The Wicked Shall Be Turned Into Hell, and All the Nations That Forget God.

• And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. - Rev. 20:1-3, KJV

• They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. - Isa. 11:9, KJV, emphases added

About a century later, however, came what those who liked it called the 'Second Reformation' in Scottish, English, and Dutch Calvinism. Supposedly this reformation completed what was lacking in the original one. In fact it was to a considerable extent a Medieval reaction against the Reformation. (Biblical Horizons, No. 177: FV, NPP, PCA, AAPC, ETC., emphases added)

• "Now, Christians, the more great and glorious things you expect from God, as the downfall of antichrist, the conversion of the Jews, the conquest of the nations to Christ, the breaking of all yokes, the new Jerusalem's coming down from above, the extraordinary pouring out of the Spirit, and a more general union among all saints, the more holy, yea, the more eminently holy in all your ways and actings it becomes you to be." - Thomas Brooks, The Crown and Glory of Christianity, 1662, Complete Works (on the Puritan Hard Drive), 1867, p. 444

• They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. - Isa. 11:9, KJV, emphases added

• The nations are bound to recognize the Bible as the supreme law of the land; as the standard of civil legislation. God's law as recorded in the Bible, reaches all the possible relations of humanity; extends to every duty that can be performed, and fastens its claims on associated bodies of men, as well as upon individual persons. Were this not true, we should have this monstrous anomaly in Jehovah's government, that while men, as individuals, are bound by the laws recorded in the Bible, in their congregated capacities, they may set these laws at defiance, and even contemn as citizens, what as Christians they are bound to honor and obey. ... The nations are bound to evince their subjection to the Son of God, by filling all their official stations with upright, godly and able men. ... In all their political institutions the nations are bound to subserve the interests of the church of God, and promote, truth and godliness. ... In all their civil, criminal, and international concerns, the kingdoms should have a supreme regard to the glory of God. - The Subjection of Kings and Nations to Messiah (1820) by James R. Willson (emphases added), on the Puritan Hard Drive

• "The orthodox churches believe also, and do willingly acknowledge, that every lawful magistrate, being by God himself constituted the keeper and defender of both tables of the law, may and ought first and chiefly to take care of God's glory, and (according to his place, or in his manner and way) to preserve religion when pure, and to restore it when decayed and corrupted: and also to provide a learned and godly ministry, schools also and synods, as likewise to restrain and punish as well atheists, blasphemers, heretics and schismatics, as the violators of justice and civil peace." - George Gillespie, Works, 1:12.

• "Moreover, to kings, princes, rulers, and magistrates, we affirm that chiefly and most principally the conservation and purgation of the religion appertains; so that not only they are appointed for civil policy, but also for maintenance of the true religion, and for suppressing of idolatry and superstition whatsoever: as in David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others, highly commended for their zeal in that case, may be espied." - The Scottish Confession of Faith (written by John Knox and others), Chapter 24, 1560.

• "If Mr. Brown had written his book in the United States (rather than in Scotland), an appropriate title might have been, The Religious Pluralism Granted In The First Amendment Is Not Granted In The First Commandment." (From the summary to A Refutation of Religious Pluralism by John Brown of Haddington)

• "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers..." - Isa. 49:23a, KJV

• "Yet civil government has as its appointed end, so long as we live among men, to cherish and protect the outward worship of God, to defend sound doctrine of piety and the position of the church, to adjust our life to the society of men, to form our social behavior to civil righteousness, to reconcile us with one another, and to promote general peace and tranquility." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4:20:2

• The anti-Christian leaven, which has been so extensively diffused, shall be purged out of both the churches and the nations. Every usurper of the rights and prerogatives of Sion's King shall be pushed from his seat. Every rival kingdom shall be overthrown. The civil and ecclesiastical constitutions of the earth shall be regulated by the infallible standard of God's word; their office-bearers, of every kind, shall acknowledge the authority of Messiah the Prince; and the greatest kings on earth shall cast their crowns at his feet. All enemies shall be put under his feet; and such as resist the melting influence of his grace, shall be crushed beneath the iron rod of his power. By spiritual conversion or judicial destruction, he shall effect the entire subjugation of the globe. And, at the last, there shall not be a spot on the face of the habitable earth where the true church of Christ shall not have effected a footing, nor a single tribe of the vast family of man which shall not have felt the meliorating and blissful influence of Christian laws and institutions. - William Symington,Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ (Still Waters Revival Books, [1884] 1990), pp. 185-86, on the Puritan Hard Drive.

