The Pilgrim’s Progress has been entertaining and illuminating readers for over three centuries, and there can have been few readers more expert about both the book and its meaning than C.H. Spurgeon. Here we have the greatest of nineteenth-century preachers setting forth timeless truths from Bunyan, with infectious enthusiasm about his favourite author. ‘The reason for his liking is not far to seek,’ writes Spurgeon’s son and successor in his Introduction. ‘They both loved “the Book of books.”’ Just so, today’s reader will come away from these chapters with a renewed appreciation not only of Bunyan and Spurgeon, but of the truth and wisdom of the Scriptures.

The post Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Few topics provoke more questions in the human heart than that of suffering. Paul Wolfe addresses this painful subject with both pastoral and personal experience. Here a struggling soul can find assurance that Christ is still near, still compassionate, and still safely shepherding the Christian through every dark valley. A clear and concise Q&A section addresses both practical and theological issues.

The post Suffering appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Martin’s Guide, available for the first time in hardback, aims to help the would-be feaster access the nourishment available from the Puritans and their successors. That last word is significant, because the scope of Martin’s indexing work extended not merely to those in the 16th and 17th Century who might properly be called ‘Puritans’ but also to figures of the 18th to 20th centuries who have stood in the Reformed, evangelical tradition of the Puritans, both feeding on and developing their approach.

This is neither a scholarly apparatus nor a comprehensive guide to the corpus of Puritan writing. What it is, however, is a helpful orientation to a tradition, and a guide for those with an appetite to read the Puritans and their successors more, and to read them better. Those in search of what the Puritans had to say on specific topics and texts, and those eager for some direction in their reading, will be well served by the indexing labours of Robert P. Martin.

The post A Guide to the Puritans appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd is of much more than merely historical interest. The first internationally recognized biography ever to be published, it has had a profound impact on successive generations of Christians around the world.

The Diary covers the period from April 1742 to October 1747, and although written as a private and personal record, was published in abridged form by the great New England pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards in 1749.

Brainerd wrote the Journal, which covers the twelve months from June 1745 to June 1746, at the request of the Scottish Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, which was supporting his missionary work amongst the indigenous peoples of North America. As Sir Marcus Loane has noted in They Were Pilgrims, ‘the Diary and Journal were each written for a distinct purpose, and each had its separate character. The Diary is a remarkable record of the interior life of the soul, and its entries still throb with the tremendous earnestness of a man who whose heart was aflame for God. The Journal is an objective history of the missionary work of twelve months, and its details are an astonishing testimony to the grace of God in the lives of men.’

Jonathan Edwards’ own ‘Reflections and Observations’ on Brainerd’s life, included in this volume, are, according to Iain H. Murray in his Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, ‘among the most important descriptive pages on the Christian life which Edwards ever wrote.’

Between 1742 and his death in 1747 David Brainerd took the gospel to the North American Indians of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He willingly ran any risk and accepted any hardship to fulfil his calling as a missionary. The amount of work which he achieved in such unpromising and difficult circumstances now seems almost incredible. Moreover his total dedication to the cause of making Christ known inspired the finest of missionaries who followed in his footsteps.

Few books have done so much to promote prayer and missionary action as The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

Endorsements

‘Brainerd’s life is a vivid, powerful testimony to the truth that God can and does use weak, sick, discouraged, beat-down, lonely, struggling saints, who cry to him day and night, to accomplish amazing things for his glory.’ JOHN PIPER

‘I was much humbled today by reading Brainerd. O, what a disparity betwixt me and him! He always constant; I as inconstant as the wind.’  WILLIAM CAREY

‘Oh! blessed be the memory of that beloved saint! No uninspired writer ever did me so much good.’  HENRY MARTYN

Reviews

• Review by Kevin Macleod
• Review by Al Baker

We asked people how reading Edwards had benefitted them; this is what they said …

Here’s What You Said About Jonathan Edwards

The post Diary and Journal of David Brainerd appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

»El fin principal del hombre es glorificar a Dios
y gozar de Él para siempre«

—Catecismo Menor de Westminster

A través de esta nueva edición de la Confesión de Fe de ‌Westminster, y su respectivo Catecismo Menor, queremos invitar al pueblo cristiano hispano a continuar profundizando en aquellas verdades doctrinales que han llevado a la Iglesia, a lo largo de la historia, a glorificar a Dios. Estos documentos enriquecerán nuestra confesión del Dios trino que nos escogió, redimió y continúa santificando para así, gozar de Él para siempre. Además, hemos incluido algunos Credos cristianos universales para entregar más recursos que nos lleven a crecer en la fe que creemos y confesamos.

»La Confesión de Westminster y sus Catecismos son, por lo tanto, el fruto maduro de todo el movimiento de formación de credos a lo largo de quince siglos de historia cristiana y, en particular, la Confesión y sus Catecismos son la corona de la mayor época de exposición confesional, la Reforma protestante. Ningún otro documento similar ha concentrado en ellos, y formulado con tanta precisión, tanto de la verdad contenida en la revelación cristiana«.

