The Whole Counsel

Reformation Heritage Book and a Puritan Reading Challenge

On this week’s episode of The Whole Counsel, Dr. John Snyder is joined by Dr. Stephen Yuille. Dr. Yuille has been with us before when he produced a study on the book of Galatians (https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/gospel-realities-lessons-from-galatians).
He is in the studio this week with us because he just filmed a new study focusing on the Sermon on Mount. Make sure you are following us for updates on that study. But for this episode, we wanted to have him on to discuss his role with Reformation Heritage Book and a new summer reading challenge they started on June 30. This reading challenge consists of a chapter of George Swinnock’s The Blessed and Boundless God every day. The chapters are short and approachable. The book has been slightly edited with updated language to make it accessible to everyone. We highly encourage you to visit the link below and participate in the reading challenge.
Show Notes:
Reformation Heritage Books: https://heritagebooks.org/
Blessed and Boundless God by George Swinnock: https://heritagebooks.org/products/the-blessed-and-boundless-god-swinnock.html
Summer Reading Challenge: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PV73J_bsiy7Zd5wV9_fYlcjXPUeea99Udg8TRV07chI/edit?gid=0#gid=0
Puritan Treasures for Today: https://heritagebooks.org/PuritanTreasures
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Leading Little Ones to God V: Three Final Admonitions

This week we conclude our series based on Charles Spurgeon’s pamphlet Feed My Lambs. In these final segments, Spurgeon gives us three admonitions: remember whom you are teaching, remember that you are teaching on behalf of God, and remember that your children need this teaching. Keeping these things in mind will be a help in both preparing and in teaching theological matter to children.
Spurgeon likens teaching children to the responsibility of ministers. He says we must bear the weight of the reality that children will accept what we teach them, even if what we teach is incorrect. They are not educated enough to correct us if we misspeak a truth. They cannot choose a different Sunday school teacher if we are not careful enough. They will often adopt what we say as gospel truth and may hold those truths for the remainder of their lives.
So remember who is accepting our teaching, but also remember that we are given the opportunity to teach by God Himself. He has placed us in positions to teach and we should take it as a weighty privilege.
Lastly, if we see the need in our children to teach them truth, we will be moved to study deeply and think with focus on how best to convey these truths to them.
We pray this episode, and indeed this series, is helpful to you. Please share it with your Sunday school teachers to edify them in their work for the Lord with children.
Show Notes:
Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early -
https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/childrens-curriculum
Charles Spurgeon’s book for parents and teachers: https://gracegems.org/B/Spurgeon_children.htm
J. C. Ryle - Two Bears and Other Addresses to Childre:
https://www.christianbook.com/two-bears-and-other-addresses-children/j-c-ryle/9781583391051/pd/391052
Love to the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent - https://www.amazon.com/Christians-Unseen-Christ-Puritan-Writings/dp/1877611573
Christ is All by Henry Law - https://www.amazon.com/Christ-All-Pentateuch-Classic-Reprint/dp/0243899300
Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Ambrose - https://www.trinitybookservice.com/looking-unto-jesus/
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Leading Little Ones to God IV: In Faith to Faith

In this week’s episode of The Whole Counsel, John and Misty Snyder come together again to continue discussing the small pamphlet Feed My Lambs written by Charles Spurgeon. He wrote this small work with Sunday school teachers in mind, but John and Misty find particular help for parents in this week’s segments.
When it comes to presenting the warnings of hell to children, we must do so carefully. Too harsh, and we can manipulate them into behavior modification to merit God’s favor. But if we never share God’s warnings of his wrath, we risk making sin a light matter in their eyes. The best practice is to let God speak for himself through the scriptures and share his warnings as they come up in family worship or applicable conversations. Knowing our children and their temperaments comes into play here as well.
While we share the kindness and warnings of God, we must also avoid giving our children “keepable standards.” We must give them God’s standard of holiness. When our children fail to keep God’s standards, we are presented with wonderful opportunities to point them to our sinless Redeemer, Christ.
All of this must be done while depending on God to do the work He must do for our children’s salvation. We can no more do God’s work of giving our children spiritual life than we do our children’s work of repenting and believing.
Show Notes:
Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early -
https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/childrens-curriculum
Charles Spurgeon’s book for parents and teachers: https://gracegems.org/B/Spurgeon_children.htm
J. C. Ryle - Two Bears and Other Addresses to Childre:
https://www.christianbook.com/two-bears-and-other-addresses-children/j-c-ryle/9781583391051/pd/391052
Love to the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent - https://www.amazon.com/Christians-Unseen-Christ-Puritan-Writings/dp/1877611573
Christ is All by Henry Law - https://www.amazon.com/Christ-All-Pentateuch-Classic-Reprint/dp/0243899300
Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Ambrose - https://www.trinitybookservice.com/looking-unto-jesus/
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Leading Little Ones to God III: Teach from Love and Life

