Zwingli’s Christian Song (Poem) When Smitten with Pestilence (1519)

Yesterday while comparing a more recent translation of the works of Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) with the edition we have in the PRC Seminary library, I discovered a striking poem the Swiss Reformer penned during the time of a great plague (pestilence) that struck him and devastated the city of Zurich (and the rest of the Swiss confederation), the heart of the Reformation in Switzerland.

The title as it appears in the collected works of Zwingli we have (Samuel M. Jackson ed.) is “A Christian Song Written by Huldreich Zwingli When He Was Attacked by the Pestilence” (with this date, “End of 1519”). It includes this editor’s note:

This is the most successful of Zwingli’s preserved poetry. It was the memorial of his serious illness from the plague which in 1519 carried off nearly half of the population of Zurich. Though unadapted to singing, it has been given a tune and is found in many hymn-books of the 15th and 16th centuries, published in Zurich.

In another place, one finds this more complete introduction explaining the context in which Zwingli wrote the song:

In August 1519, whilst Zwingli was visiting the spa town of Bad Pfäfers, news came to him that the plague which was sweeping through the Swiss Confederacy had arrived in Zürich. Zwingli had only been ministering in the city for a matter of months, having been installed as the Leutpriester (People’s Priest) in the Grossmünster in January. The Black Death of the fourteenth century had long passed, but across sixteenth-century Europe there were still devastating waves of bubonic plague. The symptoms included painful swollen lymph nodes (buboes) which gave the disease its name. Often those with the means to leave the city would have retreated, but Zwingli immediately returned to the city in order to minister to the sick and the dying. By mid-September, when the epidemic had taken some 2,500 lives, Zwingli and his brother Andreas contracted the disease and fell seriously ill. Over the course of several months, Zwingli battled the disease and he made a slow recovery by the spring of 1520. Altogether, the Zurich plague claimed the lives of over 7,000 people, a quarter of the population, including Andreas.

Zwingli’s “Christian Song” has three (3) parts to it:

I. At the Beginning of the Illness (and here follows the lines that belong to each section):

Help, Lord God, help
In this trouble!
I think death is at the door.
Stand before me, Christ;
For Thou hast overcome him!

To Thee I cry:
If it is Thy will,
take out the dart,
which wounds me
Nor lets me have an hour’s
rest or repose!

Will’st Thou, however,
that death take me
in the midst of my days,
so let it be!
Do what Thou wilt;
Me nothing lacks. [or, “nothing shall be too much for me”]
Thy vessel am I;
to make or break altogether.

For if Thou takest away
My spirit
From this earth,
Thou dost it
that it [my spirit] may not grow worse
Nor spot
The pious lives and ways of others.

II. In the Midst of His Illness:

Console Me, Lord God, console me!
The illness increases,
Pain and fear seize
My soul and body.
Come to me then,
With Thy grace,
O my only consolation!

It will surely save
Everyone, who
His heart’s desire
And hopes sets
On Thee, and who besides
Despises all gain and loss.
Now all is up.

My tongue is dumb,
It cannot speak a word.
My senses are all blighted.
Therefore is it time
That Thou my fight
Conductest hereafter;
Since I am not
So strong, that I
Can bravely
Make resistance
To the Devil’s wiles and treacherous hand.

Still will my spirit
Constantly abide by Thee,
however he rages.

III. During Convalescence [recovery]:

Sound, Lord God, sound!
I think I am
Already coming back. [i.e., to health]
Yes, if it please Thee,
That no spark of sin
Rule me longer on earth.
Then my lips must
Thy praise and teaching
Bespeak more
Than ever before,
However it may go,
In simplicity and with no danger.

Although I must
The punishment of death
Sometimes endure,
Perhaps with greater anguish
Than would now have
Happened, Lord! [i.e., if I had died this time]
Since I came
So near; [i.e., to death’s door]
So will I still
The spite and boasting
Of this world
Bear joyfully for the sake of the reward
By Thy help,
Without which nothing can be perfect.

I find these words a powerful testimony to the way we must respond to life and death during these pandemic days. Are we able to sing with Zwingli in this way, whatever our portion is right now?

If you are interested in the original Swiss version, visit this page for Gebetslied in der Pest.

