From: The Standard Bearer

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Bert Mulder
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Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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The Afscheiding and the Well-meant Gospel Offer

Bericht door Bert Mulder »

The faithful in the church in Scotland were gratified by the creedal orthodoxy of the church (such as it was), but the looseness of morals and the wicked lives members lived filled them with dismay. They concluded, rightly, that the problem was "a religion of the head, but not of the heart." And this they set about to correct with an emphasis on piety. Piety was defined as a genuine conversion of the heart, rooted in a deep conviction of sin and a need of Christ's sacrifice, and a life of holiness that followed on "closing with Christ," an expression much used among the godly in Scotland.

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The Afscheiding and the Well-meant Gospel Offer
Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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Bert Mulder
Berichten: 9086
Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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Bericht door Bert Mulder »

You will notice that these three points of examination correspond exactly to the three parts of the Heidelberg Catechism, namely, the three parts of knowledge necessary to enjoy our only comfort in life and death. The knowledge of true faith, therefore, has to precede access to the Lord's table.

These things having been said, we ought to emphasize, however, the importance of preparing our children for confession of faith. That is not something to be postponed. One will mature sooner than another. But when children have been instructed in the faith for several years, it is not out of line to expect many of them to confess their faith by the time they are sixteen or seventeen, in some instances even younger, and certainly by the time they are able to make important decisions in life.

The Protestant Reformed Churches have not been influenced by the mystical pietism that gave rise to the Netherlands Reformed congregations, where young people were taught that they had to tell their conversion story before being admitted to the Lord's table, and that this was not possible when they were young. For that reason many waited till late in life to confess their faith or did not dare to do so at all. Others took the position that confessing faith simply meant confessing historical faith, which somehow (in gross error) granted the right to have their children baptized, but not to partake of the Lord's Supper.

In the Protestant Reformed Churches it seems that there are other factors causing a postponement of confession of faith, and that in certain areas or congregations rather than others. But those factors must be addressed. We must stress to our children that it is a great privilege to be born as a child of the covenant and raised under the instruction of God's Word. And it is a great privilege and calling to confess our faith, in order that we may also proclaim Christ's death and resurrection as part of His bride at the communion table.

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Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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Bert Mulder
Berichten: 9086
Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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Seeking the Unity of the Church (3)

Bericht door Bert Mulder »

But, why this division?

From the viewpoint of the creature, the cause is sin. Sins of men, plots of Satan, pride, heresy, party spirit, rejection of the Bible, all contribute to this resulting disharmony.

And yet there is another reason, one that every Reformed believer will confess, namely, God has so willed it. Acknowledging that God is omnipotent and knowing that His counsel is both complete and sovereign, we can only conclude that God planned that the church on earth be divided.

History demonstrates God's determinative will. God determined division in the church in the Old Testament—the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of the ten tribes. God determined that the Western (Europe) and the Eastern (Greek Orthodox) branches would divide in 1054. God planned the Reformation, and the expulsion of Luther. God determined that the Anabaptists would leave the Reformation churches, and that the Lutherans and Swiss Reformed would go their separate ways. The fact that the followers of Calvin would further divide into Reformed and Presbyterian was not outside of God's plan. And the host of divisions in the last 400 years that resulted in hundreds of different Reformed and Presbyterian churches—all of it is in God's sovereign counsel.

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Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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Bert Mulder
Berichten: 9086
Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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Re: From: The Standard Bearer

Bericht door Bert Mulder »

With this article we move on to the subject of eschatology—the study of the last things. Lord willing, Rev. Key will be going through the subjects that are normally covered in this locus of theology, while I plan to do a more in-depth study of a few erroneous eschatological systems.

This article marks the beginning of a series of articles on dispensational eschatology. Dispensationalism is an erroneous theological system that promotes the idea that Israel is the earthly people of God and the church is the heavenly people of God, and that God in the immediate future is going to separate these two peoples. Repeatedly they stress the imminency of this separation, claiming that current events indicate it could happen at any moment, and that many are going to be left behind and will have to go through the horrible events leading up to Armageddon.

