Broadcasting live now! See us at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/reformed-forum-live.  We’re recording a chunk of next week’s Christ the Center.

I have often thought of the value of having an old church building for a new church plant. If the Lord chooses to bless the work here in Richmond Hill I would love to build a church building modeled after one of the old, stone church buildings in the North East or the UK. There is a rich philosophy behind the architecture of both the building and the surrounding additions (i.e. courtyard, graveyard, etc.). My friend, Alexander Brown , has written a post with some thoughts by Tim Keller on this subject. I think you’ll find it a worthwhile post. You can read it here .

You should also read some of Alex’s other posts. Alex is from Dundee in the wonderful land of Scotland. During his college years he worshiped at St. Peter’s Free church, where David Robertson is currently minister. Robert Murray McCheyne was once pastor there as well. Alex is currently an intern at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, and is seeking a call to the ministry. You can listen to some of his sermons here .

It is not uncommon to hear someone refer to Sinclair Ferguson as being the best theologian in the English speaking world. Anyone who has read his books or heard his sermons and lectures will admit that this is in no way an unfit commendation. His style is simply yet profound, his expositions are terse but weighty–his insights are simply unparalleled. It is due in part to his mastery of the various theological loci . His uncanny ability to wed systematic, biblical, exegetical and historical theology in his expositions of Scripture demonstrate this unsurpassed giftedness.

There is another aspect of his ministry that is often overlooked (of the same essence as that which he has so often commended in the life and ministry of Richard Baxter). Ferguson has, on several occasions, alluded to the fact that Baxter would “set time bombs in Kidderminster” by illustrating divine truth with everyday objects in the city. The brilliance of this method was that, no matter where someone walked in the city they would be reminded of something Baxter had said in a sermon. Like Baxter before him, Sinclair Ferguson exhibits the ability to draw from Scripture and bring it to bear on the experiences and objects in the world. Without trivializing transcendent truths, he demonstrates their experiential relevance in the world in which we live.

All the strengths that Sinclair Ferguson brings to his biblical expositions are found in the articles republished in Reformation Trust’s recently released, In Christ Alone. Written over a twenty year period, articles from Eternity Magazine and Tabletalk have been edited and organized into a manageable volume. Even the cover art, designed by Geoff Stevens, demonstrates the time and effort that went into making this volume so impressive. In Christ Alone is a welcomed addition to the Reformation Trust series.
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Bavinck’s analysis of the covenant of grace is quite moving. He stops several times to marvel at the beauty, the continuity, and it’s hard not to get choked up with him. So far Bavinck has mapped out the groundwork needed to be done by a mediator to God on man’s behalf: guarantee an incalculable debt of moral righteousness to the sovereign, restore the old covenant promises (life, eternal life), and pay for it all with an impeccable life and death. Of all the applicants for the position of God’s gift to humanity, there is only one man right for the job.

The doctrine of Christ is central for dogmatics, writes Bavinck, and it has its foundation and presupposition in the Trinitarian being of God. The Trinity makes it possible for the existence of a mediator who participates in the divine and human nature. A divine mediator is nothing new to world religion or popular culture from Gilgamesh to Neo. When Bavinck was writing nearly a century ago, he argued that an exclusive ‘history of religions’ approach overlooks the election of Abraham – the distinction that marks off Israel’s covenant relationship with God that eventually saw the Messiah into the world. The oversight results in looking around at various cultural myths of messianic figures. Bavinck argues this is the modernist way of kicking around the original literary form of Christ’s body from one culture to the next like a football. He’s right. Postmoderns do the same thing when they read the Old Testament descriptively rather than prescriptively.* Where did the idea for a divine mediator originate? The Medes? Assyria? Ancient Babylonia? Israel? The goal of dogmatics is to maintain the universal need for a mediator as self-evident. The rest, so to speak, is up to God.

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Christ the Center is now on the radio. You can tune in at anytime and listen to the interviews. You can open the necessary file here .

Dr. Jon Payne, minister of Grace Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, Ga, has been bringing in excellent preachers and speakers for the past 5 years for their Reformation Heritage Conference. In 2004, Derek Thomas came and gave a series of lectures on Calvin, Geneva and Reformed Worship. Darryl Hart spoke in 2005 on American Reformation Heritage. Iain Murray came in 2006 and spoke on The Scottish Reformation. In 2007 Carl Trueman spoke on the German Reformation; and in 2008 Michael Horton gave a series of lectures on the Reformation and the Means of Grace.

Upcoming Conference speakers include Paul Jones, Joel Beeke, and Carl Trueman. Jones will be speaking on “The Music of the Protestant Reformation” in 2009. Dr. Beeke will be lecturing on “The Dutch Reformation” in 2010; and Dr. Trueman will focus on”The English Reformation.”

This really is a well thought out Conference. There are not many Conferences that focus on a nation by nation contribution to the Reformation. If you are not familiar with Dr. Jon Payne, I want to encourage you to look out for the forthcoming Christ the Center episode where I talk with Jon about Reformed Worship. Jon has authored two books : John Owen on the Lord’s Supper and In the Splendor of Holiness .

Who would you dedicate a book to if you could dedicate it to anyone? This is clearly the most outstanding book dedication ever. There is, of course, a correlation between this dedication and the author’s success!

