Semper Blog

Matt 11:12 11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered...

1853 PCUSA General Assembly resolution that was quoted by Peck approvingly in a pastoral letter on the Sabbath. The resolution stated: "Resolved, That the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath is essential alike to the purity and progress of the church, and to...

More wisdom from Thomas Watson: "Confession purges out sin. Augustine called it "the expeller of vice". Sin is bad blood; confession is like the opening of a vein to let it out. Confession is like the dung-gate, through which all the filth of the city was carried...

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath; Jesus is fully God and can do whatever He wants with His creation. The Lord's day and the 4th commandment are not at odds w/ each other-they are the same. Much like God's character, the commands of God are perpetual and unchangeable. Mal....

This is the order of things on the part of Adam:-- (1.) Paraptoma, the one sin; (2.) Krima, the guilt that thereon ensued unto all; (3.) Katakrima, the condemnation which that guilt deserved. And their "antitheta," or opposites, in the second Adam are:-- (1.)...

“All men who read and hear the gospel contained in the Scriptures, are called to the fellowship of Christ, and to receive a full salvation in him, as the free gift of God to themselves. The law, which manifests our sinfulness and danger, and warns us to flee from the...

God is worship leader. It is Him alone who decides what true worship is. Remove all the bells and whistles in the corporate setting and you are essentially left with just truth. John 4:19   The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers...

I am starting to see that in the so called 'reformed' rank and file, there are different strains: Those who think they are reformed but yet are Arminian in their theology. They may pick through some of the tenets of Calvinism and agree with one or two items. They like...

Catechism Before Communion August 26, 2014 at 3:22pm All baptized persons, when they come to age and discretion are not admitted to the Lord's Table; but such only as either upon examination are found to have a competent measure of knowledge in the principles of...

“It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only...

John Calvin explains idolatry... "Now so that when we think about God we might learn to imagine no earthly thing but pass beyond this world and not stay on our own senses and fantasies, it is said that God dwells in the Heavens, (Job 22:12) so that we should know that...

"Q. 35. How many kinds of grace are there? A. It is common, in regard to all men, (Matt. 5:45), or particular and saving in regard to the elect only, (Rom. 3:24)." -- Abraham Hellenbroek (1658-1731), "A Specimen of Divine Truths"

http://youtu.be/qI0RoJz7Tno

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2329110788971   1Cor. 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If...

Psa. 69:9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up..... Jer. 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? Luke 18:8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily....

If Christ didn't really prescribe wine literally to be used in the Lord's Supper, how many other things that He said can we not take literally? Homosexuality? Lying? His return? Heaven?

One of the most pathetic, yet widely popular, arguments against Exclusive Psalmody is that "singers can't sing the name of Jesus." In essence, it is pure mysticism: "First, nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to sing the name 'Jesus'. If God preferred the name Jesus...

It has been posed to me to consider 1 Cor 8:7-12 and Rom's 14:20; the doctrine of 'stumbling' one's brother....The distinction between a thing of indifference, i.e. meat, cigars, coffee, etc and things that are *commanded* by God are not one and the same. One would...

'Second, the association of the Lord's Supper with a meal is strongly evidenced by the food and drink distributed and enjoyed in it. The signs of bread and wine in the Lord's Supper have no more been arbitrary or accidentally chosen than the water in Baptism. In the...

The real fire challenge: John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath...

The temperance movement in the church is aberrant. It is founded on a world view, not on God's word. The church responds to civil pressures to change their doctrine to quell the complaints of it's people. The church never aligns with the worlds order of life but the...

"God has said numerous times that Israel is His chosen people.."*Faith in Christ is key*DO unregenerate Jews have faith in Christ or are they actually God haters, proven by their emphatic rejection of messiah?Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the...

Apparently, nothing we do in church is inspired. The preaching isn't-it is illuminated. The verbatim word preached isn't as it is not in the original language. Singing the Psalms, which we often say is 'inspired' when contrasted to the *uninspired* hymns are not...

To Tzitzit or not Tzitzit?I have been studying this as of recent. Why would it be wrong to wear Tzitzit if the heart and mind is aligned properly on why you are wearing it?The Numbers passage does use the same language we reformed subscribe to when we speak of the...

The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions. I meditate on your age-old regulations, O Lord, for they comfort me. I become furious with the wicked, because they reject your instructions. (Psalm 119:51-53) Singing the *Psalms...

