Burk Parsons

According to tradition, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, captured the English throne. As a result, Edgar the Atheling of England was unable to secure his rightful claim to the English crown and thus decided to return to Hungary, where he had lived previously with his exiled father. Joined by his sister, Margaret, Edward set sail from England for the continent. However, a storm forced their ship north to the rocky shores of Scotland. The king of Scotland, Malcolm III (d. 1093), extended hospitality to the English family and, in time, took Edward’s sister, Margaret, to be his wife. While Edgar continued his struggle for the English throne, Margaret dedicated herself to her husband and to the people of Scotland.

     Queen Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045–1093) is barely mentioned in the annals of church history. Nevertheless, she was used of God mightily in eleventh-century Scotland. While the first crusade raged, while schism rent the church in the East, and while Anselm ministered in her homeland of England, Margaret was on her knees praying earnestly for her husband, the king of Scotland. Legend has it that as a new queen, Margaret would quietly slip out at night to a nearby cavern to pray for her husband’s conversion to Christ. At first, she was suspected of treason in plotting against her husband’s kingdom; however, she was vindicated in time as King Malcolm was converted and transformed, which, in turn, brought about transformation of his royal court and, ultimately, the nation of Scotland.      Margaret was a pious woman whom God set forth as an example of Christian character, holiness, and worship. The ladies of her court and many ladies of Scotland esteemed her highly and imitated her example of humility, prayer, and service. Margaret was a woman of the Word who immersed herself in the Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ. (Incidentally, her book of the Gospels remains one of England’s great treasures to this day, as it stands on display at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.) In addition to her own eight children, she adopted and raised nine orphans. She had a passion for the church, as she personally sponsored the construction and ministries of countless new churches and the revitalization of dilapidated churches. By her own consistent pattern of Lord’s Day worship and rest, the king and court eventually followed suit, and Sunday once again became a day of worship, rest, and service. Margaret was a reformer before the Reformation and an example to us all as she lived justly, loved kindness, and walked humbly before the face of God.

Burk Parsons is editor of Tabletalk magazine and serves as copastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in

Sanford, Fla.                                                                      Taken from Tabletalk Magazine 01 May 2011

© Tabletalk magazine. Used with permission.

Romans 16:17–20 “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” v.17

In Romans 16:1–16, Paul sends greetings to twenty-six members of the church at Rome by name, and mentions some others as well. Evidently there were many people in this church that Paul knew from the past. One couple, Priscilla and Aquila (16:3) had been exiled from Rome a few years earlier and had helped Paul during his second missionary journey (Acts 18); now, clearly the ban on Jews had been lifted in Rome and they had returned—with the Gospel.

This catalogue of people is not only an interesting picture of life in the early church, it also serves to illustrate the unity of believers. Paul climaxes the list by calling on them to express their unity by greeting each other “with a holy kiss,” and states that “all the churches of Christ send greetings” (verse 16).

After this marvellous expression of spiritual unity in the body of Christ, Paul immediately turns to the negative side of the matter, and urges them to put out of the assembly those who reject the apostolic doctrine and thereby destroy unity in the truth. Paul does not mean that every time someone protests an action of the church, or disagrees over a point of doctrine, he is to be silenced with the accusation of divisiveness. But Paul does mean that those who cause divisions are those who are attacking the fundamentals of the faith, and that such people must be dealt with.

He goes on to describe such divisive people. They “are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.” In other words, they are ambitious. Moreover, “by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (verse 18). So, for the protection of the weaker brethren and of new believers, such people must be dealt with quickly and decisively. Paul reminds them that “everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you.” At the same time he wants them to realize that trouble does come in the church, and they have to deal properly with it: “But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (verse 19). The leaders of the church are shepherds, and they must protect the sheep from wolves.

Coram Deo – before God

When joining a church, we often vow to preserve its peace and purity. Unity and peace are difficult to maintain since people are instinctively critical. Decide beforehand that when strife or error comes in your church, your concern will be the unity and preservation of the church, tempered by the need for purity and truth.

