Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 10 January, 2021
“O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth” (Ps. 96:9)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
The Lamb, Babylon and the Sickles (7)
The Great Winepress of God’s Wrath [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 63:1-6; Joel 3:12-17
Text: Revelation 14:17-20
I. The Harvesting for It
II. The Trampling of It
Psalms: 97:1-8; 11:1-7
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Motivation for Good Works [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Peter 3:1-17
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 32
I. Regarding God
II. Regarding One’s Self
III. Regarding the Unconverted
Psalms: 116:1-3, 13-19; 34:11-18
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
William Hendriksen on Revelation 14:17-20: “This judgment is carried out by two angels. An angel is coming from the sanctuary, that is, after he has received orders from the holy God. In his hand he holds a sharp vine-knife. Another angel now comes from the altar (see 6:9, 10; 8:3-5). This is the altar in connection with which the incense prayers of all the saints have ascended to the throne. The judgment of the wicked is God’s final answer to these prayers. This second angel cries to the first, ‘Send forth thy vine-knife, the sharp one, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe’ (Cf. Is 63:1-6). The vine of the earth symbolizes the entire multitude of evil men; its grapes are the individual unbelievers. Just as grapes are trodden, pressed, crushed, so the wicked are going to be destroyed and punished everlastingly. The grapes are cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God and crushed. In the picture which John sees, a lake of blood results. It is so deep that horses can swim in it. It spreads out in all directions to the extent of sixteen hundred stadia. Remember that four is the number of the universe and the earth. This is the judgment of the wicked. Ten is the number of completeness. So sixteen hundred, which is the product of four times four, times ten times ten. would seem to indicate that this is the thoroughly complete judgment of the wicked. And the winepress of God’s wrath was trodden down outside the Holy City!” (More Than Conquerors, pp. 155-156).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Catechism classes will not meet tomorrow but all, except the Beginners OT class, will be sent a test to take at home.
The Council meets tomorrow night at 8 PM by video conference. It plans to make decisions about holding other church meetings through the week and will let people know by e-mail.
Saturday night Bible study will be held on-line by video this week at 8 PM, looking at Hebrews 4:9-13.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled, “Stewards of Christ” (I Cor. 4:1-2).
Offerings: General Fund: £975. Donations: £200 (England), £30 (CR News), £12 (CR News).
Sister Church News: Hudsonville PRC will call from a new trio of Revs. Guichelaar, Marcus and Smidstra. Rev. Spriensma will be installed as pastor of Cornerstone PRC today. Rev. D. Holstege is on a 6-month furlough from his work in the Philippines and is currently in the US with his family. Prof. Dykstra is now preaching for the CERC in Singapore after completing a 2-week quarantine.
New Hungarian Edition of Doctrine According to Godliness at the Publishers!
Many in the CPRC know Bálint Vásárhelyi, our main Hungarian translator, who for several years has been translating the Covenant Reformed News every month into Hungarian and sending it to those on his e-mail list. He visited us last spring with his wife, Kati, and daughter, Illangó, and has attended a number of British Reformed Fellowship conferences. Recently, he completed translating Doctrine According to Godliness into Hungarian.
This book by our former pastor consists largely of Covenant Reformed News articles that Rev. Hanko wrote when he and his family lived at the CPRC manse. As well as being our best-selling RFPA title, Doctrine According to Godliness is an excellent witness to the Reformed faith. Having received money from donors who requested that their donations be used for projects like this, the CPRC has given £2,100 for the printing of 500 hardbacks of Doctrine According to Godliness in Hungarian translation. An electronic version of the whole book in Hungarian is on the CPRC website.
Here is what Bálint said about the project:
The Hungarian publication of Doctrine According to Godliness is a significant milestone, as this is the first complete RFPA book in Hungarian, and it raises a doctrinally sound voice among the Hungarian churches. Personally, it’s also very important for me. Ever since I first read it, I thought it would be very useful to have such a book in Hungarian. This book is a tangible fruit of the blessed work of the CPRC.
Dr. Tibor Bognár checked the translation. Rev. János Cs. Nagy, who visited the CPRC in March, 2020, revised the book as a minister. Anna Jánószky checked the translation, Judit Bakti was the Hungarian proof-reader, and Sára Busch and Zsófia Rideg designed the cover.
