27 Sep

PRC and Sister-Church News Highlights for September 27, 2020

Published in News

Ecclesiastes 3 1 The following are special highlights of PRC and sister-church news for this Sunday, September 27, 2020, the thirty-ninth Lord's Day of this year.

Rev. M. Vanderwal (Wingham ON PRC) has accepted the call to First PRC, Edmonton, AB (August 16). He preached his farewell in Wingham PRC today.
From First PRC's-Edmonton's bulletin today we find these details about the VanderWal's move this week: Rev. VanderWal will be preaching his farewell sermon tomorrow in Wingham and then traveling, with his wife, Tricia, and their two children, Cameron and Olivia, to Edmonton this coming week. Chris and Jon Miersma are flying out there this week and will be driving the VanderWal’s U-Haul to Edmonton. Rev. VanderWal will then be installed, as our pastor, next Sunday morning, October 4. May they all have safe traveling mercies as they make their way to Alberta this week. All this, the Lord willing.
Last Sunday (Sept.20) Hudsonville PRC extended a call to Rev. J. Engelsma (Doon, IA). May the Lord guide him into the certain knowledge of His will concerning this new call.
Rev. R. Kleyn is considering the call from Kalamazoo PRC (received Sept.6). He plans to answer by Oct.4. May the King of the church guide him as he considers this call.
Classical appointments and pulpit supply for today in the vacant PRCs: Rev. A.Spriensma in Cornerstone PRC; Rev. T.Miersma in First PRC, Edmonton; Prof. R. Dykstra and Rev. W. Langerak in Hudsonville PRC; Rev. K.Koole and Rev. J.Maatman in Kalamazoo PRC; Prof. B.Gritters and Rev. C.Spronk in Providence PRC. What a blessing that our PRC federation gives such help to these churches! May we also bring to the throne of grace the needs of these vacant congregations.
The Consistory of Wingham PRC (ON) has formed its first trio following their pastor's acceptance of the call to First PRC Edmonton, AB. It consists of Revs. C. Spronk (Faith PRC), R. Barnhill (Peace PRC), and J. Engelsma (Doon PRC). A congregation meeting is scheduled for Monday September 28 to vote from this trio.
Let us not forget to pray for the needs of Rev. J. Marcus, who awaits a call to the churches, of Rev. M. McGeown, who awaits permission to enter the States to be installed in Providence PRC, and of Covenant ERC, our sister church in Singapore, as she awaits both pulpit supply from the PRC and a call for minister-on-loan through Grandville PRC - both on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions.
For those who may still be limited to house worship, whether completely or partially, we invite you to visit the PR churches page and follow the links to the websites where the churches' livestream may be found.
Did you know that:
- At the meeting of Classis West this past week a pulpit supply schedule was not needed? The reason? With Rev. M. VanderWal's installation in First PRC-Edmonton next Sunday, D.V., there will be no vacancies in the West for the first time in many years. We thank the Lord for supplying pastors for all these congregations. Now, how many vacancies are there in Classis East?
- Prof. R.Dykstra has begun to lead 'live' (stream) morning services for our sister church in Singapore, Covenant ERC? From the PRC Seminary assembly room in Wyoming, MI on Saturday night he leads the service and preaches the Word via Zoom, while the saints in Singapore gather at her place of worship on Sunday morning (the 12-hour difference in time allows for this to happen)! That also means that Prof. Dykstra is able to lead two morning services in two different countries (perhaps a first in PRC history!), since he also has been supplying the Catechism preaching for Kalamazoo PRC in the morning. What a blessing! Here's why that was special for our Singaporean sister today: This morning, we thank God that we can witness the installation and ordination of three brothers into the offices of elders and deacons, despite a delay of about 3 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. ...We rejoice in the Lord for providing men to serve in Session. The installation and ordination of special offices speak of Christ’s faithfulness and care for His church. This is a significant event of CERC and also an unprecedented one! Prof Dykstra will conduct the installation and ordination of the new office-bearers, through live-stream from the U.S.
- Mrs. Sharon Kleyn has a new post on her blog about (missionary/church) life in the Philippines under the present quarantine? The post has bugs, flowers - and people (see one below in the sister-church section)! Read all about it here.

ClWest Sept 2020 Edgerton
Delegates to this past week's meeting of Classis West in Edgerton (MN) PRC

PRC DENOMINATIONAL NEWS:

Classis West plans met this past Wednesday (Sept.23) in Edgerton (MN) PRC. For a report on its proceedings, visit this page.
The 2020 PRC Acts of Synod is now available and is in process of being distributed to the congregations. If you have not yet received yours, seek out your congregation's clerk, the stated clerk (Rev. R. Van Overloop), or contact the seminary.
2020 edition of the Church Order: The 2020 edition of the ring-bound Church Order book is now available and may be ordered through the PRC Seminary (616-531-1490). As per synodical decision, these books are updated every five years to incorporate new synodical decisions affecting them. In addition to the Church Order, this book also contains such things as the Constitutions of all synodical committees, the Rules of Synodical Procedure, the Explanation of the Rules for Protests/Appeals/Overtures and the denomination's Articles of Incorporation and By-laws. All these are of most practical use to the office bearers. But, all of our families would do well to cultivate a knowledge of and interest in Protestant Reformed church polity. If you already have the six-ring green binder, you need only order the new inserts ($4.00). The inserts with the binder with the 2020 edition is $10.00. Payment can be made to the PRCA after you receive your materials.

sign Sept 2020

Special PRC Seminary Notices:

Seminary has now completed five weeks of its first semester - one third already! Pray for the professors, students, and staff as they labor in the task of training men for the ministry of the Word.
Due to the current restrictions on indoor gatherings in the state of Michigan, the Theological School Committee has cancelled the 2020 Seminary Convocation (usually held in early September). The plan is to have a news report in the October 1 Standard Bearer, including an introduction to the students. Watch for that coming soon (this week)!
For several years, the seminary faculty have permitted auditors to audit some classes. The presence and input of the auditors has been appreciated. With regret, because of COVID restrictions, the faculty is not inviting any auditors this semester. This decision will be reviewed at the end of the semester with a view to Interim 2021 and the second semester.
For the latest seminary news and information, visit the seminary's website.

DKleyn livestream 2020 1
Missionary-pastor D. Kleyn preparing to livestream a sermon from his home in Antipolo City, the Philippines (still under quaratine)

SISTER-CHURCH/MISSIONS NEWS:

Covenant ERC, Singapore:
- From today's "Pastoral Voice" in her bulletin: This past Thursday, our government has announced to ease the restrictions on religious activities to allow religious organization to host up to 100 people for services. Session is currently waiting for the new guidelines from MCCY and will be updating and publishing a new worship roster. As the psalmist testified that the Almighty God, the Creator of the heaven and earth, will bless His people, our hearts ought to fill with joy and eagerness when we will soon be able come more frequently to worship God and receive His blessings.
- And in her India mission news, the CERC includes this note today: Do remember our fellow brethren in Kolkata in your personal and family prayers. ...Pray that God will uphold other saints, in Kolkata, who may suffer from hardships from the pandemic. Pray that God will provide the means for Rev Singh to reach out to these saints to ascertain their needs so that our deacons can send the necessary diaconate assistance to them. As the saints gather to worship in Rev Singh’s home on the Lord’s Day, pray that God will use the preaching of the word of God, by Rev Singh, to comfort and bring encouragement to our brethren in Kolkata.
- The last issue of "Reformed News Asia" is the August 2020 one, #61). Read that issue here.
Covenant PRC, N. Ireland:
- Rev. R. Hanko brought the Word there today.
- Missionary-pastor M. McGeown continues to preach the gospel in Limerick, Ireland until he can enter the U.S. and be installed as Providence PRC's pastor.
- Be sure to read the latest issue of the "Covenant Reformed News" - September 2020 - just out!
PRC in the Philippines:
- With strict government limitations on public gatherings still in place due to the pandemic, the PRCP pastors and the PRC missionaries carry on with livestreaming of services as well as with online catechism classes and Bible studies (cf. the photo of Rev. D.Kleyn above).
- PRCP Seminary News: Our PRCP seminary students will be having their mid-term examinations in this week. Then, October 5-9 is “Reading Break” for our students and instructors. Please remember them in your prayers before our heavenly Father for His blessings upon them in their seminary labours this week.
- The latest PRCP newsletter was published last month - don't forget to read the August 2020 report!

