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Archive for the ‘Ordinary Means Ministry’ Category

The tabernacle of God is with men

Posted in Catholicity, Free Church of Scotland, Ordinary Means Ministry, The Visible Church on November 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The following passage is taken from Free Church of Scotland minister Robert Gordon’s Christ as Made Known to the Ancient Church (1854), where he treats the command of God to build the tabernacle in the wilderness. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). Gordon sets forth rather poignantly the biblical doctrine as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith ch. 25, “On the Church.”

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Though it was to the incarnation of Christ, therefore, that the passage before us does more immediately refer, as that which was prefigured by the tabernacle; yet the effect of his manifestation is, that God has always dwelt, and ever will dwell, among men, even in his Church, to whom Christ has promised that by his Spirit he will be with her always, even unto the end of the world. The Church, indeed, is represented as the tabernacle or dwelling, place of the Lord; for it is evidently of the Church at large, as well as of the place which God had chosen from among the tribes of Israel to put his name there, that he thus speaks: “The Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” And again, “Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams.”

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The blessed Host of the Supper

Posted in Church of Scotland, Ordinary Means Ministry, Sacraments, Samuel Rutherford, The Lord's Supper on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“He has dressed the whole Supper Himself, covered the table, and there is no more for us to do, but sit down and eat. If we look to this dressed Supper, Christ dressed it all Himself, in the furnace of God’s wrath, and the bread that we here eat is His flesh, which He gave for the life of the world. The wine, which is mingled and drawn is His blood. And, O, sirs, was not our Lord a hot man in making ready this Supper? Not one dish is mis-cooked, all is set before us in the gospel, and Jesus craves no more for all His pains, but only that His friends come to the banquet and eat and be merry; and if ye will come, Christ will pay all the reckoning. When the Israelites were fed with manna, they behoved to go out of the camp, and gather it themselves; but we furnish nothing of this Supper. God be thanked, Christ bears all the expense. Alas! alas! that the unhappy world will not eat heartily, since Christ pays for all. The poor sons of Adam were all sick and at the point of death, and their stomachs were so spoiled with a sour apple that Adam did eat, that they were famished and not able to eat. In comes Jesus and makes a medicinal dinner of His own flesh and blood; lays down Himself and is slain to make physic of His crucified body for us, in order to affect our cure. It is just they die for hunger, and lose their stomach for evermore, who loathe this meat. In the sacrament all things are ready; whatever the soul wants, it shall find at the Table. All the hungry shall find Christ meat and drink.”

Samuel Rutherford

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Fight!

Posted in Ordinary Means Ministry, Prayer, Prayer Meetings on April 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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Brakel: earnestly waiting on the means of grace

Posted in Christian Life & Experience, Experimental Religion & the Cure of Souls, Ordinary Means Ministry, Vox Patrum on March 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

You who are unconverted, if you do not give heed, know that He will not always speak to you. He will remove either His Word, His Spirit, or you, and then it will be too late. “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart” (Ps 95:7-8). You who are converted, know also that if you are not diligent in listening to Him, in continually beseeching Him, in expecting His answer, nor in following His counsel, He will remain silent, hide Himself more and more, and leave you in darkness. The more attentively and persistently you hear His instruction, however, the more He will reveal His secrets to you, and grant deeper insight into that which you may know already. His voice of instruction will be more enduring and efficacious within you. Therefore, “Hear attentively the noise of His voice, and the sound that goeth out of His mouth” (Job 37:2). The Lord Jesus says, “Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isa 55:2); “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoso findeth Me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord” (Prov 8:34-35). All of you who are conscious of your blindness and are desirous for spiritual light, come to this Prophet who can and will instruct you, in order that by His instruction you may make progress.

