- The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ... Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts; Origen, glancing perhaps at the discreditable imperial Natalitia, asserts (in Lev. Hom. viii in Migne, P.G., XII, 495) that in the Scriptures sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday ... The well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date. For the history of the solar cult, its position in the Roman Empire, and syncretism with Mithraism, see Cumont's epoch-making "Textes et Monuments" etc... Though Rome gives three Masses to the Nativity only, Ildefonsus, a Spanish bishop, in 845, alludes to a triple mass on Nativity, Easter, Whitsun, and Transfiguration (P.L., CVI, 888)." - From The Catholic Encyclopedia.
- "Christmas. This is the name of the day on which is wont to be celebrated the idolatrous Romish sacrifice of the mass, in honor of the birth of Christ. As nearly as can be now ascertained, the day was first set apart for this purpose by the authority of the bishop at Rome, toward the close of the fourth century, or early in the fifth. ... We do not acknowledge the authority of its appointment. If the religious observance of Christmas was divinely enjoined upon us, or if we had evidence in the writings of the apostles, that they observed it, or that they taught the churches which they established to do so, then we should feel ourselves obliged to observe the day. But as Protestants, we long ago abjured the authority of the Pope of Rome, and we still utterly repudiate his right to legislate for us, either over our consciences or our conduct. It was an essential principle of the Reformation, which we hold to have been sound, and the only principle which could have been safe, to reject every thing which appeared manifestly to be of human contrivance, and thus to carry the church back, both in its doctrines and its practices, to the incorrupt simplicity of the apostolic times." - "Christmas," from The Reformed Presbyterian Magazine, January, 1851.
A powerful and precise defense of the foundations of Reformation worship (and the regulative principle of worship) set in the context of Knox's refutation of the abominable idolatry of the Roman Catholic mass. The full printed version of this text is free here. Kevin Reed has perceptively pointed out, that because of Knox's concern for purity of worship "it is no wonder that the Scottish Reformation was the most thorough among any of the Protestant nations." For more see True and False Worship (John Knox), Introductory Essay by Kevin Reed.
- "The Romish Church, in opposition to the word of God, has a great multiplicity of annually returning sacred seasons. The 25th day of December is one of those seasons; at which time, originally, a heathen festival was held. 'This day was next baptized into a Romish mass for the birth of Christ.' The truth is, the day of Christ's nativity has been irrecoverably lost. Had this date been designed for special religious veneration, its date would have been preserved in the Holy Record, and a divine command given for its proper observance. The absence both of the date and command, makes it as clear to us as a sunbeam, that the natal day of our Saviour, even were it known, should not be honored by any religious observance whatsoever." - "Christmas," from The Associate Presbyterian Magazine, February, 1879.
- We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly,because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. - Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Dec. 24, 1871, emphases added.
- "And next in particular, concerning festival days findeth that in the explication of the first head of the first book of discipline it was thought good that the feasts of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, with the feasts of the Apostles, Martyrs, and Virgin Mary be utterly abolished because they are neither commanded nor warranted by Scripture and that such as observe them be punished by Civil Magistrates. Here utter abolition is craved and not reformation of abuses only and that because the observation of such feasts have no warrant from the word of God." - The Acts of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, December 10, Session 17, 1638, pp. 37-38 (on the Puritan Hard Drive)
- 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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- The Satanic Bible states, "The highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birthday. This is in direct contradiction to the holy of holy days of other religions, which deify a particular god who has been created in an anthropomorphic form of their own image, thereby showing that the ego is not really buried. The Satanist feels: ‘Why not really be honest and if you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as yourself.' Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year. After all, aren’t you happier about the fact that you were born than you are about the birth of someone you have never even met? Or for that matter, aside from religious holidays, why pay higher tribute to the birthday of a president or to a date in history than we do to the day we were brought into this greatest of all worlds? Despite the fact that some of us may not have been wanted, or at least were not particularly planned, we’re glad, even if no one else is, that we’re here! You should give yourself a pat on the back, buy yourself whatever you want, treat yourself like the king (or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp and ceremony as possible." - The Satanic Bible (Anton Szandor LaVey, (Air) Book of Lucifer – The Enlightenment, Avon Books, 1969, Ch XI, Religious Holidays, p. 96) regarding Birthdays
