the

ormal way, readers are presented with a series of yes-no

uestions (such as “Is there any objective truth?” and “Is

here a God?”) and they follow different paths through the

ook depending on how they answer those questions. In

hat respect, the book is rather like those “Choose Your Own

dventure” books many of us enjoyed in our younger years!

I enjoyed your comment in the book, “worldviews are like

cerebellums: everyone has one and we can’t live without

them, but not everyone knows that he has one.” So, what

exactly is a worldview?

A worldview is an overall view of the world. It’s not a physical

view of the world, like the sight of planet Earth you’d get from

an orbiting space-station, but rather a philosophical view: an

all-encompassing perspective on everything that exists and

matters to us. A person’s worldview represents their most

fundamental beliefs and assumptions about the universe.

It reflects how they would answer all the “big questions” of

human existence: fundamental questions about who and

what we are, where we came from, why we’re here, where

(if anywhere) we’re headed, the meaning and purpose of life,

the nature of the afterlife, and what counts as a good life here

and now.

Why is it important that, as Christians, we understand

worldviews?

I think there are a number of reasons, but I’ll mention just two

here. First, the Bible calls us to think and live in a distinctively

Christian way (Matt. 22:37-39; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:4-5).

As disciples of Christ, we’re called to understand God,

ourselves, and the world through a biblical Christian lens. One

way we can pursue that calling is to self-consciously develop

and apply a Christian worldview: to think deeply about how to

interpret the world and live out our lives in ways consistent

with that worldview.

Secondly, thinking in terms of worldviews can be very fruitful

in Christian apologetics and evangelism. Once we understand

what a worldview is, how it affects the way a person thinks

about the world, and what are the major competitors to the

Christian worldview, it can help us to see why unbelievers

today are so opposed to traditional Christian beliefs and why

they find the message of the gospel so bizarre.

By bringing the conversation around to the issue of conflicting

worldviews, we can dig down to the very root of our

disagreements. In doing so we can make space for a serious

discussion of whether our respective worldviews actually

cohere and make sense of the world. Once an unbeliever

starts to see the deep problems with his own worldview, he’ll

be more interested to consider the alternative.

Of course, there are many different worldviews out there,

but what would you say is the prevailing worldview in

Western culture, if there is one?

It’s hard to pick out just one! Among intellectuals, there

are two dominant worldviews: Materialism (the view that

the material universe is all that exists) and Relativism (the

view that there are no absolutes—everything is relative

to the individual or the culture). But intellectuals aren’t

representative of the overall population. Among the public in

general, the worldviews associated with New Age Spirituality

and Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (to use Christian Smith’s

label) are very prominent too.

Following on from that previous question, as a Brit living in

the States, are there any notable differences between the

worldviews you come across in North Carolina as opposed

to Scotland/the UK?

Yes, I think so. The UK is generally more secularized. In the

US (or at least the southern states) people tend to be more

religious in their outlook. That said, American religiosity is

often only skin-deep. Just because someone says he’s a

Christian, it doesn’t follow that he has anything like a biblical

Christian worldview! So I find you often have to dig beneath

the surface to discern what a person’s real worldview is—theworldview that’s actually shaping their beliefs and actions.

Very much related to the study of worldviews is the topic

of apologetics. Some Christians have reservations about

the role of apologetics in the witness of the church. People

sometimes say, “Let’s not do apologetics, let’s just preach

the gospel!” How would you answer that reservation?

My answer is very simple: Why not do both? Let’s preach the

gospel and do apologetics! After all, isn’t that exactly what

Jesus and the apostles did? It’s clear from the New Testament

(especially the book of Acts) that not only did they proclaim

the gospel, they reasoned with unbelievers and tried to

persuade them that the gospel is true—that Christ really

was who he claimed to be. Not every Christian is called to

be a public debater like the apostle Paul, but every Christian

is called to give an answer to those who ask us to give the

reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15).

You have written in the past about a ‘presuppositional’

approach to apologetics, often associated with Cornelius

Van Til. Can you explain how presuppositional apologetics

differs from other approaches? Is it necessary to be

‘presuppositional’ in the way that we do our apologetics?

I do describe myself as a ‘presuppositionalist’ when it comes

to apologetics, but I’m not precious about the label. (It’s one of

those cases where no one has sold me a better alternative!)

As I see, there are two core convictions at the heart of

presuppositionalism: (1) No one can evaluate the evidence for

Christianity from a neutral perspective; everyone has religious

(or anti-religious) presuppositions, and those presuppositions

need to be identified, exposed, and evaluated. (2) Christians

must never presume to adopt a stance of neutrality when

discussing or debating the claims of Christ with an unbeliever,

as though we can argue from a starting position of neutral

common ground. Rather, we must acknowledge Christ as our

sovereign Lord and Scripture as our highest authority at all

times, and seek to make our case in a way consistent with

those ultimate commitments.

I think these two convictions are non-negotiables in

apologetics. But that still allows for a lot of flexibility in how

we engage with non-Christians, what specific arguments

we use, what evidences we incorporate into our arguments,

and so forth. One of the advantages of presuppositionalism,

however, is that you take the same basic approach whether

you’re interacting with an atheist, a postmodernist, a

Mormon, a Muslim, or a follower of some obscure religion

you’ve never heard of before!

Many thanks for your time!

You’re welcome!

Five minutes with…

ames Anderson

Dr. Anderson is associate professor of theology

and philosophy at Reformed Theological

Seminary, Charlotte.


4/13

7

Apologetics is the branch of theology concerned withpresenting a reasoned defence of Christian belief. Theord is derived from the noun apologia meaning ‘a written

ormal defence’ and does not mean to apologise for, or

xpress regret for what we believe. In fact we should be

napologetic about our faith. In his first letter, the apostle

eter exhorts believers to be ready to explain our reasons

or believing. In this, the first of four planned articles on the

ubject of apologetics, we will start by considering the Bible.

adly, the Bible is no longer held in high regard by

ontemporary society. Writers such as Richard Dawkins

old the view that religion is merely superstition and expect

hat, in time, theology and other humanities will no longere taught at universities. Even so-called theologians such

s the “Jesus Seminary” group in America choose which

ts of the Bible they will accept. Whilst there is truth in the

ctorian preacher CH Spurgeon’s exclamation “defend the

ble, I would sooner defend a lion”, we do need to know how

o defend God’s word, and to know about the book that is so

votal to our faith. This is what Francis Schaeffer would have

ermed “pre evangelism”. In this article I wish to consider the

eliability of the Biblical text, the canon of Scripture and the

niqueness of its contents - the particular special revelation

f God in the Bible, that is the verbal, propositional revelation

f God’s truth.

rstly, let us consider the text of the Old Testament. This

as written over a period from around 1400 – 400 BC,

he earliest complete manuscripts are to be found in the

eningrad library and are dated at AD 1008 – 1009. Thi s

obviously some time after the initial texts or autographs

ould have been written, and we need to think about how

hese texts were passed on from one generation to the next.

he texts we have are described as Masoretic texts. The

asorites were groups of scribes in the period AD 500 to AD

00 coming from selected families, the most notable being

he Ben Asher family in Tiberias. They devoted themselves

o the meticulous copying of manuscripts. Just how accurate

heir copying was can be seen from the fact that when the

ead Sea scrolls were found in 1946 at Qumran near Jericho,

here were manuscripts among them dating from the 3rd

entury BC to 135 AD and the preservation of the text is

xceptional. In a copy of the book of Isaiah found in Qumran

nly three words are different to the Isaiah of the Masoretic

ext: three words of difference in texts copied almost a

housand years apart!