Remembering J. I. Packer (1926–2020) | Crossway Articles

As many of you may know, a week ago today influential Anglican theologian, teacher, and author J. (James) I. Packer died. Perhaps best known for his wonderful book Knowing God, Packer was known for his staunch adherence to orthodox Christianity (the sovereignty of God, the authority of His Word, and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ especially), his love for the Puritans (some even referred to him as “the last Puritan”). and his humble, gracious spirit.

I recall reading his classic Knowing God for the first time and growing deeply in my knowledge of and nearness to the Lord. Packer didn’t just show you who God in all His glory was; he took you into His majestic presence (If you have not yet read this work, you need to do so.). It was also through Packer that I was introduced to and learned to appreciate the Puritans (A Quest for Godliness), especially their powerful wedding together of Christian doctrine and practice.

A number of tributes have been posted online, including ones from Leland Ryken, Mark Noll, D. A. Carson, and Carl Trueman. I love the story Trueman relates at the end of his tribute, for it reveals the convictions and character of the man:

I close with one anecdote a friend told me yesterday. He was in a line after hearing Dr. Packer preach to thank him for his sermon. The woman in front of him offered Dr. Packer her Bible and asked him to sign it. ‘I’m afraid I can’t,’ he replied, ‘You see, I didn’t write it.’ That is a very English response, and one that tells us much about how Dr. Packer thought of himself and his ministry in relation to the God who saved him.

The most varied and complete tribute to Packer may be found on Crossway’s website, including a nice documentary video, a listing of significant articles and books he authored, and links to other tributes.

Packer was not without his weaknesses, including his involvement with and signing of the ECT document (“Evangelicals and Catholics Together”), but that is true of every “clay pot” God uses in His church. For the good that Packer accomplished through His work and writings as a devoted churchman, we may thank the Lord of sovereign grace. Now would be a good time to learn how God used him in His kingdom.

*Nota bene: I forgot to add this list of 40 good quotes from Matt Smethurst at The Gospel Coalition. Here are a few gems – read the rest at the link provided:

“Were I asked to focus the New Testament message in three words, my proposal would be adoption through propitiation, and I do not expect ever to meet a richer or more pregnant summary of the gospel than that.”

“To know that nothing happens in God’s world apart from God’s will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.”

“People treat God’s sovereignty as a matter of controversy, but in Scripture it is a matter of worship.”

“The Christian’s motto should not be ‘Let go and let God’ but ‘Trust God and get going.’”

“I need not torment myself with the fear that my faith may fail; as grace led me to faith in the first place, so grace will keep me believing to the end. Faith, both in its origin and continuance, is a gift of grace.”

“Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites; but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ’s sheep.”

“The Puritan ethic of marriage was first to look not for a partner whom you do love passionately at this moment but rather for one whom you can love steadily as your best friend for life, then to proceed with God’s help to do just that.”

“God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly—that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak—is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.”

Source: Remembering J. I. Packer (1926–2020) | Crossway Articles

Living or Dying in Christ

Photo taken last night at Lake Michigan – beautiful “glory” sky!

As noted last week here, PRC missionary (and good friend) Rev. Aud Spriensma is writing some special meditations for the PRC website this month. The one he gave me to post for this past Monday (May 18) was especially relevant, as my wife and her family lost their father, Vern Klamer, the day before, Sunday, May 17. He was a godly Christian family man (husband, father, grandfather) and church man (served as deacon and elder), and we will miss him dearly.

As he was facing the end, he and we with him shared our only comfort (and hope) in life and in death, that we are not our own but belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who has fully satisfied for all our sins, delivered us from all the power of the devil, and preserves us according to Father’s perfect will so that everything (even death!) is subservient to our salvation.

Below is that special meditation missionary-pastor A. Spriensma wrote for this past Monday. Reading it, you will see why it is so relevant for our times – and for our present family time. God is good, and we praise Him for His mercy to us in our crosses and losses. In Christ, we have all and gain all, no matter what befalls us!

Meditation on Philippians 1:21

Living or Dying in Christ

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

A short Scripture text means a short meditation, right? No, it does not, especially for ministers. The less notes I take in the pulpit, the longer the sermon is. In our text, we need to understand what it means for the Apostle Paul when he states, “to live is Christ.” Second, how we learn to live for Christ, Third, we need to know why “to die is gain.” Should we wish for death?

