REFORMATION 500 WEEK 48 JOHN CALVIN’S LEGACY

Reformation 500 WEEK 48    jOHN Calvin’s Legacy

“Calvin’s greatest achievement in the final years of his life was the establishment of the Geneva Academy, the first Protestant university anywhere. Calvin realized the need for an educated ministry. From his study of the Scriptures he also realized that God’s glory involves more than merely saving souls. This world is God’s world. The way men deal with each other is of concern to God. Therefore, government workers, doctors, lawyers, and all others needed a training that recognized and honored God” (Kuiper, Church in History, 199).

“Calvin’s view that God reigns everywhere and over all things led him to develop the biblical idea that man can serve God in every area of life – church, civil government, education, art, music, business, law, journalism. There was no need to be a priest, a monk, or a nun to get closer to God. God is glorified in everyday work and family life” (DeMar, Reformation, 207).

                From “its beginning in 1559 the Geneva Academy enjoyed the highest reputation. Soon nine hundred boys were enrolled, coming from all over Europe. It wasn’t long before the king of France sent an official warning to Geneva complaining of all the preachers coming from this headquarters of Protestantism…. Calvin gained followers everywhere. His influence extended even into Italy, Hungary, Poland and western Germany…. Through him the light of the Gospel radiated from the little city of Geneva into every corner of Europe. Calvin was the only international Reformer.

                “That Calvin could do so enormous a work is all the more amazing because he was frail of body, and much of the time suffered exceedingly from a complication of painful diseases. But his will triumphed over all difficulties and obstacles, God working with him. Worn out with his difficult and extensive labors, Calvin died May 27, 1564. His coat of arms was a hand holding a flaming heart. His motto was: … ‘My heart for Your cause I offer to You, Lord, promptly and sincerely’.” (Kuiper, 199-200).

“The earliest and most influential settlers of the United States – the Puritans of England, the Presbyterians of Scotland and Ireland, the Huguenots of France, the Reformed from Holland and the Palatinate [in Germany] – were Calvinists, and brought with them the Bible and the Reformed Confessions of Faith. Calvinism was the ruling theology of New England during the whole Colonial Period” (Schaff, 8:vi).

“The resistance of the Second Continental Congress to British tyranny in 1776 and the establishment of republican principles in the Constitution of the United States of America in 1787 owe much to the political thought of John Calvin” (Mark Larson, Calvin’s Doctrine of the State, 99).

“It is undeniable that he had a large influence on the American founding fathers, who had absorbed much more Calvinism, particularly in their views of the nature of man and the need for limited government, than some realize” (David Hall, The Legacy of John Calvin, 40). George Bancroft, the American historian, who himself was not a Calvinist, “credited the ‘free institutions of America’ as being derived ‘chiefly from Calvinism through the medium of Puritanism, … concluding: ‘He that will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin knows but little of the origin of American liberty” (Ibid. 12).  .

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 John Calvin's Legacy

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Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

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REFORMATION 500 WEEK 47 THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM

Reformation 500 WEEK 47 Heidelberg Catechism

In 1555 the Peace of Augsburg granted equal legal status in Germany to Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. Each local ruler determined the religion of his territory; and minorities were free to relocate. But Zwinglians, Calvinists, and Anabaptists were not granted legal recognition (Bainton, Reformation, 155).

In 1559, Frederick III became ruler of a territory called the Palatinate. In its capital city of Heidelberg, there was great controversy over the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper; one party was inclined to the Lutheran view, the other, to the Reformed view. After studying both sides, Frederick de­clared himself in 1560 in favor of the Reformed doc­trine; he “was the first German prince who professed the Reformed Creed, as distinct from the Lutheran” (Scaff, Creeds, 1:532). After introducing Reformed worship throughout his country, he turned his attention to the need for a catechism to help the churches in his land to be Reformed.

