Ten Rules Against Satan's Devices

At the end of 'Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices', Thomas Brooks has these 10 rules or helps.  The whole book is a Puritan gold mine!

How are we to avoid being taken by Satan's devices?

1. Be men of the word. ‘Walk by rule.’ Follow up Rev 3 v 10.

2. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4 v 27-30.  Don’t give the devil a foothold, do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

3. Plead for more heavenly wisdom

‘It is not the most knowing Christians, but the most wise Christians, that sees, avoids, and escapes Satan’s snares.’

‘The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell underneath.’ Prov 15 v 24

4. Take a zero tolerance to sin. ‘He that will play with Satan’s bait will quickly be taken by Satan’s hook.’

‘The way to fight any sin is to fight all sin.’

‘The only way to fight big sins is to fight little sins.’

5. Be filled with the Spirit

We cannot fight sin without the Holy Spirit of light and power.

Eph 5 v 18 commands us to be ‘filled with the Spirit.’

6. Be humble

‘The devil hath least power to fasten a temptation on him that is most humble.

‘Humility keeps the soul free from many darts of Satan’s casting, and snares of his spreading; as the low shrubs are free from many violent gusts and blasts of the wind, which shake and render the taller trees.’

7. Keep a strong, close and constant watch

‘But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.’

8. Keep close communion with God

'The closer we are in union and communion, the devil struggles to get a foot hold.'

'Job keeps communion with God and defeats Satan on the dunghill, Adam loses communion with God and falls inn paradise.'

9. Do not engage Satan in your own strength but in the power of Jesus Christ.

Peter assures Jesus that he will never deny Christ in Matt 26 v 35.

‘When the snare is spread look to up to Jesus Christ, who is lifted up in the gospel as the brazen serpent was in the wilderness.’

10. Remain constant in prayer.

‘Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation’ Matt 26 v 41

‘Prayer is a shelter to the soul, a sacrifice to God and a scourge to the devil.’

We need to be in much in prayer.

'Greater is he that is in you that is in the world.' 1 John 4 v 4

Reaching Men for Christ

This is an article that first appeared in Christianity Today on 27th Oct 2025 by Joe Barnard, Minister of Holyrood Evangelical Church and Executive Director of Cross Training Ministries.  

When was the last time that there were more men interested in Christianity than women? Not in the early church; not in the medieval church; not in the 18th century revivals; certainly not in the 20th century. The real question is whether this has even happened before. In all my travels, from Egypt to Argentina, I’ve always noted the same thing in churches: There are more women than men. The current rise in religious interest among men may not be unique, but it is anomalous. 

We should infer something from this: God is doing something extraordinary at the moment. We should also feel compelled to act. Unusual times mean unusual opportunities.

But before jump-starting new initiatives, a problem to be confronted. The evangelical church in most cases is currently unprepared to be fishers of men. There are five symptoms of this.

First, evangelical churches are out of fashion. For decades, we’ve been moving toward informality, egalitarianism, and anything dubbed as “contemporary”. This is the opposite direction that young men are traveling. They hunger for formality, hierarchy, and the past. This explains why so many searching young men are by-passing the doors of Baptists and Presbyterians for Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. 

Second, our men’s material is ineffective. Most books and courses produced for Christian men should have the subtitle “for dummies” attached to them. We have been acting as if all men are cut from the same cloth as Homer Simpson. But this isn’t the case for men who are drinking the milk of Jordan Peterson, Douglas Murray, and Tom Holland. They may not be academics, but they are thinkers. One of the few benefits of the digital age has been the way in which podcasts have elevated the intellectual appetites of Millennial and Gen Z men.

Third, we’re embarrassed to acknowledge maleness. This is a bigger problem in the UK than the US. For decades, we’ve been trying to erase as many of the distinctives of each sex as possible. This has left us unable, even unwilling, to address men in particular. We feel the same discomfort when someone speaks directly to men that we feel when someone drops a racist comment. Thus, to avoid awkwardness, we choose silence. 

Fourth, the church has become more emasculated than it realises. A typical evangelical worship service provides ample evidence. A lot of men no more want to sing dewy-eyed love anthems than they want to watch rom-coms. Likewise, they get tired of each and every sermon being a form of pop psychology. Men want truth; they want to be reasoned with; they want a king that is worthy of self-sacrifice. Not enough evangelical churches provide this.  