—Profesor John Murray (1898–1975)

»La verdad que expresa la Confesión tiene el poder de moldear tu pensamiento; su enseñanza ampliará y aclarará tu comprensión. Además, y lo mejor de todo, la sabiduría pastoral de la Confesión de Fe te ayudará a vivir la vida cristiana con la perspectiva magníficamente expresada en la respuesta a la primera pregunta del Catecismo Menor que la acompañaba: glorificar a Dios y gozar de él para siempre».

—Sinclair B. Ferguson

The post Confesión De Fe De Westminster appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Christians have long recognized the book of Psalms to be the great handbook of the spiritual life. Martin Luther thought of it as the Bible in miniature, and John Calvin prized it as ‘an anatomy of all parts of the soul.’

This mini-guide introduces the reader to this precious book. David Murray shows how the Psalms speak of Christ, whilst answering questions regarding the interpretation of some difficult passages. He explains how the Psalms ought to be used in worship, counselling, witnessing, and singing, so that believers might glorify and enjoy God each day.

The post Living the Psalms appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

These thirty-eight meditations on Christ’s incarnation from the pen of C. H. Spurgeon are an ideal companion in the approach to the Christmas season. Indeed, they point believers just as emphatically toward the second advent of Christ, and so are a valuable guide at any time of year. Brief, powerful, and vivid, each ­devotional sparks renewed wonder at the grace of God in the incarnation of his Son.

Endorsements

‘Good Tidings of Great Joy takes us all by the hand to lead us to Christ. Here those who celebrate Christmas but privately realize they know too little about its significance will find a clear, straightforward, and attractive explanation of its real meaning. Here too, those who enjoy Christmas chiefly because they love Christ and want to know and love him better, will find encouragement and joy. And perhaps too some, who never celebrate “Christmas” and as a result are in danger of giving the incarnation far less attention than Scripture does, will find their affection for Christ rekindled or increased.’

-From the Foreword by Dr Sinclair Ferguson

The post Good Tidings of Great Joy appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

This warm and encouraging book of daily devotionals, along with Bible verses suitable to each topic, shows forth a pastor’s heart and a disciple’s love of Scripture. One senses, moving through the year, topics and verses that were especially treasured to Robert Macdonald, presented so winsomely that they soon become precious to the reader. Each day, the author presents fresh biblical insights, interwoven with wisdom from the Puritans, amusing and yet helpful anecdotes from his own nineteenth-century Scotland, and snippets from hymns and poems.

Perhaps the most compelling recommendation of Macdonald’s book remains the one written by one of his fellow ministers and friends Andrew Bonar:

‘My dear Robert, From Day to Day is a book of most pleasant and profitable reading. It is 365 meditations—as many as Samuel Rutherford’s Letters—as many as Enoch’s years of earthly pilgrimage and walking with God. There is a clearness and pointedness in your style of writing that at once attracts the reader, and, dipping his rod in the honey, he finds his eyes enlightened.’

The post From Day to Day appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Many twenty-first-century Christians ‌still read the works and love the memory of the remarkable Scottish brotherhood that included Robert Murray M‘Cheyne and Andrew and Horatius Bonar. But the name of Alexander Moody Stuart (1809–98), whom they all esteemed so much, has been forgotten. Yet it took only one encounter with his preaching for M‘Cheyne to say, ‘I have found the man.’

Now, this new edition of Alexander Moody Stuart: A Memoir will throw light on a life and ministry which were profoundly influential—a ministry in which Moody Stuart was, variously, a pioneer rural missionary in an island fishing community; a capable church planter in a growing city; a clear and searching preacher; a much-loved pastor; a caring husband and father; and a committed advocate for overseas missionary endeavour.

Alexander Moody Stuart’s long life and ministry encompassed many of the defining events and debates in the Scottish church in the middle and later nineteenth century, including that which led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. But far from being defined by these important debates, his ministry was principally marked by contemporaries for its deep spirituality, earnestness, and originality.

This well-paced and engaging memoir, partly autobiographical and completed by its subject’s eldest son, covers the life, work, friendships, and challenges of one who was fully engaged with the people under his spiritual care, and who was also a willing defender of orthodox belief in an age of rapid change in approaches to Scripture. As Sinclair B. Ferguson notes in the Foreword, ‘like Andrew Bonar’s memoir of M‘Cheyne, there is a touch of heaven about these pages.’

It is hoped that the republication of this long-forgotten book will go some way to lift Alexander Moody Stuart out of relative obscurity—a man who, in his allotted time and circumstances, exercised a deep and penetrating ministry of the word, the character and aroma of which contain much to stimulate and inspire those engaged in that same spiritual work today.