Caspar Olevianus was born in 1536 in the ancient German City of Trier. As “a young law student he joined the underground Protestant movement in France” (Lyle Bierma, A Firm Foundation). In 1556, be became friends with Prince Herman, the son of Frederick III. One day when they were walking along a river they met some fellow students who were drunk, “and asked the prince and Caspar to cross the river with them in a boat.” Olevianus failed to convince the prince to remain on shore. While Caspar looked on, the boat flipped upside down, and the students began to drown. “Seeing the prince in danger, Olevianus leapt into the river, in an attempt to save him.” But “he failed and only endangered himself and later confessed that, out of terror, he vowed that if God should save him, he would serve the Lord as a preacher to Germans. One of the prince’s servants saved him, mistaking him for the prince” (R. Scott Clark, Caspar Olevianus and the Substance of the Covenant, 12). After studying theology with Calvin in Geneva, he returned to his hometown of Trier in 1559. But Roman Catholic opposition frustrated his reform efforts; and he and his cohorts were thrown into prison. Through the intervention of Frederick III, whose son Olevianus had tried to save from drowning, he was released and brought to Heidelberg in 1560 where he became a theological professor and pastor of the Holy Ghost Church.

Zacharias Ursinus was born at Breslau (modern-day Poland). He had studied at Wittenberg with Melanchthon and completed his studies under Calvin in Geneva. “Calvin was deeply impressed with him and presented him a set of his books” (Masselink, The Heidelberg Story, 70). In 1560, Frederick called him to Heidelberg as professor of theol­ogy. In 1562, Frederick commissioned his Heidelberg theologians to prepare a catechism. Some scholars still hold the opinion “that Ursinus contributed the content and Olevianus the form” (Essays on the Heidelberg Catechism, 79). The Heidelberg Catechism was published in January, 1563. Frederick himself later inserted Question and Answer 80 to further condemn the Roman Catholic Mass.

Frederick faced charges of violating the Peace of Augsburg, but after a valiant defense of the biblical basis of the Catechism, he was permitted to rule his country as a Calvinist till he passed away in 1576. However, not until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 were Calvinists added to the list of tolerated religions.

 The remainder of the Catechism will explain the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer.

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 122

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 47

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 46: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA 120-121

Reformation 500 WEEK 46: Heidelberg Catechism QA 120-121

Question 120: Why did Christ command us to address God THUS: “Our Father”? To awaken in us at the very beginning of our prayer that childlike reverence for and trust in God, which are to be the ground of our prayer, namely, that God has become our Father through Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in faith than our parents refuse us earthly things.

Christ commands us who believe in Him to call God Father, that at the very beginning of our prayer we may remember the ground or foundation of our prayer: “that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…is for the sake of Christ, His Son, my God and my Father [John 20:17]” (Q&A 26); and, therefore, that we may pray the way God’s adopted children should pray: with childlike reverence for and trust in God. “A son honors his father…If then I am the Father, where is My honor?” (Mal. 1:6). “Or what man is there among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? …If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” (Matt. 7:9, 11).

Christ directs us to say our Father, and not my Father, first, “that He may excite in us a confidence of being heard: for since, we do not pray alone, but seeing that the whole church unites its voice with ours, God will not reject the prayers of the whole church, but hears them, according as it is said: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them’ [Matt. 18:20] …. Second, that He might admonish us to mutual love. Christians possessing mutual love should pray for one another [1 John 5:1-2]” (Ursinus, 628).

God has always been the Father of His chosen people. “I am a Father to Israel” (Jer. 31:9). OT believers were also called the children of God (Ex. 4:22); and they called God “Father.” “You, O LORD, are our Father” (Isaiah 63:16). “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever” (1 Chron. 29:10).

Question 121: Why is it added: “in heaven”? That we might have no earthly thought of the heavenly majesty of God, and from His almighty power expect all things necessary for body and soul.

The fact that God is said to be “in heaven” does not mean He is confined there. God is everywhere. Solomon prayed, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You” (1 Kings 8:27). God is said to dwell in heaven because heaven is like a royal palace where God manifests His glory and majesty in a more glorious way than He does on earth. Therefore, when we pray to our Father in heaven, we must remember that He is not an earthly father. He is not the man upstairs. We are not even to think of our Lord Jesus Christ in earthly terms (2 Cor. 5:16). God is eternal and all-powerful, infinitely higher and greater than the greatest earthly father. Our earthy parents make lots of mistakes, and they cannot love us perfectly. But our heavenly Father never makes a mistake. His love is unfailing and everlasting (Jer. 31:3)! “Being in heaven and being God, our Father can give us all things necessary for body and soul through Jesus Christ; and we can confidently expect Him to do so. Nothing is too hard for Him” [Gen. 18:14; Ps. 103:19; 115:3; Luke 2:37]” (Jones, Study Helps, 309).