Finally, men’s ministry is typically the weakest part of a church’s discipleship ministry. Most churches invest heavily in children and youth work. Women are remarkable for their spontaneous abilities to gather and organise. Men? Not so. Left to themselves they roll apart like marbles on the floor. Sadly, most churches do little to gather them.

So, the problem: On the one hand, there is a dramatic rise of religious interest among men on both sides of the Atlantic; on the other, evangelical churches are negligently unfit to engage with these men. 

How can this change? After three years of reflection and finally writing a book, here are my suggestions for making disciples of religiously curious men.

First, the church needs to help men escape the spiritual black hole that is modernity. Men today feel as if they are living in a cultural wasteland. They are not delusional. All of the great Christian cultural critics of the last three generations have more or less said so much. Modernity is like a cancer eating itself up from the inside. A lot of guys are feeling the symptoms of this. They are fed up with materialism, individualism, consumerism, egalitarianism, liberalism, digitalism, capitalism, and progressivism. They want something better to make sense of their lives and to fill their souls with purpose. 

The opportunity here for Christians should be obvious. The same gospel that offered an exit out of paganism also offers an exit out of modernism. The church needs to help men find this door. 

Second, we need to brandish the credentials of tradition. For years, evangelicals have been trying to use the authority of science and psychology to validate the truth claims of the Bible. We have been assiduous in our attempts to demonstrate that the gospel is neither anti-science nor emotionally harmful. 

We need now to realise that a lot of young men are not that bothered by evolution and not that interested in psychology. Their interest is in tradition. They want to dig up the floorboards of the past to figure out what was underneath it. 

Christians don’t need to be intimidated or annoyed by this. We can comfortably talk about Aristotle and Aquinas, Plato and Paul, Cicero and Calvin. The roots of our faith go as far back as Abraham - and beyond. We need to get better at exhibiting the richness of this tradition in order to attract more men into our evangelical churches.

Third, we need to remove both the intellectual and non-intellectual barriers to faith. Men don’t have one type of religious need; they have many. Some need to be prompted to think; others need to be stung by truth; others need their imaginations baptised; others need to be liberated from their isolation. Kierkegaard famously spoke of three stages of life: the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious. Modern men need to be brought through a similar circuit of experiences. 

How will this happen? It’s time for men’s ministries to regear themselves to make tools more suited for modern men. Not every man wants to talk about father wounds around a campfire. A growing number want to grapple with Stoicism or dismantle what Paul Kingsnorth calls “the Machine”.

Fourth, we need confidence in the durability and relevance of the gospel. The same power of God unto salvation in Paul’s day is the power of God unto salvation today. We must be careful in our cultural apologetics not to become too clever. It’s not the wisdom of the world that converts sinners; it’s the foolishness of the cross. This never changes.

Fifth, we need to tell men to go to church. So many guys are listening to podcasts and reading books in isolation. Inevitably, this means they are filtering their religious interests through a consumerist mindset. They want God on demand, on their terms, at their convenience. This is not the path of genuine discipleship. If guys want to find truth, they need to go where Truth discloses Himself. That’s not YouTube, Spotify, or X. It’s church. The message of Jesus cannot be abstracted from the people of Jesus. When it comes to Christianity, there is no Deliveroo option. To meet with Jesus, we must be willing to take a seat at His table. 

For more on reaching modern men, Joe’s new book, The Road Back to God: Faith for Men Dissatisfied by the Modern World (Christian Focus Publications) 

What is Meditation?

This is an article by my friend Joe Barnard from Holyrood Evangelical Church, Edinburgh and Executive Director of Cross Training Ministries.  We highly recommend that you get a copy of 'The Saints Everlasting Rest' by Richard Baxter.  This updated and abridged version from Crossway is an absolute gem.  Cross Training are doing a podcast series on part of Baxter's book.  You can listen to our podcast series here.  

Those who know me know that I talk a lot about meditation. This is not because I’m new age or trendy. Quite the opposite. I’m a proponent of meditation because, like JC Ryle, I stick to “the old paths”. Meditation is the porridge of the Christian life. It’s a tried and true meal that has sustained the faith, peace, and joy of Christians over many, many generations. 

Now, I like to rehearse the same ideas often because, if you’re like me, it takes more than one lesson to drive home a point. With this in mind, what I want to do here is to ask a question, “What is meditation?” The term confuses a lot of Christians, especially evangelicals. Somehow we manage to get through a lot of years, even decades, in churches without having a clear idea of what Christian meditation is. This is sad. After all, we can’t put into practice what we don’t understand. 

