Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 12 January, 2025
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM – Prof. Kuiper
Rejoicing in Our Election [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:1-24
Text: Luke 10:20b
I. Our Election
II. Our Assurance
III. Our Joy
Psalms: 65:1-5; 149:1-5; 69:19-20, 25-28; 69:29-35
Evening Service – 6:00 PM – Prof. Kuiper
The Nearness of God’s Word [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30; Romans 10:4-10
Text: Deuteronomy 30:11-14
I. The Word That Is Near
II. The Denial of Its Nearness
III. The Defence of Its Nearness
Psalms: 19:1-6; 119:105-112; 19:7-14; 25:4-5, 8-10, 12-13
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: www.cprc.co.uk/live-streaming
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quote to Consider
Martin Luther: “Paul, discoursing of God, declares peremptorily, ‘Whom He will He hardeneth,’ and again, ‘God willing to show His wrath,’ etc. And the apostle did not write this to have it stifled among a few persons and buried in a corner, but wrote it to the Christians at Rome, which was, in effect, bringing this doctrine upon the stage of the whole world, stamping an universal imprimatur upon it, and publishing it to believers at large throughout the earth. What can sound harsher in the uncircumcised ears of carnal men than those words of Christ, ‘Many are called, but few chosen’? And elsewhere, ‘I know whom I have chosen.’ Now, these and similar assertions of Christ and His apostles are the very positions which you, O Erasmus, brand as useless and hurtful. You object, ‘If these things are so, who will endeavour to amend his life?’ I answer, ‘Without the Holy Ghost, no man can amend his life to purpose’ Reformation is but varnished hypocrisy unless it proceed from grace. The elect and truly pious are amended by the Spirit of God, and those of mankind who are not amended by Him will perish. You ask, moreover, ‘Who will dare to believe himself a favourite of heaven?’ I answer, ‘It is not in man’s own power to believe himself such upon just grounds until he is enabled from above.’ But the elect shall be so enabled; they shall believe themselves to be what indeed they are. As for the rest who are not endued with faith, they shall perish, raging and blaspheming as you do now. ‘But,’ say you, ‘these doctrines open a door to ungodliness.’ I answer, ‘Whatever door they may open to the impious and profane, yet they open a door of righteousness to the elect and holy, and show them the way to heaven and the path of access unto God.’ Yet you would have us abstain from the mention of these grand doctrines, and leave our people in the dark as to their election of God; the consequence of which would be that every man would bolster himself up with a delusive hope of share in that salvation which is supposed to lie open to all, and thus genuine humility and the practical fear of God would be kicked out of doors. This would be a pretty way indeed of stopping up the gap Erasmus complains of! Instead of closing up the door of licentiousness, as is falsely pretended, it would be, in fact, opening a gulf into the nethermost hell. Still you urge, ‘Where is either the necessity or utility of preaching predestination?’ God Himself teaches it or commands us to teach it, and that is answer enough. We are not to arraign the Deity and bring the motives of His will to the test of human scrutiny, but simply to revere both Him and it. He, who alone is all-wise and all-just, can in reality (however things appear to us) do wrong to no man, neither can He do anything unwisely or rashly. And this consideration will suffice to silence all the objections of truly religious persons.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
New Protestant Reformed Theological Journals are on the back table. Disks of Wednesday night’s lecture on “The Proper Method of Bible Interpretation: Grammatical-Historical-Spiritual” by Prof. Kuiper are also available.
Everyone is welcome to stay for tea after this evening’s service as we say farewell to our two church visitors.
Monday catechism classes:
5:00 PM: Hannah, Penelope & Xander (Seniors OT)
5:45 PM: Grace, Jonas, Liam & Sammy (Beginners OT – Book 2)
6:30 PM: Eleanora, Felicity, Jorja & Sophie (Juniors OT)
7:15 PM: Jason, Kyan, Maisie & Sebastian (Heidelberg Catechism – Book 1)
The Council meets tomorrow night at 8 PM.
