Sermon for Sunday, August 9th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading and sermon text: [Psa 2:1-12 ESV] 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his …
Sermon on Psalm 2:1-12 – “Is the World out of Control?” Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, July 26th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Exo 33:12-23 ESV] 12 Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you …
Sermon on John 16:1-15 – “The Son and the Spirit Speak” Read More »
[This is the text of the minority report on the free offer of the Gospel written by William Young and Floyd Hamilton in 1948 in opposition to the Majority Report on that subject written by John Murray, Ned Stonehouse, and Arthur Kuschke.] On the free offer of the gospel, the undersigned find themselves unable to …
1948 OPC Minority Report on the Free Offer of the Gospel Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, July 19th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Gen 1:1-5 ESV] 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering …
Sermon on John 15:26-27 – “The Witness of the Spirit” Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, July 12th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Psa 91:1-16 ESV] 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom …
Sermon on John 15:18-25 – “Persecuted Like Christ” Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, July 5th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ESV] 6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on …
Sermon on John 15:12-17 – “Jesus Shows His Love for Us” Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, June 28th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Psa 80:1-19 ESV] 1 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. …
Sermon for Sunday, June 21st, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Joe 2:28-32 ESV] 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men …
Sermon on John 14:15-31 – “The Comfort of the Holy Spirit” Read More »
To Think Christianly, A History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement by Charles E. Cotherman, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020, 301 pp. Charles E. Cotherman has provided a valuable study on the “History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement.” While this might seem like an eclectic …
Review of To Think Christianly by Charles E. Cotherman Read More »
Sermon for Sunday, June 14th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Ezr 1:1-11 ESV] 1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, …
Mailed out for: Sunday, June 7th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Psa 33:1-22 ESV] 1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. 2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! 3 …
Sermon on John 14:1-14 – “Take Comfort in the Lord” Read More »
Mailed out for: Sunday, May 31st, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Lev 19:9-18 ESV] 9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not …
From The Word of God and the Mind of Man by Ronald H. Nash. “For twenty years or so, as a friendly critic of Van Til’s views, I have maintained that Van Til’s position entails scepticism. …” (p. 100) “Only recently, however, have I come to understand that Van Til had developed his own version …
Mailed out for: Sunday, May 24th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Psa 41:1-13 ESV] 1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; 2 the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; …
Sermon on John 13:18-30 – “Jesus Foretells Judas’ Betrayal” Read More »
Mailed out for: Sunday, May 17th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Gen 18:1-15 ESV] 1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and …
Mailed out for: Sunday, May 10th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Isa 51:1-6 ESV] 1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 Look to …
Sermon on John 12:44-50 – “The Word of God is Eternal Life” Read More »
It is critical in theology to consider whether the view one defends is actually derived from Scripture or is only, at best, compatible with Scripture. Consider, for instance, applying the question “compatible or derived?” to the various positions held on the topic of origins. While atheistic evolution is immediately rejected by Christians — and rightly …
Mailed out for: Sunday, May 3rd, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: Isaiah 53:1-6 [Isa 6:8-13 ESV] 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, …
Sermon on John 12:35-43 – “In the Light of Jesus” Read More »
Mailed out for: Sunday, April 26th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Isa 53:1-6 ESV] 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like …
Sermon on John 12:27-36 – “The Death of Christ is the Plan of God” Read More »
Despite covering a wide and deep swath of theology in his numerous books and articles a lacuna remains in the writings of Dr. Gordon H. Clark in that he never wrote a piece specifically addressed to the topic of hermeneutics or Biblical interpretation. Though indeed no individual writing of Clark’s was dedicated to this topic—and …
Scripturalist Hermeneutics and Extra-Biblical Information Read More »
Mailed out for: Sunday, April 19th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Old Testament reading: [Isa 66:15-24 ESV] 15 “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire will the …
Mailed out for: Sunday, April 12th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) As this is a rare (for me) topical sermon, there is no particular sermon text. But on the theme of the resurrection I have chosen Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels readings for today. Old Testament: [Psalm 71:19-24 ESV] 19 …
Mailed out for: Sunday, April 5th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Where a church calendar is followed, this Sunday is Palm Sunday. On this day the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is remembered. Incidentally, it is that very passage we now reach in our series on John’s Gospel. To …
Mailed out for: Sunday, March 29th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [John 12:1-11 ESV] 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was …
Sermon on John 12:1-11 – “The Value of the Lord” Read More »
There are four terms commonly used in the discussion of the relationship of God and sin. In a sort of continuum from hard to soft (or heavy to light, etc.) these terms are “author,” “cause,” “permit,” and “bare permission.” The Reformed Faith, as exemplified in the Westminster Confession of Faith, strongly opposes using the word …
