Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
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Covenant Protestant Reformed Church

 

Ballymena

Rev. Angus Stewart

Lord’s Day, 13 March, 2011

 

"O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth

shall shew forth thy praise" (Ps. 51:15)

 

Morning Service - 11:00 AM - Rev. M. McGeown

Desire the Word!   [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: I Peter 1:1-2:3

Text: I Peter 2:2

I. The Meaning

II. The Manner

III. The Reason

Psalms: 148:7-14; 90:13-17; 12:3-8; 119:97-104

 

Evening Service - 6:00 PM - Rev. M. McGeown

Noah Builds by Faith   [download]   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:1-22

Text: Hebrews 11:7

I. The Faith-Filled Building

II. The Covenantal Concern

III. The Great Reward

Psalms: 93:1-5; 91:1-5; 79:9-13; 46:6-11

 

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:

Gordon Clark: "When a true Christian opposes the introduction of unbelief … the modernist is quick to complain of a lack of love … If the true believer had love, so he is told, he would not be so cantankerous, always objecting to sweet-souled writers of innocuous platitudes spiced with denials of Scriptural truth. What the modernists do not mention, and what they hope no one will notice, is that the ‘cantankerous’ Christian is showing a sincere love to the children who are in danger of being poisoned. The pure food and drug law may not seem lovely to one who wishes to cheapen and to adulterate; to the consumer, on the other hand, it is the essence of brotherly love" (Commentary on First Peter).

John Calvin: "For we ought to consider the assaults of temptation to which his [i.e., Noah’s] breast was continually exposed. First, the prodigious size of the ark might have overwhelmed all his senses, so as to prevent him from raising a finger to begin the work. Let the reader reflect on the multitude of trees to be felled, on the great labour of conveying them, and the difficulty of joining them together. The matter was also long deferred; for the holy man was required to be engaged more than a hundred years in most troublesome labour … Certainly, unless they had been restrained by the mighty hand of God, they would have stoned the holy man a hundred times … I even think, that they did not restrain their hands from disturbing his work. Therefore, although he may have addressed himself with alacrity to the work committed to him; yet his constancy might have failed more than a thousand times …" (Commentary on Genesis).

Announcements (subject to God’s will)

We welcome Rev. McGeown today. He will be preaching both services for us. Rev. Stewart is preaching for the Limerick Reformed Fellowship.

Catechism classes: Monday, 6:00 PM - Joseph, Jacob, Nathan & Alex

Monday, 6:45 PM - Zoe, Amy & Lea

Tuesday, 12:15 PM - Beginners NT Class

Tuesday Bible study: 11 AM, on II Thessalonians 2:11-12 on God’s sending strong delusion upon the followers of the man of sin.

Wednesday Belgic Confession class: 7:45 PM. We’ll look at Article 9 on the proof of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Thursday’s Membership class is at 7:30 PM.

The Reformed Witness Hour next Lord’s Day (8:30-9:00 AM, on Gospel 846MW) is entitled "Jesus’ Prayer for His Own" (John 17:6-10) by Rev. R. Kleyn.

Next Lord’s Day evening, we will have preparatory with a view to partaking of the Lord’s Supper on 27 March.


Letter to the English Churchman (28 January & 4 February, 2011)

Modesty

Dear Sir,

The raising of the subject of modesty is timely (Letter, EC 7809).  Indeed, the whole matter of a believer's dress is worthy of more attention than we generally give it.

The tendency seems to be to view dress as a matter of little importance. It is largely a question of personal taste, fashion, or perhaps Christian liberty, with an appeal to I Samuel 16:7 for some Scriptural backing. But is the Lord really as unconcerned about these things as we might be led to believe? As I read I Corinthians 11:1-16, I Timothy 2:9-10 and I Peter 3:3, I find the Holy Spirit not only giving us quite detailed instructions as to how we are to appear outwardly, but basing that instruction on profound doctrinal principles, such as the headship of Christ. Young people in the churches are under immense pressure from their peers and their own flesh to conform to the fashions of this world, and it seems to me that we are happy to let them go that way, but Scripture says we are all to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God ... and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:1-2).