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 120-121

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 46

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 44: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA 113-115

Reformation 500 WEEK 44: Heidelberg Catechism QA 113-115

Question 113: What does the tenth Commandment require? That not even the least inclination or thought against any commandment of God ever enter our heart, but that with our whole heart we continually hate all sin and take pleasure in all righteousness.

     The Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house [or wife, or anything that is your neighbor’s],” is the one commandment that speaks directly to the heart. The word covet means “strong desire.” By itself it is not a bad word. It depends on what we strongly desire. We can earnestly desire good things, as Paul commanded us in 1 Corinthians 12:31: “covet [earnestly desire] the best gifts.” The Tenth Commandment forbids “coveting those things which God has forbidden” (Ursinus, 606). Even if we don’t take what belongs to our neighbor, it is a sin to want it. Even if we don’t sleep with our neighbor’s spouse it is a sin to wish we could. Even if we don’t rob a bank, it is a sin to wish we could and to rejoice in others who do. Love “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). The Tenth Commandment is last to teach us that obeying all of God’s commands is a matter of the heart. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart” (Deut. 6:5). “You shall not hate your brother in your heart…. but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:17-18). “The Lord Jesus Christ re-emphasized this truth in His sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:20-48), that the commandments require heart-purity and heartfelt love to God and our neighbor. The natural, unregenerate man – such as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day were proud of their outward obedience and resented Jesus’ teaching about the heart [Matt. 23:28; John 7:7]” (Jones, Study Helps, 283).

     When God redeems us by faith in Jesus Christ, He not only forgives the eternal penalty of our wicked heart, He also purifies our hearts in sanctification, so that with our whole heart we continually hate all sin (even the least inclination or thought against any commandment of God) and take pleasure in all righteousness. “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness” (Psalm 119:35-36).

     The cure for covetousness is contentment. “Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation…For the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:8-10). Therefore, to sum up how to be content: “1. We must be satisfied with what God gives us because He is free and sovereign, and He gives us what He wishes us to have for our best. He alone is Master of our lives. 2. God is all-wise and infinitely good in giving His gifts. His love toward us in Christ is perfect. He never withholds from us that which is for our spiritual good and for His glory. To think that God would be unfair to us is folly and unbelief. We deserve nothing, and all we have, we have received by God’s rich mercy. 3. Contentment with God’s providence enables us to live in peace and joy, in gratitude and praise. The unsatisfied person is never happy, and is likely to break the commandments of God in order to get what he desires. Having the Lord and His salvation, we need nothing more, and our joy is full” (Jones, 284).

Question 114: Can those who are converted to God keep these Commandments perfectly? No, but even the holiest of men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of such obedience, yet so that with earnest purpose they begin to live not only according to some, but according to all the Commandments of God.

     “The natural man, who is un-regenerated, is not able to obey God’s holy will in any degree [Rom. 8:7] …. But the question asks if the converted or regenerated person can keep God’s holy commands perfectly.” Since the regenerated person “still has his ‘old man,’ the old nature of sin, he is unable to give God perfect obedience…. The most sanctified Christians, such as the Apostles, are still sinful and not perfect. The Scriptures tell us of Noah’s drunkenness [Gen. 9:21]. Job cursing the day of his birth (Job 3:1-2), David’s acts of adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11), Peter’s shameful denial of his Lord (Luke 22:54-62), and Paul’s confession of indwelling sin (Rom. 7:21). … Christ taught us to pray for daily forgiveness, even as we pray for our daily bread (Matt. 6:11-12; cf. 1 John 1:8-10)” (Jones, 287-288). Since the Lord commands us to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), we only have a small beginning of the obedience which God requires. But at least by God’s grace we have a beginning, and an earnest purpose to obey all of God’s commands, just as Paul did: “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man” (Rom. 7:22). “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3).

Question 115: Why then does God so strictly enjoin the Ten Commandments upon us, since in this life no one can keep them? First, that as long as we live we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and so the more earnestly seek forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ; second, that without ceasing we diligently ask God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we be renewed more and more after the image of God, until we attain the goal of perfection after this life.