Tuesday Bible study will meet this week at 11 AM to look at Paul’s knowledge of the life of Christ and the early apostolic church, and its source.
The Belgic Confession class will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 PM. The class will continue our study of the Antichrist.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled, “Not Just Hearers, But Doers” (James 1:22-25).
Offerings: £1,208.66. Donation: £100 (Co. Antrim), £200 (New Jersey).
Translation Additions: 1 French, 1 Italian, 1 Korean (Prof. Engelsma’s book, Marriage, the Mystery of Christ and the Church), 1 Polish, 3 Russian and 1 Spanish.
PRC News: Rev. R. Barnhill declined the call from Hudsonville PRC. Southwest PRC, Grace PRC and Lynden PRC have called Rev. J. Engelsma. Cornerstone PRC called Rev. D. Holstege. Grandville PRC has a trio of Revs. Eriks, D. Holstege and Maatman.
Miracles Performed by Elisha (1)
Brian D. Dykstra
II Kings 4
II Kings 4 records four miracles performed by Elisha. Since Scripture is not organized in strict chronological order, we find that the Bible is often organized by themes. Sometimes there is a pattern alternating between major events which take place on a national scale and events which unfold within a single household. Although there is debate on the subject, most commentators feel that the events of this chapter took place after the events of our previous chapter.
If these events did follow the providential deliverance of the three kings from a lack of water and their victorious humiliation of Moab, we are surprised to see Elisha working on the scale in which he does. We would think one of the three kings would see how valuable Elisha would be as an advisor in a royal court. Is Elisha’s treatment a reminder of Ecclesiastes 9:14-15? “There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it; Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.” While we understand why heathen or ungodly kings would not make use of Elisha’s services, we might expect the godly Jehoshaphat to find a place where Elisha could serve him. Yet where do we find Elisha serving? He is not in a royal court. We find him serving a destitute widow, a barren woman, the sons of the prophets and one hundred men who needed food. We must not be disappointed when God does not have us employ our gifts in honourable or powerful places. Most often God has us use our talents in humble places where we will gain no fame.
Before we treat Elisha’s first miracle recorded in this chapter, we need to discuss Jewish traditions, since we have some in this chapter. I will pass these traditions on to you, not because I think they are true, or even likely or probable, but because they are interesting and help to make the stories more memorable and tie parts of Scripture together. Thus these traditions have some value. However, if God really wanted us to know these matters, He would have seen to it that we would have a record of them in the Bible. These traditions are not based on an Old Testament prophet filling in some details for us, nor do we have some commentary given about these stories in the New Testament. My feeling, for now, about these traditions is that they are the product of people discussing these stories with one another and thinking, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if …” Make of these traditions what you will.
The first recorded miracle in this chapter is Elisha delivering the indebted widow. We know she was a “certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets.” Here is proof that prophets were allowed to marry. God created man with a sexual nature. This was part of Adam and Eve’s relationship before the fall, when God declared that His creation was very good. It was after the fall that man expressed his sexual nature in depraved ways. It is true that “there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb” (Matt. 19:12), but that is not generally the case. The Roman Catholic practice of forbidding priests to marry is not based on Scripture and has caused scandalous behaviour in Rome for centuries. God allowed His prophets and priests to marry so they could flee from adultery and fornication (I Cor. 7:2, 9).
Jewish tradition states this widow was the wife of Obadiah, Ahab’s servant who hid 100 prophets during that perilous time when Jezebel did her best to eliminate the church in Israel. We are certain that her husband “did fear the Lord.” This gives us some clues as to how she incurred the debt. We know that a man who fears the Lord will not waste his money in riotous living, as did the prodigal son in the parable, or in satisfying a lust for luxury items to impress others. We say this because, when Elisha asks what she has in the house, all she has is a pot of oil. She does not have beautiful furniture or glittering tableware to sell to raise money to pay her creditor.