Are we continuing to pray for our dear brothers and sisters throughout the world as they also face trials and tribulations? May we also show the communion of saints in this way.

Listen to the Reformed Witness Hour each Sunday - on a radio station near you or on Sermonaudio wherever you are!

Rev. A. Spriensma (PRC home missionary) is currently delivering the messages, and this month he is finishing his messages on the truth of God's covenant of grace. Today's concluding message is titled "The Covenant Life of God's Children" based on Hebrews 13:20,21
Listen to the broadcast on the station near you, on your favorite podcast (Google Play, Spotify, and iTunes), or visit the links provided here to listen to this program.
The Reformed Witness Hour publishes each month's messages in an attractive booklet. These printed sermons are a great blessing to many and are distributed all over the world, including to many prisoners in the U.S. If you or your Evangelism Commitee would like to receive these, let the RWHC know and they will add you to the mailing list (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

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REFORMED RESOURCES FOR EDIFICATION, EDUCATION, and EVANGELISM:

GiftofAssuranceDJE
Looking for things to read on the Reformed doctrine of assurance? Check out this resource, The Gift of Assurance by Prof. D. Engelsma

The Reformed Book Outlet is running a 25% off sale on most items for the month or September! As a reminder, our hours are Tuesday 10-1, Wednesday 1-5, and Saturday 10-1, or send your order to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Are you desirous to learn more about the doctrines and practices of the PRC? Or, are you in need of some pamphlets and/or articles published by the PRC for use in evangelism and/or witnessing? Or are you simply interested in growing in your faith and walk with the Lord? Visit the Resources pages of this website and the PRCA Evangelism page for a complete list of materials available in digital format or by order from the publishing church.

This Week's Thought for Contemplation:

What was the cost? What was the price for our redemption? How was it paid and to whom was it paid? We read in our text, “in whom we have redemption through his blood” That “in whom” refers to Christ. In eternity Christ was declared the Head of His people, to be the Head of the church. In the fullness of time, Christ came into our flesh to shed His lifeblood on the accursed tree. And therefore we have redemption. It means that we are freed from the guilt and the power of sin. And that freedom is through His blood. This phrase means the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the shedding of His blood. He gave up His life willingly. He gave up His life in the love of God. He gave up His life as the Person of the Son of God in human nature. This is the forgiveness of sins.

Could not we be forgiven in some other way? The answer is, “absolutely not.” For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus paid the penalty for our sins to the righteous and just God. The sinner must die. But Jesus died that death for us. Not only that, but He procured the perfect obedience that is demanded of us. This is the only way of salvation! We are sinners. Because it was the person of the Son of God that shed His lifeblood willingly, and in love to God, and in perfect obedience, we are forgiven and much more! We will be united with Him. And we will have eternal life and glory. This is all of God’s rich grace. How you and I should sing God’s praises each and every day in gratitude.

From this past week's special meditation by Rev. A. Spriensma, PRC home missionary - Redemption by Christ's Blood (Eph.1:7)

26 Sep

The Mystery Revealed (Meditation on Ephesians 1:8-10)

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

The Mystery Revealed

Meditation on Ephesians 1:8-10

...[A]ccording to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.

I had to smile when contemplating this text. It was a text that many years ago had been given to a young man for his classical examination for ordination. I was one of the sermon critics. We had to bring the sad report that in his sermon, the lad had completely missed the point. In his sermon, he concluded that it is still a mystery to him why God chose him to be saved. Now while that is true for each of us sinners, that is not what the chosen text was about. We read in verse 9, “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” What mystery did God make known? The answer is that in the fullness of time, God would gather together all things in Christ.

God, in the riches of His grace, showers or abounds that grace unto us or even into us. How can we know that? The answer: “in all wisdom and understanding.” According to the context, the grace of God has abounded into us exactly in all wisdom and prudence. Prudence or understanding is one of the fruits or results of wisdom. By wisdom, the person who knows God is given understanding of God’s will. This is not just an intellectual knowledge of the head, but heart knowledge. Knowing God and His will, we therefore know the way of salvation. It is very practical. Such a person walks in that way. He or she has discernment or distinction between the truth and error, between the way of the will of God and the way of evil, between the way of salvation and the way of destruction. This is not dead orthodoxy. In contrast, this is a true, living faith! God gives that to each of His people by the Holy Spirit.

God has made known unto us the mystery of His will! The entire knowledge of salvation, which was not known before the coming of Christ is now clearly made known. In the Old Testament times, God revealed that He would presently bring salvation in many ways: verbal prophecy and all kinds of signs, wonders, and types. God’s people understood that too. And as far as the mystery of God’s will was pictured in the old dispensation, the Old Testament saints were saved by faith.

So the mystery of the will of God does not refer to the fact that nothing at all was known in the old dispensation. It refers to the fact that with the coming of Christ, and only with the coming of Christ would God’s work and purpose be clearly revealed. Although there were prophecies, signs and wonders in the Old Testament, the will of God was still a mystery. It could not clearly be discerned. Who is the promised Mediator? How will He save? What will He save His people from?

When Jesus Christ, was on earth, He taught the people to know God by His teaching and miracles. But why was the cross necessary? Do you remember the grief of the two on the way to Emmaus? “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21)? What despair! They did not know what to make of Jesus’ death or the women’s report of the resurrection. Jesus had to open up to them the Scriptures to show them the necessity of the Messiah’s death. After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, He poured out His Spirit as He promised. His Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Suddenly, the disciples understood why Jesus had to die. They understood that His kingdom was not an earthly kingdom but a heavenly kingdom. Then the disciples were able to be bold in preaching the gospel which before had been a mystery. By his Word and Spirit, Christ is gathering all the citizens of His kingdom.

But the mystery of the will of God also is revealed in regard to the ultimate purpose of all things. The Apostle Paul continued to write in our text, “according to the good pleasure of his will, which he hath purposed in himself” (that he set before him). What is that purpose of God? We have it in verse 10, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are one earth; even in him.” God delights in His own eternal counsel. It is according to His counsel that He does all things.

The contents of God’s counsel are set forth. Why was there the fall into sin? Why were there the flood and the saving of Noah and his family? Why was Abraham chosen? Why did God have His people as slaves in Egypt for 400 years? Why did His people have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years? Why did their dwelling in Canaan end with the captivity in Babylon for 70 years? Many would question these things. And we can go on with events today. Why is there this Covid-19? Why does the extreme wickedness of the world continue to develop? Why must there be tribulation and the final era of the Antichrist? Could and cannot God prevent so much misery?

The answer is that God is in charge, working all things in these various eras for the gathering and salvation of His people. The fullness of times in verse 10 is the whole New Testament era, and especially that very last time, the very end of the fullness of times when Jesus returns.