     There are two reasons why God requires us to obey His commands perfectly even though we never will in this life. First, the more we learn what God requires in His commands, the more we discover how far short we fall (Rom. 3:20-23; 7:7); and the more earnestly we seek forgiveness and righteousness in Christ. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25). Second, God’s law is not only designed to drive us to Christ for forgiveness but also for renewal (sanctification), so that God’s holy image is more and more restored in us (Eph. 5:1). We not only need daily forgiveness for covetousness, we also need daily renewal so that we “put to death…evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5) and learn to be more content with the Lord’s loving presence in our hearts (Rom. 5:5). “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead…. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:12-13, 20). So, “God commands us to seek and to desire the perfect fulfillment of the law in this life…because He purposes at length to accomplish it in those who desire it, and to grant it to us after this life, if we here truly and heartily desire it” (Ursinus, 616).

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation HC Lord's Day 44 QA 113-115

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 44

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 43 KNOX REFORMS SCOTLAND

Reformation 500 WEEK 43    KNOX REFORMS SCOTLAND

After bloody Mary came to the English throne, John Knox fled for his life; and “ended up as co-pastor of the English refugee congregation in Calvin’s Geneva,” which he said was “the happiest period of his life” (Needham, 2000 years, 3:407). In 1558 he wrote his first revolutionary book, in which he argued that “female rule…contradicted both the law of nature and God’s revealed law in Scripture, and female rulers must be deposed. The treatise was aimed chiefly against Mary Tudor [bloody Mary];” but “soon after the book’s publication, Mary Tudor died and was succeeded by a female Protestant sovereign, Elizabeth [who helped to make England a Protestant country again]. Knox’s book alienated Elizabeth badly,” and “also outraged most Protestants,” including Calvin who “had its sale in Geneva banned” (Ibid. 408). On the whole, Calvin and Knox were on the same page. Knox judged Geneva to be “the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles.”

In 1559, Knox returned to Scotland, “determined to do for his country what Calvin had done for the city of Geneva” (Nichols, Reformation, 97). “In May, after he preached a fiery sermon that making images of Jesus, God, and saints and praying to them is against the Bible, his listeners became so energized that they started to destroy all the pictures and statues in the church. The same thing happened in other cities. Soon there was an actual war, and Mary Guise [who was ruling Scotland for her sixteen-year-old daughter Mary Stuart who was also Queen of France] had to ask France to send more troops to help her. Seeing they could easily be outnumbered, the Protestant lords asked England to come to their rescue…. Finally, in March 1560, the English army came to the rescue and defeated the French in battle” (Simonetta Carr, John Knox, 37, 40). In June Mary of Guise died. On August 17, “the Scottish Parliament decreed a change of religion. Protestantism instead of Catholicism was made the religion of the country. A Calvinistic confession of faith, largely the work of John Knox, was adopted. The pope’s authority and all jurisdiction was abolished and the celebration of the mass was forbidden” (Kuiper, Church in History, 217). In January 1561, Parliament approved Knox’s Book of Discipline, which introduced Presbyterian church government modeled after Calvin’s system in Geneva, where each congregation is governed by elders (presbyters), elected from its own membership. “For the conduct of public worship Knox prepared a Book of Common Order. To a great extent this order of worship was based on the form for public worship used by the church of English refugees in Geneva. That in turn was based on the form designed by Calvin. This form of worship consisted in prayer, reading of Scripture, the sermon, congregational singing, and the taking up of an offering” (Kuiper, 218-219).

Mary Stuart, Scotland’s lawful queen, arrived in August 1561. Her attempt to obtain freedom to practice her catholic faith was vigorously opposed at every step by Knox, who “affirmed in a sermon that one mass was more dreadful than an invasion of Scotland” (Needham, 3:420). Knox was summoned into Mary’s presence four times, and each time “got the better of the queen,” even once “reducing her to hysterical tears by his forthright no-nonsense commitment to a Protestant Scotland in which the idolatry of the mass could have no place” (Ibid. 421). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Knox Reforms Scotland

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 43

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 43: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA 112

Reformation 500 WEEK 43: Heidelberg Catechism QA 112

Question 112: What does the ninth Commandment require? That I bear false witness against no one, twist no one’s words, be no backbiter or slanderer, join in condemning no one unheard or rashly; but that on pain of God’s heavy wrath, I avoid all lying and deceit as the very works of the devil; and that in matters of judgment and justice and in all other affairs, I love, speak honestly, and confess the truth; also, insofar as I can, defend and promote my neighbor’s good name.