This fresh edition includes numerous illustrations and an extensive appendix containing several of Moody Stuart’s sermons and addresses, and other documents of interest.

Commendations

‘Long forgotten and hard to obtain, Alexander Moody Stuart is a book for any Christian to enjoy, and every Christian will find it richly instructive, graciously challenging, and wonderfully inspiring. And for ministers of the gospel it is quite simply a ‘must have’. While it ranks among the finest Christian biographies of a past century, the effect of reading it will be a fresh desire to love Christ more and serve him better in the present century.’

—Sinclair B. Ferguson

‌‘There are few ministerial biographies that are better worth reading than Moody Stuart’s Life by his son.’

—Principal John Macleod (1872–1948)
in Scottish Theology

‌‘He has poetry in his soul, and beyond that, a heart like that of Rutherford, fired with love to the altogether Lovely One.’

—C. H. Spurgeon (1834–92)
Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Baptist Church, London

‘I know not a greater master in spiritual analysis.’

—Dr John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan (1796–1870)

‌‘Few were honoured to wield an influence so profound and far-reaching.’

—Address from the Free Presbytery of Edinburgh upon
Moody Stuart’s ministerial diamond jubilee in 1897

‌‘… a man who was the first and earliest of a well-defined and very remarkable school of preaching; who was also its patriarch and survivor; and who, besides being the originator, was himself the most original man not only in that school but, according to my judgment, in the whole Scottish pulpit during the long span of his ministerial career.’

—Alexander Taylor Innes (1833–1912)
Lawyer, political and ecclesiastical adviser, and author

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post Alexander<br/> Moody Stuart appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

J. C. Ryle described Daniel Rowland (1711–1790) as ‘one of the spiritual giants of the eighteenth century.’ Lady Huntingdon considered him to be ‘second only to Whitefield.’ Howel Harris wrote of him, ‘In his pulpit he is second to St Paul,’ while others acclaimed him as ‘the greatest preacher in Europe.’ Yet he has been one of the least known leaders of that age.

The loss of manuscripts shortly after his death, the Welsh language barrier, and the fact that all his closest friends were also preachers rather than authors, all contributed to leave only a shadowy impression of his greatness. However, after many years of work, Dr Eifion Evans succeeded in breaking through a multitude of difficulties to present for the first time a full-scale biography of Daniel Rowland.

J. C. Ryle writes of Daniel Rowland, ‘Never, perhaps, did any preacher exalt Christ more. . . . No British preacher of the eighteenth century kept together in one district such enormous congregations of souls for fifty years as Rowland did.’ And Dr D. M. Lloyd-Jones asks, ‘Has there been preaching which has had anything like the effect of his preaching since those days?’

At death, when reminded that he had been instrumental in the conversion of thousands to Christ, Rowland protested, ‘It is nothing. I die as a poor sinner depending fully and entirely on the merits of a crucified Saviour.’

This volume is a record of revivals, friendships with other leaders, persecutions and divisions, and the birth of a new age for Wales. Amidst it all, Dr Evans excels in showing what made Rowland the preacher and the humble Christian that he was. Dr Evans’ volume not only fills a major gap in church history, it is an inspiring testimony to New Testament Christianity.

The post Daniel Rowland appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

There are two intended audiences for discourses on the Christian ministry: the pastor or elder who cares for the church, and his congregation who are called to willing and prayerful submission. In Gospel Ministry, a collection of nine sermons delivered in his fruitful later years, John Owen addresses both.

Whether expounding the role of the Holy Spirit in shaping the ministry, presenting the purposes of the church, savouring God’s care of his people, or warning against being ashamed of the gospel, Owen’s teaching is invaluable for any minister – or member – of the body of Christ.

This book is complemented by its companion volume, Gospel Life, which beautifully sets forth the foundational steps of faith in Christ, assurance, and humble walking with him.

N.B. The sermons in this volume have been selected from The Works of John Owen, Volume 9, and modernised.

The post Gospel Ministry appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

In Gospel Life, a posthumous compilation of thirteen sermons from the zenith of his preaching career, John Owen answers these questions with great compassion for the Christian who longs for growth and assurance. He draws on a wide range of Scripture to display the character of the Saviour, the acceptance of the Father, and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Owen addresses the death and eternal hope of the believer, offering encouragement to all who love Christ.

A companion volume, Gospel Ministry, expounds the calling of Christian ministers, and exhorts congregations to loving and prayerful church life.

N.B. The sermons in this volume have been selected from The Works of John Owen, Volume 9, and modernised.

The post Gospel Life appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Most experienced Christians are familiar with the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians. Love, peace, patience, and so on are often considered both gracious marks of true Christian character and ideals to aim for. But what do they look like when lived to the fullest?

This book answers this question by studying the fullness of the Fruit of the Spirit in the life of Christ. In a warm and engaging style, Jonathan Cruse examines these godly attributes in the Lord’s example, comparing them with our own faltering efforts at holiness, and shows how only the power of God himself can truly conform us to Christ. The work is his, not ours – and this is good news for all those who yearn for greater sanctification.