The Apostle Paul wrote these verses to the believers in Philippi. They were concerned for him. Paul was a prisoner in Rome, waiting for his trial before Caesar. This trial could end with the Apostle facing death. In Paul’s absence, there were some who were preaching Christ out of envy and strife, and therefore they were adding affliction to Paul’s prison life. Paul wrote to comfort those saints who were concerned about his welfare. He said that all that was really important was that Christ was being preached. Paul was only concerned that his Savior was exalted and the gospel extended. Paul’s greatest concern in either life or death was magnifying Christ, his Master (vs. 20). Paul informs the Philippians that he is not afraid to die. He would be with Christ.

When the Apostle said so emphatically, “to me” placing this word at the very beginning of the sentence, he is giving a profound personal testimony. At the same time, he was drawing a contrast between the preachers who are proclaiming Christ out of selfish ambition. Paul was not self-centered, but Christ-centered. “For me to live is Christ.” Is this true of your life? Paul was concerned with the honor and glory of his wonderful Redeemer.

Paul was speaking of his life lived from day to day, continuous living on earth as a child of God. He could have spoken of the continuous hardships that he had faced. He experienced a thorn in his flesh that he had prayed might be removed. He had been beaten, stoned, and left for dead. He had been in prison both in Philippi and now in Rome. Oh, how he had suffered for the sake of the gospel. But he did not speak about those things. He spoke about Christ! Christ was the center of his whole life. Christ was everything. This was not just his preaching to others. Paul himself relied upon Christ for the whole of his salvation. He would boast in nothing but Christ crucified.

What is it to live in Christ? It is to derive one’s strength from Christ (Phil. 4:13), to have the mind, the humble disposition of Christ (Phil. 2:5-11), to know Christ with the knowledge of Christian experience (Phil. 3:8), to be covered with Christ’s righteousness (Phil. 3:9), to rejoice in Christ (Phil. 3:1; 4;4), to live not for self but for His glory (II Cor. 5:14,15), to rest one’s faith on Christ and to love Him in return for His love (Gal. 2:20).

How is this life possible? Not in ourselves. We would live for pleasure, sin, earthly things. Paul had been trying to by his own works to be right with God. It was only by Christ taking ahold of him on the Damascus Road. It was by the Spirit of Christ giving him a new heart and working conversion and faith. Paul was turned around from a physical life that leads to death to a new life lived for Jesus Christ.

Can you make this personal confession, “For me to live is Christ”? Do you and I live this confession with our daily lives: in our marriage, being a parent, in the workplace, the friends that we have, in our recreation, what we think, what we desire, and everything that we do? May God work in us and give us the grace to live in Christ.

Then “to die is gain.” This seems so strange, for death is loss. It is the loss of earthly relationships, family, friends, earthly things, and even our earthly bodies for a while. We know from Rom. 6:23 that death is God’s punishment for sin. But my friend, the sting of death has been taken away ( I Cor. 15:55). Christ bore all the punishment for our sins in our place. Death now becomes a servant to take us as pilgrims and strangers to a far better land. Dying physically meant gain for Paul. It meant that he would be with Christ (see vs. 23), “at home with the Lord” (II Cor. 5:8). Death is the gateway to a clearer knowledge, more wholehearted perfect service, more exuberant joy, and a closer walk. No more sin or temptation, no more sickness, pain, trial, sorrow, affliction.

Death is gain! I will be with Christ. I will be like Christ. All the blessings of Christ will more abundantly be poured out. What do you live for? Is the glory and honor of Christ’s name more important to you, or is comfort and ease of life? Paul’s life was so wrapped up in Christ and the gospel that he wanted nothing more than to see the gospel advance, even if it meant that others sought to add to his affliction. When life’s circumstances get difficult, it is easy to become focused on self. May we say, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

“Jesus is all the world to me, My life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day, Without him I would fall. Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend; I trust him now, I’ll trust him when life’s fleeting days shall end. Beautiful life with such a friend; Beautiful life that has no end,; Eternal life, eternal joy, He’s my friend.”

