Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 24 May, 2020
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering …” (Col. 3:12)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Disobedience Cursed [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 27
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 4
I. As to the Law
II. As to the Gospel
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
The Kingdom of God Versus the Kingdoms of Man (20)
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Daniel 5
Text: Daniel 5:25-28
I. The Cryptic Writing
II. The True Interpretation
III. The Wider Application
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
W. Ewing on Mt. Ebal: “From the broad summit a view of surpassing interest and beauty rewards the climber’s toil. Westward beyond the hills and the plain of Sharon with its coast line of yellow sand running from Jaffa to Carmel, stretch the blue waters of the Mediterranean. From Carmel to Gilboa, Little Hermon and Tabor, roll the fruitful breadths of Esdraelon: the uplands of Galilee, with Nazareth showing on the brow above the plain, rise away to the buttresses of Lebanon in the North. From the snowy peak of Hermon the eye ranges over the Jaulan and Mount Gilead to the Mountain of Bashan in the East, with the steep eastern wall of the Jordan valley in the foreground. The land of Moab is visible beyond the Dead Sea; and the heights around Jerusalem close the view on the South” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 2. p. 890).
John Calvin on Daniel 5:25-28: “Although God here addresses but one king by the writing set before his eyes, we may still gather this general instruction—God has prescribed a certain time for all kingdoms (Job 14:5). The Scripture bears the same witness concerning the life of each of us. If God has prescribed to each of us the length of his life, surely this applies more forcibly to public empires, of so much greater importance. Hence we may know how not only kings live and die according to God’s pleasure, but even empires are changed, as we have formerly said. He fixes alike their origin and their destiny. Hence we may seek consolation, when we see tyrants rushing on so impetuously, and indulging their lust and cruelty without moderation. When, therefore, they rush on, as if they would mingle heaven and earth, let us remember this instruction, Their years are numbered! God knows how long they are to rage; He is not deceived; He knows whether it is useful to the Church and his elect, for tyrants to prevail for a time. By and bye he will surely restrain them, but since he determined the number of their days from the beginning, the time of his vengeance is not yet quite at hand, while he allows them a little longer to abuse without restraint the power and the sway which he had divinely granted them.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Please keep in mind the needs of the church’s general fund and benevolence during the present coronavirus disruption. You can post offerings to Julian or ask him for bank transfer details.
From the RFPA: We are happy to report that restrictions on printing have been lifted and the three back issues of the Standard Bearer (April 15, May 1, and May 15) have been printed and posted out this past week. While you wait for the hard copies to arrive in the mail, you can still read the three back issues online for free (https://rfpa.org/pages/the-standard-bearer).
Men’s Bible study on the book of Acts is this Saturday at 8 PM on Zoom.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. R. Kleyn is entitled, “The Necessity of Church Membership” (Heb. 10:25).
The next Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, 1 June, at 7:30 PM on Zoom.
Rev. Stewart will be interviewed on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on “Regeneration: God’s Gift of a New Heart” on Thursday, 25 June.
Offerings: General Fund: £155.
Translation Additions: 3 Afrikaans.
PRC News: Cornerstone PRC called Rev. R. Kleyn (Spokane, WA). Edmonton PRC called Rev. Guichelaar (Randolph, WI). Kalamazoo PRC called Rev. Haak (Georgetown, MI).
Love for the Church
Rev. Daniel Kleyn (Standard Bearer, vol. 79, issue 20)
God loves His church. She is precious to Him as the bride and body of Jesus Christ. So great is His love for her that He sent His Son to die for her. The church is His. He delights in her. Jehovah “loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Ps. 87:2).
Since God loves His church, so ought we. The church is beloved of God and precious to Him. That’s what she should be to us.
To love God’s church means, first of all, that we love the church as the universal body of Christ. That, after all, is what the church is—the great company of the elect. She is the body of those God eternally chose from every tribe and nation under heaven, and that He now gathers by His Word and Spirit in every age of world history. That church is to be the object of our love.
This involves loving the individual members of the universal body of Christ. Our love should not be limited just to the saints that live where we live, that have the same skin colour as we have, and that speak the same language as we speak. The child of God who loves the church knows God has His people in all nations under heaven. He loves the people of God regardless of their physical, earthly differences. In this way, he loves the church as the universal bride and body of Jesus Christ.
But we are to love the church also as a church institute. The reason for this is that the church as the universal body of Christ comes to manifestation in this world as the gathering of believers and their seed in the institute. Wherever there is such a gathering, that congregation of God’s people is a manifestation of the body of Christ in a particular place.
