Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 12 August, 2018
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom. 12:2)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Zechariah’s Burden Upon Israel (1)
God’s Preservation of Besieged Jerusalem [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Zechariah 12
Text: Zechariah 12:1-9
I. The Destruction of the Enemy
II. The Unity of the People
Psalms: 125:1-5; 79:1-7; 18:33-40; 46:6-11
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
Living Faith in God Our Father [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Psalm 33
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 9
I. The Creator
II. The Provider
III. The Turner
Psalms: 147:12-20; 79:8-13; 104:1-7; 33:6-12
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: https://cprc.co.uk/live-streaming/
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Herman Hoeksema on Lord’s Day 9: “God is the eternal Father of the elect … in the true, spiritual sense, he is the Father only of his own, whom he gave to Christ in his eternal counsel. Through sin men became the children of their father the devil and do his will. They have neither the right nor the power to be children of God. We must not follow modernism in its boast of a universal fatherhood of God. In Christ and for his sake we obtain the right to be called children of God, and by his grace we are also conformed according to the image of his Son. All this is realized according to God’s eternal purpose, the same purpose and good pleasure according to which he created all things and governs all things. What then? Knowing that he is my Father for Christ’s sake, I know that in his eternal wisdom he so arranged all things that they must cooperate unto the final revelation of Christ and the salvation of all who are in him. Knowing that he is almighty, I am assured that he will surely accomplish all his good pleasure, so that nothing can betide me but by his will. Knowing that he loves me with an eternal and immutable love, manifested in the death of his Son, I trust that he will surely cause all things to work together unto my salvation. Thus the believer in Christ relies on him entirely, confident that all things always work together for good to those who love God. The eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the creator omnipotent, the only potentate of potentates, the God of our salvation, is my God and Father” (God’s Way Out, p. 201)
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Tuesday Bible Study at 11 AM will consider more on the burnt offering.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s Day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Haak is entitled “The Second Time” (Jonah 3:1-4).
S. Wales Lecture: Rev. Stewart will speak on “Christ Our Sacrifice in Isaiah 53” on Friday, 31 August, at 7:15 PM in Margam Community Centre.
Catechism begins Monday, 3 September. More details later.
Offerings: General Fund: £831.50. Building Fund: £197.50.
Sister Church News: Rev. R. Kleyn received the call to be minister-on-loan to the CERC (Singapore). Prof. Cammenga, Doner and Susannah Bartolon and their two children, and Rev. Griess returned home from Mexico this week safely in God’s providence. Rev. R. Kleyn returned home safely last week. The trip was very enjoyable and profitable. Many connections were made and speeches given. The delegations were well received. They hope to give a presentation in the near future in First Church in Grand Rapids.
Hearing Ears and Seeing Eyes (2)
Brian D. Dykstra
“The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them” (Proverbs 20:12).
God’s eyes are sensitive enough to see our needs. I know the needs of some of God’s people and can bring these needs to God in prayer, but I certainly cannot see every spiritual need of even one of you. God sees the condition of our hearts and knows our weaknesses. God’s eyes can see the temptations Satan prepares for us but we often are unaware of them. God sees how to send out His Spirit in order to help all of His people.
God is also able to see everything we do. Students can hide actions from teachers by waiting for them to turn around or go to the other side of the room to help another student. A desktop can also serve as a convenient shield. Our parents cannot see everything we do either. They are not always around when you are playing with your friends. Parents cannot see through walls or the closed door to your rooms. However, none of our actions are hidden from the sight of God. Walls, closed doors and desktops are completely transparent to His eyes. We cannot go anywhere to hide from His sight.
The Creator of the eye can even see things which are spiritual. God can see into our hearts. God can see our desires. He sees whether our hearts desire the things of His kingdom or the things of this earth. Does it give our hearts pleasure to seek to praise God by keeping His commandments? God can see this. Is it the desire of our hearts to please ourselves? God can see this too. God can see the secret desires of our hearts, whether they are good or whether these desires are evil.
This God, Creator of the ear and eye, can hear our cries and see our needs. He can do this as our loving, heavenly Father. This gives us comfort.
However, this God also hears and sees everything as the perfect Judge. We read in II Samuel 11 about David’s great sin. The last sentence of that chapter states, “But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” How did God even know? We never read in II Samuel 11 that David went to God, told God of his sins and confessed them. Instead, we read of David’s careful plotting to cover his sin by his own clever schemes. Some of the people in the palace might have had an idea of what David had done but David seemed to get away with his sin.
However, we all know that David could never hide his sins from God. This is the God who has made the ear! God heard the sinful desires of David’s heart! God heard David as he made his plans to cover his sin. This is the God who made the eye! All the secret things David had done were all in the open as far as God’s eye was concerned. Nothing which David thought or did was hidden from the ear or eye of God.
God knows our sins too. We often try to hide our sins as David did. Perhaps we think we get away with some of our sins because our parents and teachers cannot hear everything we say. When we have something to say about someone which we know is not nice, we wait until nobody in authority over us is around. Then we can talk and not get in trouble. If we are caught, perhaps a careful denial or lie can cover what we have said. However, not only does God hear what we say, He can even hear what we think. The silent thoughts which we keep in our hearts, sound just as loud to God’s ears as the things we shout to our classmates on the playground.
The same is true of our actions. David tried to hide what he did from the people around him. We try to do the same. When we are about to do something mean to someone, or do something we know is wrong in order to make others laugh or impress others, we don’t do it when our parents or teachers are right there. We wait until nobody in authority is there to see what we do. We often forget that the God who formed the seeing eye is always there and can see everything we do.
God is the maker of the hearing ear and the seeing eye in the spiritual sense as well. By nature, we do not hear the voice of God, nor do we see His truth. In Matthew 13:13-14, Jesus says, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” God’s voice in His Word and in creation is disregarded. We refuse to hear the call to repent of our sins because we believe we are good enough or certainly not as bad as others. We do not see the seriousness of our sins.
God works in the hearts of His people by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit makes our ears to hear and our eyes to see. We hear God’s law in church and realize we have sinned. We hear the preaching of the Word and know we cannot save ourselves or pay for our sins ourselves. God gives us the eyes to see our need for a Savior. We see Christ’s life of suffering and especially what He endured on the cross, as the perfect payment for our sins.
God has made our ears and eyes so we can relate to the physical world. God also has ears and eyes and we know that there is nothing which He cannot hear or see. Yet we are most thankful that He gives us spiritual ears and eyes, so we believe His Truth and know that the way of salvation is the way of sovereign grace in Christ.