May 1, 2020 Standard Bearer – Special Issue: “Since by Man Came Death…”

The latest issue of the Standard Bearer has been released digitally (printed copies are not allowed at present due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and you are encouraged to download and read this timely issue. The May 1, 2020 issue is the second special issue in this volume year (96) and carries the theme “Since by Man Came Death….”

At the time the editors planned this issue (in January/February of this year), we had no idea how timely and relevant it would be in the face of the worldwide coronavirus situation. But now this crisis has put death and dying before all of us, and, while unbelieving fears are being exposed, true faith is also being tested. How can we face the awful reality of an unknown disease with its prospect of severe illness and perhaps death? What hope do we have in such times – for this life and for the hereafter?

The articles in this special issue address these questions and more – openly and realistically – yet also with sure faith and hope, because the answers come from God’s Word and from the biblical and Reformed confessions of Christ’s church based on that Word (penned in times of crisis like our own). If you are living with real fear right now, and are without hope, then this issue is must reading. But even if you are an established believer, and your faith is being tried deeply in these days, then these articles will speak peace to your heart and give you sure hope in Jesus Christ.

The editorial, “Confronted by Our Mortality and Our Last Enemy – Death,” was written by Rev. Ken Koole. We post an excerpt here today, urging you to read all of it – and the rest of the issue in the next few weeks. It will enrich your faith, strengthen your hope, and increase your love for the Lord God, in whom alone we have the victory over this mighty foe. By all means “take up and read.”

 But… but… is hope and gladness clean gone forever? Has God forgotten to be kind, that God whom we and our first parents have so highly offended? After all, death is His sentence and His “creature” set loose upon the human race and on creation itself. Is there no remedy? Just the sadness of farewell and the terror of what follows hereafter?

What can be said to the dying or to those struggling to cope with that empty spot due to a beloved family member taken and gone? What indeed.

Not this: this is evil. It is not God’s will or doing. It is just the Devil’s mischief. God is too loving and kind to have willed this to happen.

Not so. For, if the calamity was not what God willed, He was, evidently, powerless to prevent it. And then, to what purpose is this death? Really, to no good purpose at all, except to magnify Satan’s power prevailing against God’s will. All comfort is gone. We cannot put our trust in or turn to God as the Almighty after all. Who can be sure whether death will not have the last word and mocking laughter after all!

Powerless to prevent it, powerless to overcome it.

Away with such nonsense!

To be sure, death is an awful power, and as far as we mortal men are concerned, invincible. But there is one mightier than death, and that is the Almighty One, who is Jehovah God.

And God be thanked, to those living in the midst of death in a creation under the sentence of death, this Lord God has given a Word, a Word that gives us mortal men words to withstand the horror of death. Words that give hope so real that the believer can stand at the lip of the grave and say “Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?” Words of defiance when nothing but a corpse remains and the grave is about to swallow our loved one.

How can this be?

It can only be because of who Jehovah God is. The almighty Creator God to be sure, but also God triune, who as such is a covenant-making and keeping God. And not only within Himself, but also regarding a people, a remnant of the human race He would call His own.

How God’s people dealing with the awful power of death need to hear this!

How pastors and preachers need to remember this!

The Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919 and “Churchless Sunday” – Origins Online

Maybe we are weary of hearing about the present flu pandemic, as well as of past ones, such as the Spanish Flu of 1918-19, often mentioned these days (even though there is no comparison in terms of the numbers of those who were afflicted and those who died).

But history is instructive, and the fact is that the church and saints have often had to face such plagues and epidemics. And what believers suffered in those times as well as how they handled those afflictions gives us valuable lessons.

I did a previous post referencing the Spanish flu from the perspective of a former PRC minister, Rev. C. Hanko (when he was a member of the CRC), and that was insightful.

Yesterday, while putting away a recent issue of Origins magazine, the Christian Reformed Church in America’s historical archives periodical, I came across a feature on the Spanish Flu and its impact on the CRC. I checked to see if the article was online, and while the full story was not, this abridged version was.

It is worth pointing to it, so that is our Friday post this week. A serious history lesson with important applications for us too. Below are a few paragraphs from the article; find the full post at the link at the end. [And now, in addition, I followed some links to  the University of Michigan’s online “Influenza Encyclopedia” and found a Grand Rapids Herald news clip about how the CRC churches were suffering. See that below.]

