Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 20 July, 2025
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Judges Deborah and Barak (4)
Jael the Deliverer! [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Judges 4:4-24
Text: Judges 4:17-20
I. The Unlikely Deliverer
II. The Unexpected Deliverer
Psalms: 124:1-8 (AOS); 135:15-21; 118:7-9, 12-16; 83:3-11
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
Judges Deborah and Barak (5)
Jael Slays Sisera [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Judges 4:17-24; 5:23-31
Text: Judges 4:21-24; 5:24-27
I. The Unusual Weapon
II. The Right Evaluation
III. The Complete Victory
Psalms: 129:1-8; 136:1-12; 20:1-9; 83:9-18
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
Prof. David Engelsma: “The family of Heber the Kenite are descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro. At Moses’ urging, the Kenites had cast their lot with Israel (Num. 10:29-32; Judges 1:16). Moses had promised the Kenites that if they went with Israel to Canaan, Israel ‘will do thee good’ (Num. 10:29). What Moses had not known was that in the person of Jael, the Kenites would also do Israel good” (Unfolding Covenant History, vol. 5, p. 53).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
John Brooks is doing as well as can be expected after his liver transplant in London on Friday. He was awake this morning and able to speak with his brother. Continue to remember John in your prayers.
There are two more issues of the Covenant Reformed News on the back table.
Tuesday Bible study will meet this week at 11 AM to consider the lessons to be learned from the struggle between the Council of Nicea (325) and the Council of Constantinople (381).
Family visitation continues this week. Please do all you can to make these slots work.
Tuesday
6:30 PM Grahams (D. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
7:30 PM Kuhs (D. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
8:30 PM Trevor (D. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
Wednesday
6:30 PM D. Crossetts (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
7:30 PM Carmichaels (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
8:30 PM B. Crossett (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
Thursday
7:00 PM Murrays (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
8:00 PM Kennedys (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
9:00 PM Tommy (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
Friday
12:00 PM Alan (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
1:00 PM Richard (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
2:00 PM I. Mawhinneys (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
3:00 PM W. Mawhinneys (B. Crossett/Rev. Stewart)
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled “The Repentance of the Ninevites” (Jonah 3:5-9).
Offerings: £1,212.50. Donation: £500 (Kent).
Translation Addition: 1 Kinyarwanda and 2 Spanish.
PRC News: Grandville PRC and Cornerstone PRC called Candidate Van Dyke. Hudsonville PRC’s new trio is Revs. D. Holstege, Maatman and Cand. Van Dyke. Lynden PRC will call from a trio of Revs. Barnhill, Lee and Cand. Van Dyke. Southwest PRC will call this evening from a trio of Revs. Eriks, Lee and Cand. Van Dyke. Hope PRC (Redlands, CA) plans to call from a trio of Revs. De Boer, Engelsma and Cand. Van Dyke. Grace PRC has formed a new trio of Revs. Barnhill, Eriks and Langerak.
The newly redesigned PRC website is now live (www.prca.org)! It offers a fresh look, easier navigation and improved access to sermons, articles, bulletins, church news and upcoming events. Explore the site and check out the video tour.
Contentment
Rev. Dale Kuiper
The Christian virtue of contentment is expressed in Scripture with a word that is, to say the least, surprising. Contentment is translated from a compound Greek word meaning “self” and “sufficient.” Literally it means “to be sufficient of one’s self, to possess enough to need no aid or support,” hence, “to be independent.” How surprising, in light of the fact that Scripture on every page instructs us that we are dependent upon God! We live and move and have our being in the God who is near to every one of us. And the Christian depends upon the unchanging faithfulness of God for faith, preservation, and all things. How can it ever be said that it is a virtue for the child of God to live and confess that he is independent and self-sufficient?