There are over 5,000 ancient Greek manuscripts of the New

Testament text in existence, with the best whole copies of

the New Testament datiing from around AD 250. These

are the Codex Vaticanus held in the Vatican library and the

Codex Sinaiticus held in the British Museum. Also dating

from AD 500 is the Codex Alexandria, again held in the British

Museum. Earlier fragments include the Chester Beattie

papyri. This contains most of the New Testament and dates

from the third century AD. In the John Rylands library in

Manchester, there is a fragment of the Gospel of John from

AD 130. The Magdalen papyrus is a fragment of the Gospel

of Matthew which has been dated by German papyrologist

Carsten Thiede at around AD 70. All the books of the NewTestament were in circulation by the middle of the second

century.

How does this compare with the available manuscripts for

accepted secular ancient texts?

If we consider Caesar’s Gallic War, written between 58 and 50

years BC, there are nine or ten manuscripts in existence, the

earliest of which is dated 900 years after the time of Julius

Caesar. Consider Livy’s Roman history, written between 59

BC and 17 AD. Only 35 of his 142 books survived and these

are in 20 manuscripts dated at the 4th century. The Roman

historian Tacitus wrote around AD 100. Only 4 ½ of his 14

books of Histories and 10 of his 16 books The Annals are in

existence and these are known from two manuscripts dating

from the 9th and 11th centuries. Only 8 manuscripts of the

writings of Suetonius (69-140 AD) are in existence. With

Thucydides’ history (460 – 400 BC) 8 manuscripts exist dating

from around AD 900.

It can be seen that comparing biblical manuscripts with other

ancient literature, whose historical value is seldom contested,

there are many more and many earlier manuscripts to

support the biblical text.

Now we must consider the canon of scripture; that is the list

of books that actually make up the Bible. It is usual to say

that the canon of the Bible was decided at the various early

Church Councils such as the Council of Hippo in 393 AD or the

Council of Carthage 397 AD.

It would be more accurate though to say that these councils

did not decide on canon but merely documented the books

that were accepted in practice. (Indeed the canonicity of

certain books continued to be debated right up to the

Reformation with Luther considering the letter of James “a

straw epistle”).

It seems that the development of the canon was a progressive

progress. Walter Kaiser in his book “The Old Testament

Documents” describes a succession of writing prophets. He

notes how the writer of Chronicles declares the history of

David was written in the books of the prophets, Samuel,

Nathan and Gad; how in Second Chronicles the history of

Solomon was written by the prophets Nathan, Ahijah and

Iddo; how the reign of Rehoboam was chronicled by the

prophets Shemaiah and Iddo. Abijah’s history was written

by Iddo. Then came the record of the reign of Jehoshaphat

written by the prophet Jehu, then the reign of Hezekiah

recorded by Isaiah and so on. He also illustrates how Daniel in

the 6th century BC accepts the writings of Jeremiah 75 years

previously as being the word of the Lord and, in turn, Jeremiah

had viewed the words of the prophet Micah 125 years earlier

also as the word of the Lord. And so, the Old Testament

canon developed progressively as the authority of the books

was recognised by successive generations of the people

of God. A similar situation may be observed in the New

Testament with the Apostle Peter in his second letter classing

the writings of the Apostle Paul along with “other Scriptures”.

The Bible is a unique book. It is the word of God; God has

spoken to us in the Bible revealing himself to us. The Bible

is truth. Often where there has been no outside evidence

to back up statements in the Bible, the secular world hasdismissed its writings as mere myth. This was the case until

archaeologists discovered that the City of Ur really existed;

until they found external confirmation that the tribe of the

Hittites were real people, or that Solomon’s chariot city of

Megiddo actually existed. There are many other examples

where archaeology has dismissed the Bible until it has had to

acknowledge its historical accuracy.

Another example of the uniqueness of the Bible is in fulfilled

prophecy. Consider the prophet Isaiah predicting the fall of

Jerusalem and the taking of the inhabitants into captivity.

Then there is the writing of the prophet Jeremiah predicting

Israel’s return from captivity, and the prophet Daniel

predicting the rise of the empires of Rome, Greece

and beyond.

Perhaps most striking are the many prophecies about Jesus,

the Messiah, who was to come as God’s promised King and

the saviour of mankind.

For example, it is predicted in the Old Testament:

• That Jesus would be born of the tribe of Judah.

(Genesis 49:10)

• Of the line of David (Isaiah 9:7)

• He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)

• Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)

• That he would minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:11)

• That he would enter Jerusalem triumphantly riding on a

donkey’s colt (Zechariah 9:9)

• That he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver

(Zechariah 11:13)

• That he would suffer in the place of sinners

(Isaiah 53:4-5)

• That his hands would be pierced (Psalm 22:16)

• That they would cast lots for his clothing (Psalm 22:18)

• That he would be buried in a rich man’s grave

(Isaiah 53:9)

• And that he would be raised from the dead

(Psalm 16:10)

Much as we value the revelation of God’s truth in Scripture,

we especially value it because it points us to God most

perfectly revealed in the person of his Son. As the writer to

the Hebrews proclaims:

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the

prophets, at many times and in various ways, but in

these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he

appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the

Universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the

exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his

powerful word”.

Michael Trimble has been attending Stranmillis

EPC since 1993, and works as a physician in Royal

Victoria Hospital. He is married to Rachel and they

have three children, David, Sophie and Solomon.

UnapologeticPART 1: The Bible


5/13

Stephen Dancer is married to

Susan, and father of one.

He has a PhD in physics. He worked

for 14 years in the aerospace

industry and became a chartered

engineer. He also has a BA in

Theological Studies. He has been

a minister of the gospel at Solihull

Presbyterian Church, part of the

EPCEW, since March, 2007.

troduction

When you read Paul’s letter to theRomans, in which he expounds gospel of power (1:17), you

nnot but notice how Paul himself

ems affected by its message. In the

roductory verses he shows that it

a gospel promised in the Scriptures,

countered in the person of Jesus in his

ath and resurrection, and is now being

claimed among all the nations.

s this gospel – the good news about

us Christ – that creates a hunger and

onging in Paul himself that drives him

in ministry. We see that especially

his passage. I want you to notice

word that pops up all through this

ssage. The word “you” occurs nine

es in eight verses. For example he

ys in verse 11, “For I long to see you,

at I may impart to you some spiritual

t to strengthen you”.

s shows us that within Paul is the

d of drive that has the situations

other Christian people close to his

art. He longs to see them. The gospel

s radically changed his heart. Now

longs to be of some use to them

ncipally through the preaching of the

spel, and he longs to bring it to more

ople as they are brought within the

d of this covenant community.

friends, even as we start today, is

re anyone here who cares about the

spel and its effects in this way? Is

re anyone here today who has it on

ir heart to see the gospel spread this

y? I want to look at this longing, and

e how it affects Paul. My hope is that

catch something of the fire that

has.

the word of God. He expected the Holy

Spirit to take hold of this word and make

it effective in the hearts of his hearers,

so that remarkable, spiritual things

would then happen in the church.Now, in our day you might think his

desire to impart spiritual gifts is a bit

big-headed of Paul, but you would be

wrong. Paul understood how spiritual

things work. The Spirit gives a man a

calling and gifts to preach the gospel

and the effect in the hearers is up to

the Spirit of God. Paul believed this with

all his heart – if he played his God-

given part then he was convinced that

“spiritual gifts” would be given.

But there is a second side to his desire

to have fellowship with the Roman

church – because he too wanted to

be encouraged! He wanted to meet

them to see how their faith is – is it

real? Is it Christ-centred? Is it lively and

eager? It is in seeing this, that great

encouragement is given to any preacher.

