March 2012

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March 16 : WSC Q. 10

16 March, 2012 in March 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History: 

God’s Crowning Work in creation

With scant information available for this day, March 16, we return to another exposition of the Shorter Catechism. Question number 10 asks and answers, “How did God create man?  A.  God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.”

We already had a question and answer on the general subject of creation.  That was the theme of February 27 in these historical devotionals.  Our Confessional Fathers gave us another catechetical answer on God’s crowning work in creation, namely, the creation of man.

Man’s nature is distinguished in Genesis chapters 1 and 2.  In Genesis chapter 1, we have the description of man as being “male and female.”  In the summary of creation in Genesis chapter 2, we have the reference to his soul and body.    How contrary to this divinely stated truth is that of humanistic  evolution.  How we need to pray and work for a return in our culture of the majestic truth of special creation.

Notice especially the original character of our created parents as being “after the image of God.” There, of course, is no truth to the popular idea that this image created was some sort of physical resemblance to God.  God is a Spirit and doesn’t have a body like man. Our confession fathers immediately define what they mean by God’s image, by stating that the image consists in “knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.”  Our first parents had a conformity to the moral perfections of God.

Adam had knowledge in his understanding of God’s revelation of His creation.  That was proved when he gave names to all of God’s creatures in Genesis 2:19 and verse 20. Second, Adam possessed righteousness in his will.  Righteousness simply means obedience to God.  Man was capable of this, though also capable of disobedience, as we sadly see in the fall into sin. Last, Adam was holy in his affections.   He could love God and His creation, and especially his soon to be created wife, Eve.

It is true that sin marred that image deeply.  Yet in Christ, that image can be restored by the grace of God.  Paul in Ephesians 4:24 speaks of our new creation in Christ which we have “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (ESV)  And the same apostle wrote in Colossians 3:10, “and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of God.” (ESV)   Knowledge, righteousness, and holiness is being restored in the life of the believer.  One day, in our glorification, it will be restored perfectly.

Last, man’s dignity is seen in the fact that he was given “dominion over the creatures.” Since he was God’s crowning creation, he was given the authority over the world of nature, not just animals.  Here is the basis for the cultural mandate, or the view that the Christian  has a mandate from God to bring all spheres of life under conformity to God’s Word.

Words to Live By: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Psalm 8:9 (ESV)  Do you praise God for creation all around you?

Through the Scriptures: Joshua 16 – 18

Through the Standards: Christ Executes the Office of a King

WLC 45 — “How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good; and also taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.”

WSC 26 — “How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.”

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March 15 : The Presbyterian War

15 March, 2012 in March 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  

A Victory in Defeat

The British Parliament member, upon hearing of the “victory” in the colonies by the British army that day of March 15, 1781 has commented “another such victory would ruin the British army.” What did he mean?

In the southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War, Lord Cornwallis was doing his best to defeat the stubborn American forces.  Specifically, he was doing his best to punish those pesky Scot – Irish Presbyterians who  possessed a fervor of opposition to his military units.  Whenever he found a church building connected with them, the psalm books and Bibles would be burned.  That punishment would extend to the church building as well.  It was very much a battle against Presbyterians in the southern colonies.  In fact, they would meet on many a battle field, and one of the more fiercest times was this battle at Guildford Court House, North Carolina.

It was in the morning of March 15, that nineteen hundred British regulars and German allies attacked 4500 American militia members and seasoned Continental men.  The whole battle was fierce by any man’s standards.

The American commander, Maj. General Nathaniel Green, had positioned his troops in three lines.  First, one thousand militia from North Carolina formed the first line.  They were to fire two shots and retire from the battle field.  One half of the British Highlanders fell from that fire.  Green’s second line was composed of Virginia marksmen, both militia and seasoned Continentals.  They twice checked the British line, but eventually retired as well.  The third line of the Americans were fourteen hundred Continentals.  At this point, the fight grew desperate.  Cornwallis himself said, “I never saw such fighting since God made me.  The Americans fought like demons.”

After two and one half hours, Green retreated from the field, seeking to keep his army intact for future battles.  Cornwallis, on the other hand, lost in his “victory” over 25% of his officers and men.  Here he was, in enemy territory, without supplies, and with heavy loss of men.  He quit the area with the remnants of his army, marching to Yorktown.  Exactly seven months later, he would surrender his army to General George Washington.

The soldiers who composed the American army in the field were the members of Presbyterian congregations in the southern colonies.

Words to Live By:  There is a time when Christians must act their part in defense of truth and righteousness, peacefully if they can, with violence if they must.  In such an endeavor, they can with the help of the Lord win the battle.

Though the Scriptures:  Joshua 13 – 15

Through the Standards: Christ Executes the Office of a Priest, from the Catechisms

WLC 44 — “How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering himself a sacrifice without spot to God, to be reconciliation for the sins of his people; and in making continual intercession for them.”