God works all things in time and history so that Christ will be the head of the whole world. He is not Head only of His church or of the angels, but all things in heaven and on earth. Adam was the head of the earth, but not of heaven. But when all things will be fulfilled, then all things in heaven and on earth will be united in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What a gospel we have to tell to our children and to the world around us. We are able, because God has made known the mystery of His will. What comfort we have in the various trials we have to endure. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Christ will come to make up his jewels.

26 Sep

Classis West Report - September 23, 2020

ClWest Sept 2020 Edgerton

News Report of Classis West of the PRCA
Meeting September 23, 2020

Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met on September 23, 2020, in Edgerton PRC (Edgerton, MN). The meeting was capably chaired by Rev. Matt De Boer (pastor of Edgerton PRC), who was serving in this capacity for the first time in his ministry.

Noticeably absent from the meeting were elder delegates from Immanuel PRC (Lacombe, AB) and First PRC (Edmonton, AB). These consistories were not able to attend the meeting due to the restrictions of the Canadian government with respect to COVID-19.

Routine reports from the stated clerk, the classical committee, and the reading sermon library committee were read and approved. A report from a special committee to assist a consistory was also received, their work approved, and the committee discontinued.

In closed session, a consistory sought the advice of Classis to increase the censure of two confessing members. Another consistory sought the advice of Classis to proceed with the erasure of a baptized member. After hearing of the impenitence of these individuals and the careful labors of these consistories, Classis took decisions to advise the consistories to proceed to further steps of Christian discipline.

Classis treated an appeal from an individual that objected to a statement in a sermon by his minister. Classis declared the appeal not legally before it on the grounds that the matter was not finished at the consistory level, that the individual had not researched and interacted with the decisions of recent PRCA synods that may touch on the matter, and that the individual gave evidence of not understanding the necessary function of the Three Forms of Unity in the process of protest and appeal.

In closed session, Classis treated an appeal regarding the work of a consistory. Classis ruled the appeal not legally before it because the requirements of Articles 30 and 31 of the Church Order had not been met.

Worth noting is that the Classis did not need to adopt a pulpit supply schedule, since at this time there are no vacancies in the Classis.

The expenses of this meeting totaled $5,897.52.

The next meeting of Classis is scheduled for March 3, 2021, in Hope (Redlands) PRC. The consistory of Hope (Redlands) PRC did inform Classis that they are located in a state with some of the tightest restrictions on gatherings due to COVID-19, and asked Classis either to appoint a different host church or to appoint an alternate host church in case they believe it is not possible for them to host. Classis appointed Peace PRC as an alternate host, and authorized the Classical Committee to make the necessary arrangements in consultation with the consistory of Hope (Redlands) PRC. All this, the Lord willing.

Rev. Joshua Engelsma
Stated Clerk, Classis West

The Fruits of Good Works

By Hoeksema, Herman

22 Sep

Redemption by Christ's Blood

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Redemption by Christ's Blood

Meditation on Ephesians 1:7

he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

In this verse we focus on Christ’s principal work, which is redemption. All the persons of the Trinity are involved in this work, but Christ’s role is central. The work of the Father was primarily in planning our salvation. The work of the Holy Spirit is in applying it to individuals. It is the second person of the Trinity who came down from heaven and assumed our sinful flesh to redeem us by His death upon the cross.

Redemption is central to Christianity. What a precious word it is on our lips. How many Christian songs sing of our Redeemer.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed thru his infinite mercy, his child, and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever I am. (William Kirkpatrick, 1838-1921)

In the Greek language, there are three words for redemption. The first word comes from the noun for a Greek market place. It means ‘to buy’ or to ‘buy in a marketplace’. This word emphasizes the price Jesus paid for our salvation. Redemption is deliverance from a life of sin and death. Deliverance by payment of a price was common in the Old Testament period. A kinsman-redeemer would purchase back the property that was lost through debt and restore it to the family. Boaz did this for the land that belonged to the husband of Ruth.

Another New Testament word for redemption is the same word as the first but with the prefix ‘ex’, meaning ‘out of’. The word means ‘to buy out of the marketplace. This has the thought that one thus purchased might never be returned to be sold on the marketplace again . This is a wonderful thought for Christians because it has to do with the effective and permanent nature of redemption. We have been redeemed from sin, and the promise of this word is that we might never be sold under the power of sin again. Think of the example of a slave purchased, and then the owner tires of the slave’s performance or abilities and thus sells him again. A slave’s position was never secure. This is not the case with Christ Jesus. Jesus purchased us so that we might be taken out of the market place and never have to return.

A third word for redemption in the New Testament is unrelated to the other two terms. It means ‘to loose, set free or deliver’ by the payment of a price. This is a beautiful and encouraging thought. Not only are we bought out of the marketplace of sin, never to be returned there, but we are set free. A slave could be bought on the slave block, never to return there, but always remain a slave for the rest of his life. Jesus buys us from sin to set us free! Again there is a hymn that describes this:

“Free from the law, O happy condition! Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace redeemed us once for all. Now we are free, there’s no condemnation! Jesus provides a perfect salvation; Come unto me, O hear his sweet call! Come, and he saves once for all.” (Philip Bliss, 1838-1876)

I will sing of my redeemer and his wondrous love to me; On the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free. I will tell the wondrous story, How my lost estate to save, In his boundless love and mercy, he the ransom freely paid. I will praise my dear redeemer, his triumph power I’ll tell, How the victory he giveth over sin and death and hell. Sing, O sing of my Redeemer, with his blood he purchased me; On the cross he sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free. (James McGranahan, 1840-1907)

22 Sep

Covenant Reformed News - September 2020

Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Covenant Reformed News

September 2020 • Volume XVIII, Issue 5

The Amazing Pregnancy of the Woman of Revelation 12

In the last News, we saw that the radiant woman of Revelation 12:1 is the church. Now we note that the (Old Testament) church was pregnant, pregnant with the Messiah (5): “she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered” (2).

Thus the church not only rejoices that the “Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” is “a child [that] is born” and “a son [that] is given” “unto us” (Isa. 9:6); she also marvels at the truth that He was born out of her.

What an amazing 4,000-year pregnancy! The church was pregnant with her seed, Christ, right from the very day of the fall in the Garden of Eden, according to Jehovah’s mother promise: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Who ever heard of such a long pregnancy? This is what the Old Testament days were: a gestation period of four millennia, not just nine months!

For these 4,000 years, the believing church was conscious that Christ was coming through her, as a pregnant woman knows that she is with child, especially as her due date approaches. As we saw above, Eve was told that her seed would crush Satan’s head. Abraham rejoiced to see Christ’s day and was glad (John 8:56).

Jacob and his sons looked forward to the coming of Shiloh (Gen. 49:10). A great prophet like Moses was in Israel’s womb (Deut. 18:15-19). The Messiah was to be the son of David (II Sam. 7:12-14). The prophets taught that the church would bring forth the Branch (Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zech. 3:8; 6:12). He would even be Immanuel, God with us (Isa. 7:14)!

The Old Testament church’s consciousness that she was pregnant with the Messiah included her experiencing, for some four millennia, the pain and struggle of bearing Him, yearning for His birth and bringing Him forth. She longed for God to show His face and glory—in the incarnation of His only begotten Son. Out of the deep sense of her sin and misery, she struggled in prayer for forgiveness and righteousness—in the coming Christ and His cross. She sought for strength to fight against iniquity and for deliverance from her enemies—in the Messiah who would slay Satan and sin. She prayed for the extension and growth of God’s people, including the conversion of the Gentiles—through Christ who builds His church and saves His elect out of all nations. She desired the coming of God’s kingdom and the realization of His covenant—in the advent of the King of kings and “the messenger of the covenant” (Mal. 3:1).