In this week’s episode, Dr. John Snyder and his wife Misty continue discussing Charles Spurgeon’s small pamphlet, Feed My Lambs, focusing on teaching the gospel to young children. Today they focus on getting the most out of Sunday school. Some argue the practice is worse than unnecessary but claim it is bad. Provided that the Sunday school teacher is converted, we, along with Charles Spurgeon, disagree.
But Spurgeon gives us some helpful advice that extends beyond Sunday school teachers to include parents of children at any age. He reminds us of the necessity to be living on the truths we are teaching and not attempt to put a lesson together on the way to church on Sunday morning. Beyond that, we must be driven by love. Our love and duty is first to Christ, and then that love and duty must be pointed toward the children.
Throughout the conversation, John and Misty share how they have been impacted both by learning as children and by teaching them. We pray this encourages you to think carefully of the privilege and responsibility we have to share our faith with the youngest generation.
Show Notes:
Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early -
https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/childrens-curriculum
Charles Spurgeon’s book for parents and teachers: https://gracegems.org/B/Spurgeon_children.htm
J. C. Ryle - Two Bears and Other Addresses to Childre:
https://www.christianbook.com/two-bears-and-other-addresses-children/j-c-ryle/9781583391051/pd/391052
Love to the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent - https://www.amazon.com/Christians-Unseen-Christ-Puritan-Writings/dp/1877611573
Christ is All by Henry Law - https://www.amazon.com/Christ-All-Pentateuch-Classic-Reprint/dp/0243899300
Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Ambrose - https://www.trinitybookservice.com/looking-unto-jesus/
The list from Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Amrose
Of considering Jesus in that respect
Of desiring after Jesus in that respect
Of hoping in Jesus in that respect
Of believing in Jesus in that respect
Of loving Jesus in that respect
Of joying in Jesus in that respect
On conforming to Jesus in that respect
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Leading Little Ones to God II: Avoiding Ditches

This week we continue our series on presenting the gospel to children in our churches and families with Dr. John Snyder and his wife, Misty. The pair has spent years considering the topic, not just as parents, but as the authors of Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early, a curriculum that aims to present the realities of the gospel to children on their level.
We are continuing to get help from Charles Spurgeon’s small pamphlet, Feed My Lambs. In that work, Spurgeon warns against several ditches in presenting Christ to children. The first is not speaking on their level. This doesn’t mean we should just replace big words with small words. But it does mean defining the words we use carefully and in a way the kids can grasp. Additionally, when the Lord has done the miraculous work of converting a child, we must be careful not to expect perfect fruit or exceptional spiritual maturity before we embrace him or her as a member of the body of Christ.
Spurgeon also gives us an opportunity for self-reflection. Do our actions reveal that we don’t believe children can be or need to be saved right now? Jesus makes it clear throughout the gospels that he desires the little ones to come to him. He also makes clear how dangerous it is to be guilty of preventing them.
Let us bring our hearts to the Lord through this episode and pray he shows us areas we need to rethink and trust that He is able and willing to save our little lambs.
Show Notes:
Charles Spurgeon’s book for parents and teachers: https://gracegems.org/B/Spurgeon_children.htm
J. C. Ryle - Two Bears and Other Addresses to Childre:
https://www.christianbook.com/two-bears-and-other-addresses-children/j-c-ryle/9781583391051/pd/391052
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Leading Little Ones to God I: Feeding the Lambs

This week we begin a new series with a new guest, Misty Snyder. Misty is the coauthor of Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early and the wife of Dr. John Snyder.
For help in this series, we are looking to Charles Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle. Spurgeon’s little work, Feed My Lambs, was written for Christian parents and Sunday School teachers. This week, we focus on the opening section where Spurgeon hones in on what it means to feed the little ones.
This feeding means that we must speak in a way that children can understand. It doesn’t mean simply replacing big words with small words. But it means defining and communicating in a way they can follow and grasp.
Last in the series, we will look at a sermon preached by J. C. Ryle, a contemporary of Charles Spurgeon. Check the show notes for the full text of Spurgeon’s pamphlet, Ryle’s sermons, and links to purchase physical copies, plus other helpful resources for nurturing the faith of the little ones in your life.
Show Notes:
Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early -
https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/childrens-curriculum
Charles Spurgeon’s book for parents and teachers: https://gracegems.org/B/Spurgeon_children.htm
J. C. Ryle - Two Bears and Other Addresses to Childre:
https://www.christianbook.com/two-bears-and-other-addresses-children/j-c-ryle/9781583391051/pd/391052
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Josephine Rose: Talking to God

