Loveland Protestant Reformed Church
709 East 57th Street;
Loveland, CO 80538
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. June through August)
Vol. 6, No. 22 Pastor: Rev. Garry Eriks
Phone: (970) 667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Contents:
The
Sacraments
The Irresistible Call of the Gospel (5)
How Conduct Family Worship (1)
Having spoken of preaching and discipline, we come to the
difficult subject of the sacraments. It is
troubling, to say the least, that the sacraments, appointed by Christ as marks of church
unity, are a principle cause of divisions in the church.
On the other hand, it is also true that almost everything a
church believes comes to focus in the sacraments, so it is not surprising that they mark
the divisions between churches and Christians. We
speak of the sacraments, however, not to promote divisions, but with the hope and prayer
that there may be unity in the truth.
We recognize, too, that many of our readers will disagree with
what we believe and say about the sacraments and therefore ask only that they give us a
hearing and prayerfully consider what we say. We
promise to do the same should any respond.
What then are the sacraments?
The word comes from a Latin word meaning "oath" and though not found in
Scripture the word is used because each sacrament is a kind of visible, tangible promise
or oath from Christ to us.
It should be clear from Scripture that the word is used to refer
to certain rites (what and how many they are we will deal with later), specially given by
Christ to His church. These rites are to be
used in the church until He comes again (Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 11:26).
These rites or ceremonies are first of all symbols or signs. That is evident from the fact that Jesus calls the
bread of the Lord's Supper His body, and the cup "the new testament in his
blood" (that they cannot be this literally will be shown as we go on). It is also evident from the fact that Scripture
calls both water baptism and the reality of the washing away of sins by Christ's blood by
the same name. They are both called
"baptism" in Scripture.
These symbols and signs, as all such, are given to help our faith
(Judg. 6:36-40; Lk. 1:18-20; 2:12; etc.). They do that in two ways: (1) by picturing to us
invisible, spiritual realities; and (2) by pointing to Christ as the complete Savior. We need them because our faith is often weak and
we required to believe without seeing (Jn. 20:29; II Cor. 5:7).
Believing that there is continuity between circumcision and
baptism and between the passover and the Lord's Supper, we think that the sacraments are
also "seals" (Rom. 4:11). Really,
the fact that they are signs means that they must also be seals.
As seals they function not only by way of picturing to and
teaching us, but in doing that they are also used by God to strengthen and confirm our
faith. They strengthen our faith by
assuring us (in baptism) that as really as water washes our bodies, so the blood of Christ
our souls, and (in the Supper) that as really as bread and wine nourish and refresh us, so
Christ is the food and drink and life of our souls every day of our lives.
The sacraments are, then, a wonderful and remarkable testimony to
the goodness and mercy of God, who does not spurn us but supports us in our weakness. For that reason they are necessary and our use of
them an evidence of our trust in God.
The
Irresistible Call of the Gospel (5)
No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is
written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me. John
6:44, 45.
We have discussed this important text
in John's Gospel narrative for a number of issues, but we have two or three more points
that need to be made.
Our readers will remember that we ended
the last article with an emphasis on the fact that drawing a sinner to Christ could only
be God's work because the difficulty of doing such a work lies beyond human capability. The sinner is completely resistant to such a work,
and that resistance must be overcome.
C. S. Lewis, in his description of his
conversion, said that he was drawn kicking and fighting into the kingdom of Christ so
that, without a doubt, he was England's most reluctant convert.
Is this an accurate picture of how the
Father brings His people to Christ?
The answer must be an emphatic, No! We are not dragged fighting and screaming to
Christ so that we are, against our will, jarringly set down at Christ's feet whether we
like it or not. God does not work that way.
* * * *
That God does not work that way is
already suggested by the fact that Christ uses the word, "Father" in the text. "No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him."
Jesus is referring, first of all, to
His own relation to God by His use of the word "Father." The triune God is the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ; and as Christ's Father, the triune God sent Christ into the world to carry out the
mission of divine redemption and to do all that had to be done for salvation to be
accomplished.
That is why Christ adds the words,
". . . the Father which hath sent me . . . ."
But God is also the Father of His
people -- for Christ's sake. God and His
elect people form a family. It is a family in
which the triune God is Father, Christ is the elder Brother and Heir of the birthright;
and in which all the elect are brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a covenant family.
