Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena BT43 5DR
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 5 May, 2024
“My covenant was with him of life and peace” (Mal. 2:5)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:22-40
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 48
I. The Meaning of the Kingdom
II. The Petition for the Kingdom
III. The Realization of the Kingdom
Psalms: 63:1-8; 97:8-12; 72:4-10; 22:27-31
Evening Service – 6:00 PM
God’s Son—So Much Better Than the Angels (4)
The Far More Excellent Name [youtube]
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1
Text: Hebrews 1:4-5
I. According to a Chapter of Hebrews
II. According to a Psalm of David
Psalms: 84:1-6; 98:1-9; 2:1-8; 89:21-28
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
Quotes to Consider
John Calvin: “This kingdom [of God] consists of two parts; the first is when God by the agency of his Spirit corrects all the depraved lusts of the flesh, which in bands war against him; and the second, when he brings all our thoughts into obedience to his authority … This prayer, therefore, ought to withdraw us from the corruptions of the world which separate us from God and prevent his kingdom from flourishing within us; secondly, it ought to inflame us with an ardent desire for the mortification of the flesh; and, lastly, it ought to train us to the endurance of the cross, since this is the way in which God would have his kingdom to be advanced. It ought not to grieve us that the outward man decays provided the inner man is renewed. For such is the nature of the kingdom of God, that while we submit to his righteousness he makes us partakers of his glory.”
F. F. Bruce on Hebrews 1:4: “His exaltation to the right hand of God in itself marks Him out as being superior to the angels—a superiority which is further shown by the title which He bears. His name which is more excellent than theirs may be inferred from the context to be the title ‘Son’. If He is said to have ‘inherited’ the name of Son, this does not mean that the name was not His before His exaltation. It was clearly His in the days of His humiliation: ‘Son though He was, He learned obedience by the things which he suffered’ (Ch. 5:8). It was His, indeed, ages before His incarnation: this is the plain implication of the statement in Ch. 1:2 that God has spoken to us ‘in his Son, … through whom also he made the worlds’. He inherits the title ‘Son’, as He inherits all things (verse 2), by the Father’s eternal appointment.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will)
Tuesday Bible study at 11 AM will critique the Word of Faith’s way of obtaining money.
Belgic Confession class has finished for the season so that we can do family visitation. These classes will resume in September.
The Men’s Bible study is this Saturday, 11 May, at 7:30 PM on-line, to discuss Habakkuk 3.
The Reformed Witness Hour broadcast next Lord’s day (Gospel 846 MW at 8:30 AM) by Rev. Bruinsma is entitled, “Shiphrah and Puah Fear God” (Ex. 1:1-21).
Offerings: £1,617.24. Donations: £200 (England), £80 (Malaysia).
Translation Additions: 1 Chinese, 2 Polish and 8 Spanish.
PRC News: Georgetown PRC will call from their trio of Revs. Brummel, DeBoer and Noorman. Hope PRC (Redlands, CA) called Rev. DeBoer. Hudsonville PRC extended a call to Rev. Maatman. Rev. Mahtani is considering the call to Pittsburgh PRC.
The Independence or Self-Existence of God
(an article by Rev. Dale Kuiper)
“For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26).
Convinced that there is nothing so precious or blessed as a true knowledge of the living God, and equally convinced that much of the church today knows not God, we continue setting forth the various attributes or virtues of God. Of God’s many virtues, there are some which are reflected in the child of God who has Christ living in him: love, grace and mercy would be examples of these. There are others which are true of God alone and never become true of the saint at any time. An example of this category of attributes is set forth in the text quoted above. John 5:26 describes very powerfully the virtue of God called His independence or His self-existence. God is independent; the creature is dependent and that upon God! As we see what these words of Jesus mean, we ought to be humbled and filled with reverence, awe and a spirit of worship.
In the fifth chapter of John, Jesus is engaged in controversy with the fault-finding Jews who refuse to believe on Him. If you would take the time to read this chapter, you will discover that the controversy centres about the relationship between “Father” and “Son.” These two words also appear in the text quoted above; we ought to have a clear understanding of whom these words are truly speaking. Since the truth of the Trinity is not at all under discussion here, it is plain that “Father” refers to the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) while the word “Son” stands for Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, as He walked and talked on the earth. This is the only interpretation that fits those verses where Jesus speaks of God and Himself (e.g., vv. 17, 19-23, 27), and therefore this must also be the meaning in verse 36. Let us keep this in mind: the Triune God in heaven and the man Christ Jesus on earth!
Basic to the Being of God, and one of the fundamentals truths about God that Scripture reveals to us, is that God is completely independent and has no need of anything outside of Himself. Jesus says, “the Father hath life in himself”! As far as this important matter of life is concerned, we must understand that God has life of and in and through Himself. God does not depend upon any one or any thing outside of Himself for life. Not only does He have life in Himself but God is life; He is the immortal, living God who is the Lord of life! Theologians use a term here that means “from-Himself-ness.” In all His Being and perfections, God demonstrates “from-Himself-ness.” God is independent as to mind (Rom. 11:34), as to will (Eph. 1:11), as to love (Hos. 14), and as to power (Ps. 115:3).