About the Author

Jonathan Landry Cruse studied theology at Westminster Seminary California. He is an author, hymnwriter, and the pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Jonathan is husband to Kerri Ann and a father of three.

The post The Character of Christ appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

The church is not yours or mine. It belongs to Jesus Christ. The church is graciously called into being by him for the glory and honour of God’s name. As such, every local church must reflect God’s character and display God’s holiness. For that reason, life in a healthy, happy church always involves discipline—the thoughtful, deliberate, loving investment of each member in all the others for the glory of God and the good of the whole congregation.

Grievously, life in a fallen world means that sin creeps into and breaks out in the church of Jesus Christ. What ought a church to do when sin is uncovered in her midst? How do we respond in a way that shows our love to God and to one another? How do you love someone within the professing church who is unrepentantly sinning against God?

Such questions are often answered carelessly, fearfully, pragmatically, even unrighteously. When that is the case, it typically leads to disturbing confusion, advancing tension, increasing division, and even destruction. Further sin can erupt if offences are not faced humbly and graciously, if unrepentant sin is not addressed righteously and courageously.

Mercifully, the Head of the church has not left us in the dark. He teaches us how to sail through troubled waters so that we are not left in disarray after the storm has struck. He provides clear, wise, and effective commands and counsels for his people.

This booklet summarises the principles and the practices Christ has given for the holiness of his church. It sketches out the assumptions that lie behind church discipline, grounded in the identity of the church and activity of the church of God. It speaks to the nature of church discipline, in its more positive and negative aspects. It identifies love as the primary motive behind any discipline in the church. It looks at the God-ordained purposes of corrective discipline, and the reasons why a church might have to pursue this course. It offers practical advice as to how such discipline ought to be carried out in the church of Jesus Christ. It touches on both the necessary sting and the desired success of those actions by the church. It calls the whole church and her officers to consider our duty to act when the purity and peace of the church of God is threatened by unrepentant sin.

If the church is the household of God, if it is the body of Jesus Christ, if it is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, then we are called to be holy. We need to know how to pursue that calling as those committed to fidelity in our doctrine, purity in our life, and unity in our fellowship.

Author bio:

Jeremy Walker is the pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, England. He also serves as the Book Reviews Editor of the Banner of Truth magazine.

The post Called to be Holy appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

‘Times of difficulty and of persecution have always been seasons in which God’s ministers shine with greatest lustre.’

These words from the memoir of Bridge contained in these collected Works of William Bridge serve to remind readers of the context in which William Bridge lived and worked.
Born in Cambridgeshire around 1600, Bridge entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1619, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1623 and a master’s degree in 1626, before serving as a fellow of the college.

He was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1627, and served in Saffron Walden and Colchester in Essex, then becoming rector of St Peter Hungate in Norwich in 1632.
In 1636 he was forced to flee to Rotterdam in Holland because of Bishop Matthew Wren’s campaign against nonconformity. There he co-pastored a church with John Ward and then Jeremiah Burroughs.

Returning to England in 1641, the following year he was appointed a member of the Westminster Assembly, and proved himself a noted Independent. That same year he accepted a position as town preacher at Yarmouth, where he organized an Independent church, and formally became its pastor in the autumn of 1643. He laboured there until 1662, when he was ejected by the Act of Uniformity.

Bridge spent his last years at Yarmouth and Clapham, Surrey, where he died in March 1670.

William Bridge was an excellent preacher, able scholar, and prolific writer with a well-furnished library, but he was no ivory tower theologian. His parishioners viewed him as a charitable and candid pastor whose ministry helped many people.

Set Contents Read More ↓

The post The Works of William Bridge appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Also available, Sermons on Job, Volume 1 (eBook only) and Sermons on Job, Volume 2 (eBook only)

Endorsement

‘Dr Rob Roy McGregor’s translations of Calvin’s sermons have been received with great enthusiasm and gratitude.’ — DEREK THOMAS

Book Description

THE name of John Calvin (1509-64) is justly renowned in a number of contexts. The Reformation’s greatest systematic theologian, he was also a Christian strategist and transformer of society, as his enormous correspondence and his influence in Geneva bear witness. A prolific scholar, well-versed in the Latin of the academics, he also worked hard at communicating to ordinary men and women in his native French language.

Above all, Calvin was a pastor. Indeed, it has been said of him that he became a theologian in order to be a better pastor. Nowhere is that more clearly seen than in his sermons.

In 1549, the Campagnie des Étrangers, refugees who thought highly of his ministry, employed a professional scribe, Denis Raguenier, to record and translate Calvin’s sermons.

