Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary will be hosting its first conference August 27–29. This year’s theme is “Calvin for the 21st Century.” The conference will be held at the Calvin College Prince Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Speakers at this year’s conference will include Joel Beeke, Jerry Bilkes, Ligon Duncan, Michael Haykin, Nelson Kloosterman, David Murray, Joseph Pipa, Neil Pronk, Donald Sinnema, Derek Thomas, and Cornel Venema. They will be addressing a variety of ways in which Calvin can assist us in understanding the Word of God, the love of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, redemption, reforming the church, ethics, the benefits of salvation, and reprobation.

Don’t forget to bring your book allowance! Reformation Heritage Books will have a large selection of books on and by Calvin and a host of other subjects available at the conference, all at steeply discounted prices.

Conference Pricing (per participant):

Early Registration (through June 26, 2009) $65.00 x _____ = $______

Regular Registration (between June 26 and August 8, 2009) $90.00 x _____ = ______

Student (includes college and seminary students and their wives) $45.00 x _____ = ______

Look for online registration availability beginning in March at www.puritanseminary.org. Conference accommodations at the Prince Center are limited to 450 attendees, so sign-up early to avoid disappointment. Send all questions and/or comments related to the Puritan Reformed Conference to conference@puritanseminary.org or call 616.977.0599. You may write the seminary at 2965 Leonard Street NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525.

“Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;” (Psalm 107:10)

Suggested Further Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

The Spirit of God mentions many dangers in which God shows His power and grace in protecting and delivering people. The world calls these vicissitudes the sport of fortune; hardly one in a hundred people ascribe them to the superintending providence of God.

But God expects a very different kind of practical wisdom from us, namely, that we should meditate on His judgments in a time of adversity and on His goodness in delivering us from danger. For surely it is not by mere chance that a person falls into the hands of enemies or robbers; neither is it by chance that a person is rescued from them. But what we must constantly keep in mind is that all afflictions are God’s rod, and therefore there is no remedy for them other than God’s grace.

If a person falls into the hands of robbers or thieves and is not instantly murdered, but, giving up all hope of life, expects death at any moment, surely his deliverance is striking proof of the grace of God. This grace is even more illustrious considering the few who escape from such danger. Such circumstances, then, ought not to diminish our praises of God.

The prophet charges people with ingratitude who, after they have been wonderfully saved, very soon lose sight of the deliverance granted to them. To strengthen the charge, he brings forward their sighs and cries as a testimony against them. For when they are in dangerous straits, they confess in good earnest that God is their deliverer. Why then do these confessions disappear when they enjoy peace and quietness?

For Meditation: Cries to God for deliverance come so easily and so naturally to our lips when wed are unable to help ourselves. Why then does praise feel so difficult when things are going well? Are we so foolish to think that we can take care of ourselves in the good time, as if we are any less dependent on God?

The passage above appears in 365 Days with Calvin complied and annotated by Dr. Joel R. Beeke. Information about this book and others from the Puritan tradition is available through Reformation Heritage Books on the web at www.heritagebooks.org or by calling (616) 977-0599.

by J. Glenn Ferrell

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The purpose of civil government is to restrain evil.

Prior to the Flood, man s violence toward men and rebellion against God was not punished by man. The first murderer, Cain, was allowed by God to live, with a curse placed on any who might slay him (Gen. 4:15). Without human restraint, evil grew in the earth (Gen. 5:5) until God s judgment upon all the living came in the Flood, sparing only Noah and his family.

After the Flood, God ordained and authorized capital punishment for the shedding of human blood (Gen. 9:6). Civil government was born, as a restraint on the evil of men. If not for conscience sake, for fear of the avenging sword, men might forebear to take another s life.

At Babel, nations were divided, limiting their corporate rebellion and presumption against heaven (Gen. 11:6-8). In their tension with one another, one nation was limited in their ambitions and aggressions by another.

Thus, the civil magistrate was a gift of God s common grace, restraining evil even for those in rebellion against him, not permitting men and nations to do the evil they might against other men, nations and God.

All authority, including civil authority, comes from God and is limited by his warrant. Such is true even of unbelieving, pagan or apostate rulers. In the exercise of their legitimate power to restrain evil, they act with authority from God. When they misuse or exceed the limits of this authority, they come under his judgment, though their sin may be a secondary instrument of his wrath upon others.

Ungodly rulers will inevitably live as rebels against God and his Messiah, seeking to exceed the limits imposed and to rule according to their own judgment of good and evil. (Ps. 2:2-3) In this, they continue the rebellion of our first parents, following the lie of the serpent, seeking to be as gods (Gen. 3:5). God warns all such rebellious rulers to be wise and be instructed, not just as individuals, but in their capacity as judges of the earth. Note, this was directed to kings of the earth in general, and not to the kings of Israel or Judah. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Ps. 2:11-12) All rulers have an obligation to recognize and submit to the rule of God in his anointed, Jesus Christ.

John Calvin, in the preface to his Institutes of the Christian Religion, instructed King Francis I of France regarding the legitimate authority and obligation of a ruler:

The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the scepter of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18).

God through the apostle Peter said civil magistrates are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. (1 Pet. 2:14) In the United States of America, we recognize the obligation of the civil magistrate to protect life, liberty and property. Assaults on these are evil and must be restrained or punished.

Evil is not limited to sins against man’s authority, life, family, property, or reputation, or safety. Protection of all these is indeed warranted by the last six of the Ten Commandments, sometimes called the Second Table of the Law. However, there is a First Table, the first four commandments, saying assaults against God s truth, dignity, name and day are also evil.

Where is the exemption for post-Calvary civil magistrates to limit their punishment and restraint of evil to those against man?

Obviously, the US Constitution prohibits religious tests, the establishment of a particular federal religion (now extended by the Fourteenth Amendment and court decisions to state and local governments), and guarantees the free exercise of all faiths. The majority of American Presbyterians said something of the same in 1789 by amending the twenty-third chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, paragraph 3, to say, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. While this may seem like a scriptural principle to us who have been taught the separation of church and state, it was not the civil theology of the Reformation.

Consider, John Calvin, commenting on Exodus 32:29 said, “Let us also learn that nothing is less consistent than to punish heavily the crimes whereby mortals are injured, whilst we connive at the impious errors or sacrilegious modes of worship whereby the majesty of God is violated.”

Where is the civil magistrate exempted from his duty to punish public violations of the First Table of God s Law?

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J. Glenn Ferrell is the Orthodox Presbyterian pastor of Sovereign Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho, and Contributing Editor to the Christian Observer.

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Copyright 2008 by J. Glenn Ferrell