1859 Revival series - No 2: The Origin of the Revival

This is an outline of a series of sermons preached, one per month, January - June 2009, marking the 150th Anniversary of the 1859 Revival in Ulster

Previous posts:

1859 Revival series - No 1: The Need of Revival

Psalm 81:10 …open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 

In returning to this special series of subjects we are desirous of commemorating that great outpouring of God's Holy Spirit that came upon this Province in 1859. In doing so we are seeking firstly to increase our awareness of what happened in that great awakening, 150 years ago; and secondly to stir up our own hearts to seek another mighty outpouring of blessing. We are to remember what the Lord has done for us in times past.

On our first consideration of the 1859 Revival we dealt with The State of Society. There we noticed that the days prior to the Revival breaking out were very much in keeping with the Word of God as recorded for us the Psalmist's prayer: It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law, Ps 119:126. It was a day of the breaking of Gods law.

We want now to consider The Origin of the Revival. Where, how and with whom did it all commence?

Generally the times were bad prior to 1859 but here and there the Lord had a remnant that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Here and there believers were to be found who yearned for the Lord to come again and do something. In February 1853 an article appeared in a magazine entitled: The Irish Presbyterian bearing the title: Do we need a revival? There were those who desired and sought for a move of God.

Studies in the Westminster Confession of Faith - Chapter One - Part 6

Once a month since September 2010 at our midweek prayer meeting & Bible study we have been studying the Westminster Confession of Faith.
This and subsequent posts DV overtime on the blog will contain the notes which were handed out on each occasion.
An audio recording of this study can be listened to on the Church's SermonAudio page - click here

Part five - Chapter One continued
We are coming to consider section 7 of the opening chapter of the WCF. It reads:
All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all: yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them. Proofs: 2 Peter 3:16; Psalm 119:105,130.

The previous section emphasised the completeness of the Scriptures, that is, they contain the full, final and entire revelation of God unto mankind. This section emphasises:
1. The clarity of that revelation of God given in the Scriptures with respect to the matter of salvation.
2. That there are things hard to be understood in the Scriptures but these do not relate to the matters of salvation.
3. The Scriptures are designed for personal use, and are adapted to the instruction, of the unlearned as well as the learned.
4. The illumination of the Holy Spirit is a necessary in addition to the use of ordinary means.

Stats for November

 

Christian Bed & Breakfast loses Supreme Court appeal

Click here

1859 Revival series - No 1: The Need of Revival

This is an outline of a series of sermons preached, one per month, January - June 2009, marking the 150th Anniversary of the 1859 Revival in Ulster

Psalm 119:126: It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law. 

Virtually everyone is aware that the year 2009 marks the 150th Anniversary of the 1859 Revival. That mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God began in Kells, Co Antrim and spread out over most of Ulster. The influence of the revival was also felt further afield to greater and lesser degrees.

Many of us, if not all of us, have heard of the prayer meetings that were commenced in the school house in Kells where the four men prayed. The names of these men are James McQuilken, Jeremiah Meneely, Robert Carlisle and John Wallace. Encouraged by Rev J.H. Moore, minister of the nearby Presbyterian church, these four young converts began to meet on a weekly basis for prayer and Bible study. They met in the old national schoolhouse.

The Errors of the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement Part 1

These posts stem from a series of fifteen studies conducted, over the last year in our Youth Fellowship meetings, at the request of the young people who attend, dealing with the errors of the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement

Study One - An Introduction
The word ‘Charismatic’ comes from the Greek word for 'gift' in the New Testament. It is used in at three distinct ways:
1. It is used in reference to the gift of salvation, Romans 6:23: …the gift of God is eternal life...

2. It is used with respect to the talents that are given to those who are called to labour in the service of Christ, 1 Timothy 4:14: Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

3. It is also used in reference to the gifts of the Spirit. It appears for example in 1 Corinthians 12:4: Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

C S Lewis

In the clamour to eulogise C S Lewis, on the 50th anniversary of his death, it is worthwhile remembering what this man believed, or more to the point what he didn't believe. 

1. C S Lewis did not believe in the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures. ". . . all Holy Scripture is in some sense – though not all parts of it in the same sense – the word of God." (Reflections on the Psalms). In a letter he wrote to Clyde Kilby, on 7th May 1959, he argued, "If every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights, then all true and edifying writings, whether in Scripture or not, must in some sense be inspired." 

