Quotation of the Four Major Points

What follows is my quotation of the four major points asserted by the Declaration of Principles adopted by the 1952 Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (explicit confessional proof is attached to each point, along with some further important statements in the original document):

On the basis of this Word of God and these confessions [the Three Forms of Unity as well as the ten minor forms]:

1. They [the Protestant Reformed Churches] repudiate the errors of the Three Points adopted by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, 1924, which maintain:

   1. That there is a grace of God to all men, including the reprobate, manifest in the common gifts to all men.

   2. That the preaching of the gospel is gracious offer of salvation on the part of God to all that externally hear the gospel.

   3. That the natural man through the influence of common grace can do good in this world.

   4. Over against this they maintain:

      1. That the grace of God is always particular, i.e., only for the elect, never for the reprobate.

      2. That the preaching of the gospel is not a gracious offer of salvation on the part of God to all men, nor a conditional offer to all that are born in the historical dispensation of the covenant, that is, to all that are baptized, but an oath of God that He will infallibly lead all the elect unto salvation and eternal glory through faith.

      3. That the unregenerate man is totally incapable of doing any good, wholly depraved, and therefore can only sin.

2. They teach on the basis of the same confessions:

   1. That election, which is the unconditional and unchangeable decree of God to redeem in Christ a certain number of persons, is the sole cause and fountain of all our salvation, whence flow all the gifts of grace, including faith.

   2. That Christ died only for the elect and that the saving efficacy of the death of Christ extends to them only.

   3. That faith is not a prerequisite or condition unto salvation, but a gift of God, and a God-given instrument whereby we appropriate the salvation in Christ.

3. Seeing then that this is the clear teaching of our confession,

   1. We repudiate

      1. The teaching that the promise of the covenant is conditional and for all that are baptized.

      2. The teaching that we may presuppose that all the children that are baptized are regenerated, for we know on the basis of Scripture, as well as in the light of all history and experience, that the contrary is true.

      3. [We also repudiate] the teaching that the promise of the covenant is an objective bequest on the part of God, giving to every baptized child the right to Christ and all the blessings of salvation.

   2. And we maintain:

      1. That God surely and infallibly fulfills His promise to the elect.

      2. The sure promise of God which He realizes in us as rational and moral creatures not only makes it impossible that we should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness but also confronts us with the obligation of love, to walk in a new and holy life, and constantly to watch unto prayer.

         All those who are not thus disposed, who do not repent but walk in sin, are the objects of His just wrath and excluded from the kingdom of heaven.

         That the preaching comes to all; and that God seriously commands to faith and repentance; and that to all those who come and believe He promises life and peace.

      3. [We also maintain] that the ground of infant baptism is the command of God and the fact that according to Scripture He established His covenant in the line of continued generations.

4. Besides, the Protestant Reformed Churches believe and maintain the autonomy of the local church.

Navigating between the false views on baptism

God specifically tells us that not all the children even of believers are elect (let alone regenerate/believing), therefore Scripture provides no warrant for presuming election, regeneration, or faith in the children of believers. And the sign of baptism may not be administered on this presumptive speculative basis.

However, the Baptist goes to the other extreme of presuming that all infants are unregenerate, and ignoring the promise of God that He elects from the children of believers. The sign of baptism may not be refused on the basis of this presumptive denial that of such [the children of believers] is the kingdom of heaven.

Rather, as in the Old Testament, the sign and seal of the righteousness of faith (the faith that is produced in us by regeneration, so that we are spiritually washed) is given on the basis of the promise of God to us and our children, since His promises are given to the children of the church no less than to the adults (since not all the adults who call themselves Israel, or believers, or church are regenerate). But God deals with His people, His church, as an organic whole. Sure there is chaff, there are tares among the wheat, but it is still addressed as a wheat-field. We do not presume the salvation of the adult professors, but we treat all the members of the church as God's people, no less the children. Always His covenant has been established and maintained in the line of continued generations, and the sign has reflected that:

"As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." - Isaiah 59:21.