Is. 64:8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father;we are the clay, and you are our potter;we are all the work of your hand.    

An Appendix on Dr. Watts   Interestingly enough, Watt's hymn books were used as wading during the battle of Springfield in 1780:"At the Galloping Hill Bridge, Knyphausen bombarded Colonel Angell’s defenders with six cannons, which the Americans answered with...

The sabbath day is a pattern; a cycle. When God instituted the sabbath day it was 1:7. God did not assign a name for the day. Men have invented the names of days. Jesus is Lord of the sabbath and can change it to whatever day He prefers.

Girly men. No to pedicures and waxing! The system is trying to force-feed you estrogen! 1Cor. 6:9 Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers...

IN WHAT MANNER SHOULD WE SING THE PSALMS?1. Intelligently. We are rational beings. This is a reasonable service. "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." It requires the concentrated action of all the mental faculties, as well as...

Just like the Noahic Covenant is more than the ark, the Covenant of Works is more than the 10 commandments. Think of the C of W's as a car; The commandments were the engine and gas of the covenant of works. The fall was the proverbial pothole that rendered the axel...

If you were seeking God, it was because He was pursuing you first! Psalm 10:4 - In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”John 3:20 - "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the...

I love this statement by RC. John 3:3/Regeneration is the ability to see things of the kingdom. One cannot ascend to a proposition that one has no idea about. Once the information is received, even if supernaturally, conversion occurs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhtaXzu2kto

"In singing praise to the Lord, previously prepared forms of praise are necessary. He did not leave his favored Zion destitute of set forms of praise. He did more than to command them to be prepared - he prepared them himself. If the use of them is to be discontinued,...

"When we see men so malicious and wicked as to lift themselves up against God and to seek all means possible to pervert and corrupt the truth, is it fitting for us to be slothful then? No. We see today how the Pope has many seducers which seek nothing but to slander...

“The singing of Psalms became the Reformed cultus [worship], the characteristic note distinguishing its worship from that of the Roman Catholic Church,” and, “The family in the home, men and women at their daily tasks, were recognized as Huguenots [Reformed Christians...

"The law of the Lord, we are told, is perfect. It is sure. It is right. It is pure. It is true. It is sweeter than honey and more to be desired than gold. When we read this magnificent Psalm we should do so with the understanding that the Psalter is in these words...

'I must say that I imitated David's Psalms, not as the fittest book that could be made for Christian worship, but as the best which the churches would yet hearken to,' (Isaac Watts, cited in R.M. Stevenson, Patterns of Protestant Church Music, p. 96).

Henry Cooke (1788-1868) Irish Presbyterian, champion of Trinitarianism against Unitarianism:  "The most celebrated hymns of uninspired men are like Job’s friends, "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2), when compared with the experience of Christ in the day of humiliation,...

"What is praise? The word is derived from the word “price.” But who knows God’s price or value? To prepare a complete and sufficient manual of praise one must know, on the one hand, all the divine excellences, for they are to be set forth in sufficient measure and due...

1Th. 5:23   Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

"Answer all [the Calvinists'] objections, as occasion offers, both in public and private. But take care to do this with all possible sweetness both of look and of accent...Make it a matter of constant and earnest prayer, that God would stop the plague." ~John Westley...

If you use a hymnal in church, If I took a bunch of contemporary 'worship' songs, i.e. The Newsboys, Jars of Clay, Hillsong, Vineyard, David Crowder, etc., would you be against singing them in worship alongside the hymnal? If you have an issue with this, you are...

2Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Rom 14:10 For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  11 For it is written:...

"Psalmos occurs some 87 times in the Septuagint, some 78 of which are in the Psalms themselves, and 67 times in the psalm titles. It also forms the title to the Greek version of the Psalter (Psalmoi) translating the Hebrew tahilah. On rare occasion the term psalmos...

'But what then ought to be done? Let us have songs that are not only decent but holy. These will incite us to pray and praise God, to meditate on his works, in order to love, fear, honour and glorify him. But what Augustine says is true, that no one can sing things...

'Scripture psalms not only may be sung, but are fittest to be used in the church, as being indited by the infallible and unerring Spirit, and are of a more diffusive and unlimited concernment than the private dictates of any particular person or spirit in the church....

John Murray and William Young's conclusions in the Minority Report to the 1947 OPC GA on Song in Worship:"On the basis of these studies the minority respectfully submits to the Fourteenth General Assembly the following conclusions:1. There is no warrant in Scripture...

2 Chronicles 29:30: "Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped." Eph. 5:19 speaking to...

Rev. 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Jesus is not knocking on the door of your heart. He is a sovereign God who chooses those who He elects. He is not an...

By Thomas Manton "First, What is the wisdom of God in the way of salvation prescribed by the gospel? The sum of the gospel is this: that all those who, by true repentance and faith, do forsake the flesh, the world, and the devil, and give themselves up to God the...

How Should We Worship God? By David Silversides There was a time when the question of how we should worship God was viewed as a matter of importance to professing Christians. It still is, though for a different reason. Whereas our forefathers struggled with what was...

Dr. Keith Mathison's RecommendationsMatthew Poole The Expositors Bible Commentary Shaw's Commentary on the Westminster Confession Westminster Shorter catechism Project The Presbyterian Standards by F. Beattie Calvin's CommentaryCommentary on the Heidelberg catechism...

If you hold to the biblical idea that prayer, sacraments and the word are the means of grace and you sing hymns written by women, you are actually sitting under the teaching of a women and a direct break in the Regulative Principle of Worship. Think about it....

I truly do not understand all the hoopla lately in regard to law vs gospel; I mean, I learned that stuff back when I was a new believer...Justification by faith alone does not mean that that justification, though efficacious, is never alone from the fruits of that...

"…the Antinomians … make all sanctification to be justification … the Papists make all justification to be sanctification; therefore we would learn to distinguish these two, yet not so as to separate them.” - James Durham

To imply 'ministry' is to imply official sending from the local expression. No man is 'sent' outside of this idea. The commission is grounded locally. It is not a universal call to every Tom, Dick and Harry. Parachurch is a contradiction to truth.

Think about this; All the OT saints were saved by grace. All the OT saints understood justification by faith alone. All OT saints looked forward to the consummation that Christ would bring, knowing that it was efficacious even in their day. In light of the recent...

One of the greatest portions of the commission that is typically neglected is the making of disciples. Most think that this is generally accomplished on Sabbath day via preaching. The flock do not rightly understand polity because they rarely experience it. If the...

Calvin, on defending the truths of God..."I say, whenever we see a man strive against God’s truth, we must set ourselves against him as adversarial parties. Why so? For if God gives us the means to make ourselves His representatives and witnesses, He will have His...

Jewish Sacrifices

To 'see' heaven is to 'see' God: John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. 1John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been...

"In biology, evolution is largely a mental construct built on imagination, because the time scale of animal evolution is immense relative to the time available to us for observations. We cannot witness animal evolution, and this places the biology argument for...

To be accurate, 'discipleship' is not synonymous with actual regeneration. Judas was a disciple, as was Ananias, Saphira and Demas. To be a disciple is to be a student of Christ and the words of Christ. It is a man or woman actively involved in learning the things of...

In regards to images and statues: Were you aware that the Roman Catholics remove the 2nd commandment for their rendition of the decalogue? It is indicting to them in light of their doctrine as they disregard the passage in Exodus, chapter 20, altogether; it is...

Andy Webb meets with an Jehovah's Witness:   Odd Providence: I ran into a Jehovah's Witness at the Redbox today. She offered me a copy of AWAKE through her car window, and I declined but asked her if she thought the bible teaches that we are allowed to worship...

  The distinction between essentiality's for glory vs salvation must be considered. There is only one truth; a half truth is a lie, period. There is only one gospel. If you blow that, it could be fatal. Change the elements and compounds of h2o by 1 oxygen...

Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans, Vol. 2, pp. 458-459: Among the ordinances that passed [British Parliament] this year [1647] for the reformation of the Church, none occasioned so much noise and disturbance as that of June 8, for abolishing the observation of...

Happy (Y)easter! 1Cor. 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

Even though Israel thought that their intentions were right in cloaking a pagan ritual in holiness, look what God thinks of it: Ex. 32:1   Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him,...

If the book of Acts and the Epistles are our blueprint of how we are to pursue righteousness and none of these documents show the early church amplifying any particular days of the week, outside of the Sabbath, why is it we can feel justified in amplifying days? The...

