There
is a wealth of edifying material which is now out of print. Reformation
Press believes it is important to provide online access to these
items and many people value this aspect of Reformation Press work.
It
has been necessary to make minor changes to some items to accommodate
current conventions of grammar and punctuation. To help the 21st
century reader, the layout of some material has been modified and
section headings supplied. These editorial changes are made sensitively,
with minimal interference to the original. Scripture quotations
are from the Authorised (King James) Version: references have been
supplied where appropriate.
God
willing, the downloads section of the website will continue to grow
over the years. We can automatically
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New
resources in January 2008
The
fragrant sermons of the Rev Dr John Love have
been out of print since the 19th century. Reformation Press is pleased
to introduce you to the work of this profound preacher in a sermon
on Abraham's words: "Behold now, I have taken upon me to
speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes".
Rev
Dr Andrew Thomson was one of the mighty Evangelical preachers
of the 19th century. Reformation Press has reproduced in full his
catechism on the Lord's Supper together wih addresses to communicants
before and after the Lord's Supper.
Dr
John Kennedy of Dingwall was one of the greatest of the 19th century
Scottish Highland evangelical Ministers. His ministry was the means
of enlightening, instructing and encouraging the hearts of thousands
of hearers. His published works have an enduring appeal.
This
section of the Reformation Press website now contains two valuable
items by Dr Kennedy - a lecture on The Lord's
Day and a sermon on The Tree of Life.
This
popular Reformation Press booklet contains articles by two famous
Evangelical Ministers - Thomas Boston of Ettrick and Dr John Kennedy
of Dingwall. As the booklet is currently out of print, we have made
the lecture by Dr Kennedy on The Lord's Day
available online.
This
is a sermon on Revelation 22:2 - In the midst of the street of
it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life,
which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every
month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
In
the providence of God, John Knox was raised up to be the foremost
Reformer of the Church in Scotland. According to Thomas McCrie,
the church historian, Knox possessed firm and high-toned principle,
the foundations of which were deeply laid in sincere piety and profound
acquaintance with the Scriptures. He was extraordinarily talented
and had a popular and overwhelming eloquence. John Knox was ardent
in defence of truth, tireless in his exertions, and daring and dauntless
in his resolution.
This
section of the website contains two items by the Reformer. John
Knox wrote the originals in a slightly anglicized version of the
16th century Scots language: these original texts are given along
with an English translation.
A
comfortable epistle sent to the afflicted Church in Christ
In
March and April 1554 John Knox travelled through France and Switzerland,
visiting particular congregations, and conferring with the Swiss
Reformed theologians and other learned men. They received Knox cordially
and treated him with most affectionate hospitality. Their kind reception
and the agreeable company which he enjoyed during his short time
in Switzerland had helped to dissipate the cloud which hung upon
his spirits when he had previously landed in France. This opened
his mind to more pleasing prospects as to the issue of the current
afflictions affecting the church. Knox wrote two epistles, one to
his afflicted brethren in England, and the one reproduced here to
the afflicted Church at large.
This
treatise by John Knox was published when he fled England at a time
of persecution. The treatise is subtitled: "A declaration what
true prayer is, how we should pray, and for what we should pray".
This
brief statement respecting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper has
no date, but it may be assigned to the year 1550, as it was annexed
to a treatise by Knox on the Roman Catholic mass.
John
Love (1757-1825) was born in Paisley and educated at the University
of Glasgow at the early age of 10 years. He was licensed as a preacher
in 1778 and became assistant to the Rev Mr Maxwell at Rutherglen.
Four years later he was transferred to the Old West Church in Greenock
as assistant to the Rev David Turner from 1782 to 1786. There he
became known as an eloquent preacher with deep insights into theology
which he ably communicated in his sermons. In 1786 he was called
to a congregation of the Church of Scotland in London where he remained
for almost 12 years. Whilst there he helped to found the Missionary
Society and was helped appoint missionaries to Tahiti. In 1800 he
was called to a new church in Anderston, Glasgow, where his labours
were particularly appreciated and he was awarded a Doctorate in
Divinity. He also became secretary to the Glasgow Missionary Society
and presided in the establishment of a mission in South Africa.
Dr
Love's sermon on Genesis 18:27 dates from his time as Assistant
Minister in Greenock when he was aged 28. He preached this searching
sermon on the Thursday of a Greenock Communion Season, a day set
apart for fasting and confession of sin.
Charles
Calder Mackintosh was born in Tain, Easter Ross, in 1806. His father
was Minister of the church there. Charles Mackintosh was educated
at Tain Academy. He was gifted and was sent to the University of
King's College, Aberdeen, at the unusually early age of eleven.
After a four year curriculum of Arts, he entered the Divinity classes
at Glasgow when only sixteen. In the third year at Glasgow he was
impressed by a treatise of Thomas Halyburton. God blessed the Truth
to him and he began to taste and to drink abundantly of the wells
of salvation. From that time to the end of his earthly course his
life was one of pre-eminent spirituality and consistent holiness.
At
the age of 21 Charles Mackintosh was licensed to preach the Gospel.
However, ill health meant that he did not begin labours as his father's
colleague in Tain till 1830. His first sermon (on Isaiah 55:8,9)
is included in this website, entitled The Mercy of God. As an ambassador
of Christ, he preached the wondrous mercy of God with a spiritual
unction and solemn earnestness. Many benefited from his preaching
during a revival of religion in 1840.
After
the death of his father in 1831, Charles Mackintosh became the sole
pastor of the large parish of Tain. In 1854 he accepted a call to
a smaller congregation at Dunoon. Despite ill health, he continued
to preach mightily. In 1868 his health deteriorated and he died
in Pau, France, in 1868.
This
is a sermon on Isaiah 55:8,9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are highter than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. This was Charles Mackintosh's
inaugural sermon in Tain, preached in 1830.
Andrew
Thomson (1779-1831) was a leading Evangelical Minister of the early
19th century, labouring in the Scottish Border town of Sprouston,
and subsequently in Perth and Edinburgh. He became famous for a
work which instructed communicants in the nature of the Lord's Supper
and their duties in relation to the Sacrament. This takes the form
of a series of questions and answers and has been out of print since
the 19th century. His searching and edifying addresses to communicants
at the Lord's Table before and after partaking of the Sacrament
are instructive to communicants in the 21st century.
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