Returning to the Blessed Bible

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:40:07 +0000

Some 350 years ago, our faithful Reformed forefathers in Scotland took hold of the covenant of grace in their National Covenant, by this means fulfilling their duty and privilege as Christ’s witnessing church in the British Isles. Thus was born the Second, or Covenanted Reformation of religion in those Isles, sustained and greatly furthered by the swearing of the Solemn League and Covenant five years later. The latter “covenanted uniformity of religion” undergirded the work of the famous Westminster Assembly, and bound the covenanting churches and nations to the adoption and implementation of that Assembly’s work (the Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, Directory for Public Worship, and Form of Church-Government). Sadly, of these churches and nations Scotland was most faithful to pay her vows, and only for a brief time. In 1650, a deadly, Church-dividing blow was dealt by the majority of backsliding civil and ecclesiastical leaders in their support of the “Public Resolutions.” England and Ireland had already broken their sacred bond. The next four decades were times of bitter and often unrelenting trial for the faithful, protesting remnant (which included such men as Samuel Rutherford, Archibald Johnston of Warriston, James Guthrie, Patrick Gillespie, John Brown of Wamphray, Robert M,Ward, William Guthrie, Donald Cargill, Richard Cameron, and James Renwick), who themselves by God’s grace were unrelenting in their testimony against the covenant-breaking Resolutioners and the defections in Church and State. Though the merciless persecution by the civil and ecclesiastical tyrants ended with the Reformation-denying Revolution settlement of 1688, the blessed but short-lived Covenanted Reformation has been, and continues to be, opposed by many, ignored by or unknown to others, and embraced and loved by only a faithful few, who, like their fathers (and unlike the RPCNA today) truly wear the name, “Covenanter.”
There have been many in the last three centuries who have gloriously praised the work of the Westminster Assembly, yet there has been at best only an incomplete adherence to the Assembly’s doctrine and practice. Many factors have contributed to this, of which the foremost must certainly be our wretched failure to receive the love of the truth. Consequently, our righteous God has given the people and nations professing His name over to a profound blindness, in keeping with His fearful threatenings in the Scriptures (2 Thess. 2:10-12; Rom. 1:28; etc.). This “judicial blindness” has led to an increased preaching, publishing, and practicing of numerous errors condemned by our forefathers as Popish on the one hand, and schismatic and Independent on the other, in so-called “Protestant,” “Reformed,” and “Presbyterian” churches. Richard Bacon exemplifies this dreadful dynamic in our day.
As we see, then, our quarrel goes back over three hundred years – and really, back to the dawn of the human race. Our contending is for nothing less than the Crown Rights – the comprehensive Crown Rights – of the blessed promised Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, which are denied, trampled, and usurped on all sides. The Serpent and his seed throughout the millennia have unceasingly sought and fought to strip the Lamb of God of his due honor and glory in Church and State. The Lamb and his followers have continually met them in battle, being made strong through his Spirit and Word, and through his might “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). By such faithful contendings, God has graciously granted two major Reformations in days past: we stand desperately in need of a third. There is great cause for rejoicing in Zion, however, for an increasing number of God’s people are beginning to be awakened, and to return to the blessed biblical attainments of the Covenanted Reformation. We are hopeful that the prayers of the faithful Covenanters of old are being answered: that the rediscovery of their precious principles and practices are nothing less than a prologue to the third reformation and the worldwide overthrow of Antichrist.

Four Attitudes Toward Jesus

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:33:33 +0000

The celebration of Christmas is once again behind us. Most of us appreciate the spirit of good will that is often present at Christmas time. The joy and gladness of the season are worthy virtues. But now the trees have been dragged out of the house, hauled away, and recycled. The pretty wrapping paper has been torn from the packages and tossed aside. Mechanical toys eventually break. The mirth of Christmas festivities is over. Friends and loved ones, who had come home for the holidays, are now scattered to the ends of the country.
Sometimes the Lord Jesus Christ is crowded cut of the special day that is meant to honor Him most —but no human being can ignore Him and the demands He desires to make on our lives. The Baby born in Bethlehem was sent in order that He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The Scriptures again and again—from the first preaching of the gospel in Genesis 3:15, to the final praise of the ransomed hosts in heaven (Revelation 5:13)—declare the necessity of Jesus’ birth so that He could die for sinners. It was man who sinned; it requires a Man to atone for sin. Jesus was “manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). God’s perfect justice demands that sin be punished; He cannot just pass it by. But being a God of love—and not willing to see mankind perish—God sent Jesus into the world, born in human form so that He could become the sacrificial offering for man’s sin. His death brings peace and reconciliation between our guilty souls and a holy God (Colossians 1:20-23). Christmas is much more than decorated trees, sentimental carols, office parties, and good will calls on neighbors. The Baby laid in a manger was God’s answer to sin.
Those who hold the popular view that there are many roads to heaven, make sincerity the way of salvation. Hinduism claims salvation through a series of reincarnations. Buddhism calls for an elimination of “desire” which supposedly leads to peace of mind and ultimate salvation. Islam contends that we must commit ourselves to the laws of Allah, and hope that good deeds will outweigh bad deeds. The Christian message claims that salvation comes by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross—provided solely by the unmerited grace of God.
Dr. Dale Bruner (professor at Princeton Theological Seminary) speaks clearly about Christ as the only way to salvation and heaven. He calls the belief Christo-exclusivity. Christ is the exclusive way to God, but we remember that Christ is also inclusive because all are invited.
The first chapter of Hebrews exalts Jesus the Son as the eternal God (Hebrews 1:8). He is the One who laid the foundation of the earth (Hebrews 1:10a). Even the heavens are the work of His hands (Hebrews 1:10b). Jesus is the effulgence of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3a). In Hebrews 2 Jesus is lifted up again. He died in our place (Hebrews 2:9). He conquered our enemy the devil (Hebrews 2:14b). Jesus secured our salvation (Hebrews 2:17). He will some day reign over the entire earth (Revelation 19:11-16).
The question each human being must face is this: “Do you see Jesus as a helpless baby in a manger, or as the Authority to whom you must some day give an account for the way you have lived?” The cornerstone of the Christian faith centers on Christ’s humanity, His deity, His death and resurrection, as the only basis for our eternal salvation. Many view salvation through Jesus Christ alone as judgmental thinking, and see that belief as a form of bigotry. For some, Christians sound intolerant and narrow when they insist that there is only one way to salvation and heaven. But in declaring that fact, we are only being faithful to what Jesus himself said in John 14:6, and to what the apostles said in passages like Acts 4:12 and 1 John 5:11-12. The real question is: “What attitude will you take toward Jesus?”
The message featured in the current issue of the Witness is the reprinting of a sermon preached many years ago by the British preacher, W.E. Sangster. He was, for a number of years, minister of the Word of God at Westminster Central Hall, a noted preaching center in London. Before his death in 1960, he had written more than a dozen books. He held the conviction that each Christian can strive to live perfectly in an imperfect world. The sermon printed here names four judgments people over the years have held about Jesus.

Church Revival Movement » glory

Returning to the Blessed Bible

Four Attitudes Toward Jesus