The observance of the uncommanded holy-days is ever found to interfere with the due sanctification of the Lord's-day. Adding to the appointments of God is superstition; and superstition has ever been found unfriendly to genuine obedience. Its [adherents], like the...

Are you confessional? Here is what Westminster thought about Holy Days: http://www.fpcr.org/blue_banner_articles/americanxmas.htm#I. Historical Background

Nothing should be brought into worship that is not commanded. Think of it this way: What things does God command that we should not have in worship? Surely there are limitations, no? Consider those things, in light of the RPW and move forward from there. Check and...

Most people who hold to the Westminster Confession do not actually hold to the confession like Westminster held. In some ways, they think the document is a standard, not fully relevant culturally, hence, we should adjust it akin to the age we live in. Many people do...

XVII. MEDITATION. PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not...

James Fisher in his catechism explains a few important distinctions between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace: "Q. 23. If both covenants, of grace and works, were exhibited on Mount Sinai, were not the Israelites, in that case, under both these covenants...

Evangelism and discipleship is not one and the same; Evangelism is the call to obtain disciples via God's grace and elective decree; discipleship is the sweat that one invests in individuals on a practical level. It is kingdom work and not an option. Giving a call and...

God's Holy word is more than some old fairy tale; it is God breathed. It is the greatest story ever told. It is God condescending down to the creature through His bible and offering immeasurable grace and mercy to those who believe.

Interesting to note, in light of the Calvary Chapel issue, we never see in scripture anyone in leadership actually falling into a blatant sin and being disqualified from an office.

How can we, as reformed men, expect anyone who is obviously not reformed, to take our convictions seriously, when we waffle at any given moment on those convictions just because the one who we communicating with is a 'nice guy' and means well? Is that what Luther did?

Last night I had a dream! Zech. 13:2 “It shall be in that day,” says the LORD of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3...

II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus...

"A church that can't worship must be entertained; men who can't lead a church to worship must provide entertainment." Tozer

Chapter 28 of the WCF: I. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into...

Ultimately, even the present day Presbyterian is 'reforming' back to the bible; sadly, what we hold dear is not what Westminster held-it is a 'deformed' understanding. We are much closer than the 'Particulars', obviously, but not fully Westminsterian. One is headed in...

"The Westminster Assembly instructed the Houses of Parliament to see that Anabaptist and Antinomian errorists were restrained:[…] (4) That all Ministers who teach or divulge, Baptizing of Infants to bee unlawful, The Morall law to be no rule for a Christian to walke...

  The Westminster Assembly instructed the Houses of Parliament to see that Anabaptist and Antinomian errorists were restrained: […] (4) That all Ministers who teach or divulge, Baptizing of Infants to bee unlawful, The Morall law to be no rule for a Christian to...

John Calvin regarded the Anabaptist notion of re-baptism as a great evil:[W]e are baptised only once, and if we return for a second baptism, this is in effect wishing to negate the true baptism which was ordained by God [...]John Calvin, Sermons on 2 Samuel: chapters...

Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.  Genesis 17:14. The Westminster Confession teaches that ‘it is a great sin to contemn or neglect’ the ordinance of baptism...

That we shall in like manner, without respect of persons, endeavour the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, (that is, Church Government by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellours and Commissaries, Deans, Deans and Chapters, Archdeacons, and all other Ecclesiasticall...

David J. Engelsma, The Sixteenth-Century Reformation of the Church, p. 63: It is, however, the urgency of the conflict of the Reformed faith with Anabaptism in our day that needs to be sounded and appreciated. If one thinks only of the physical descendants of the...

2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to...

This is a false dichotomy; Since scripture is never open to private interpretation, no matter how much we want to believe our positions are solely from God's word, all of us have presuppositional theology-and that is correct, in most cases; of course, if your theology...

Your submission to your leadership is a direct reflection of your submission to Christ. Heb. 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would...

How is church membership like a marriage? Well, the church is the bride and Christ the bridegroom. The church local is as much the bride as the church universal. Each member is as important as the other and all play a part in the marriage. When one takes a vow to...

Were women in the OT 'in covenant'? Gen. 17:9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your...

O LORD, We commune with thee every day, but week days are worldly days, and secular concerns reduce heavenly impressions. We bless thee therefore for the day sacred to our souls when we can wait upon thee and be refreshed; We thank thee for the institutions of...