Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 30 July, 2017
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom. 12:2)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM – Rev. Martyn McGeown
Jonathan: David’s Covenant Friend (3)
Jonathan Transgresses Saul’s Oath [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Samuel 14:24-45
Text: I Samuel 14:24-45
I. Saul’s Foolish Oath
II. Jonathan’s Innocent Transgression
III. The People’s Necessary Intervention
Psalms: 143:1-9; 45:1-6; 118:10-16; 66:8-17
Evening worship – 6.00pm – Rev. Martyn McGeown
Stop Loving the World! [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I John 2
Text: I John 2:15-17
I. The Wicked World
II. The Forbidden Love
III. The Urgent Warning
Psalms: 1:1-6; 45:7-12; 73:1-3, 21-28; 36:5-12
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: https://cprc.co.uk/live-streaming/
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quotes to Consider
Gordon Keddie: “There ought to be no heaping of extra-biblical rules and regulations upon anybody supposedly in the name of the Lord. God has spoken in his Word. Scripture alone is the sufficient rule for faith and life. Adding to Scripture creates new, and actually fictitious, sins. But, sad to say, the evil effects upon the victims are far from fictitious” (I Samuel: Dawn of a Kingdom, p. 153).
R. S. Candlish: “The lust of the flesh may creep into our affections disguised almost as an angel of light. A certain fondness for the good things of this life, an unwillingness to forego them, a pleasant feeling of fullness in the enjoyment of them, a growing impatience of any interruption of that enjoyment, how soon may such a way of tasting even the lawful gratifications of sense grow into selfishness and sin! And then how readily does the imagination admit ideas and fancies the reverse of pure! Through how many channels … may unholy desires be kindled!” (Exposition of I John, p. 65)
Announcements (subject to God’s will).
We welcome Rev. McGeown to our worship services today. We also welcome Paula Kuiper (Southwest PRC), Briana Prins (Trinity PRC) and Elijah Roberts (Covenant of Grace PRC).
For the next two Sundays (6 and 13 August), Rev. Bleyenberg (Providence, MI) will preach in the CPRC. There will be tea after the evening service on 13 August (Group A is on the tea rota).
The Stewarts plan to return from the USA on 15 August.
On 20 August, Rev. McGeown will preach in the CPRC while Rev. Stewart preaches in the LRF.
PRC News: Edgerton called Candidate M. DeBoer. Zion called Candidate J. Holstege. Southwestcalled Candidate J. Smidstra. Doon (IA) called Rev. C. Spronk (Faith, MI) to be missionary to the Philippines. First (Holland, MI) called Candidate Smidstra. Byron Center (MI) called Rev. A. Spriensma (Byron Center) to be the home missionary. Rev. A. Brummel (Sioux Falls) declined Lacombe (Alberta, Canada).
Islam and Christianity
(from a tract written by Rev McGeown)
An Important Timeline
The Qur’an was written during the lifetime of Mohammed (c. 570-632 AD). The Christian church by 451 AD had not only defined the doctrine of the Trinity (the Council of Nicaea, 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople, 381 AD) but had defined the relationship between the one person and the two natures (human and divine) of Jesus Christ (the Council of Chalcedon, 451 AD). Therefore, over a century before Mohammed’s birth, the Christian church had defined from the New Testament who God is and who Jesus Christ is.
Moreover, the authenticity of the Old and New Testaments (the Christian Scriptures) is well attested. Not only do we have many manuscripts dating to centuries before the birth of Mohammed, we could (using the Greek and Latin church fathers) reconstruct almost the entire New Testament from citations alone!
When modern Muslims claim that the Bible is corrupt and untrustworthy, we object. Muslims should also object to such a slur against the New Testament, because the Qur’an teaches that Allah sent the gospel: “We sent him [Jesus] the gospel: therein was guidance and light” and “Let the people of the gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein” and “To thee we sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety; so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed” (Surah 5:46-48). If the gospel was corrupted already in Mohammed’s lifetime, how can anyone obey Surah 5?
A Serious Misunderstanding
Since Christians had carefully defined the Trinity over a century before Mohammed’s birth, why does the Qur’an misunderstand the doctrine of the Trinity as taught by Christians?
No Christian teaches that the Trinity is Allah, Jesus and Mary.
“And behold, Allah will say: ‘O Jesus, the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, ‘Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah?’ He will say: ‘Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, Thou wouldest indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Thine. For thou knowest in full all that is hidden’” (Surah 5:116).
No Christian teaches that the Trinity is three gods.
“O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not Three: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One God: glory be to Him: (far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs” (Surah 4:171).
No Christian teaches that Allah carnally begat Jesus by means of a consort (or wife):
“To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: how can He have a son when He hath no consort? He created all things, and hath full knowledge of all things” (Surah 6:101); “Exalted is the Majesty of our Lord: He hath taken neither a wife nor a son” (Surah 72:3).
No Christian believes that, because Jesus had a human nature (and ate food, for example), He is not divine. The doctrine of the Incarnation means that Jesus, the eternal, only begotten Son of God, is both human and divine, in two distinct natures.
“Christ the Son of Mary was no more than a Messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make his Signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!” (Surah 5:75).
The Qur’an denies the heart of the gospel, namely, that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of God’s people.
“That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah,’ but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those that differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not” (Surah 4:157).
Christians believe that Jesus’ sufferings and death were both voluntary and necessary.
- Without the death of Christ, God will not forgive sins.
- This is because God is just, and our sins require a full satisfaction of God’s justice.
- Jesus Christ willingly, and out of God’s great love, went to the cross to satisfy God’s justice for all His people.
- All who believe in Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God made flesh, the crucified and risen Saviour, shall be saved.
“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).
