God’s All-Comprehensive Decrees
Scripture often speaks of God’s decrees (see Covenant Reformed News vol. II, issue 9). God’s decrees are His sovereign, eternal determinations concerning the things that are, that have been and that will be, in creation, in history and in salvation.
But has God decreed and predetermined everything?
Scripture teaches very clearly that He has decreed:
- The earth and its foundations (Prov. 8:29).
- The sea and its bounds (Job 38:8-11).
- The rain (Job 28:26).
- The sun, moon and stars (Ps. 148:3-6).
- The times and eras of history (Acts 17:26).
- The physical and ethnic boundaries of the nations (Acts 17:26).
- Our birth and character (Ps. 139:15-16).
- Our way of life (Jer. 10:23), even our thoughts (Rev. 17:17).
- The power and authority of men, also of ungodly men (Rom. 13:1).
- The wickedness of men (I Pet. 2:8) including the wickedness of those who crucified Christ (Acts 4:24-28).
- The damnation of wicked men (Rom. 9:22).
- The judgment of the fallen angels (Jude 6).
- The end of all things (Isa. 46:10).
- The birth (Ps. 2:7), life (Luke 22:22) and death of Christ (Rev. 13:8).
- Every part of salvation, including calling (Rom. 8:28), the faith of those who believe (Acts 13:48), justification (Rom. 8:30), adoption (Eph. 1:5), holiness and good works (Eph. 1:3-4; 2:10) and the inheritance in glory (Eph. 1:11).
- All things in heaven, and on earth, and in hell (Ps. 135:6-12).
Nor should it be hard for a believer to accept this. Whatever it may mean to others, to the believer it means that not wicked men, not the devil, but God is in control of all things.
It means that nothing just happens—especially to God’s people—that is not already ordained by their heavenly Father. It is the assurance, therefore, that all things must work together for good to those who love God.
Ignorance of God’s sovereign determination concerning all things is the reason why we see “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). It is to be without God and therefore without hope in the world (Eph. 2:12).
Let us therefore confess before the world that “our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Rev. Hanko
Can the Elect Be Deceived?
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24:24).
In Matthew 24 Jesus answers the question of His disciples: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (3) The disciples’ questions are really in response to the destruction of Jerusalem of which Jesus had spoken in 23:38 and 24:2. They evidently compared the destruction of Jerusalem with the end of the world and asked for the signs which would come and which point to the end. Jesus speaks at length of these signs of His coming.
One of the most important signs of Christ’s coming is the rise of false prophets and false Christs. This sign is mentioned in three different places: verses 5, 11 and 24. These false prophets are people who claim either to be Christ Himself, or who claim to speak in Christ’s name. By their presence in the world, we may know that Christ is surely coming again. In fact, as their frequency increases, we may know that the end of the ages nears.
When Jesus speaks of these false prophets and false Christs in verse 24, He speaks also of the fact that their claims are made plausible and believable by their ability to do great signs and wonders. By means of these signs and wonders, which they are able to perform, they deceive many people. This deception is of such a kind that it persuades men of the truth of their claims. They claim to be Christ or to speak in Christ’s name, and they prove their claims by doing wonders. Many are persuaded and follow them as Christ. Their deception is very great. In fact, Jesus says, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect.
The difficulty with this expression is that the elect are not able to be deceived. They are those who are chosen by God from all eternity to be God’s people. For them Christ shed His blood. They are not only called irresistibly out of their blindness, but they are preserved by the Holy Spirit so that they can never go astray.
Jesus makes this latter point explicit in John 10:28-29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
What then does Jesus mean by the expression: “If it were possible, they would deceive the very elect?” Obviously, Jesus Himself strongly suggests that this is impossible. Why then does Jesus even say it? If it is impossible anyway, why even mention it?
The answer to this question is very important for you and me.