“What’s happening is unprecedented!” I keep hearing people say that about Covid-19 (a coronavirus). Some seem to mean that a pandemic like this is unprecedented. Others mean that the public health response—shutting down schools, sporting events, perhaps eventually churches, etc.—is unprecedented. Neither is unprecedented, really.

Around 650,000 people died in the United States in the flu epidemic of 1918-1919 and 50 million worldwide. Some scholars estimate up to 100 million deaths worldwide. In comparison, 20 to 22 million soldiers and civilians died in World War I, which ended in late 1918, and about 20 to 22 million were wounded.

What did churches experience in 1918-1919? For a broad overview, check out this story on Patheos. The Patheos story also points you to a great website at the University of Michigan on the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919.

…To find more material, I turned to the Christian Reformed Church Periodical Index and did some page turning in The Banner from late 1918 and the first half of 1919.

…My quick search yielded one lengthy piece, an editorial in the 24 October 1918 issue of The Banner: “Churchless Sunday and Its Lessons.” The governor of Michigan had ordered the closure of all churches in the state.

The Banner editorial called its readers to “pray earnestly that the scourge may soon be removed” so that churches could reopen. It also suggested “lessons from this appointment of Providence” to learn:

• “the value of our church privileges,” as we really understand what blessing are when they are withheld
• “the value of fellowshipping with God’s people,” “the communion of the saints,” which might lead to a renewal of devotion in the church
• “to appreciate religious literature more than we have done,” as that is what people turn when they cannot come to church

With these lessons in mind, the editorial suggested that the epidemic might be a blessing in disguise. But it also wondered whether “churchless Sunday” was a sign divine judgment on the nation. It pointed to the description of God’s judgement in Revelation. The nation and world had seen famine, pestilence, war, and death, with the recently ended Great War and now the epidemic. It was time for people to repent and to turn to righteousness.

The editorial concluded by emphasizing that Christians respect government and law. It prayed that the burden of churchless Sundays not be too heavy and that the scourge of influenza be lifted quickly.

Source: The Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919 and “Churchless Sunday” – Origins Online

And here is that additional item mentioned above: the news clip from the October 26, 1918 Grand Rapids Herald on how the Spanish flu was affecting the CR churches in that city.

Sunday Closing Order Keenly Felt By Members Chr. Reformed Churches

There are perhaps few congregations in the city feeling the hardship of the church closing order as keenly as the Christian Reformed churches. Members of these churches have been trained from childhood to regard regular church attendance as natural in their lives as eating breakfast, and at each of the two or three Sunday sessions the churches are wont to be crowded.

Church people are glad to do all in their power to help check the spread of influenza, but much dissatisfaction is voiced by both clergy and laymen of the apparently unjust distinction between schools and churches. The schools are in session five days a week and it would seem that if there were danger of contagion anywhere it would be among the physically undeveloped youngsters congregating in the school rooms day by day. On the other hand, in view of the supreme importance of service of the Almighty in these critical times and the need of prayer it would seem that the church would be the last of all institutions to be asked to close its doors.

Family Services Substituted

In the meantime, however, church members are making the best of matters and conducting services in their own homes. Many a father had his family gathered about him last Sunday morning and afternoon and read to them one of his favorite sermons.

Pastors are making good use of their time by taking up some specific studies which have long demanded their attention, and by doing extended pastoral work. Rev. Johannes Groen is spending much of his time visiting the members of his congregation and averages about 30 families a week.

And if you are still interested in more information on this 1918-19 influenza, or the State of Michigan’s new archive collections of COVID-19, you will want to visit this page that came in my email this morning.

Wisdom from John Calvin on COVID-19

What would John Calvin say to the likes of us about facing COVID-19?

One of the newer blogs I recently started following had a fine post yesterday (April 28) about insights from Calvin’s Institutes on our present pandemic catastrophe. It is in one of the places where Calvin is treating the sovereign providence of God – not as an abstract doctrine, but as the pastoral truth that it is, especially in times of affliction and trouble.