Not all church institutes, however, are that. Not just any gathering of people that calls itself a church is a church. The church as the universal body of Christ comes to manifestation only where a church, by the grace of God, maintains the three marks that distinguish her as a true church of Christ. That is, a church is a church only when the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached, the pure administration of the sacraments is maintained and Christian discipline is properly exercised. Only such a church is loved of God and is to be loved by us.
As we consider our calling to love the church, we focus especially upon love for the church institute. This involves loving the church of which you are a member … If, by the grace of God, a congregation or denomination is faithful to His truth and maintains the three marks of the true church, you are to love her. If God has given you a place in such a congregation and denomination, that church is to be the object of your love.
Our tendency is to take the instituted church where we are members for granted. We do so because the church has always been there. We have been members of her all our lives. We have never been prevented, because of persecution, from attending both worship services each Sunday. We have always been able to hear faithful preaching of the gospel. We have always had the opportunity to be a part of the communion of the saints, not only on Sundays, but also at Bible studies during the week. The church and all that is connected to her has always been readily available for us to participate in and to enjoy. As a result, we often fail to appreciate and love her.
This becomes evident when we have a casual attitude toward the church and our membership in her. We are not very interested in the preaching. We do not have a concern for the church’s welfare. We are involved as little as possible in church life. We do not have the time to help out and encourage our fellow saints. The church does not have a prominent place in our lives. Worship on Sundays is rather routine and mundane.
Sometimes God must take something away from us before we truly appreciate it. We know this from experience. Sometimes it happens with a family member—a spouse, a parent, a child. We take that loved one for granted until something serious happens to him or her, or until God takes that person from us. Then we wish we had loved that individual more than we did. May it never be necessary for God to do that with regard to the church. Let us be sure we sincerely love her.
What should motivate us to love the church are the positive things about her—her strengths.
It is certainly true that the church also has many weaknesses and sins. The church of Christ in this world is far from perfect, for believers have only a small beginning of the new obedience. On account of this, it is often difficult to love the church of which one is a member. We first of all see weaknesses in ourselves. By God’s grace we acknowledge and strive to overcome these weaknesses, but nevertheless they are there. We also see weaknesses in other members. We notice members whose walk and conduct is very troubling and brings shame to the church and to the name of Christ. As a result we want very little to do with them or with the church because of them. Their behaviour makes it very difficult for us to love the church.
At other times we see general weaknesses in a congregation or in the churches as a whole. We sense a lack of interest in doctrinal distinctiveness. Or we notice a tendency toward legalism. Or we find little interest in mission work. Or we see some pushing for changes in the way we worship. We then become discouraged and disappointed with the church, and find it difficult to love her. That is especially so when those weaknesses and sins seem to threaten the church’s very existence …
If the only thing one sees and notices are the church’s flaws and weaknesses, it is not only difficult but almost impossible to love the church as we ought. For that reason, the Scriptures tell us we are to notice the strengths of the church and to love her because of them. This does not mean that we ignore her weaknesses. We may never do that. We may not shut an eye to errors in doctrine and ungodliness in life. These things must be noticed and must be dealt with … that in itself is an important way in which we manifest our love for the church. But as regards being motivated to love the church, we are to stop and take note of her strengths.
This is pointed out in Psalm 48:12-13 where we read, “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces.” This is an admonition to the people of God to take a look at the strengths of the church of which they are members.
The Old Testament believer was to do that. He was told, as it were, to go outside the city of Jerusalem and to take the time to notice many things about that city. He was to walk around her and look at her from every angle. He was to notice her towers, her bulwarks, and her palaces. He might not merely take a superficial glance at the city of God, but he was to make a thorough and careful observation and study. He must see what it was that made Zion such a magnificent city, a city that was beautiful and glorious, a city that was strong and safe.
That’s what the New Testament believer is to do. Jerusalem and her temple represent the church of Christ. We are to take the time to notice her strengths and beauties. We are told, as it were, to put aside for a moment the church’s weaknesses and to focus on what she is positively. We are to notice the things about the church that make her spiritually strong. Noticing those things, we will be motivated and enabled properly to love her.
How do we do that? When the church is made up of sinful members and has many weaknesses, how do we see her as beautiful and strong? We do that by looking at the church from the viewpoint of what God has made her to be.
The church does not have strengths because of men. The faithful church of Christ is not faithful because of herself. She is beautiful and strong, because God is in her midst and blesses her.
Psalm 48 makes that clear. The church is the city of the great King (v. 2). She is strong and safe because God is her refuge (v. 3) who protects and defends her from her enemies (vv. 4-7). God establishes her for ever (v. 8). He is the God of His church for ever and ever, guiding her even unto the end of time (v. 14).
Noticing what God has done and continues to do for His church, we will love her. Remember, God loves her. She is precious to Him and loved by Him. May we love her too.