WSC 25 — “How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself  a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us.”

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March 14 : Birthday of Geerhardus Vos

14 March, 2012 in March 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:  Birth of Geerhardus Vos.

When the author of these historical vignettes was studying for his Doctorate of Ministry degree at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, one of the assignments was to read the first seventy-five pages of Geerhardus Vos’s book on Biblical Theology.  This should be a snap, I thought.  Only seventy-five pages of a large treatise.  It was one of my most difficult assignments ever, as Dr. Vos used complex theological words which only a theological  dictionary, my constant companion, would define. So it was slow going all the way through. In frustration I called my father, who had studied under Dr. Vos at Princeton  Seminary in 1929, hoping to receive some comfort about this assigned book. I received none from my dad.  His response was that I didn’t have to sit under Dr. Vos and interpret his “thick Dutch accent” while taking notes, so be thankful for small blessings!

Born this day, March 14, 1862, in Heerenveen, The Netherlands, Geerhardus Vos grew to become one of the finest and yet one of the last examples of the old Princeton theology. Immigrating to the United States in 1881 when his father answered a call to serve as pastor of a church in Grand Rapids, young Vos prepared for the ministry first at the Christian Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids and then at the Princeton Theological Seminary, before taking his doctoral studies in Berlin and Strassburg.  After about five years teaching at the Seminary in Grand Rapids, he was named as the first Professor of Biblical Theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary, taking that post in 1893 and serving there until retirement at the age of 70, in 1932.

When Princeton Seminary was reorganized and modernists put in positions of authority over the Seminary, Vos was within three years of retirement. He chose to remain rather than follow Robert Dick Wilson and J. Gresham Machen as they founded Westminster Theological Seminary. Nonetheless, his convictions were with those faithful men, and upon his retirement in 1932, he left an impressive portion of his library to Westminster.

His theological works were numerous and interest in his work has only grown through the years. Sadly, few publications noted his death in August of 1949, one notable exception being the September 1949 issue of The Presbyterian Guardian (see page 164). James T. Dennison, Jr. has written a brief biography of Dr. Vos, originally published in Kerux and made available here.  Dr. Richard Gaffin has judged that Vos made his greatest contributions with his work on the kingdom teaching of Jesus [The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church (1903)] and the theology of Paul [The Pauline Eschatology (1930)]. Just remember, that thick Dutch accent went down on paper (so to speak), and his writings are often challenging to read, but always worth the time.

His wife, Catherine Vos, was notable in her own right, particularly as the author of The Child’s Story Bible. She preceded him in death by some twelve years.

Words to Live By: An excerpt from “Jeremiah’s Plaint and Its Answer,” by Dr. Geerhardus Vos (1928)

“In taking the comfort of the prophetic promises to our hearts we do not, perhaps, always realize what after the tempests and tumults, in the brief seasons of clear shining which God interposed, such relief must have meant to the prophets themselves. For they had not merely to pass through the distress of the present; besides this they were not allowed to avert their eyes from the terrifying vision of the latter days. In anticipation they drank from the cup “with wine of reeling” filled by Jehovah’s hand. Nor did the prophets see only the turbulent surface, the foaming upper waves of the inrushing flood, their eyes were opened to the religious and moral terrors underneath. The prophetic agony was no less spiritual than physical; it battled with the sin of Israel and the wrath of God, and these were even more dreadful realities than hostile invasion or collapse of the state or captivity for the remnant. In a sense which made them true types of Christ the prophets bore the unfaithfulness of the people on their hearts. As Jesus had a sorrowful acquaintance with the spirit no less than the body of the cross, so they were led to explore the deeper meaning of the judgment to enter recesses of its pain undreamt of by the sinners in Israel themselves.”

Like the prophets, God calls us to weep over the sins of our times. We are not prophets—their time and place has gone—but God calls us still to take up the mind of Christ in this, to pray for His mercy upon a sinful people, to pray our Lord would rain down repentance and bring reformation.

Through the Scriptures:  Joshua 10 – 12

Through the Standards:  Christ Executes the Office of Priest

WCF 8:5
“The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, has fully satisfied the justice of His Father; and purchased, not  only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father has given unto Him.”

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March 13 : The Virgin Birth of Christ, by J. Gresham Machen

13 March, 2012 in March 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

The Virgin Birth of Christ

According to the universal belief of the historic Christian faith, including the evangelical and Reformed churches in the twenty-first century,  Jesus of Nazareth was born without a human father, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.  And many, if not all of our readers, would respond to this statement in the affirmative.  But many negative replies would also be given in the church at large, from both those who stand behind the pulpit, to  those who sit in the pew.   There is a great divide in the visible church to this doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ.   The answer to these objections has been for the past eighty years in the book by John Gresham Machen entitled “The Virgin Birth of Christ.”