“O Lord, hasten the coming of Thy Son, and bring His birth and our deliverance, for our labour pains are hard!” Such was, in essence, the prayer and hope of the woman, the church, in the Old Testament.

As members of the New Testament church, we cannot and do not groan in pain for Christ’s first coming, since that has already happened. But we ought and can and do pray earnestly for His second advent: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). In this, we join with the creation itself which groans and travails, suffering birth pangs, for Christ’s return and His renewal of the entire universe (Rom. 8:19-23)! Rev. Angus Stewart

Universal Grace in Jonah?

A reader has asked about the meaning of three texts, two of them from the book of Jonah, which some use in support of a universal divine grace.

(1) First, he mentions Jonah 2:8 which some claim teaches a well-meant offer of the gospel. Jonah 2:8 reads in the Authorized Version, “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”

I was sent nearly 35 translations of the verse, most of which are different from each other. Apparently, translators cannot agree on what is the proper translation and some, such as the NIV, clearly support the idea of a well-meant offer (WMO) of salvation to all men.

I have discussed the issue of this heresy of the WMO over and over again in the News, but it keeps coming up because many in Reformed and Presbyterian and other circles are determined to introduce into the Reformed faith this heresy which is a crucial component in Arminianism.

Let me give a brief summary of the teachings of the well-meant offer. The WMO presents the preaching of the gospel as an expression of God’s love for all men absolutely and His passionate desire to save everybody. It is up to man either to accept this love of God and believe in Christ or to reject it.

Implicit is the heretical doctrine of universal atonement, that Christ died for every man head for head. This is necessary because God cannot desire the salvation of all men unless it is available to them and all of salvation comes only from the cross. I cannot offer to give a man £10,000 if I do not have it, without making a mockery of my offer.

Further, along with the preaching of a universal love of God comes His grace to all men head for head. God’s grace is shown in His love, for grace to sinners is unmerited favour and God’s favour includes love. But that grace in giving all men a chance to be saved is also a grace bestowed on all men that enables them to accept the proffered salvation. Jonah 2:8 is appealed to as proof for God’s universal love.

I must make a few remarks about Jonah in general. First of all, Jonah was commanded to go to Nineveh to preach repentance to this arch-enemy of Israel, which was poised to destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel where Jonah lived.

Second, Jonah did not flee the land of Canaan because he was scared to go to that godless city. Jonah was no coward; after all, he was asleep and unafraid in a boat that was being tossed around by a storm that terrified seasoned sailors. He fled Canaan because ordinarily only in that land did God speak to His people. Jonah thought that, if he could get out of Canaan, God could not send him to Nineveh.

Third, he had to go to Nineveh because God would save one generation among the worst of all the uncircumcised heathen because their salvation was prophetic of a coming day in which the gospel would be sent to the four corners of the earth to save a catholic or universal church. However, though God did not ordinarily speak to people outside Canaan in the Old Testament era, He could also speak through raging storms and huge fish. Apparently, Jonah forgot that.

Fourth, when Jonah was in the belly of the fish, his prayer was almost entirely quotations from the Psalms.

Finally, Jesus Himself tells us that Jonah’s three-day stay in the fish’s belly was a type of His burial and resurrection (Matt. 12:40); that is, the Gentiles, such as the Ninevites, could be saved only through Christ’s being raised from the dead on the third day. But our Lord’s mighty work was atonement for both Jews and Gentiles, markedly different from God’s saving work in the old dispensation, which was largely with the nation of Israel.

It is in this general context that Jonah 2:8 must be understood—not as proponents of the WMO, who grab texts out of their context and sing, “Hallelujah, we have found a proof text for our heresy.”

On the surface of the matter, I wonder why WMO advocates have to interpret the phrase “their own mercy” in Jonah 2:8 as being God’s mercy. If we take the translation of the AV/KJV as correct—as it probably is—it speaks of the mercy demonstrated by the wicked, not by God. So why make it proof for the WMO?

You may argue that the wicked exercise no mercy and that there is only that mercy which God gives to or shows human beings, but that is not true. Proverbs 12:10 states that “the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” They surely display a “mercy” which is a kindness shown to the underprivileged or others in distress. Many philanthropic organizations manifest a certain concern for others. James even speaks of a wisdom that the wicked have but calls it “earthy, sensual, devilish” (3:15).

Jonah, inspired by the Holy Spirit and thus speaking the word of Christ in the great fish’s belly, in his prayer to God in which he cites many different passages from the Psalms, expresses the truth that the wicked who worship idols do indeed perform their acts of mercy (as shown to Jonah by the sailors, for example). However, their acts of worship are idolatry. It is probable that Jonah implied the petition that God please show mercy to him.

There is in the world among the wicked a development of sin. The philosophy of common grace does not improve men and make them better than they would be without it; sin reaps the harvest of more and more terrible sin. More importantly, in the context in Jonah, God will save Gentiles too, although that must wait for its full realization when Christ comes. The unbelieving Jews and the wicked among the Gentiles, who reject the gospel and disobey the command to believe, develop in sin until they become ripe for judgment. Remember a command is not an offer.

The same reader continues, “The Lord has pleasure in the penitence, the sorrow and the conversion of the ungodly, even if these are temporal and absolutely without any signs of genuine repentance.” The texts appealed to are Jonah 3:5-10 and I Kings 21:27-29.

(2) Now we move from Jonah 2 to Jonah 3. The questioner’s interpretation of Nineveh’s repentance at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:5-6) is wrong. It was a genuine repentance, as our Lord Jesus makes clear (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32). God saved the Ninevites as a prophecy of the salvation of the Gentiles in the New Testament age.

It is striking that only one generation was saved, for Nineveh returned to its idolatry. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, which later brought the Northern Kingdom into captivity. One can find the subsequent judgment on Nineveh in the book of Nahum. But before all this, Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. That generation of Ninevites will rise up in judgment against the people of Israel who did not repent, even though the incarnate Son of God, one far greater than Jonah, preached to them (Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32).

I am aware of the fact that not all commentators believe that Nineveh’s repentance was genuine but these words of Christ cannot be explained in any other way than that Nineveh truly repented.

(3) Concerning I Kings 21:27-29, it is clear that Ahab’s penitence was not the true repentance of a heart-broken sorrow for sin but was “the sorrow of the world” (II Cor. 7:10). That wicked king of Israel merely regretted what he had done because the consequences of God’s judgment upon him were frightening (21-24). Thus the next chapter speaks of Ahab’s hatred of the godly prophet Micaiah, whom he kept imprisoned (I Kings 22:8, 26-27). Nor did God gave him a “temporal” blessing; Ahab’s “extra days” meant more sin and a worse punishment for him in hell.

A drunkard whose family is suffering the effects of his drunkenness may be sorry for it, go to Alcoholics Anonymous, learn to quit drinking and restore his home. He may even ask for forgiveness from his badly-treated family. If he remains sober, a normal functioning family life may be recovered but that has nothing to do with salvation.

Similar principles concerning Ahab’s penitence are treated in a pamphlet written by Herman Hoeksema entitled, “The Curse-Reward of the Wicked Well-Doer,” which especially deals with Jehu. It is available to all online and we will post it free to any in the UK who request it.