Passages for Further Study

1 Corinthians 5:9–11   2 Thessalonians 3:6–14   1 Timothy 6:3–5   2 John

Devotional taken from Ligonier Ministries website  Copyright by Ligonier Ministries http://www.ligonier.org). Used with permission.

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”                                                        Ephesians 2:19-20

Nicea and Constantinople, two cities in Asia Minor, hosted church councils in AD 325 and 381, respectively, in order to deal with several christological heresies. As part of their work, they also identified four important marks of the church: unity, holiness, catholicity, and Apostolicity. Today, we will examine what it means that the church is Apostolic.

Over time in the early church, the concept of Apostolic succession became very important. Often, we think of Apostolic succession as referring primarily to the idea that a bishop was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, all the way back to the Apostles, who were the first to ordain any bishop. According to this view, one identifies the church primarily by finding the validly ordained bishop. That concept of Apostolic succession has been important in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and even some Protestant traditions such as Anglicanism. We lack the space to analyse the concept biblically; we will just say that most of the Reformed tradition has rejected this concept of Apostolic succession because it is not found clearly in Scripture. That does not mean that the Reformed lack an understanding of Apostolic succession. For the Reformed tradition, it is succession of true doctrine that has primacy of place. Being able to trace a lineage of validly ordained persons, while not entirely insignificant, is secondary. In other words, you identify the church by its fidelity to Apostolic doctrine. Though the visible bishop was important, the early church likewise saw doctrinal succession as primary. Otherwise, the church would not have ejected validly ordained bishops who taught heresy, such as Nestorious. But what is most important about making doctrine primary is that Scripture commends this view of Apostolic succession. One of Paul’s concerns in the final epistle he wrote before he died was that people would entrust his doctrine—the Apostolic gospel—to men after him (1 Tim. 2:1-2). In today’s passage, he tells us that the church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:19-20). If Apostolic doctrine is not the foundation of a given church, that church has ceased to be a church.

How do we find the Apostolic church? We look for the church that is true to what the Apostles taught, the church that proclaims such doctrines as the Trinity, penal substitutionary atonement, and justification by faith alone. A church that maintains such doctrines can truly be called the Apostolic church. It is faithful to the Apostles’ teachings and purposes.

Coram Deo – before God

Because God Himself is truth (John 15:26), He prizes the truth of the gospel. The primary defining mark of a true church is that it is faithful to Apostolic doctrine. If we do not prize the Apostolic and prophetic teaching of the Old and New Testaments, our churches will cease to be Apostolic. Let us guard the faith once delivered to the saints and ordain only those men who will do the same.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 145:18     Galatians 1:8-9           James 1:18         Jude 3

Devotional taken from Ligonier Ministries website  Copyright by Ligonier Ministries http://www.ligonier.org). Used with permission

“You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:19–20).

One of the most important debates during the Protestant Reformation concerned the doctrine of revelation. Medieval Roman Catholicism taught that the canon of Scripture — the collection of books that make up the Holy Bible — derives its authority from the Catholic Church. In other words,

Rome believed then (and today) that Scripture is Scripture because the Catholic Church says so, ultimately placing the church above Scripture in its authority.

The Protestant Reformers rejected this view of canon as foreign both to the teaching of Scripture and the historical process by which the sixty-six books of the old and New Testament were collected into one canon. It is the teaching and events recorded in sacred Scripture that birthed the Christian church, so the Bible stands over church tradition. Furthermore, the process of receiving the canon in the first centuries of the church testifies that the earliest church understood the written Word of God to have authority over the church of God. In the discussions between church fathers about the canon’s extent, leaders did not speak of “declaring” certain books to be inspired of the Holy Spirit; rather, they used the Latin word recipimus or “we receive.” The former way of speaking is more active, as if the church itself finally determines which writings belong in the canon and which do not. But in using “we receive,” the church spoke passively — God had spoken and the church was simply to recognize His voice, not to will certain writings into the canon by at.