As usual SWRB does not necessarily agree with every point made in every resource or landing page to which we link -- we only agree with that which is in accord with the what God teaches in the Bible. - Christmas is coming! Quite so; but what is “Christmas?” Does not the very term itself denote its source — “Christ-mass.” Thus it is of Romish origin, brought over from Paganism. But, says someone, Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Saviour’s birth. It is? And who authorized such commemoration? Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples “remember” Him in His death, but there is not a word in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth. Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born? The Bible is silent thereon. Is it without reason that the only “birthday” commemorations mentioned in God’s Word are Pharaoh’s (Gen. 40:20) and Herod’s (Matt. 14:6)? Is this recorded “for our learning?” If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart? - Christmas (emphases added), By A.W. Pink
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- We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first,because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. - Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Dec. 24, 1871, emphases added
- When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, "Is this a law of the God of Jacob?" and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty. - Charles Spurgeon,Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4., emphases added
One of the best sermons you will ever hear about why keeping Christmas is a sin and detrimental to the state of the soul. - But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. - The Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 15:9, KJV)
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- Q. May the church appoint holy days, to remember Christ’s birth, death, temptation, ascension, &c.? -– A. No; as God hath abolished the Jewish holy days of his own appointment, so he hath given no warrant to the church to appoint any: but hath commanded us to labour six days, except when Providence calls us to humiliation or thanksgiving; and expressly forbids us to observe holy days of men’s appointment, Col. 2:16; Gal. 4:10,11. Q. What is the difference between a fast day and a holy day? –- A. The day of a fast is changeable, and esteemed no better in itself than another day; but a holy day is fixed to a certain time of the week, year, or moon, and reckoned better in itself.” - John Brown of Haddington, An Essay Towards an Easy, Plain, Practical, and Extensive Explication of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism (1758), on the Puritan Hard Drive
- For let your honours be assuredly persuaded, that where idolatry is maintained or permitted (where it may be suppressed), that there shall God's wrath reign, not only upon the blind and obstinate idolater, but also upon the negligent sufferers [of the same]; especially if God has armed their hands with power to suppress such abomination. By idolatry, we understand the Mass, invocation of saints, adoration of images, and the keeping and retaining of the same; and, finally, all honouring of God not contained in his holy word. ... By the contrary doctrine we understand whatsoever men by laws, councils, or constitutions, have imposed upon the consciences of men, without the expressed commandment of God’s word, such as be the vows to chastity, forswearing of marriage, binding of men and women to several and disguised apparels, to the superstitious observation of fasting days, difference of meat for conscience sake, prayer for the dead, and keeping of holy days of certain Saints commanded by man, such as be all those that the Papists have invented, as the feasts (as they term them) of the Apostles, Martyrs, Virgins, of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Purification, and other fond feasts of our Lady: which things because in God’s Scriptures they neither have commandment nor assurance, we judge them utterly to be abolished from this Realm: affirming farther that the obstinate maintainers and teachers of such abominations ought not to escape the punishment of the civil Magistrate. - The First Book of Discipline (1560), on the Puritan Hard Drive
- Q. Is there any other day holy besides this day (i.e., the Lord’s day)? A. No day but this is holy by institution of the Lord; yet days of humiliation and thanksgiving may be lawfully set apart by men on a call of providence; but popish holidays (like Christ-Mass or Christmas, Michaelmas, Easter, Etc. - Ed.) are not warrantable, nor to be observed; Gal. 4:10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. - John Flavel, on the Puritan Hard Drive, This quotation is from: An Exposition of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism (1692).