One sympathetic Lewis scholar concluded that: "Lewis does not confine his religious views to the Bible but recognizes God’s revelation in literary masterpieces, in other religions, in ancient world myths, and through human reason and intuition. Christianity is true...not just because the Bible says so but because God chooses to reveal himself through many different ways, yet supremely through Christ," (Is C S Lewis in heaven? by John W Robbins).

Special Week of Meetings In Newtownabbey FPC

New Blog

Here is a link to a new Blog which is well worth reading, especially from a Free Presbyterian viewpoint

The Protestant Standard

Stats for October

Dying to Self

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence. This is dying unto self. 

Stats for September

Details for the month of September:

Northern Ireland may be forced to play football on a Sunday

Thankfully there has been a reluctance to play football on a Sunday in Northern Ireland over the years. The rules were changed some time ago to permit Sunday football but few Football Clubs have taken up the option.

There is, however, a possibility that Northern Ireland may be forced in future to play Sunday football by UEFA, during the the 2016 European Championship group stages.

To read further details see Belfast Telegraph.

To read other articles on this Blog about Sabbath Observance, see here.

Recommended Sermon

Studies on the Family -

The whole series on the Family, so far, can be viewed here

Scriptural Observations on the issue of Abortion

Abortion is the murder of the unborn plain and simple! The Scriptures make the following observations about the unborn:

I. The unborn child is described as a person in Scripture

The unborn child is not somehow less a person because it is yet unborn. That is what secular society seeks to say. They use terms about an unborn child that dehumanises and depersonalises the unborn and portrays them as a mere form of matter. They never talk about the unborn child in human terms. It is called an 'embryo' or 'foetus'. It might not be deliberately done by all but that is part of the reasoning behind it with many pro-abortion campaigners. This type of terminology gives the impression that somehow the unborn child is not to be looked upon as a full human being that has not yet reached the stage of being a person. But in God’s Word that is not how the unborn child is considered.

"Without natural affection"

It has been reported that the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] have decided that it is not in the 'public interest' to bring criminal charges against doctors who were caught out performing 'gender abortions'.

Doctors who agreed to arrange illegal abortions, based on the sex of an unborn baby, have been told by the CPS that they will not now face criminal charges, despite prosecutors admitting that there is sufficient evidence to take them to court.  The CPS has been accused of failing to uphold the law regarding this failure to prosecute the two doctors who were exposed in an undercover Daily Telegraph investigation, see here.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary in the Westminster government has raised the case with the Attorney General.

For background and other links to this particular issue see here. 

Stats for August

Stats for July

Quotable Quote

If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point - Martin Luther.

Free Presbyterian missionary attacked in Liberia

On Tuesday 23rd July, Rev David DiCanio, Free Presbyterian missionary, was attacked in Liberia.

Sermonaudio - FPC Missionary Assaulted and Robbed in Liberia
ThinkGospel - Missionary Robbed in Liberia

There follows a report and request for prayer, sent out by the FPC of North America Mission Board:
Dear Brethren
I am writing to inform you of a serious incident in Liberia in the early hours of Tuesday morning. At 3:15am Rev. David DiCanio was awakened by sounds coming from the kitchen and when he went to investigate he was confronted by two men with machetes who had entered the property through the kitchen window. Two more men were in the process of coming in the same way. They had ripped the steel bars from the windows. When David appeared they demanded money and stole a considerable amount of dollars from his double safe. They hit him with the blunt edge of the machetes, though he did not suffer serious physical injury. They also stole a number of David’s personal items. Before they left they forced David into a closet and demanded that he remain there. During the ordeal he felt he was going to lose his life. Once David was convinced that the men had left his house he immediately made his way across the compound to the building where Joanne Greer lives. She was not aware of the break in or of any of the trauma that had unfolded and was completely unharmed. David’s truck had been tampered with but they were able to drive out of the compound in Joanne’s vehicle and make their way to friends in the neighbourhood. The chief of police was called and arrived approximately an hour later with police officers. They arrested three men who worked as watchmen in the compound, though there is no further information on the ongoing investigation. 

A foretaste of the consequences of legalising Sodomite marriage #5

Daily Telegraph - Christian arrested for calling homosexuality a 'sin' warns of 'real-life thought police'

Christian Institute - Arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin

Christian Concern - Street Preacher arrested in London

A foretaste of the consequences of legalising Sodomite marriage #4

Law to allow male ‘wives’ and female ‘husbands’
All married men can be legally called ‘wives’ and all married woman called ‘husbands’ under the United Kingdom's Government sodomite marriage Bill.