According to the new covenant (the old fulfilled in Christ), the sign must change to suit the differences in the New Testament age - because if new wine is placed in old wineskins, they will be ruined. Rather it is placed in new wineskins. So that in everything the new covenant is BETTER (the keyword of Hebrews). The sign of water baptism is better than circumcision, because it puts no difference between Jew or Gentile (seeing that this new age is characterised by the salvation of the ends of earth, every tongue, tribe, and nation). It is better because it is not bloody (seeing that Christ by His blood has put an end to the shedding of blood for sins). It is better because it can be applied alike to both male and female, old and young.

The new covenant would not be better if suddenly children were to be excluded. If there had been some strange new doctrine, that the children of believers were now to be excluded from the sign of the covenant, there would certainly be something in the New Testament to explain such an outrageous change. Rather, the New Testament is filled with confirmation that God's promise of salvation is still to elect believers and their children, but explained more fully and explicitly (especially in Romans 9), is that this promise was never to all the children without exception, but that God's purposes with election and reprobation run through the children of believers.

The horrific blasphemy of an dishonest offer from God

This is a response to the quote-mining of a once staunch supporter of Calvinism, who has now started to prolifically promote the self-contradictory theology of the "free offer". This is idea that even though God has eternally willed only to save some, that nevertheless He sincerely and earnestly desires the salvation of all without exception, and expresses this desire in the preaching of the Gospel, which they suppose to be an invitation to, or offer of salvation in Christ (who they nevertheless believe died only for the elect). I'm aware that most sensible people will already see the absurdity of this position, but nevertheless, here is the quote:

"The Gospel is to be preached indiscriminately to the elect and to the reprobate: but the elect alone come to Christ, because they have been taught of God. (Isaiah 54:13) God invites all indiscriminately to salvation through the Gospel, but the ingratitude of the world is the reason why this grace, which is equally offered to all, is enjoyed by few." ~ John Calvin.

John Calvin heavily criticised how the Romish theologians would dig through the writings of the early church fathers to find and pull out the dung instead of the gold. I don't think he would be impressed with your attempt to do the same with his writings. In his later days, when he wrote specifically dealing with the subject against a heretic, he said:

"God is not like a mortal man, who is ever flexible and variable, and changes his mind and purposes every hour! Why, the very thing against which the monk so violently fights is that the adorable God is ever of one mind and consistent with himself!" (p. 178).

"We, however, with greater reverence and sobriety, say ‘that God always wills the same thing; and that this is the very praise of His immutability.’ Whatever He decrees, therefore, He effects; and this is in Divine consistency with His omnipotence. And the will of God, being thus inseparably united with His power, constitutes an exalted harmony of His attributes …" (p. 179).

The command to repent and believe, and the promise of salvation to all who believe is certainly not a universal invitation - if it were this would mean that God has a universal will for all without exception to be saved, and whatever God wills is done, because He is always faithful to Himself in the exercise of His omnipotent power.

This doctrine that the Gospel is an invitation militates against total depravity because for the invitation to be universal, every hearer must be equally capable of responding to the invitation. But we believe that humanity is dead in trespasses and sins, and cannot respond apart from the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. How can God invite sinners to come to Him, when He has not given them the power to come?

It also contradicts unconditional election, because if few are chosen, then the others cannot honestly be invited to that for which they have not been chosen. It is a cruel, dishonest and unjust invitation that invites someone where the invitor has already eternally decreed that they cannot come. How can God invite sinners to come to Him, when He has decided that they cannot come?

It tears apart limited/particular atonement, because a man cannot be honestly invited to banquet in which no place has been prepared for him, and where no room or provision has been made for him. That would be a vile, evil, wicked and abominable invitation. How then, can our righteous God invite sinners to come to Him, when He has not paid for their sins by the death of His Son?