- Question 1. — Is there any day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord’s day? Answer. — No. Rev. 1:10. That the first day of the week, or Lord’s day, is the only day to be kept under the Gospel appears: 1.) Because there is an implicit command, concerning the observation of the Lord’s day, 1 Cor. 16:2. From which place, we may reason thus; that not the seventh but the first day, is the chief solemn day for worship after Christ’s resurrection. 2.) Because as the seventh day was instituted in remembrance of the works of creation, Ex. 20:11, so the first day, after the work of redemption was finished, succeeded as most convenient, for collating and comparing both mercies together, Ezek. 43:27. 3.) Because Christ, on the first day of the week, appeared most frequently to his disciples, and blessed it with his presence, Matt. 28:9; Acts 1:3; John 20:19, 26. 4.) Because on that day the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles. And on the same day Peter baptized three thousand, Acts 2:1-4, 41. 5.) Because the church in the time of the apostles, did observe this first day of the week, as holy, Acts 20:7.- Directory For The Publick Worship Of God Pt. 17 - An Appendix: Touching Days And Places For Publick Worship, on the Puritan Hard Drive
- As touching the judgment of divines, we say: 1. Many divines disallow of festival days, and with the church, were free of them. For the Belgic churches, in their synod anno 1578, wished that the six days might be wrought upon, and that the Lord’s day alone might be celebrated. And Luther in his book, de Bonis Operibus [Concerning Good Works], wished that there were no feast-days among Christians but the Lord’s day. This wish of theirs declares plainly that they allowed of no holiday except the Lord’s day; yet Bishop Lindsey must make a fashion of saying something for an answer. This wish (he says) Luther and the Belgic churches conceived, out of their miscontent at the number, corruptions, and superstitions of the festival days, beside the Lord’s day, as ye do. ANSWER (1.) Their wish imports a simple and absolute disliking of all festival days besides the Lord’s day, and not of their number and corruptions only. (2.) It is well that he acknowledges both them and us to have reason of miscontentment at holidays from their corruptions and superstitions. The old Waldenses also, whose doctrine was restored and propagated by John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, after Wycliffe, and that with the congratulation of the church of Constantinople, held that they were to rest from labor upon no day but upon the Lord’s day, whereby it appears that holidays have had adversaries before us. - George Gillespie, on the Puritan Hard Drive
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God's Will Vs. Man's Will In Worship, Romanism and Arminianism In Worship Are Heresy (The Plausibility Of Will Worship To Worldly Wisdom, Colossians 2:23, the Regulative Principle Of Worship [RPW], Etc.), By Jim Dodson, John Calvin, Greg Price, Westminster Divines, Dr. Steven Dilday, John Owen, Kevin Reed, John Flavel, Thomas Watson, William Perkins and Others (Free Reformed MP3s, Videos, Books, Etc.) - "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 https://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/NRC_ch00.htm.
These four messages make up some of the best teaching you will ever hear on the second commandment, Puritan and Reformed worship, and the regulative principle of worship.
- 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, CompleteWorks, 1867, p. 444, as cited in Iain Murray's The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy, p. 84). Thomas Brooks Works are also on the Puritan Hard Drive
- 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, on the Puritan Hard Drive
- 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.
- 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
- 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, on the Puritan Hard Drive
- 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
- 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, on the 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 childshall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. - Isaiah 65:20, KJV
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Puritan Postmillennialism, Reformation Eschatology (Historicism), and the Restoration Prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, by Pastor Jim Dodson (23 Free SWRB MP3s, Defends Classic Reformation Historicism and Postmillennialism, With Many Comments On Classic Reformation Worship, the Millennium, Christ's Witnesses, Martyr-Like Faithfulness, and Much More! )
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- 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
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- "Besides, he [Onan] not only defrauded his brother of the right due him, but also preferred his semen to putrify the ground, rather than beget a son in his brother's name. Verse 10: The Jews quite immodestly gabble concerning this thing. It will suffice for me briefly to have touched upon this as much as modesty in speaking permits. The voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between man and woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall to the ground is doubly monstrous. For this is to extinguish the hope of the race and to kill before he is born -- the hoped for offspring. This impiety is especially condemned, now by the Spirit through Moses' mouth, that Onan, as it were, by a violent abortion, no less cruelly than filthily cast upon the ground the offspring of his brother, torn from the maternal womb. Besides, in this way he tried, as far as he was able, to wipe out a part of the human race. If any woman ejects a foetus from her womb by drugs, it is reckoned a crime incapable of expiation and deservedly Onan incurred upon himself the same kind of punishment, infecting the earth with his semen, in order that Tamar might not conceive a future human being as an inhabitant of the earth."