Read more click - Christian Institute

Stats for June

The dangerous error of Covenant Succession Part 4

III. The Fallacy of Covenant Succession Ejected

Not only do the passages of Scriptures often referred to by the exponents of covenant succession, offer no support to the concept, there are also a whole raft of other issues, doctrines and passages of Scripture that this fallacy contradicts:

1. This fallacy involves a time division of the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation where there ought to be none. While there is a logical order that can be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit in effectual calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption and the beginning of sanctification, there is actually no time difference. The division made in these matters is never a time related one, it is a logical one to help our understanding.

This work of the Holy Spirit cannot in this circumstance be separated by a period of time, long or short. Once a sinner is effectually called and regenerated, that new life immediately expresses itself in faith and repentance, which brings about justification, adoption and the beginnings of sanctification. It is not possible for new life to be in the soul of a sinner, by virtue of regeneration, and that new life not express itself in faith and repentance. These are the first acts of a newborn soul. They follow on immediately from regeneration.

A foretaste of the consequences of legalising Sodomite marriage #3

The British Labour Party have tabled an amendment to the Children and Families Bill which would make lessons on gay marriage compulsory

Read more:
Guardian Newspaper - Labour calls for lessons on relationships in national curriculum

Christian Institute - Compulsory gay marriage lessons in schools

A foretaste of the consequences of legalising Sodomite marriage #2

Belfast Telegraph - My son (3) told 'same-sex' facts

Christian Institute - Boy, 3, taught about gay marriage in nursery

A foretaste of the consequences of legalising Sodomite marriage #1

In what can be seen as a foretaste of what will eventually come to the United Kingdom, an American bakery is being sued for refusing to bake a 'wedding cake' to celebrate a sodomite marriage. Read the details here.

At stake is the conflict between the rights of freedom of conscience and the vociferous lobby for 'sodomite marriage'. No doubt they could have gone elsewhere and had their cake baked but they prey on those who have principles and they seek to close down all opposition to their agenda.

This is what will happen in the United Kingdom if, as it seems likely, the present government gets their way and implements a similar law in England and Wales.

Stats for May

The dangerous error of Covenant Succession Part 3

II. The Fallacy of Covenant Succession Examined cont'd

Another area where support for 'Covenant Succession' is drawn from is that of Scriptural testimonies. The lives and the language that surrounds a number of individuals is employed to bolster this fallacy. However, instead of providing support for the concept of 'Covenant Succession', each one of these Scriptural testimonies argue against this fallacy in different ways:

1. Psalm 22:9,10: But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. These words are taken to refer to David and are viewed as supporting the premise that children can be regenerated from infancy and even when they are in their mother's womb.

However, these words do not refer to David at all but to the person of the mediator Jesus Christ. The whole Psalm in a messianic prophecy from beginning to the end. It commences with a subsequent cry from the cross, it concludes with another cry from the cross. This Psalm is prophetic of the sufferings of the Messiah. Verses 9,10 can no more apply to the personal experience of David than the words of v16: For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Did David also then have his hands and his feet pierced? This would have to be the consistent interpretation if vv 9,10 are going to be applied to David.

The dangerous error of Covenant Succession Part 2

II. The Fallacy of Covenant Succession Examined

Any considered examination of the Scriptural evidence upon which this fallacy is based will require us to seriously question this thesis.

It is surely a most foolish practice to draw a distinction between how we treat and view our children before God and how they actually are in reality before God. How great is the folly of treating our children as being in the covenant when they may not be? It surely must be crystal clear that a person is either in the covenant or they are not. If it is claimed that the children of believers are in the covenant then it must emphatically follow that they will be converted and will persevere unto the end. Not one of them will fall out of the covenant and be lost if they are really and truly in the covenant! This is the infallible terms of the covenant of grace. They cannot be in the covenant and not eventually be saved.

Even the holders of 'Covenant Succession' have to admit the obvious reality that not all children of believers are in Christ. So where is 'Covenant Succession' here? Some go as far as to assert that those who do not persevere are not really their true children after all. A scandalous assertion!

