"The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2Timothy 2:19). "My word...shall not return unto me void" (Isaiah 55:11). There is a threefold end of purpose in God desiring the promiscuous proclamation of his gospel in all the world. One, the Lawgiver, on his authority, he has the sovereign right to dictate to man his duty. …
Tag: Grace
Evil!
We are assured also in our Form of Baptism, that our Father will, "avert all evil from us, or turn it to our profit." Notice, very naively, as if the foregoing were not really meant seriously, the statement concludes with: or turn it to our profit. The sense of this is that evil will clearly come and is not averted …
The power of Self-deceit!
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah17:9) "The easiest thing of all is to deceive oneself; for what a man wishes he generally believes to be true" (Demosthenes). "We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves" (Goethe). "Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves" (Rousseau). "Despite their …
Trinitarian Redemption!
The result, the development of the rebirth is faith, conversion, sanctification, and also its completion: the presentation before the Father without spot or wrinkle. The Father with his creative power establishes the bond of the covenant, opens the paternal home for his elect children, keeps the inheritance ready for them, and watches over them with …
God’s Sovereign Elective Grace !
Rev. George Ophoff (1891-1962) was one of the founding fathers of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. In 1922, he was ordained into the ministry of the Word and became the first pastor of Hope Christian Reformed Church (later Hope Protestant Reformed Church) in Walker, Michigan, where he served for 7 years. In 1925 he …
Sovereign, Saving Grace!
"Because in him there is found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam" (1Kings 14:13) Such was the testimony which the Lord gave by his prophet of young Abijah, the son of wicked Jeroboam. The father was branded even to a proverb, for his abominable wickedness. Behold, the …
Slavery! (That Was Then, Not Now)
I was preaching a short time ago in the city of Nottingham in England, here in the United Kingdom. A man who obviously disagreed with the Bible but had a more than usual knowledge of the Scriptures questioned me. He finished by saying, "I suppose then you agree with slavery as well," quoting a verse …