Thanks to the foresight of these sixteenth-century Christians we can still read the 159 sermons Calvin preached on the Book of Job on week-days in 1554-5. They abound in faithful and lively exposition, and remain one of the finest examples of evangelical preaching – faithful to the biblical text and thoughtfully applied to the individual and society.

In 1993 the Banner of Truth Trust reprinted a facsimile edition of Arthur Golding’s 1574 translation of Calvin’s sermons on Job. At that time the publisher expressed the hope that ‘Perhaps one day the massive work of retranslating Calvin from the original French into modern English will be done.’ That day has now well and truly come! Several new translations of Calvin’s sermons have recently been published (on Ephesians, Galatians, 2 Samuel 1-13, Acts 1-7, Gen. 1-20, The Beatitudes, Luke 1-2, etc.), and a new translation of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (1541 ed.) has also recently been added to this impressive list of volumes. Now, thanks to Dr Rob Roy McGregor, all of Calvin’s 159 sermons on Job have been translated into modern, colourful, and vigorous English.

This third volume covers Calvin’s expositions of Job chapters 31-42.

About the Translator

Dr Rob Roy McGregor is a graduate of Erskine College and Columbia Theological Seminary, and was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1958 by Second Presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Dr McGregor taught English, French, German, and Latin at Boys High School and Hanna High School in Anderson before earning the MA degree in French from the University of South Carolina and the PhD in Romance Languages from the University of Georgia. He is Professor Emeritus of French and Latin at Clemson University, with publications on Jehan Froissart, Albert Camus, Voltaire, Charles Baudelaire, and Jean Genet.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post Sermons on Job Volume 3 (eBook) appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Este libro cuenta la historia de la Reforma inglesa. Penetra detrás de la fachada del cambio político y actas del Parlamento, y trae a la luz el movimiento interno del Espíritu de Dios en hombres de corazón humilde y fe heroica. Su autor cree que había una mano que guiaba el timón de la Reforma, y que esta guía divina se releva de manera más clara a través de un estudio detallado de la vida y motivos de aquellos que fueron señalados como líderes del movimiento y maestros de su teología.

Los cinco hombres elegidos para este propósito fueron los más significativos de aquellos que dieron sus vidas en la causa de la Reforma inglesa. Bilney y Tyndale representan el movimiento en el reinado de Enrique VIII; Ridley y Cranmer dominan el estudio en el reinado de Eduardo VI. La vida de Latimer une a Bilney con Cranmer y abarca todo el periodo desde los primeros días de la conversión en los Halls de Cambridge hasta los martirios triunfantes en los fuegos de Oxford. Los cuarenta años, desde el 1516 hasta el 1556, durante los cuales estos hombres encontraron y siguieron a Jesucristo fueron los años en los que la Reforma inglesa fue acunada y nutrida para la gloria de Dios.

The post Maestros de la Reforma inglesa appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

During his earthly life Jesus had many critics and enemies who sought to discredit him and sometimes trap him in his own words. They said, for example, that he had threatened to destroy the temple, that he was a blasphemer and that he acted in league with the devil. On one occasion some religious leaders ‘grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners”’ (Luke 15:1). However, what they intended as an attack gives expression to gospel truth – Jesus did and does welcome sinners; as the apostle Paul wrote, ‘The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1 Tim. 1:15). The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies looks at such attacks in Scripture and also considers contemporary attacks on Christianity which express truths that their speakers do not intend. The book leads us to the gospel according to Jesus Christ himself.

The post The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

This compact edition of the Westminster Confession of Faith is ideal for individual or group study. The Introduction by Sinclair B. Ferguson places the Confession in its own time and place, yet shows that far from being a mere historical document, it remains a deeply helpful and mind-shaping guide to the unchanging teachings of the Christian faith.

‘The truth the Confession expresses has the power to shape your thinking; its teaching will both stretch and clarify your understanding. In addition—and best of all—the pastoral wisdom of the Confession of Faith will help you to live the Christian life with the perspective magnificently expressed in the answer to the first question of the Shorter Catechism that accompanied it—glorifying God and enjoying him for ever.’ — Sinclair B. Ferguson

The post The Westminster Confession of Faith appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

A pastor of forty years who has throughout his ministry found the Puritans to be a great source of spiritual encouragement, David MacKinnon presents here 366 extracts from the works of the Puritan pastor Richard Sibbes, which may be used each day of the year by readers as an aid to devotion.

Each extract has been carefully selected, and a suitable accompanying Scripture text provided at the start of each daily reading. Occasional antiquated words in the original have been updated, and overly long sentences have been shortened, but all with a view to retain Sibbes’ flow and meaning for present-day readers.

For those who have never encountered Sibbes before, this volume will serve as an excellent introduction. All will find in these daily readings spiritual refreshment for the soul, coming from one who in his day was known, appropriately, as the ‘heavenly doctor.’