God will not offer that which He has willed eternally not to give. Throughout all Scripture, the Gospel is never preached as an offer to all without exception. The preaching of the Gospel to all without exception is a command to repent and believe, and an unconditional promise that those who believe are saved eternally.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." - Jer. 31:3. The love of God is as unchangeable and eternal as He is (Mal. 3:6).

Since Christ is loved before the foundation of the world (John 17:24), then so too are all who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Before Jacob was born, he was loved by God, and likewise, before Esau was born, he was hated by God. There is no hatred in love, and there is no love in hatred. Denying these things and saying that God loves those who are not chosen in Christ, and sincerely desires their salvation (despite not having chosen them) is a horrible blasphemy against the righteous character of God. If God loves wicked-doers who He has determined not to save, what does that say about His love? Or what does that say about His Being? Can a righteous God love the wicked, except He makes them righteous through Christ's atonement? To say so, is to God loves wickedness, and that God is wicked. A more absurd and devilish blasphemy could hardly be contrived except by the inspiration of Satan who delights in tearing the church apart by heresy.

Judge for yourselves, but I say (not myself alone, but also the ministers of the churches I belong to) this nonsense that God loves everybody, desires to save everybody, invites everybody to salvation, offers salvation to everybody is a denial of the Scriptures, and an Arminian heresy condemned by the Synod of Dordt 1618-19. And they are many others who take this position too.

I love catechism!

It's the new year and nearly February and I still haven't updated my blog. Rather than fabricate something for this purpose, I thought I would just repost here an article of mine that was published in Beacon Lights. For those unfamiliar with this publication, this might a good occasion to check it out in more detail. It's a young people's magazine for the PRC filled to the brim with edifying and instructive material. Next time I'll give more detail about how the new year has been for a Reformed Christian living in Limerick.

Church Family by Samuel Watterson

Samuel is a member of Limerick Reformed Fellowship in the Republic of Ireland.

The Privilege of Catechetical Instruction

“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel; my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.”
Psalm 16:5-7.

For Protestant Reformed young people, the Heidelberg Catechism is an ordinary part of growing up. We reach a certain age, and we study and learn it in catechism classes. It is good and right that this should be the ordinary experience of the covenant child. Covenant children are born and brought up in the light as their believing and godly parents are in the light. Godly parents know that God saves his elect children, and keeps his people from apostasy, in the way of spiritual instruction and discipline (Hosea 4:6). Yet for others it is not so ordinary.

The importance of this is simply an historical fact. It is the sad story of most of the Jewish nation, such that when the Lord of glory was set before them, they cried with the ungodly Gentiles, “Let him be crucified. His blood be on us, and on our children.” It is also the sad story of many of the regions which are now thoroughly under the grip of Islam. It is the story of much of continental Europe now too, in which there is scarcely a faithful Reformed church to be found any longer. And of course, it is the story closer to home, of my own forebears, the Irish and Scottish Presbyterians and Anglicans (and the legacy of Patrick is long gone). What Isaiah lamented concerning Israel could be said of Ireland and Great Britain too: “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:4-9).

Growing up within a modern Irish Presbyterian church (as well as in other groups in certain years, especially the Methodist church), I had no idea of how far we had fallen. Instruction was limited to a superficial five-minute “children’s address,” coupled with a few uninspired songs (which were at the least terribly inappropriate and imbalanced if not utterly heretical) and then for the rest of the service the children were banished from the congregation to take part in “Sunday School.” To call it school was perhaps false advertisement.

In some ways this was good for the children. They did not have to stay to be corrupted even further by the ambiguous and sensational platitudes of the hopeless Arminian “gospel” that was commonly put forward by the minister. Sunday school usually involved harmless crafts and games with cartoon Bible characters. However, it has been said that such cartoons place the Bible in the same realm as the trash that the children see on the television.[3] Children learn to equate Jesus Christ with Santa Claus; as something to grow out of. Seeing Noah’s ark depicted as a round bathtub-like object with a giraffe’s head poking out of a porthole is more likely to evoke laughter than awe. This is especially so when the child is simultaneously inculcated with the secular worldview for most of the rest of the week, at home and at school. The ark was not “cute.” It was provided graciously by God to save his elect church from the terrible destruction that he was going to rain down upon the entire world for their wretched wickedness.