Here is a somewhat clunky definition of meditation. I’ve adapted it from the great Puritan, Richard Baxter. Meditation is the solemn acting of all the powers of the soul in the consideration of dimensions of reality that are accessible to faith, not sight. Wow. That’s a mouthful! Let’s break it down.

First, meditation involves all the powers of the soul. What this means is that meditation is not merely an act of the intellect. In addition, it involves the will, the affections, memory, even imagination. In the same way that an exercise like rowing activates all the major muscle groups of the body, so meditation activates every tissue and fibre of the soul. Think about what is required to meditate, for example, on the ascended glory of Christ? The memory must recall familiar truths and present them to the intellect; the intellect must then consider the truth in all of its particularity until goodness and beauty begin to shine; the will must subsequently delight in the excellence of Christ and submit to his majesty; and finally, the affections of delight, joy, and hope must cling to Christ - not as a mere object of thought - but as an object of worship. Baxter says, “Meditation turns truths received and remembered into warm affection, firm resolution, and holy conversation”. It’s not just a part of the soul engaged in the process, but all of it. 

Second, meditation is a solemn act. If spiritual reality was trivial, then our attitude when thinking about it could be casual and frivolous. There is no need to be soberminded when reflecting on a favourite TV show or upcoming holiday. But when the subject matter to be contemplated is of the order of heaven, holiness, resurrection, lordship, and Pure Spirit, then a different mindset is needed. This is especially the case when the truths being contemplated are not static, but dynamic - indeed living! Think of the attitude of Queen Esther as she awaited the golden scepter being extended before approaching the Great King.  If such reverence was required for drawing near to earthly majesty, what must be the condition of a heart before lifting its eyes to divine glory? Or reflect on what it would have been like to be invited into the company of Peter, James, and John as they ascended the Mount of Transfiguration? Walking up the hill would not have been an opportune time for chit chat and banter. The atmosphere would have been heavy as they approached the crest of revelation.  

Third, meditation is considering the deepest and most ravishing dimensions of reality. Baxter says, “That which will make us most happy when we possess it, will make us most joyful when we meditate upon it”. Stop and think about this statement and you will find it to be true. There are all kinds of things we can contemplate. These range from good health, to a nice meal, to seeing an old friend. It is the degree of joy experienced when enjoying a good that determines the degree of joy experienced when meditating on a good. This explains why meditating on spiritual things brings the greatest delights and comforts to a Christian. What can compare to the prospects of seeing Christ, of being resurrected, of attending the wedding supper of the Lamb, or of being eternally invigorated in the light of divine holiness? These are not just “goods”. They are the summum bonum. They encompass what we mean by “eternal life”. 

The application should be plain. Meditation is putting the heart in contact with dimensions of reality that are real though unseen. And the more we invest in the practice of meditation, the more excited we will become about “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us (I Pet. 1:4).

Do you want more joy, peace, and hope? Then meditate. 

Now, I don’t need to belabor the point that much of such blessedness is inaccessible in our present condition. One hymnwriter says, “Jesus, these eyes have never seen/that radiant form of thine”. So it is in the vale of years. However, what we cannot yet enjoy experientially, we can enjoy meditatively. By faith, we are able to go beyond our senses and delight in truths that are real even if they are transcendent. This is the joy of meditation. Meditation is not speculation; it is anticipation. To meditate is like picking up a book about a foreign land and looking intently at the photographs and reading the pages. The photographs and narrative cannot physically change our location so that we can hear the noise of distant streets and taste the foods of unexplored lands. But, the more the book is studied, the more the heart will be thrilled by anticipation. What cannot yet be touched and tasted can indeed be imagined. 

“When death these mortal eyes shall seal,

And still this throbbing heart,

The rending veil shall thee reveal,

All Glorious as thou art.”

Seven Characteristics of False Teachers by Thomas Brooks

'The prophets make my people to err.' Mic 3 v 5

In his book 'Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices' Thomas Brooks gives us so many helpful remedies to use in the Christian life as we battle against sin.  The Puritans were masterful surgeons of the soul and if you are new to the Puritans, please buy a Puritan paperback and try and read a page or two per day and you will see your Christian life being deepened and enriched.  

At the end of his book he has a short section on the seven characteristics of false teachers which seem so relevant today.  They need very little introduction or explanation.

1. False teachers are men pleasers.

'Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things; speak to us smooth things: prophesy deceits.' Isa 30 v 10.

