Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
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Covenant Protestant Reformed Church

 

Ballymena

Rev. Angus Stewart

Lord’s Day, 4 July, 2010

 

"One generation shall praise thy works to another,

and shall declare thy mighty acts" (Ps. 145:4)

 

Morning Service - 11:00 AM - Candidate McGeown

The Dreadful Sin of Self-Righteousness   [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-17

Text: Luke 18:9-14

I. Illustrated in the Pharisee

II. Contrasted With the Publican

III. Its Dreadful Result

Psalms: 145:1-6; 69:23-28; 131:1-3; 116:1-6

 

Evening Service - 6:00 PM - Rev. Stewart

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Future (4)

The Attack of Gog and Magog    [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 38:1-23

Text: Ezekiel 38:1-23

I. The Remarkable Prophecy

II. The Apocalyptic Fulfilment

III. The Ancient Predictions

Psalms: 122:1-9; 69:29-36; 35:3-8; 83:1-8

 

Contact Stephen Murray for CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services.

 

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

 

Quotes to Consider:

Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 38: "God does not only see those that are now the enemies of His church and set himself against them, but He foresees those that will be so and lets them know by His Word that He is against them too, and yet is pleased to make use of them to serve His own purposes, for the glory of His own name; surely their wrath shall praise Him, and the remainder thereof He will restrain (Ps. 76:10)."

John B. Taylor on Ezekiel 38: "Now the idea of a huge eschatological battle between the forces of evil, or the north, and the faithful people of God was no new one. Ezekiel was aware that he spoke of a fulfilment of events which earlier spokesmen had prophesied (38:17; 39:8), and his words echoed the language of others, especially Jeremiah (Jer. 4:5-6:26; cf. Joel 2:20). He was in fact representing the last days in terms of the ‘day of the Lord’ imagery which dominated the future for prophets like Joel (Joel 2:28-32), Amos (Amos 5:18-20) and Zephaniah (Zeph. 1:14-18), and which appears strongly in parts of Isaiah (Isa. 29:5-8; 66:15ff.) and Zechariah (Zech 12:1-9; 14:1-15)."

Announcements (subject to God’s will):

We welcome Candidate McGeown and David Crossett, who is back from India. Candidate McGeown will be preaching for us this morning. Immediately after this evening’s service, male confessing members will be asked to vote to approve calling Candidate McGeown to be our missionary based in Limerick working with the Limerick Reformed Fellowship. Everyone is invited to stay for tea after this brief meeting.

Mr. Callender had a minor operation done this past week. He remains in Belfast City Hospital due to an infection. Please remember this brother and his family in your prayers.

BRF Conference bookings were due this past Thursday. Payments can be given to Ivan Reid and booking information e-mailed or posted to Stephen Rushton.

Those interested in being the caretaker for the new church building, please contact the Council before 18 July.

The Reformed Witness Hour next Lord’s Day (8:30-9:00 AM, on Gospel 846MW) is entitled "Living in the Power of God’s Promises" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Douglas and Francesco are going to set up and run a book stall at the 12th of July at the Ballee Playing Fields in Ballymena again this year. We pray that the Lord will use this witness in the community.

The Council will meet Monday, 19 July, at 7 PM at the manse.

Offerings: General Fund: £905.65. Donations: £21 (S. Wales).

Website Additions: 1 Ukrainian and 2 German translations were added.

PRC News: Trinity PRC’s new trio is Candidate Holstege, Rev. Kuiper (Randolph, WI) and Rev. Spronk (Peace, IN). Holland called Rev. Eriks.