All this meant that a young child in the Protestant Reformed Churches knew far more of the Bible and biblical doctrine than myself when I was of the age at which confession of faith would usually be made. Yet now, my eyes having gradually been opened, I am amazed and astounded. Most of all, I am awestruck and humbled at the sovereignty of God’s grace, that amidst such widespread apostasy, and despite the total depravity of my own heart making me as worthy of hell as any other, God spared me. God brought me to his ark to be saved through the day of evil (I Pet. 3:18-22).

My own experience of the Heidelberg Catechism is quite different. I did not grow up with such precious instruction. Instead I floundered through a morass of lies and vanity in confusion and ignorance for years before God lifted me out of the mire to see the truth of biblical Reformed doctrine. The heresies I laboured under sinfully and foolishly for years were many; Pentecostalism, Arminianism, and Anabaptism are the three main categories. These divisive, horrible and detestable poisons ought always to be exposed and condemned by antithetical instruction in the biblical truth. When I encountered the Heidelberg Catechism, it was with great skepticism and pride, but it was also with great earnestness and seriousness thanks to the patient and faithful labors of Rev. Angus Stewart. It is right that we ought to search the Scriptures to confirm whether these things are true, and thankfully the references and the many articles and pamphlets available on the CPRC website were so many signposts and maps to direct us to the light. But we ought to do this in the spirit of prayerful humility and meekness.

It is a terrible and heinous thing when covenantal instruction is so neglected and corrupted in an institution claiming to be a church of Christ. It is also evil when the children of the church despise and reject godly instruction when they ought to cherish it dearly as the very air they breath and the bread they eat. It is all too easy in our carnality, to take for granted the things that God has graciously provided us with. Official catechetical instruction by lawfully ordained ministers of the Word, given biblically, is the chief means of grace to covenant young people, and as such ought to be received as the voice of Jesus Christ as much as the rest of the biblical preaching. By his voice we are inwardly called to him, and united more and more with him through the Spirit which assures us who believe of everlasting salvation. His words are spirit and life, and without them, it follows that we neither have spirit nor life. Delight in the peculiar privilege of receiving catechetical instruction!

 http://www.prca.org/current/Beacon%20Lights/Vol-64/2010-01.htm#church_family

Visit to the Protestant Reformed churches in Michigan!

It's just been about a week since I've been back in Ireland - and I have been hard at work! I recently visited the United States of America for the first time, and for two weeks. We spent two wonderful weeks with the saints in the Protestant Reformed churches in Michigan! There are so many aspects of this time that bring me great delight when I consider their memory. I'd like to record a few here - what I love about the Protestant Reformed churches and what in particular I loved in the time that we spent there. We met a lot of people, but I won't go into all those details.

"After 500 Years: John Calvin for Reformed Churches Today" - how much did I enjoy this conference? In many ways. First, of course, the speeches and lectures themselves, all of which will be available on the conference DVD which can be ordered now from the website. Each lecture was superb - but I admit that I enjoyed Prof. Engelsma's on "Calvin's Doctrine of the Covenant" the most. I hear that a lot of the speakers had much more material than they were able to squeeze into the time frame - so I hope that if a written format is released, this material will be available.

Rev. Chris Connors spoke with great insight on "Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination", exhorting us over and over - "thus far, and no further!" Should we draw back from the confession and proclamation of God's glory in unconditional election and reprobation, we are guilty of unbelief - yet should we attempt to go beyond what has been revealed to us in God's counsel by vain speculation - we are guilty of idolatry, crafting a false god of our own making. I had an opportunity to speak with Rev. Connors on a few occasions also, for which I am very thankful.

