Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 19 April, 2026
“Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone,
a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Why Must Christians Die? [youtube]
Scripture Reading: II Timothy 4
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 16
I. Satisfaction for Our Sins?
II. Abolition of Our Sin?
III. Passage Into Eternal Life?
Psalms: 23:1-6; 21:1-6; 49:6-12; 73:23-28
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Existence of God [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:18-32
Text: Romans 1:18-21
I. The Universal Witness
II. The Suppressed Witness
III. The Saving Witness
Psalms: 104:1-7; 21:7-13; 19:1-8; 14:1-7
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
Quotes to Consider
Herman Hoeksema: “Those that are in Christ die in faith. And even though judging from outward appearances their death appears the same as that of unbelievers, even though they pass through the same struggle, and suffer the same agony in departing from this present world, their death is essentially different. For as in that hour of death they cling by faith to their crucified Lord, they know that it is not the retributive wrath of God that is upon them in all the agonies of death, but his elective love, delivering them from death into life, and beckoning them home to the house of many mansions. By faith they may truly die in peace” (The Triple Knowledge, vol. 1, p. 679).
Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 85. Death, being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?
A. The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.
John Calvin: “For though the Lord has engraved on the minds of men a certain understanding of his divine majesty, yet there is no saving knowledge of him apart from Christ. Therefore, whatever men know of God apart from Christ only serves to render them inexcusable, not to obtain salvation” (Institutes, 1.5.15).
John Calvin: “For though the Lord has engraved on the minds of men a certain understanding of his divine majesty, yet there is no saving knowledge of him apart from Christ. Therefore, whatever men know of God apart from Christ only serves to render them inexcusable, not to obtain salvation” (Institutes, 1.5.15). John Calvin: “But although the Lord represents both in his Word and in his works a mirror of his glory, yet we see how little advantage is taken of it by the world. For the greater part, immersed in their own superstitions, either worship the sun, or fire, or water, or some other created thing. Others frame for themselves a god according to their own fancy. Hence it is that the light which is offered them is turned into darkness. Therefore, though they have some knowledge of God, yet it is such as leaves them without excuse, and can never lead them to salvation. For there is no right or saving knowledge of God except that which is founded on his Word and sealed on our hearts by the Spirit. Consequently, all the heathen are vain in their imaginations, and are estranged from the true God” (Institutes, 1.6.1).
Herman Hoeksema on Romans 1: “To glorify God as God is to acknowledge that God is God, that He is good, and that He must be praised and worshipped. To give thanks means practically the same thing, only with the acknowledgment that from this God we receive all things. The food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe: all things we receive from Him. The heathen know this. They are conscious of the everlasting power and divinity of God. Sin is not ignorance. Sin is corruption by which man refuses to acknowledge God because he loves unrighteousness. If a man loves unrighteousness, he cannot, will not, and cannot will to glorify God. He will not give thanks because, as the apostle tells us in verse 18, he holds the truth under in unrighteousness. Therefore, he refuses to go along with this power. He goes his own way” (Righteous by Faith Alone, pp. 26-27).
Belgic Confession 2: By What Means God Is Made Known Unto Us
We know him by two means: first, by the creation, preservation and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God, namely, his power and divinity, as the apostle Paul saith, Romans 1:20. All which things are sufficient to convince men, and leave them without excuse. Secondly, he makes himself more clearly and fully known to us by his holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his glory and our salvation.
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
The Council approved the request from Tim and Huiyi Spence for the baptism of their son, Owen Kai Jie. It will take place next Lord’s day morning.
Tuesday Bible study will meet at 11 AM to study the significance of God’s oneness or simplicity of essence.
The Belgic Confession class meets at 7:30 PM on Wednesday to conclude this season by answering practical questions about our resurrection bodies.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled “The Power of the Pulpit” (Neh. 8).
Offerings: £1,263.65. Donations: $943.35 (Hudsonville PRC), $2,000 (Michigan), £10 (Wales).
Translation Additions: 8 Burmese, 1 Dutch, 2 Polish and 1 Russian.
PRC News: Rev. Kleyn (Doon, IA) received the call to be minister-on-loan to the Philippines. Calvary PRC called Rev. J. Holstege (First, MI). Faith PRC has formed a trio of Revs. Engelsma (Crete, IL), Eriks (Unity, MI) and Maatman (Southeast, MI). Heritage PRC will call from a trio of Revs. Bleyenberg (Immanuel, AB), Eriks and Smidstra (Holland, MI). Rev. Engelsma declined the call to Grace PRC. Hope (Redlands) PRC called Rev. Maatman. Southwest PRC called Rev. Regnerus (Hull, IA).
That Blessed Comforting Shadow
Rev. John Heys in the Standard Bearer, vol. 60, issue 14
A shadow always gives evidence of the existence of an object on which the light is falling. That object is between the light and the shadow. An illustration of that we find in II Kings 20:9-11, where we read of a shadow cast by a piece of wood or metal on a sundial. Further, in Colossians 2:16-17 we read that the Sabbath days are “a shadow of things to come.” And in the old dispensation we find shadows of things that are coming, that are presented to us in the New Testament.
Likewise, when we … consider more details in the life of Jacob, we see revealed to us shadows of what our almighty and gracious God does for His people. It is comforting to take note of the fact that we are … dealing with a child of God whose name was Jacob, which means Supplanter, a word which means “one who follows another.” Jacob received that name because of the way in which God caused him to come out of his mother Rebekah, with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel. These twin sons differed, not only in their coming forth from their mother, but also in their lives from a spiritual point of view.
Jacob had to flee to his uncle Laban in Haran, to be protected from his brother who intended to kill him. There in Mesopotamia Jacob begat eleven sons and determined finally to return to Canaan. On his way our God told him that his name must be changed to Israel. That name means Prince of God (Gen. 32:28).