In addition to many arguments against the ungodly practice of birth control, the book, The Bible and Birth Control by Charles Provan, also contains about 35 pages of historic testimony on this point by Martin Luther, A.W. Pink, the Synod of Dordt, the Westminster Annotations, Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, Cotton Mather, Trapp, Usher, Gill, Candlish and many more! A number of these books are available on the Puritan Hard Drive
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Completely refutes Amillennial from Scripture, while defending Biblical Postmillennialism. - 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
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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. - FOUNDATION FOR REFORMATION: THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP, by Greg Price (Free Online Book About Sola Scriptura and the Regulative Principle of Worship)
- John Calvin wrote, "If it be asked, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing 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, viz., a knowledge first, of the right way to worship God; and secondly of the source from which salvation is to be sought. When these are kept out of view, though we may glory in the name of Christians, our profession is empty and vain." - Cited in, Carlos Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship, p. 198, citing John Calvin's great book, On the Necessity of Reforming the Church (FREE ONLINE)
Why Most Worship Is Actually Idolatry, Which God Hates, According To the Bible (the Second Commandment Or The Regulative Principle Of Worship, RPW) By John Calvin, Pastor Jim Dodson, John Calvin, , the Westminster Assembly, Dr. Steven Dilday, John Owen, W.J. Mencarow, Jonathan Edwards, Kevin Reed, Thomas Watson, Greg Price and Others (Free MP3s, Videos, Etc.) What's Wrong With Worship In Most Churches? -- False Worship (Violations Of the Second Commandment Or the Regulative Principle of Worship) and Well Intentioned Idolatry Brings God's Wrath and Even Death, by Jim Dodson, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Greg Price, John Calvin, Kevin Reed, David Steele, William J. Mencarow, John Flavel, Dr. Steven Dilday, John Girardeau, John McNaugher and Others (Free MP3s, Videos, Books, Kindle, Etc.) - John Calvin on the Regulative Principle of Worship: "...which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart." "...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, Commentary on Jeremiah 7:31
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"Those prayers God likes best come seething hot from the heart." - Thomas Watson (on the Puritan Hard Drive)
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An amazing series of messages focusing on the sovereignty of God in the Bible, by the man some consider the Spurgeon of our generation. - "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
- 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)
Calvinism In the Early Church Fathers: Ignatius (Student of the Apostle John), Cyprian, Augustine, et al. (Free MP3s & More, By William Cunningham, Dr. Matthew McMahon, W.G.T. Shedd, Dr. Curt Daniel, John Calvin, Dr. Kenneth Talbot, Jerome Zanchius, et al. - "The idea of millions of years came from the belief that the fossil record was built up over a long time. As soon as people allow for millions of years, they allow for the fossil record to be millions of years old. This creates an insurmountable problem regarding the gospel. The fossil record consists of the death of billions of creatures. In fact, it is a record of death, disease, suffering, cruelty, and brutality. It is a very ugly record. The Bible is adamant though, that death, disease, and suffering came into the world as a result of sin. God instituted death and bloodshed because of sin so man could be redeemed. As soon as Christians allow for death, suffering, and disease before sin, then the whole foundations of the message of the Cross and the Atonement have been destroyed. The doctrine of original sin, then, is totally undermined. If there were death, disease, and suffering before Adam rebelled -- then what did sin do to the world? What does Paul mean in Romans 8 when he says the whole of creation groans in pain because of the Curse? How can all things be restored in the future to no more death and suffering, unless the beginning was also free of death and suffering? The whole message of the gospel falls apart if one allows millions of years for the creation of the world." - The Necessity for Believing in Six Literal Days by Ken Ham. Also hear Six Day Creation and The Eisegesis Problem by Ken Ham (Free MP3) and "The Doctrine Of Original Sin (26 Free MP3s) by Jonathan Edwards.
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Postmillennialism (Free Reformation MP3s, Puritan Books and Reformed Quotes), by Jonathan Edwards, John Murray, Samuel Rutherford, Dr. Steven Dilday, Iain Murray, Thomas Brooks, Greg Price, Pastor Jim Dodson, Dr. F.N. Lee, David Silversides and Others
Puritan and Reformed Quotes on Hope, Biblical Eschatology (Postmillennialism and Historicism), Christ's Victory Over All, Etc., By William Symington, Thomas Brooks, John Murray, Iain Murray, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, John Flavel, John Calvin, Andrew Fuller, Greg Price, Kevin Reed, Charles Spurgeon -- With Many Free Puritan and Reformed Resources (MP3s, Books, Videos)
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