Rev. Stewart, endearingly referred to as "the Irish Bulldog", spoke of "Calvin's Doctrine of Justification", how any justification with which we cannot consider the Judgment Day "with singular delight" is not the justification revealed in the Gospel of Christ. We are greatly indebted to God's work through the frail, sickly, compassionate Reformer. Prof. Gritters reminded us at length of the example set for Reformed ministers in John Calvin, on how rarely God grants such gifts to His church, and what difference it would make if any today could come close to emulating the life and work of Calvin.

The other masterful lectures dealt with Calvin's struggle for church discipline by Prof. Cammenga, as church reformer by Prof. Dykstra, and as expositor and preacher by Rev. Keys. There was a lot that could be learnt from each of these. I was inspired to purchase a number of books while I was there - though I'll leave that discussion for more specific book reviews.

I greatly appreciated all the Protestant Reformed people that I was given the privilege of meeting at the conference too. They are certainly a "peculiar people"! Peculiar especially for their great kindness and love for the truth. Time would fail me to tell of all the wonderful virtues and treasures of God's glory I found among these people. Sure, they have their sins too, and certainly we only have the small beginnings of obedience, but those glimmers of pure light are enough to blind such people as myself who live amongst such deep darkness. These delightful and beautiful virtues are the fruit of true Spirit-filled preaching of the whole counsel of God in the lives of God's people. Of this I have no doubt.

Oh, and they were yet so quick to point to their faults! How often we heard the lament, "We are so ungrateful for what God has given us!" And how often they would tell us how we had encouraged them! What a glorious God we have that such earthen vessels as ourselves could yet be employed by the hand of our gracious Father for our mutual edification. Yet I am still quite certain that we were the more encouraged party.

Needless to say, we were so loaded with invitations to dinner, that our friend Martyn was soon to be employed as a full-time secretary to organise our busy social calendar. For two weeks we learnt the rules of "Dutch bingo", and experienced exquisite culinary delights (some more so than others, I am constrained to concede). But all this faded into nothing compared to the precious fellowship we were constantly greeted with. I miss everyone terribly, and I hope that God may grant to us that we could meet again soon. We made sure to give plenty of invitations to the British Reformed Fellowship Conference in Wales next year.

Perhaps the most shocking was how in the homes of these Reformed believers we could see a glorious manifestation of God's covenant with us and our children, maintained from generation to generation of them that fear Him. Seeing the beauty of this doctrine put in practice by the grace of God, serves to demonstrate how much we must detest the error of the Anabaptists for the sake of God's glory and love for His church for which Christ died, lambs as well as sheep.

There is much more that I could write – we were granted many more precious memories that could be shared. But for now I'll leave this here, and perhaps I relate more at another time. Hold your breath for episode two of our American escapades! Coming soon, with accounts of highly lauded seminary classes, and much more!

Sam W.

UPDATE: I've been informed by a certain PR gentleman that I have portrayed the PR folk in too favourable a light. This is quite possible, since he knows them far more intimately than I. But speaking of my experiences, and those particular people I met, I consider my representation faithful and accurate. I could have chosen to be more critical and tried to highlight their sins, but I am quite confident that they already have plenty of people around them to do this for them everyday. I feel the efforts of my criticism would be better employed elsewhere first - and of course first of all at myself.

How greatly God has blessed us through the CPRC

The last year has been amazing. We have visited the CPRC a number of times. Once, we visited for a short weekend, and I remember spending the afternoon with Francesco De Lucia (one of CPRC's zealous translators) at Philip Rainey's house. We had a marvellous lunch, finished off with reading and discussing Luke 18 together - one of my favourite passages for the defense of not merely baptism of believing members of households, but infant baptism too, and especially, since "of such are the kingdom of God" and except we receive the kingdom of God as a little child we shall "in no wise enter therein".

