Puritan Preachers

"The difference between the Puritan preachers and us, is that they lived six days in eternity, and came down on Sunday to deliver the goods," (Dr Leonard Ravenhill). We often fail in this very matter. These men were great men of God, men who know God intimately. They lived and worked as in His presence. They sought His face continually and looked intently into the face of Christ. No wonder the Word of God came in power to their people through them!

Ravenhill exposes the fact that preachers do not know what it is to pray or to worship the Lord. There is a glaring lack of discipline in our lives.                                                                  

"The secret of the Puritans was not that they had more time on their hands but that they had more eternity in their hearts! They had an eternity consciousness," says Ravenhill. The need is surely great for a fuller awareness of eternity than perhaps anything else.

It may be objected that we are living in different times from the Puritan era, and there are pressures upon people today that were not evident 350 years ago. Also, ours is a technological and scientific age that has advanced beyond recognition from the days of the Puritans. Surely, you cannot expect people to come and sit through very long sermons that are minutely argued and penetratingly applied to the conscience?

Yes, there are great differences between these two eras, but these are not material and certainly do not necessitate any change in the message that is to be addressed to the men of this generation. Why? Because man is still the same sinful man, and God is still the same holy God, and the Gospel is still the same power of God for the salvation of the believing sinner. There are superficial changes, but no deep changes, except, perhaps, to say that men today may well be in a worse mess on account of sin than they were before; yet it is impossible to conceive of anything worse than to be a sinner, regardless of the external circumstances that surround him.

Voluntary Ministerial Blindness

Keswick at Portstewart has come and gone for 2013 and enjoyed, in God's blessing, the heatwave that blanketed the UK this July. The main preachers during the week were Rev Allister Morrice, Scotland, and Rev. Dr Liam Goligher, Philadelphia, and the preaching was of the highest standard, as you would expect, and the sense of the Lord's presence with us was captivating. It was biblically sound and balanced - in the main - and the application of God's Word to all present was precise. The Bible Readings each morning were rigorous and deeply insightful and sanctifying. The evening meetings were also pointed, although the singing programme was repetitive, very subjective, and somewhat annoying.

The really sad thing about it was that despite mention of the persecution of Christians in far-away lands and in totalitarian regimes by some speakers, there was simply no recognition that this is happening under their noses and within their own churches, and with some of the persecutors being actively involved in working against the Gospel and its hard-pressed servants.

Why is this? Well, persecutors, like all bullies, do not recognise as persecution the persecution in which they are involved. They speak against it in conventions yet use this role as cover for their persecution of brother evangelicals when they return to "the firm" that employs them.

The sheer blindness that accompanies these ministers is visible only to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear."  Others simply do not suspect that good men at Portstewart would work against brother evangelicals who are being ill-treated by and in their congregations, or simply ignore their plight.  But that is the reality.  Being first and foremost the good churchmen that they are and want to continue to be, they will not stand up for their ministerial brethren if by so doing they might jeopardise their promotion prospects within the churches.

This ministerial blindness can be explained: persecution of Gospel ministers is something that only happens in far away lands, not within their churches.  Theologically liberal churches never persecute their own, but they always persecute evangelicals.  Too much ministerial wreckage is lying about Northern Ireland for this to be denied.  Liberal ministers are not persecuted by their denominations because such ministers do not preach the biblical Gospel.  But Gospel ministers within liberal denominations can expect to be ill-treated by such church systems, and not even their evangelical colleagues will stand up for them.

Preachers and the Judgment Seat of Christ

What preachers have lost sight of today is “the judgment seat of Christ,” says Dr Leonard Ravenhill. They have forgotten that one day they will give an account of their stewardship to their Master, as they stand before Him. What He has given to us we will give back to Him with or without interest.

What a difference it would make if we all had an eye on the judgment day! Rev Dick Lucas encouraged young preachers always to keep the "eschatological perspective" before their minds, as men who must give an account.  Martin Luther spoke of the two days in his life - THIS day and THAT Day.

Our service will be revealed on that day, and our work will be fully known. Nothing can bring greater seriousness to our preaching than that thought.

Expository Preachers

One of the essential qualifications of expository preachers whose preaching station is within a congregational setting is surely toughness of hide to take the persistent criticism of spending too much time in the study and not spending enough time with the congregation. His whole week seems to be taken up with study.