Several years ago I was working for a construction company–renovating and building homes. It was probably one of the most difficult jobs I have ever had; but it was what God used to teach me the value of working hard. One weekday morning, I woke up and read the evening section of this particular section of the Daily Light . As I drove to work that morning I meditated on Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” I was not sure why that particular verse stuck out as the one on which I would meditate as I went to work. That morning turned out to be one of the hardest mornings I had at this job. We had just finished building an extension on the back of a home and now had to put new sod down where we had ruined the grass. I was asked to rake a huge pile of dirt across the section we would put new grass on. As I labored and grumbled, I soon discovered that there were birds (Robins) right next to me. I labored and they hopped around. After a little while I realized that they were much closer to me than birds generally get. I started wondering why they were not afraid of me. I stopped and watched them for a minute. They were eating worms. “Well,” I thought, “Birds eat worms; there’s nothing unusual about that.” Then I realized what was happening. As I raked the dirt, I was being used to uncover the worms that lay beneath. The verse I had read that morning came to mind, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.” My Father in heaven was using me to reap and labor so that the birds would be fed. There was, of course, an even greater truth in this rare experience. My Father was teaching me that He cares so much more for me than for them. “Are you not of more value than they?” My heavenly Father has abundantly provided for me since that time. I have never been in want. He has taught me that “every good and every perfect gift comes from…the Father of lights.” He had taught me to trust Him for my needs.

Last night, almost 7 years after that event, I was sitting on my bed expressing my worries about the church plant. “How are we going to get support;” “If we can’t gather a core group we won’t have a church;” “What am I going to do?” These were the things coming out of my mouth. At that very moment, I opened the Daily Light and began to read the evening devotional I read almost 7 years ago that day. The Lord again reminded me to trust the One who feeds birds who do not labor for food, and in whom we live and move and have our being. Oh, that I would remember this lesson every day of my life. It is one of the greatest lessons we could ever learn. We have a Father in Heaven who cares deeply for us. He provides for our every need. He has so ordered nature to exhibit His care and preservation that we ought always to make the connection between His care for objects of lesser value and greater value. Above all He provided His Son as a sacrifice for sin. I am exceedingly thankful that He continues to teach me this lesson.

I had the enormous privilege of sitting down with Dr. Douglas Kelly, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC at the Twin Lakes Fellowship to get an interview for Christ the Center. The first volume of Dr. Kelly’s Systematic Theology has been published by Christian Focus. I was able to talk with Dr. Kelly about various aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity. You can listen to the Christ the Center episode here.

Not long after Twin Lakes, I was speaking with my mother (who greatly appreciates Dr. Kelly’s preaching and teaching ministry) about the interview. She gave me a sermon tape of a message Dr. Kelly gave at the dedication of Golden Isles Presbyterian Church on St. Simon’s Island, Ga (The church I went to as a teenager). There is a note of interest in Rev. Al Baker’s introduction of Dr. Kelly. The message was delivered in 1997. Al mentions the fact that Dr. Kelly was just about to take a sabbatical to work on a new book–his Systematic Theology. You can listen to this message here.

My friend James Grant has a great post on Baptism and Wooden Legs. You really should read the links he includes as well.You can find it here .

Here is the link to some of the greatest Biblical Theological thoughts on the sufferings of Christ. Praise to our God for taking our curse upon Himself.

“There were two exegetes who prayed as they entered the library to work on understanding a biblical text. One was a biblical scholar and the other a common lay preacher. The biblical scholar, on route to deep seclusion in the collection of recent monographs, prayed like this:

‘Lord, I thank you that I am not like other exegetes– the youth ministers, authors of popular devotional literature, mass production book publishers or even this lay preacher. I study the Scriptures for hours every day– in their original… and several other languages, not to mention my work in ancient history and historiography, literary theory, social-scientific research, the most important commentaries, the most recent monographs and dissertations, and the most scholarly periodicals!’

But the lay preacher, trying to remember how to use the complicated cataloging system to find an understandable commentary on a passage of Scripture, prayed thus,

‘God, please help me, a mere preacher, find something to help me understand Your word.’

I tell you, this person– who desperately needed it– received help from the Lord.”

–Craig G. Bartholomew and Robby Holt, “Prayer in/and the Drama of Redemption,” in Reading Luke: Interpretation, Reflection, Formation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 350.

From: http://tollelege.wordpress.com/

Since Ronald Alexander set up a website in honor of his father’s life and ministry, a new series on the book of Revelation has posted on the site. You can find and download this here . Like any good "inaugurated millennialist" Rev. Alexander does a masterful job of presenting the Christ of Revelation. I know you will enjoy listening to this series.

The best of all free advice in the world is always read the fine print before signing . This has saved many from the pitfalls and headaches of purchasing everything from lemons to credit. Many not most. But with the Covenant of Grace one should pay special attention to the details for a different reason. There are more blessings and benefits in the details than one might expect. How many? How much? Bavinck himself would say you won’t believe the price .

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We really had a positive response from everyone who joined in, and it has been a blessing connecting with so many readers and admirers of Bavinck. Thanks so much for participating. The winners are:

Scott Meadows. Athens, GA.