'False teachers are hell's greatest enrichers.  Not bitter, but flattering words do all the mischief, said Valerian, the Roman emperor.  Such smooth teachers are sweet soul-poisoners.' Thomas Brooks

2. False teachers are notable in casting dirt, scorn and reproach upon the person, names and credits of Christ's most faithful ambassadors.  

• Think of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Num 16 v 3
• Ahab's false prophets turning on Micaiah (1 Kings 22 v 10-26)
• How the false teachers persecuted Paul (2 Cor 10 v 10)

'Oh! the dirt, the filth, the scorn that is thrown upon those of whom the world is not worthy.' Thomas Brooks

3. False teachers are venters of the devices and visions of their own heads and hearts.

'Then the Lord said unto me. The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceiit of their heart.' Jer14 v 14.

'Are there not multitudes in this nation whose visions are but golden delusions, lying vanities, brain sick fantasies?' Thomas Brooks

4. False teachers easily pass over the great and weighty things of both of law and gospel, and stand most upon those things that are the least moment and concernment to the souls of men.  

'The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.' 1 Timothy 1 v 5-7

'False teachers are nice in the lesser things of the law, and as negligent in the greater.'  Thomas Brooks

5. False teachers cover and colour their dangerous principles and soul impostures with very fair speeches and plausible pretenses, with high notions and golden expressions.

'Many in these days are bewitched and deceived by the magnificent words, lofty strains, and stately terms of deceivers, viz, illumination, revelation, deification, and fiery triplicity.' Thomas Brooks

6.  False teachers strive more to win over men to their opinions, than to better them in their conversations.

'But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.' Matt 23 v 13-15

'Their work is not to better men's hearts, and mend their lives; and in this they are very much like their father the devil, who will spare no pains to gain proselytes.' Thomas Brooks

7. False teachers make merchandise of their followers.

'But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.' 2 Peter 2 v 1-3

'Now the best way to deliver poor souls from being deluded and destroyed by these messengers of Satan is, to discover them in their colours, that so, being known, poor souls may shun them, and fly from them as hell itself.' Thomas Brooks

The greatest remedy against false teachers is to keep our eyes on Christ.  It was when the Israelites despaired of Moses (their mediator) coming down from Mount Sinai that they turned to false teachers and idols.  Sin makes us stupid.  Imagine trading the transcendent, merciful Jehovah for a golden bull?  Just take a look at so many churches today.  We have thrown aside the true worship of God and we want men to tickle our ears and entertain us.  Men are no longer content with the simple gospel.  

We need to know and love Christ and his word if we are to see clearly through the false teachers in Scotland today.  How we desperately need to put Christ and his precious word back in the centre of our worship services.  For more on the priority of the word read this. 

'Thy work. sinner, is to be peremptory (urgent) in believing, and in returning to the Lord; thy work is to cast thyself upon Christ, lie at his feet, to wait on him in his ways; and to give him no rest till he shall say, Sinner I am thy portion, I am thy salvation, and nothing shall separate between me and thee.' Thomas Brooks  

Nehemiah - A New Vision of the Kingdom

This is one of 4 talks that was given at the Lochee Baptist Chapel Weekend Away in February 2025. The talks are available here.

Having seen 'A New Vision of God' in our last talk we want to turn to ‘A New Vision of the Kingdom.’

What are the challenges that face us as the church in Scotland? Scotland is a spiritual desert. The church is weak and divided. The church has imbibed the ‘spirit of the age’. We have no theological moorings – our churches are not confessional – we have very few positions on anything. There are no ‘red lines.’ We lack resources – particularly people. Much of what is happening is un-coordinated and disorganised. Many people are suffering from burnout. There is a fragility about people’s mental health. It is hard not to despair and wring our hands. We are tempted to retreat, but we are called to engage. We are called to rebuild the ruins – to claim the great promises.

But how do we build the Kingdom in Lochee, in Dundee in Scotland?

Well, it’s interesting how little Nehemiah has. He doesn’t have a big team, he doesn’t have great power. But he trusts in a big God. So how does Nehemiah go about rebuilding the walls and what can we learn as we seek to have a vision for rebuilding the kingdom in Scotland?

Well lets look at 4 things: reverence. reality, remember and rebuild.

1.  Reverence 2 v 1-8

Nehemiah has a position of great responsibility and risk. The king clearly trusts him, and he is a diligent worker. But Nehemiah is a broken man. The city where God is to be worshiped, where his people are to gather to make sacrifices is in ruins. The people remain in exile – they are very comfortable in their Babylonian home. Nehemiah has ben mourning and fasting, and finally the king notices.