Now it is important that a proper balance is reached if the relevance of the message to the congregation is not to suffer. A minister who divorces himself from his congregation is liable to become so bookish that his preparation and sermon delivery is lost on those to whom he was called to minister. Whilst the Word had its own inbuilt relevance, the minister must come between the relevance of the Word and the people to whom that word comes.

But the preacher must be well-disciplined so that he can take such criticism graciously, and go on with the ministry to which God has called him. If Christians want good preaching, they must be prepared to give their minister time and freedom to study so that he can feed their hungry hearts. Only when the preacher himself receives from God can he give to his people. If he does not take the time to feed his own soul, he will have nothing worthwhile to give to others. If he does not labour to prepare a good meal for his guests on Sundays, he cannot complain if they have no appetite for what he has for them! A well-prepared dish is most appetising; but an ill-prepared one, even though it has all the necessary ingredients, will turn them off! Preachers must pay the price for their preaching. They must keep themselves fresh.

Preparation for preaching is the most laborious thing the minister will do, therefore, it is so important that both people and pastor have a right grasp of what preaching is all about. Only then will they be able to submit themselves to the rigorous demands of that preaching.

NORWICH 'GAY PRIDE' DEMO - Christian Gospel Witness

The Norwich 'Gay Pride' demo is now an annual feature of city life, as in many other cities across the UK. Five of us gathered to make a Gospel witness against this unashamed carnival of perverted carnality.

Gentleman's Walk was teeming with people on this warm afternoon (Saturday, 27 July 2013). Arriving early, I noticed that the Charity Stall from which Norwich City Council ejected Norwich Reformed Church last year was being used by ‘Gay Pride’ personnel. Wandering over, I asked for a copy of their official pamphlet. I then offered my leaflets ‘Good News for Gays’ and ‘Jesus Christ, the Saviour We All Need’. Accepting the ‘exchange’, they seemed a little disconcerted. I smiled and said, “You need them, they will do you good. God bless you.” 

When the other brethren arrived, we gathered for prayer, asking the LORD to grant us faithfulness, wisdom, compassion, peace and courage.  

Police were evident in considerable numbers. We engaged in discussion with them. It has to be said that they were more threatening towards us than the gay marchers were. We were told by one officer that if we caused offence and distress we would be arrested. Will Harrison (church identity withheld) then asked, “Since I find gay demonstrators offensive and distressing, will you arrest them too?” No reply was made. Tony Cox (Surrey Chapel) challenged the strident attitude of this officer with his legal expertise, supported by Len Smeath (Norwich Reformed Church). It seems that the public parade of gay perversion is not considered offensive whereas Christian counter-witness is! Will Harrison was accompanied by his wife Laura and baby Elouise in this stand-off. 

Joining in, I said that the marchers had less cause to fear harassment from us than we from them. I asked the officer if he would arrest those who might harass us? Somewhat nervously, he replied that he would. On offering him copies of my leaflets, the officer said I would be arrested if these were distributed. So much for freedom of expression! When I said they were only available for enquirers, the visibly-irritated officer said I would be arrested even if they were displayed. Well, they were displayed - together with another leaflet 'Gay Pride' - but none of us were arrested!

As the several-hundred strong procession advanced with drums, whistles and circus-style antics, we informed the officers that we intended to go ahead of the procession at a distance of 30-40 yards, displaying our Gospel texts (see pics). Hundreds of bystanders watched as we advanced along the route - Len to my left, Tony to my right, and Will and his family with me in the centre. With little Elouise in her pushchair, we were making a family-based, biblical demonstration - ‘A little child shall lead them’ (Isa. 11: 6). Several police officers provided a buffer between us and the noisy marchers behind us.

The planned route took us past the market and the City Hall. Shamelessly displaying the City Council's decadence, a 'rainbow' drape stretched along the entire width of the building. On the balcony, the Lord Mayor, resplendent in his ceremonial robes waved to the crowd, supported by other members of the Council. It was a truly shameful display of official support. As we passed by beneath, I lifted my arm, and - despite the din - shouted “Shame upon you, shame upon you!”