Jacob’s return to the promised land, and his being given a new and glorious name, are shadows of our soon coming into the new Jerusalem as Princes of God. We too enjoy a shadow of God’s grace in His Son, which shadow we will presently enjoy, not as a shadow, but as a gracious blessing when Christ returns with the fullness of salvation for us.
What did take place, and what is very important for us to consider, is that Jacob, without informing his uncle Laban, left him in order to return to his father in the land of Canaan. This he did because he knew God’s promises. Further, his return to Canaan was a fruit of God’s grace. He went back to the land which God had promised him through his father.
Jacob was moved to do this after God in His providence caused some of Laban’s cattle to have white spots speckling them and causing some of his sheep to become brown. When Laban, as Jacob had suggested, let him have those relatively few cattle and sheep with white spots and brown colour, Jacob agreed to stay and work for Laban. In the good providence of God, however, there occurred between Jacob and Laban a friction, which moved Jacob at last to steal away from his uncle Laban and to return to the land where his father still dwelt. Thus the Lord Himself fulfilled His promise to Abraham, by bringing Jacob back to the promised land.
What we should note here, for it applies also to us, is the fact that what we read in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 44, is so true. Counting the hours and minutes of our lives, and the sins which we have committed, it is so evident that we have “only a small beginning of this obedience.” Correctly Paul … wrote in Romans 7:24 that awesome truth, namely, “O wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” And in verses 20 and 21, “Sin dwelleth in me” and evil is present.
There were in Jacob’s life shadows of what our merciful God does in His grace and of what He enables us to do. There are many sins of reborn children of God presented to us in Scripture. And every child of God is described as having only a small beginning of obedience. Surely in Jacob’s life there is revealed to us how merciful and gracious our God is.
Jacob, having two wives, and using two of their handmaidens, brought forth eleven sons. Strikingly, we read of our holy God saying to Jacob in Genesis 31:13, after his sin of adultery, “I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.” What a clear evidence of the forgiveness of Jacob’s sins!
… How true then is the word of God in Romans 5:20, that, “Where sin aboundeth, grace did much more abound.” Yes, how wonderful and true is what Paul also wrote in Ephesians 2:8, namely, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” That gift of grace is so plainly and richly revealed to us in the life of Jacob.
Yes, Jacob had to flee from Canaan, the promised land, because of his sin of lying to his father, and of making his father believe that he was Esau … Yet our gracious God, because of what His Son did for us, calls Jacob to go back to Canaan, and thus back to His gracious promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12:2, namely, “And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” Jacob had turned his back upon God; but our God turned Jacob back and promised him not only the land of Canaan, but that which it pictured, namely, the new Jerusalem, when His Son returns after His cross and resurrection, and comes in due time with everlasting blessedness.
What a blessed shadow of what lies ahead for us! What a manifestation of God’s grace! How true it is that we are saved by grace and not by our works. What a comforting shadow fell here on God’s church. Let us never overlook the fact that even our desire for such a salvation is God’s gift to us. We are not saved because we believe. We believe because we are saved by God from unbelief. What a tragedy it is that in many churches today salvation is presented merely as deliverance from the punishment which we deserve. How prevalent also is the untruth that we must give God something before He will give us salvation. God’s call to us is not presented as a command but as an offer; and He waits to see what we will do before He causes us to be born again with a new spiritual life that will bring us to heavenly blessedness …
But let us take hold of what our God Himself said the day that man fell into sin. In what is called the Mother Promise (Gen. 3:15), our God gives us that awesome and basic truth of our salvation. Salvation is that work of God’s grace whereby He delivers us from sin, not merely from its punishment. God said to Satan, in the day Satan tempted man to sin, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Let us note in the first place that there is here, in this first promise of God’s grace, no mention of saving man from punishment. Such salvation is, however, implied and clearly taught throughout Scripture. Thus in Romans 6:23 we do read, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” And in II Corinthians 4:17 Paul also wrote that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” And in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 we have so much comfort presented to us while we are yet in awful aches and pains, sickness and death. In heaven there will be neither sorrow nor crying, nor any more pain (Rev. 21:4). All tears will God wipe from our eyes. And Revelation 22 presents the comforting truths that there will be leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations; no night there in the new Jerusalem; no curse; and one endless life of covenant fellowship with God.
But do not overlook the fact that all this blessedness of our bodies is so that we may constantly serve God more fully than Adam could the day he was created. Adam was created in the image of God and fell into Satan’s image. But through Christ we are saved in order to be more in God’s image than Adam was the day he was created. Salvation brings us into being members of Christ’s body, the church. And our new man in Christ always says, “Get thee behind me Satan” (Luke 4:8). We will not only be brought where Satan cannot tempt us—for he will be cast into hell with its everlasting punishment—but we will be created in Christ, everlastingly unable to sin.
All this explains how Jacob could and did return to the promised land, and how he could be listed with the giants of faith in Hebrews 11… as an elect child of God, in whom God had wrought faith, and who was eternally elected to be a member of the body of Christ, His blessed church.
In Jacob’s going back to the promised land, and in God’s calling him to do so, we have presented to us a blessed shadow of what lies ahead for us. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden; and they were promised hatred against Satan and sin. We will not return to that garden, but will be elevated to a higher garden, wherein we cannot sin or even be tempted to do so.
What a blessed shadow we see in Jacob’s return, in fact in his safe return. So surely shall we leave this life, which is nothing but a continual death; and we, who are created in Christ to be in the image of God, will be brought into a more blessed life than that to which the highest of the angels were created. Take into your souls that blessed truth in Hebrews 1:13-14. We shall sit at God’s right hand higher than any of the angels ever were. The angels are ministering spirits, who serve us as heirs with Christ.
