After the Surrey Gardens Music Hall disaster, Spurgeon canceled many speaking opportunities and missed a Sunday in his pulpit. After days of suffering, he returned to church to worship on the Lord’s Day. On November 2nd of 1856, Spurgeon ascended the pulpit to lead his congregation in prayer.
Baptism is a visible gospel sermon that displays many facets of our salvation.
Jesus taught that in order to become great in the kingdom we must be willing to become the least. Pastors must model this in their own vocation and be willing to serve humbly, accepting the pain and trials that come with serving sheep that can bite.
Boston goes in an interesting direction to prove that there is a providence. After quoting very general Scriptural statements about God’s kingship and sovereignty (Psalm 103:19; Acts 17:28; Ephesians 1:11), he writes that providence can be seen in a “three-fold scripture-emblem.”
Our theology, whether good or bad, informs how we view the circumstances of our lives, the difficult and the joyous.
History matters because people matter. The life and theology of Thomas Boston continue to speak and resonate today.
Wicked shepherds aren’t a new thing. Those you see on television trying to scam the simple out of their money, they aren’t doing anything new. They may have a bigger reach and a louder microphone, but they are just the same as the shepherds condemned in our text.
The sacraments are God’s visible word. What our ears hear in the new covenant gospel promises, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper portray for our other senses, especially our eyes. We see God’s promises in a symbol form in the sacraments.
“Our subject is something that poses great danger to the unity and well-being of your families and of the church. Very often, it is excused and tolerated, even while it is destroying relationships.”
Keach interpreted the advent of the printing press and the advancements that followed as a means to pastor his flock and the broader church. Consequently, he became one of the most prolific publishing pastors in the seventeenth century.