Contentment means that our inward state of heart and mind and soul is completely independent of the outward circumstances of life. How often it is true of us that the outward circumstances of life determine how we feel. If our way is pleasant and easy, if we have more of earthly things than we need, and if there are no troubles and problems, then we are happy and content. But if there are pain, operations, oppositions, and persecutions, then we are dissatisfied and ready to rebel. This is the very opposite of contentment. How we feel must be independent of the circumstances of life, not determined by them.
Contentment has to do with the mind; with our minds we know that all things are well for us. It has to do with the will; we do not want things to be different from what they are. It has to do with the soul; because the mind knows and the will is satisfied, the soul is at ease, filled with peace and joy.
True contentment is grounded in three great truths. First, that everything that befalls us in this life comes to us from the hand of our heavenly Father. Chance or fate have nothing to do with it. There is not a single aspect of our life that is not known by God and that was not determined by Him before the world was created. Second, contentment comes only to those who know that their way was determined in love, and the hardships of life are the loving chastisements of our Father. And finally, contentment belongs to those who believe that all things are working for their eternal salvation. All our days, God leads us according to His counsel that He may afterwards receive us into glory.
Thus the Scriptures come to us with many exhortations: be content with your wages (Luke 3:4), with raiment (I Tim. 6:8) and with such things as we have (Heb. 13:5). Paul writes from prison, after a life crowded with affliction (II Cor. 11), that he has learned, in whatsoever state he is, therewith to be content. Have you and I learned this? Let us apply ourselves assiduously and faithfully to the learning of this kingdom lesson.
Salt of the Earth
Rev. Dale Kuiper
Salt. Sodium Chloride. A combination of two elements which separately are explosive and poisonous, but as a compound are taken harmlessly into the body every day. Salt is found in many parts of the world in massive deposits and in a pure state. In Palestine, however, it is often mixed with impurities such as alkali and gypsum; this salt has lost its saltiness or savour. For many centuries salt has been used both as a preservative and as a spice which renders food tasty and palatable.
The most important mention of salt in Scripture is found in Matthew 5:13, where Jesus tells His disciples and every believer, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Many interpreters of these words speak of the church as being the salt of the world, and they insist that Christians are the salt of the world in the preserving sense. The presence of Christians among the human race improves the world and restrains the world from revealing its awful corruption. Thus the world does not become thoroughly wicked, and God’s anger is turned aside; indeed, God is pleased to some extent with that world. And members of the church are urged to become more and more the salt of the world, by participating in social actions, rubbing salt in the wounds of mankind, and making the whole world acceptable to God.
This interpretation fails for three reasons. 1) Nowhere in Scripture is salt referred to as a preservative, but always as a substance that makes food tasty and pleasing. 2) Jesus does not say, “Ye are the salt of the world” (a spiritual ethical concept), but “Ye are the salt of the earth” (that is, the planet, the earthly creation). 3) It ought to be obvious that salt cannot preserve that which is already stinking and corrupt, which the world of unbelief surely is.
Christian, you are the salt of the earth! Our understanding is opened when we read Leviticus 2:13 and Numbers 18:19, where we learn that every meat offering unto God is to be made with salt, and that this salted offering is called a “covenant of salt.” In other words, salt has covenant significance in both the Old and New Testaments. God’s covenant embraces the entire earthly creation which He made and loves, which came under the curse for man’s sake, and which is redeemed in Christ and the salvation of the elect. We are to think of the earth, hanging in space, as an offering to God. This earth-offering is made tasty to God by the presence of redeemed saints scattered throughout the nations. They are salt on the offering. What an exalted position! Let men say of the church what they will; God says, “Ye are the salt of the earth!”
The ceremonies of the law ceased at the coming of Christ, so that the use of them is abolished among Christians. But here we have an example of the fact that the truth and substance of them remain with us in Jesus Christ in whom they have their completion (Belgic Confession 25). Of poor, lowly, persecuted, and reviled people, God forms a people unto Himself who give to the entire earthly creation a pleasing flavour unto the Most High. May the salt not lose its savour in us or in our generations.
