Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 16 January, 2022
“… walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:2)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Solomon: Israel’s Wisest King (19)
Drawing Near to God Through the Temple [youtube]
Scripture Reading: II Chronicles 3
Text: II Chronicles 3:10-17
I. The Two Pillars
II. The Two Doors
III. The One Veil
Psalms: 122:1-9; 17:1-7; 100:1-5; 24:3-8
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Institution and Organism of the Church [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 21
I. The Church as Institution
II. The Church as Organism
III. The Relationship Between the Institution and the Organism
Psalms: 114:1-8; 17:8-15; 80:7-12; 119:9-16
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
Herman Hoeksema on Lord’s Day 21: “The church is not a human society that comes into existence by the free will and choice of its members which you may either join or refuse to join. Nor is it a school of philosophy, the disciples and adherents of which imbibe and follow the teachings of a great thinker … The church is something far different. It is the living body of the living Christ, the Son of God in the flesh, who died and rose again, who is exalted into the highest heavens, clothed with all authority and power in heaven and on earth, and who now gathers unto himself his church and builds the house of God. The church does not come into existence by the work of men who join the church or organize it. It is not even the product of preachers who persuade men to become church members; it is not the result of the combined efforts of God and man. It is the wonder-work of grace, which God alone accomplishes through Jesus Christ our Lord by his Spirit and word” (Abundant Mercy, pp. 40-41).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
On the back table are Standard Bearers, Beacon Lights and British Reformed Journals for subscribers. A new RFPA title, Moses: Typical Mediator of the Old Covenant, is available for book club members. Booking forms for July’s BRF Conference are also on the back table.
The baptism of Jeremy William Watterson has been rescheduled for next Lord’s day morning, 23 January.
Monday catechism classes:
5:00 PM: Jason, Maisie & Sebastian (Juniors NT)
5:45 PM: Eleanora, Felicity, Hannah, Jorja, Penelope, Sammy, Somaya, Sophie, Xander & Yossef (Beginners OT, Book 2)
6:30 PM: Angelica, Bradley, Jack, Josh, Samuel & Taylor (Heidelberg, Book 1)
7:15 PM: Alex, Jacob & Nathan (Essentials)
Membership Class: Monday, 8:15 PM with the McCaugherns.
Tuesday Bible study at 11 AM will meet to discuss the strength of faith.
The Belgic Confession Class will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 PM to continue our discussion of the nearness of Christ’s return.
Membership Class: Thursday, 11 AM with the Goulds.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled, “By Faith Moses Forsakes Egypt” (Heb. 11:24-26).
Offerings: General Fund: £1,897. Donations: £100 (Malaysia).
Translation Additions: 2 Polish.
PRC News: Doon PRC has formed a trio of Revs. J. Holstege, D. Kleyn and M. Kortus. Heritage PRC called Rev. Barnhill.
Regeneration
Rev. Steven Houck (an excerpt from “God’s Sovereignty in Salvation”)
God is sovereign. He is sovereign in all of His being. That means that His will is sovereign. It is so sovereign that He alone determines, by election and reprobation, the destiny of every man. The deciding factor in salvation is God’s will and not man’s will. Moreover, because God’s will is sovereign, so also is His love which stands behind sovereign election. It is so sovereign that those who are the objects of that blessed love are surely saved. The death of Christ, as the effectual working and manifestation of that love, actually secures the salvation of His chosen people.
Now, since all of this is true, it follows that the application of this salvation is also the sovereign work of God. Since God determines whom He will save, since He loves those chosen people and sends Christ to die to secure their salvation, He must also sovereignly work out that salvation in their hearts and lives. It is inconceivable that God would sovereignly plan our salvation, objectively obtain that salvation through the foreordained death of His only begotten Son, and then leave it up to man to appropriate that salvation in and of himself. No, since God planned it, He alone carries out that plan. He sovereignly applies salvation to the elect sinner.
We see this to be true already in the very first act of salvation which God performs within the sinner, chosen and loved by Him. Regeneration, the new birth, is not man’s work, but the sovereign work of the Almighty. Regeneration is the mighty work of the sovereign God by which He, apart from any will or work of man, gives life to the chosen but spiritually dead sinner. Thus we read in Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” By nature we are spiritually dead, but in regeneration God makes alive. Regeneration is a spiritual resurrection from spiritual death. God gives life to those who were before absolutely devoid of life-“dead in sins.” Just as the resurrection of the body is a mighty act of God, so too regeneration, as a spiritual resurrection, can only take place by the wondrous and powerful working of God’s sovereign grace. A corpse rotting in the grave can not raise itself, for there is no life in it. It is impossible for a physically dead man to do anything. Neither can the spiritually dead do anything to contribute to their regeneration.
This is further demonstrated by the fact that regeneration is nothing less than the implantation of a new heart. In the prophecy of Ezekiel we read, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Eze. 36:26). By nature, the dead sinner has a heart that is as hard as a rock. It is not receptive to God’s Word. It does not love God nor does it seek to walk in God’s commandments. But in regeneration God sovereignly takes out that heart of stone and He gives, instead, a heart of flesh, a heart that is soft and receptive. As the Great Physician, He implants within the elect sinner, by His Spirit, a heart that loves Him and seeks to be obedient to all His statutes. Apart from that new heart it is impossible for the sinner to turn from his sins and, by faith, seek the true and living God.
Regeneration, therefore, can not possibly be conditioned upon man’s will or work. It can not be that faith and repentance precede regeneration and thus are conditions which must be met before God can regenerate us. Both faith and repentance are impossible apart from the new birth. If a man has faith it is because God has already regenerated him. Faith is the fruit of regeneration and not the other way around. The apostle John describes born-again believers as those “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Does a newborn babe help his mother bring himself forth in birth? Or does he contribute in any way to his own conception? Of course not. Neither does man contribute to the new birth which God gives. Paul instructs us, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). A man is born into the family of God by a sovereign act of God alone.
The new life of regeneration does not have its origin in blood (physical descent), nor does it have its origin in the will of the flesh (the natural desires of the body). In fact, this life can not be attributed to the will of man at all. It has its origin in God alone. Regeneration is never the result of man’s choice. Indeed, it is true that, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). But how is it that a man is born again? The apostle Peter says that it is “God” who “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Pet. 1:3). God’s people are regenerated by the powerful and living word of God. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Pet. 1:23). Regeneration is the sovereign work of God. He alone can give life everlasting to the dead by His living word.
