Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 20 March, 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
Paul’s Conversion [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Acts 9:1-22
Text: Acts 9:1-9
I. The Zealous Persecutor
II. The Sudden Convert
III. The Spiritual Lessons
Psalms: 116:1-8; 22:27-31; 68:31-35; 67:1-7
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
Preparatory
Coming to the Lord’s Table [youtube]
Scripture Reading: I Peter 2
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 30
I. Truly Sorrowful for Sins
II. Firmly Trusting in Christ
III. Earnestly Desirous of Growth
Psalms: 145:1-8; 23:1-6; 38:1-7; 119:129-136
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
F. F. Bruce: “No single event, apart from the Christ-event itself, has proved so determinant for the course of Christian history as the conversion and commissioning of Paul” (Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 75).
Philip Schaff: “The conversion of Paul marks not only a turning-point in his personal history, but also an important epoch in the history of the apostolic church, and consequently in the history of mankind” (History of the Christian Church, vol. 1, p. 296).
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
This evening will be a preparatory service with a view to partaking of the Lord’s Supper at the morning service next Lord’s day, 27 March.
Copies of a letter by Rev. Stewart to the PRC are on the back table.
Beacon Lights subscription payments of £10 are now due for those who pay by cash to Susan. If anyone else wants to receive this youth magazine that is profitable for all ages, you can pay for a subscription on-line (www.beaconlights.org) or speak to Susan.
The church lift is “off limits” for children (especially on Monday nights) unless accompanied by an adult.
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) – END OF SEASON TEST
Membership Class: Monday, 8:15 PM with the McCaugherns.
Tuesday Bible study at 11 AM will meet to discuss the category of faith.
The Belgic Confession Class will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 PM to survey Ezekiel 40-48 in connection with premillennialism.
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. R. Kleyn is entitled, “Joseph’s Diligence in a Strange Place and Position” (Gen. 39:1-6).
Offerings: General Fund: £955.
Translation Additions: 5 Afrikaans, 1 Polish, 1 Russian and 3 Swahili.
PRC News: Rev. Spronk (Faith, MI) declined the call to Grace PRC. Hudsonville PRC called Rev. D. Kleyn (Philippines).
The Sovereign Saviour
Rev. Steven Houck (an excerpt from “God’s Sovereignty and the Psalms”)
Since God is the sovereign King over all the world, we must also acknowledge that He is the sovereign Saviour. How inconsistent we would be if we recognized God to be the great King, but refused to recognize Him as the Saviour who saves His people by sovereign grace alone. These two can not be separated. If God is not the sovereign Saviour, then He can not be the Sovereign King. The Psalms, however, make it very clear that God is indeed the sovereign Saviour. For the Saviour IS the sovereign King. The Saviour is the great God who has created all things, and who upholds and governs all things. Thus the psalmist declares, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1-2). God’s people find their help in the Saviour who created the world. The power of salvation is the power of the sovereign Creator.
Therefore, God is praised in the Psalms as the powerful, almighty Saviour who delivers from every foe. Does not every true Christian rejoice with the psalmist when he sings, “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Ps. 18:1-2)? All these expressions picture God as a powerful and strong Saviour. He is like a huge immovable rock. He is a strong fortress, a high defence tower. The Saviour is the shield that protects His people from every enemy. Nothing can break through the defences with which God has surrounded His people. The psalmists considered God to be so sovereign in salvation that they trusted Him completely. Thus the psalmist declares, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1).
This confidence in the sovereign Saviour is expressed not only through praise but also through prayer. The Psalms are full of prayers in which God is petitioned for help and salvation. We read, “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope” (Ps. 130:1-5). The psalmists were sinners just like all of God’s people. They knew too that, if God would mark their sins, they would not be able to stand. But by faith they were confident that God could and would save them. They waited upon the sovereign Saviour. They did not look to themselves for salvation. They did not wait upon their own wills or works. Nor did they turn to others for help. Their certain hope was fixed upon God alone. They knew of only one Saviour and that Saviour is Jehovah God. “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved” (Ps. 62:1-2).
Salvation is the work of God’s grace alone. It is the work of God’s SOVEREIGN grace. The psalmists knew of no grace that must be earned by man or accepted by the will of man. Salvation is not conditioned by what man does but is based totally upon the faithfulness of the Covenant God. God’s people are saved only because God has established His covenant with them and promised to saved them. Thus God’s people rejoice and sing, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant” (Ps. 89:1-3). The covenant faithfulness of God will never fail. Even when God’s people violate the covenant, God remains faithful. He saves them in spite of their unfaithfulness, through the promised Seed. He promises, “My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Ps. 89:28-34).
It is the sovereign Saviour, therefore, who regenerates, converts, justifies, sanctifies, preserves and glorifies His people. This was King David’s conviction as demonstrated by Psalm 51. Unto whom does David turn in the midst of his great sins? Does he find comfort in the fact that he did something for salvation? NO! He prays, “Have mercy upon me, O God. according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” (Ps. 51:1). He pleads for God’s mercy. He does not look to himself for he acknowledges, “I was shapen in iniquity. and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). He is a sinner. How can he save himself? Thus he seeks his salvation in sovereign grace. God must “create” in him “a clean heart” and “renew a right spirit” in him. Only God can “restore” to him “the joy of salvation” and “uphold” him with His Spirit. If he is to be clean, God must “purge” him with hyssop and “wash” him so that he is whiter than snow. He knows that His salvation is God’s work alone and therefore he declares, “O God, thou God of my salvation” (Ps. 51:14). We find this throughout the Psalms. In the midst of sin, the psalmists rely on God’s sovereign grace. For all of the life of the believer is directed and controlled by God and His grace until He finally gives to him complete salvation. Thus all believers can say, “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24).
Moreover, the Psalms teach us that salvation is not dependent upon man’s choice but upon the sovereign choice of God. The determining factor in salvation is God’s will. The psalmists speak of God’s election in many places. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Ps. 33:12). In God’s eternal and unchangeable counsel, He has chosen certain ones to be His people whom He saves. “For thou Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure” (Ps. 135:4). He does not save all. God never intended to save everyone.
He saves only those whom He has chosen. God has but one people for His “peculiar treasure.” All others know nothing of His salvation. It is upon His chosen people alone that He bestows His mercy, grace and love. He has only wrath for the wicked. Thus the psalmist speaks of reprobation when he says of God, “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Ps. 5:5). “The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hateth” (Ps. 11:5). God’s sovereign predestination was manifested throughout the old dispensation by the fact that God gave His Word to only His people. “He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord” (Ps. 147:19-20).