That the early church recognized the final authority of Scripture in its discussions about the extent of the canon is also seen in the importance they placed on apostolic authorship (such as the letters of Paul) or apostolic endorsement (such as Mark, which summarizes the preaching of Peter). Other writings like the Shepherd of Hermas, while useful for edification and written by a faithful Christian, were finally excluded because they had no direct link to an apostle. The church allowed no writing that it knew had a direct apostolic link to fall by the wayside, knowing its foundation to be the apostolic and prophetic word, and to lose part of this would be to miss the authoritative voice of God.

The temptation to put the church’s authority over the authority of Scripture can even be found among Protestants. Liberal denominations may elevate the findings of study committees on sexuality and other issues over what the Bible teaches. Fundamentalists may elevate church rules against drinking or dancing above Scripture’s teaching. Some of us may treat church confessions as if they were of greater authority than the Word. Let us strive to give Scripture its due.

Passages for Further Study

Isaiah 66:1–2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Devotional taken from Ligonier Ministries website  

Copyright by Ligonier Ministries http://www.ligonier.org). Used with permission.

Sinclair Ferguson     

Calvinistic theology has always placed great emphasis on biblical and doctrinal knowledge, and rightly so. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). This transformation is a prerequisite for our worship, since it is by the Spirit’s illumination of our minds through Scripture that we gain understanding of God and His ways. But Calvinism—at least in its consistent forms—has never been merely cerebral. The history of Reformed Christianity is also the story of the highest order of spiritual experience. Calvinistic doctrine expressed in God-exalting words of praise leads to a distinctive Christian experience. The melody that is composed intellectually in Calvinistic theology and sung enthusiastically in Reformed worship also can be heard in the lifestyle and experience of Reformed Christians.

The seriousness of the Reformed world and life view means that, even when the melody is played in a minor key, it remains a melody. Indeed, to use a metaphor of Calvin, as this melody is played in the church, it becomes a glorious symphony blending the following motifs:

• Trust in the sovereignty of God.
• The experience of the power of God’s grace to save hopeless and helpless sinners.
• An overwhelming sense of being loved by a Saviour who has died specifically and successfully for one’s sins.
• The discovery of a grace that has set one free to trust, serve, and love Christ while yet not destroying one’s will.
• The quiet confidence and poise engendered by knowing that God has pledged Himself to persevere with His people “till all the ransomed church of God is saved to sin no more.” These motifs all conspire to give God alone the glory.

The essence of the Calvinistic life is living in such a way as to glorify God. This, after all, is the burden of the answer to the opening question of the Shorter Catechism written by the Westminster Assembly of Divines: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” Here is the ultimate surprise in Calvinism for many people: the glory of God and the enjoyment of man are not antithetical, but are correlated in the purposes of God. The view that God’s glory diminishes man and robs him of pleasure is, in the light (or should one say “darkness”?) of Genesis 3, the lie about God that was exchanged for the truth (Romans 1:25). It is satanic theology that plays God against man.

In sharp contrast, biblical theology that exalts God in His sovereign grace and glory opens the door for man to enter into a quite different order of reality. Here is offered the experience of, and delight in, the rich pleasures of restoration to fellowship with God, transformation into the likeness of Christ, and anticipation of being with Christ where He is in order to see Him in His glory (John 17:24).

Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He previously served as senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C.

Sinclair Ferguson is an acquaintance of Trevor Marshall and a former lecturer of Kevin Gladding, who, as well as benefiting from his teaching, does a passable impersonation of his Scots accent.

This excerpt is adapted from Dr. Ferguson’s contribution to Living for God’s Glory: 

An Introduction to Calvinism by Joel Beeke and published 06 September 2019 Copyright by Ligonier Ministries http://www.ligonier.org). Used with permission.