• Thou shalt have no other gods before me. - Ex. 20:3, KJV

• "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." Isa, 2:2, KJV (emphases added, and remember that there are no nations in heaven, and this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, so this is a prophecy of what the Lord is going to do in the future, when Covenanted Reformation nations and faithful Covenanted Reformation churches will fill the Earth!).

• "Prophecy shows that a time is coming when the Kingdom of Christ shall triumph over all opposition and prevail in all the world. The Romish Antichrist shall be utterly destroyed. The Jews shall be converted to Christianity. The fullness of the Gentiles shall be brought in and all mankind shall possess the knowledge of the Lord. The truth in its illuminating, regenerating and sanctifying efficacy shall be felt everywhere, so that the multitudes of all nations shall serve the Lord. Knowledge, love, holiness, and peace shall reign through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Arts, sciences, literature, and property shall be consecrated to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The social institutions of men shall be regulated by gospel principles, and the nations as such shall consecrate their strength to the Lord. Oppression and tyranny shall come to an end. The nations, instead of being distracted by wars, shall be united in peace. The inhabitants of the world shall be exceedingly multiplied, and pure and undefiled religion shall exert supreme dominion over their hearts and lives so that happiness shall abound. This blessed period shall be of long duration." - The 1901 Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church

• "It is like the treasures that were taken out of Solomon's temple. It is packed with such knowledge, understanding and so much wisdom I can fully understand how our Puritan forefathers walked in such fear of the Lord that they sought His and only His will to be done in their lives. I was struggling with life in general and felt that I was slipping so far away from God that I just could not see the way back, when I started looking into the Puritan Hard Drive. I was short on finances but willing to part with a treasured Matthew Henry 5 volumes in order to pay for the Puritan Hard Drive. Well only just after a month of continuously looking into the Puritans (on the Puritan Hard Drive - ed.), reading some and listening to the audio I feel that the Lord in His good kindness and His abounding mercy has once again assured me of His wonderful gracious Love towards His own. I've got other Christian teaching material but nothing compares to what the Lord has done using Still Waters Revival Books to bring these books together and putting them all in one small compact 21st century device. It is TRULY amazing. I am the very least of all true Christians and what the Puritan Hard Drive has done for my spiritual revival is so wonderfully great, I wholeheartedly recommend getting this Puritan Hard Drive at whatever cost." - Paul Blyth, Plymouth, England (UK)

• "Another instance in which posterity is recognized in covenant obligation is found in Joshua 9:15. This covenant was made between the children of Israel and the Gibeonites. Between four and five hundred years after that time, the children of Israel are visited with a very severe famine, in the days of David. 2 Sam. 21:1. And it is expressly declared by the Lord that, 'It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.' And at the same time, v. 2, that very covenant is recognized, and the breach of it is stated, as being the formal reason of the divine displeasure. Now, had it not been for this covenant, the extirpation of the Gibeonites would not have been imputed to Israel as a thing criminal; for they were comprehended in Canaanitish nations, which God had commanded them to root out." - William L. Roberts, The Reformed Presbyterian Catechism (1853, emphases added), pp. 139-140, on the Puritan Hard Drive

• "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." (Galatians 3:15)

• "Faith imbued with zeal for the honour of Christ and the glory of God will have no sympathy with the defeatism which is, after all, but disguised fatalism. He who is head over all things is head over all things to his body the Church. He has all authority in heaven and in earth. And he is the Lord of the Spirit. Implicit in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray, 'thy will be done as in heaven so in earth,' is the prayer that the whole earth should be filled with his praise. Nothing less is the measure of the believer's desire. 'And blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory' (Psalm 72:19)." - Prof. John Murray, Collected Writings, Vol. 2, p. 350, emphases added

• "Because of their outlook upon the future all Scottish missionary leaders took the long-term view in evangelization, that is to say, they did not regard the number of individual converts in the present as the first consideration, but rather that energy should be deployed in work which would have the maximum influence upon nations in subsequent generations." - Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy

• "Behind every great movement of God stands a few generous men and women called Gospel Patrons. Their role of resourcing, partnering, and strategizing with those who proclaim the gospel fueled amazing works of God. This book tells three stories from history that invite us to believe God, step out, and serve the purposes of God in our generation too." - Gospel Patrons: People Whose Generosity Changed the World. This book demonstrates the indisputable importance of the people God calls to help fund the ministries that He has chosen to play large rolls in some of the biggest Reformations and revivals in history. It uses the examples of William Tyndale, George Whitefield and John Newton, and the Gospel patrons God used to fund His cause in each of these men.