Eventually, we and the main procession reached the Forum where a large crowd applauded them. The police kept between us and the marchers while the noisy celebration reached its climax. Providing evidence of today’s religious apostasy, Quakers and Unitarians were conspicuous among the marchers.  An Anglican-looking clergyman (Methodist? Roman Catholic?) was shamefully smiling. At one point, Tony and Len made their way to the end of the procession to display their Bible texts. In response to the Unitarian’s poster ‘Jesus loves you’, Len rightly said , “Yes Jesus loves them, but He hates their sin!” Turning his back, the man was not amused. It was tragic to see little children among the marchers. May the LORD protect them from sodomite wickedness!

In the end, the whole event seemed less aggressive than in previous years. We were able to make a visible witness, and a good quantity of leaflets were taken. Apart from the leading officer, his fellow officers were quite friendly and helpful towards us. If we are spared, another witness will be made next year (DV). In the wake of the Same-sex Marriage developments, only time will tell if our relatively-low key witness will be tolerated in the future. It would be worth it if only one soul was saved. We leave events to God and His sovereign and gracious purposes. May HE have mercy on our city and country.

Dr Alan C. Clifford

Pastor, Norwich Reformed Church

SODOMITE SOCIETY INVITES THE WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD

SODOMITE SOCIETY INVITES 

THE WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD

A solemn message from 

Dr Alan C. Clifford 

(Norwich Reformed Church)

In pursuing so-called ‘same-sex’ marriage, the UK - along with the USA and the decadent Western world in general - is only a short step from disaster...

If it becomes law, the wrath of Almighty God is unavoidable...

Since true marriage, family cohesion and the welfare of children are under attack as never before, our hitherto Christian-based civilization is on the path to extinction... 

ALARMING ANGLICAN APOSTASY

The Nation’s religious apostasy is reaching new depths.  The Archbishop of Canterbury and Her Majesty the Queen have capitulated before the sodomite tsunami. The former has failed to ‘drive away’ the ‘erroneous and strange doctrine’ of homosexual union ‘contrary to God’s Word’ (Book of Common Prayer). 

If the Archbishop was only ‘irritated’ by the Wonga fiasco, he should have been ‘furious’ over Government-promoted sodomy...

By giving the Royal Assent to the Same Sex Marriage Bill, the Queen has broken her Coronation Oath to defend and uphold the Nation’s Bible-based values. During the recent Coronation Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop failed to remind the Queen of Her Majesty’s religious obligations as Head of State and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Clergy and people of the Church of England (especially the so-called Evangelicals) who fail to challenge the Archbishop and the Queen are complicit in this abominable wickedness if they simply continue passively to accept the appalling so-called ‘sexual revolution’. 

Christians of other denominations are no less guilty if they remain silent...

A greater threat than Islam is our own moral implosion...

We must repent or be ruined...

THE RISE OF GAY PERVERSION

How does 'gay' sexual perversion become popular? The Prophet Ezekiel told us long ago when he explained why God punished the Jews with exile in Babylon in 597 BC.  After centuries of growing religious and moral decline, they had become worse than the wicked Sodomites:

“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fulness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16: 48-50).

The great Genevan Protestant Reformer John Calvin (1509-64) commented:

While Moses explains the most filthy crime which reigned in Sodom (see Genesis 19), we must nevertheless remember what Ezekiel teaches, that the men of Sodom did not fall at once into such terrible wickedness; but that, in the beginning, luxury from the fulness of bread prevailed, and that afterwards, pride and cruelty followed. At length, when they were given up to [immorality], they were also driven headlong into brutal lusts. Therefore, if we dread this extreme of inordinate passion, let us cultivate temperance and frugality; and let us always fear, lest [an over-abundance] of food should impel us to luxury; lest our minds should be infected with pride on account of our wealth, and lest delicacies should tempt us to give the reins to our lusts.

So how can we restore the proper norms of correctly-defined marriage and valid sexuality? Only by heeding this practical wisdom and rejecting today's ‘PC’ do-as-you-please pluralism. In short, we must return to ‘Bible basics’!

Ultimately, our only hope is the saving and sanctifying grace of God in Jesus Christ...

A brief sermon extract from a famous Welsh Methodist preacher sets out our only hope...

The truth he speaks is eternal...

TURN TO CHRIST OR BE TURNED INTO HELL

I come to you, a neighbour of yours, and a friend well known; for I have seen the deluge of the wrath of God coming upon the world, and I am here to warn you in time. A boy on the streets of Sodom ran wildly for his father’s house, saying, ‘The shower of fire is come, for a spark fell at my side, until my clothes nearly caught fire. Is there any way of escape?’ 