If it has to be acknowledged that sadly many children of believers are not in the covenant because they end up dying out of Christ, then where is the reality of 'Covenant Succession'? The reality makes a mockery out of the claim! All the children of believers are not in the Covenant! Therefore they should not be treated as such.

Sodomy Not Genetic!

It has always been the contention of Biblical Christianity that Sodomy is a perverted moral choice and not a result of a person's genetic constitution. Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the last 20 years have arrived at the same conclusion. Sodomites are not born that way!

The first very large, reliable study of identical twins was conducted in Australia in 1991, followed by a large U.S. study about 1997. Then Australia and the U.S. conducted more twin studies in 2000, followed by several studies in Scandinavia.

Read the whole article - Identical Twin Studies Prove Homosexuality Not Genetic

Quotable Quote

John Owen, the prince of theologians wrote:
Can it be conceived that there should be a redemption of men and those men not redeemed; that a price should be paid and the purchase never consummated? Yet all this must be true, and innumerable other absurdities, if universal redemption be asserted: a price would be paid for all yet few delivered: the redemption of all perfected yet few redeemed: the judge satisfied, the jailor conquered and yet prisoners remain enthralled in bondage, and that eternally.

The dangerous error of Covenant Succession Part 1

There is a belief, professed among some ultra-Reformed, and hyper-Calvinistic circles, that the children of believers do not need to be evangelised and certainly do not need to be converted in the conventional sense of the term. It is 'nurture' and 'discipline' that they need, not 'evangelism' is their mantra!

These 'covenant children', as they are described, are to be looked upon and treated as being 'the children of God'. They must therefore be treated, not as the enemies of God, but as members of, and brothers and sisters in, the kingdom of God. They are even to be welcomed to the Lord's Table in many instances from an early age and encouraged to be partakers of the bread and wine.

This view goes under a number of different titles such as: 'Covenant Succession', 'Presumptive Regeneration', 'Presupposed Regeneration', 'Dormant Regeneration' or 'Covenantal Regeneration'. All with slight variations of meaning in each term, and maybe in some cases no difference of meaning at all. Some adherents certainly engage in semantics where they deny they believe in or hold to 'Presupposed Regeneration' but rather describe their view as 'believing covenant promises' or 'trusting in covenantal election'. Same thing only different words!

Another step along the road of the great apostasy!

BBC News - Church of Scotland General Assembly votes to allow gay ministers

BBC News - Gay marriage: Deal to allow bill to proceed in Parliament

The Church of Scotland's ruling General Assembly has voted to allow active sodomites to become church ministers. This, along with David Cameron striking a deal with Labour to push through sodomite marriage, marks another milestone along the road of the great apostasy that is to take place prior to the Saviour's return, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

A return to the days of Lot in Sodom was prophesied by the Saviour Himself, Luke 17:28-30: Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Those days are upon us.

It is little wonder that the Word of God depicts true believers as yearning for that day when Christ will return and bring to an end this reign of wickedness, Revelation 22:20: He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Creationists at heart!

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have supposedly broken through a symbolic mark in recent days. Daily measurements of carbon dioxide levels recorded at an United States government agency laboratory on the island of Hawaii have topped 400 parts per million for the first time in the modern age.

The claim is made that the last time carbon dioxide levels were regularly above 400 parts per million was 3-5 million years ago. In the evolutionary scheme of things this is supposed to be before modern humans existed.

BBC News - Carbon dioxide passes symbolic mark

CNN - CO2 levels hit new peak at key observatory

Free Presbyterian Position on Ecclesiastical Separation

Statement from the Free Presbyterian Church in Ulster General Presbytery

This statement has been published and distributed to Free Presbyterian congregations

Our Stand on Separation

The Scriptures lay before Christ’s Church the will of God pertaining to the doctrine of separation. With regard to this doctrine the following points are made clear in God’s Word. (It is important to underline that the points outlined below that present the Biblical teaching on separation, constitute a summary of what the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster has stated, believed and preached during its entire history).

1. The holiness of God is the undeniable root of separation at both a personal and an ecclesiastical level. God’s holiness is the essence of His very being, thus He is “glorious in holiness”, (Exodus 15: 11); and He is transcendently holy, so that “There is none holy as the Lord”, (1 Samuel 2: 2).

2. On the basis of His own holiness the Lord commands His people to be holy, “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy”, (Leviticus 19: 2), (1 Peter 1: 16).

Stats for April