Friends, this is a picture we need to take

note of and learn from. There are a greatmany things that can excite us about

being in a church and bring a smile to

our faces. We see new people coming

in, we like to catch up with one another,

we like to sing etc. But here is the

thing that will bring sustainable joy in

a congregation - a desire to have God’s

word at the centre and to share our faith

with each other, a fellowship that goes

deeper than simply passing the time of

day with one another. What do you long

for when you think of other Christians?

What do you long for when you come to

a church like this? Remember what you

long for will be conditioned by whether

A Longing that Fuels Prayer

Clearly this church was having some

kind of impact that was getting people

talking. Remember they didn’t haveFacebook, or Twitter, or email, or even

a reliable postal service! But somehow

the news was getting around the known

world and Paul was hearing about

it even as he was making his way to

Jerusalem, as he was at the time of

writing. This news created a longing

and, importantly, fuelled his prayers.

What did he pray about? Simply, that he

wanted to get over there and meet with

these new brothers and sisters and have

fellowship with them

(v10). That’s his personal

prayer request.

Now, I think we can learn

quite a bit about prayer

here. In his commentary,

John Murray made a few

observations about this

prayer, which are very useful. I have

condensed them to three: Firstly, Paul

had this desire but no certainty it would

be fulfilled. Now this is not a sinful

desire – there are no self-indulgent

motives here. It was a good desire. But

that good desire did not bring certainty

of outcome. That’s important. Some

people would have us believe real faith

is when you pray believing you will get

the outcome you want. But we don’t

see that here. We see a longing in Paul’s

heart and that longing fuelling his

prayer. But his faith is not in a particular

outcome. Rather it is in his God in whose

hands the outcome rests.

Secondly, fulfilment of this desire had

been frustrated (v13). But he keeps

you walk closely with Christ. Do you

want to come and be a blessing and a

help to others in the faith? O, you may

not know what your gifts and abilities

are but it all starts with a desire – a

longing – for the gospel to be at work in

your life and others! Do you come here

wanting to be blessed by the Word, by

word-centred fellowship?

If your answer to either

of those questions is “no”

(honestly, what is in that

heart of yours?) then at

best you are spiritually

sick, at worst you are

without the gospel at all!

So, Paul looked forward

to fellowship that would

affect his life, and by which he could be

a spiritual help to others.

Longing to Fulfil Gospel Calling

Finally, let’s note that Paul’s desire was

simply to fulfil his calling to preach the

gospel wherever he could. In verse 14

he says he is “un der obligation”. What

kind of obligation? The Greek word can

be used to mean some kind of debt. But

we need to be careful here. For most of

us, the idea of a debt or an obligation

might seem burdensome. If you owe

someone some money, then it weighs

upon you until you pay it off (at least,

it should!) If you owe your employer a

certain number of hours of work as an

obligation, that can be quite a burden

especially if you are unhappy in your

work! Is that what Paul meant here? A

kind of legal or contractual burden that

has to be fulfilled? No! Of course not!

What Paul expresses is a debt ofgratitude to God. Paul has had a vision

of Christ and seen the grace and mercy

of God in the gospel. He has seen how

God has given his own Son to suffer and

die in our place and then rise from the

dead in glorious victory. He has asked

himself, “What kind of God is this, who

has been so merciful to me a sinner? I

was once an enemy of God and sought

to destroy the church and the name of

Christ! And yet he has chosen me for to

be his ambassador. What kind of God

is this?” Now, filled with gratitude, he

feels this obligation to serve the Son

of God – to be his willing slave (v1) and

praying! The frustration has not stopped

him praying because it is still a good

prayer flowing out of an earnest longing

in the heart.

Thirdly, he is submissive to the will ofGod in this matter. In verse 10 he says,

“…by God’s will…”. Ultimately what Paul

has is a deep love and submission to his

heavenly Father, that he knows best.

Isn’t that a liberating view of prayer?

We may have a desire about something

and we go to God to ask him to fulfil it.

But what, one may ask, if it is a prayer

for something selfish or sinful? Then

we trust that God will make that known

to us so that we can

change. You see, Psalm

37:4 tells us, “Delight

yourself in the LORD,

and he will give you the

desires of your heart.”

The simple fact is that

as we draw close to

God, we cannot but be

changed and our prayers will change

too. A true, gospel-centred desire andprayer cannot be suppressed!

Longing for Fellowship thatChanges People

Paul longed for the kind of fellowship

with brothers and sisters that

transformed lives. We see this in verses

11 and 12. There are two sides to it.

Firstly, there was what Paul could

bring to them. He wanted to be able

to “impart some spiritual gift” to them

(v11). Now, it is not clear exactly what

he meant by “spiritual gift” but we do

know how Paul went about his work. His

primary task was to preach and teach

preach the gospel wherever he can. His

primary calling was to go to the Gentiles

and it didn’t matter what kind of Gentile,

whether it was the cultured and civilised

Greeks or the uncultured barbarians! He

felt an obligation to all of them to bring

the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.

Friends, have you ever really felt that

kind of obligation? Have

you felt that impulse

that comes because

you know that you have

been truly saved by

Jesus Christ? and now

you feel an obligation

to play your part in

God’s purposes for

the gospel? Now, I say

again, this is not the kind of obligation

that is brought about by guilt or somekind of legal or contractual obligation,

formal or informal. It is a gospel

obligation - what the puritans used to

call an evangelical obligation to preach.

Conclusion

Well, we see here a deep longing that

has been worked into the life of Paul

and it is a longing brought about by the

gospel of Jesus Christ. When the gospel

is present it has very practical effects:

it fuels your prayer life; it creates

purposeful relationships in Christ; and it

creates an imperative to play your part

in this mission to bring the gospel to

the world.

Do you know this longing? Actually, do

you know Jesus Christ? Do you know

you need him?

Longing to PreachA Sermon on Romans 1:8-15

ll Bible quotations from the ESV.)

9


6/13

11

For the concluding part of our series on sanctification, welook at Paul’s prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:ow may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,

nd may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept

ameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls

ou is faithful; he will surely do it.

ne day recently I took a trip to IKEA in order to buy a new

mp. (Don’t let anyone tell you that ministers don’t knowow to have a good time.) Having chosen the lamp I wanted,

then needed to get a lightbulb for it, so I found myself rifling

hrough IKEA’s selection of bulbs, reading what it said on the

oxes, to make sure I had the correct bulb. Written on the side

f these boxes, it had all the information you needed to know

bout that particular light bulb.

he most obvious bit of information is of course that it

equires power. For example, the box will say that you need to

onnect this light bulb to 240 volts of electricity.

econdly, the bulb is of course designed to fulfil a purpose.

eedless to say, the purpose of the bulb is to shine brightly

nd light up a room. So, the box will say how bright this bulb

, for example 600 lumens. (Don’t worry; I didn’t know what a

umen” was until last week either.)

nd thirdly, I noticed that these light bulbs all came with a

romise. For example, one particular bulb that I bought came

ith the promise that it would last for 25,000 hours.

What we see from Paul’s prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5v23-

4 is that our sanctification, our growth in Christlikeness,

equires power, fulfils a purpose, and comes with a promise.

) God’s power in our sanctification

lightbulb on its own is useless, isn’t it? Unless it is

onnected to a sufficient source of power, then it can

o nothing. Exactly the same is true for you and your

anctification. Jesus himself said to his disciples, “apart from

me, you can do nothing.”

o where does the power come from for you to change and to

row in godliness? In the previous paragraph, Paul has listed

o fewer than 17 commands that he wants the believers in

hessalonica to obey. Where does the power come from for

ou to be living a life obeying all of those commands, as well

s all the other things we are expected to do as Christians?