Nehemiah and Artaxerxes must have spent a lot of time in each other’s presence. The king notices that he is sad. How does Nehemiah respond? With reverence and respect.

Let’s pause and take that in for a minute. Nehemiah is in the inner court of a pagan king. But he doesn’t attack him, he doesn’t despise him, he shows him reverence.  And that is what we are to. We are to respect those in authority over us. Romans 13 tells us that they are put there by God. We may violently disagree with them – but we work diligently, we show that we are trustworthy and we respect authority.  We don't concede and we don't compromise but we are respectful. 

Ultimately it was Nehemiah’s diligence and reverence that opened the way for favour when he laid out his request. We don’t want to get sidetracked with the relationship between church and state but why shouldn’t the state support the work of the church? As long as they don’t interfere with the spiritual authority of the church, we should welcome state support.

Nehemiah also uses tact and discernment. He knew that the King had forbidden Jerusalem to be rebuilt because it is a troublesome city (Ezra 4 v 11-16). Rather than mention the city Nehemiah tells the king about the desecration of the graves of his ancestors. This would have aroused sympathy in the Near Eastern Culture. Nehemiah was not deceptive, but he was very shrewd. He didn’t claim his ‘right’ but worked hard, respected the kings authority and, when the time came he asked for what he needed. The king granted him letters for supplies and protection.

Nehemiah prayed and planned before he put any spades in the ground.

McCabe, James Dabney, 1842-1883

2.  Reality

Like all great leaders Nehemiah starts with how things are not how he would like them to be.  In verse 17 ‘You see the trouble we are in.’

Nehemiah has surveyed the city for 3 days.  In his 2 months journey he had heard of the opposition:

· Sanballat the Horonite

· Tobiah the Ammonite

· Geshem the Arab

When he arrived, inspected the site and addressed the people, the murmurings were unleashed with outright mockery and despising.  Nehemiah doesn’t sugar coat the situation.  He doesn’t start with some bright and breezy choruses.  He acknowledges that the situation is dire.  All the attempts to build the walls had failed.

Nearby tribes felt threatened by a walled and presumably armed Jerusalem.  Ezra 4 v 14 tells us that previous attempts were stopped because people said it was a threat to King Artaxerxes.  If we were project planning and risk assessing this we would say – this is impossible!

Nehemiah acknowledges the challenge.  ‘We are in a mess – the walls are broken down – and they have been for around 70 years.’

That is what we need more of today.  There is far too much sugar coating, far too much man centred project planning.  Scotland is a dark, dark place.  We are in trouble v 17. This word is often translated evil, wicked, disaster.  In 2 v 2 it is translated sad and sadness.  As a nation, as a church, we are in a deep, dark pit.  Unless God intervenes in a very mighty way, our nation faces a very bleak future.  We cannot heal the disease until we diagnose the problem.

3.  Remember

But Nehemiah doesn’t focus the people on the ruins.  He points them to the God who is the only true architect.  Nehemiah gives the people a compelling and energetic vision.  ‘Come let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.’

How do we cast a hopeful, Christ centred vision today?  Well, what does Nehemiah do?  He reminds them of God’s dealings in the past and he looks for God's favour.  

Looking Back 

Nehemiah recounts God's dealings in the past - what we call providence.  Nehemiah looks back and tells of God’s dealings with the king in Babylon.  God was with him in a pagan and hostile environment.  God’s hand was upon him (see v 8)  Nehemiah stood alone among the Babylonians and yet the mighty hand of God was upon him.  God’s hand here means God’s favour -God’s blessing.  We lay hands on people to bless them, to anoint them.

‘You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand’ (Psalm 89 v 13).  Ezra says in 7 v 28 ‘The hand of the Lord was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.’

You see its not the ruined walls we need to look at, or the lack of resources, it’s the mighty hand of God.

Is his hand up on us? Is his hand upon our preachers and our elders?Nehemiah says – ‘look at how God’s hand was upon me.’  Isn’t that what the Bible does so often?  Isn’t that what the Psalms do?  They force us to remember God’s dealings in the past.  Singing is not just to stir up emotions or make us feel better – singing is meant to drive us back to God’s mighty deeds in the past.  Psalms 104-107 recounts God’s redemptive acts.  That is why singing must be full of God’s dealings with God’s people in the past.

