Bible Text: John 6:22-51 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Lord’s Day 25, Preaching Sacraments and Discipline | I. The Source of Faith
II. The Means of Faith

Bible Text: Ezekiel 10 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: The Departure of Jehovah’s Glory | I. The Nature of God’s Chariot
II. The Movement of God’s Chariot
III. The Coals Under God’s Chariot

Bible Text: Mark 13:1-27 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Belgic Confession 37, The Last Judgment | Article 37
THE LAST JUDGMENT
Finally, we believe, according to the Word of God, when the time appointed by the Lord (which is unknown to all creatures) is come, and the number of the elect complete, that our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, corporally and visibly, as He ascended, with great glory and majesty to declare Himself Judge of the quick and the dead, burning this old world with fire and flame to cleanse it.
Then all men will personally appear before this great Judge, both men and women and children, that have been from the beginning of the world to the end thereof, being summoned by the voice of the archangel and by the sound of the trumpet of God. For all the dead shall be raised out of the earth, and their souls joined and united with their proper bodies in which they formerly lived. As for those who shall then be living, they shall not die as the others, but be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and from corruptible become incorruptible. Then the books (that is to say, the consciences) shall be opened, and the dead judged according to what they shall have done in this world, whether it be good or evil. Nay, all men shall give an account of every idle word they have spoken, which the world only counts amusement and jest; and then the secrets and hypocrisy of men shall be disclosed and laid open before all.
And therefore the consideration of this judgment is justly terrible and dreadful to the wicked and ungodly, but most desirable and comfortable to the righteous and the elect; because then their full deliverance shall be perfected, and there they shall receive the fruits of their labor and trouble which they have borne. Their innocence shall be known to all, and they shall see the terrible vengeance which God shall execute on the wicked, who most cruelly persecuted, oppressed, and tormented them in this world; and who shall be convicted by the testimony of their own consciences, and, being immortal, shall be tormented in that everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.
But on the contrary, the faithful and elect shall be crowned with glory and honor; and the Son of God will confess their names before God His Father and His elect angels; all tears shall be wiped from their eyes; and their cause, which is now condemned by many judges and magistrates as heretical and impious, will then be known to be the cause of the Son of God. And for a gracious reward, the Lord will cause them to possess such a glory as never entered into the heart of man to conceive.
Therefore we expect that great day with a most ardent desire, to the end that we may fully enjoy the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20).

Bible Text: John 15:1-17 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Justification and Good Works, Lord’s Day 24 | I. They Are Part of Our Righteousness Before God
II. We Will Not Perform Them

Bible Text: Ezekiel 9 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: The Departure of Jehovah’s Glory | I. The Terrible Slaughter
II. The Prophetic Intercession
III. The Implied Calling

Bible Text: Romans 3:19-4:8 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Justification and Good Works, Lord’s Day 23 | I. The Profound Meaning
II. The Spiritual Significance

Bible Text: Ezekiel 8 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: The Departure of Jehovah’s Glory | I. Its Striking Characteristics
II. Its Four Stops
III. Its Contemporary Application

Bible Text: James 5:1-11 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Belgic Confession 36, The Magistrates | Article 36: Of Magistrates.
We believe that our gracious God, because of the depravity of mankind, hath appointed kings, princes, and magistrates, willing that the world should be governed by certain laws and policies, to the end that the dissoluteness of men might be restrained, and all things carried on among them with good order and decency.
For this purpose He hath invested the magistracy with the sword, for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well.
Their office is not only to have regard unto and watch for the welfare of the civil state, but also that they protect the sacred ministry, and thus may remove and prevent all idolatry and false worship;* that the kingdom of antichrist may be thus destroyed and the kingdom of Christ promoted. They must therefore countenance
the preaching of the Word of the gospel everywhere, that God may be honored and worshiped by every one, as He commands in His Word.
Moreover, it is the bounden duty of every one, of what state, quality, or condition soever he may be, to subject himself to the magistrates; to pay tribute, to show due honor and respect to them, and to obey them in all things which are not repugnant to the Word of God; to supplicate for them in their prayers, that God may rule and guide them in all their ways, and that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Wherefore we detest the error of the Anabaptists and other seditious people, and in general all those who reject the higher powers and magistrates and would subvert justice, introduce a community of goods, and confound that decency and good order which God hath established among men.
*NOTE: This phrase, touching the office of the magistracy in its relation to the Church, proceeds on the principle of the Established Church, which was first applied by Constantine and afterwards also in many Protestant countries. History, however, does not support the principle of State domination over the Church, but rather the separation of Church and State. Moreover, it is contrary to the New Dispensation that authority be vested in the State to arbitrarily reform the Church, and to deny the Church the right of independently conducting its own affairs as a distinct territory alongside the State. The New Testament does not subject the Christian Church to the authority of the State that it should be governed and extended by political measures, but to our Lord and King only as an independent territory alongside and altogether independent of the State, that it may be governed and edified by its office-bearers and with spiritual weapons only. Practically all Reformed churches have repudiated the idea of the Established Church, and are advocating the autonomy of the churches and personal liberty of conscience in matters pertaining to the service of God.
“The Christian Reformed Church in America, being in full accord with this view, feels constrained to declare that it does not conceive of the office of the magistracy in this sense, that it be in duty bound to also exercise political authority in the sphere of religion, by establishing and maintaining a State Church, advancing and supporting the same as the only true Church, and to oppose, to persecute and to destroy by means of the sword all the other churches as being false religions; and to also declare that it does positively hold that, within its own secular sphere, the magistracy has a divine duty towards the first table of the Law as well as towards the second; and furthermore that both State and Church as institutions of God and Christ have mutual rights and duties appointed them from on high, and therefore have a very sacred reciprocal obligation to meet through the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and Son. They may not, however, encroach upon each other’s territory. The Church has rights of sovereignty in its own sphere as well as the State.” Acta. Synod, 1910.

Bible Text: II Timothy 1:16-18 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: Holding Fast the Form of Sound Words | I. The Deeds He Performed
II. The Attitude He Possessed
III. The Mercy He Needed

Bible Text: I Corinthians 15:32-58 | Preacher: Rev. Angus Stewart | Series: God the Holy Spirit, Lord’s Day 22 | I. The Glorious Meaning of It
II. The Great Calling of It
III. The Beautiful Encouragement of It