There is something else to remember here: God is so independent and without need of any thing outside of Himself that nothing can ever add anything to God. Creation does not add anything to God. Creation reveals the wonderful glory of God but it does not add to it. He is independent in glory; in Himself He is all-glorious. The salvation of the Church as a whole, and each member of the Church in particular, does not add to God’s great glory! Oh, salvation reveals the wonders of His grace and glory, but salvation cannot increase it! From eternity to eternity God has all glory! Still more, the Lord Jesus Christ in His incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension, did not add any thing to God either! All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily! That Christ revealed the glory of God to us is wonderfully and forever true! But in so doing He did not add anything to God. How could He? God is unchangeable. Before creation He is the God of all glory, as well as after creation, and He is that to all eternity, of Himself! God is the God of life who sustains all, but who is Himself independent of all. He gives to all but He is enriched by none. We suggest you read Isaiah 40:12-17 carefully at this point. In the light of these exclamations of the prophet, do you think that the sacrifices of bullocks, sheep and goats by the Israelites in the temple added any thing to God? Did God need those things, was He enriched by them? And what of our service of God on the Sabbath day in His house, as well as from day to day? Does God need us to be happy, to be complete. To be glorious in perfections and praises? Not at all! God could have gone from eternity to eternity, supremely blessed and glorious in Himself, without decreeing Christ, the church, creation or anything. Because, you see, God lives a perfect life within Himself as the Triune, covenant God; He lives, speaks, loves, delights, within Himself as the all sufficient, independent, Triune God!
There are names of God which reveal His independence most vividly, names which only God has and which the creature could never bear. We have in mind “the Almighty One,” “the Highest One,” “the Lord of Hosts.” Each of these names reveals that God is above all else and is not dependent in any way upon any thing outside His Being. Undoubtedly, the name of God that reveals the greatness, glory and independence of God most clearly is the name Jehovah (I Am or I Am that I Am). When God says of Himself, in fact names Himself, I AM, He very truthfully and confidently asserts that He rests for Being upon no one but Himself, exists before all things and all things exist through Him. When God says, “I Am,” He confidently asserts that He has need of nothing but by and through and of Himself, IS! It is true, the name Jehovah has tremendous significance for our election, redemption, preservation, trust in God’s promises, for all the life of the covenant of grace. But God reveals himself as He does in all our salvation exactly as He is in Himself, so that first He is Jehovah in Himself and then He is Jehovah in all our salvation!
We ought to be struck, now, by the fact that we creatures differ radically from God on this matter of being. God is independent; we are always dependent and our dependence is upon Him … We can live sometimes as if we had no need of God, as if we were the captains of our futures and the masters of our own destinies, as if we have things pretty much in control. We can behave ourselves sometimes as that rich and foolish man in the parable of Luke 12, who said, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many year; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.” In our self-sufficiency, we think that we can take care of ourselves. We make our plans sometimes without a thought of God and without saying, “If the Lord wills and we live.”
We do not only depend upon God for air to breathe, for food to eat, for strength to labour, for jobs to perform, for safety in the midst of dangers, but there is something more basic that we are missing! We depend upon God for our very being and existence. God has the ground of His Being in Himself; we don’t. The ground of our existence is in God. Paul writes in Acts 17:28 that “we live, and move, and have our being” in God. Such is our dependence upon God that if He were to remove His upholding hand, we would not merely die but we would cease to exist and disappear!
In John 5:26, Jesus goes on to say that, just as the Father has life in Himself, “so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” This is astounding! This is amazing! We must think into this as deeply as we possibly can. God has given to the Son, that is, to the man Jesus Christ, to the holy child born of the virgin Mary, the gift of life in such a way that Jesus has life in Himself; the only Man of whom it is ever possible to say that! God gave life to Jesus as the Head of the Church and as the Mediator of the Covenant in order that Jesus might fully and beautifully reveal the Father! Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Due to this bestowal of God, Jesus has become a life source, a life centre in Himself; thus, also, He has life to give! Of this Paul writes to Timothy, saying that Christ “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” The immortal God, the King eternal, is invisible. But He reveals also this aspect of Himself by giving Christ to have life in Himself!
Do you see Jesus as the Lord of Life? Do you hear Jesus speak through the preaching of the gospel each week? In John 5:25, Jesus says, “the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” The voice of Jesus, because He has life in Himself, is able to raise the spiritually dead unto life! These words of Jesus anticipate His death and resurrection, when He laid down His life that He might take it again. See also John 11 where we read of Jesus calling Lazarus from the dead, John 10:28 where Jesus says literally that His sheep shall never perish because “I keep on giving them eternal life,” and Galatians 2:20 where Paul exclaims that he lives because Christ lives in him.
That God has life in Himself as the independent God, that He has given life to Christ that He might be the life source of His people, has several humbling implications of the believer. First, what a great, good and wonderful God our God is! He had need of nothing, nothing can ever be added unto Him, He lives a perfect life within Himself … how glorious God is! How small, insignificant, dependent we are! God doesn’t need us but we need Him! God gives and never receives; we receive and never really give.
Secondly, it becomes us to confess this dependence upon God, to live consciously out of Him. You can give yourself over, body and soul, to such a God without any reason to fear. Blessed is the man who looks away from himself, from governments and all human institutions, and looks to God the fount of every blessing.
Finally, that God is independent and self-existent is the foundation of all worship of God! Let us never think that God is altogether such an one as we, but rather let us always acknowledge Him as the high and lofty One who is excellent in praises and marvellous in Being. Having life in Himself, He is the source of our life in Christ! Let us worship at His footstool!