Jesus speaks of this as a warning of the great dangers present in the deceptive work of these false Christs and false prophets. We might react to this particular sign of Christ’s coming by shrugging it off and saying to ourselves: “Well, at least this is one sign that we need not worry about. We will never be deceived by any false Christs. We need not worry about being on our guard against them.”
Jesus is saying here that such an attitude would be fatal. If we take the deception of these wicked men lightly, we will, in fact, be overcome by their deception and taken in by their wickedness.
We are reminded of what Paul says: “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12).
We are, therefore, warned by the Lord to take these false Christs and false prophets very seriously and to be on our guard. When these evil men appear and lead countless throngs astray, let us remember the words of our Lord. Even when it seems as if all the world goes after them, as they surely will go after the final and most deadly false prophet, Antichrist himself, we must not be deceived. Even if each of us has to stand alone in refusing to follow the throngs who are deceived by these men, let it be. But because the danger is so great, we must learn that we cannot stand in our own strength, but that only by the power of the grace of God can we alone remain, are we able to stand.
How are we able to tell who these false prophets are? The only way is by careful comparison of their words with Scripture. But to do this we must know Scripture. The more completely we are immersed in Scripture, the more easily we will detect the counterfeit claims of false prophets.
And so the calling of Christ Himself comes to us: Watch! Prof. Hanko
Should a Believer Attend the Mass?
The question we have chosen to answer in this issue of the News is one that has been a subject of much controversy in the church. The question is: “Do you think it is possible for someone who is saved to continue to attend the Roman Catholic mass, as the so-called ‘Evangelical Catholics’ claim?”
Our answer to this question would be an unqualified “No.” For the benefit of those who have not considered the question, however, we wish to explain our answer.
We should remember that the Reformation creeds speak out strongly against the mass. The Heidelberg Catechism calls it “a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ” and “an accursed idolatry” (Q. 80). The Westminster Confession of Faith says that it is “most abominably injurious to Christ’s one, only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of His elect” (29.2) and that it is “the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of grossest idolatries” (29.6).” If these statements are true then no believer should attend a mass. But are they true? Is not the language of these creeds too harsh?
We believe these statements are not too harsh. Consider the following:
1) The mass claims to be a non-bloody re-sacrificing of Christ in the breaking of the bread and pouring of the wine. This follows from the idea that the bread and wine are supposed to change into Christ’s body and blood when blessed by the priest. It is, however, a denial of the ONE sacrifice of Christ offered once for all for the sins of His people (Heb. 7:27, 10:11-12, 14, 18). To attend such a denial of Christ, therefore, would put a person in danger of being denied by Christ (Matt. 10:33).
2) The elements of the mass are worshipped by those present (thus the references in the Reformation creeds to “idolatry”). This worship becomes idolatry by virtue of the fact that the wafer and wine are NOT the body and blood of Jesus Christ, who is in heaven (Jer. 2:13; Col. 2:18-19; Acts 3:21). Scripture’s warning to flee idolatry (I Cor. 10:14), a command that applies to the Lord’s Supper, would require us to forsake the mass, therefore.
All this is not a complete answer to the question, though. Someone might still ask whether it is right to attend the Mass merely as an observer and not a participant. We believe that also would be wrong.
If the mass is indeed idolatrous and a denial of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, anyone who attended would be sinning merely by being present. Let us not forget that it is possible for a Christian to sin merely by being present where he should not be. In that way he can become a partaker of the sins of others. At the very least he appears to condone such sins by his presence (cf. I Thess. 5:22; I Tim. 5:22; Eph. 5:11).
This matter often becomes an issue in connection with funeral masses, but even sympathy for the family of the deceased does not justify the great evil that attendance at a mass would involve.
We believe, too, that the so-called “Evangelical Catholics” should face the fact that it is impossible to be truly evangelical, that is, believing the gospel, if their continued attendance at the mass involves a denial of the very heart of the gospel, the great sacrifice of Christ made once for all His people. Rev. Hanko
