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. 7, No. 15 Pastor: Rev. Garry Eriks Phone: (970) 667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Contents:
The Signs of Christ's Coming
Vexing the Spirit (2)
Who Hardens Men's Hearts? (2)
Scripture makes it very clear that Christ's coming is always accompanied by signs. So it was with His coming in the flesh (Lk. 1:18-20; 41-45; 2:12). So it is with His return (Matt. 24:3, 30; Lk. 21:11, 25). These signs are important and must be rightly understood.
The signs fall into several different categories. There are signs in creation (Matt. 24:7, 29), in history (Matt. 24:6, 7), and in the church (Matt. 24:10-16). Some are only the "beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:5-8), others speak more clearly of the end (Matt. 24:14-16), and some actually accompany the visible coming of Christ (Matt. 24:29-31).
There are several things we wish to emphasize about these signs, and that in connection with the wonderful Biblical truth that Jesus is coming. Remember, Scripture speaks of His coming as something already happening. He is already on the way!
This means that all the signs of His coming are not like the signs along the motorway, which simply makes an announcement or point to something in the distance. These signs of Christ's coming are like the sound of a train's whistle and the humming of the rails. They are part of the train's coming and are caused by the coming of the train.
We might, therefore, describe these signs of the coming of Christ as the sound of His footsteps as He approaches. And just as the sound of a person's footsteps are heard the more loudly and clearly the closer he comes, so these "signs" of Christ's coming are seen and heard the more clearly as He comes.
This, we believe, is the meaning of the progression in the book of Revelation from 1/4 (Rev. 6:8) to 1/3 (Rev. 8:7, 9, 10, 12, 18) to the whole (16:3, 4, 17). In other words, the seals, trumpets and vials picture the same signs and judgments, but as they increase in intensity and are seen more clearly as history progresses and Christ approaches.
However, there is a sense in which these signs are more than just the sound of His footsteps. The truth is that they are caused by the coming of Christ, not just as the coming of the train causes the sound of its whistle and its wheels to be heard, but they are caused by the coming of Christ in that He rules all of history and creation, as well as the church.
He, as the sovereign King and Lord of all is the one who brings all things to pass and causes all things to happen in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). That is the comfort of believers, for then they know that nothing happens by chance or apart from His will. But it is also the reason for these signs.
We might, then, think of those signs as the evidences of His hand and work in the creation and in history. They are signs that He is not working at random, but bringing day by day all things to their appointed end and thus coming.
What a different perspective that puts on all that happens to us and around us! Instead of being afraid and despairing we hope and wait, for all things speak of His power and coming. Truly, in the midst of wars, disasters, and apostasy, while men's hearts are failing them for fear, and while the powers of heaven are shaken, we can look up and lift our heads, for our redemption draws nigh! (Lk. 21:25-28).
Rev. Ronald Hanko
"But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." Isaiah 63:10.
The reader who sent in this passage from holy Scripture did not append a specific question, and so I decided to discuss two possible problems in the text. One I discussed last time (the problem of whether to ascribe vexation to the Holy Spirit implies frustration of His work). I now turn to the other.
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The other problem which is involved in the interpretation of this text is the seeming contradiction between the context of verse 10 and the passage itself. The context speaks of God's lovingkindness, which the Lord bestowed on His people and His great goodness toward the house of Israel. It speaks of God's Word that Israel is His people and that He became their Saviour. It mentions how the suffering of Israel was God's suffering, and of how God saved them by the angel of His presence, because He loved them and had pity on them.
But now suddenly God has become their enemy and fights against them because they rebelled. How is this possible? Does God change in His attitude towards His people? one minute loving them and saving them? and the next minute fighting against them? How can that be?
It is easy to answer this question with a simple affirmative. The trouble is that a simple Yes involves us in many problems, not the least of which is the problem of ascribing change to God in His attitude towards the nation. His favor then becomes His reward for their goodness; and His hatred is His reaction to their disobedience.
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I have discussed in earlier articles in this Newsletter the truth that God always deals with His people "organically." This term is a term with which we ought to become acquainted, and the truth conveyed by it is crucial for an understanding of God's works.
What it means is this. In the old dispensation when God made Israel His chosen people, he always dealt with them as a nation, that is, the people in their entirety; the nation as a whole.
Now this means a number of things, only a few of which can I discuss now.
First of all, it is quite obvious that the nation (now considered as a whole) was spiritually different at different times in its history. Sometimes the nation was spiritually strong. It worshipped God in the temple. It banished or destroyed idolaters. The priests performed their work in the temple diligently. Good kings sat on the throne. The prophets spoke God's Word. The nation trusted in God in its battles with the surrounding nations.