• Now, Christians, the more great and glorious things you expect from God, as the downfall of antichrist, the conversion of the Jews, the conquest of the nations to Christ, the breaking of all yokes, the new Jerusalem's coming down from above, the extraordinary pouring out of the Spirit, and a more general union among all saints, the more holy, yea, the more eminently holy in all your ways and actings it becomes you to be. - Thomas Brooks, The Crown and Glory of Christianity, 1662, Complete Works (on the Puritan Hard Drive), 1867, p. 444

• It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description. - Charles Spurgeon, on the Puritan Hard Drive

• There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God. - From the Original Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), Ch. 25:6, "Of the Church", emphases added (on the Puritan Hard Drive). N.B. Some unfaithful denominations have removed this mention of the Pope of Rome as the "Antichrist", "man of sin" and "son of perdition" from this portion of the original Westminster Confession of Faith.

• Dr. Reg Barrow, the President of Still Waters Revival Books, considers Jonathan Edwards' The History of Redemption one of the best Christian books ever written — of the many thousands he has read, heard, edited, compiled, published and/or studied. E4 News writes, "The Encyclopedia Britannica call Jonathan Edwards 'the greatest intellectual in all of American history' for good reason... Not only was he the President of Princeton and an incredible theologian but he was a intensely Bible centered preacher who God used with great might to start the first Great awakening in America. Great theology, matched with great pastoral purpose." Jonathan Edward's History of Redemption is "a massive theological treatise in the form of history," notes Christian History magazine (Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 6). Furthermore, regarding Edwards' work on this book, Christian History magazine states, "To prepare himself for the task, he read every historical work he could lay his hands on. He planned to trace the workings of God from Creation to his own day." In The History of Redemption Jonathan Edwards' chronicles God's mercy and faithfulness to His Church and the destruction of His enemies. Written from the older postmillennial perspective, useful insights abound. This is a most remarkable glimpse into the mind of President Edwards. He boldly proclaims the glorious future of Christ's Kingdom on earth BEFORE the bodily return of Christ. 362 pages.

• We feel disposed to regard it as something more than a baseless vision of imagination which leads us to hope that the period is not distant when the mighty principles of the Westminster Standards shall be more extensively recognized than they have ever yet been, and shall put forth an energy of influence on society hitherto unknown. - William Symington, Historical Sketch of the Westminster Assembly, pp. 42-43.

• Faith imbued with zeal for the honour of Christ and the glory of God will have no sympathy with the defeatism which is, after all, but disguised fatalism. He who is head over all things is head over all things to his body the Church. He has all authority in heaven and in earth. And he is the Lord of the Spirit. Implicit in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray, 'thy will be done as in heaven so in earth,' is the prayer that the whole earth should be filled with his praise. Nothing less is the measure of the believer's desire. 'And blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory' (Psalm 72:19). - Prof. John Murray, Collected Writings, Vol. 2, p. 350, emphases added

• The day shall yet come when the Jews, who were the first apostles to the Gentiles, the first missionaries to us who were afar off, shall be gathered in again. ... Matchless benefits to the world are bound up with the restoration of Israel; their gathering in shall be as life from the dead. - Cited in Murray, The Puritan Hope, p. 256

• Because of their outlook upon the future all Scottish missionary leaders took the long-term view in evangelization, that is to say, they did not regard the number of individual converts in the present as the first consideration, but rather that energy should be deployed in work which would have the maximum influence upon nations in subsequent generations. - Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation Of Prophecy