But the members of the family are so
only by God's sovereign choice, not by their choice.
They are, by nature, of their father, the devil, whose works they do -- as Jesus
reminded the Jews who did not believe in Him. And
so they have to be made members of the family. They
are made members, of course, by the great work of adoption (Eph. 1:5). But here the emphasis is different. They are made members by the gracious work of
their Father. And a father always deals
patiently, lovingly, tenderly with his children.
So God does the same. He makes us members of His family by the work of
salvation which He works within our hearts. It
begins with regeneration, by which we are "born again" into spiritual sonship
within the family of God. But it includes all
the work of salvation by which we more and more are "conformed unto the image of
God's dear Son" (Rom. 8:29). That work
includes conversion, faith, sanctification, justification, preservation and glorification.
But here in the text the emphasis falls
on faith -- a faith which comes to expression in our coming to Christ. That faith is also the gift of God (Eph. 2:8, 9),
but it is worked by God in such a way that out minds are enlightened so that we are able
to understand spiritual things -- that we are hopelessly lost sinners, and that all our
salvation is only in Christ. And God works in
us so that our wills are changed so radically that, while once we were opposed to all that
is of God and violently hateful of His will, we now long to come to Christ. We are even able to sing: "As pants the hart
for streams of living water, so thirsts my soul, O God, for Thee."
That is an astonishing work of God
whereby He makes saints out of sinners, men and women who pray and sing God's praises
instead of blaspheming, people who run to Christ instead of crucifying Him, and humble
folk who bow in worship before Him, in Whose face they once shook their fists.
They come to Christ willingly,
longingly, eagerly, impatiently; but they come so because that is how their Father draws
them.
This is the meaning of verse 45. But that must wait till next time. Prof.
H. Hanko
How Conduct Family Worship? (1)
In answer to the question posed in the last issue: “What form should family worship take?” we promised to make some more concrete suggestions about conducting family worship in this issue. We do that here and in the next issue in connection with each part of family worship.
Scripture reading is
a part of family worship that ought never be neglected.
That it may be the more profitable each member of the family should have a Bible
when Scripture is read. This helps keep
everyone’s attention. We would suggest, however, that if the reading is done at
mealtimes, the inexpensive editions of Scripture produced by the Bible Societies be
purchased so that the family members’ personal Bibles are not ruined.
More importantly, we find it
very profitable that each member of the family read a verse in turn or that different
members be asked to read a portion of the passage. This,
more than anything else, prevents Scripture reading from becoming a formality and helps
keep the attention of the younger children.
We ourselves encourage the
family members to ask questions as the passage is being read and allow them to interrupt
the reading in order to do so. These may be
questions about the meaning of a word or about deeper doctrinal and spiritual matters, but
by asking such questions the children take an interest in Scripture and its teaching and
much opportunity for teaching is created.
This may also lead to
further study in that one member of the family agrees to or is asked to look something up
or study a matter for the benefit of others when a question cannot be easily answered. So, too, a Bible Dictionary or Handbook should be
readily available to help answer questions. In
all this, though, the father, who is responsible for the worship, must be sure that things
are done in an orderly and reverent fashion.
When Scripture is read, the
members of the family, particularly the children, should be asked about the reading to
make sure they have listened, do understand, and will profit from the reading. This need not be long and tedious and can be done
either during the reading or at the end of it. Especially
with younger children this often involves no more than a few questions to insure that they
have understood.
In reading Scripture
regularly, a schedule, such as those published by the Bible Societies, can be followed or
Scripture can simply be read consecutively from cover to cover, perhaps a short passage at
the end of each meal that the family is together and another at the end of the day. Our family is presently using a detailed plan for
reading the Bible chronologically (copies available on request - four sheets).
In any case, we believe that
all of Scripture should be read including the more difficult genealogies and prophecies
(II Tim. 3:16, 17). This requires
considerably more effort if it is to be profitable, but ought not be neglected.
We believe, too, that the
Scriptures themselves ought to be read. There
is a place for Bible Story Books and other such materials, but they are not the inspired
and infallible Word of God. Only in and
through Scripture do the family members hear what God the Lord says to His people (Ps.
85:8).
If we are careful about
these things, we will, by God’s grace be able to say of our children what Paul says
of Timothy in II Timothy 3:16, 17.
Rev. Ron Hanko