     The Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” is designed for “the establishment and preservation of truth amongst men… for the glory of God and the safety of our neighbor” (Ursinus, 600-601). Behind this command is the fact that God Himself is “a God of truth and without iniquity” (Deut. 32:4); “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). God created mankind in His image to imitate Him by thinking, speaking, and practicing the truth. Mankind fell by believing Satan’s lie, “You shall not surely die.” Mankind is saved by believing the truth: “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Jesus said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). When God redeems us from sin through faith in Jesus Christ, He gives us a love for truth and a hatred of lies: “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Prov. 12:22). Therefore, by the work of the Holy Spirit, “a righteous man hates lying” (Prov. 13:5). But the habit of lying, like every sinful habit, is hard to break. Therefore, Paul tells Christians, “putting away lying, let each of you speak truth with his neighbor” (Eph. 4:25). When we lie, we imitate the devil, who is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). All liars will suffer God’s eternal wrath in hell (Rev. 21:8). Believers will suffer God’s loving discipline. God disciplined Jacob by allowing him to be deceived – first by his uncle Laban; and then by his own sons who led him to believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

     “The reputation and honor of our neighbor is his sacred right [Prov. 22:1]; and it is a grave sin to tear down his reputation and good name by speaking lies [25:18], or even by speaking unkindly about him” (Jones, Study Helps, 280). To twist someone’s words means “so changing the words of another person that a wrong message is given [Psalm 56:5] ….  Backbiting is speaking behind a person’s back in an evil and hurtful manner (even though truthful facts are reported), so that injury is done. Slander is telling things about another person which we know to be untrue.” Joining in condemning another person unheard or rashly refers to “believing a lie on insufficient evidence [Prov. 18:13] …. We must warn others who tell us questionable things that they must beware of gossip [Prov. 18:8]. Even if we know something evil about another person, we are not to speak of it to others before first approaching the person privately and seeking his repentance – in which case, we should forget the matter and not repeat it to others [Matt. 18:15]” (Jones, 280-81); “nor are those lies which are uttered for politeness sake, excused, because we may not do evil, that good may come…. God did not bless [the Hebrew midwives] because they lied, but because they feared Him and would not slay the children of the Israelites [Ex. 1:15-21]” (Ursinus, 601-602).

     God told Joshua to use military deception in defeating Ai (Joshua 8:1-26). May we say that Rahab’s lie was a form of military deception, since she chose Israel’s side in the war on Jericho? What about those who hid Jews in Nazi Germany?

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism QA 112

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 43

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 42: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA 110-111

Reformation 500 WEEK 42: Heidelberg Catechism QA 110-111

 Question 110: What does God forbid in the eighth Commandment? God forbids not only such theft and robbery as are punished by the government, but God views as theft also all wicked tricks and devices, whereby we seek to get our neighbor’s goods, whether by force or by deceit, such as unjust weights, lengths, measures, goods, coins, usury, or by any means forbidden of God; also, all covetousness and the misuse and waste of His gifts.

                The Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” is designed for “the preservation of the property or possessions which God has given to every one for the support of life” (Ursinus, 595). Behind this commandment is the fact that “all property – the world itself – belongs first of all to God the Creator: ‘the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness” (Psalm 24:1). The Lord God gives His property to men as a sacred trust, and each person who owns property is responsible to use his property to serve God…. Never may we call our property or money absolutely our own, any more than our bodies and souls are our own, for it all belongs to our faithful Savior. We are always stewards or caretakers of God’s possessions…. All that we possess has been given to us by God to be used for His glory [Matt. 25:14-30]” (Jones, Study Helps, 274). “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezek. 18:4). “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts” (Haggai 2:8). Daniel rebuked wicked King Belshazzar: “you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hands and owns all your ways, you have not glorified” (Dan. 5:23). The Lord rebuked the wicked servant who buried his talent: “you ought to have deposited My money with the bankers, and at My coming I would have received back My own with interest” (Matt. 25:27).

