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Sermon Notes on Romans 9
Having not been able to complete the scheduled Bible study for the mid-week service, I threw together some notes on the ninth chapter of Romans. It is not often I go ‘old school’ by scribbling on the nearest blank piece of paper. After teaching the study, I proceeded to broaden my notes for future reference. As the notes set forth a statement on High-Calvinism, I’ve chosen to include them with the online resources of the AHB. There are two sets of notes—the handwritten scribble is what I used in the pulpit (I haven’t bothered typing them out); the typed notes are what I jotted down after teaching the study. The key to unravelling the teaching on election (in particular, the Father’s work in the Covenant…
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A Biography of John Hazelton, by William Styles (Complete), Jared Smith On Various Issues, William Styles, A Memoir Of John Hazelton (Complete)
John Hazelton: What He Can Teach Us
On Friday, 21st March 2014, Dr. Matthew Hyde delivered the annual lecture for the Strict Baptist Historical Society at Bethesda Chapel.[1] After the lecture, he and I shared a brief exchange on the subject of high-calvinism and nineteenth-century Strict Baptist pastors. Since one of these pastors, John Hazelton, had been connected with the church that I pastor,[2] his name naturally came up. Subsequent to our chat, Dr. Hyde graciously gave me one of his copies of William Styles’, “John Hazelton: A Memoir”. I believe Baptists should be familiar with the life and ministry of John Hazelton for three reasons: First, the life and ministry of John Hazelton is worth knowing because he was one of the leading Baptist ministers in the city of London during…
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High-Calvinism and the Strict Baptists
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High-Calvinism and Preaching the Gospel
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Duty-Faith and the Free-Offer
Duty-Faith and the Free-Offer are two of the most pernicious heresies infiltrating churches today. Preachers that demand sinners exercise faith, as the initiating cause of the new birth, are appealing to the flesh, wherein dwelleth no good thing. Subsequently, false converts are mass produced through manipulative devices in getting people to 'make a decision for Christ'. The scriptural concept of faith is this—the sinner believes because he has been born again; he is not born again because he believes. Hence, faith is a gift to the saint, not a duty of the sinner. In addition, preachers that 'offer' the gospel (as if it lies in the sinner to accept or reject it) contradict the central message of sovereign grace. The sinful heart must be made…
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The Historic Affirmations
The Affirmations set forth in the following statements are representative views of the historic values maintained by Strict (restricted table) and Particular (restricted atonement) Baptist churches, before and up to the mid-twentieth century. Since the Second World War, most historic churches have (1) adopted the Westcott and Hort text, thereby departing from the high view of verbal inspiration; (2) adopted the teachings of Fullerism, thereby departing from the high view of Sovereign Grace; (3) adopted the philosophy of Ecumenism, thereby departing from the high view of strict communion; (4) adopted an adaptation of Presbyterianism, thereby departing from the high view of Baptist polity. It appears many Strict Baptists have failed to understand that moving with the times does not mean churches must move from the…