Have you thought to yourself, “now that I’m a Christian, and

I’ve been forgiven, it’s now all up to me to make myself a

better person”? As Paul says to the Galatians, “Having begun

by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Paul’s words here correct that misunderstanding. If we try

and depend on our own strengths and abilities to grow as a

Christian, we will inevitably fall flat on our faces. It is God’s

power at work within us which changes us. As Paul says to

the Philippians, “work out your own salvation with fear and

trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to

work for his good pleasure.”

2) God’s purpose in our sanctification

When a light bulb is connected to the right power supply, it

then fulfils the purpose for which it was designed. So what is

God’s purpose in our sanctification?

That’s what Paul is getting at in the second half of verse 23.

He says, “and may your whole spirit and soul and body be

kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

One of the hallmarks of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians

is the theme of Christ’s return. In each of the five chapters he

reminds the Thessalonians of the fact that Jesus is coming

back one day. And so it is no surprise that, once again here,

Paul speaks about the second coming of Jesus.

What is God’s purpose in our sanctification? His purpose is

that when Jesus Christ finally returns to bring this age of

history to an end, and to usher in the fullness of his eternal

kingdom, that you will be blameless before him on that day.

That’s what your sanctification is moving you towards.

And notice how Paul emphasises how comprehensive this

work of sanctification is. He has already said earlier on in

verse 23 that the God of peace will sanctify us completely.

Now he builds on that. He says, “may your whole spirit and

soul and body be kept blameless.”

Paul is not saying that we are made up of three parts, soul,

spirit and body. No, this is rhetorical language he is using. He

is saying that every last bit of every last bit of you is to be setapart for God, blameless in his sight, for the return of Jesus.

If God’s purpose in our sanctification is that “every last bit of

every last bit of us” is to be changed, then that means that

we should never be complacent about our sanctification. We

should never think that we’ve arrived, or that we can take the

foot off the accelerator and take it easy as a Christian. So long

as we are in this fallen world, we are not the finished article,

and there is room for us to grow in greater godliness.

Don’t fall into that trap of becoming complacent in your

sanctification. Don’t settle for less than what God’s purpose is

for you in your sanctification. His purpose is that every last bit

of every last bit of you be kept blameless for that glorious day

of Christ’s return.

Notice what Paul says at the start of verse 23:

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you

completely…”

Do you see, Paul makes it very clear there that the power in

our sanctification does not come from us; rather, it is God

himself who sanctifies us. Sanctification is a work of God’sfree grace, to use the language of the Westminster Shorter

Catechism.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that sanctification happens in

our lives automatically, without us having to think about it

or put any effort in. After all, God does give us commands to

obey. But Paul’s point here is that the strength to obey those

commands and the power to grow in godliness are not from

us. One commentator sums up this point well. He says, “while

there is a human element [in sanctification], in that one must

yield oneself up to God, yet the primary thing is the power of

God that enables thi s to be done.”

The question for us is, as you try and grow and mature as a

Christian, are you relying on God’s power for that? Or, on the

other hand, have you become self-sufficient as a Christian?

3) God’s promise in our sanctification

Those light bulbs I bought came with a promise attached to

them. The promise was that they would last for 25,000 hours.

And we see in these verses that our sanctification comes with

a promise attached. What is that promise? Well, we find it in

verse 24: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”

That’s a great encouragement and reassurance to you in your

sanctification, isn’t it?

I wonder, do you ever get discouraged in your growth as a

Christian? I know I do. Most weeks, in fact. When I pray in

the morning I find myself confessing so many of the same

sins, again and again. Sometimes it feels like I take two steps

forward as a Christian, and then I take one step back. I know

I’m not the only one who is like that.

Our sanctification is not a smooth, upward curve. No, there

are many ups and downs along the way. There are times

when we drift further from God and further into sin. In those

dark times it is very easy to grow discouraged and think, “I’m

never going to make any progress here. In fact, I doubt that I

am ever going to reach t he finish line.”

That’s why this promise is so precious, isn’t it? Because

it reminds us that God has promised to do this work of

sanctification in us.

If it all depended, ultimately, on us, then none of us would

reach the finishing line as Christians. All of us would fall

along the wayside. But the reassurance that Paul is holding

out to these Thessalonian believers is that, ultimately, their

sanctification doesn’t depend on them. It depends on the God

who is faithful to every promise that he has made. We are not

secure in the faith because we hold onto him, but because

of the fact that he holds onto us with his sovereign, faithful,

powerful hand.

As Leon Morris puts it, “it is not in the unstable qualities

of people that trust must be placed, but in the eternal

faithfulness of G od.”

Paul says to the Philippians, “I am sure of this, that he who

began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the dayof Jesus Christ.”

That’s God’s promise in our sanctification. He finishes

what he starts, and he is faithful to what he has promised.

And that truth stops you from being overwhelmed with

discouragement in your Christian life, doesn’t it? Even on

those days when you have messed up, you can hold on to

this promise of God that he is faithful to you in his promise to

sanctify you; he will surely do it!


7/13

13

The rst of a new series of articles on the atonement, by Jim

McClatchey.

‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the

will of him who sent me.’ (John 6:38)

When we speak of ‘the cross,’ I suppose it means

different things. You will see a

‘cross’ on many churches. Many people wear

a little gold or silver ‘cross’ for ornamentation. But what does it

actually mean? The cross was a means of execution for about

1000 years. It was a most cruel, painful, and prolonged means

of execution. In these articles we have a very particular cross in

mind. It is ‘the cross of the lord Jesus Christ,’ that is, ‘the cross

on which Jesus died.’

Gardiner Spring, in his book, ‘The Attraction of the Cross’

reminds us, ‘The story of the cross is related in the holy

scriptures. They teach us to look upon Christ’s death in a totally

different light to any other person. They never mention it without

emphasis, nor without admiration.’

By the grace of God, my intention in these studies is to look

at what happened at that place called Calvary and to see some

aspects of the cross through one single word. In our English

bibles that word is translated by three words, but in the original

it is just one word. It is the sixth of the ‘seven sayings from

the cross.’ Although it is the briefest, yet it is surely the most

profound. The ancients spoke at times of a ‘sea of matter in a

drop of language.’ That is certainly true here. Others have

said, ‘this is the greatest word ever spoken.’

That word, in the original is tetelestai:

‘it is nished.’

It is interesting that this word can be translated a number of

ways. First, a servant would come to his master at the end of the

day and say that he had completed totally all that his master had

given him to do. Second, archaeologists have discovered old

ledgers in shops or large villas. In those ledgers, there would

be a list of goods supplied. Then at the bottom, this one word,

there meaning, ‘paid in full.’ Third, a priest in the temple would

also use this word when a worshipper would bring an animal

for sacrice. The animal would be examined because it must be

perfect, and this word would be used to pronounce that it was

perfect, acceptable, there were no blemishes.

This gives us a glimpse of the real meaning of the word. I would

hasten to make two very important points here.

First, when Christ uttered that word, it was not a ‘word of

despair,’ nor a ‘word of relief’ that his sufferings were coming to

an end; rather it was a ‘shout of triumph.’

Second, is the tense used. It is speaking of a ‘past completed

action with continuing results.’ The emphasis is that while

Christ died on the cross a long time ago, yet, because of the

person he is, and because of all that he did accomplish it has

permanent effects for all of time and eternity.

In this our rst study let us consider our word in the light of our

text; ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but

the will of him who sent me.’ This shows us that Christ’s death

at Calvary ‘was in absolute conformity to the Father’s will.’ He

is therefore using ‘nished’ to show that he accomplished all the

work given and agreed in eternity.