                If the steward mismanages the owner’s property or money it is stealing. If we misuse and waste God’s gifts we steal from God, by robbing Him of the glory He would have received had we used our gifts in His service (Eph. 6:5-8). Tithing is a reminder of stewardship, which is why God says that if we do not tithe we are stealing from Him. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

To steal from our neighbor is also to steal from God, for God has given our neighbors everything they have to be used for His glory. Therefore, “the private ownership of property is a divine right. Property belongs to persons and no one has the right to take another person’s property ‘by force or by deceit.’ … Six deceitful ways of stealing from our neighbor are listed here: unjust weights, lengths, measures, goods, coins, usury are mentioned. Weights, lengths, and measures refer to business honesty. Unjust coins refer to counterfeit coins (coins made of a cheap metal which are passed off as precious metal) or clipped coins (a piece shaved of silver and gold coins, a trick often practiced in the Middle Ages). ‘Usury’ is charging excessive interest on money loaned to another person, or charging any interest on a loan to a Christian brother in need (Leviticus 25:35-36). The book of Proverbs has many statements about dealing honestly and justly with our neighbor. ‘Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight” (Prov. 11:1; cf. 13:11; 14:23; 20:10; Isaiah 1:22-23).… Other forms of cheating are false advertising (television has much of this!), receiving stolen goods (Prov. 29:24), not paying one’s debts, not paying wages (Lev. 19:13; James 5:4), and gambling … (Prov. 13:11; 16:8; 2 Thess. 3:10-12)” (Jones, Study Helps, 275).

“The right of private property, under God, is the foundation of the economic system called ‘capitalism.’ Freedom and private property are required by God’s Word for man’s societal life. The United States of America was founded by men who were steeped in these moral teachings of Scripture received from their Reformed and Puritan heritage. They embodied the basic principles of private property, economic freedom, and honest money (money with real value) into our basic law, the United States Constitution. Ungodly men have tried to do away with the Eighth Commandment” in exchange for a society in which “the government takes over the land, the property, and businesses with the promise to ‘help the poor.’ This ungodly kind of government is called Socialism or Communism or the Welfare State. It has been tried many times in history,” with the same results: “the persecution of the church and the enslavement of the people to godless dictators…. It is the duty of government to protect your rights, not take them away by confiscating property, imposing excessive taxes, and curtailing your right to work how and where you wish, by government restrictions. King Ahab sinned against God by taking away Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21), and King Rehoboam sinned by taxing the people too heavily (1 Kings 12:3-4, 14, 16)” (Ibid.).

Many socialists argue that the Bible endorses the common ownership of property in Acts 4:32: “the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” But the Bible goes on to make it clear that this practice was voluntary. After Ananias and his wife lied about how much money they gave to the common storehouse, Peter said to them, “While [the land] remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control” (Acts 5:4).

Question 111: But what does God require of you in this Commandment? That I further my neighbor’s good where I can and may, deal with him as I would have others deal with me, and labor faithfully, so that I may be able to help the poor in their need.

Stealing begins with greed in our heart (Mark 7:22), with a desire to take instead of to give. The biblical cure for stealing is to ask the Lord Jesus for forgiveness and for spiritual renewal, so we learn the true meaning of His words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 22:35). God ordained work as a means to provide for our needs (Prov. 13:11; 14:23; 1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Cor. 12:14), and to give to others who are in need. “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need” (Eph. 4:28; cf. Prov. 13:22; 19:17; 2 Thess. 3:10).

As believers, we are learning to be faithful stewards, working for God’s glory, putting off our greed and putting on hard work and generosity. We are learning to fight against the desire to be rich (1 Tim. 6:9-10); and if we are rich we are learning not to “trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” We are learning to “be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (1 Tim. 6:17-18). God’s grace is teaching us to treat others the way we want to be treated (Matt. 7:12).

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism QA 110-111

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 42

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 39 BLOODY MARY

Reformation 500 WEEK 39    Bloody Mary

     “Princess Mary, the only surviving child of Henry VIII and [his first wife] Catherine of Aragon, was dedicated in her allegiance to the Catholic Church and Catholic Spain, the birthplace of her mother” (DeMar, Reformation, 227). Mary remembered what happened to her and her mother back in 1533. When Archbishop Cranmer had declared her mother’s marriage to Henry unlawful so Henry could wed Anne Boleyn, Mary was declared illegitimate and removed from the line of succession to the throne. In 1544, Henry reinstated Mary to the line of succession behind her half-brother, Edward, born to Henry’s third wife Jane Seymour in 1537.

