CPRC Bulletin – May 7, 2023

        

 

Covenant Protestant Reformed Church

83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart

Lord’s Day, 7 May, 2023

“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29)

Morning Service – 11:00 AM

Nehemiah, a Man Who Sought the Welfare of Israel (3)
Nehemiah’s Night Ride    [youtube]     [Map of Jerusalem’s walls]

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 2
Text: Nehemiah 2:9-20

I. The Inspection of the Walls
II. The Gathering of the People
III. The Opposition of the Enemies

Psalms: 1:1-6; 68:7-12; 48:7-14; 83:1-8

Evening Service – 6:00 PM

Christ’s Resurrection on the Third Day   [youtube]

Scripture Reading: Hosea 5:1-6:3
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 17

I. The Timing
II. The Prophecy
III. The Significance

Psalms: 37:1-7; 68:13-18; 16:6-11; 36:5-10

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

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 2:13ff: “Note, [1.] Good work is likely to be well done when it is first well considered. [2.] It is the wisdom of those who are engaged in public business, as much as may be, to see with their own eyes, and not to proceed altogether upon the reports and representations of others, and yet to do this without noise, and if possible unobserved. [3.] Those that would build up the church’s walls must first take notice of the ruins of those walls. Those that would know how to amend must enquire what is amiss, what needs reformation, and what may serve as it is.”

John Gill on Matthew 12:40: “So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. That Christ means himself by the ‘son of man,’ there is no reason to doubt; and his being laid in a tomb, dug out of a rock, is sufficient to answer this phrase, ‘the heart of the earth,’ in distinction from the surface of it; but some difficulty arises about the time of his continuing there, and the prediction here made agreeable to the type: for it was on the sixth day of the week, we commonly call ‘Friday,’ towards the close, on the day of the preparation for the sabbath, and when the sabbath drew on, that the body of Christ was laid in the sepulchre; where it lay all the next day, which was the sabbath of the Jews, and what we commonly call ‘Saturday;’ and early on the first of the week, usually called ‘Sunday,’ or the Lord’s day, he rose from the dead; so that he was but one whole day, and part of two, in the grave. To solve this difficulty, and set the matter in a clear light, let it be observed, that the three days and three nights, mean three natural days, consisting of day and night, or twenty four hours, and are what the Greeks call ‘night days;’ but the Jews have no other way of expressing them, but as here; and with them it is a well known rule, and used on all occasions, as in the computation of their feasts and times of mourning, in the observance of the passover, circumcision, and divers purifications, that, ‘a part of a day is as the whole:’* and so, whatever was done before sun setting, or after, if but an hour, or ever so small a time, before or after it, it was reckoned as the whole preceding, or following day; and whether this was in the night part, or day part of the night day, or natural day, it mattered not, it was accounted as the whole night day: by this rule, the case here is easily adjusted; Christ was laid in the grave towards the close of the sixth day, a little before sun setting, and this being a part of the night day preceding, is reckoned as the whole; he continued there the whole night day following, being the seventh day; and rose again early on the first day, which being after sun setting, though it might be even before sun rising, yet being a part of the night day following, is to be esteemed as the whole; and thus the son of man was to be, and was three days and three nights in the grave; and which was very easy to be understood by the Jews; and it is a question whether Jonas was longer in the belly of the fish” (*T. Hieros. Pesach. fol. 31. 2. T. Bab. Moed. Katon, fol. 16. 2. 17. 2. 19. 2. & 20. 2. Bechorot, fol. 20. 2. & 21. 1, Nidda, fol. 33. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Ebel, c. 7. sect. 1, 2, 3. Aben Ezra in Leviticus 12.3).

Announcements (subject to God’s will)

On the back table are free copies of the April issue of the Covenant Reformed News and free copies of the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal.

Thank you to all those who give using Gift Aid. We expect a receive about £15,000 back this year. If you need a record of your offerings for tax purposes, please contact Julian.

Family visitation (Eph. 4) continues this week

Monday, 8 May
7 PM – Kennedys (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
8 PM – Ariana (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
9 PM – Mansonas (Reid/Rev. Stewart)

Wednesday (10 May)
7PM – Colm (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
8PM – M. Kuhs (Reid/Rev. Stewart)
9PM – Grahams (Reid/Rev. Stewart)

Tuesday Bible study at 11 AM will meet to discuss the proper relationship between faith and love over against Rome and its appeal to Galatians 5:6.

Congratulations to Ivan & Lily Reid who celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this Friday, 12 May. We wish them the Lord’s continued blessing.

Saturday Bible study will be held this week, 13 May, at 7:30 PM on-line, considering lesson 6 of the I Thessalonians study guide.

The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled, “God’s Design for Marriage” (Gen. 2:24).

Offerings: £1,290.80. Donations: £100 (Malaysia), £200 (England), £50 (Rep. of Ireland).

The Council will meet next Monday, 15 May at 7 PM.

Translation Additions: 1 Polish and 1 Russian.

PRC News: Rev. Decker (Grandville, MI) declined the calls from Hosanna PRC and Randolph PRC.Georgetown PRC called Rev. De Boer (Edgerton, MN). Loveland PRC called Rev. Spronk (Faith, MI). Hudsonville PRC has called Rev. Brummel (Calvary, IA). Doon PRC called Rev. J. Mahtani (Hope, MI). Lynden PRC called Rev. Kortus (Redlands, CA).

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Map of Jerusalem’s walls