• Summary: An important and irrefutable refutation of Amillennialism from Scripture. This inspiring and spectacularly scriptural sermon deals with many of the "big picture" issues surrounding biblical eschatological interpretation — including when the binding of Satan takes place. A fascinating section of this message also contains numerous citations and explanations from the Bible related to the time of the future millennium — providing many scriptures demonstrating that God's Word prophesies that the nations, as nations (and "moral persons" to use classic Covenanter terminology), will come to Christ in a future worldwide Covenanted Reformation that will cover the whole Earth (Isa. 2:2-4, Psalm 72, Ezek. 47:1-12, etc.). The "realized millennium" of some Amillennialists is also dealt with, as is the Amillennial interpretation of "Israel," where special attention is given to Romans 11 and the part the future restoration of the Jews will play in the glorious days ahead when "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" and "all nations shall serve him" (Psalm 72:8, 11 — and remember there are no nations in heaven, so these verses must be referring to a time in history prior to the final judgment!). If you are an Amillennialist this is one of the most important sermons you will ever hear! If you are not an Amillennialist this will be an extraordinarily encouraging message about the great victories of Christ's Kingdom, in history and on Earth, which are still in the future, according to what God has revealed in His Holy Word (Isaiah 2:2-4).

• "Prophecy shows that a time is coming when the Kingdom of Christ shall triumph over all opposition and prevail in all the world. The Romish Antichrist shall be utterly destroyed. The Jews shall be converted to Christianity. The fullness of the Gentiles shall be brought in and all mankind shall possess the knowledge of the Lord. The truth in its illuminating, regenerating and sanctifying efficacy shall be felt everywhere, so that the multitudes of all nations shall serve the Lord. Knowledge, love, holiness, and peace shall reign through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Arts, sciences, literature, and property shall be consecrated to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The social institutions of men shall be regulated by gospel principles, and the nations as such shall consecrate their strength to the Lord. Oppression and tyranny shall come to an end. The nations, instead of being distracted by wars, shall be united in peace. The inhabitants of the world shall be exceedingly multiplied, and pure and undefiled religion shall exert supreme dominion over their hearts and lives so that happiness shall abound. This blessed period shall be of long duration." - The 1901 Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church

• "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." (Galatians 3:15, KJV)

• They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. - Isa. 11:9, KJV

• And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. (Isa. 2:2, KJV)

• There will come a time when in this world holiness shall be more general, and more eminent, than ever it hath been since Adam fell in paradise. - Thomas Brooks, The Crown and Glory of Christianity, 1662, Brooks' Complete Works, Vol. 4, p. 434 (on SWRB's Puritan Hard Drive).

• There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. - Isa. 65:20, KJV

• "It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines that are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are truly and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make my pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me ... Taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren; I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church." - Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sovereign Grace Sermons, Still Waters Revival Books, p. 170

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• This is what the Bible teaches: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will... In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." - Eph. 1:4,5,11 (KJV).

• Lord Jesus Christ said: "I pray for them (the elect - ed.): I pray not for the world (the reprobates - ed.), but for them which thou hast given me (the elect - ed.); for they are thine (the elect - ed.)." - John 17:9, KJV. Keep in mind that the Lord Jesus Christ always prayed perfect prayers and that all His prayers were, and are being, answered -- and that He only prayed for the salvation of the elect and not the reprobates.

• "It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines that are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are truly and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make my pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me ... Taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren; I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church." - Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sovereign Grace Sermons, Still Waters Revival Books, p. 170

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• Charles Spurgeon: "What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ--the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor." (C. H. Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Vol. 1, 1856)

• "To the predestined ones before all ages, that is, before the world began, united and elect in a true passion, by the eternal will of the Father."- Ignatius of Antioch, Martyr and Student of John the Apostle

• "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love ... In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." - Eph 1:4,11 (KJV)

• "The Regulative Principle of Worship declares that God alone is sovereign in worship. The Regulative Principle of Worship simply applies the principles of Calvinism (i.e. God's sovereign Lordship) to worship, whereas the view that what God doesn't forbid in worship is permitted is applying the principles of Arminianism (i.e. man's sovereign lordship) to worship. Just as fallen man naturally seeks to impose his will in salvation (e.g. "I can cooperate with God in salvation",or "I have a natural freedom to choose Christ"), so fallen man naturally seeks to impose his will in worship ("I can cooperate with God in worship by adding what I desire so long as God doesn't specifically forbid it"). But just as God condemns a man-centered salvation, so God condemns a man-centered worship (Col. 2:23 specifically condemns all will-worship i.e. all worship instituted by man)." - Greg Price, Foundation for Reformation: The Regulative Principle of Worship (FREE ONLINE BOOK).