It was a great encouragement too, to spend the afternoon talking with Philip and his wife and Francesco, to learn about his struggles in a compromising church so similar to my own and how "the lines are fallen unto [us] in pleasant places; yea [we] have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16). It is good to hear the confession of the saints, and how we dwell in unity together as brothers like the unity of the Spirit that anoints our great high priest, Jesus Christ, and which fills God's temple (Psalm 133) where there is eternal life in the knowledge of Him (John 17:3). I have to explain, that here in Limerick, I would hear no-one outside the small number of the LRF who would reject the "free offer" and stand for it as Philip Rainey has done, and suffered for it - although this has clearly worked out for his good, and our good too, as his witness encourages me to follow such a godly example. The scarcity of such a witness makes it all the more precious to me.

Each time I visit the CPRC, especially joining them in the public worship service, I am quite in awe of how God closely dwells among His people, and the unimaginable difference between the true and the false church. Before I first came, I had never experienced anything like it, nor could I have imagined it - and I am further convinced of the extreme darkness covering this nation, and of the overflowing abundance of God's grace in Christ, flowing to me, and all the saints from sovereign and gracious predestination. Nothing else could explain why my eyes have been opened while so many others remain obstinately blind to the things made manifest to them all.

The mealtimes at the Stewarts, and our walks/hikes together are exceedingly precious to me also, where we spoke like men who dream (Psalm 126), and rejoiced in God, peering into the everlasting truths revealed to us in Scripture by our God and Saviour, and singing psalms to Him in thankfulness. These are marvellous things, which seem almost out of place here on earth, and amidst so much evil and sin, in the world and even in ourselves. To be singing the songs of heaven, and dwelling with the God of heaven, and hearing His heavenly voice, all here on earth! That is a wondrous thing. I long for the day in which we in the LRF, if it so pleases our ascended Lord, should be granted a minister of the word - and yet even now how greatly are we blessed to have such unity and fellowship, and joy in the truth, to be remembering Zion together, here in Babylon! Visiting the CPRC has shown me a little bit of what Zion is like, so that I would long for it more and more dearly, even with tears.

For this reason, we ought always to be zealous that God is worshipped only according to his commandments and no other way - for how can we profane that holy hill with sick and lame sacrifices (Mal. 1:14), and idolatry? The hypocrites here, and false churches constantly cry out for compromise, and the glory of God to be brought lower than a man, and for Jerusalem to be torn to the ground, only that they can mock the saints with vain superstitions, blasphemies, and abominations. And they even seem oblivious to how greatly God hates such obscenities - and in such blindness are incapable of loving God or His saints, only objecting that we do not follow their traditions and that we strenuously object to their evil practices and demonic doctrines.

And in that same ignorance, they leave true believers, the scattered sheep, also in ignorance to be tossed to and fro with every kind of deceit. How gracious God has been to have shed His light here on us! And how great our responsibility is to show forth His praises, so that the hypocrites are uncovered and their deceits laid low in the dust. To see the lampstand in Ballymena stirs us up in praying, hoping, and working that God may establish such a pillar and ground of the truth here.

So, it is encouraging to see God at work in some of our close friends, who more frequently join us on Sundays, gradually having the scales taken from their eyes. One came with us to the CPRC once too, and we spent a lot of time with Francesco, and visited the Giant's Causeway, and the Silent Valley reservoir. Of course it was the fellowship which I appreciated most. Conversations with Francesco are always a great blessing to me, and I think they were for everyone else there too. I remember that Sunday we heard a sermon on what it means to be a true Jew, and also a sermon on the Father's hand in providence. There is no comparison between biblical preaching, and the poisoned gloop that is served up in the "churches" in Limerick.

Am I being too harsh, or too extreme? Is it as bad as I paint it? Definitely not - probably not harsh and extreme enough, because the false church is always even immeasurably worse on the inside than it looks on the outside (Eze. 8). "Nice" people abound here, but hell too is full of "nice" people. How are they "nice" anyway when they contradict and oppose Scripture (the very words of the Spirit of Jesus Christ!) at every turn - just as they oppress and crush the saints? I cannot think of the blessedness of my visits to the CPRC without contrasting them with the Satanic synagogues here in Limerick - each commends and vividly illuminates the true nature of the other, so that I rejoice more in the former, and detest more the latter. It is the difference between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of darkness. One is a sheepfold, the other is a pig sty.