Aron Gahagan, from Hackettstown, NJ.

And Max and Carolyn Youngblood of Bessemer, AL.

Special thanks to Reformation Heritage Books, and Feeding on Christ. Check out my blog for Puritan/Reformed theology and more. Thanks.
-Joel Heflin

You can watch all of the plenary sessions live at the 2009 Gospel Coalition Conference here. This is one conference I wish I could have been at. Check out some of the speakers, and, if you have time, watch some of the live feeds.

And the winner is…

Max and Carolyn Youngblood of Bessemer, AL. Congratulations. We hope you enjoy Bavinck’s Saved By Grace .

Here is the link to my most recent sermon. It was delivered on Sunday evening, April 19, 2009 at Independent Presbyterian Church. The text was John 4:1-30; the title, “Jesus and the Empty Water Pot.” I was struck several years ago, as I read through the account, by John’s mention of the woman leaving her water pot after her interaction with Jesus.

You can find more sermons I preached over the past two years at Sermon Audio, Monergism, and the New Covenant Presbyterian Church Website. If you know people in the Savannah area who are looking for a church home please direct them to these links and the New Covenant website.

Please remember to call in tonight to our first live call-in show.  We’ll be hosting a live Reformed Media Review tonight – Monday, April 20 at 8PM Eastern. We’ll be asking the question “What books got you started in reformed theology?” You can listen live at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/28332 or call (724) 444-7444 (Call ID: 28332). We’ll be giving away a couple copies of the latest issue of the Confessional Presbyterian Journal and an autographed copy of Resurrection and Eschatology to people who call in to the show. Join us for our first live episode!

Thanks to the diligent work of Josh Espinosa the 2009 Twin Lakes audio is online here . The talks were as follows:

Worship (the audios will be the link with the title of the message)

1. Dr. Douglas F. Kelly – Deuteronomy 23:3-6 “God Turns Curses into Blessings “
2. Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas – Romans 11:33-36 “The Majesty of God “
3. Dr. Ligon Duncan – Titus 1:1/1 Timothy 6:2-4 “What is Theology For? “

Seminars (the audios will be the link with the title of the message)

1. Ron Gleason – Herman Bavinck
2. Ligon Duncan – Systematic Theology and Pastoral Ministry
3. David Robertson – Emergent Calvinism
4. Terry Johnson – Biblical, Historical, and Theological Case for Reformed Worship
5. Jonathan Leeman – What in the World is the Missional Church?

Devotionals (these may not all be in their entirety, but enjoy what’s offered)

• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five
• Six

I also had the unique privilege of interviewing some of the pastors and theologians there for Christ the Center. Please be on the lookout for these interviews.

Here are some videos posted by Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. I think you will be interested in some of their announcements, including the fact that Sinclair Ferguson will be speaking at their graduation service this year. He is also teaching a course there in May on the Westminster Standards. It is a Th.M. course and will, no doubt, be very beneficial. Anyone near Grand Rapids can audit the course for only $40.00.

In four days we will announce the winners for the great Bavinck giveaway. In case you haven’t heard: Reformation Heritage Books, Feeding on Christ, and Joel Heflin are holding a drawing to give away one copy each of Bavinck’s Saved by Grace, the Holy Spirit’s Work in Calling and Regeneration (RHB, 2008). Reformation Heritage has anteed up and is including Bavinck’s Essays on Religion, Science and Society (Baker, 2008) on their site as well. Three chances to win in three separate drawings. To enter simply subscribe to the Reformation Heritage blog and/or Feeding on Christ, and/or Joel Heflin’s blog . Send an email to each blog/website telling them you’ve subscribed and you will be entered in the random drawing. Special thanks to Reformation Heritage Books for their gracious support.

I encourage you to read about the persecuted church more often.   No matter how bad a day you may have had in America, your day was probably pretty good compared to them.  Or are they the ones blessed with the most glorious days, being counted worthy to suffer for His sake?  May we pray for them more . . .

“Lateef,” was born and raised in a Coptic Christian family. He became a quiet Christian. In Egypt, where proselytizing is illegal, Lateef rarely shared his faith. Then in 1994, he says he heard God’s voice compelling him to tell others about Christ. That is when he zealously began sharing the gospel with Muslims in his Upper Egyptian villiage. Soon after, Lateef was arrested and jailed. When released, he returned to evangelizing. He was put back in jail. This has gone on for the last 14 years, with Lateef’s most recent arrest and release occured in the summer of 2008. Often when Lateef is arrested he undergoes extreme torture. During one arrest in 1996, an Egyptian state security officer punched him in the mouth and broke two of his teeth. “He shouted, ‘Don’t talk about Christ, don’t preach, don’t evangelize,” recalled Lateef. “He said, ‘This dog will no longer talk about Jesus!” Once, he was locked in a toilet stall where guards urinated on him. Repeated electric shocks injured his feet and his lower abdomen was sliced so severly with a knife, his intestines spilled out. Guards allowed jailed Muslim soldiers to extinguish their lit cigarettes on Lateef’s arm and shoulder. But Lateef could not remain silent. Even imprisoned he shared Christ. On one occasion, while he was in jail, incarcerated Muslims asked Lateef to lead prayers from the Quran. They assumed he was part of a conservative Islamic group, The Muslim Brotherhood. Lateef agreed, but he was praying using Bible verses. He was able to do this for four months. Many Muslims do not know what is in the Quran; they only know what Muslim teachers have told them. One inmate even told him how Lateef’s prayers were the first time he had heard prayers that were real. When Lateef was caught evangelizing in prison he was tortured. Once he was tied to a ladder with ropes and the ladder was turned upside down. Lateef said, “Three security officers beat me all over my body with wooden sticks and said I was a kaffir (unbeliever) and deserved the beatings.” “I prayed for my persecutors because they did not know Jesus. I asked God to reveal the truth to them.” Lateef says God has allowed his repeated imprisonment and torture in order to be glorified. “I’m like garbage. The glory is for the Lord only.”