Her husband was a man of faith. God’s gift of faith bears the fruit of a certain style of living. Believers realize that all that they have, even earthly possessions, are gifts from God. What we have is not really ours. It is God’s. We hold these possessions as God’s stewards. We must be careful with the money He gives us. We will not spend money we do not have. There are several places in Proverbs where God instructs us about the dangers of debt and why we should avoid it. Her husband did not incur this debt from high-living or foolish spending.
If she were Obadiah’s widow, we assume that his position as Ahab’s steward would be well paid. However, it would have been expensive to feed 100 prophets during a time of great famine and could consume his finances. If he were an unknown son of the prophet (which does not refer to a biological relationship but one of student to master), we understand that this position would not provide a lucrative salary. False prophets ate at king’s tables. God’s prophets did not fare so sumptuously.
The result was that her husband left behind a debt, a debt which she was unable to pay. She must now deal with her creditor who has come to call for payment. Since she had no money with which to pay, her sons must work for the creditor until they had rendered service of equal value to the debt. Tradition holds that the creditor is Jehoram, Ahab’s son. Obadiah had borrowed money from Jehoram to pay for the support of the 100 prophets whom he protected.
Critics scold the creditor for his hard-heartedness. Can’t he take pity on a poor, destitute widow who has been reduced to nothing? Who would help or support her if the creditor were to take her sons away? Why can’t he forgive the debt and be a hero? To take a loan, then not pay it back, is stealing. We should never take out loans which we might not be able to repay. The creditor is following the Old Testament law which expresses the will of God. These creditors were the financial institutions of the day. Society suffers when lenders cannot operate because of too many unpaid loans.
The widow turns to Elisha for help. We would think her situation to be hopeless when Elisha discovers that all she has is a little oil in a pot. Nevertheless, he directs the widow to borrow as many vessels as she can procure. The three shut the door, and the widow begins to pour the oil into vessels. She takes the oil and sells it all. The oil which God provided was of top quality. The water Christ changed into wine was excellent, so we are sure this high-quality oil would fetch a good price in the local market. She pays her debt and lives off what was left.
Oil is a picture of God’s Spirit. We see an illimitable supply of the Spirit, enough to fill the faith of church members whether our faith is large or small. As we go through life, we experience that sometimes our faith is great and sometimes it is small. Our vessel is not of a constant size. Yet God will fill us with His Spirit.
As the oil was poured out behind closed doors, we learn how the Spirit does His work. The Spirit works quietly, not in great public displays. The Spirit does not draw attention to Himself, but always directs us to our merciful Father and the perfect sacrificial Lamb. The Spirit prefers to work in the background. Our Heidelberg Catechism reflects this. God the Father is treated in two Lord’s Days containing three questions and answers, while the Son is treated in nine Lord’s Days and twenty-four questions and answers. The Holy Spirit receives one Lord’s Day which contains one question and answer.
Since God is unchanging, we have the same God who will provide for His children. He does answer the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Our Father is the fountain of all good and we confess that our own arduous work will profit us nothing without His blessing. If we lack earthly bread because of persecution, we look with certainty to the inexhaustible source of living water and bread in heaven.
We also have an unpayable debt, just as the widow. We did not incur this debt merely by imitating the sins of those around us. We cannot blame our sins on Satan either. Our sins arise from our own depraved nature, a nature which is a foul fountain which issues only bitter water.
God, our Creditor, “would have done no injustice by leaving them all to perish, and delivering them over to condemnation on account of sin” (Canons I:1). By grace alone, we confess such condemnation is not our fate. “But in this the love of God was manifested, that he sent his only begotten Son into the world, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Canons I:2) The widow lived the rest of her days off the profit of the oil. God’s Spirit, which fills our hearts, witnesses to us that we will live our everlasting lives in heaven off the profit of the blood of the Lamb.