I. His assignment as the Servant of the Lord.

It is very interesting that Christ, the eternal, beloved, Son of God,

is actually called ‘a servant.’ In Matthew 20:28, Jesus says of

himself, ‘the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and

to give his life a ransom for many.’

It is important to see that Christ links his

service on earth with his death on the cross.

In Isaiah we read a prophetic word about

him. There are four great Servant Songs,

the best known of which is found in Isaiah

52:13-53:12. These words could be written

about none other than the Lord Jesus Christ,

God’s Son, the great Servant of the Lord.

Here we have a glimpse into the terrible sufferings of Christ, as

the Servant of the Lord. But at the end of all of that, he could

triumphantly cry, “accomplished!”

This brings before us an amazing picture. In time the Father sent

the Son into the world. But what we often forget is that we have

here a scene from eternity past. There in eternity is a meeting

of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are in council

and plan the great covenant of redemption. In the word of God,

redemption and salvation are spoken of as the results of the

everlasting covenant. Christ’s blood is called ‘the blood of the

everlasting covenant.’

In the covenant of redemption, the Father is the originator, the

Son the executor and the Holy Spirit the applier.

This is the result of the voluntary agreement between Father,

Son and Holy Spirit. That means the very fact that Christ came

into the world was in ‘obedience to the Father.’ He, who was

spirit from all eternity, became incarnate, ‘he was made under the

law, to redeem those who were under the law’s curse.’ He dwelt

among us.

II. His accomplishment as the obedient Son of God.

The Son of God was sent into the world and given a twofold task

by God. But, pause here for a moment. Why did Jesus have to

come to do his Father’s will? What was the purpose of it all?

We have already seen that Christ was the ‘Servant of the Lord.’

That was one of his titles, but there is another, out of the great

many he had and has. Our rst Father was called Adam and he

was called the ‘rst man.’ It is interesting that Christ has the

titles, ‘the last Adam’ and ‘the second man.’

Adam was made perfect, he had ‘original righteousness.’ He

was able to commune with God, able to live in God’s presence.

But we know that Adam failed. He sinned against God and

was thrust out of God’s presence. No sinner can stand before a

holy God. How would it be possible for a sinful man to again be

accepted by God? Two things were needed.

First, he would need to have his sin dealt with. The debt of sin

had to be paid. Another way of putting this is that we needed to

be ‘redeemed.’ A ransom needed to be paid. But everyone was

in the same condition; no one was able to pay for his own sin and

certainly could not pay for the sin of another.

Second, once our sin was put away, we would only be where

Adam had been at rst, and we could fall again. So we needed

something else: we needed perfect righteousness. Then, and only

then, could we come before this holy God

and be totally accepted.

I know that there are those who say, ‘I have

done my best, God cannot ask for anything

more than that.’ But the scriptures tell us

that ‘all our righteousnesses are as lthy

rags’ in God’s sight. That just will not do.

All our sins have to be pardoned and

forgiven, and then we need a perfect

righteousness as well. How could that come about? Only by the

perfect obedience of the Son of God.

What are the two things Christ did in accomplishing the

Father’s will?

First, Christ must do what Adam could not do. So Christ in

coming to earth became the ‘second man’ and the ‘last Adam.’

In doing so his obedience must be twofold. He must rst of all

from his earliest moment as the God-man, live a life of total

conformity to the will and the law of God. Christ never sinned

once, in act, word, thought, or attitude. Never once as a child,

boy, young man and as a man. He never sinned. Never!! He was

unique!!!

What a contrast with us. You see a small tot and how that tot can

lose his temper. We have three great-grandchildren.

The youngest is just a year old. But he wanted something his

brother had, so he screamed until he got it. A year!! We are like

that from our earliest moment!

Think of Jesus in his temptations. By the way, three temptations

are mentioned in the gospel, but he was tempted throughout his

whole life by Satan. Yet in every temptation, he did not fail. He

did no sin; he was perfect in all his ways. He could look at his

perfect life and cry, “accomplished!” So rst, Christ must be

totally and absolutely sinless.

Second, Christ had to take the punishment for our sin. He had to

pay the price of our redemption. He must be our substitute. He

must also be our surety.

There is in his very life suffering. Remember that he was

unique; there was not a person on earth who understood him,

The obedientServant of God

Christ never sinned once, in act,

word, thought, or attitude.

Never once as a child, boy,

young man and as a man.

He never sinned. Never!!

He was unique!!!


8/13

ot a person who was his equal. He the sinless one was in daily

ntact with sinners. What must have meant to him, living in a

n cursed world? Think of his terrible loneliness. Think of the

ffering of Gethsemane, of the suffering of his trials and how

was abused by sinful men. Think of him being scourged, then

ing nailed to the cross, the cross being dropped into that hole

here many of his bones would be pulled out of joint. Think

f the mocking crowd, the religious leaders. The agony of

ucixion was terrible. But worse was to come. The wrath of

od came upon him as he bore the penalty of our sin.

ut there came that moment, just before he gave up his spirit that

cried in triumph. ‘Tetelestai.’ ‘Finished.’

he one who left heaven’s glory to come

this earth to do his Father’s will, had accomplished all that the

ather had sent him to do.

We read that the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to

ottom. There was now a way of access to God, through Jesus

hrist. There was now a way of salvation. The price had been

aid, in full. He accomplished redemption for his people. He

ot only paid the price for their sin; he also brought them eternal

ghteousness. What man could never achieve by his works

suffering, Christ achieved by his life and his death. The

riptures tell us that, ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to

ose who are in Christ Jesus.’

What a saviour we have! What a salvation we have! What a

orious prospect we have, to be with him for all eternity! What

great God we have to provide us with such a saviour and such

salvation!

o the unbeliever, do you see your position before God? Do you

e that you are actually rejected by God, because of your sins?

our natural condition before God is that you, like everyone else,

e a sinner. That needs to be dealt with. But only Jesus Christ

n do that!

e came, sent by God, to do God’s will in providing a full and

rfect salvation for sinners. What then is your response

Jesus Christ and all that he did on Calvary?

What does the Bible call you to do? Repent. Believe.

Jim McClatchey has been in the ministry for the past 45

years, and has served in Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and

Scotland. He now lives in Fermanagh and is a member of

Omagh EPC. He still preaches regularly at home and in

England and Scotland. Jim is married to Irene, and they have 4

children, 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

These are critical days for Dumisani. There are around 50/60

students enrolled in full time and part time courses.

The students are drawn from a variety of churches and are

mainly men preparing to minister in village church situations.

The College is an excellent place with a dedicated and

committed staff but they are currently facing serious financial

pressure. Please pray for this situation and that the staff will

feel encouraged in the excellent work that they are doing.

On the Sunday, we were taken out of King William’s Town to

the village of Bulembu where I had the opportunity to preach

at the morning service in the FCSA congregation.

The women, clad in their distinctive blue and white uniforms,

were assembled outside the church when we arrived and onecould only be impressed by the warmth of their welcome.

The service was conducted by the minister, Rev Mafuya, who

spoke to me most warmly afterwards of the great help he had

received form Norman Reid during his days as a student in

Dumisani. After the service we walked the short distance, in

scorching heat, to the Lenge Centre for the elderly. This is an

excellent ministry where older needy people in the community

are being provided with meals and other help on a daily basis.

Please pray for the people of Bulembu and especially for Rev

Mafuya who is responsible for several congregations and was

very burdened about the needs of the village. Alcohol and

drug abuse is a serious problem among the young people, with

syncretism also an issue with which he was having to contend.

GNB

15

For many years I have had a desire to visit Dumisani

Theological Institute in King William’s Town, South Africa, and

to visit a congregation of the Free Church in Southern Africa.