(From Voice of the Martyrs Magazine, March 2009)

www.persecution.com

I have the privilege, as a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, of serving as the teacher of the congregation at Calvary OPC in Ringoes, NJ.  I serve along side my colleague Rev. Jim Cassidy and three ruling elders whom I love dearly.  One of my duties has been to teach the adult Sunday School class.  Since taking up my duties at Calvary, I have worked through a course on the atonement and the book of Acts (we only got as far as chapter 9) and the class has been very interested in the material and patient with me as an instructor.  Recently the session asked me to prepare a course on the life and theology of John Calvin in celebration of his 500th birthday.  Since I have never taught on John Calvin in any depth before, I have had to hit the books in order to prepare for my lessons.  In my preparations for the course, I have come across some new titles on Calvin that I wanted to share with you.

The first is a new title by Dr. Joel Beeke, president of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids.  The title of the volume is The Soul of Life:  The Piety of John Calvin.  It is the latest in the Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series published by Reformed Heritage Books.  Dr. Beeke has brought together primary sources from the writings of Calvin on various aspects of Christian piety.  You can find the book here and here.

Another new title is The Theology John Calvin by Dr. Charles Partee of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  The interesting thing about this book is that is written from a “no school” approach.  That is, Partee sees three groups reading Calvin:  conservative Calvinists like Richard Muller, Liberals and Neo-Orthodox.  Partee notes that he is endeavoring to read Calvin on his own terms and he uses the tried and true loci method of systematic theology.  In other words, he will not be concentrating on the historical context of Calvin’s theology nor its development over time.  It remains to be seen how successful the author is.  My spot checking of the book has yielded some fascinating results.  You can obtain the book here.

The final book I would like to mention is Herman J. Selderhuis’ John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life, published by InterVarsity Press.  This is a well writted, fast paced biography that will keep the readers’ attention.  I hearily recommend this book.  It can be found here.  Paul Helm has written a helpful review of the book here.

I just finished reading a refreshing study of Calvin and his political philosophy and view of war by my fellow Orthodox Presbyterian minister abd New Jersey presbyter, Dr. Mark J. Larson.  The book, Calvin’s Doctrine of the State:  A Reformed Doctrine and Its American Trajectory, The Revolutionary War, and the Founding of the Republic was recently published by Wipf & Stock Publishers and can be found here .  Dr. Larson did his dissertation, of which this is revised version, under Richard Muller at Calvin Theological Seminary.

Larson persuasively argues that Calvin was not in favor of holy war but rather stands in the just war tradition begun by Augustine of Hippo and exemplified in the theology of Thomas Aquinas where both deal with jus ad bellum and jus in bello criteria.  Larson helpfully contextualizes Calvin by showing his similarities and differences with fellow Reformers such as Heinrich Bullinger and Peter Martyr Vermigli.  While it is true that the English Puritans inherited a form of holy war doctrine, it did not come from Calvin.

Larson also effectively argues that Calvin was in favor of republicanism in both the political and ecclesiastical spheres, eschewing monarchy and pure democracy in society and episcopalianism and congregationalism in the church.

I heartily recommend this volume to anyone interested in Calvin, or politics, or war or presbyterian polity.  If you are like me, you will be interested in all of these.  The text is a brief 103 pages and it is clearly and concisely written.  Dr. Larson has apparently learned from Calvin the value of claritas et brevitas !

Jonathan Leeman, one of the pastors at Capital Hill Baptist in Washington, D.C., came to Twin Lakes to speak about the Missional Church. Tracing the history of the word and concept of what it means to be missional, Leeman suggests that it reaches back to the 1940′s and 50′s when the church growth movement began. The Roman Catholic Church picked up on the term. This shows how far reaching the word, as an ideology, has.

Leslie Newbigin was writing on the topic in the 50′s and 60′s as an Anglican missionary to India. Newbigin set into motion a critical reevaluation of why we do what we do. He suggested that we have moved into post-modernity and we need to rethink what we do in missions.

The content of the rest of Jonathan’s message can be found in an article published at 9 Marks. You can read it here . Audio to come.

The Reformed Forum has scheduled a live Reformed Media Review for Monday, April 20 at 8PM Eastern.  We’ll be asking the question "What books got you started in reformed theology?"  You can listen live at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/28332 or call (724) 444-7444 (Call ID: 28332).  We’ll be giving away a couple copies of the latest issue of the Confessional Presbyterian Journal to people who call in to the show.  Join us for our first live episode!