Be sure to read the beginning of the post where Calvin sets the stage for the entrance of the divine hand, but here is how Joel Hart (the author) ends his post. You will discern the relevance of the doctrine and its comfort for us now.

How true Calvin’s somber observation: life is frightening, particularly if all we see around us is “fortune”. It is then, though, that Calvin turns a corner in his meditations. He writes:

Yet, when that light of divine providence has once shone upon a godly man, he is then relieved and set free not only from the extreme anxiety and fear that were pressing him before, but from every care. For as he justly dreads fortune, so he fearlessly dares commit himself to God. His solace, I say, is to know that his Heavenly Father so holds all things in his power, so rules by his authority and will, so governs by his wisdom, that nothing can befall except he determine it.[3]

What a statement! In the face of all this, we fearlessly dare to commit ourselves to God. Can this be our testimony, our fearless dare, our confident solace in these times? If it seems too difficult to fearlessly dare, we must turn to Scripture. Calvin recognizes this, and from there, Calvin quotes from Psalms 91, 118, 56, 27, and 22. These Psalms provide particular comfort in these days. Perhaps these would serve as Calvin’s “family worship guide” for the time of COVID-19.

I must conclude with one more observation. The Institutes were written, or expanded, over a series of editions. The portion I’ve quoted from here comes from the 1539 edition. This would be quite early in Calvin’s career in Geneva, and before some of his greatest sorrows.

The following years were ones with joy – and sorrow – for Calvin. In 1542, plague broke out in Geneva and caused great calamity. Conflicts confronted Calvin at home and abroad.

More personally, just a year after those sober yet confident words of 1539, Calvin married Idelette de Bure. In the next nine years, Idelette was a source of joy to Calvin. At the same time, all three children she bore to him died in infancy. And in 1549, Idelette passed away after a lengthy illness.

Calvin experienced firsthand the reality of the world he wrote about so clearly in 1539. And yet in later editions of the Institutes, written after these calamities struck Calvin, we find the same words of confidence. The same truths that prepared him for calamity now sustained him. And we even find that in that same chapter, Calvin added one final articulation of confidence:

“David, on account of the various changes by which the life of men is continually turned, and as it were, whirled about, betakes himself to this refuge: that his “times are in God’s hand” (Ps. 31:15). He could have put here either “course of life” or “time” in the singular, but he chose to express by using the plural “times” that however unstable the condition of men may be, whatever changes take place from time to time, they are governed by God.”

May it be so of us. Whatever changes take place, may we take refuge that our times are in God’s hand.

Source: Wisdom from John Calvin on COVID-19

PRC Archives: Rev. C. Hanko’s Recollection of the 1918-19 Pandemic

Our PRC Archives item this Thursday relates to the present pandemic sweeping the world, COVID-19. But in 1918-19 a far greater pandemic swept the world, taking away one fifth of the wold’s population. How did this affect the life of God’s people and His church then?

Rev. Cornelius Hanko’s book of memoirs contains his personal remembrance of the disastrous worldwide flu (Spanish influenza) of 1918-19. Hear his story as the church and her saints dealt with a great affliction in those days too:

And then, to make matters worse, the influenza epidemic hit in the winter of 1918-1919. Once more schools and churches were closed for six weeks. Almost no one went to work. Nearly every home had one or more sick with the flu. Doctors could not keep up with the calls that came in. They worked day and night. But the worst of all was that they knew no cure. They tried the usual medicines, and they tried the most caustic medicines, all to no avail. Hundreds died. Funeral services were held outside. Very few went to the cemetery.

A little girl in our neighborhood died also. Her coffin was placed by the front window for the neighbors to see. The minister preached the funeral sermon in the street.

A gloom hung over all. Everyone wondered, ‘Will it strike us next?’ There were some homes in which the whole family was stricken, and one home in which there were five deaths. My future mother-in-law, Mrs. Alida Griffioen, gave birth to a child in a room shut off by sheets while others in the family had the flu.

Ministers were in a quandary as to what to do. Rev. Groen was so afraid of catching the flu that he refused to visit any one. Rev. Peter Jonker Jr. of Dennis Avenue Christian Reformed Church was out almost day and night visiting the sick. He would place a ladder next to an upstairs window in order to visit someone upstairs. He wore himself out to the point where he could hardly preach. The consistory allowed him to preach old sermons for awhile.