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Robert Bruce on the spiritual relation to Christ

Posted in Church of Scotland, Ordinary Means Ministry, Redemption Applied, Sacraments, Union with Christ on February 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

That same Holy Spirit that is in Him, is in every one of us in some measure: and in respect one Spirit is in Him and in us, therefore we are accounted all to be members of one spiritual and mystical body. And in the same verse the Apostle says, “We are all made to drink into one and the self-same Spirit” that is we are made to drink of the blood of Christ. And this blood is no other thing than the quickening virtue and power that flow from Christ, and from the merits of His death: we are made all to drink of that blood, when we partake of the lively power and virtue that flow out of that blood. So there is not a bond that can couple my soul with the flesh of Christ, but only a spiritual bond and a spiritual union. And therefore it is that the Apostle (1 Cor. vi. 17 ) says, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit.” And John says (ch. iii. 6), “That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” So it is only by the participation of the Holy Spirit that we are conjoined with the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus. That carnal bond, whether it be the bond of blood running through one race, or the carnal touching of flesh with flesh, that carnal bond was never esteemed by Christ. In the time that He was conversant here upon earth, He respected it nothing for as He witnessed himself by His own words, He never had it in any kind of reverence or estimation in comparison with the spiritual bond. But as for the spiritual tie whereby we are coupled with Him, He ever esteemed it in the time that He was conversant on earth, and in his Book, He has left the praise and commendation of the same.

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Sinclair Ferguson on prioritizing prayer meetings

Posted in Ordinary Means Ministry, Prayer, Prayer Meetings on November 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“Remember what all the manuals that teach effective work practices tell you to do? Do the difficult things first. Give them priority. My own experience, for what it is worth, is that disciplined, faithful attendance at corporate prayer times can slowly transform them into some of the best and most important meetings you attend. Apart from other considerations, the privilege of hearing the burdens on the hearts of Christian friends is a better way to get to know them than having coffee with them! In no other context in life will you hear the kind of speech that is expressed when believers share their needs and desires with God. The quickest way to get into the heart of a church is to gather with it when it turns to prayer.”

From Devoted to God’s Church.

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Bonar, panting and pleading for prayer

Posted in Experimental Religion & the Cure of Souls, Ordinary Means Ministry, Practice of Piety, Prayer, Prayer Meetings on October 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The following quotes are from Andrew Bonar’s (1810-1892) Diary and Letters.

“We must continue in prayer if we are to get an outpouring of the Spirit. Christ says there are some things we shall not get, unless we pray and fast, yes, ‘prayer and fasting.’ We must control the flesh and abstain from whatever hinders direct fellowship with God.”

“It is considered by most these days to be a form of legalism but fasting is a spiritual practice that God honours and is commanded in scripture. Are we desperate enough for God to move in our lives? Sometimes this requires desperate measures that might require some sort of sacrifice.”

“God will not let me get the blessing without asking. Today I am setting my face to fast and pray for enlightenment and refreshing. Until I can get up to the measure of at least two hours in pure prayer every day, I shall not be contented. Meditation and reading besides.”

“How easy it is to give up and not persevere. I believe this is a big fault in my life, having not the desire and earnestness like Jacob to grab God in a sense and not let go until He blesses me.”  

“We have not been men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered among us. The closet has been too little frequented and delighted in. We have allowed business, study or active labor to interfere with our closet-hours. And the feverish atmosphere in which both the church and the nation are enveloped has found its way into our prayer closets.”

“Why is there so little forethought in the laying out of time and employment, so as secure a large portion of each day for prayer? Why is there so much speaking, yet so little prayer? Why Is there so much running to and fro to meetings, conventions, fellowship gatherings and yet so little time for prayer’? Brethren, why so many meetings with our fellow men and so few meetings with God?”

“This is such and important aspect of our relationship to God. To set aside time not to read the bible, not to sing songs. But to just quietly seek God’s face alone in the private.”

“O brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; . . . rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper – and sleep too – than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber.”