Remembering God's Favour

Nehemiah shows the people that God’s hand had been upon him and that the King had shown him favour.  God had not just blessed his servant but provided, via the king, all that the people needed.  God provides what we need when we need it.  Nehemiah was God’s man at God’s time.  He casts the vision, he reminded them of God’s hand and favour and said follow me!

Without stretching things too far, don’t we see so much of Christ in Nehemiah?  He intercedes for his people, he takes their sins on himself, he pleads for them, and he points them away from sin to God alone.  Nehemiah was saying that this was a spiritual work.  It was not cleverness or energy or inspiration, it was reminding the people of what they had forgotten, Jerusalem was God’s city and only God could rebuild it.

Nehemiah gave them a God-centred vision of renewal and rebuilding.

4 Rebuilding

Nehemiah’s brutally realistic vision leads to the people being energised to work.  ‘Let us rise up and build.’  The best mission statement in history.

Decades of fear, defeat and decline are reversed by a God given vision infusing the people.  We see the critical importance of spiritual leadership in the church.  ‘So, they strengthened their hands for the good work.’

Good leadership strengthens drooping hands.  It galvanises people for the task ahead.

Hebrews 12 v 12 ‘Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.’

When people sit under godly leaders and godly preaching they are motivated to see a bigger vision and they are encouraged and motivated.

We see this in three ways:

Coordination - to each his own.  ‘And next to them.’ Neh 3 v 3, 4 and 5.

See how Nehemiah coordinated everything.  Everyone knew where he belonged, there was clarity of purpose – expectations were clear.  ‘Over against his house’ 3 v 21-23 and 28-30.  No need for commuting – able to build and protect his family.  Nehemiah’s vision for the kingdom, for the church is always interwoven with the family.

Cooperation - pulling together.  Nehemiah inspired all sorts of different people to work together.

· Priests and Levites

· Rulers and common people

· Gatekeepers and guards

· Farmers

· Union Men – goldsmiths, pharmacists, merchants

· Temple servants and women

People ‘had a mind to work’ 4 v 6.  They didn’t do as little as possible – they gave of their best.  Isn’t this how the church should be?  Every class, every nation, every age – all working together for a common purpose?  As Thomas Guthrie said: 

'If the world is ever conquered for our Lord, it is not by ministers, nor by office-bearers, nor by the great, and noble and mighty, but by every member of Christ's body being a working member; doing his work; filling his own sphere; holding his own post; and saying to Jesus, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?"

Commendation - the vital dimension.  We all want to feel appreciated don’t we?  Nehemiah commended his workers.  He says they repaired another section (Neh 3 v 11, 19-21, 24-27, 30.  Notice that Nehemiah commends everyone.

· Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired 1500 feet of wall v 13

· Malchijah repaired the Valley Gate v 14

Conclusion 

Nehemiah was a great leader.  Like all great leaders he was able to divide a complex task into something very simple and communicate it passionately.  The wall was divided into around 40 sections – Nehemiah delegated very effectively.

We all have a part to play in rebuilding the walls.  Whether its praying, making the coffee, offering hospitality, replenishing the pastors glass of water, leading the worship, supporting the tech – ‘Let us rise up and build.’

Do we have a mind to work?  The people under Nehemiah certainly did.

There is plenty to do.  As Guthrie says in 'The City its Sins and Sorrows':

'Let each select their own manageable field of Christian work. Let us thus embrace the whole city, and cover its nakedness, although, with different denominations at work, it should be robed, like Joseph in a coat of many colours.'

Worship: the Heart of Religion - Who Should Lead in Worship?

In our last blog post we looked at how the word of God always has the priority in reformed worship.  The modern church has replaced the word with music and entertainment.  The worship band rather than the word of God is central to most of our churches.  Nashville rather than the Scriptures are our inspiration for how God is to be worshiped.  If it sounds good and makes us feel good, we sing it.  That was not the position of those who composed the Westminster Confession and the subordinate standards.  The question in the modern Free Church is, 'do we still adhere to these standards or do we know better?'

In our last post we turned to a book published in 1993 'Crown Him Lord of All - Essays on the Life and Witness of the Free Church of Scotland.'  We took a lot from the chapter by Rev Hector Cameron 'Worship: the Heart of Religion.'  Rev Cameron reminds us in that the Westminster Divines believed that no worship is acceptable unless it is prescribed by Holy Scripture.  As reformed Christians we gently but firmly believe in Biblical principle not pragmatism.  The issue in worship is not what is acceptable but what is Biblical.  