The post Refreshment for the Soul appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Theodore Beza’s course of activity was, in the words of the author, ‘long and brilliant.’ He presided over the Reformed church in the French-speaking countries of Europe for many years, and was its recognized counsellor and leader in times of peril. His friendship with John Calvin, and also with the French king, Henry IV, ensured that his influence in both church and state was not insignificant— indeed, Beza’s was a career rich in incidents and dramatic interest.

As Paul Wells notes in his Introduction to this new edition of Baird’s life of Beza, ‘some plants flourish in the shade of mighty trees.’ Theodore Beza was such a plant—a significant ‘Reformer in the wings’ who became a major actor in the development of the magisterial Reformation and the spread of the Reformed faith in France.

Beza stepped into the shoes of Calvin as the spokesman of French Protestants in the diaspora, and as the figurehead of a refugee church—a church faced with theological error, and opposition from the powers that be. Beza’s work remains a model of faithfulness under duress for believers worldwide in comparable situations today—it is for that reason that this new edition of his Life has been published.

The post Theodore Beza appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

The name of John Calvin (1509-64) is justly renowned in a number of contexts. The Reformation’s greatest systematic theologian, he was also a Christian strategist and transformer of society, as his enormous correspondence and his influence in Geneva bear witness. A prolific scholar, well-versed in the Latin of the academics, he also worked hard at communicating to ordinary men and women in his native French language.

Above all, Calvin was a pastor. Indeed, it has been said of him that he became a theologian in order to be a better pastor. Nowhere is that more clearly seen than in his sermons.

In 1549, the Compagnie des Étrangers, refugees who thought highly of his ministry, employed a professional scribe, Denis Raguenier, to record and translate Calvin’s sermons.

Thanks to the foresight of these sixteenth-century Christians we can still read the 159 sermons Calvin preached on the Book of Job on week-days in 1554-5. They abound in faithful and lively exposition, and remain one of the finest examples of evangelical preaching – faithful to the biblical text and thoughtfully applied to the individual and society.

In 1993 the Banner of Truth Trust reprinted a facsimile edition of Arthur Golding’s 1574 translation of Calvin’s sermons on Job. At that time the publisher expressed the hope that ‘Perhaps one day the massive work of retranslating Calvin from the original french into modern English will be done.’ That day has now well and truly come! Several new translations of Calvin’s sermons have recently been published (on Ephesians, Galatians, 2 Samuel 1-13, Acts 1-7, Gen. 1-20, The Beatitudes, Luke 1-2, etc.) and a new translation of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (1541 ed.) has also recently been added to this impressive list of volumes. Now, thanks to Dr Rob Roy McGregor, all of Calvin’s 159 sermons on Job have been translated into modern, colourful, and vigorous English.

The post Sermons on Job appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Samuel Miller (1769–1850), was a faithful pastor, who became a founding father and a professor of Princeton Theological Seminary. He had a deep commitment to the church and an abiding interest in seeing ministers trained ably for her service — an interest which led to him writing this book.

As Dr. Jonathan Master notes in his Foreword to this edition of Miller’s work, ‘public prayer is the priority on Paul’s mind when considering public worship.’ Despite this priority, today public prayer has in some churches a diminishing place in corporate worship.

Ministers especially need instruction in public prayer — Samuel Miller understood this need in his day, and so much of what he wrote remains pertinent to the practice of an edifying ministry in the present.

This volume is replete with insights into the vital place of public prayer in worship, and of sound advice as to how progress may be made in this aspect of pastoral ministry.

This edition includes a Foreword by Dr. Jonathan L. Master, President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, USA.

The post Thoughts on Public Prayer appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus; and Mary Magdalene all feature prominently in the gospel narrative. But what can Christians learn from the faith displayed by these women?

In these moving and engaging chapters, Alexander Moody Stuart draws out their characters and helps readers learn from each one’s relationship to Jesus. Perhaps too often known only at the surface-level, these three women, brought into sharper focus by Moody Stuart’s reflective and often vivid portrayals, have much to teach us about the faithful Christian life.

Moody Stuart’s preaching and teaching were marked by a keen sensitivity to the human condition and its needs, combined with challenging practical application. This, linked with a deep tenderness and love, well-qualified him to write The Three Marys.

The post The Three Marys appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Translated from the French by Robert White

When Calvin says that he would not have spoken of election had Scripture not led the way, we need not doubt his word. If he defends the doctrine with vigour, it is because it runs as an unbroken thread through both Old and New Testaments. Like the doctrines of providence, atonement and the new birth, it is a doctrine of sovereign grace.

Calvin did not invent election: it is a doctrine which belongs to the universal church. Its importance for him lies in the fact that it anchors the work of redemption, not in our feeble powers of will, but in God’s inexplicable love for sinners, and it traces that work to a determination freely made in heaven before the world began.