The lesson is that all who promote a WMO and a universal grace do wrong when they flit from one text here and another there and, without any thought of the context or the Reformation principle that Scripture interprets Scripture, loudly claim to have found proof for their heresy. That kind of exegesis does injustice to Holy Writ and tears it apart as God’s revelation of Himself as the One who saves His elect people in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. Prof. Herman Hanko

Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena, BT43 5DR • Lord’s Day services at 11 am & 6 pm
Website: https://cprc.co.uk/ • Live broadcast: cprc.co.uk/live-streaming/
Pastor: Angus Stewart, 7 Lislunnan Road, Kells, N. Ireland, BT42 3NR • (028) 25 891851
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. • www.youtube.com/cprcni • www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC

20 Sep

PRC and Sister-Church News Highlights for September 20, 2020 *(Updated)

Published in News

Isa 49 23 The following are special highlights of PRC and sister-church news for this Sunday, September 20, 2020, the thirty-eighth Lord's Day of this year.

Rev. R. Kleyn is considering the call from Kalamazoo PRC (received Sept.6). May the King of the church guide him as he considers this call.
The Council of Hudsonville PRC has presented a trio to the congregation from which to call a new pastor: Revs. J. Engelsma (Doon, IA), R. Kleyn (Covenant of Grace, Spokane, WA), and C. Spronk (Faith, Jenison). A congregational meeting is scheduled for this evening following the service. *Rev. J. Engelsma has received this call.
Classical appointments and pulpit supply being filled today in the vacant PRCs: Rev. C. Griess in Cornerstone PRC; Prof. R. Cammenga and Rev. M. DeVries in Hudsonville PRC; Rev. T. Miersma in Immanuel PRC: Prof. R. Dykstra and Rev. J. Mahtani in Kalamazoo PRC; Prof. B. Gritters and Rev. G. Eriks in Providence PRC. Shall we thank the Lord for the blesing of our PRC federation that gives such help to these churches? And shall we also bring to the throne of grace the needs of these vacant congregations?
The Consistory of Wingham PRC (ON) has formed its first trio following their pastor's acceptance of the call to First PRC Edmonton, AB. It consists of Revs. C. Spronk (Faith PRC), R. Barnhill (Peace PRC), and J. Engelsma (Doon PRC). A congregation meeting is scheduled for Monday September 28 to vote from this trio.
Rev. M. Vanderwal (Wingham ON PRC) has accepted the call to First PRC, Edmonton, AB (August 16). Due to his presence at Classis East on Sept.9-10, he must quarantine for two weeks; for this reason he will now preach his farewell in Wingham PRC on Sunday, Sept.27.
Let us not forget the needs of Rev. J. Marcus, who awaits a call to the churches, of Rev. M. McGeown, who awaits permission to enter the States to be installed in Providence PRC, and of Covenant ERC, our sister church in Singapore, as she awaits both pulpit supply from the PRC and a call for minister-on-loan through Grandville PRC - both on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions.
For those who may still be limited to house worship, whether completely or partially, we invite you to visit the PR churches page and follow the links to the websites where the churches' livestream may be found.
Did you know that:
- Today Grace PRC (Standale, MI) is celebrating her 25th anniversary? Here's the special notes from her bulletin today:

“HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!” After holding services for thirteen months, the first service as Grace Protestant Reformed Church was on Sunday, July 9, 1995. That was with 23 families and 9 individuals – 107 souls. That the church of Jesus Christ exists at all is because of the powerful grace of God. Today we commemorate what God has done! We thank Him for His use of many human instruments and a variety of circumstances and events to bring us to mark 25 years of existence. To Him be the glory!

25^TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM: Praising the glory of God's grace! This evening is the time we will celebrate twenty-five years of Jehovah's gracious faithfulness to our congregation. A program will be held about 15 minutes after this evening's service. During the brief post-service interlude, we will be serving drinks, cookies, bars and breads. Please practice social distancing and utilize both indoor and outdoor spaces during the refreshment period. There will be tables set up for the elderly. We ask you to keep all refreshments out of the sanctuary! Once you hear the piano begin the prelude, please begin re-entering the auditorium, and let us join together in celebration of Jehovah's goodness!

That Covenant ERC in Singapore is celebrating her 33rd anniversary? See the notes below under sister churches. Happy anniversary, dear sister!
A new Protestant Reformed School is being planned in the West Michigan area? Redeemer Christian School is her name. This school will start out as a Pre-K through 8th Grade and, Lord willing, grow into a High School. To learn more about this new PR Christian school, please visit www.redeemerchrschool.com

EdgerPRC2012
Edgerton (MN) PRC, host of this week's Classis West meeting

PRC DENOMINATIONAL NEWS:

Classis West plans to meet this Wednesday, Sept.23, in Edgerton (MN) PRC. May the Lord grant safe travels for the delegates and wisdom for their work during the meeting.
The 2020 PRC Acts of Synod is now available and is in process of being distributed to the congregations. If you have not yet received yours, seek out your congregation's clerk, the stated clerk (Rev. R. Van Overloop), or contact the seminary.
2020 edition of the Church Order: The 2020 edition of the ring-bound Church Order book is now available and may be ordered through the PRC Seminary (616-531-1490). As per synodical decision, these books are updated every five years to incorporate new synodical decisions affecting them. In addition to the Church Order, this book also contains such things as the Constitutions of all synodical committees, the Rules of Synodical Procedure, the Explanation of the Rules for Protests/Appeals/Overtures and the denomination's Articles of Incorporation and By-laws. All these are of most practical use to the office bearers. But, all of our families would do well to cultivate a knowledge of and interest in Protestant Reformed church polity. If you already have the six-ring green binder, you need only order the new inserts ($4.00). The inserts with the binder with the 2020 edition is $10.00. Payment can be made to the PRCA after you receive your materials.

front july 2019

Special PRC Seminary Notices:

Seminary has now completed four weeks of its first semester. Pray for the professors, students, and staff as they labor in the task of training men for the ministry of the Word.
Due to the current restrictions on indoor gatherings in the state of Michigan, the Theological School Committee has cancelled the 2020 Seminary Convocation (usually held in early September). The plan is to have a news report in the October 1 Standard Bearer, including an introduction to the students. Watch for that coming soon!
For several years, the seminary faculty have permitted auditors to audit some classes. The presence and input of the auditors has been appreciated. With regret, because of COVID restrictions, the faculty is not inviting any auditors this semester. This decision will be reviewed at the end of the semester with a view to Interim 2021 and the second semester.
For the latest seminary news and information, visit the seminary's website.

CERC camp June 2019
Covenant ERC-Singapore Church Camp, June 2019 (Happy anniversary, sister!)