In his essay, Rev Cameron reminds us that the Westminster Divines believed there were 6 parts or divisions belonging to public worship:

• Prayer

• The reading of the Word

• Sound preaching

• Conscionable listening to the Word

• The singing of Psalms

• The administration of the sacraments

Rev Cameron goes on to explain these parts of worship outlining the reformed, and until recently, the Free Church position.  A very live issue in many reformed circles at the moment is who should participate in worship.  This is where the subordinate standards are so helpful and instructive.  To the reformers and (most) Puritans, the worship of God was so important that only those appointed and approved were to be allowed to conduct public worship.  

Pulpit versus Audience Participation

While the congregation are to be involved, the Free Church have always maintained that an ordained and/or qualified and approved preacher should lead, read and preach.  We are not Cromwellian Independents.  We do not believe that every member should take to the pulpit to lead, pray, read or preach.  The person leading must be qualified and recognised as suitable.  It is not the role of the service to display the priesthood of all believers.  This is a spiritual status to be taught and lived out in our corporate church life but Presbyterians have traditionally believed that only those who are approved and appointed should lead in public worship.    

Most commonly this has been manifested in recent years in the public reading of scripture which has been opened out to ordinary members both male and female.  There was some debate at the Westminster Assembly as to who could publicly read the Scriptures and preach with the Scots Commissioners wanting the office of 'reader' to be retained from the Reformation as well as 'pastors and teachers'.  The Directory allows for a divinity student to be involved to test his gift for the ministry.  The Scottish church have generally  interpreted 'teacher' to include lay preachers, missionaries and elders who need to be 'apt to teach' as part of their qualification.  Presbyteries have, in the past, created lists of men (normally elders) who are qualified and able to preach so there is a recognition of their gifts.

The Bible seems clear about women leading in public worship in 1 Timothy 2.  But those who promote the view of woman leading in worship quote verses such as Acts 18 v 26, Colossians 3 v 16 and refer to women being involved in worship in the Corinthian church.  I would argue that Acts and Colossians are simply talking about private discussion at most in the context of a fellowship. If my wife, over dinner, suggested to the preacher (a modern day Apollos) that he might want to consult the reformers or puritans to enrich or correct his theology, I don't see how this is a justification for her publicly reading the scriptures which is a public ordinance.  It clearly says that Priscilla and Aquilla 'took him aside' after he preached.  

So what about Corinth?  Surely that is a justification for women at the very least reading the Scriptures?  The situation in Corinth was chaotic and is not to be taken as a model for church.  As Cameron points out in his chapter (emphasis is my own):  'The Corinthian Church, instead of being seen as representing an early stage in the establishment of Christianity, and as a Church besides where many of the cannons of apostolic teaching and practice were being transgressed, is taken to represent the model Church service scene, normative for today.'  

The Corinthian church was the embryo of the church where the charismatic gifts were still being used and people were involved that God had not ordained to be used at all times and in all situations.  Hector Cameron quotes Dr James Bannerman and again the emphasis is mine:  '[These] formed no part of the ordinary equipment of the Church of Christ or the ordinary staff of office-bearers by which the affairs were to be administered.  Their use and function ceased when the church of Christ through their instrumentality had been finally settled and fully organised and when it had attained to the condition of its ordinary and permanent development.' (The Church of Christ, vol 1, pp 215-16).  

Aside from minor differences in the past over reader, pastor and teacher, the position of the reformed church in Scotland for the last 450 years has been that an ordained and qualified man leads the worship, publicly reads the scriptures, prays and preaches.  The minster leads for the edification of the congregation.  As Cameron says:  'This accords with the Reformation dictum that the ministry is for the sake of the Church, and not the other way round (Philippians 2 v 17).  In any event wider leadership arrangements are seen neither to be needed nor valid for the normal service of worship.  Among exceptional situations would be the Communion service where ruling elders assist the minister in distributing the bread and wine.'

The 8 short essays in Crown Him Lord of All  is a reminder of a very different Free Church, one that still valued its distinctives and was not embarrassed to be different.  We have a glorious heritage that we are in danger of squandering as we grasp at the trinkets and gimmicks of modern evangelicalism.  We mustn't be frightened of suffering for principles that our forefathers fought and suffered for. They may not be popular today but if they are Biblical, they will stand the test of time.  We forget that there have been many periods in history where reformed worship and practice have not been popular.  We need to hold our nerve and trust the Lord and his unfailing word.  