The present volume offers a variety of sources, newly translated from the French, which throw fresh light on Calvin’s doctrine of election. In place of his more formal works such as the Institutes from which the doctrine is usually derived, texts have been selected which were intended for oral delivery to a largely non-specialist audience. The tensions inherent in the doctrine, such as God’s mercy versus his justice, are honestly acknowledged and answered. Throughout, appeal is made not to philosophical speculation but to God’s revealed word. To depart from Scripture, the Reformer holds, is to enter a labyrinth from which there is no way out.

There is no hint of bookishness in the texts presented here. This is theology for Everyman – clear, comprehensive and rich in practical application. And it leads, as all good theology should, to the praise of God’s glory.

The post The Doctrine of Election appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

Paul’s words in Galatians 6:14, ‘Far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ highlight how central and personally significant the cross of Christ is to Christians. Jesus himself saw the cross as his divinely appointed destiny. As he began to experience the unimaginable agony that lay before him, he said, ‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour’ (John 12:27).

In Words from the Cross Ian Hamilton places Jesus’ seven expiring words of grace and hope in their wider biblical context and explores their theological, pastoral, and evangelistic significance. The short chapters encourage us to reflect and meditate on the love of God which is ‘the fountainhead of the gospel’ (John Owen) and bring us to devote all we are to the Saviour who gave his all for us.

The post Words from the Cross appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Descripción del libro (Book Description)

En La Fe que Confesamos, Chad Van Dixhoorn ofrece una mirada fresca de un estamento clásico de la fe reformada. Este trabajo accesible, bíblico y reflexivo digiere años de estudio y enseñanza en secciones pequeñas. La Fe que Confesamos, al desafiar nuestros corazones y mentes, espera edificar e instruir tanto a audiencias generales como avanzadas, tal como los autores de la Confesión de Fe de Westminster seguramente esperaron que su magnum opus lo hiciera.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post La Fe Que Confesamos appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

John Aaron provides here a fresh account of Thomas Charles’s life, presented against the backcloth of his day and age, and in the light of Charles’s extensive network of correspondents, both Welsh and English.

In Wales, the popular picture of Thomas Charles (1755–1814) had traditionally been of the man who gave a Bible to Mary Jones; who was the ‘Father of the Sunday School’; and who was behind the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. But in modern Wales this picture has almost completely faded. No biography of Charles has been published in English or Welsh since 1908—this is the first for over a hundred years.

This new biography covers many aspects of Charles’s life that deserve to be extensively known, including, among others, his long and frustrating courtship of Sally Jones; his early connections with evangelicals in the Church of England, including John Newton and Henry Thornton; the immense and rapid spread of his schools; the revivals which took place under his preaching; his editorial labours over the text of the Welsh Bible; and his leadership of the Calvinistic Methodist Connexion.

Thomas Charles’s writings revealed his spiritual maturity and wisdom. His balance of Christian doctrine, experience, and practice was remarkable. In this wide survey, John Aaron does not shrink from acknowledging both the strengths and weaknesses of his subject, and also seeks to engage with Charles’s scholarship and theology. Here is a book to inform, stir, and inspire.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post Thomas Charles of Bala appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Book Description

George Smeaton (1814–1889) was for over thirty years Professor of New Testament Exegesis at New College, the Edinburgh seminary of the Free Church of Scotland.

This collection comprises various printed sermons, lectures, and other shorter writings covering the whole period of his ministry and professorial work.

The collection is wide-ranging in its content and in one respect or another reveals the characteristics of an exercised man, whether speaking, or writing, for ministers, divinity students, or the general reader.

His sermons ‘were full of Christian fervour, and were characterised alike by purity of diction and breadth of scholarship.’ Smeaton was ‘a scholarly devout soul,’ said one former student, ‘whose earnest prayers brought the heavens near.’

It is the hope of the publisher that these sermons and addresses will prove to be as edifying, challenging, and stimulating to this present generation as they were to Smeaton’s own.

The post Sermons and Addresses of George Smeaton appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

The apostle Paul often taught young converts to the Christian faith that ‘we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22). For first-century Christians suffering for Christ was an inevitable accompaniment to a life of serious discipleship.

In many parts of the world little has changed since those early days. But in the West, Christians have long enjoyed a period of unusual rest from such troubles. However, there are ominous signs that change is on the way. Suffering ‘for righteousness’ sake’ may once again mark the lives of faithful Christians in the West.

In this exposition of Paul’s words, ‘For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 21:13), John Flavel shows us how vital and excellent a thing it is to prepare ourselves for the onset of sufferings.

‘The cup of sufferings is a very bitter cup, and it is but needful that we provide somewhat to sweeten it…’ — JOHN FLAVEL

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post Preparations for Sufferings appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

More than anything else, Richard Sibbes (1577–1635) was a great preacher. He never lost sight of the fact that the best Christian counselling is done by the Holy Spirit through the patient and lively exposition of God’s word. Sibbes excelled as a comforter of the troubled and doubting. But he also possessed a rare gift of illuminating every passage of Scripture he handled by drawing out its significance for his hearers and readers.

