Mount Barker Presbyterian Church

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Nonfiction

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness

by

Andrew Murray

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

This is essentially the only personal trait of the Lord Jesus that He ever draws significant attention to; and what is unfathomably amazing, He opens His heart to us, and invites us in.

South African born Rev Murray early makes the case that “pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil.” And so, “our one need is to study and know and trust the life that has been revealed in Christ as the life that is now ours, and waits for our consent to gain possession and mastery of our whole being.”

While the local book shop, op-shop, and Christian book shop, are brimming with self-help books that promise that “you are enough just the way you are”, and “you are the person you are looking for”, etc … humility, sanctification, and becoming more Christ-like are not aspects of personal development that are often valued in our prideful and selfish generation. Thankfully though, the Lord has blessed our age with many resources from times past, and we can look back over a century, to find that this book simply and succinctly points us back to the true beauty of humility.

Rev Murray’s challenge still stands:
Is it any wonder that the Christian life is so often feeble and fruitless, when the very root of the Christ life is neglected, is unknown? Is it any wonder that the joy of salvation is so
little felt, when that in which Christ found it and brings it, is so little sought?

“Until a humility which will rest in nothing less than the end and death of self; which gives up all the honour of men as Jesus did, to seek the honour that comes from God alone; which absolutely makes and counts itself nothing, that God may be all, that the Lord alone may be exalted—until such a humility be what we seek in Christ above our chief joy, and welcome at any price, there is very little hope of a religion that will conquer the world.”

This is an incredibly beneficial and easy read (of only 82 pages), though the affordable reprint from Merchant Books is sadly missing the Notes chapter at the back. I have created a pdf of the Notes chapter that you can print as a booklet using Adobe, and tuck into the back of the book.

Alternatively, you can read the whole book online for free thanks to Project Gutenberg.

Humility The Beauty of Holiness by Andrew Murray

Rediscovering the Holy Spirit: God’s Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life

by

Michael Horton

“Who exactly is the mysterious third person of the Trinity? Why does he seem to possess less reality or at least fewer descriptive features than the Father and the Son? Is this only a problem in popular culture and, by implication, in the churches that have helped to shape it? Or is the Spirit’s profile blurry in the broader faith and practice of mainstream Christianity?”

These are some of the questions the Dr Michael Horton answers in this careful work on Pneumatology (Doctrine of the Holy Spirit).

In our day and age, there seems to be several pitfalls when it comes to a biblical understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, from forgetting Him almost altogether to overemphasising a focus on Him, and at the extreme to the heresies of Arianism, modalism, and partialism. This book goes a long way to correcting many misunderstandings of the Trinity and would highly recommend this to all.

Please note: This is a good example of where we need to be careful of reacting too hastily due to our theological differences:

Michael Horton insight is valuable in this area of theology, however he is seen by many as sitting generally on the liberal end of the conservative church. While I appreciate this particular work, his radical two kingdoms (R2K) theology was on display a little, especially in the later chapters.

At the end of a video series (Christianity & Islam) on the White Horse Inn, Michael said:

“… it’s a good thing that we no longer live in an era where Christianity is a culture.”

I do not agree with that statement, but it does make me ponder what sincere beliefs I hold and defend, that are also sincerely wrong.

Rediscovering the Holy Spirit by Michael Horton

Confessions

by

Aurelius Augustine

When you became a Christian, did you begin to confess your sin? What about your past sins? Did you confess the sins of your childhood? Did you confess the sins you committed as a baby? Well, that’s exactly what St Augustine did, and not only secretly to God, but he wrote a whole 96,000 word, 13 book volume, confessing to the world his wrongs, from infancy to manhood.

In his writing, Augustine acknowledges that it was God Who had been working in his life, sovereignty predestinating his circumstances, and leading his steps.

Augustine contemplates God throughout his book, and states some interesting points and opinions as helpful pointers to the answers.

The Confessions is a wonderful, captivating volume, and I highly recommend anyone over 13 years of age, (children and adults alike), to open, and contemplate Augustine’s writing.

The Sovereignty of God

by

A W Pink

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that whatever takes place in time is but the outworking of that which He decreed in eternity.”

“Present day conditions”, writes the author, “call loudly for a new examination and new presentation of God’s omnipotence, God’s sufficiency, God’s sovereignty. From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that God still lives, that God still observes, that God still reigns. Faith is now in the crucible; it is being tested by fire, and there is no fixed and sufficient resting-place for the heart and mind but in the throne of God. What is needed now, as never before, is a full, positive, constructive setting forth of the Godhood of God.”

This is an outstanding book. It is a fairly short and easy read,  so great for older teenagers. (Don’t leave your teen years behind without reading it through once: it’s free online!) 

Arthur Pink was a deep thinker who met a variety of personal challenges and underwent a significant theological metamorphosis over the course of his 66 years, so if you detect a pessimistic eschatological allusion or two in this book, do not be surprised. Also, try to avoid the Banner of Truth edition: it’s missing 1/3 of the content.

Pink wrote this inspiring and thoughtful discussion on the Sovereignty of God with an approachable style, considering the application of this central doctrine to creation, salvation, reprobation, the human will, and prayer.

Make The Sovereignty of God your next read! 

Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God

by

Albert Mohler; Conrad Mbewe; Geoff Thomas; Gloria Furman; Ian Hamilton; Jeremy Walker; J I Packer; Joel R Beeke; John MacArthur; John Piper; John Snyder; Kevin DeYoung; Leland Ryken; Ligon Duncan; Mark Dever; Michael Reeves; Rosaria Butterfield; Sinclair Ferguson; Stephen Nichols; Steven Lawson

The Puritans differed sometimes on their understanding of a range of issues, yet their agreement and depth of seriousness across the vast expanses of truth and experience is striking. 

In our Christian Fellowship Group we are currently following the workbook and DVD teaching series: Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God to explore the lives and theology of a range of Puritan thinkers both in England and abroad. The Puritan approach to life is worth our attention, because they viewed all of human experience in light of Scripture. Henry Smith said,

“We should set the Word of God always before us like a rule, and believe nothing but that which it teacheth, love nothing but that which it prescribeth, hate nothing but that which it forbidden, do nothing but that which it commandeth.”

We believe that this is a great lesson for all of us!

Embracing this conviction, our church congregation regularly gathers every other Friday evening to sing hymns, and to explore the lives and theological perspectives of the Puritans, and we follow our study with fellowship, and the important matter of tea and cake.

As this is in a private members home, we invite you to join us by filling out the Contact Us page to get in touch with one of our church elders.

Puritan: All of Life to the Glory of God

Refuting Compromise

by

Jonathan Safarti

Sometimes, from where we sit in the Twenty-First Century, we might be tempted to imagine that some form of Evolutionism is a viable way to explain God’s mechanism for creating the world.

Thinking this way, though is a fad of the modern church. Far more intelligent men than ourselves throughout history have considered the plain reading of the Word of God to be the most reliable source of information on the origin of the universe, and as this book by Jonathan Sarfari shows, the physical evidence is in their favour.

This readable but scientific paperback offers insights into the historical interpretation of Genesis 1-11, as well as Astronomy, the Created Kinds, the Global Flood, and a solid of refutation ‘Biblical’ Old-Age Arguments. Compromise with Evolutionism may be a current fad of the church in the West, but it is not one that can last for long.

Refuting Compromise by Jonathan Safarti