Our family was spared. We sat at home, trying to seek a bit of entertainment amongst ourselves. But sitting home day after day can grow very wearisome. I remember walking along Wealthy Street just to get out, but the streets were void of pedestrians. The street was ‘like a painted ship on a painted ocean.’ [a line from a poem of Samuel T. Coleridge] It hardly seemed real. The break came on Sunday when we had our home service in the morning. To prevent further spreading of the sickness, no more than seven people were allowed to meet together; but we did invite in a few neighbors. These were times when prayer was no longer a mere formality, but a cry of the anxious soul pleading for the sick and bereaved.

As the nation struggled to deal with this public health disaster, it also had to contend with sick and crippled men returning from the front.

Taken from Less Than the Least: Memoirs of Cornelius Hanko, 2nd ed. (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, pp. 42-43.

It may be necessary to note that though I begin this post with the title “PRC Archives” because C. Hanko became a Protestant Reformed Churches’ member and minister of the Word, the history recalled and recorded here is really “pre-PRC” (the PRC did not begin until 1924-25) and took place when Cornelius was a lad of 11/12 years old (he was born in 1907) and still a member by baptism in the Christian Reformed Church. Hence, the reference to the CRC ministers also.

“Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” by Martin Luther

These pearls of wisdom from the pen of Martin Luther shed marvelous light on our own response to the situation with COVID-19 in our world at present. Biblical principles pervade Luther’s counsel to people facing the Black Plague in his day, including the two chief ones: love for God and love for the neighbor.
May his words give us guidance in these dark and difficult days.

Tolle Lege

“Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are.

They say that it is God’s punishment; if He wants to protect them He can do so without medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting Him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health.

If one makes no use of intelligence or medicine when he could do so without detriment to his neighbor, such a person injures his body and must beware lest he become a suicide in God’s eyes. By the…

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Saved by Grace: United to Christ

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.- Romans 6:5

…This, then, is the first and absolutely indispensable requirement of our salvation: we must be in Christ. Hence, we must be incorporated into Him; we must be united with Him. A spiritual union must be established between Christ and our soul, before we can receive any fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection. This union is absolutely first. Unless that living connection is established between Christ and our inmost heart, we are outside of Him. And outside of Christ there is only guilt and damnation, corruption and death, darkness and desolation. Before there can be the faintest spark of new life in us, before there can appear even the faintest glimmer of light in our soul, before the simplest prayer can be uttered from our lips, before even the slightest longing can arise in our soul for God and His Christ, that union must be accomplished. It is an absolute prerequisite for the reception of all salvation. For Christ is our all, and all our salvation is in Him. But we cannot begin to draw our life and light, our knowledge and wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification, from Him until our inmost heart is joined in spiritual unity with Him, Who is the revelation of the God of our salvation.

But how is this union accomplished?

The answer of Scripture is unequivocally: this union is unconditionally and absolutely the work of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. By grace are ye saved! That implies, too, that by grace, and by grace only, you are incorporated into Christ, so that you become one plant with Him.

When we say this, we proclaim nothing new. But we do wipe the dust of oblivion from a very old, very fundamental, and very precious truth. And we do claim that this truth is in dire need of a new emphasis over against many false representations, not by modernists, but by those who claim that they preach the doctrine of salvation by grace. For very many directly teach, or indirectly leave the impression by the way they preach, that this first touch of the soul of the sinner with Christ is accomplished by the sinner himself, or, at least, is contingent for its establishment upon the will and choice of the sinner. Yes, they admit, Christ is our salvation; and the soul must be united with Christ in order to receive salvation. But if this union is to be accomplished, the sinner must come to Christ. The Savior is willing to receive him, to come into his heart, to join that sinner unto Himself; but the sinner must first come. He must accept Christ. Or he must be willing to receive Him. Or he must long and pray for this coming of Christ into his heart. And it seems that very sensational preaching, accompanied preferably by a heart-touching hymn and by begging and praying on the part of the preacher, is especially considered to be conducive to persuade the sinner to come to Jesus, to open the door of his heart, and to let Jesus come in. In last analysis, the union of the soul with the living Lord depends not on efficacious grace, but on the will of the sinner!

