Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church
5101 Beechtree
Hudsonville, Michigan
49426
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Vol. 8, No. 17
Contents:
September 11
Seeking the Unity of the Church (1)
(The
following article appeared in the Covenant Reformed News of Ballymena, Northern Ireland in
September 2002 issue.)
Earlier, the world remembered those who died in the terrorist attacks upon the United States on 11 September, 2001. Who can forget those images of the World Trade Center - planes flying into two skyscrapers, people jumping out of windows dozens of floors up, and finally the Twin Towers crashing to rubble with the loss of thousands of lives? Many of us relived that sad day by watching the commemorative ceremony in New York when friends and relatives descended to Ground Zero to lay flowers and to shed yet more tears over their loved ones so tragically torn from them.
What ought the church think of this terrible event? And what does God think of it all? A reader asked for our comments on the words of Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz: "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this just as we are. But for years we’ve been telling God to get our of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out." But can the ever-blessed God, who is infinitely joyful in His own perfect covenant fellowship in the Trinity, really be "deeply saddened?" Is it true that when men sin, God "calmly back[s] out" like a "gentleman?" Is September 11 really to be explained by saying that while God vacated His providential government over the nations, Satan stepped in and sent murderous terrorists to wreak havoc, so that God was "deeply saddened by this just as we are?" We must ask with the apostle, "what saith the scripture?" (Rom. 4:3).
God declares, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (Isa. 45:7). All earthly calamities and troubles - including death and destruction, disease and famine, that is, all the events that we call "evil" - come from the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11). Jehovah sent the world-wide flood (Gen. 7:4) and rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24). He slew the Canaanites in Joshua's day (Ps. 44:1-3) and He sent the evils of sword, famine, disease and wild beasts upon Jerusalem (Eze. 5:7-17). He brought slaughter and misery upon the cities of Babylon (Isa. 13), Tyre (Eze. 26) and Nineveh (Nah. 3), and even upon whole nations (Isa. 13-23; Jer 46-51; Eze. 25-32; Amos 1-2). Thus Amos asks the rhetorical question, "shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath nor done it?" (Amos 3:6).
Now what ought we conclude about September 11? Shall there be evil in the city of New York and the Lord hath not done it? The sovereign God ordained the destruction of the Twin Towers and brought it to pass in His providence. Just as all things were created by Him, so all things are governed by Him, so that nothing happens contrary to or outside of His sovereign purpose.
None of this in any way detracts from God's holiness. The God of love loves righteousness and abhors and hates the bloodthirsty terrorists who hijacked the planes and flew them into the World Trade Center (Ps. 5:4-6), and He is currently punishing them with fire and brimstone in Hell (Ps. 11:6). Moreover who can deny that many of those in the World Trade Center were driven by covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5)? Fallen man is not only "shapen in iniquity" (Ps. 51:5) but he lives in iniquity and "drinketh iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Ps. 7:11), and He judges in this world as well as in the next. We must not only confess that September 11 took place in God's sovereign plan but also that it was God's judgment upon sin and sinners.
The
media said nothing of God's sovereignty on September 11 or of His judgment upon the
wicked. It was as noticeable as it was deliberate that there were no references to God
during the commemorative ceremony in New York. The response of a large part of the church
world, including Anne Graham Lorz, was even worse. The ungodly media ignored the sovereign
Jehovah; many church leaders lied that He had nothing to do with it. The Scriptures tell
us that events like September 11 are signs of Christ's second coming (cf. Mart. 24:6-7),
but few church leaders would dare to say this. When a tower in Siloam fell killing 18
people, Jesus used the opportunity afforded to call men to repentance (Luke 13:4-5). But
many Christian leaders, instead of referring to September 11 to warn the ungodly, tried to
"defend" God by presenting Him as a "gentlemanly” idol who does not
reign in the heavens. The Bible gives the reason why people, even church leaders, teach
lies: "it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20). Let us hold fast to
the confession of the psalmist: "our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased" (Ps. 115:3), and let us trust in Jesus Christ who delivers us from
the wrath to come.
Rev.
Angus Stewart
(The following article originally
appeared in the Covenant Reformed News, Ballymena, Northern Ireland-- May 2002)
I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing
one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
(Eph. 4:1-3).
It is with deep gratitude to our faithful God that once again we resume our writing for the Covenant Reformed News. This part of the News has been devoted to answering questions concerning the explanation of various texts which our readers sent in. And so, as we resume publication, we ask our readers to send in texts which they wish to see discussed or with which they have some problems. We will do our best to answer them. It is preferable that, when sending in a text, the reader ask a specific question concerning the meaning, for, if only a text is sent in with a request to comment on it, it is easy to miss the point the reader has in mind. I look forward to your requests.
In this issue and in following issues I want to discuss the passage from Ephesians 4 quoted above. I do this because the admonition of the text is an urgent one: “Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit."
The urgency of this admonition is clear from the text itself.
In the first place, the apostle begins the passage by reminding the church in Ephesus that he is a prisoner in Rome for the sake of the gospel of the Lord. It is as a prisoner that he makes this appeal to the church.
The point is that he could very well be killed for the sake of the gospel, and in the consciousness of the fact that his life may be nearing its end, he says as it were: "If there is one admonition more than any other which I want to mention to you Ephesians before I die, it is this: Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit!"
The urgency of this admonition is also to be found in the fact that chapters 4-6 are the practical part of the epistle in which Paul turns from the doctrine of the church to the practical implications. The very first admonition is this one! "Do this before all else!"
Further, this urgency is underscored by the word the apostle
uses: "I beseech you ..." Now "beseech" is a very strong word. The
apostle says, as it were, "I beg of you; I plead with you; I put my heart behind this
admonition so that it carries all the earnestness of which I am capable!"
Scripture conveys that urgency to you and me. This admonition, directed to you and me, is
serious beyond description.
When the apostle speaks of the "unity of the Spirit," he is talking about the unity of the church.
That this is true is clear, first of all, from the fact that the whole epistle to the Ephesians has to do with the doctrine of the church as the body of Christ.
It is clear, in the second place, because in the verses following, the church is the subject of the discussion. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. . . . And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (vv. 4-6, 11, 12).
The apostle is not only speaking of the church in general, the church as the body of Christ; he is speaking primarily of the church as institute. That is, he is speaking of the church as it is manifested in the world in the local congregations. This is the church which is composed of the gathering of believers and their seed; the church which worships on the Lord's Day; the church in which are office bearers; the church where the gospel is preached; the church in which God's people enjoy fellowship with God under the preaching and the sacraments, and fellowship with each other in the communion of the saints. It is the church of which we are (or ought to be) members.
The unity of that church we are to endeavor to keep.
When we confess our faith with the words of the Apostles' Creed, we confess that we believe in one holy, catholic church: "I believe an (that is, one) holy, catholic church.
Christ through His Spirit creates the church, and Christ through His Spirit makes the church one. The church is chosen by God from eternity (Eph. 1:4), redeemed from sin through the blood of the cross (Eph. 1:7), and sovereignly called into existence by the power of the gospel (Eph. 1:13).
The text emphasizes this truth as well. We are not (as modern ecumenists claim) to create the unity of the church. We cannot make the church one. We are admonished to keep this unity. It is given to us as a gift. We are to receive it with thanksgiving and treasure it as the greatest of treasures.
In fact, this is really why the unity of the church is
called "the unity of the Spirit." It is a unity which the Spirit creates and
which has its constant source in the work of the Spirit.
We shall continue our discussion of this important text next time, God willing. For the
present, let us meditate on this crucial and important calling that comes to each of us. Prof. Herman Hanko