Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 29 January, 2012
“Those that be planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps. 92:13)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
The Preaching of the Gospel
Scripture Reading: Romans 10
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 25
I. What It Is
II. Who Is to Bring It
Psalms: 124:1-8; 119:81-88; 32:1-5; 40:3-4, 8-10
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
Hoping for Grace at Christ’s Revelation
Scripture Reading: I Peter 1
Text: I Peter 1:13
I. The Grace That Will Be Ours
II. The Hoping to Which We Are Called
Psalms: 149:1-7; 119:89-96; 23:1-6; 73:23-28
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart
CPRC website: www.cprc.co.uk
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Ballymena-United-Kingdom/Covenant-Protestant-
Reformed-Church-N-Ireland/337347932331
Quotes to Consider:
Herman Hoeksema: “Through the preaching it pleases God through Christ, the exalted Lord, the chief prophet of God, who alone gathers his church, to speak to his people unto salvation. This is evident from Romans 10:14, which, according to the original, asks, ‘How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?’ Through the preaching, therefore, you do not hear about Christ, but you hear him. The difference is easily understood. When you hear about or of someone, he is not present. You do not hear his own voice, but the voice of someone else who tells you something about him. But when you hear someone, you hear his own voice. He is present with you. He is addressing you personally. This is the sense of Romans 10:14, which teaches that you cannot believe in Christ unless you have heard him speak to you, unless you have heard his word addressed to you. This is exactly the meaning of the words, ‘How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?’” (Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, p. 289).
Calvin: “When the Prophet says, by the breath of his lips, this must not be limited to the person of Christ; for it refers to the Word which is preached by his ministers. Christ acts by them in such a manner that He wishes their mouth to be reckoned as his mouth, and their lips as his lips; that is, when they speak from his mouth, and faithfully declare his Word (Luke 10:16)” (Comm. on Isa. 11:4).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Standard Bearer subscriptions (£16.20) are due. Please either pay the RFPA directly by credit card or pay Rev. Stewart. New subscribers are welcome!
Sunday Catechism: 10 AM – O.T. Juniors
Monday Catechism: 6 PM – O.T. Beginners (Alex & Nathan) 6:45 PM – O.T. Juniors (Jacob & Joseph) 7:30 PM – Heidelberg (Timothy, Zoe, Amy & Lea)
Our Tuesday morning Bible study meets at 11 AM on Revelation 17
Belgic Confession Class meets Wednesday at 7:45 PM. Continuing Article 12, we will consider the devil’s attack on the church.
The Ladies’ Discussion Group will continue their study of the book Lies Women Believe, meeting this Friday, 3 February, at 10 am to discuss chapter 7, part 1.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846MW at 8:30 AM) will be “Hope for Those Who Are Empty” (Ruth 2:18-23) by Rev. R. Kleyn.
Offerings: General Fund: £584.30. Donations: £49 (lecture).
Bookstore: £150 of books were sent to the Evangelical Library in London at the request of a donor in England.
PRC News: Rev. Spronk received the call to Edgerton PRC. Hope will call from a trio of Revs. Eriks, Kuiper, and Spronk.
Augustine: “Yes it is I who admonish, I who order, I who command, it is the bishop who teaches. But it is Christ who commands through me.” “The preacher explains the text; if he says what is true, it is Christ speaking.”
Luther: “Flesh and blood are an impediment. They merely behold the person of the pastor and brother … They refuse to regard the oral Word and the ministry as a treasure costlier and better than heaven and earth. People generally think: ‘If I had an opportunity to hear God speak in person, I would run my feet bloody’ … But you now have the Word of God in church … and this is God’s Word as surely as if God Himself were speaking to you.”
Second Helvetic Confession (1566): “Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached, and received of the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be feigned, nor to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good.”
Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711): The minister must “remind himself in a lively manner that God has sent him, that he ascends the pulpit as an ambassador of God, speaks in the name of God, and is as the mouth of the Lord unto the congregation” (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vol. 2, p. 138).
John Murray on Romans 10:14: “… Christ is represented as being heard in the gospel when proclaimed by the sent messengers. The implication is that Christ speaks in the gospel proclamation.”
Hughes Oliphant Old: “Fides ex auditu [faith comes by hearing] is a corollary to a strong Augustinian theology which believes that it is essentially God himself who reaches out to his people in the preaching of the word, and therefore it is what God does in and through these means of grace which makes them effective. That faith comes by hearing follows naturally from the doctrine of grace … when the word of Christ is truly preached, then Christ is present” (The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, vol. 1, pp. 183, 186).
John Owen: “… for a public, formal, ministerial teaching, two things are required in the teacher: — first, gifts from God; secondly, authority from the church (I speak now of ordinary cases). He that wants either is no true pastor. For the first, God sends none upon an employment but whom he fits with gifts for it, 1. Not one command in the Scripture made to teachers; 2. Not one rule for their direction; 3. Not one promise to their endeavours; 4. Not any end of their employment; 5. Not one encouragement to their duty; 6. Not one reproof for their negligence; 7. Not the least intimation of their reward, — but cuts off ungifted, idle pastors from any true interest in the calling. And for the others, that want authority from the church, neither ought they to undertake any formal act properly belonging to the ministry, such as is solemn teaching of the word; for, — 1. They are none of Christ’s officers, Ephesians 4:11. 2. They are expressly forbidden it, Jeremiah 23:21; Hebrews 5:4. 3. The blessing on the word is promised only to sent teachers, Romans 10:14-15. 4. If to be gifted be to be called, then, — (1) Every one might undertake so much in sacred duties as he fancies himself to be able to perform; (2) Children (as they report of Athanasius) might baptize; (3) Every common Christian might administer the communion. But endless are the arguments that might be multiplied against this fancy. In a word, if our Saviour Christ be the God of order, he hath left his church to no such confusion” (Works, vol. 13, p. 43).
Francis Turretin: “… no one, unless sent by God, ought to usurp the office of teaching in the church, whether a new doctrine is proposed or an old one, because it is always evident that no one ought to assume the part of a … minister unless he is sent by the Lord. And as many as teach in the church without being called or sent are said ‘to teach in their own name’ and not in the name of Christ (John 5:43) (i.e., not sent by God), by themselves and their own authority and thrust in by themselves, who on that account deserve the name of thieves and robbers and not of true shepherds (John 10:8)” (Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 3, p. 212).
Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. & A. 158:
“Q. By whom is the word of God to be preached?
A. The word of God is to be preached only by such as are sufficiently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office.”
Wilhelmus à Brakel: “Question: Is a divine commission necessary for the office of minister? Answer: Socinians and others answer negatively; however, we answer affirmatively. The need for a divine commission is first of all evident from several clear texts … Ephesians 4:11, ‘And he gave some, apostles … and some, pastors and teachers.’ As you can observe, Christ has given pastors and teachers as well as apostles ‘for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ’ (Eph. 4:11-12) … Consider also Romans 10:15, ‘And how shall they preach, except they be sent?’ It is as much as being stated that no one can or may preach without being sent. One cannot evade the issue here …” (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, vol. 2, p. 118).