SISTER-CHURCH/MISSIONS NEWS:

Covenant ERC, Singapore:
- From today's "Pastoral Voice" in her bulletin: The above verses [Gen.22:13-14] record for us a very severe trial of the faith of Abraham and this beautiful confession: “Jehovah-Jireh” (Jehovah will provide). Abraham was told by God to go to the land of Moriah and there he was commanded to offer up his son, Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed the LORD and brought his son Isaac to a mountain in Moriah. While he was about to slay his son, the angel of the LORD called out to Abraham and stopped him. Instead, God provide him a ram and he offered it up for a burnt offering unto the LORD and he called that place, Jehovah-Jireh (Jehovah will provide). Beloved, it is in the same way that we believe God will provide for Covenant Church as we celebrate our church’s 33rd Anniversary. It is especially, important for us at this anniversary to trust in His provision as we are going through this difficult time as a church and as individuals. The Lord will provide for us, not just a possibility but it is a surety, for we believe that our Lord Jesus (who is the Head of the church) will care for His church even unto the end. We also have seen His care and love for us inthese 33 years of our existence for which we are thankful. Although we have to go through many restrictions due to the pandemic and even have to cancel our Anniversary celebration, yet it should not stop us and our family from praising Him from our hearts. May the Lord continue to grant us grace and strength to remain faithful to Him and in doing His will till He come again. Blessed Anniversary, Covenant.
- And in her India mission news, the CERC includes this note today: Continue to remember our brothers and sisters in CERC Kolkata Fellowship. Presently they are still worshiping in Pastor Emmanuel’s place. At this time, they face serious difficulties in finding another place to rent for worship. Do remember our brethren in your prayer. Pray also for our Missionary Pastor as he cares for the saints in Kolkata.
- A new issue of "Reformed News Asia" has been published (August 2020, #61). Read that issue here.
Covenant PRC, N. Ireland:
- Rev. A. Stewart continues to minister the Word as the church there is back to meeting in person.
- Missionary-pastor M. McGeown continues to preach the gospel in Limerick, Ireland until he can enter the U.S. and be installed as Providence PRC's pastor.
- Be sure to read the latest issue of the "Covenant Reformed News" - September 2020 - just out this week!
PRC in the Philippines:
- With strict government limitations on public gatherings still in place due to the pandemic, the PRCP pastors and the PRC missionaries carry on with livestreaming of services as well as with online catechism classes and Bible studies.
- The latest PRCP newsletter was published last month - don't forget to read the August 2020 report!

Are we continuing to pray for our dear brothers and sisters throughout the world as they also face trials and tribulations? May we also show the communion of saints in this way.

Listen to the Reformed Witness Hour each Sunday - on a radio station near you or on Sermonaudio wherever you are!

Rev. A. Spriensma (PRC home missionary) is currently delivering the messages, and this month he is finishing his messages on the truth of God's covenant of grace. Today's message is titled "The Mediator of the New Covenant," based on Hebrews 12:22-24.
Listen to the broadcast on the station near you, on your favorite podcast (Google Play, Spotify, and iTunes), or visit the links provided here to listen to this program.
The Reformed Witness Hour publishes each month's messages in an attractive booklet. These printed sermons are a great blessing to many and are distributed all over the world, including to many prisoners in the U.S. If you or your Evangelism Commitee would like to receive these, let the RWHC know and they will add you to the mailing list (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

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REFORMED RESOURCES FOR EDIFICATION, EDUCATION, and EVANGELISM:

ReformedBookOutlet
The Reformed Book Outlet in downtown Hudsonville, MI (across the parking lot from Gemmens Hardware)

The Reformed Book Outlet is running a 25% off sale on most items for the month or September! As a reminder, our hours are Tuesday 10-1, Wednesday 1-5, and Saturday 10-1, or send your order to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Are you desirous to learn more about the doctrines and practices of the PRC? Or, are you in need of some pamphlets and/or articles published by the PRC for use in evangelism and/or witnessing? Or are you simply interested in growing in your faith and walk with the Lord? Visit the Resources pages of this website and the PRCA Evangelism page for a complete list of materials available in digital format or by order from the publishing church.

This Week's Thought for Contemplation:

...Let us speak a moment of the “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.” In the Greek it is literally, “he hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” The term is singular, referring to the separate spiritual blessings which we have in Christ. What are those blessings? They are the separate spiritual blessings such as forgiveness of sin, righteousness, new life, our adoption as children of God, justification, sanctification, and eternal life. These blessing are numerous. Do you each day think about them and praise God for them? There is a chorus of a hymn that goes: “Count your many blessings, name one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done…”

When they are called “spiritual blessings, they are contrasted with natural or earthly gifts or blessings that God gives. These are spiritual blessings because they are given to us by the of Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle adds, “in the heavens.” They are heavenly blessings because Christ is in heaven. Christ is exalted, no longer on earth. From heaven, Jesus our Savior is pouring out on God’s children the benefits of His cross and resurrection. Because we are engrafted into Christ, what is His is ours. His glory is ours. We are “in him” by faith. We are members of His body. These blessings are ours only in Jesus Christ! Each day may we think on this blessing and “praise God from whom all blessings flow!”

From this past week's special meditation by Rev. A. Spriensma, PRC home missionary - "The Golden Chain of Every Spiritual Blessing" (Eph.1:3)

19 Sep

Divine Election

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

Divine Election

Meditation on Ephesians 1:4-6

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In Eph. 1:3, we saw that God “has blessed us…with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” How does such blessing become ours? Is it because we are so good and lovely? How can we possess the blessings God has for us? The answer is found in verses 4-6. Verse 4 begins with the word “according”. The Greek word can also be translated "just as" or "because". It links verse 4 to verse 3 as an explanation for verse 3. Spiritual blessing is ours because God chose us in Jesus Christ before the creation of the world. Why would God do that? These verses emphasize the sovereignty of God in regard to salvation all the way through. The blessings of salvation come because God has determined from before the creation of the world to give them to some people, and for that reason only!

There are various views that people hold about election. There are those who deny the truth of election outright. Others acknowledge that election is taught in Scripture, but it is an election based on foreknowledge. God elects some because He knows beforehand of their willingness to believe. It would be like a captain of a softball team choosing members for his team based upon his knowledge of their ability to play. John Calvin put it like this:

How should God foresee that which could not be? For we know that all Adam’s offspring is corrupted and that we do not have the skill to think one good thought of doing well, and much less therefore are we able to commence to do good. Although God should wait a hundred thousand years for us, if we could remain so long in the world, yet it is certain that we should never come to him nor do anything else but increase the mischief continually to our own condemnation. In short, the longer men live in the world, the deeper they lunge themselves into their own damnation. And therefore God could not foresee what was not in us before he himself put it into us. (Sermons on the Epistle to the Ephesians).

We believe in God’s sovereign election. We are hopelessly lost in sin. Instead, God in His mercy “chose us (vs. 4), “in love having predestinated us to the adoption of children” (vs. 5), “according to the good pleasure of his will” (vs. 5). God accomplished our salvation by sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins. God made us capable and willing to respond to Him by sending the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and heart to the truth and glory of the gospel. All the blessings we enjoy must be traced back to this sovereign electing purpose of God toward us in Jesus Christ!

What are some of the blessings of election for you and for me as believers? First, election eliminates boasting! This is contrary to the human nature. We like to think that we did something. All the glory of all our salvation is in our Triune God! This is the purpose of election as we read in vs. 6, “to the praise of the glory of his grace…” Second, election gives assurance of salvation! If my salvation were based upon my feelings or my works, I would be one of the most miserable people around. My feelings are so fickle and my obedience so small. Our salvation would be as unstable as you and I are. We might be saved one moment and lost the next. Because our faith is grounded in God’s election, we can be assured of our salvation.

Third, election leads to holiness! We read in verse four, “he hath chosen us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” A person might say, “Well, if I am elect, I suppose I’ll be saved regardless of what I do.” It is like that phrase of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” In verse 4, the purpose of election is holiness! John Stott says, “Far from encouraging sin, the doctrine of election forbids it and lays upon us instead the necessity of holiness” (Stott, God’s New Society, p. 38). The glory of God is revealed in us as we live positively in holiness, and negatively, without any fault. We stand before the face of God and reveal His virtues. This is the purpose of our election.