Dr. Duncan opened his talk by saying “If you are a pastor you are a theologian, the only question is, ‘Are you going to be a good one or a bad one?” And, “If you are a pastor be a Systematic Theologian and not merely a Thematic Theologian.” We live in an age that is anti-theological and anti-systematic. Our society does this while all the while holding to a systematic world view. This brings unto into a debate about whether we are going to be doctrinal or not. No matter how much someone says we shouldn’t be so confident in our doctrine, they are being confident in THEIR doctrine.

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We opened the Twin Lakes Fellowship with the hymn “That Man is Blest, who Fearing God.” After Ligon Duncan made the opening announcements, we sang “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.” It was beautiful to hear all these ministers of the Gospel singing praise to our God. Ron Gleason’s outstanding lecture was on Herman Bavinck. Ron is the author of The Death Penalty on Trial . Ron is presently writing the biography of Bavinck to be published by P&R Publishing.

A handout of one of Ron’s chapters was given out, specifically, Bavinck’s view of Calvin’s view of the Lord’s Supper. Ron suggests that it is time for Bavinck to move out of the shadow of Abraham Kuyper. “Kyper and Bavinck belong together like Goldman and Saks or Mercedes and Benz,” but Kuyper is usually placed out in front. Bavinck took over for Kuyper at the Free Univeristy. But it was always Kuyper and Bavinck and never Bavinck and Kuyper. Ron suggested that that historical order and rank was incorrect, especially in regard to theology.

Ron noted that Bavinck’s 20 years of Reformed Ethics will be published in due time. There is a team working on publishing Bavinck’s work on Ethics.
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Our last post concluded on a small slice of the infra- and supralapsarian views of grace by saying it was a real issue and not a myopic study of flavors. How one perceives the moment of regeneration directly contributes to views of adoption, faith, baptism, forgiveness, sanctification, scripture and sacrament. For Bavinck and the Reformed, these doctrines ultimately arrive at our fellowship with other believers and may impact personal faith in God.

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Here is a video to introduce you to World Wide Monk Fighting (WWMF):

HT: Roland Barnes

This is very exciting news! Ronald Alexander, son of the Rev. Eric J. Alexander has constructed a website in honor of his father’s life and ministry. You can access it here. You will find a biography, sermons he preached at St. George’s Tron during his 20 year ministry , and links to other resources. This site will be a great blessing to the church since Rev. Alexander is one of the best gifts Christ has given His church in our day. Among the sermon series posted are those on Job, Daniel, Malachi, The Sermon on the Mount, Galatians, and 1 Peter. There are also topical series on Acceptable Worship (John 4), Call to Clarity (Matthew 16), School of Discipleship (Studies in the Life of Peter), The Bible, The Godhead and the Church, Words from the Cross, Knowing Christ, Scripture in the Life and Teaching of Jesus, and The Doctrine of Salvation (Ephesians 1). All the sermons that Rev. Alexander preached at the Tron will be online here in due time.

You can also find other sermons and lectures by Eric Alexander here .

“God’s people are never so exalted as when they are brought low, never so enriched as when they are emptied, never so advanced as when they are set back by adversity, never so near the crown as when under the cross.”

(Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light On Dark Clouds)

This year’s Twin Lakes Fellowship is rapidly approaching. In order to provide information and insights into the Fellowship Josh Espinosa has developed a blog for TLF. You can find it here . If you are going to TLF, want to read the live blogging posts, or want to listen to audio files and interviews in due time, please subscribe to the blog or follow us on Twitter.

There’s no one like Him! Run to Him and be saved, safe, and satisfied!

Psalm 9:10: “And those who know Your name put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

Proverbs 18:10: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

Jesus Christ the Righteous, Saviour, Emmanuel, Teacher, Rabboni, Master, Governor, Law Giver, Forerunner, Redeemer, Messiah, Shiloh, Deliverer, Mediator, Intercessor, Messiah and Prince, a Prince and a Saviour, Mighty to Save

Surety of a Better Testament, the Just One, the Holy One, the Holy and the Just, the Holy and Righteous One, the Holy One of God, the Faithful and True Witness, a Witness to the People, a Leader and Commander of the People, the Consolation of Israel, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Jesus, the Young Child, Thy Holy Child, the Nazarene, Jesus of Nazareth, Lord, Lord Jesus, the Lord from Heaven, the Lord of Glory, the Lord Our Righteousness, the Lord of the Holy Prophets, Lord and Saviour, My Lord and My God, the Holy One of God
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Richard Glover (1837-1919) minister of Tyndale Baptist Church, Bristol has a very fine devotional commentary hidden under a bad title. “A Teachers Commentary on Matthew” (also a separate volume on Mark) is misleading, sounds D.O.A., and is easily passed over for something glossy. But as far as commentaries are concerned, Glover’s title is one of his only weaknesses. Glover writes with a deceptively simple style. He meditates on the text in front of him, looks for the heart, feeling, and experimental sense, gives instructive hints primarily for meditation but is wholly quotable. In a word, he is a fine example of expository writing, similar to the Scottish minister of Perth, George Lawson (1749-1820). Here is a short reading from Matthew 26:38, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.”

