Grace motivated him to build because he knew that he didn’t have to build in order to obtain that grace, but he already had it and would never lose it! What soul-liberating and heart-motivating gratitude that gives to the believer! Grace empowered him to build because if left to himself he could not have cut a single gopher tree or set one board upon another, but God was perpetually there in his heart working and preserving his faith.Read More
In her book, I Belong, Joyce Holstege takes the smallest incremental steps to teach your child the Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1. That’s it. A whole book – 50 pages – for one catechism question and answer. You can be assured, though, by the time you finish this book with your child, he or she will be able to recite the question and answer and explain what it means.Read More
Just as Scripture itself tends toward the final consummation of all things on the day of Christ’s second coming, so too this book builds up this ultimate hope of the church: the return of her Lord. The reader is given a sober description of Antichrist, who he will be, how he will rise, what power he shall wield, what short-lived kingdom he shall build, the part the false church will play, and the tribulation he shall bring upon the church. The fullness of Scripture’s teaching on the subject is here explained. The reader who is interested in gaining a better understanding of difficult eschatological passages of Scripture, such as in Daniel and Revelation, will be well rewarded by reading this work.Read More
In the centuries before the flood, the intermarriage of the boys of the church with the girls of the world was one of the primary causes of the apostasy which eventually diminished the covenant community to eight souls and filled the world’s cup of iniquity, making it ripe for judgment.
“The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose… There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:2, 4).
Do you receive the Word with readiness of mind—with all readiness of mind? Do you receive it with eagerness, willingness, passion, and zeal? If you do, then you are like the Bereans. The Bereans received the Word, as it should be received, because it is God’sWord. They did not despise it, or criticize it; they did not mock it or show disdain. They were not indifferent to it, but they submitted to it and they obeyed it. They embraced the Word not as something intellectually stimulating, but as authoritative: as authoritative as the Old Testament Scriptures, as we shall see. Therefore, the Bereans believed the Word, they lived according to it, and the Word changed them: if Jesus was the Messiah who suffered, died, and rose again, as Paul proved, then they believed in this Messiah and turned from sin.Read More
"You will discover that each chapter teaches a distinct, comforting truth that will leave you eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to read further. Rev. McGeown tackles the various concepts of Scripture such as love, faith, peace (and many more) using precise yet easy to understand language. Certainly, this is something the average reader is looking for! At times a book can become so abstract that we lose the line of thought and find ourselves rereading the last several paragraphs over again. I do not believe that this will be the case with this book. At the same time the young preacher will find this an excellent commentary on these chapters of the Bible that he can use to help stimulate his preparation of a sound, biblical sermon for his congregation."Read More
It’s hard to imagine, but for most of the history of the church, people didn’t have Bibles in their homes. This was before computers and copy machines and printers. Each Bible had to be carefully written out, copied word by word from another Bible.
Think how long it would take to copy even one page of the Bible that way. And then another page. And then another, until you had copied the whole Bible. It would take months and months. And when you were finished, you would only add one Bible. So, a Bible was a rare and expensive thing.Read More
There is in the Bible no Epistle to the Bereans. There are, however, two epistles to the Thessalonians. Yet, although the apostle Paul did not write an epistle to the Bereans, the Bereans are a very famous church. In fact, most Christians are very familiar with the Bereans. The Bereans are famous for their reception of the word. Therefore, if they had received a letter from the apostle, they would have read it and carefully studied it in light of the Holy Scriptures that they had. And of course they did (in due course) receive all of the apostolic letters, which we have in the New Testament as Scripture.
The Bereans are set forth by Luke, and by the Holy Spirit who inspired Luke, as an example worthy of our emulation. Be like the Bereans in your reception of the word. Do not be like the Jews of Thessalonica, many of whom rejected the word out of hand, but be like the Bereans in receiving the word with all readiness of mind. And be like the Bereans by testing the word that you hear against the only infallible standard, which is the Holy Scriptures.Read More
Joyce Holstege, kindergarten teacher at Heritage Christian School in Hudsonville, Michigan, and author of I Belong: Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1 for Children recently addressed the RFPA's Association members on the why, when, and how of bringing doctrine into the devotions we do with our young children. Here is an overview of part 1 of the speech, the reason for doctrinal devotions. Why do we teach children doctrine in our devotions? - By the grace of God, little children know and love God,...
Do you think that obedience is simply spontaneous, even automatic, that it springs from us as an expression of our gratitude? It should be, but it is not. Incentives are necessary, first, because of the weakness of our flesh; second, they are necessary because of the difficulty of the way; third, they are necessary because of the opposition of the enemy. Fourth, they are given by the grace of our God. It is Reformed to speak of incentives: “The consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to a serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints” (Canons 5:12). So, dear reader, when you feel like giving up, when you ask yourself, “What is the point in adding to my faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity?” then remember the incentive, “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”Read More
Calling is the address of God’s voice to the heart of the elect, regenerated sinner to bring him to conscious faith. Election is God’s eternal choice; whereas calling is God’s speaking by his voice to the heart of the elect, regenerated sinner in time. Paul writes, “[God] hath saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:10). Elsewhere he writes, “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called” (Rom. 9:30). The purpose and grace of God are before the world began, but the calling happens in time and history, in the lifetime of the elect sinner. There was a point in time, dear reader, when you were called, a time when God addressed your heart, a time when God drew you to himself, and a time when by grace you came in faith to Jesus Christ.Read More
This is a study on 2 Peter 1:5-11 by Martyn McGeown. Previous article in the series: A Study in 2 Peter 1:5-11 (1b): Adding to our faith _________________ “For if these things be in you, and abound…” (2 Peter 1:8) #1 The promise of fruitfulness Last time we noticed the exhortation, “Add:” “Add to your faith virtue, etc.” Verse 8 gives the reason for the admonition of verse 5. That is why it begins with the word “for” which means “because.” Recall...
This is a study on 2 Peter 1:5-11 by Martyn McGeown. Previous article in the series: A study in 2 Peter 1:5-11 (1a): Adding to our faith. __________________ #2 The Necessary AdditionAfter introducing faith, then, the apostle Peter writes, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, etc.” We could translate it this way: “And for this very reason, or exactly because of this.” Exactly because our whole salvation is found in Christ, and exactly because our whole salvation...
When Peter says, “Add to your faith,” he is not at all belittling our faith. He has said wonderful things about it: it is precious, we have it in common with all the other members of Christ’s church, it is allotted or assigned to us by God, it brings us into possession of great blessings, and it has promise of greater things to come.
Therefore, saving faith does not need virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly affection, and charity. These are not of the essence of faith, but they are faith’s fruits. They are necessary in their own place, but they do not belong to faith’s saving or justifying essence. In other words, while true faith bears virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly affection, and charity, these things do not save or justify us. We are not justified by faith and virtue, etc. We are justified by faith alone. Faith and virtue are not the instruments of justification. Justification is by faith alone. Salvation, and especially justification, is by faith alone because by faith alone we embrace Jesus Christ, who alone is our salvation.Read More
