The Church's Witness to the World: Chapter 13

N/A | 1980 | P. Y. DeJong

[Jean Chauvin]

PY DeJong is a retired Reformed minister who has pastored many churches in the Christian Reformed Church.

He also is a former professor at Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI.

He Ministerial Credentials are now held by the United Reformed Church.

The Belgic Confession of Faith is one of the Three Forms of Unity accepted by the Synod of Dordt in 1618-19. It continues to be one of the Three Forms of Unity of the Christian Reformed Church, the United Reformed Church, the Protestant Reformed Church and several other Dutch and German Reformed congregations.

The Belgic Confession was written by Guido de Bres who was martyred in the year 1569.

[Jean Chauvin]

This is taken from the book The Church's Witness to the World which is an exposition of the Belgic Confession of Faith.

This is not available on-line. I had to make some minor edits of form as well as some corrections for spelling and verse citations.

Jean

[Jean Chauvin]

It's a bit long, but its a ~GREAT~ read!

Print it out and spend some time on it, you will enjoy it!

Jean

[Jean Chauvin]

Mom, can you "call all cars"?

I may have forgotten a few.

Thanks!

Jean

[Corin Stormhands]

bookmarked

[Jean Chauvin]

See you tonight.

Jean

[Jean Chauvin]

Belated Bump

Jean

[ksen]

Bookmarked, thanks Jean.

[RnMomof7]

Running on slow time today ..sorry

Flag for jean

[RnMomof7]

try again..flag for Jean

[RnMomof7]

Thought you might like to read this

[Revelation 911]

("I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling kids" -Michael Servetus)

YOU are honestly making me belly laugh !

ZOIKS !

[Jean Chauvin]

I was wondering when somebody would notice! LOL!

Jean

[Cleburne]

I suppose we must accept a rather great paradox, and accept the notion, quite horrible to our minds, that some things lay beyond our comprehension. We should like to imagine all is revealed to us, and we can figure out all things. And yet, many things are hidden from us- hidden even from the angelic host.

But while I would be a liar to say I have never struggled with the paradoxes of God, I do know that I find a great deal of comfort in His paradoxes. What terror it would be if God were not in control- if indeed the forces of darkness could, possibly, gain the upper hand- forever. For, if indeed God is not soveriegn, how could He possibly determine the end of things? If He cannot control the slight things, why could not the Enemy eventually gain victory? If that were so, we would be set back in the island of the Anglo-Saxons: a small beam of light on us, and a great and unknown ocean of fear and darkness about us- fate ruling, and sending us to the grave and then we would not know hence. Or, worse yet, we would plunge into the terrible world Dostoevsky described: one of utter nihilism, of treachery both within and without, of darkness, of salvation only by suicide.

As it is, we are comforted by the knowledge of the Divine Logos, Christ, working within the world: sustaining all things by His powerful Word- active, not merely a spectator. We see Him victorious- though His kingdom is not yet brought to fullness- and His redemption working. But we also see our responsibilities- we are not conceeded them. Our task is still great, and hardly abated- but we are given great comfort at the same time. For we do not know all, but we do know what we are supposed to do, and we do possess grace to do it. It is not really for us to ask why: Job asked why, and if any man had reason to ask, it was him. But God did not tell him why- because Job did not need to know why.

Thanks for the ping, RnMom- and please pardon my lengthy rambling.

[RnMomof7]

I recently read that even when we dwell with God there will be things that we can not grasp...I agree

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Corin Stormhands]

I was wondering when somebody would notice!

I noticed, but I wasn't about to touch it!

[ksen]

...so that nothing happens in this world without His appointment; nevertheless, God neither is the Author of nor can be charged with the sins which are committed.

On the face of it this statement seems contradictory. How can someone who appoints everything to happen NOT be charged(blamed) with what happens?

If an author writes a book, isn't he responsible for what his characters do? If I were somehow to be able to appoint that our local bank would be robbed, why wouldn't I be responsible for it happening?

Ok, back to working my way through the post...

[ksen]

...keeping all creatures so under His power that “not a hair of our head (for they are all numbered), nor a sparrow can fall to the ground without the will of our Father,” in whom we do entirely trust....

Is that what the verse says? I'm not familiar with the Greek, but here is the verse in the original KJV[ ;^) ]:

Matt 10:
[29] Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
[30] But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Does that verse say that it is God's Will for the sparrow to fall, or that the Sparrow didn't fall without God knowing about it?

[ksen]

He[Spengler] was convinced that the western world had entered its winter season.

I don't know about the western world, but after listening to France and Germany the past few months makes me think that Europe at least is probably in its "winter season."