i.e. all but killed with sorrow. An hour before He had prayed as only the Son of God could pray: “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” – Now, as only a Son of man can, He prays with a heart broken with sorrow. In ordinary deaths a glory of immortal hope will express itself amidst sighs of anguish. A more marvellous blending of strength and weakness still meets us here. What moved such sorrow? Philosophers and felons have faced death with calm; how is it that the strong Son of God shrieks? Consider: The Saviour was unprotected by any coarseness of feeling. If you can despise or hate men, their hatred will not grieve you; but if you love them their hatred wounds. In all other directions also the perfectness of Christ’s nature increased His sensibility. The vision of sin assailing Him gave Him a horror of thick darkness to His soul. He saw sin in all its forms. In the disciples it was weakness; in the multitude, perversity and indifference to salvation; in the priests, a hellish hatred of what was good; in the rulers, an indifference to all justice; to Judas, a malignant selfishness and apostasy. When the evil of men presses itself upon our hearts, it will even in our dull hearts produce a little Gethsemane. What anguish would it inflict on Christ when all the wildest sins of man turned on Him to make Him their Victim! He bore our sins by bearing the brunt of their assaults on His soul … Add to these the terrific assault of temptation to doubt God and to shirk the cross (John 14:30) and the fact that temptation pains us in proportion to our purity, and it will easily be seen that there has been “no sorrow like unto Christ’s sorrow.” Love and bless Him for it.

I really doubt that anyone can say it any better. Derek Thomas and Rick Phillips have accurately expressed the problem with newer commentaries, and difference between old and new commentaries over at Reformation 21. If you are a pastor you should definitely read these posts. I suppose the only thing that could be added is a recommendation of Spurgeon’s Commenting and Commentaries as a source of worthwhile older commentary.

Perhaps the name John Colquhoun is not familiar to you. If it is not hopefully this post will serve as a somewhat suitable introduction to stir up interest in his work. John Colquhoun (pronounced "Cal-houn") (1748–1827) "was a minister in the Church of Scotland whose sermons and writings reflect those of the Marrow brethren of the Secession church. Colquhoun’s writings are theologically astute and intensely practical. He wrote on the core doctrines of the gospel, particularly on experiential soteriology." He "pursued his literary, philosophical, and theological course for ten years" at the University of Glasgow from 1768-1778. Colquhoun was licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland in the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1780. In 1781 he accepted a call to a church in Stirling where he "continued to labor with all diligence and faithfulness so long as his health and strength remained." Though he was well loved and well respected "it was not until 1813 that Mr. Colquhoun appeared as an author." His first publication was Spiritual Comfort . This was followed by the 1815 edition of "On the Law and the Gospel," the 1818 printing of "On the Covenant of Grace," the 1819 release of "A Catechism for the Instruction and Direction of Young Communicants," his 1822 published volume "On the Covenant of Works," the 1824 edition of "A view of Saving Faith from Sacred Records," an 1825 Collection of the Promises of the Gospel , and finally the 1826 edition of "A View of Evangelical Repentance from the Sacred Records." Colquhoun also added his name to a list of ministers who recommended Thomas Bell’s 1814 edition, A View of the Covenant of Works and Grace and a Treatise on the Nature and Effects of Saving Faith . By the titles and the proximity of these ministers in the Church of Scotland it may be safely assumed that one of the them influenced the other. John Colquhoun died on November 27, 1827 at 80. He was married twice but never had any children. A volume of his Sermons was published posthumously in 1836. John Colquhoun was a theologian and pastor who deserved to be remembered in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. He faithfully served his Lord and Master, and through his writings continues to find usefulness in the church today.

Reformation Heritage is soon to release Colquhoun’s A Treatise on the Law and Gospel .

Here is an except from this work:

The law and the gospel are the principal parts of divine revelation; or rather they are the center, sum, and substance of all the other parts of it. Every passage of sacred Scripture is either law or gospel, or is capable of being referred either to the one or to the other . . . If then a man cannot distinguish aright between the law and the gospel, he cannot rightly understand so much as a single article of divine truth. If he does not have spiritual and just apprehensions of the holy law, he cannot have spiritual and transforming discoveries of the glorious gospel; and, on the other hand, if his view of the gospel is erroneous, his notions of the law cannot be right.

Eric Alexander once gave a lecture at the Keswick Convention entitled “The Cup of Bitterness, and the Cup of Blessing.” In this talk he noted:

The supper is really a preview of the cross for the disciples, where they see it enacted before their eyes–as we do on occasion when we gather at the Lord’s table: a preview of the cross for them. But Gethsemane is essentially a foretaste of the cross for Him. There is a cup in the upper room there in Jerusalem which Paul delights to call, in the first letter to the Corinthians, “the cup of blessing which we bless.” “What shall I render unto the Lord,” asks the Psalmists, “for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation.” That is the cup that Jesus is offering to them–”Take, drink it,” He says.

But there is another cup, you will notice in these verses, a cup in Gethsemane; and that is the cup which Jesus calls “this cup”–”Father, if this cup may not pass from me except I drink it, Thy will be done.” And if the first cup in the upper room is the cup of blessing, and the cup of salvation which they are to drink, then the cup which Jesus looks upon there in the Garden, which makes the other cup possible, is the cup of bitterness and sorrow which He is to drink.