Encouraging Quotes

"Thank you for sending the Lord’s Day bulletin ... I am deeply grateful for your kindness ... and assure you of my continuing interest in the work of the Lord at the CPRC and its many avenues of service near and far. It is especially encouraging to me to see how the Lord is answering prayer via the distribution of the CR News and the translation work published on the internet. The all-glorious One on the white horse is conquering mightily amidst the increasing apostasy which is fulfilling His will at the same time. What an amazing God is the One with us and for us that is ours. Every blessing in all the He causes you to put your hands to." - Gloucestershire, England

"I just finished watching several of the videos of your debate with Rev. Timothy Ramsay. I just wanted to thank you for boldly speaking the truth and articulating so well the biblical position of the doctrines of grace ... I look forward to finishing the series on Charismaticism." - Mississippi, USA

"Thank you very much for sending me your sermons by e-mail. I enjoy listening and learn a lot from them. May God richly bless you and your church ... Would you please send me a Heidelberg Catechism?" - Co. Antrim

"Thank you very much for the two [Psalm] CDs which arrived safely ... It will probably be quite a while before we get to learn to sing the Psalms. Nevertheless, we feel blessed simply to know there are still people who treasure the old paths." - Australia

"Thank you for sharing with me the Covenant Reformed News. I had a great time watching your debate on YouTube on the subject of Charismaticism. Very informative indeed. What convinces me the most is the part when you said something like the signs and wonders that were witnessed during the time of the apostles were given as a validation of the message they brought to the people and to let the people know that they were true messengers of God. Also, I like that part when you said that miracles are being used in churches today as a way of promoting heretical teachings foreign to Scripture. Your arguments confirmed my lingering suspicion about people who gather to praise God and show signs like speaking in tongues, performing healings and doing miracles in the name of God as ‘evidence’ of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now I have the answer from Scriptures, thanks to you and the sponsor of that debate." - Canada

"Thanks very much for the tapes. We very much enjoyed them. I must look at your online catalogue. Thanks too for the books." - Wales

"Thanks for making the PRC Calvin Conference videos available [on YouTube]." - USA

"Thanks for all the updates [on the new CPRC Facebook account]!" - S. Africa

"I really enjoy the Reformed Witness Hour on the radio ... I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I like the Reformed teaching and the application of the Scriptures." - Co. Antrim

"Really enjoying your sermons. There is very little Calvinism in Bournemouth. David Engelsma’s book Prosperous Wicked and Plagued Saints is one of the best books I have every read ... May I purchase The Wonder of Grace by Herman Hoeksema?" - Dorset, England

"Thanks so much for the CR News. I’m studying and listening to all the debates and its been a great blessing for me and my spiritual growth." - Philippines

"I listened to the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate between yourself and Timothy Ramsey yesterday, although it was not actually a debate as none of your arguments were analysed, let alone defeated by your opponent. In fact, many of them were simply ignored ... You were a great encouragement to me as you patiently endured their foolishness with kindness and at the same time you were keen to steal what time you could to deftly cut to the heart of each point to the glory of God ... Be sure that the truth you spoke was heard ..." - USA

"Thank you for sending me your latest CR News ... I read all the News on your internet site ... your website has been and is beneficial to me." - Yorkshire, England

"I really enjoyed your sermons. I find them most encouraging and biblical not to mention Reformed. I can only imagine the hard work for the faithful exegesis of the text you preach from. May the Lord continue to be gracious and merciful to further His cause. Could you suggest some good material for our youth group ...?" - Singapore

"Thank you very much for sending me the CR News. I love reading them. They’re great!" - Co. Tyrone

"I listened to the sermon ‘The Requirements of the Seventh Commandment’ yesterday. Thank you for being so unambiguous and crystal clear about this subject and for not compromising with this rotten world. This sermon wiped out the last false views I had about worldly entertainment. I searched my laptop, mobile phone and Facebook site and deleted all the worldly entertainment stuff I could find. I don’t want to listen to people who hate the God I love and who enjoy their sins ... I thank God that I was able to listen to that sermon and I thank God that such sermons exist." - Germany

"I’ve just finished listening to the CDs on ‘The Outrage at Gibeah.’ I had not thought of this holy narrative as applying to the N.T. Church in the way your exegesis explained. I found it a powerful and thought-provoking exposition and challenging application. I am still enjoying The Reformed Faith of John Calvin: The Institutes in Summary and dipping into the Institutes themselves—it’s a great blessing. I am still not in regular fellowship yet as I find myself out of kilter with so much that passes for worship and preaching these days ..." - W. Midlands, England