Part of the problem may well be that we think of salvation purely in terms of the soul, forgetting that Christ is also the Saviour of the body and that His saving work in us will not be complete until our bodies are glorified. Even now, the body is "for the Lord" and is the temple of the Holy Ghost (I Cor. 6:13, 19), and surely one consequence of this is that we may not treat our bodies as though they were our own, perhaps by clothing them according to the vulgar fashions of this fallen world. We must not forget, either, that our need for clothing stems from our fall and the shame before God that it brought upon us. Clothes are a daily reminder to us of our need for a covering for our sin.

And what a covering God has given us: the sinless beauty and righteousness of Christ. "I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk" (Eze. 16:10). "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework" (Ps. 45:13-14). "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isa. 61:10). How that beautiful picture is stripped of its meaning and helpfulness when we see even professing believers clothed in the unseemly garb of the cat walk.

There is something rather perverse about the fashions of our present age. King Solomon wrote, "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man in rags" (Prov. 23:21), but today people will work very hard earning enough money to buy expensive designer clothes that look as though they are ready to be turned into dusters. Scruffy, slovenly dress is something to be gloried in, or so it would appear. One can buy garments ready frayed and ripped.  God has clothed the world in beauty, even the grass "which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven" (Luke 12:28), but man, the very crown of creation, prefers to clothe himself in rags.

In our evangelical and Reformed churches we must confess that things can be little better with standards of dress and modesty being challenged even in worship services. There is a fashion these days for low-slung jeans and I remember being in a meeting with a number of young men and women sitting in front of me, who, as they leaned over to pray, exposed flesh that would be considered embarrassing even in the street. I am sure it was a great affront to God, but to my shame I let the matter pass.

Does not the concept of modesty extend beyond the question of how much of the body is covered to include also the manner in which it is covered? A person may be fully covered but the fashion for close fitting, figure-hugging clothes means that while they might be adhering to the letter of Christian modesty they are straining the spirit of it. Is it right for us to draw attention to our bodies in this way when we should be drawing attention to the Saviour?

So what can we do about it? If we are "apt to teach" we can instruct from the Scriptures. If we are older women we can draw alongside the girls and younger women to teach them sobriety (Titus 2:3-5). And all of us can set a more godly example and be encouragers in the way of the Lord.

Yours sincerely,

John Hooper


Letter to the English Churchman (28 January & 4 February, 2011)

The Covenant of Grace

Dear Sir,

In EC 7810, your Dutch correspondent referred to the covenant view of the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC).

In keeping with the biblical and Reformed doctrines of Calvinism, we believe that the covenant of grace is a covenant of sovereign, particular and irresistible grace rooted in eternal, unconditional election in Jesus Christ, for "election is the fountain of every saving good, from which proceed faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation, and finally eternal life itself, as its fruits and effects" (Canons of Dordt I:9; Eph. 1:4). The Triune God "confirmed the new covenant" by "the most precious death of his Son" for "all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given him by the Father" (Canons II:8; John 10:14-15, 26). As Westminster Larger Catechism Answer 31 states, "The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam and in him with all the elect as his seed" (cf. Gal. 3:16, 29).

God's covenant grace, covenant promise, covenant salvation and covenant blessings are most fully treated in the Scriptures in Romans 9:6-24, that great passage on sovereign, unconditional, double predestination, consisting of eternal election and reprobation, in the covenant line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the covenant nation of Israel. "So then," the apostle concludes, salvation—covenant salvation—is not of him that willeth [i.e., man's alleged free will], nor of him that runneth [i.e., man's strenuous efforts and works], but of God that sheweth mercy" (Rom. 9:16; cf. Rom. 4:16; Eph. 2:8-9).

The covenant formula identifies the covenant with Jehovah's being our God (to save, succour, glorify and dwell with us forever) and our being His people (to trust, walk and dwell with Him in blessedness and peace). Jehovah portrays His covenant with us as His tabernacling with us and as the relationships of husband to wife and of father to son. Abraham, the father of all believers (Rom. 4:11-18), with whom God magnified His covenant (Gen. 15; 17; Gal. 3), is called God's "friend" (II Chron, 20:9; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). Thus God's covenant is wonderful union, communion and fellowship with Him in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, so that by grace we believe in Him, repent of our sins, love Him, worship Him and do good works and keep His commandments from the heart and out of gratitude (Isa. 55:3-5; Jer. 31:31-34; 32:40; Eze. 36:25-28).

For free articles, audios and videos on God's covenant or to order books or free pamphlets on the covenant of grace, check out this special on-line resources page.

 

Rev. Angus Stewart

Covenant Protestant Reformed Church