These features of Sibbes’s ministry figure prominently in The Glorious Feast of the Gospel. Sibbes takes for his text Isaiah 25:6-9 in order to display ‘Christ’s gracious invitation and royal entertainment of believers.’ The subject-matter is a perfect blend of rich doctrine and practical application. Here is an ‘admirable feast indeed … Jesus Christ is the master of the feast, and the cheer and provision too.’

If you have lost the ‘spiritual relish of savoury practical truths,’ these sermons, if read prayerfully, will help you recover it.

‘Now, I will shew why Christ, with his benefits, prerogatives, graces, and comforts, is compared to a feast…’

— RICHARD SIBBES

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post The Glorious Feast of the Gospel appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

‘This is a book every gospel minister should have and return to often. I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed by it. It is impossible to read it without being  instructed and stimulated by its contents, not to mention delighted by the personalities who appear in its pages.’

— Sinclair B. Ferguson
in the Introduction

‌‘There is nothing more enjoyable for me than to find a number of preachers, with able minds, meeting together to discuss various views in order to arrive at a common opinion. This is just what is provided in these pages. Among other things this volume brings out how different problems may be faced, and to ministers, in particular, it should be extremely helpful. I greatly enjoyed it.’

— D. M. Lloyd-Jones
on the Banner of Truth re-issue in 1978

Book Description

The Eclectic Society was formed in 1783 by John Newton, Richard Cecil, Henry Foster and Eli Bates, and held its first meeting at the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldersgate Street in the old City of London. Its aim was to provide fellowship for ministers of the gospel, and to encourage biblical and experimental Christianity.

The Society increased in size, and meetings were held fortnightly in the vestry of Cecil’s church, St John’s, Bedford Row, and included several laymen and Nonconformist ministers. Besides the illustrious founders, such influential evangelicals as Thomas Scott, author of the famous Bible commentary, and Charles Simeon of Cambridge were also members.

The questions proposed and discussed by the Society covered a wide range of themes, including biblical exegesis and application, ministerial duties, events of national significance, and general matters of theological and ecclesiastical importance linked with the cause of the gospel. Nor were the meetings simply ‘talk-shops’. From them came the Church Missionary Society, the Christian Observer magazine, and the untold intangible benefits to the congregations whose pastors enjoyed the sharpening of their minds and the quickening of their spirits at the Society.

The Trust originally republished these Notes in 1978, not because of their antiquarian interest, but their rare spiritual value. Almost fifty years later, they still suggest questions to which every thinking Christian should give attention; they indicate the lines along which biblical answers will proceed. Ministers will find themselves drawn into the fellowship of the minds of these spiritual masters and receive stimulus for preaching and pastoral counselling. There is help here to strengthen grace in every believer.

The notes in this volume cover the period 1798–1814 when Josiah Pratt was a member of the Society and served as secretary. Edited by his son John H. Pratt, they were first published in 1865.

This edition includes an Introduction by Dr Sinclair B. Ferguson, who has served congregations in his native Scotland and the USA, and continues to serve as Chancellor’s Professor of Reformed Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and as a Teaching Fellow for Ligonier Ministries.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

The post The Thought Of The Evangelical Leaders appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Charles Bridges, one of the outstanding evangelical writers in the Church of England in the nineteenth century, issued his Exposition of Psalm 119 in 1827 when he was 33 years of age. The popularity of the work may be judged by the fact that it passed through at least twenty-four editions before his death in 1869. It is pre-eminently a book of the heart. In its original Preface, Bridges tells us that his main design in writing it was to ‘furnish a correct standard of Evangelical sincerity for the habitual scrutiny of his own heart’, corresponding to ‘the several graces of the Christian system’, which the psalm itself describes. Not surprisingly, a magazine of a century ago told its readers that the Exposition’s ‘appeals to the heart are such as to approve themselves to the experience of every devout believer in Christ.’ C. H. Spurgeon goes so far as to say that the Exposition is ‘worth its weight in gold.’ Psalm 119–’twenty-two pearls upon one string’, as Bridges calls it–has ever retained a strong fascination for exercised souls. Jonathan Edwards, Bishop Cowper, Henry Venn, Henry Martyn, William Wilberforce–to name but five–have testified to its charms. Luther said that he would not exchange one leaf of it for the whole world. Philip Henry told his children that to love it would ‘bring them to be in love with all the rest of Scripture.’

Bridges uses this psalm, structured according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, to teach both the ABC of Christian experience and the maturity to which that experience must lead. He does so, says Spurgeon, ‘with surpassing grace and unction.’ Isaac Watts, in his paraphrase of the psalm, sums up what might well be called the spirit in which Bridges wrote his book, in the words:

‘When nature sinks and spirits droop,
Thy promises of grace
Are pillars to support my hope,
And there I write Thy praise.’

The post Psalm 119 appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.