This week's reading continues Iain H. Murray's article on Spurgeon's treatment of the doctrinal 'Downgrade' in the Baptist Union in the 1880s.

In a context of doctrinal compromise, Spurgeon saw, most clearly, that denominational loyalty is not the same thing as the pursuit of true Christian unity.

Featured Resource:

Iain H. Murray, 'C. H. Spurgeon: The Downgrade and Denominational Loyalties,' Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 34 (July 1964).

Listen to the 'Lost Recording' of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' 1966 address:

https://www.mljtrust.org/blog/evangelical-unity-an-appeal-recording-found/

Other Spurgeon-related Episodes:

C. H. Spurgeon: The Ministry the Churches Need — https://bannerpodcast.podbean.com/e/c-h-spurgeon-the-ministry-the-churches-need/

The Forgotten Spurgeon — https://bannerpodcast.podbean.com/e/the-forgotten-spurgeon/

Spurgeon's Pastoral Wisdom: Geoff Chang Interview — https://bannerpodcast.podbean.com/e/spurgeons-practical-wisdom-geoff-chang-interview/

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

Good Tidings of Great Joy is a feast for the soul that longs to know the Lord Jesus Christ better. From the pen of C. H. Spurgeon, this book of short meditations on the person and work, and especially incarnation, of Christ, draws our gaze upwards to the glory of the God-Man.

This week we read just one of the 38 meditations, and consider with Spurgeon the 'fullness' of Christ.

Buy the book: https://banneroftruth.org/store/devotionalsdaily-readings/good-tidings-of-great-joy/

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

How ought the godly to respond when the church body, denomination, or union of which they are members becomes overrun by false teaching? Should unity be preserved at all costs, or is there a time to separate? If separation occurs, what are the implications for the unity of the true church?

These questions concerning the unity and purity of the church are not straightforward to answer.

This week, the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust will make publicly available the audio of an address given by Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Central Hall in October 1966. 'Evangelical Unity: An Appeal' treats of these themes.

With the topic of unity and purity on many minds, we turn this week to consider again the way in which C. H. Spurgeon faced and treated them in the 1880s.

Featured Resource:

Iain H. Murray, 'C. H. Spurgeon: The Downgrade and Denominational Loyalties,' Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 34 (July 1964).

Listen to the 'Lost Recording' of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' 1966 address:

https://www.mljtrust.org/blog/evangelical-unity-an-appeal-recording-found/

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

This week's Friday Extra is a reading, by William Boekestein, of the entry for Psalm 13 in the new Banner title he has co-authored with Rob Ventura, God is Our Refuge and Strength: 150 Devotionals Through the Psalms.

The book releases in North America on 13 October, and will be available in the UK and World store from early December.

Buy the book/sign up for the Waitlist: https://banneroftruth.org/store/devotional-books/god-is-our-refuge-and-strength/

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

We're delighted to announce a new series coming to the Banner Podcast and Youtube channel—Westminster Wednesdays—starting, Lord-willing, on Wednesday, 28 October.

In a Christian world saturated with discipleship resources, the Westminster Shorter Catechism has stood the test of time as an edifying summary of Christian truth, well adapted to use in churches and in the Christian home.

But how can we deepen our meditation on the truths of the catechism? How can we get ready to teach it to others?

For the pastor or Christian parent wondering how to unlock this treasury of truth for their congregation or children, or indeed for the Christian wanting to go deeper in the faith, we hope Westminster Wednesdays is a user-friendly way in to catechesis.

Joining Joshua to make this announcement is a special guest who has recently joined the work of the Banner of Truth Trust.

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be Christians, but there are irreconcilable differences between the teachings of the Watchtower and the teachings of the Bible. We focus on three of these key differences for this week's Magazine Monday episode, as we read a letter from a former Jehovah's Witness who came to a real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

'Footnote':

As mentioned in the audio, here are further texts to prove that faith in Jesus Christ is the sole factor in salvation:

John 1:12; 3:14–18; 5:24; 6:35–40; 7:39; 9:35; 11:26; 12:44–46; 14:1; Acts 10:43; 13:39; 15:11; 20:21; Romans 3:26; 4:5; 9:33; 10:4.

Featured Resource:

J. B. Archer, 'The Differences Between Jehovah's Witnesses and Orthodox Christians,' Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 98 (November 1971).

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

It's often helpful to know something of the backstory of a book. In this Friday Extra, Banner trustee Dr Donald John MacLean helps us get to grips with a church controversy that broke out in and around London in the 1690s.

One of the happy results of that unhappy conflict was a short book on salvation written by the Scottish Divine and survivor of the Bass Rock, Robert Traill (1642–1716). His little book Justification Vindicated teaches, against legalism and antinomianism, what he terms 'the good old way' of the Protestant doctrine of justification.

Buy the book: https://banneroftruth.org/store/theology/justification-vindicated/

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast

We continue the remarkable story of Charlotte Geddie, whose witness to the gospel consisted in her brave, self-denying ministry as a wife, mother, and helpmeet to her missionary husband John.

This week we pick up the story as the Geddies, recently bereft of two of their children, continue making plans to minister in the New Hebrides.

Featured resource:

Joan Kingswood, 'From Island to Island: The Witness of Charlotte Geddie (2)' Banner of Truth Magazine, Issue 757 (October 2026).

Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org

Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine

Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast