Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 26 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
Baptism
The Blessed Family Man [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Psalm 128
Text: Psalm 128
I. The Way of His Blessedness
II. The Spheres of His Blessedness
III. The Channel of His Blessedness
Psalms: 33:8-12; 22:1-7; 34:11-18; 128:1-6
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Knowability of God [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 2
Text: I Corinthians 2:9-12
I. Denied
II. Explained
III. Demonstrated
Psalms: 18:1-3, 46-49; 22:8-14; 94:5-13; 46:6-11
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
Matthew Henry on Psalm 128: “It is here again and again laid down as an undoubted truth that those who are truly holy are truly happy. Those whose blessed state we are here assured of are such as fear the Lord and walk in his ways, such as have a deep reverence of God upon their spirits and evidence it by a regular and constant conformity to his will … they shall have abundance of comfort in their family-relations. As a wife and children are very much a man’s care, so, if by the grace of God they are such as they should be, they are very much a man’s delight, as much as any creature-comfort … The wife shall be as a vine by the sides of the house, not only as a spreading vine which serves for an ornament, but as a fruitful vine which is for profit, and with the fruit whereof both God and man are honoured (Judg. 9:13). The vine is a weak and tender plant, and needs to be supported and cherished … The wife’s place is the husband’s house; there her business lies, and that is her castle. Where is Sarah thy wife? Behold, in the tent; where should she be else? Her place is by the sides of the house, not under-foot to be trampled on, nor yet upon the house-top to domineer (if she be so, she is but as the grass upon the house-top, in the next psalm), but on the side of the house, being a rib out of the side of the man.”
Herman Bavinck: “God is the highest good of man—that is the testimony of the whole Scriptures. The Bible begins with the account that God created man after His own image and likeness, in order that he should know God his Creator aright, should love Him with all his heart, and should live with Him in eternal blessedness. And the Bible ends with the description of the new Jerusalem, whose inhabitants shall see God face to face and shall have His name upon their foreheads.”
John Calvin: “Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone. In the second place, those blessings which unceasingly distil to us from heaven, are like streams conducting us to the fountain. Here, again, the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility. For as there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God. Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us that in the Lord, and none but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself? Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself; that is, so long as he is contented with his own endowments, and unconscious or unmindful of his misery? Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find him” (Institutes, 1.1.1).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
This morning we witness the baptism of Owen Kai Jie Spence. May the Lord give grace and strength to Tim and Huiyi as they take these vows and raise their child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Tuesday Bible study will meet at 11 AM to glory in the righteousness of God.
The Belgic Confession class has concluded for this season and will resume again in September.
Men’s Bible study is this Saturday, 2 May, at 7:30 PM on-line, treating Psalm 139, using A 30 Day Walk With God Through the Psalms.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled “Worshipping God in the Light of His Goodness” (Neh. 9:1-31).
Rev. & Mary Stewart are to leave on Wednesday, 6 May, unless their flight schedule changes. They will be in the Philippines for a week and a half with the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines, and then at a conference on the doctrine of God in Pakistan for a week, returning on Monday, 25 May.
Rev. Heath and Deb Bleyenberg of Immanuel PRC (Lacombe, Alberta, Canada) arrive on Friday, 8 May. They will be with us until Monday, 25 May, with Rev. Bleyenberg to preach on Sundays 10, 17 and 24 May.
Offerings: £2,505.30. Donations: £5,000 (England), £200 (New Jersey).
Translation Additions: 3 Burmese, 2 Dutch, 1 Polish and 6 Spanish.
The Living God (1)
Prof. David Engelsma in the Standard Bearer, vol. 54, issue 15
There is a question which gets much attention today—as it has gotten much attention down through the ages—but which is actually a very foolish question. This question is: Does God exist? Men pose this question, apparently in all seriousness, and then debate it vigorously. Some list many arguments against the existence of God and solemnly conclude that there is no God. Others find reasons in creation, in history, in the opinions of mankind, and in their own personal experiences for the existence of a god and decide that a god does exist—a “Supreme Being,” a “Supreme Intelligence” or a “Prime Mover.”
But the question itself is a foolish one! A man might as well ask the question, “Do I exist?” or “Does the world exist?” (The fact that philosophers have asked these questions, seriously, does not make them any less silly.) The fact of God’s existence is no question. The Bible does not even concern itself with such a question. It never bothers to argue, much less prove, God’s existence. The Bible simply begins with the Almighty activity of the living God. The very first words of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, are: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
There is no need for the Bible to begin by debating the proposition, “God exists,” because every human being knows that God exists. He knows this as surely as he knows that he exists and that the world exists. The reason why he knows that God exists is that God Himself reveals His existence to every man. God makes this known through the creation. The Bible teaches this in Romans 1:19-20. Verse 18 speaks of God’s wrath on men “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Verses 19-20 go on to say: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
These verses teach that God shows to every man certain things about Himself: His power, His Godhead, His existence. There is a clear revelation of the God who made the world in the world that He made. Every creature, including man himself, shows God’s existence. The result is that every man knows God. This is what verse 21 says: “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.” No man is saved by this knowledge, nor is it possible to be saved by it. For there is no Christ and no grace in it. Men hold the truth under in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18) and change the truth of God into a lie (Rom. 1:25). Indeed, God’s purpose in showing the truth of Himself to them is that they be without excuse (Rom. 1:20). But there is no atheist (a person who believes that there is no God) and no agnostic (a person who believes that it is uncertain whether God exists or not); everyone knows God. Only the fool denies God: “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God” (Ps. 53:1). His trouble is not intellectual (in his head) but spiritual (in his heart—where he hates the God whom he knows).
The Bible is concerned with a different question, not the question: “Is there a God?”; but the question: “Who is this living God? What is He like?”
Strangely, though, even people who claim to be Christians have a tendency today to be indifferent to this question. For this question concerns doctrine, and many people profess to have no interest in doctrine, least of all in the doctrine of God. They demand that the Church limit her teaching to the subject of man’s behaviour, particularly to our duty to love our neighbour. “Tell us how to live,” they say to the preacher, “and do not bore us with doctrine.” It is a plague in the churches today, a sickness unto death, that there is little doctrine, little teaching of doctrine in the preaching and little knowledge of doctrine by the people. Christianity without doctrine is simply not Christianity. “Take heed … unto the doctrine” were Paul’s parting words to the young minister, Timothy. The doctrine of God is of primary importance. The main purpose of the Bible is to make known the truth of God. The Bible is not a handbook of solutions to all of men’s problems. It is not even, first of all, the book that sets forth the way of salvation for men. First of all, the Bible reveals God. It does this in its witness to Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person (Heb. 1:3). And the work that Jesus came to do is the work of revealing God to men, as we read in Matthew 11:27: “neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”
The doctrine of God is important for our salvation. When Jesus reveals the Father to a person, He saves that person. The true knowledge of God is salvation. John 17:3 says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
We must know God! We must know who God is and what He is like! The Reformed Church has always been characterized by its emphasis upon God and the doctrine of God. The faith of the Reformed Church is God-centred. The motto that expresses the heart of our faith is this: To God alone be the glory! One of the creeds of the Reformed faith is the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Its opening question is: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”
This all-important knowledge of God is to be found only in Holy Scripture. Even though God reveals His power and divinity in creation, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word. The knowledge of God derived from the Bible is a saving knowledge, when the Holy Spirit reveals it in our hearts; “whatsoever man ought to believe, unto salvation, is sufficiently taught therein” (Belgic Confession 7).
What does the Bible teach about God?
(to be continued …)