That dream became a reality over the weekend of 6th – 9th

November 2015 when Ruth and I spent a few days in the

Eastern Cape at the home of Deon and Shelley Lombard.

We were on a family visit to Cape Town but on the first Friday

of our stay we flew to East London where we were warmly

welcomed by the Lombards who over the next few days

showed us around and gave us a great insight into the work

and ministry of Dumisani. Deon is the Vice Principal and

Shelley is currently the registrar of the College. Jack Whytock,

the Principal, and his wife, Nancy, were ‘out of town’ but over

the weekend we also met with the other full time members of

staff – Wayne Gratz and Greg Phillips.

A DREAM FULFILLED


9/13

ell us about yourself.

grew up in a home where I had the privilege of being taught

bout the Bible and Christianity – both in words and example

from a young age. As many of you know, my dad is the

minister in Ballyclare EPC. It sounds silly, but growing up in

he minister’s home, I assumed I was a Christian. It wasn’t

ntil I moved to secondary school that I started to come

nder the conviction of my sin, and saw myself in need of the

aviour. By this point I wasn’t particularly interested in church,

ut wonderfully God had kept me reading my Bible each night,

s I’d been taught from a young age. He spoke to me through

s Word, and I became a Christian when I was 13.

fter school I went to Queen’s, where I studied Law and then

erved as President of the Students’ Union for a year. In 2008

oined a Professional Services firm in Belfast and worked foreven years as a Business Consultant. I am married to Claire

nd we have just had a little girl, Meredith!

What led you to become a student minister?

rowing up in the house of a minister, I wasn’t sure “what

wanted to do when I grew up”. But I knew I would never

o into the ministry! However, when I was around 21 I had

n inward conviction that perhaps God was asking me to

onsider the one job I had ruled out. I committed to praying

bout this, and over the next six years God grew that sense

f inward call until I felt I was disobeying him by not testing it

more formally.

I spoke firstly to my minister (i.e. Dad!), our local session

in Ballyclare, and then the Training of the Ministry and

Admissions Committee of our denomination’s Presbytery.

Each was supportive and tested my call through formal

interviews and opportunities to preach.

How is College life?

Fantastic! It is such a privilege to be able to study God’s Word

in an intensive, full-time way, and I am really enjoying all I

am learning. We have a small class, with only three full-time

students. While this means there is no hiding place on those

tough mornings when your brain is on a go-slow, it gives

more opportunity for discussion and questions.

Have you got any prayer requests?At the opening service of College we were asked to share

some prayer points, and I asked the congregation to pray

for 3 H’s – hunger for God’s Word and not just an academic

approach to learning, humility that as I learn I will not become

proud but remain grounded and useful, and finally…Hebrew!

Please also pray for Claire and Meredith as we adjust to life as

a new family.

And finally, the all-important question: which is

proving harder - nappies or Hebrew?

Hebrew certainly has some unique challenges – a new

vocabulary, looking at things from a different perspective,

and making some truly strange sounding noises. But each of

those could apply to nappy time too, so it’s too close to call!

The writer works with Arab World Ministries (AWM) in Belfast

and is associated with Hope Fellowship.

The Arab world lies at the heart of the 10/40 window and

has been historically resistant to the gospel of Christ. In

many nations of the Arab world it is illegal to convert from

Islam to Christianity (or any other faith). Muslims who have

come to faith in Christ often live in areas where there are no

fellowships or in countries that do not have an indigenous

church. In many places, it is illegal to hold Christian meetings

or even own a copy of the Bible. However, encouragingly,

there are a growing number of small house groups of

believers meeting and studying the Word of God in secret.

As someone who grew up in the countryside I was almost

totally unaware of how little Gospel exposure people of

the Arab World had and I certainly never expected to be

working among Muslim people here in the UK.However, as a university student on a short

term team to London, God showed me very

clearly that Muslims are people with lives,

people with souls and people who must face

eternity. They are people who need Jesus.

God is very much at work among Muslims both here in the UK

and in the Arab World today. Islamic extremism has caused

many Muslims to come to a crossroads in their faith. Just

after the horrendous terror attacks in Paris I went to visit a

Muslim friend and her brother. I have known the family for

just a few weeks but we have a good relationship and I was

able to ask them directly their thoughts and views on the

recent devastation. Their response was that of condemnation

and horror, sorrow and fear. They went on to share that their

family back home were at constant risk of extremism. I took

the opportunity to push a little further as I asked if such

attacks caused them to question their faith in Islam. The

brother, on the verge of tears, expressed his confusion and

uncertainty in his faith. As a global church we need to take

this opportunity for the Gospel. Muslims are here, many of

them questioning and seeking after the truth which we hold

and are called to share. Another friend on that same day came

to visit to make sure I knew she wasn’t a terrorist and would

still be her friend. As we sat outside my house we started to

talk about God’s plan for the world; it led in to a very natural

conversation on what the Bible says about Jesus and why we

can trust it as the Word of God. Please pray for these people

- pray as they come west and are exposed to the truth, many

for the first time, that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to

Jesus as Saviour and Lord.As part of AWM we have a media department

that broadcasts through the websites,

YouTube, Facebook and other media platforms.

The recent AWM newsletter was a huge

encouragement as it reports that from January

to September 2015 there were 1.5million visits to their

website which clearly presents the Gospel, 35 000 Bibles

were downloaded, 11 053 personal Gospel conversations had

and 3 642 online Bible courses completed. The Muslim world

is hungry for truth. When you see or hear it on the news don’t

fear but remember it in your prayers. “And pray for us, too,

that God may open a door for our message, so that we may

proclaim the mystery of Christ” (Col 4:2).

Meet John Roger, student for the ministry

17

An AWM worker in Ireland


10/13

19

Each year, EPC office bearers (ministers, elders and deacons) meet in the home church of the

Moderator for a half day devoted to prayer. Rev Robert Johnston led the opening devotions in

Knock church on Saturday 21st November, taking his theme from Jesus’ command to “love one

another”. Following brief reports from each congregation, specific prayer was made for the

points raised.

We were joined by Rev Rik Bikker, representing the Christian Reformed

Church in the Netherlands (CGKN). He shared with us something of the

work of CRC in the Netherlands and their desire to help the evangelical

cause in other parts of Europe. He also encouraged us, from Psalm

122 and the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, to pray for “the peace of

Jerusalem”, involving the progress and unity of God’s kingdom.

The times of prayer were filled with th ankfulness, pleading for blessing

upon our congregations and crying for our land and Europe, especially

following the Paris terror attacks. The mid-morning refreshment break

allowed sweet fellowship together. The Lord was with us.

OBITUARY - Mrs Ruth Ballantine

Following a prolonged period of ill health Mrs RuthBallantine passed into the presence of her Saviour onMonday, 8th October.

Ruth was born on 31st August, 1929. The secondyoungest of six children, she grew up on the family farm, just outside the village of Sixmilecross, County Tyrone.Having received her education locally, she eventuallyentered the employ of a poultry farmer as bookkeeper.

Marrying in 1953, Ruth went to live in the village ofGortin, where she became the mother of her sevenchildren - Andrew, Jeff, George, Angeline, Osborn, Nigel,and Adrienne. Sadly, her eldest son Andrew passed awayshortly after birth.

Whilst living in Gortin, the most important event in Ruth’slife took place. She came to a personal faith in the LordJesus Christ, and from that moment onwards, Ruthbecame a shining example of a true Christian lady. Despite

the many hardships that followed, she came to exemplifyPaul’s words in Rom. 8:37, ‘we are more than conquerorsthrough him that loved us’. Never harsh or bitter, butalways loving, kind, generous, hospitable, and joyful, Ruthendeared herself to countless people.