Does this mean that there were no reprobate in the nation? No wicked? No idol-worshippers? Of course not. Paul tells us in Rom. 9:6 that never were all who were of Israel truly Israel. But, under the rule of good kings, the nation taken as a whole was faithful.
There were other times when quite the opposite was true. Wicked kings sat on the throne such as Ahab, or Ahaz, or Manasseh. They promoted idolatry and the worship of the gods of the heathen. The priests appointed for temple service were wicked and used the temple to worship idols. The prophets prophesied lies. Taken as a whole the nation was wicked.
Does that mean there were no elect in the nation? Of course not. God Himself assured Elijah during the terrible times of Ahab that He had reserved to Himself 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal.
Though there were elect in the nation, God spoke of the nation as wicked, rebellious, and deserving of His wrath when the nation as a whole apostatized. And not only did God speak His words of wrath, but He also poured out His wrath upon the nation in the form of famine, foreign invaders, and finally captivity. Though there were reprobate in the nation (perhaps even a majority) when the nation as a whole served the Lord, God spoke words of comfort and blessing to His people. And He not only spoke these words of comfort and blessing, but He sent the nation as a whole prosperity, peace, and victory over their enemies.
The important question is now this. Were the blessings upon the nation as a whole blessings also to the reprobate, and, therefore, indications of God's love and favor upon them? Many mistaking the whole idea, say Yes -- and use that as a justification for the doctrine of common grace. But the other question must also be asked: When judgments came upon the nation so that the nation suffered during famine and under the heel of foreign invaders, were these judgments upon the righteous as well? -- in the sense that God's hatred was upon them as well as upon the reprobate?
We must look at this question carefully and in the light of the whole of Scripture so that our answer may be in keeping with God's Word.
But, in the light of the fact that my space is all but used up for this issue of the Newsletter, I will wait with a further answer until the next issue. Prof. H. Hanko
We continue in this issue our answer to the question posed in the last issue: "Why does the minister exhort the congregation not to harden their hearts when in fact the work of redemption is solely one of God's election?" In that issue we said that it was necessary both for the unbelieving and for those who are saved that this command and others like it be faithfully preached. Now we must explain why.
(1) As far as all those who are unbelieving are concerned this command maintains their responsibility. Where there is no law (no command) there is no sin (Rom. 5:13). The commands of God, revealed either through the things that are made (Rom, 1:19, 20) or through the gospel, are the ground on which all are judged, and these demands and commands God always maintains.
(2) Also as far as the reprobate unbelieving are concerned, such commands as these actually accomplish God's purpose with them. We must remember that it is GOD who tells them not to harden their hearts in His Word. And when He so speaks to them, their hearts are in fact hardened and God's purpose in their destruction is accomplished.
This is very evident in the case of Pharaoh. God did not harden his heart directly and without means, but through the exhortations of Moses (cf. Ex. 9:30; 10:3, 4), until finally he commanded Moses to go away and not return under pain of death (Ex 10:28). This is always the case, and we often see it ourselves, when the commands of the gospel anger and provoke the ungodly.
(3) Finally, with the elect who are not yet saved, these commands are the means by which God saves them from their rebellion and hardness of heart. The preaching of these commands is God's "hammer to break the rock in pieces" (Jer. 23:29). This is what we refer to as the "efficacious" or "effectual" call, what Augustine spoke of long ago when he said, "The command is the grace."
But it is also important also for the sake of God's saved people that this command be preached. It is them especially that the Word of God has in mind when it gives these commands in the Psalm 95:8 and Hebrews 3:8, 15 and 4:7. Both for their preservation and for their restoration they must hear this command and others like it.
(1) For them, this word of God is the means by which they do not harden their hearts. When they are preserved from the sin of hard-heartedness it is by such commands as these that they are preserved. We ought never forget that when the gospel is preached, God's people hear Christ calling them, and it is He, through the gospel and its demands, who preserves them from such sins. For that reason God's people should be diligent in hearing and applying to themselves such commands as these.
(2) Also, we should remember that because God's people still have much sin left in them, it is possible that they do harden their hearts against God. Not finally and to eternal damnation, but to their own grief and guilt, they do rebel against God and refuse or neglect to do what He requires of them. For this reason also they very much need the grace that comes from God through such commands as these! And God mercifully uses such commands to restore them again. For them also the Word is a hammer to break their stubbornness and hardness of heart and so to restore them to obedience.
Do you hear and obey? Rev. Ron Hanko