On this week’s episode, Dr. John Snyder hosts a former member of Christ Church New Albany, Josephine Rose. Josephine began coming to CCNA while she was in college. It was during her time in the fellowship there that God revealed Himself to her and rescued her. After graduation, she came down with a serious illness that forced her to move back in with her parents. Bedridden and anxious, she and her mother prayed for God to show her something useful she could do with her time. The next day, she opened her laptop and began blogging.From the simple act of sharing the realities of God that she was learning through her illness, Josephine was approached by numerous ministries to write for them. She accepted, and doors continued to be opened for her. Recently, LifeWay published a Bible study written for teenage girls focused on prayer. The title is Talking to God: A Bible Study on Prayer. The study is based upon the foundation of God’s attributes and the Lord’s Prayer.
We pray the testimony of God’s faithfulness to Josephine and the conversation between her and John encourage you to seek afresh a close communion with God as our Father.
Show Notes:
See Josephine’s Blog: https://josephinedrose.com/
Talking to God: A Bible Study on Prayer - https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/talking-to-god-teen-girls-bible-study-book-P005847913
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

W. V. Higham IV: The Hope for Revival

This week's sermon is the final in our series of revival sermons from Rev. Vernon Higham. Isaiah saw the need for revival in his day, and he cried out for it. We are also in great need of revival, and we hope the previous episodes have led you to cry out to God for it.
In this final sermon, Rev. Higham shares with us the hope for revival from Isaiah 64:8-12. This hope is not the hope the world has. It is a solid, tangible thing because crying out for God’s ungrieved presence among us is a prayer that pleases him.
Dr. John Snyder ends this week’s episode, as he has several others, with a book recommendation. He opted to leave you with a book edited by Richard Owen Roberts. If you have participated in the Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically study, you know Mr. Roberts. His book is titled Scotland Saw His Glory and recounts accounts of revival going back to the Scottish Puritan era.
Show Notes:
W. V. Higham Trust:
https://www.wvhigham.org/
The Turn of the Tide by W. Vernon Higham: http://churchawakening.com/product/the-turn-the-tide/
Lectures of the Revival of Religion, by Ministers of the Church of Scotland edited by W. M. Hetherington
https://www.abebooks.com/Lectures-Revival-Religion-Ministers-Church-Scotland/31027820289/bd
Free ebook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lectures_on_the_revival_of_religion_by_ministers_o?id=T-kDAAAAQAAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1
Scotland Saw His Glory by Richard Owen Roberts
https://www.rorbooks.com/index.php/product/scotland-saw-his-glory-a-history-of-revivals-in-scotland/
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
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W. V. Higham III: The Burden for Revival

This week’s podcast is the third of four sermons on revival preached by Reverend Vernon Higham in 1984. Rev. Higham felt the need for revival in his own land, and his desire for revival is expressed throughout this powerful sermon based on Isaiah 64:1–7.
We pray this series benefits you and burdens you to pray for revival in your own soul, family, church, and land. If you would like to hear more sermons from Rev. Higham, you can see the link in the show notes below for the Vernon Higham Trust.
Show Notes:
W. V. Higham Trust:
https://www.wvhigham.org/
The Turn of the Tide by W. Vernon Higham: http://churchawakening.com/product/the-turn-the-tide/
Lectures of the Revival of Religion, by Ministers of the Church of Scotland edited by W. M. Hetherington
https://www.abebooks.com/Lectures-Revival-Religion-Ministers-Church-Scotland/31027820289/bd
Free ebook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lectures_on_the_revival_of_religion_by_ministers_o?id=T-kDAAAAQAAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

W. V. Higham II: The Cry for Revival

“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah? This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? ’It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’” Isaiah 63:1
This week’s podcast continues the sermon series by Reverend W. V. Higham. Mr. Higham was the pastor of John Snyder and his family while he spent time in Wales working on his doctorate. In this sermon, Mr. Higham continues discussing the need we have for revival but also highlights the fruit of true revival such as powerful preaching, earnest prayer, and a commitment to biblical worship. The discerning hearer might realize all these things are the ordinary means of grace through which God meets His people. That is true. But in revival, all these ordinary means are made effectual to an extraordinary degree. Same means; different degree. We pray this sermon is not only an encouragement to you in the troubled days we live in, but that it also gives fuel for you as you pray for revival in our day.
Show Notes:
W. V. Higham Trust:
https://www.wvhigham.org/
The Turn of the Tide by W. Vernon Higham: http://churchawakening.com/product/the-turn-the-tide/
Lectures on Revivals by William Sprague: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/theology-books/lectures-on-revivals/
Lectures of the Revival of Religion, by Ministers of the Church of Scotland edited by W. M. Hetherington
https://www.abebooks.com/Lectures-Revival-Religion-Ministers-Church-Scotland/31027820289/bd
Free ebook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lectures_on_the_revival_of_religion_by_ministers_o?id=T-kDAAAAQAAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app