• The Regulative Principle of Worship is God's ordained law for worship... You see there is no neutrality in the way in which we approach God in worship. Either we approach the living God according to His revealed Word (i.e. the Regulative Principle of Worship), or we approach Him according to our revealed word. Someone's word is going to expressly guide us in worship. The only question is, whose word will guide us? God's or man's? - Greg Price, Foundation For Reformation: The Regulative Principle Of Worship (Free Online Book)

• John Calvin: "God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, "I have not commanded them," whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew." - John Calvin on the Puritan Hard Drive

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• B. Leviticus 10:1-3: Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified'" (emphasis added). Carefully note that the nature of the sin committed by Nadab and Abihu was that they offered profane fire before the Lord "which He had not commanded them." God did not say they offered profane fire "which was forbidden them." The fact that He had not commanded the use of the strange fire meant it was forbidden (God's silence in the matter meant an express prohibition of all profane fire). According to Leviticus 16:12 it would appear that the coals for the incense offering were to come from the fire on the altar of burnt offering. The priest then brought the coals from the altar of burnt offering into the Tabernacle, and on the altar of incense he spread the coals out mixing the coals and the incense which then filled the Holy Place. Apparently in a rather spontaneous act of worship (with perhaps "good intentions" cf. Lev. 9:22-24) they took fire from another source to praise God. God had just consumed the burnt offering by a miraculous display of fire, and all the people were in an enthusiastic state of shouting and falling on their faces before the Most High God. Leviticus 10:1 immediately follows with "Then." It may be that in all of the excitement, Nadab and Abihu, quite overcome by the demonstration of God's awesome power took fire from the quickest and nearest source available to them and immediately went into the Tabernacle to offer incense to the Lord God. They took liberties in worship which God had not given them, and they were slain. They added to the worship of God an act that was not specifically authorized by God. They brought their own man-made worship into the house of God, and His anger burned against them. C. Objection: "But God has obviously relaxed His standards for He does not slay people on the spot for taking liberties in worship today. Why be so nit-picky today? We are under grace not law." I would have you remember that neither does God make a habit of immediately slaying those who lie to Him today though He did so to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Yet would anyone care to argue that lying to God is not as heinous to God today as it was to Him in Acts 5? Paul teaches, "Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). God's kind patience in forbearing with sin is not to be misunderstood as an approval of sin. It is God's objective Word and not my subjective feelings that assure me of God's approval of my worship. - From: FOUNDATION FOR REFORMATION: THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP by Pastor Greg Price (emphases added), Free Online Book at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/reformation-rpw-gp.htm

• "If it be inquired, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity: this is, a knowledge, first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and, secondly, of the source from which salvation is to be obtained. When these are kept out of view, though we may glory in the name Christians, our profession is empty and vain. After these come the sacraments and the government of the church." - John Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1544, reprinted 1995, p. 15, free online at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/NRC_ch00.htm.

• Colossians 2:8,20-23. The emphasis of the great apostle throughout this chapter is on forsaking the traditions and commandments of men, and rather clinging to Christ and His commandments, for "in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge... in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col 2:3,9-10). Dear ones, you are not complete in yourself or in any man-made ceremonies in worship. You are complete, made full and acceptable through His work on your behalf. He is the head of the church, not you or me. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. He alone directs our worship and presents it acceptable to the Father. Paul infers that to practice any "will-worship" (or "self-imposed religion" Col. 2:23) "according to the commandments and doctrines of men" (Col. 2:22) is to undermine the finished work of Christ (Col. 2:11-23) and to seek to usurp the headship over the church that rightly belongs to Christ (Col. 2:8-10,18-19). Self-imposed worship (i.e. any religious act, gesture, symbol, or ceremony in worship) is expressly condemned by Christ and His apostles. It is in fact false worship which no Christian should tolerate in the house of God without a verbal protest to the leadership and separation from this false worship until there is biblical reformation in worship ("The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself" (The Larger Catechism, Question 109). - Greg Price, Foundation for Reformation: The Regulative Principle of Worship, free online at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/REFORMATION-RPW-GP.htm