For many years, Ruth was a faithful and much lovedmember of Omagh EPC. Both the hardships of life andher deep concern for the lost, made Ruth a valiant warriorin prayer. However, she didn’t restrict her evangelisticconcern to prayer alone, but with great winsomeness,Ruth sought to speak to many about the Saviour sheloved so much.

The members and friends of Omagh EPC wish to expresstheir sincere sympathy to Ruth’s children, grandchildren,great grandchildren, and to her surviving brother, Stewart.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.Philippians 1:21.

Rev. Andrew J. Lucas

Ballyclare

Harvest Thanksgiving

16th -18th October 2015 was harvest weekend in

Ballyclare EPC, a time when we make special efforts

to invite others into church to hear the gospel. Several

hundred invitation leaflets were delivered to homes

in the town and early-morning prayer meetings were

held the previous week to ask God’s blessing on the

congregation and the harvest services in particular.

It was a pleasure to welcome Rev David Court from

Christ Church (Free Church of Scotland), Edinburgh as

speaker for the weekend. His first talk was on Friday

night when many young people who normally attend

the Junior and Senior YPAs came to the service and

heard preaching on the story of the Good Samaritan,

as well as doing justice to an ample supper. Saturday

evening’s meeting was a Harvest Supper, a sit-down,

two-course meal served to around 100 people and

followed by an address on Jesus, the only way to God.

The building was well filled again for both Sunday

services. David Court preached from Paul’s visit to

Philippi (Acts 16) in the morning and in the evening he

spoke on the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

In each case, a familiar passage was expounded with

fresh depth, warmth and challenge. Some members of

the congregation had formed a choir and their singing

was an added blessing.

It is right that we stop at harvest time and thank God

who gives us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons.

And it is always a benefit to God’s people to meet for

worship and to hear His word proclaimed. But we also

want to hear of children and adults turning to God and

walking with him. We believe that His word does not

return to Him void.

FROM THE CHURCHES

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OFFICE BEARERS’ HALF DAY OF PRAYER


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The following are some of the items

shared at the recent ofce-bearers’

half day of prayer.

Praise God for encouragements in

all our congregations. Pray that newconverts will be built up in their faith,

that new families will be stabilised and

integrated into church life, and that

contacts will develop into meaningful

relationships with opportunities to

share Christ. Pray for ministers and

congregations to be upheld through

discouragements.

Ballyclare: Thank God for continuing

blessing in Mums & Tots and for

young people from outside the church

attending Senior YPA

Crosscollyer Street: Pray for people

to come who have qualities and gifts

to help in leadership

Crumlin: Pray for outreach

opportunities in a new housing

development and for the possibility of

a Christianity Explored course

Finaghy: Pray for the Mums and

Toddlers ministry, and the contacts

made with unbelievers through it.

Groomsport: Praise God for

progress in the young people’s work

Under the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree, a young child

ripped through the Christmas paper to find the iPad for which

he had pleaded for months. His family smiled at his glee, but

very soon they would be heartbroken. Through this gift he

received his first exposure to hardcore pornography, which he

would keep secret from his family.

Unfortunately, this scenario will have occured thousands of

times at Christmas as parents with good intentions wrapped

unprotected mobile devices that are the equivalent ofemotional and psychological dynamite.

Please, don’t be one of those parents.

43% of children view pornography for the first time before

the age of 13. That’s not a joyful statistic and should serve as

a wake-up call about the risks and impact that unprotected

computers, gaming systems, and mobile devices may have on

a child’s life.

These risks include:

• Pornography exposure

• Cyberbullying

• Child predation

• Inappropriate photo-sharing

Take the time to get educated on these issues. Life is busy,

and these things so easily get put on the backburner. But life

will come to a screeching halt the moment you realise your

child has been exposed to, or is a part of, an online danger.

Three things you can do now to start protecting your family:

1. Talk to your children. Let them know that the new device

they get comes with responsibility and consequences. Set a

standard in your home for safe Internet use and stick to it.

2. Do an app inventory. Do you know all the apps yourchild has on their phone or tablet and what those apps do?

Popular apps like Snapchat are getting kids into inappropriate

situations, some with legal consequences. Parents need to

stay educated and research new apps their kids want to use.

3. Install protective monitoring and/or filtering software

on your children’s internet devices. This gives an extra

layer of protection for when you cannot be there to look over

your child’s shoulder. Services like Covenant Eyes can help

your children make wise choices about the sites they go to,

knowing someone will receive a regular report of their activity.

To learn more about protecting your kids online visit,

ProtectYourKids.org.uk

For a 30 day free trial of internet accountability software visit

ProtectYourKids.org.uk/free or CovenantEyes.com and use

promotional code: keeppure

Stranmillis Missionary Weekend

– 3rd and 4th October 2015

Very encouraging’. ‘Really enjoyable’. ‘Great for the children’.

hese are the comments I heard after our missionary

onference in October 2015. We focussed on the work of

ur own missionaries – Sid and Jean Garland, Ed and Kate

nderwood, Sam and Jenni Ray and Andrew and Eunice

oody – as well as being really enriched by the contributions

nd presence of Jorg and Heike Muller of European

issionary Fellowship.

n the Saturday afternoon an enthusiastic committee had

rganised a two hour long event in the Lisburn Road Hall for

hildren known as ‘Ready to Go’. The boys and girls were able

o visit various ‘hands on’ displays and sample for themselves

he kind of work the different missionaries are involved in.

ou could carry a water jug on your head, drink Ethiopian tea,

retend to be a Bible smuggler or try to read an Alur Bible.

rg and Heike reminded us of the huge spiritual need of

urope while teaching us a little German as well.

n the Sunday Jorg shared with the Adult Bible Class on the

ork of EMF while Heike and Ed visited the Sunday School.

our services Sid and Jorg preached, while Andrew and Ed

ere interviewed. The weekend concluded with a ‘Sunday

ight Extra’ at which Jean gave us a challenging reflection on

he Missionary Call’ .

We knew God’s rich blessing for which we praise Him. Our

oal was that we would as a church be stirred up to pray

etter for the work in other lands. Our second goal was that

omeone would hear the call of God to go. Please pray with

s that this goal will soon come to pass.

NB

On Friday 6th November 2015 approximately 60-70 people gathered in

Omagh EPC to hear Mr Phil Robinson from Creation Ministries speak in

defence of Creation and the Gospel. A most informative and thought-

provoking message was delivered, with believers being encouraged

in their faith and non-believers being challenged to consider the

great truths of Scripture. He quoted from pronounced atheist

Richard Dawkins and several other evolutionists but was able to

confirm that Science and the Bible are not in conflict with each

other but rather complement each other. The people (half of

whom are not connected to the congregation) listened intently

and there was a time for questions at the end.

There was a bookstall available and supper was served when

most people stayed behind for further discussion

and questions.

THEIMPACTOF A GIFT


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Hope Fellowship: Praise for people

coming into “open church” through the

week and for bible studies

taking place

Knock: Pray for the election ofdeacons planned for the new year

Omagh: Thank God for interest

shown by neighbours to come in to

view the new building

Richhill: Praise God for good

numbers attending special praise

nights and pray for future such events

Stranmillis: Pray for wisdom in

proceeding now that planning

permission has been granted for a

new building

Pray forJohn Roger: hunger for God’s

word, humility and help with Hebrew.

And for Trevor Kane: for God’s

guidance and provision in the

months ahead.

Please pray for Muslims as they come

west and are exposed to the truth,

many for the rst time, that the Holy

Spirit would open their eyes to Jesus

as Saviour and Lord.

