Welcome to the website of the Gospel Standard Strict Baptists
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2. 8-9)
AUGUST 2026 CONTENTS
Editorial — “He Shall Not Speak of Himself”
Sermon — Believing on Jesus Christ (John 8:30-32)
Gracious Counsel — Getting the priorities right in seeking a wife
Best Behaviour – Church Membership (1)
Anne Dutton
A Prescription for Soul-Sickness
An Exhortation to Deeper Faith
Obituary — Minnie Tirzah Playfoot
Book Reviews
Matters of the Moment — The Sin of Sodom
Poetry — Never Was Love Like This
Cover image: Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Argula Von Grumbach, author of our article “An Exhortation to Deeper Faith”, made her principal stand against the University of Ingolstadt in 1523. Photo by Thomas Kniess, reproduced under the Creative Commons
“He Shall Not Speak of Himself”
The Person and work of the Holy Spirit are glorious to contemplate. He is the third Person of the Godhead, equal with the Father and the Son. In the work of salvation, He is the perfector of our salvation. It is His work to apply salvation to the elect by imparting to them the life of Christ in regeneration; to carry on that work through their time on earth in sanctifying them; and to perfect the work of grace in them, bringing them to glory. It is a bad sign in any professing church to fail to acknowledge that the work of the Holy Spirit is essential. The Holy Spirit’s work is vital for salvation; it is God-ordained and God-glorifying.
Three times in His final sermon Jesus directly mentions the Holy Spirit and His work, and each time He uses the same pattern to say three things about Him: (a) who the Holy Spirit is, (b) from whom and where He will come, and (c) the work He is sent to do. Specifically, Jesus is clear that (a) the Holy Spirit is God; (b) He is sent from the Father (John 14:26), and the Son (15:26), and He comes willingly Himself (16:13-14); and (c) His work is to reveal Jesus Christ. Coming to the work of the Spirit in particular, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit’s work is expressly (1) to teach all things, especially by reminding His people of the words of Jesus (John 14:26), (2) to testify of Jesus (15:26), and (3) to glorify Jesus (16:13-14). Just as Jesus is the revealer of the Father, so the Holy Spirit is the revealer of Jesus. When the Spirit does this work, Jesus adds that He “shall not speak of Himself.” In giving Christ the pre-eminence that the Father has ordained, it is the Holy Spirit’s pleasure to remain in the background. The Holy Spirit directs our attention to Christ, not to Himself.
The Bible gives us a window into this when it describes the positions that the Holy Spirit and Jesus take relative to the believer. Isaiah says, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.” The Holy Spirit speaks from behind the believer. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus is in front of His sheep. They do not follow the Holy Spirit. Instead, it is thanks to the Holy Spirit pointing Him out that the sheep recognise Jesus in order to follow Him.
Elsewhere, the Holy Spirit is likened to the pole on which Christ is lifted up (Isa. 59:19). He is the light shining on and illuminating Jesus for us (Eph. 1:17-18). He is the channel through which Christ pours His graces into us (Gal. 5:22-23). He is the voice within and behind us telling us to look to Jesus alone. These pictures show us the Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to see and receive Christ, but He Himself is always in the background.
Indeed, the greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is not what we know of the Holy Spirit, but what we know of Jesus. The test of all true religion comes down to that one question: “What think ye of Christ?” If the Holy Spirit is truly working in you, then without hesitation, in effect, your answer will be, “He is the Christ, the Son of God. He alone has the Words of eternal life. He is my Saviour. my Lord and my God.”
What are the results of misunderstanding the work of the Holy Spirit?
In the ministry, the problem arises that we preach the Holy Spirit and His work rather than preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Preaching which fails to centre on the Person and work of Jesus falls short of Paul’s definition of gospel preaching, “We preach Christ crucified!” Of all the sermons recorded in the Acts, only that of Peter on the Day of Pentecost mentions the Holy Spirit, and then only as the seal and witness to the fact that Jesus is the Christ. If we are wondering why there is so little blessing on the Word today, we should consider whether it is because we have failed to preach Jesus as we should. Instead, the main focus has become the Holy Spirit and His work in the soul, encouraging poor sinners to look inward and distracting them from looking to Jesus and His work on the cross. Let us return to preaching the faithful saying, which is worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the chief (1 Tim. 1:15).
In personal religion, the problem is that the big question becomes, “What do I know of the Holy Spirit’s work?” rather than, “What do I know of Jesus?” If we know anything of Jesus, if we love Him and have been brought to obey and serve Him, it will only be because Holy Spirit has been at work within us. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” But to begin to know whether we are saved by looking for the work of the Holy Spirit within us, rather than asking what Jesus means to us, is to begin at the wrong place. It produces excessive introspection and is foreign to the exhortations of Paul (especially Heb. 12:1-3).
May the Lord be pleased to teach us and to restore us to a right view of the Holy Spirit and His work. It is vital. The Holy Spirit is as necessary for our salvation as Jesus is. Without the Holy Spirit, the death of Christ will never effectively save a soul. But the Holy Spirit is content to be shy when it comes to publicity. He wants one thing — Jesus to be glorified! May we evidence the vital work of the Holy Spirit in our souls in the same way — putting Jesus first in all things and especially in preaching.
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A complete list of the books currently in print published by the Trust.
Information on legal matters regarding a chapel, assistance with complying with the law and help with carrying out repairs.
Information about the magazines published by the Gospel Standard Society. Subscriptions can be arranged here and sample copies downloaded.
Information about the Gospel Standard Bethesda care home at Brighton, and the Independent Living units at Harpenden and Swavesey.
Information about the Gospel Standard Society and its charitable aims.
Full details of the Gospel Standard Baptist Library. Catalogues of books can be downloaded and requests for books to borrow, free of charge, can be made.
Our Organisations
The Gospel Standard Trust has two primary functions:
- The publication of sound Christian books.
- To provide legal and financial assistance with Gospel Standard chapel buildings, and advice on complying with the law in other matters pertaining to the running of chapels.
The Gospel Standard Society:
- Provides financial assistance to those in need associated with the Gospel Standard chapels.
- Owns and publishes the Gospel Standard, Friendly Companion and Perception magazines.
The Gospel Standard Baptist Library maintains a valuable collection of Reformed Christian books.
The Gospel Standard Bethesda Fund provides care homes and warden-assisted flatlets for elderly people who are associated with Gospel Standard Chapels.
The Manuscript Sermons section is a new venture between the Gospel Standard Library and the Gospel Standard Trust to put on this web site scanned copies of most of the sermons which are in the possession of the Library in manuscript form. They can be freely downloaded. The project is still ongoing and it is hoped more will be added. Comments to the Librarian are welcome.
Who are the Gospel Standard Baptists? - A Summary
The Gospel Standard Magazine was originated by John Gadsby (1808-1893) in 1835 with the assistance and support of his father, William Gadsby (1773-1844) and is still published today. The magazine was commenced to contend for the doctrines of grace, but especially for the necessity and gracious, sanctifying effect of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of the Lord's people. It also advocated believer's baptism and strict communion. The circulation of the magazine grew rapidly, and in the early 1860s the editor, J. C. Philpot, gave a most gracious defence of the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ, concerning which there had been many errors propagated, and which resulted in a division among the Strict Baptist churches. It was as a result of this division that many of the Strict Baptist churches began to align themselves with the Gospel Standard magazine, and over the years have become known as Gospel Standard Baptists.
For more information see the About Us page or download the booklet 'Who are We?" A list of Gospel Standard chapels can be downloaded here.