Finally, election promotes evangelism! There are those who think that election makes evangelism unnecessary. The argument goes, “If God is going to save certain individuals anyway, then He will save them, and therefore evangelism really is not that important.” What folly that is! The fact that God elects to salvation does not eliminate the means by which He calls those elect persons to faith. God uses the proclamation of the gospel to sinners (Lord’s Day 31). God is pleased to use the testimony of believers and their godly obedience that “others may be gained to Christ” (Lord’s Day 32, Q.A. 86). We do not know who the elect are, but we sow the seed of God’s Word, leaving the harvest to Him.

What a blessed truth for you and me to ponder and celebrate again! God loved me eternally!

Oh love of God, how strong and true, Eternal, and yet ever new, Uncomprehended and unbought, Beyond all knowledge and all thought. (Virgil Taylor, 1847)

18 Sep

Luther's Struggle for Assurance

This article was first published in the October 15, 2017 issue of the Standard Bearer, a special Reformation issue commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Great Reformation and Luther's 95 Theses.

Luther's Struggle for Assurance

God in His wise and wonderful providence raises up special men and women for His church in special times. One such man was Martin Luther, as we well know.

What was special about Luther was not just his intellectual gifts and abilities, though they were outstanding, but also his acute spiritual sensitivities. Luther was a man through whom emotions rolled like great tsunamis at times, but emotions that were tied to an overwhelming God-consciousness, an awareness that afflicted his conscience in his early life to the point of despair again and again. Was there no way out for a damn-worthy sinner?

A God-consciousness with an acute sensitivity to sin that Luther never lost. A man raised up by God whose intense spiritual struggles with their resolution resulted in determining the very course of history and of Western civilization from the sixteenth century onward.

When it comes to the Reformation, our attention usually focuses on Luther nailing his Ninety-five Theses on the church door in Wittenberg on All Hallows’ Eve of October, 1517. The controversy that followed set in motion an avalanche that brought down not only Rome’s domination in ecclesiastical affairs, but changed the whole civil and social landscape of Europe, fragmenting Europe into Protestant versus Romish camps of loyalty. Nothing was ever the same in Europe once the fires of controversy sparked by Luther’s Ninety-five Theses began to burn across the continental landscape.

But we must understand that the controversy unleashed by the Ninety-five Theses was the result of a deep spiritual struggle, a ‘controversy’ that had taken place in Luther’s own heart and soul in the years prior to their posting.

The Ninety-five Theses drawn up to challenge Rome’s abuses and man-invented doctrines (largely meant to profit Rome’s financial interests) were preceded by another event that had taken place in Luther’s soul some four years prior, the exact date of which is not known (sometime in April or May of 1513 scholars think), known as the ‘tower experience.’

It was as he was studying Scripture, sequestered in a tower in Wittenberg, confronted again by that dread phrase “the righteousness of God,” a phrase found so often in the Psalms and Romans, that Luther, as if struck by a bolt of lightning from heaven, suddenly grasped the gospel significance of Paul’s statement in Romans 1:17 that “the just shall live by faith”, and that “therein is the righteousness of God revealed.”

Luther later described the event in these words:

Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before the “justice of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven….”1

That Luther would describe the proper understanding of the phrase “the just shall live by faith” in terms of “rebirth” and “paradise” and a opening of the “gates to heaven” indicates just how deep his prior struggle with his own sin and guilt had gone, as well as with God’s holy, righteous character and just wrath. So deep as to despair of the possibility of his own salvation, and so overwhelming that he acknowledged later that he came not only to dread the phrase “the righteousness of God,” but that in time he came to hate it. It was a righteousness so high that it was bound to find fault with and defeat all of his attempts to please God by his most zealous, ardent labors of obedience and penance and contrition. Why even try?

A God, a so-called ‘Father,’ impossible to satisfy or please. And having required the impossible, this Al mighty God then judging one to have failed and punishing one for the failure. And then, evidently, taking pleasure in casting the guilty one into eternal torment. Who could speak of any hope for mercy to be found in such a demanding, even heartless, God?

Luther the monk, a tormented soul.

As we know, what drove Luther to seek refuge in a monastic order was a great thunderstorm that broke over his head as he traveled on an open road to Erfurt. As the lightening strokes crackled around him, he pled with St. Anne (the virgin Mary’s mother) to petition God to spare him, and if she would, he would take the vows of a monk. Luther’s dread certainty was that if he died at the age of 21, he would be consigned to eternal damnation, that was all.

Spared, Luther per his vow, entered an Augustinian order.

Whatever Rome’s theological weaknesses in Luther’s day might have been, challenging the truth of God as the almighty and righteous Judge, and calling into question the reality of everlasting punishment were not among them.

Roland Bainton has it nearly right when he states that under Rome’s influence “The entire training of home, school, and university [and monastery] was designed to instill fear of God and reverence for the Church.”2 It would be more accurate to say that Rome intended a child’s entire training “to instill a [dread] fear of God primarily in the interests of reverence for the Church and unquestioned submission to her bishops.”

Who will save a man from this dreadful, most righteous, judging God? Only mother Rome, mother Church. “You will do as we, the magisterium, say, or else we will turn you over to this God!” The whole emphasis of Rome’s theology was in the service of her own supreme authority and enrichment. Lack of assurance profited her. How much money will a man not give in exchange for his own soul when death looks him in the face? And in the late Middle Ages incurable diseases and death loomed like a specter over the whole of life, from the cradle on.

To use the wording of the Heidelberg Catechism (Q. 12), the great error of Rome was not her insistence that “…by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment.” Rome drove that home. The great error of Rome was her answer to the question, what is “…[the] way by which we may escape that punishment and be again received into favor?”

Rome’s prescribed ‘way’ had precious little to do with Christ and the mercy of God through His Son as the Mediator and sacrifice for sin and sinners.

To be sure, Christ by His blood and atoning suffering (as made by and taught in the mass) obtained a treasury of forgiveness and pardon. But now the great question: what had one done to deserve (merit, earn the right) to lay hold on that forgiveness and sacrifice for oneself?

For Rome, it was and is a matter of penance, and penance is a matter of doing. Have you done all that is required of you? And have you ever done enough?

This is why the conscience-stricken Luther (and many other earnest seekers of forgiveness and deliverance from hell fire) entered monasteries. There, through the discipline of their monastic order, they could devote the whole of their waking hours to prayers and devotions, to penance and afflicting oneself for one’s sins. There one could avoid the fleshly temptations that loom so large outside the cloister walls. There, free from worldly intrusions, lay the best possibility for doing what Rome required for earning forgiveness and being free of the corrupting influence of the fleshly appetites stimulated by the world. There a man’s righteousness could be obtained at last, or at least the assurance that God at last was satisfied with one’s sincere endeavors.

So Luther hoped.

It was not to be, not with Rome’s system of penance and merit, and not for a man with as acute a sensitivity to sin as Luther’s, and his knowledge of how holy and righteous God was.

Just how acute his spiritual sensitivities were is revealed in Luther’s account of his experience as he presided over his inaugural mass as a newly ordained priest in 1505 (age 23). He related:

When I read the words, “Thee, therefore, most merciful Father,” etc. and thought I had to speak to God without a Mediator, I felt like fleeing….

At these words I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. I thought to myself, “With what tongue shall I address such majesty, seeing that all men ought to tremble in the presence of even an earthly prince? Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the divine majesty? …Shall I, a miserable little pygmy, say, ‘I want this, I ask for that?’ For I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the living, eternal and the true God.”3

For a man with such an acute awareness of his own deep-rooted corruption and of God’s high righteousness, Rome’s system of penance offered no solace.

