Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
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Covenant Protestant Reformed Church

 

Ballymena

Rev. Angus Stewart

Lord’s Day, 1 January, 2012

 

"Those that be planted in the house of the Lord

shall flourish in the courts of our God" (Ps. 92:13)

 

Morning Service - 11:00 AM

God’s Glorious Perfections (8)

The Omniscience of God (1)    [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Psalm 147

Text: Psalm 147:5

I. God’s Necessary Knowledge

II. God’s Free Knowledge

III. God’s Powerful Knowledge

Psalms: 92:1-8; 119:17-24; 94:3-10; 147:1-8

 

Evening Service - 6:00 PM

God’s Glorious Perfections (9)

The Omniscience of God (2)    [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Psalm 139

Text: Psalm 139:1, 23

I. God’s Knowledge and Christ

II. God’s Knowledge and the Church

III. God’s Knowledge and the Believer

Psalms: 38:4-10; 119:25-32; 10:11-17; 139:1-10

 

For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray

If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart

 

CPRC website: www.cprc.co.uk

CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni

CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Ballymena-United-Kingdom/Covenant-Protestant-Reformed-Church-N-Ireland/337347932331

 

Quote to Consider:

J. C. Ryle: "… all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Nothing can be concealed from Christ. What do we think of, in private, when no man sees us? What do we think of, in church, when we seem so grave and serious? What are we thinking of at this moment, while these words pass under our eyes? Jesus knows. Jesus sees. Jesus records. Jesus will one day call us to give account. It is written that ‘God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel’ (Rom. 2:16)."

Announcements (subject to God’s will)

Dear Congregation, Thank you for the support, encouragement and many prayers on our behalf in this past year. As we enter the new year together, may we "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever" (II Pet. 3:18). Rev. & Mary Stewart.

We welcome Kristin and Briana Prins from Trinity PRC in Michigan to our worship services today.

Back table: Daily Bible reading programmes for 2012 are available.

Sunday Catechism: 10 AM - O.T. Juniors

There will be no Monday night catechism this week, but these classes will resume next week, 9 January.

Our Tuesday morning Bible study meets at 11 AM. We will study Revelation 17:1ff. on "Mystery Babylon."

Belgic Confession Class meets Wednesday at 7:45 PM. Continuing Article 12, we will consider the fall of the demons.

The men’s meeting will be held this Saturday, 7 January at 8 PM at the Kennedys to study Daniel 10.

The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846MW at 8:30 AM) will be "God Chastens an Unfaithful Family" (Ruth 1:1-6) by Rev. R. Kleyn.

On Wednesday, 25 January, Rev. Bill Langerak will give a lecture here entitled, "The Bible’s Identification of the Antichrist." Plan to attend and invite friends.

Reserve Friday, 27 January, for our congregational dinner at the Adair Arms.

Offerings: General Fund: £533.43. Donations: £15 (CR News), £10 (books).

PRC News: Rev. Eriks (Hudsonville, MI) declined the call to Edgerton PRC. Prof. and Mrs. Dykstra arrived safely in Singapore where they plan to minister for 4 weeks to the CERC (Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore). Prof. and Mrs. Hanko have returned safely from there.


Kept by God (and His Angels)!

The holy angels are inseparably connected with the birth of the Lord Jesus. In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel comes to the temple to tell Zacharias, the elderly priest, that he will be the father of John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner; six months later, Gabriel announces to the virgin Mary that she will give birth to the incarnate Son of God. Three times Joseph is directed by an angel in a dream in Matthew 1-2: he was told to marry Mary, to flee from Herod (who was influenced by the devil; Rev. 12:4) into Egypt some months after Christ's birth in Bethlehem, and to return to Israel after Herod's death.

Moreover, on the very day Christ was born, an angel appeared at night to some shepherds near Bethlehem to declare the Saviour's birth. Whereupon the single angel was joined by many of his fellows: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:13-14). This is the only recorded biblical reference to angels on earth worshipping the Most High; everywhere else angelic praise is mentioned, it occurs in heaven. Strikingly, Scripture reveals that not only did that angelic delegation to Bethlehem adore God; not one of the heavenly host failed to praise the newborn King: "When he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb. 1:6).

Near the start of His ministry, angels ministered to Christ after His temptation in the wilderness (Matt. 4:11); near the end, an angel strengthened Him in His human nature during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). It was an angel who rolled away the stone from Christ's tomb (Matt. 28:2)—not to let Him out (for the risen Lord had already departed) but to let His followers see that He had left! The disciples' last sight of the Lord Jesus—His ascending into heaven, arms outstretched in blessing—was accompanied and explained by two angels (Acts 1:10-11).

The Son of man not only frequently spoke of good and fallen angels; He also battled with the devil and his demons, especially during His temptations, in His exorcisms and at His crucifixion.

John 1:51 is especially revealing, for Jesus told Nathanael and Philip, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." The ministry of angels upon Christ, apart from the few examples given, was not visible and even then they were not seen by the disciples prior to Christ's resurrection, for they were either absent or sleeping when angels appeared. But they and we, by faith, can understand something of the continuous care, protection and guidance the God of heaven and earth provided for His incarnate Son through their invisible ministry.

Our Lord's references to angels ascending and descending upon Him was an allusion to Jacob's dream in Bethel (Gen. 28:12). The angels who protect Christ, their head, invisibly watch over Jacob or Israel and all Christ's "little ones" (Matt. 18:10; Heb. 1:14). Through His heavenly messengers, the Almighty aids our weak faith by assuring us of His own covenant presence with us, preserving us from evil, according to His eternal and sovereign will. May the Triune God—who reminds us of His care by His angels—keep you, believer, by the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ in 2012. "The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore" (Ps. 121:8).