But, first of all, how absurd and utterly impossible is this presentation of salvation! If it were true, no man would be saved! For according to Scripture, the natural man is in the flesh; and the mind of the flesh is death. It is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Man is dead in sin and misery. He can neither perform nor will that which is good. He loves iniquity, and he is a slave of sin. He loves darkness rather than light. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Such is the natural man. Such is every man before that union with Christ is established of which we made mention. Do you expect that man to open his heart to Christ? Do you insist that this dead sinner must come to Christ before Christ will come to Him? Do you still maintain that this darkened sinner must at least long for Christ, hunger and thirst for Him, seek Him, ask for Him, before his soul can be united with the living Lord? I reply that if such were the truth, then could no man be saved. For before the sinner is united with Christ he can neither come to Him, nor long for Him, nor seek Him, nor utter the weakest prayer beseeching Him to come into his heart. But thanks be to God, this is not the truth! Salvation is not of man, nor of the will of man; nor does our union with Christ depend on man’s consent. “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” (John 6:44) Again: “Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” (John 6:65)

And the Father does draw, and the Father does give, and the Father does unite us with the living Lord! And He does so, too, through Christ Himself, Who is exalted and draws all unto Him. He draws with cords of love, with irresistible power of grace. And when we are so drawn and so united with Christ, and He by His Spirit lives in us, we respond. We hunger and thirst, we long and pray, we come and embrace Him, we eat the bread of life and are satisfied, we drink the water of life and thirst nevermore, we draw from Him Who is the fulness of all the blessings of salvation, even grace for grace! All this is the fruit and manifestation in us of that marvelous, mysterious, blessed wonder of grace, of grace sovereign and free, whereby we are united with Christ. For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world!

Taken from chapter chapter 4, “Reconciled by Grace,” in The Wonder of Grace by Herman Hoeksema (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1944), pp.34-41. This work has now been republished by the Reformed Free Publishing Association.

A Reader’s Tears – A. Bogel

Sometimes a great book makes us feel the loss of what could have been – a dream, a baby, a future. Several years ago I read Doris Kearns Goodwin’s excellent Abraham Lincoln biography Team of Rivals. I knew the basic outline of his life from history class; American students know that story’s sad ending. But Goodwin’s version astonished me, making me feel, for the first time, an overwhelming sense of how much was lost that night at Ford’s Theatre – by his family, yes, but also by the nation and the world. [I had a similar experience last year while reading Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Lincoln.]

Goodwin demonstrates how important Lincoln was to the cause of what was right, painting a vivid picture of what he accomplished in office, of what he was carefully working toward after the Civil War, and of why the man himself was desperately needed. And then they killed him. When she described what happened that awful night in Ford’s Theatre and across the city, I felt like I was there, and for the first time I understood the scope of the disaster and how it affects me even now. I didn’t expect her history to make me weep, but it did – because Goodwin made me feel its weight.

Sometimes a book prods you to grieve with its characters. You’re immersed in the story, so much so that you feel what they’re feeling. When a beloved character experiences loss – of someone they love, of a friendship, of their innocence – you feel their pain. When he grieves, you grieve with him. Sometimes you grieve the characters themselves; they die, you feel like you’ve lost a friend, and you weep.

…I don’t relish crying over a book, but I’ll say this; it’s not easy to earn a reader’s tears – and if an author writes well enough to earn mine, I’m in.

Pass the tissues. It’s time to read.

Taken from a new summer read I recently bought at Baker Book House. In I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, lifetime reader Anne Bogel reflects on the paradoxes of readers and bibliophiles like herself. The chapters are short and packed with great insights and encouragements about the literary life – the highs and lows, the tears and triumphs of reading.

The above quotation is taken from her third chapter, “I’m Begging You to Break My Heart” (pp.32-36).

If you think this is only a woman’s reaction, think again. Men can and do experience such emotions through reading too, even if we don’t want to admit it. Just this weekend I was brought to tears through reading a section of Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance (a powerful section where he treats the death of his “Mamaw” [grandma] who had had such a profound influence on him.) Ah, yes, the power of words and stories are great, and it is part of the experience of reading to be taken in by them.