Lifting his analysis from Luther’s Table Talk, Bainton makes the following commentary about Luther and the inadequacy of Rome’s sacrament of penance, a sacrament that required that the penitent

…should confess all their wrongdoing and seek absolution. Luther endeavored unremittingly to avail himself of this signal mercy…. He confessed frequently, often daily, and for as long as six hours on a single occasion. Every sin in order to be absolved was to be confessed. Therefore the soul must be searched and the memory ransacked and the motives probed…. Luther would repeat a confession, and to be sure of including everything, would review his entire life until [his] confessors grew weary [of his recitation]….

…Luther’s question was not whether his sins were big or little, but whether they had been confessed. The great difficulty which he encountered was to be sure that everything had been recalled. He learned from experience the cleverness of memory in protecting the ego, and he was frightened when after six hours of confessing he could still go out and think of something else which had eluded his most conscientious scrutiny.4

With those who would speak critically of ‘this’ Luther, asserting that such a burden of guilt and fixation on failures ‘to measure up’ were simply the psychological residue of a man having been raised by a demanding and austere father (labeled a “father-complex”), we sharply disagree.

We do not deny that God used Luther’s upbringing to mold and shape facets of his character (as God uses every man’s upbringing to this end to some degree), but to relegate Luther’s conviction of his own deep-rooted corruption and unrighteousness before a just and holy God to the category of a “father-complex” is mistaken to the extreme.

The simple fact is that Luther’s fierce struggle with his guilt and unworthiness was not an indication of some lamentable psychological disorder, but was nothing less than the workings (stabs) of the Holy Spirit on the acutely sensitive conscience with which God had formed Luther from the womb. Luther was exactly correct in his self-appraisal, where every man, left to himself and his own labors, stands before God, worthy of eternal damnation.

And it was this deep internal struggle, bordering on despair at times, that drove Luther to go back to ponder again and again Paul’s statement that “the just (the righteous) shall live by faith.” Paul, the former blasphemer, seemed to ground all of his comfort and assurance, all his hope and joy in that truth. How could that be?

And then, when the Holy Spirit determined “The time is now!”, the gospel truth suddenly dawned on him. Suddenly, the scales fell from his eyes. Paul was not talking about the righteousness of God as God judges a man, but the righteousness that God grants to one who simply believes and puts his trust—the whole of his trust—in the atoning blood and sacrifice and perfect obedience of Christ.

And what righteousness is that? Nothing less than the “righteousness of God!” God’s own righteousness is granted and imputed to one who comes in faith. And if it is God’s own righteousness that is granted to one’s account, how can God ever find fault with that righteousness?

The just (those justified by God) shall live (escape the sentence of wrath and death, and go free) by faith. No need for meritorious works or trying to do enough, which will always fail. Simply believe God’s Word and work in Christ the Righteous one, and by faith lay claim to the righteousness God worked through Christ’s suffering, death, and obedience. No wonder Paul gloried not in his own works but in the cross, Christ crucified, and in Him alone. By faith alone means trusting in Christ’s atoning work alone.

All this God accomplishing in a most righteous and unassailable way. God’s own righteousness provided by God Himself for sinners standing in the need of mercy and grace.

That God had provided for sinners a perfect righteousness to make their very own in this manner was a revelation to Luther. This God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, was a most merciful Father after all.

Scales of blindness fell from Luther’s eyes. Peace and assurance flooded his soul. The gospel was made plain. Righteousness and mercy have kissed.

Luther had to tell others, which he did, in Wittenberg for four years as a Bible lecturer.

But it was this “tower experience” that drove him in the end to nail the Ninety-five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, not only to refute and expose the monstrous errors of Rome that obscured and mutilated that liberating gospel, but also to begin to publish what had set his own soul free from its bondage of guilt and torment, so that others might glory in the same gospel of almighty God that he now did.

Thanks be to God for a man so spiritual as Luther.

1 Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1950), 65.

2 Bainton, Here I Stand, 27.

3 A. Skevington Wood, Captive to the Word (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1969), 28.

4 Bainton, Here I Stand, 54, 55.

16 Sep

A Golden Chain of Every Spiritual Blessing

This special meditation has been prepared by PRC home missionary, Rev. Aud Spriensma.

A Golden Chain of Every Spiritual Blessing

Meditation on Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

My wife Alva always helps me with my writing, correcting the use of tenses, past and present. She also often tells me when my sentences are too long. It is a good thing that she was not there to try to correct the Apostle Paul and the Holy Spirit. Our text is the introduction of one long sentence beginning in verse 3 all the way through verse 14. English translators generally break up the words for ease of reading, but in the Greek Paul simply began with a note of praise to God for “every spiritual blessing” and then kept going, adding phrase upon phrase, and doctrine upon doctrine, as he listed these benefits. We could call it a golden chain of many links.

Eph.1:3 is a sort of doxology, with the object: God. The apostle expresses praise to God. And he does that because God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. If we look carefully at this long sentence (vs. 3-14), we will notice the interconnecting doctrine of the Triune God. The work of God the Father is described in verses 3-6. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ is listed in verses 7-10. The application of this work is by the Holy Spirit, found in verses 11-14. Or we could look at these verses temporally. There is the past blessing of election in verses 4-6. The present blessing of adoption is found in verses 5-8. The future blessing is given in verses 9-14, when God will gather together in one all things in Christ in which we have an inheritance.

When we read these verses, do we break forth in praise? Our worship services begin and end with a doxology. So should our prayers, at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. God is worthy of praise now and always for who He is and what He does. He is not only the Triune God, but He is also the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This means that through our Lord Jesus Christ He blesses us with every spiritual blessing. Our Lord Jesus Christ is personally the Son of God. He is also the Son in His human nature, as He appeared in the world. As the Christ, He came in your and my flesh. The name “Jesus” means that “Jehovah saves.” Jesus took all our sins upon Himself, and with those sins walked the way of the cross. He merited for you and me righteousness and eternal life. As the “Christ”, He was appointed and sent by God. He revealed to us the Father. He took upon Himself our sins and removed them. He rules in us by His Spirit and Word. That is why He is called “our Lord”. This is why the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the object of the apostle’s praise, and ours!

But let us speak a moment of the “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.” In the Greek it is literally, “he hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” The term is singular, referring to the separate spiritual blessings which we have in Christ. What are those blessings? They are the separate spiritual blessings such as forgiveness of sin, righteousness, new life, our adoption as children of God, justification, sanctification, and eternal life. These blessing are numerous. Do you each day think about them and praise God for them? There is a chorus of a hymn that goes: “Count your many blessings, name one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done…”

In our earthly pilgrimage, we encounter many trials and troubles. Maybe it is a life-long illness, the death of a loved one, the loneliness inflicted upon us by Covid-19, a rebellious son of daughter, or a spouse who has forsaken us. In our tears, we look up to praise God for who He is and what He is doing for us. He hath “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven in Christ!”

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold; Count you many blessings- money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great of small, Do not be discouraged- God is over all; Count your many blessings- angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Edwin Excell (1851 – 1921)

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The Heidelberg Catechism:

Question 54. What believest thou concerning the "holy catholic church" of Christ?

Answer. That the Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living member thereof.

The Canons of Dordt

1st Head, Article 3: And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings, to whom he will and at what time he pleaseth; by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. Romans 10:14, 15:"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?"

2nd Head, Article 5: Moreover, the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of his good pleasure sends the gospel.

Missions of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America

PRC and Sister-Church News Highlights for September 27, 2020

The Mystery Revealed (Meditation on Ephesians 1:8-10)

Classis West Report - September 23, 2020

The Fruits of Good Works