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 …
March 15th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [Psa 1:1-6 ESV] 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, …
Sermon on Psalm 1:1-6 – “Yielding Fruit in its Season” Read More »
Sinclair Ferguson is perhaps today’s leading proponent of the “well-meant offer of the Gospel,” the teaching that God desires the salvation of all men, elect and reprobate as well. Proponents of the well-meant offer land into particularly difficult quandaries as the inherent unlimitedness of the position presses up against the limitedness of the Calvinist view …
A Quandary for Proponents of the Well-Meant Offer Read More »
March 8th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [2Ch 34:8-21 ESV] 8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the …
Sermon on 2 Chronicles 34:8-21 – “A Scroll is Found” Read More »
March 1st, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [Jhn 11:45-57 ESV] 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the …
Sermon on John 11:45-57 – “Two Unwitting Prophecies” Read More »
February 23rd, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [Jdg 2:11-19 ESV] 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land …
March 7th 1880 The following named persons having been previously elected, to the office of ruling elders, by a vote of this church Asa Smith, Samuel Hartwell, Jonathan Whitaker, J. Harvey Hanford were this day set apart to this office, according to the constitution or usage of the Presbyterian church. H. F. Wadsworth. Pastor. (Elder …
February 16th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [Jhn 11:1-44 ESV] 1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was …
Sermon on John 11:1-44 – “The Resurrection and the Life” Read More »
I welcome corrections to this chart I’ve drawn which shows the relationship of various presbyteries and synods in 18th century American presbyterianism. I’ll be speaking in August, Lord willing, at the General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian church about John Witherspoon and his role in the 1789 General Assembly.
A Tale of Two Synods, Events That Led to the Split between Wisconsin and Missouri, by Mark E. Braun, second edition, 2003, 350 pp. I had been wanting to read this book for some time, and having finally gotten around to it I can say it did not disappoint (even if the Lutheran attitudes and …
February 9th, 2020 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC) Sermon Text: [Jhn 10:22-42 ESV] 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, …
Sermon on John 10:22-42 – “No Power Can Stand Against God” Read More »
March 25th, 1870 Session met at the call fo the Moderator. Opened with prayer. Present H. F. Wadsworth, Moderator, Isaac Swift, Peter C. Hanford. (Absent Marcus Haynes.) Mr. Oliver Grover was received into the church by letter of dismission and recommendation from the Second Presbyterian church at Newburyport Mass. Closed with prayer. H. F. Wadsworth, …