Dispensationalism is extremely popular. A number of movies and many books have been very effective at promoting the movement. So much so that the nonfiction bestseller of the 1970s was a popularization of the movement—Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth (1970). Since the mid-1990s, Tim LaHaye's novels in his Left Behind series have been read by tens of millions of people, and have been referred to as "the most effective disseminator of dispensationalist ideas ever."¹

What makes these books fascinating to many is that the authors take current world events and claim that these specific events were prophesied in Scripture. Then they proceed to give details about what they say Scripture indicates is going to happen next. Thus many people are attracted to the books the way sinful man has always been attracted to fortunetellers. And when one adds to this an action-packed plot, as is often found in the novels and movies used to promote the dispensational movement, it is not surprising that they have become a raging success.
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Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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Bert Mulder
Berichten: 9086
Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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Re: From: The Standard Bearer

Bericht door Bert Mulder »

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http://sb.rfpa.org/index.cfm?mode=narro ... t_search=0

Laboring in the Consciousness of God's Sovereignty in Missions (4) The Voice of Christ that Saves
By Rev. Thomas C. Miersma

That God saves His people by this means of grace and in this way works salvation does mean, however, that we stand today almost unique in the Christian world and among the Reformed and Presbyterian church world. The Christian church also of the Reformation is abandoning preaching through unbelief in this truth. They are doing so in the churches, to the spiritual destruction of the covenant seed in their generations. They are also doing so on the mission fields and in evangelism. Gimmicks and human inventions are supplanting preaching.

This can happen to us in our approach to missions and evangelism also. We want to see growth. We are perhaps inclined to look at numbers. We see the lost and want to do something. We forget, especially in North America, that we labor largely among those who have had the gospel in their generations and who are being cut off from the olive tree through unbelief (Rom. 11:19, 20). We are engaged in a difficult labor, plucking branches out of the burning. We live in a results-oriented culture of quick fixes, sound bites, and instant gratification.

Walking the way the Lord taught us, resting in His promise that His Word never returns void, is difficult. That God saves His people by preaching means that a large part of mission work and evangelism consists of not just one but three "p"s: preaching, prayer, and patience, or waiting upon the Lord. A large part of mission work and evangelism is a matter of waiting upon the Lord, in prayer, and letting the Word work! That His sheep might hear His voice, He is pleased, "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (I Cor. 1:21). We therefore must walk in that "foolishness" of preaching by faith.
Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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Bert Mulder
Berichten: 9086
Lid geworden op: 28 aug 2006, 22:07
Locatie: Grace URC Leduc Alberta Canada
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Re: From: The Standard Bearer

Bericht door Bert Mulder »

For the record, Graham's ecumenical viewpoint has become so broad that just prior to the end of the century (in 1997), in an interview by Dr. R. Schuller, of Crystal Cathedral fame, Graham went on record as stating that knowledge of and faith in Christ Jesus is not the only way of salvation. Having stated that Muslims, Buddhists, and non-believers could also be members of Christ's body as they were, he went on to say,
They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven (Murray, op. cit., p. 74).

Not even Schuller was sure he had heard right. Seeking clarification, Schuller exclaimed,
What, what I hear you saying, that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they have been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you are saying?

"Yes, it is", Graham responded in decided tones. At which point his television host tripped over his words in his excitement, and exclaimed, "I'm so thrilled to hear you say this. There is a wideness to God's mercy". To which Graham added, "There is. There definitely is" (Ibid.).

A wideness of God's mercy indeed! So wide, it does not even require Christ.
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Mijn enige troost is, dat ik niet mijn, maar Jezus Christus eigen ben, Die voor mijn zonden betaald heeft, en zo bewaart, dat alles tot mijn zaligheid dienen moet; waarom Hij mij ook door Zijn Heilige Geest van eeuwig leven verzekert, en Hem voortaan te leven van harte willig en bereid maakt.
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