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Witherspoon on church-hopping vagrants

Posted in Church Order & Discipline, Ordinary Means Ministry, Parish in American Context, Parish Theory & Practice, Practice of Piety, Religious Marketplace, The Church in America, The Visible Church, Theology of Community, Theology of Place on March 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

If you would truly profit by ordinances, after you have a fixed pastor, I think it is of moment to forget, as much as possible, the persons of men, and confider them as no more than instruments in the hand of God, for your daily instruction and comfort. The more you remember the appointment of God, and wait upon his ordinances, in the faith of his presence, and the expectation of his blessing, the more you are likely to receive both sensible and lasting benefit. I must therefore take the liberty to observe, that we have amongst us a set of wandering unsettled hearers, who run about from one congregation to another, and even from one profession to another, and are scarcely ever to be seen a whole day in one place. If they be but deliberating where to fix, we may fay of them, that they are ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth. But the probability is, that they have itching and curious ears, and go about not to serve God but to hear men. If I am able at all to judge, either by reflection or observation, those are most likely to profit, who having deliberately made their choice, sit habitually and regularly under one minister. By this means they enter into his views; and as he will naturally endeavour, if any thing was wanting at one time, to complete his scheme by supplying it at another, they will thereby have a more comprehensive view of the whole counsel of God. At the fame time, not having the charm of novelty to enchant them, they will have nothing to do but to reap instruction. On the other hand, by hearing separate, detached, and independent discourses, men may please their fancy more, but they will improve their understanding less. It is also plain, that as every minister will endeavour, not only to follow an order in his discourses on one subject, but to have a respect to the connection, and relation of the subjects themselves, the more accurate and exact he is, in suiting one part to the, illustration of another, the less he will be understood by these desultory hearers, who take only a single branch, without being able to perceive its subserviency to the general design. I have many times known exceptions taken at ministers, for some parts of a discourse by such persons, when, if they had heard the whole upon the fame or corresponding subjects, they would have perceived there was no place for their objections. The great purpose, my brethren, of a serious and judicious people, in attending on ordinances, should neither be to please themselves, nor to criticise their teachers; but to hear the word of God, that they may do it. On this account it is, that humble and regular Christians are getting real advantage to their fouls, while some are only watching the opinions, or others only passing judgment on the ability, perhaps no more than the style and outward manner of the speaker.

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Un Método Sencillo de Catequizar, por Thomas Doolittle

Posted in Antigua Kirk, Care for the Youth, Catechesis, Church Order & Discipline, Diets of Catechizing, Español, Evangelistic Catechesis, Family Religion, Ordinary Means Ministry, Pastoral Theology, The Sacred Ministry on June 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Este tratado de Thomas Doolittle, escrito por el pastor de la infancia del gran comentarista de la Biblia Matthew Henry, es una obra maestra muy olvidada sobre el tema de la naturaleza, la justificación y los métodos de la catequesis. Es una lectura obligada para cualquier pastor reformado.

doolittle-thomas-un-metodo-sencillo-de-catequizarDownload

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“The Christian Ministry” for the time-strapped pastor [recordings updated 12/3/23]

Posted in Audio Resources, Church of England, Experimental Religion & the Cure of Souls, Light of Eternity, Ministerial Fidelity, Ordinary Means Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Preaching, The Sacred Ministry, Visiting the Sick & Dying, Vital Godliness on November 28, 2022| 1 Comment »

Ever read this classic of pastoral theology? Perhaps you should. But if you could use it in audio format, I’m making progress in recording it into mp3. Access it here (and more to follow).

Consider these contemporary endorsements from the Banner edition, then I challenge you not to ‘take up and read.’ Or, now listen, if you prefer!

“This book has been my companion for almost fifty years. First published in 1830, it is arguably more needed now than then. It is a classic, serving as a guide to all who are aware of the perils and privileges of pastoral ministry.” — Alistair Begg

“People ask me, “What’s the very best book for Ministers?” Overall for the ministry, and for passionate preaching, and how to preach to different kinds of people – there’s nothing like The Christian Ministry.” — Joel Beeke

For more titles, see my growing amateur audio library. [And if any links fail, kindly drop me a note: mjves dot refparish at gmail dot com. Thanks!]

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