Tabernacle Conversions in 1860
The Tabernacle archives contain hundreds of testimonies of those converted during Spurgeon’s pastorate. Many glorious themes shine through, especially the instrumentality of gospel preaching and Sunday School work.
Great Advances Sown by the Reformation
In various ways, the Protestant Reformation scattered good seeds of thought (the ‘Magisterial Reformation’) which in their own day were not allowed to mature and bear fruit. Thankfully a later generation would provide the necessary climate to see that fruit blossom.
Seeds of the Reformation
True though it is that God worked mightily by his Spirit in the 16th century, he did not do so in a way that bypassed the ongoing stream of history, or short-circuited human causes. What were the factors present in the late medieval world that gave birth to the Reformation?
Features of Apostate Behaviour
In Paul’s prophecy in 2 Timothy 3, he identifies nineteen prominent sins which will take over society, with the first five being about self. People will unashamedly focus their attention on themselves, being ‘lovers of their own selves’, so that self-service will become the approved goal for all people.
3. A Defence of the Authenticity of the Woman Taken in Adultery
‘..When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’ (John 8.10-11)
2. A Defence of the Authenticity of the Traditional Ending of Mark
‘And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.’ (Mark 16:20)
1. A Defence of the Traditional Text of Scripture
Dramatic Historic Falls from Grace (2)
From Divine Revelation to Human Reason
Dr Needham’s second address was a case study of the Free Church of Scotland from its formation in 1843 as the most conservative-evangelical Calvinistic denomination in Scotland, to its collapse into liberalism in a single generation. ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.’
Dramatic Historic Falls from Grace (1)
From Divine Revelation to Human Experience
Dr Nick Needham brought two timely addresses, sounding an alert about the subtlety and swiftness of satanically-driven decline in the thinking and belief of evangelical churches once error enters in. The first of these tracked the course of Friedrich Schleiermacher, a nineteenth-century theologian, who began as an evangelical but became ‘the father of liberalism’. History repeats itself continuously.
From a Dead Calvinism to the Evangelistic Calvinism of Andrew Fuller and William Carey (2)
The second of two daytime sessions.
From a Dead Calvinism to the Evangelistic Calvinism of Andrew Fuller and William Carey (1)
The first of two daytime sessions.
An Inspirational Survey of Persecuted Baptists of 17th-18th Centuries
Our guest overseas speaker was Dr David Beale, for 35 years Professor of Historical Theology at Bob Jones University, USA, whose principal subject was ‘From Keach to Carey’, the golden period of Baptist church expansion that saw the fall of hypercalvinism and the shaping and championing of the universal tender of salvation through Fuller, Sutcliff, Carey and others. Among reformed Baptists today more of their clarity and blessedness needs to be recovered.
Was Isaac Watts Unitarian?
The outstanding hymnwriter’s compositions have formed the backbone of numerous hymnbooks for three centuries, unfailingly expressing biblical doctrines and themes, and it is profoundly unsettling to believers to see his theological integrity attacked by ill-informed articles, blogs and forums. Dr Aniol has researched the literature very thoroughly and presented a balanced picture of where Isaac Watts laid himself open to such criticisms, while retaining solid Trinitarian convictions.
The Synod of Dort – the Enduring Teaching
The biblical truths formulated, with nuggets from the small print. The second of two addresses.
The Synod of Dort – the Contentious Event
One of the greatest ‘councils’ for the coining and defining of foundational theological terms was the Synod of Dort, which began in November 1618 and deliberated for eight months. This year sees the 400th anniversary of a dispute where the gulf between Arminianism and Calvinism was so clearly marked and concepts clarified for subsequent generations. Theologian and historian Dr Nick Needham gave two addresses on this event, the first of which dealt with the background and tensions of the memorable theological conflict and its risks.
The Drama of the Reformation (2)
The second of two addresses
The Drama of the Reformation (1)
The Reformation was not accomplished by human power or might but by the Spirit working through penniless, low-ranking, unknown clerics. In the Reformation we see God demonstrating His chosen manner of saving souls, stamping it upon history to be relearned in every age.
Seeds Sown by the Reformation
It is not widely known that Martin Luther as early as the 1520s propounded local church autonomy, a regenerate church membership and congregational government by consent. Here are some of the crucial ‘seeds’ not then implemented but articulated for future, ongoing reformation.
The Two Kingdoms
The emerging Reformation concept of the separateness of the church from the state is blurred today not only in church government (such as the Church of England), but also at another level by the fusion of the lifestyle of the world with the practices of Bible-believing churches. This address will trace developing Reformation convictions about the biblical distinctiveness of Christ’s church.
Seeds of the Reformation
God’s preparatory events and messengers that paved the way for the momentous struggle of the Reformation, clearly showing the hand of the divine architect in breaking the vice-like grip of Catholic thought in the lives of the masses.
Common Threads in Times of Decline (2)
The second of two addresses on church history.
Common Threads in Times of Decline
The steep ravine of spiritual decline toward the end of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries are vaguely attributed to the Enlightenment and Darwinism respectively, but closer inspection shows alarming trends in the churches that parallel our present decline in church life. Pastor Burrows will reveal the repeated wiles of the devil, of which spiritual shepherds must be aware.
Days of Power (2)
The ethos of churches in past times of blessing was vastly different from that of today. The watchword of the past may be expressed thus – ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, without which we will act foolishly, our strategies will be wrong, our efforts will be wasted, we will lose our way, and we will not be Christ’s churches any more’.
Days of Power (1)
The ethos of churches in past times of blessing was vastly different from that of today. The watchword of the past may be expressed thus – ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, without which we will act foolishly, our strategies will be wrong, our efforts will be wasted, we will lose our way, and we will not be Christ’s churches any more’.
Living By Revealed Truth
As the author of a unique biography subtitled, The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Dr Nettles inspired emulation of Spurgeon’s submission and loyalty to the Word in times of awakening and of theological upheaval, and unquestioning devotion to Christ. (Tuesday evening)
Revival Preaching: What did they actually say? (2)
Second address.
Revival Preaching: What did they actually say?
What were the distinctive approaches of great revival preachers in their sermons? What were their characteristic texts and biblical arguments? How did they frame their appeals to souls? How did their language ‘fit’ with reformed theology? For our inspiration, two addresses will review the typical outlines and remonstrations of compelling revival-period preaching.
The Personal Spiritual Walk of Notable Preachers
The influence of the Holy Spirit in the personal lives of instruments of awakening, John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. The Spirit’s work in revival is often presented, but not the conscious dependence on the Spirit of such preachers, and their relation to Him.