When Rev. Stewart was here, he preached a fiery sermon on the fires of division that Christ has come to bring upon the earth, and I found myself willing too, that this fire were already kindled here in Limerick (though it is in part), so that there would be a clear separation between those who love God by His grace, and those who hate Him by nature as reprobate children of Satan. His exhortations were much needed, as it is very difficult not to cave in to the pressure exerted on us from every direction. But we stand by the power of God who graciously sends us His word, and His strength and truth fights our battles for us on these banks of the Red Sea, so that we will see greater wonders than these. Left to ourselves, I shudder to think of the depths of destruction to which our depravity would take us.

There is so much I could tell of our time with Rev. Stewart and his wife, and how wonderful a time we had in the services, worshipping the living God in our midst, and in our meals and peaceful times in the afternoons. Each of us greatly benefitted from this time. It was powerful reminder of how there is always a remnant according to the election of grace - another passage that was preached on from I Kings 19 about the still small voice. But I'll not write a book here - yet.

I should finally say that the lectures have been superb, and I had long and enjoyable discussions with Rev. Stewart about evolutionism and creationism, which is an area of particular interest to me, from a scientific perspective too. It is amazing how any real scientist could believe evolutionary theory, except for total depravity. Of course, the materialists, like stupid monkeys, are busy chewing off the branch that they are sitting on - because any sort of science is impossible without biblical presuppositions. Atheism is the worst religion for science, since it inherently denies all the basic tenets that science is based upon. No surprise there, about the marvellous capabilities of the human nature to hold the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). So, I am further astounded by the miracle of grace that has redeemed us, and therefore may we continue to stir one another up to praise our Rock.

I am very excited about the prospect of visiting the saints of the PR churches in America!

Peace be to all the saints only (I Cor. 16:22),

Sam W.

Biblical Church Unity in 2009

Happy new year from Limerick!

It has been an eventful year, and one in which I could not even begin to recount the myriad journey which the Lord, by His eternally steadfast, unchanging, and powerful grace, has brought me through. Perhaps the journey above all journeys this year, which has in some ways permeated everything I have been through, has been regarding the church.

First there is all that I have learnt about the church, in its government, in its nature, in its purpose, and in its local expression. Second there is all I have had to put in practice concerning what I have learnt. I have had to leave a church that has departed from the truth and is becoming more and more a part of the Anti-christian harlot (Rev 17:1-6). I have had to figure out what church I can join and how to make that decision. I have had to learn what church membership is really all about, and what the importance of creeds and confessions are. And I have had to join the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, in the hope that God will graciously institute a true church here that is "Reformed according to the word of God".

In the light of this great journey on which at least now I can confess that I am on the right road (the narrow way) and heading in the right direction, I would like to share the following excerpt from a very short book on biblical church unity that I have just read (I seem to always end up reading shockingly appropriate articles about issues after I have struggled with them myself and come through to the very positions expressed by those articles - why isn't it the other way around?):

"Doctrinal independence from the church of the past is the hallmark of sectarianism. Sects, by their very nature, reject and despise the creeds and confessions. They thrive in a climate of theological individualism. They epitomize the idea of all men believing that which is right in their own eyes and then drawing other men after them. In contrast, churches that "hold the traditions" will with gladness in their hearts join their fathers in common confession of the truth which they all as one believe.

If church unity is to be biblical, therefore, the churches must be confessional churches.

Finally, before we move on, there is a further objection to the confessions which we must consider briefly. Against those churches who take their confessional standards seriously the charge is sometimes made that they give them an authority equal to that of Holy Scripture. There are two comments to be made in reply. In the first place, it is doubtful whether the charge is ever actually true, but, in the second place, even if it were a valid charge, the objection is misdirected, since the fault lies not with the confession, but with the individual, church, or denomination giving it the undue authority.