Though the warning came to Sodom, it was too late. But I have come here in behalf of my God to apprise you of it in time. I have seen the shower of brimstone, a live spark of it fell upon my guilty conscience, until I became almost all aflame. But I know to-day of a place of refuge, and there is time for you to flee there too. 

O Lord my God, may this people flee to Thee! Let us flee to Calvary—‘And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’ [Isa. 32: 2].

John Jones, Talsarn (1796-1857)

Cowardly subjects of Her Majesty who continue to revel in excessive excitement over the birth of a prince, should reflect upon the pseudo-marital decadence now endorsed by the head of the House of Windsor...

After Her Majesty’s admirable Christmas broadcast of 2012, one might have expected her to refuse to give the Royal Assent to anti-Christian perversion. How sad that her convictions were too weak to withstand Her Government‘s evil policy...

WHAT KIND OF MONARCH IS WORTHY OF LOYALTY?

‘It is an abomination for [monarchs] to commit wickedness, for a throne is established by righteousness’ (Proverbs 16: 12).

To complicity in surrendering our National Sovereignty, the Queen has now added betrayal of the Christian foundation of our religious and moral identity.

The Welsh Methodist preacher quoted above was a ‘commoner’ who was truly worthy of the ‘royal’ adulation he received...

As my new biography makes clear, this amazing Christian minister was called “The preacher of the people.” As an example of his popularity, consider the welcome he received when visiting the populous mining districts of South Wales: 

As soon as they heard of his approach, the people would flock to the doors of their houses in hundreds; the workmen would for the time leave their work, and the women, with babies on their arms, and the little children, would stand on the sides of the streets to watch the great orator of Talysarn passing; just as they would have done if a king or a queen had gone that way...

‘King John’, you are needed in these perilous times...

Bethany and Westbank Children's Homes

In light of current news in Northern Ireland, the following post by Michael Copeland MLA has taken on a relevance that cannot be missed.  Please read this and then ask questions of the churches to which you belong, if they were involved in supporting such homes of abuse.

Michael Stewart Copeland updated his status: "We welcome moves to include Westbank Orphanage, Greystones, in inquiries into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland. Children from Westbank were trafficked illegally over the border and placed with unregistered foster carers. Children in the home and in fostering arrangements suffered physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. The orphanage was unique in that children were hardly if ever adopted. Some 'children' remained in the home into their early thirties. The orphanage appears to have operated without proper supervision from the 1950s until it closed in 1998. In 2011 residential records were removed from the PACT counselling service by the Trustees of Westbank in Bray Gospel Hall. Children whose mothers were from Northern Ireland gave birth in Dublin's Bethany Home, Rathgar, before being transferred to Westbank Home. Bethany Home should, therefore, also be included in the NI process. 219 Bethany children are buried in unmarked graves in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin, while many who survived suffered lifelong illnesses and/or were sent into dysfunctional and abusive situations (including Westbank). Derek Leinster is one of those children. The state sanctioned neglect and death in Bethany when the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser, who was investigating reported abuse, stated in his report, 'It is well known that illegitimate children are delicate and marasmic'. ('Marasmic' is another word for starving). Mothers of three of the undersigned had children born in the Bethany Home. Sydney in 1964 and Colm in 1967 were sent to Westbank. They were sent back and forth over the border, sometimes on fundraising trips to perform for church groups. Sydney's mother was from Northern Ireland. Three of her children were sent to Westbank, one of whom was born in Bethany. Colm's mother gave birth to two children in Bethany who were sent to Westbank. As it was policy in Westbank, children were not told their siblings were also there. A number of religious denominations large and small, from the Church of Ireland to Presbyterians, Methodists, Free Presbyterians, Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, gospel halls, and the Orange Order, were involved in directing unmarried mothers to, and/or raising funds for, Bethany and Westbank. This diffuse association makes it possible for churches to deny specific responsibility for what went on in institutions run by evangelical Christians. Leaders of the CofI, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations twice met privately to discuss Bethany, but did not issue a statement. The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has given written commitments to TDs and MLAs from the Democratic Unionist Party, the Unionist Party, the Labour Party and from Sinn Fein, to do something, sometime, about demands of former Bethany children for official recognition and for justice. Bethany and Westbank operated in the Republic of Ireland. Perhaps an inquiry into their activities will begin in Belfast while Justice delays in Dublin."