Published jointly in New York and England on March 13, 1930, this definitive book by the late Presbyterian scholar and seminary professor J. Gresham Machen  continues to be referenced and quoted by Christians today.  The late James Boice once said that a Harvard professor, who himself didn’t believe in the doctrine, stated that Machen’s book has never been answered.   Though old by human standards, the book is as up-to-date as when it first was written.

It was originally written by Dr. Machen in response to the Presbyterian signers of the Auburn Affirmation who stated that it was not necessary to believe in the Virgin Birth as a statement of faith.  Yet the Presbyterian General Assembly had stated it as a fundamental of the faith in 1910, 1916, and 1923.  Its’ denial by the eventual 1294 ministers of the Presbyterian Church USA in 1924 brought the whole issue of theological liberalism to the forefront of that denomination.


Yet this book was no hastily written book by the New Testament professor at Westminster Seminary.  Machen had begun to write about Christ’s supernatural birth in 1905 for the Princeton Theological Review scholarly magazine.  Then, in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1912, 1915, and  1918, he had penned articles or reviewed other books on this topic.  The theme of Christ’s supernatural birth  was fresh on his mind and heart.  This book was the result of all these articles and was designed to set down once and for all that a belief in the Virgin Birth was necessary for Christianity.  Deny it, and you deny the authority of the Bible, the supernatural aspect of everything about Christ Jesus, including the good news of salvation itself.   Machen himself said, “If the Bible is regarded as wrong in what it says about the birth of Christ, then obviously the authority of the Bible in any high sense is wrong.”

« Opening page of Machen’s 1905 article as it appeared in The Princeton Theological Review.

Words to Live By: For an exercise, think of all the cardinal doctrines of historic Christianity which would be compromised if the Virgin Birth of Christ did not take place. Then think of where you would be spiritually if they were not true!  Last, thank God for past and present Christians who defended the historic Christian faith in teachings that you have listed on your exercise, and pray that you too will be “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (NIV) First Peter 3:15b

For more background on Machen’s study of this subject, click here.

For Samuel Craig’s review of The Virgin Birth of Christ, click here.
[Samuel Craig was the founder of the Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company.]

Through the Scriptures: Joshua 7 – 9

Through the Standards:  Christ Executes the Office of Prophet

WSC 23 — “What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.”

WLC 43 — “How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in his revealing to the church, in all ages, by his Spirit and word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, in all things concerning their edification and salvation.”

WSC 24 — “How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.”

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March 12 : John Wanamaker

12 March, 2012 in March 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:    

Hungry for Souls

The average shopper  knows all about Wanamaker department stores.  What they may not know is that the name behind the department store was a committed Christian, and a Christian Presbyterian at that.

John Wanamaker was gifted in making American business possess a soul.  He was first in offering workers at his department stores such benefits as pensions, life insurance, and vacations.  He wasn’t shy either about venturing out into big projects.  When he bought an old abandoned rail depot, he invited other merchants to come in with him. When they refused to venture into that new idea, he opened his own stores there and created the first successful department store in America. But his interest in how to do business paled beside the Lord’s business.

Devoting the Lord’s day to the Lord’s work, he said once, “If you once have the joy and sweet pleasure of bringing one soul to Christ, you will be hungry to get another.”  And so he had a spiritual hunger to bring every one of his pupils in his Sunday School class, for example,  to the feet of the Savior.  On March 12, 1888, he personally wrote letters to each member of his class about their souls and where they would be spending eternity.  The gist of each letter was, “If you are not saved my dear friend — flee to the merciful Savior, as you would fly, into this warm room tonight out of the cold streets and the drifting snow.  — If you are saved — humbly trusting in what Jesus did when his love failed not on the Cross — think of others not saved — NOT SAVED — going to the eternal darkness — your near friend, your relative — and do something!”

John Wanamaker knew, as a soul-winner, that he never was alone in this spreading of the gospel.  As he said, “when you have faith enough and love enough to start out in the effort to bring a soul to the Savior — God the Holy Ghost joins in your effort, for God . . . works with even the poorest instrument that engages in His work.”

Words to Live By: Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:26 that “not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth (into being called of God.” (NIV)  But as some have pointed out, Paul didn’t say “not any” were called.  Some influential individuals have been  called to do God’s work, and we praise God that these ones used their God-given talents to successfully do God’s work in extraordinary ways. Regardless, none should boast in their own selves, but rather in God.  And John Wanamaker did that.

Through the Scriptures: Joshua 4 – 6

Through the Standards: The Redeemer is called both Jesus and Christ

WLC 41 — “Why was our Mediator called Jesus?
A. Our Mediator was called Jesus, because he saves his people from their sins.”

WLC 42 “Why was our Mediator called Christ?
A. Our Mediator was called Christ, because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above measure, and so set apart, and fully furnished with all authority and ability, to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church, in the estate of his humiliation and exaltation.”

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