It seems to me that it is only when we have begun to understand something of the bitterness of the cup which He drank, that we can really discover what are the depths of the cup of salvation from which we have been finding we need to drink so deeply day by day. Now this experience of our Lord is a foretaste of the cross; for the whole ghastly spectacle of the sin of man is there before Him in this cup which comes before His eyes in Gethsemane, and the ingredients of His suffering and His agony on the cross.

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“Turn all your passions into the right channel, and make them all holy, using them for God upon the greatest things. This is the true cure: the bare restraint of them is but a palliate cure; like the easing of pain by a dose of opium. Cure the fear of man, by the fear of God, and the Love of the creature, by the Love of God, and the cares for the body, by caring for the soul, and earthly fleshly desires and delights, by spiritual desires and delights, and worldly sorrow, by profitable godly sorrow.”

(Richard Baxter, Christian Directory, p. 327)

William Carey was one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived, and one of the greatest linguists the world has ever seen…Christian or non-Christian. William Carey translated parts of the Bible into no fewer than thirty-four different Indian languages. He began his life as a cobbler, fixing shoes. When he arrived in India as a missionary, he was immediately regarded with dislike and contempt because of the very stringent caste system that the people had been locked into for centuries. So, he was given absolutely no respect.

One time, at a dinner party that Carey was attending, a snob had the idea of humiliating Carey because of Carey’s low estate. So that all could hear, he said: “I hear, Mr. Carey, that you once worked as a shoemaker?” “Oh no, your lordship,” said William Carey, “not a shoemaker, only a shoe repairman.”

From John MacArthur’s sermon, Perfect Love: The Qualities of True Love (Part 2)

Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

There is much to be said in terms of praise for Bavinck’s Saved by Grace, the Holy Spirit’s Work in Calling and Regeneration (RHB, 2008). ‘Profound,’ ‘fine,’ and ‘superb’ are accurate descriptions of this volume and more can be said for Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics (Baker, 2008). Given the long list of fine comments by fine scholars, on a certain level mine is more honest: if I had this book at grad school, I would have had better marks on more than a few papers.

Is the debate between infralapsarian and supralapsarian views of grace important? The short answer is yes. Exploring this rocky terrain is very difficult and, to push the analogy further, the study can be similar climbing Everest: a lifetime achievement for a mere three minute view at the top. What God was ‘thinking’ for his plan of salvation from all eternity is incomprehensible. At what point did he ‘decree’ to save his elect is equally unknowable even for three minutes. Christian theology and dogma often admits abstraction when explaining the decrees of God to create, redeem, and leave reprobate, all of which directs its focus on the doctrine of justification. As J. Mark Beach observes in his excellent introductory essay, the issue between infra and supra , Kuyper and Bavinck, is theological language that is potentially unbiblical and confusing.

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In his book of devotional readings, the 19th century Presbyterian J.R. Miller writing on John 5:7 notes:

“I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me in the pool.”

Are there not many unsaved people in every community who might also say, “I have no man to bring me to Christ” ? There are many lost souls for whom no one is caring. It may be answered that the Gospel is offered to all, that all could come if they would. Yet Christians must not forget that the unsaved can receive grace only through the saved; that those who are forgiven must carry the news of mercy to the unforgiven. The redemption is divine,–none but Jesus can save; but the priesthood is human. God’s ordinary way of finding sinners and bringing them to the Savior is through the love and pleading of other saved ones. Christ’s commission ran: “As the Father sent Me, even so send I you.” We are to do for the unsaved just what Christ did when he was here, what He would do now if He were living where we live, among them,–go to them and ask them if they would be made whole.

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You can listen to all the songs on Andrew Peterson’s newest album once on the player below. I think my favorite is #3 “All You’ll Ever Need.” This is a good example of allegory and typology. I think the first and third verses are examples of illegitimate allegorizing, while the second is sound typology of cleansing water as a type of the blood of Christ. Even though the first and third are probably not sound expositions of Scripture, I don’t really care because of the substance of the song. Sometimes the analogy of faith is more important than sound hermeneutics!

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Rev. Eric Alexander when I was in Scotland. In response to my question concerning  books he recommended on the subject of the cross of Christ, he commended, among other, R.A. Finlayson’s The Cross in the Experience of our Lord. I have heard Rev. Alexander reference this work several times before in sermons, but have not purchased it until now. According to the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology Rev. Finlayson was “a founding member of the Scottish Tyndale Fellowship, which later became the Scottish Evangelical Theological Society… He was also active in the beginnings of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship… He was much in demand as a preacher and conference speaker, with a wit as sharp as his pen (321).” He was professor of the Free Church of Scotland College from 1946-66. You can read several of his articles online. I found a few online that deal with God the Father, The Person of Christ, The Holiness of God, The Doctrine of Judgment, The Assurance of Faith, and an exposition of Judges 9:7-15 . You can also listen to a few of his sermons below:

The Gadarene Demoniac (Luke 8:35)
Lydia’s Conversion (Acts 16:13-15)

His bibliography includes:

Finlayson, R. A. “Contemporary Ideas of Inspiration.” In Revelation and the Bible: Contemporary Evangelical Thought, ed. Carl F. H. Henry. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1958.