     Before Edward VI died in 1553, knowing full well that after his death Mary would restore Catholicism in England, he devised a complicated scheme to prevent her from taking the throne. He named his Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey his success-or. After Edward died, Jane was proclaimed queen of England on July 10, 1553. Jane’s father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, set out with forces to capture Mary, but before he could do so she raised her own army and rallied other support-ers, prompting the royal government to switch its allegiance from Jane and declare Mary the legitimate queen. Jane, who had reigned for just nine days, was imprison-ed with her husband in the Tower of London, and Northumberland was executed. Later, Jane and her husband were tried, found guilty, and executed as traitors.

     Queen Mary worked to return England to Catholicism, undoing the reforms made by Edward. She brought the Church of England back under the authority of the pope, deposed Protestant bishops, and restored traditional Roman Catholic worship. In 1554, she married King Philip of Spain, “the most deadly foe of Protest-antism in all Europe. Many English Protestants fled abroad: most found refuge in Germany and Switzerland [John Knox fled to Geneva]. Protestants who stayed behind in England were now arrested and tried for heresy” (Needham, 2000 Years, 3:393).

     “The most notable victims of Mary’s persecution were the two bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. As the flames curled around their bodies Latimer spoke courage and comfort to his fellow martyr: ‘This day we shall light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’” (Kuiper’s History, 226). Mary’s next victim was Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, who was promptly excommunicated. Even though Cranmer weakened and signed a denial of the Protestant faith, Mary decided to make an example of him and burn him anyway. But just before he was to die on March 21, 1556, he stunned everyone by renouncing his denial and reaffirming his Protestant faith. As the flames rose around him at the stake, the old archbishop in dramatic fashion held out the hand which had signed the denial, “so that it was the first part of his body to be burnt away” (Needham, 3:394).

     Before she died in 1558, Mary had more than 270 Protestants burned at the stake, earning her the name “Bloody Mary,” given to her by John Foxe (1516-1587) in his famous Book of Martyrs. Foxe hoped the church would never forget. At least the Anglican prayer book did not forget: “Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, after the examples of thy servants Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer; that we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace.” 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 History: Bloody Mary

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 39

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 37: HEIDELBERG CATECHISM QA’S 101-102

Reformation 500 WEEK 37: Heidelberg Catechism QA’s 101-102

Question 101: But may we swear reverently by the name of God? Yes, when the magistrate requires it, or when it may be needful otherwise, to maintain and promote fidelity and truth to the glory of God and our neighbor’s good; for such an oath is grounded in God’s Word, and therefore was rightly used by the saints in the Old and New Testaments.

     When the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not swear at all” (Matt. 5:34), He was not abolishing the lawful oath required in God’s law on certain solemn occasions. “You shall take oaths in His name” (Deut. 6:13); “and swear by His name” (Deut. 10:20; cf. Ex. 22:10-11). Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Jesus Himself swore an oath when commanded to do so by the high priest (Matt. 26:63-64; cf. Heb. 6:13). The apostle Paul swore at least one oath. “I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth” (2 Cor. 1:23).

     One of the ways Jesus fulfilled the law was to clarify its true meaning, in order to correct the scribes and Pharisees’ perversions of God’s law. They perverted the oath by saying it was okay to swear without using God’s name. As Jesus pointed out, they swore by heaven, by earth, by Jerusalem, by their own head (Matt. 5:34-36). “The Jews made a distinction between binding and nonbinding oaths. Instead of using the divine name (which would be binding), they swore ‘by heaven or by earth or by anything.’ …that would be non-binding and would not incur the wrath of God” (Hendriksen, Commentary, James 5:12). But Jesus said that to swear by anything is to swear by God, for God stands behind everything (Matt. 23:21-22). Oath-taking is a very serious matter, and it is to be done only when necessary. In our daily conservations with people there is no need to swear at all. “But let your Yes be Yes and your No, No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matt. 5:37). As Christians, living before the face of God, we are under oath at all times to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, out of thankfulness for our salvation (Eph. 4:15, 25).

