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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
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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.
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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
8/19/2019 The Evangelical Presbyterian - Winter 2016
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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.)
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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!
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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!!!
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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
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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
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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
19
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...
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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).”
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