Finlayson, R.A. “God’s Light on Man’s Destiny,” Edinburgh: Know Press.

Finlayson, R.A. “Reformed Theological Writings” Christian Focus: Mentor, 1996

Finlayson, R.A. “Terminology of the Atonement” Pt1&2, Banner of Truth 93 & 94/5 (Jun/Jul-Aug 1971) pp7-14 & 41-48.

Finlayson, R.A. “The Cross in the Experience of Our Lord,” London: Perry Jackman, 1955.

Here is a thought provoking post by Paul Helm on translations of Scripture and Pilate’s inscription over the cross of Christ. Helm concludes the post with this summary:

But how if ‘The King of the Jews’ is a title, or a description, of the one hanging there, can it express a proposition? Maybe, without distorting things, we could form a proposition from it, as presumably Pilate intended. The chief priests certainly thought that it was a proposition, or at least could easily be made into one, one that is equivalent to ‘I am the King of the Jews’, or ‘The one hanging below is the King of the Jews’, for they wanted to neuter the force of the original inscription by enclosing it within the safety of inverted commas, to be understood for a few days as nothing but the personal opinion of a troublesome, failed rabbi. Mercifully, for whatever reason, Pilate pulled rank. What he had written he had written, and what he wrote is true, true forever, in Greek, in Aramaic, in Latin, in English, in every natural language rich enough in nouns, pronouns and verbs to construct its truth-equivalent.

One thing that this shows to us is that the prevalent Post-Conservative obsession with context, part of its anti-Enlightenment animus, is gross exaggeration. Of course there are such things as differences in context, but in the mercy of God they may not matter very much, and they most certainly don’t matter as much as the post-Conservatives reckon. At the last, men and women out of every nation will cry ‘Worthy is the Lamb’.

There are several lessons for us here. But for the present this one will suffice: Is awareness of context important for the understanding and communication of the Christian faith? Yes and no. Of course it matters. ‘To the Jews became I as a Jew’. Does it matter supremely? No, it does not. Here, on the very Cross itself, is a truth expressed by a context-transcending statement, one expressed in different languages. From it we see that truth is translatable. It conveys the same cognitive meaning in these other languages, and these cultures, and these contexts. The knowledge that Jesus is the king of the Jews may become saving knowledge for souls in every nation, and people, and tribe and tongue.

James Grant, over at In Light of the Gospel , has pointed out that 16 years of audio from the National Founder’s Conference are now online. As I looked at the various conference themes this one specifically caught my eye. Beeke has three lectures on the Puritans. Errol Hulse also has several. All you Puritan lovers should enjoy these. I have heard two of these lectures by Beeke at different venues and have found them to be very profitable. Enjoy.

The Yale University and University of Glasgow sponsored Jonathan Edwards and Scotland Conference, for which I went to Scotland, ended last Tuesday. There were several significant lectures given. Of the ones that I was able to attend, David Bebbington’s lecture, “A Historical Review of Revivals,” Adriann Neele’s talk, “Petrus Van Masstricht: Exchanges in Scotland, the Netherlands, and America,” and Michael McClenahan’s, “New England’s Nemesis: John Tillotson and the dismantling of Puritanism,” were the most intellectually valuable.

David Bebbington did a outstanding job (which is typical of his work) of outlining a history of revivals throughout the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Focusing on the different circumstances and theologies that lay behind each period of revival he persuasively argued that God was at work in each and every true revival. If these lectures are published I think you will find Bebbington’s work a worthwhile source of history on the subject. I am amazed at how much this man can unpack in so short a period of time.

Adriann Neele explained that Edwards depended on Van Massticht’s Theoretica Practica more than any other work. He went on to outline Van Masstricht’s work, drawing a convincing connection between Edwards’ History of the Work of Redemption and the later part of the Theoretica Practica. What I did not know prior to this talk was that Van Masstricht replaced Gijbertus Voetius at the Univeristy of Utrect. Van Maastrict was also a disciple of Johannes Cocceius. This is especially important since Van maasrtict’s Theoretica was the basis for Edwards’ History of the Work of Redemption. Edwards’ biblical theological approach to the Scriptures seems to have been on account of Cocceius, whether he realized that in his adoption of Van Masstricht’s principles or not. I wonder whether Van Masstricht  wed the pietistic approach of Voetius to the Biblical Theological approach of Cocceius. This would be a an interesting subject to pursue further as the two camps were sort of antithetical during the Nadere Reformatie.

Michael McClenahan gave consideration to Edward’s polemical responses to John Tillotson in regard to Tillotson’s rabid arminianism. Sadly, the electricity went out during his lecture making it more difficult to pull together all the material he had to present on Monday and then finish on Tuesday. It was a helpful talk which posited Edwards’ writings on good works in contrast to much of what Tillotson was promulgating.

I also benefited from David Jones’ lecture on Edwards’ connection to the Welsh evangelical ministers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Jones did an exceptionally good job in relation to Edwards’ influence on William Williams, the noted theologian and hymn writer.

It was at this conference that I spent some time with William and Carine MacKenzie, owners of Christian Focus publication. Their commitment to Christ was incredibly refreshing, and the presence of so many of the good books they have published was a great encouragement at a highly scholastic conference on Edwards.