The ministry of the Puritans was an exceedingly searching one. While magnifying the free grace of God in no uncertain terms, while teaching, plainly, that the satisfaction of Christ alone gave title to heaven, while emphatically repudiating all creature-merits they, nevertheless, insisted that a supernatural and transforming work of the Spirit in the heart and [...]
Archive for February, 2009
On the Puritans
Posted in Arthur W. Pink, Puritans on February 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
John Donne’s Last Sermon
Posted in John Donne on February 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“The Dean has preached his own funeral sermon!”
In early March, 1631, the Rev. John Donne (1572-1631), the famous poet and Anglican priest, traveled to Whitehall, in London, to preach before King Charles I. As the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London, Donne was privileged to preach before royalty several times per year. On this [...]
Religion of the Presidents – 6
Posted in Presidential Religion on February 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) (president: 1825-1829)
Religion: Unitarian Branch of Congregationalism. Adams, formally, joined no church until after he became president, at which time he took his first communion at the Unitarian Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. “I have, at all times,” he wrote late in life, “been a sincere believer in the existence of a Supreme [...]
Religion of the Presidents – 5
Posted in Presidential Religion on February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
James Monroe (1758-1831) (president: 1817-1825)
Religion: Episcopalian. His writings do not reveal the extent of his faith.
From: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush, Revised and Updated Through 2004 by William A. DeGregorio (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004), p. 75.
Job
Posted in Book of Job on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The reader of the Book of Job is immediately introduced to the integrity and virtue of the main character (Job 1-2). Job was considered the greatest of “all the men of the east” (1:1) and God viewed him as a man like no other “on the earth” (1:8). Job was, therefore, at this time in [...]
Reality in Religion, Again
Posted in Fruit, John Charles Ryle on February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you would know whether your religion is real, try it by the fruit it bears in your heart and life. The Christianity which is from above will always be known by its fruits. It will produce, in the man who has it, repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility, spirituality, a kind temper, self-denial, unselfishness, forgivingness, [...]
For the Lord’s Day (58)
Posted in For the Lord's Day, Gospel of John on February 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Now, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So, they said to him, “You, also, are not one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see [...]
…By What Death…
Posted in Gospel of John, John Calvin on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
19. Signifying by what death he should glorify God. This circumlocution is highly emphatic. For, though the end held out to all believers ought to be to glorify God both by their life and by their death, yet John intended to employ a remarkable commendation for adorning the death of those who, by their blood, [...]
One Power of Prayer
Posted in Book of Ezekiel, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Mercy, Prayer on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Prayer is the forerunner of mercy.
From: Morning by Morning by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), the opening sentence of the meditation (on Ezekiel 36:37) for February 19.
Religion of the Presidents – 4
Posted in Presidential Religion on February 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
James Madison (1751-1836) (president: 1809-1817)
Religion: Episcopalian. Madison professed the basic tenets of his faith but was not zealous. He believed in a divine creator but doubted men’s ability to know him.
From: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush, Revised and Updated Through 2004 (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, [...]