In his Moderators Address in 1920 entitled ‘The Outlook in Regard to the Maintenance of the Reformed Faith’ Rev John Macleod said; 

‘Holding to the historic faith and worship of Scotland’s Reformed Church, she is content in a day of reproach to share the reproach of a despised Evangel, and look for her vindication not only to the day when the Church’s reproach will be forever removed; she also cherishes the hope that with a glorious revival of true godliness the people of the land of covenants and martyr’s will yet retrace the steps of which they strayed from the good way and that will be a vindication of her contendings.’  

For further reading on who should read the scriptures publicly you might find these articles helpful.  They are all American but I couldn't find anything that covered it from a Scottish or UK perspective.  

The Public Reading of Scripture - Presbyterian Style

The OPC Report on Unordained People Reading the Scriptures in Public (1991) 

Who is Permitted to Read the Word Publicly to the Congregation in the PCA?

Worship: the Heart of Religion - The Priority of the Word

"The first want of our day is a return to the old, simple and sharply-cut doctrines of our fathers" 

JC Ryle

I'm currently re-reading Crown Him Lord of All - Essays on the Life and Witness of the Free Church of Scotland.  It was published in 1993, 150 years after the Free Church Disruption.  I was 21 and in the middle of a university degree in Aberdeen.  I remember my father working on the production of the book as he settled into a new ministry in Edinburgh.  The storm clouds were gathering on what would eventually lead to a split within the Free Church in 2000 but in the early 1990's, the Free Church felt like it knew what it believed.  We didn't have the Healthy Gospel Church matrix but the gospel was preached and the ministers I knew were godly and faithful men.  They were men of conviction.  We may not have had the right DNA or culture, but we gathered at the Glasgow Psalmody Recital every year to sing the songs that Christians had sung without interruption for 2000 years.  

One of the many excellent essays in the book is Worship: the Heart of Religion by Rev Hector Cameron.  Those of us who had the privilege of knowing Rev Cameron remember him with great fondness.  He preached a big God and a beautiful Saviour.  He held his principles gently and was a greatly loved preacher and pastor.  As with so many of his generation, he held his convictions with compassion.  Cameron reminds us in his brilliant chapter that the Westminster Divines believed that no worship is acceptable unless it is prescribed by holy scripture.  As reformed Christians we gently but firmly believe in Biblical principle not pragmatism.  The issue in worship is not what is acceptable but what is Biblical.  

In his essay, Rev Cameron reminds us that the Westminster Divines believed there were 6 parts or divisions belonging to public worship:

• Prayer

• The reading of the Word

• Sound preaching

• Conscionable listening to the Word

• The singing of Psalms

• The administration of the sacraments

Rev Cameron goes on to explain these parts of worship outlining the reformed, and until recently, the Free Church position.  

The Priority of the Word
As reformed Christians, we believe that the word of God should be central to our service of worship.  It is not man that is central in reformed worship but God and his word.  We do not believe in idols, vestments, gimmicks, smoke machines, puppet shows or clowns.  We believe that 'faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.'  The pulpit, not the praise band should be central in reformed churches.  The Bible not the drumkit give our service their power and focus.  That is why we, traditionally, have given such a central place to the public reading of the word of God.    As Cameron says:

'To give the Word such a status has practical implications for the style of religious service to be expected from churches which concur.  Presbyterians tend to be viewed as dour and their services dull.  There may well be Presbyterians who approximate to that description.  Usually, however, the criticism has been prompted by the plainness of the church buildings, the subdued complexion of the services, the strictly basic character of the ritual, the conspicuous lack of activity up the front (apart from the preacher) or the less than picturesque attire of the church officials.'

As Cameron emphasises, reformed worship is simple, spiritual, God centered and Biblically rich.  That is why we sing the Psalms, God's ordained hymn book of praise.  New Testament worship is the worship of the Synagogue not the Temple.  The early church could have easily adopted the Greek culture with its music style but it did not. Our worship is prescribed not by Hillsong and Bethel but by the Holy Spirit in the written word.  

We are living in confusing and bewildering times.  Many who love the Free Church feel lost and grieved at the changes and the innovations.  Let me leave you with Hector Cameron's words:

'The temptation is always there to seek to short-circuit this foundation principle of worship and to seek pragmatic solutions to questions concerning worship which are strictly theological; or to shelter unthinkingly behind the views held about worship (on one side or the other) by some good man of former days.  It is a better option to wrestle with the basic principles involved - every question being brought to the bar of Holy Scripture - and to apply the conclusions faithfully.'