The authority of a creed is a derived authority and is therefore always subordinate to that of Scripture.

The danger today, in these times of doctrinal laxity, lies not so much in giving the confessions too much authority as not enough. Once a church or denomination becomes embarrassed by its stated confession and quietly leaves it to gather dust on the shelf, or allows diversity of opinion on matters which are judged to be unconcerned with the substance of the faith, then the enemy is at the door, if not already rampaging through the house. The churches no longer speak with one voice, and divisions, with all the disruption and pain they incur, inevitably follow."

From this article: http://www.prca.org/prtj/nov97.html#BiblicalChurchUnity.

After all this, though it is but a glimpse of God's work in this world for His people, and all for the glory of His Name, I still confess: God is sovereign, and His Word is sufficient. I am continually reminded of my ignorance and lack of faith. I know that God holds me, because I could never hold onto Him unless I was firmly clutched in the palm of His sovereign hand. Through all the trials which it pleases the Lord to bring upon us, may we confess with Job:

"Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my mine hand upon my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer: yea twice; but I will proceed no further. ... I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withheld from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore I have uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." - Job 40:4-5; 42:2-6.

In 2009, may we pray for the true biblical peace of Jerusalem (Psa 122:1-9, 1Co 1:10), though I don't mean the Jerusalem of the premillenialists (Heb 12:22-24).

- Sam W.

Visiting the CPRC!

The weekend before last, my friends and I visited the church that is currently working with the fellowship I attend to plant a church in my area. I have never been so thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Belgic Confession when it says that the true and false churches may be easily distinguished! You might get the occasional poisoned scrap in one and a drop of gone-off milk, but in the true church the sheep actually get fed with pure healthy milk by the gallon and strengthened by bucketloads of good solid food!

It was an amazing weekend. Along with the other saints, I met a man, Francesco, again (he remembered me from the very first public lecture by this church that I had been to (17th August 2007)!), and we had some great and encouraging discussions. He was also able to recommend about half the bookstore, so my friends and I got a lot of books, and we've all been doing a lot of reading.

We've had to, because first, we had to be utterly convinced from Scripture that the CPRC's dogmatics were correct. There were various things that we had big questions about to begin with, as the minister can testify to. We gave him some pretty thorough grillings (and that was after we had read loads on the website)! Infant baptism and covenant children and mode of baptism, the nature of the Lord's supper, brethren-style church "order", some aspects of charismaticism, the regulative principle, exclusive psalmody, KJV and other Bible versions, observance of the Lord's Day/Christian sabbath, the use of creeds, the Three Forms of Unity (3FU), etc. There was a lot! But all these issues seem so clear to me now! And I could very easily prove every one from Scripture, because not only did I have to have these proven to me before I would accept them, but secondly, I have now had to prove them to others and defend the teaching of the CPRC as the 3FU tell me biblically that I should.

Thirdly, I have had to read loads, because the more I understand these things, the more I love and adore these great truths and all the teaching of the CPRC, and so have felt compelled to read more, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of those around me here, and so that I would be further conformed to the image of Christ and always be ready to give an answer for the hope that I have! It really encouraged me to hear also about how God brought Francesco into contact with the CPRC and out of such falsehood.

Many of our college friends have not taken very well however to our stance on many issues. At the heart of which, of course, as always, is Calvinism and most particularly, the five points thereof. The lie that man is involved in salvation is always where the heart of the battle rages. It is because salvation is the centrepiece of God's glory, and to say that man is in anyway responsible is the very pinnacle of human pride. But God will not share His glory with another, so may we never give an inch to the falsehoods that abound in this country.

I look forward to more such well fed weekends, and I cannot contain my excitement about this work here where I live. Our fellowship has begun to have morning meetings as well now. May God graciously allow this to continue, and build His church, and may we be thankful always, rejoicing in what He has done for us.

- Sam W.