Pray for those who befriend them in

the name of Christ.

23

was perhaps true of those who lived nearer to the time.

He assesses both the strengths and the weaknesses of our

forefathers’ case and the tactics that they employed.

This balanced approach only adds strength to the author’s

final conclusion that truth was unquestionably on the side of

those who opposed Professor Davey. And just i n case we

think the issues raised in 1927 belong to a bygone age, the

book also includes five helpful articles by different authors,

which show their ongoing relevance for us today.

The final sections of the book centre on the establishment

and growth of the Irish Evangelical Church, as it was then

known, and from 1964 the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

The early years were not without their difficulties, but much

can be learned from how our forefathers coped with those

difficulties. But perhaps the most striking feature of this part

of the book, is the zeal displayed by the founding members of

the EPC. They had a clear vision that all of Ireland, both north

and south, should be reached with the gospel of grace, and

to this end they laboured with extraordinary zeal and self-

sacrifice. The reviewer was struck by the observation made

by J. Campbell Andrews, a student at Free Church College in

Edinburgh, who visited Ireland in the 1930s. He wrote:

Two things about the Irish Evangelical Church must impress

a stranger. One is the spiritual fervour of the members with

whom one comes in contact. They are zealous for the glory

of God in the salvation of souls. The other is the great volume

of earnest and definite prayer rising from the church to

the throne above. It must be prevailing prayer because it is

offered in faith, in Christ’s name, to the end of His glory and

the good of men’s souls. Such zeal and prayer must haveresults, and for this reason one feels that, under God, the Irish

Evangelical Church is to be a means of great blessing to many.

If the book helps us to rediscover this prayerful zeal, we

will be forever indebted to its author. This book is warmly

recommended and is an absolute must for all who love the

Lord Jesus Christ and his church.

Rev. Andrew J. Lucas.

Title: The Story of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church

Author: Ernest C. Brown

Publisher: Evangelical Presbyterian Church & Evangelical

Book Shop

Not everyone appreciates history.

For example, the American industrialist Henry Ford famously

remarked “History means nothing to me. History is more

or less bunk”. As evangelical Christians we have a different

perspective, particularly regarding sacred history, which as

Paul tells us ‘was written for our instruction’ (Rom. 15:4

NASB). But we should also have a high regard for church

history more generally, which is so often a helpful interpreter

of present dilemmas.

For this reason, the members and friends of the Evangelical

Presbyterian Church are particularly indebted to Ernest

C. Brown for his new book ‘The Story of the Evangelical

Presbyterian Church’. It is a fact, that the events that brought

our church into being now lie beyond the memory of all of

us, and for this reason, it would be easy to lose our ties with

the past, and to question our reason for existing as a distinct

denomination. But with great clarity, the author of this new

work brings those momentous events to life again, and helps

us to see, that not only was the cause of our forefathers

just, but that there is also a strong case for our continuing

existence as a confessional church.

In the opening chapters, we are skilfully guided through the

ups and downs of Irish Presbyterianism in the centuries

preceding the crisis that gave birth to the EPC. And what

becomes clear, is the fact that ou r forefathers’ struggle

was nothing new, but part of a recurring struggle forBiblical Christianity. The issues may have changed from one

generation to another, but again and again, faithful men had

to step up to the mark and fight for the truth. In the closing

decades of the 19th century, previous battles were forgotten,

and the Irish Presbyterian Church once again allowed itself

to drift theologically. Ideas began to be tolerated which

would require a new generation to take up the fight. The

author introduces us to those characters who will go on to

play a significant role in the coming battle. He describes their

backgrounds and their initial skirmishes, before moving

on to the dramatic events of 1927. The fact that almost

ninety years have passed since the heresy trial, allows the

author to view events with a little more detachment than

B O O K R E V I E W S

TRAINING EVENTS

Training event for all who lead, teach or help in

children’s or youth work in EPC

Monday 22nd February 20167:30pm to 9:30pm in Knock EPC

CEF have been invited to give seminars on the

following topics:

Good news is for you (Helping children

understand the message of salvation)

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

(Children learning to pray)

Please put it in your diary and plan to attend

Junior Camp ReunionSaturday 27 February

Ballyclare EPC

Senior Camp Reunion Weekend12-14 February

Ganaway BB Centre

Inters Camp Reunion details to follow

For more information visit www.epcni.org.uk

Calling allCampers!

Dates for your diary...


13/13

A selection of online blogs and articles to challenge and

encourage you in your walk with God and his people…

Are there Degrees of Sin? (R.C. Sproul)

www.ligonier.org/blog/are-there-degrees-sin/

“Many Evangelical Protestants have rejected the idea of

degrees of sin because they know that the Protestant

Reformation rejected the Roman Catholic distinction between

mortal and venial sins. As a result, they’ve jumped to the

conclusion that there are no distinctions between sins in

Protestantism.”

The Old Testament’s message to our Culture (David Murray)

www.headhearthand.org/blog/2015/11/04/the-old-

testaments-message-to-our-culture-2/

“What can the Old Testament possibly say to our culture?

It seems a million miles and sometimes a million years

away from our time, our generation, and our problems.

How can something so old address all the new challenges

of globalization, sex-trafficking, the digital revolution, etc.

There’s no question that the Old Testament is a challenging

read; it doesn’t yield its wisdom quite as easily as fortune

cookies. However, it does repay disciplined and prayerful

reading and research.”

A Testimony: Infertility, Miscarriage and Motherhood

(Janelle Bradshaw)

www.girltalkhome.com/blog/a-testimony-infertility-

miscarraige-and-motherhood/

After over 2 years of trying to conceive, I was still childless

and crying out to God in the midst of the heartache of

wanting a family but not knowing if He would ever make

it happen. I felt like Hannah in the Bible, who desperately

wanted a child but could not conceive. The Scriptures say that

Hannah “was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord andwept bitterly.”

The Three Greatest Reasons Christ Loves You (Mark Jones)

www.reformation21.org/blog/2015/11/a-puritan-grace-

boy-assurance.php

“The Puritans sometimes get a bad rap for their theology,

especially in the area of assurance of salvation. Yet, I gained

full assurance of salvation from reading a Puritan, Thomas

Goodwin. No Continental writer has quite given me a sense of

Christ’s love for me in the way that Goodwin did when I first

read him on the heart of Christ in heaven towards sinners

on earth.”

Five Questions About Sanctification And Good Works: How

Does Sanctification Differ From Justification?

(Kevin De Young)

http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/

kevindeyoung/2015/10/06/five-questions-about-

sanctification-and-good-works-how-does-sanctification-

differ-from-justification/

This is the first of five helpful articles from Kevin De Young

seeking to address five important questions about the topic

of sanctification, and the place of good works in the Christian

life. You will find links to the other four articles at the top of

the article, if you’d like to read through the whole series.

Worship: What Can We Sing? (Jeffrey Waddington)

www.alliancenet.org/placefortruth/column/theology-on-the-

go/worship-what-can-we-sing

“One of the hallmarks of Presbyterian and Reformed churches

(including Reformed Baptist congregations) is our approach

to corporate public worship. While we affirm the importance

of private and family worship, the emphasis has usually fallen

on public worship. Public worship is not optional and what

we do in worship is not left up to us to figure out. God has set

out in his Word not only that he wants to be worshiped and

that it is only he who is to be worshiped. He has also revealed

to us how he wants us to worship him (Exodus 20:3-6). Thisconcern with how we worship God has come to be called the

Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW).”

Best of the Blogs

The Evangelical Presbyterian - Winter 2016

Documents

Transcript of The Evangelical Presbyterian - Winter 2016