     In a court of law, especially, the oath is necessary – first and foremost because it promotes the glory of God. God is a God of truth; and the manifestation of truth is glorious to God. The oath also contributes to our neighbor’s safety. Law and order depend on men speaking truthfully and being faithful to their word. Because of man’s natural tendency to speak lies, the oath is required in this sinful world. There is no higher motive for telling the truth than the fear of God’s wrath. An oath temporarily reminds sinners that they will be judged for what they say, and this does reduce the amount of exaggeration, distortion, and perjury. In our courts today, “So help me God,” is being removed from the oath. Why then should people tell the truth?

Question 102: May we swear by the saints or by any other creatures?

No, for a lawful oath is a calling upon God, that He, as the only searcher of hearts, may bear witness to the truth, and punish me if I swear falsely; which honor is due to no creature.

     Only God can make the oath meaningful. The unbeliever will go to hell for lying; the untruthful believer will receive God’s fatherly discipline (1 Cor. 11:31-32). 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism QAs 101-102

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 37

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts. 

REFORMATION 500 WEEK 36 ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

Reformation 500 WEEK 36    England and Scotland

     When Luther died in 1546, Calvin was busy reforming Geneva, and answering the official Roman Catholic counter reformation in progress since 1545 at the Council of Trent (northern Italy). This Council lasted until 1563 (a year before Calvin’s death).

     Meanwhile the reformation was spreading in England and Scotland. “Patrick Hamilton, a student of Martin Luther who was the first to bring Reformed preaching to Scotland, was burned at the stake for his faith in 1529” (DeMar, Reformation to Colonization, 229). Later, some young men from Scotland, after visiting Luther’s university at Wittenberg, returned to their native country to spread Luther’s doctrines. “The transition from Lutheranism to Calvinism took place under George Wishart” (Kuiper, Church in History, 216). A priest by the name of John Knox served as Wishart’s bodyguard. But “Wishart wouldn't let Knox come with him to his trial and execution” (reformationhistory.org). Wishart was hanged and burnt at the stake in 1546.

     “Wishart’s other followers, retaliated by murdering Cardinal Beaton, Scotland’s supreme Catholic official. For nearly a year those espousing Reformed principles made some headway in Scotland from their base at the castle at St. Andrews. With the help of French forces, Catholics regained the upper hand, taking the castle and sending its Protestant inhabitants, John Knox among them, to the galley ships as prisoners” (Nichols, Reformation, 96). For nineteen months, Knox “toiled as a galley-slave. Day after day he had to ply the oars in the hot, smelly hold of a French ship,” constantly “pestered with suggestions that he should pray to the image of Mary” (Kuiper, 216). After his release in 1549, “Knox went to England where he preached and eventually became chaplain to Edward VI” (DeMar, 230).

     Also in 1549, Calvin’s wife, Idelette, died. “Calvin was devastated. Writing to his friend and fellow Reformer Pierre Viret, he declared his grief: ‘I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life.’ To Farel he stated, ‘I do what I can to keep myself from being overwhelmed by grief’.” (Nichols, 119).

     When King Henry VIII died in 1547, his nine-year old and sickly son Edward VI (by his third wife Jane Seymour) came to the throne. At his coronation, Archbishop “Cranmer referred to him as the second Josiah, as a king who would restore England to the true faith” (DeMar, 226). Calvin dedicated several of his commentaries to Edward and wrote several letters to him. “Under Edward’s leadership, a number of important changes took place: religious services were conducted in English, the Catholic Mass was abolished [images were also removed], clergy were permitted to marry, and English Bibles were freely printed” (DeMar, 226). Distinguished Protestant refugees, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, Jan Laski, and John Knox were also helping with reform efforts. Bucer worked with Cranmer to improve the Book of Common Prayer (a service book still used today for use in worship). John Knox helped Cranmer formulate the Church of England’s official creed, the Forty-Two Articles.

     “The Reformation in England seemed to have complete victory within its grasp.” But “Edward [only 16] died of tuberculosis in 1553” (Kuiper, 227). The “young king died, praying, ‘My Lord and God, save this realm from popery, and maintain it in true religion” (DeMar, 226). His Catholic sister Mary succeeded him to the throne. 

NOTE: These Posts were written and  designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .  

Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert:  Reformation 500 England and Scotland

For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 36

Official Seal of  the RCUS

This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS).  As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began.  We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.

Page on Omaha Reformed Church's Website: Links to all Bulletin Inserts.