5.

In 16: 14, as alreadynoted, Christ

says that the primary function of the
Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son. The
Spirit never speaks ofHis own authority
(16:13). He does not seek His own
glory, but that of Christ.
6. In 16:8-11 we read of cenain
functions that the Spirit is to perform:
He will convict the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. ' John
Calvin, Commentary on john l 6 : 8 ~ 11. ,
a. Sin: the esSence of sin is disbelief
in Christ. The Spirit functions, through
SCriprure (2 Tim. 3: 16), to convict
men of their unbelief. kijohn Owen
points ollt, the Spirit is the efficient
cause ofc:onvictioh, whereas the Word
of God is the inSt'rumental caUse. John
Owen, :Works, Vol. III, j). 351.
b. 'Righteousness: the essence of
righteousness LSthe victory of Christ
oversin(Jn. 16:;33; IJn. 2:16,17) and
death (2 tim. 1:10). By His1lSCensiott,
the Lord has establjshed His Kingdom,
and confirms true righteousness atJhe
right hand of the Father. The job of the
Spirit is to revE;al this fact to fallen man.
c. J)ldgment: the evil one has been
judged and defeated by the work of
Christ. The Spiritconvicts the world of
judgment by showing that, "having
vanqUished the prince of Wickedness,
Christ restores to order those thin:gs
which were formally tom aild decayed. " ,
john Calvin, CorrriiJentary onjciui 16:8-11.
Willem VanGemeren summarizes
theJohn 13-17 diScourse as follows:
"The' era of the Spirit-between
the incarnation and thecoJ:isumma- ,
ti<jn-is :preparatory and anticipatory
to the full revelation of the giorious
Messiah.jesu,s as the Son of God is one
with the ,Father Gn. 17:20,21), shares
nithe glory of Goc:l (v. 24), and shares
His glory with all His followers by
sending the Holy Spirit (14:15-27;
16:14,15; 20:21-23). The Holy Spirit's ,
mission is to share the benefits of the
glorified Christ with those who believe
on Jesus. The Spirit reveals the Christ,
teaches, and consoles (15:18-16:15),
The Spirit is the helper who assures the
church that jesus has not forsaken His
own (14:26). He is the Spirit of truth
who comes from the Father as well as
from the Son (15:26) and convicts the
world of sin, righteousness, and
judgment. In so doing, the Spirit comes
to sanctify God's people (17:17-29), to
keep them from the world, which is
condemned already (16:8-11), and to
prepare them for the great glory
awaiting them." VanGemeren, The
Progress of Redemption: The Story of
Salvation from Creation to the New
jerusalem, p. 360. To be continued n
30 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ July! August 1993
The redefining or word. by sinrnl
man is nothing new. Long ago Isaiah
spol(e or Ihose who call evil good and
good evil. "sin" is virtually gone
from.he American vocabulary having
becn repJaced with "eITor" or I'mis-
lalte". An unborn child is nothing more
than a "rctus." or \\a mass of tissue"
that the woman wants cut away. Ho-
mosexuality is nothing more, accord-
ing to man)" than an "alternate
lifestyle". Bible-believing Chl'istians
arc inneasingly being labeled as "fa
Ili:uirs", 'Vhat is new today is the in-
creasing ilnd acceptance of such
new terminology. for example, we arc
told thalllCW taxation is rcally a "ron-
tribution".
The redefining of language resulls
from the failure to understand the
existence of truth and an objective
reference point (God) for
evell the basil' words in our
lary. Since sociely is moving awa)'
rrol1l the God 'Vim has cSlablishcd
order in all things, we can expect
language ilsdrto become disordered.
Christ ians 111 (1st be will ing to stand
ror the truth ami lu wunb alll.I
arguments thai arc based on
t ural teaching not I he redefinition
vided by Ihose in Ihe 'polilically cor
rect' movement. Christians must
del'st and t hal many in our nat ion have
declared God 10 be dead especially in
mailers rclaled 10 daily life and cui
lure. Thus polilics has replaced God
as the basis ror defining cOiTecl
guage. Christians must instruct Iheir
covenant children in corl'ectlanguage
usage and Ihe realily or allad" on
such usage parlicularly as those words
apply 10 moralily. We need 10 pray ror
and seel{ to evangelize those who do
nol recognize God as Ihe only way or
sah'atioll and the originator or all trllih.
Dr. Thibodeaux has wrilten a booll
or which aduhs need 10 be aware. The
illrOnnalioll herc nceds to be shared
wilh college and high school &Iudenls&o
Ihallhey call be prepared for whallhey
might cncolLnler when they enter the
college classroom. Parents may well want
to ched{ deeper into coul'se offerings
Ihal Iheir children will be reqnired 10
tal{e on cnlrancc 10 sOllie colleges and
universities. To do so miglll well be
cye-opcning and cause us 10 lool{
where rol' our childrcn's' education.
Dr. Thibodeaux's b()OI{ will not hc
considercd politically cOl'I'ccl in our
l'uliure, however many \vill under-
stand Ihat its i.., cOl'I'ecl. eye
opening, and needs a wide circulation
in our day.
Political Sennons oj the American
Founding Era 1730-1805 Edited by
Ellis Sandog Liberty Fund, Inc. 8335
Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 India-
napolis, Ind. 46250-1687, 1,596 pp
$38.00 (h.b.) $12.00 (p.b.) This vol-
ume is also available from Mt. Olive
tape Library P.O. Box 422 Mt. Olive MS
39119
'This principle that a whole nation
has a right to do whatever it pleases,
cannot in any sense whatever be admit-
ted as true. The eternal and immutable
laws of justice and morality are para-
mount to all human legislation. The
violations of those laws is certainly
within the power of a nation, but it is
not among the rights of nations." This
quotation of John Quincy Adams is
printed in the opening pages of this
remarkable volume that contains
fifty-five sermons that were preached
and then printed for circulation during
the foundational days of our nation.
These sermons are supportive of Adams'
cogent remarks. Each sennon is a re-
minderto government leaders as well as
members of their own congregations,
that the Bible speaks to political tissues
such as war, taxation, and citizenship.
Much forgotten today is the fact that
in ournation'searly history annual elec-
tion selmons were preached to the gov-
ernor and the legislature after officers
were elected. These sennons reminded
the hearers that their positions were
given them by God and thus they and
those they ruled had a duty to walk
obediently before God. For two hun-
dred years Massachusetts also had an
annual artillery sermon which dealt with
political and military issues. Other oc-
casions such as days of thanksgiving
and the Forth of July provided further
opportunities to expound biblical teach-
ing on politiCS. The best of these ser-
mons were often printed and distrib-
uted.
Within these pages the reader wi!]
find "The Mediatorial Kingdom and Glo-
ries ofJesus Christ" preached priorto the
French and Indian War by Samuel
Davies in 1756; Samuel Miller's "A ser-
mall on the Anniversary oj the Indepen-
dence oj America" (1793) "The Dangers oj
Our National Prosperity; and the Way to
Avoid Them" (1785) by Samuel Wales
and David Osgood's "The WonderfUl
Worhs oj God are to Be Remembered"
(1794) Many will read with great inter-
est Noah Webster's remarks on the
French Revolution. Contained here are
sermons revealing controversies of the
day. John Wesley's sermon appealing
for colonial support of British taxation
is printed along with a sermon showing
why such a position could not be Scrip-
turally suppoJted. Isaac Backus' ser-
mon appealing for religious liberty is
also included. The editor has included
sermons from Calvinist, Baptist, Con-
gregationalist, among other of a few
Unitarian messages, are also printed.
Each sennon is preceded with a bio-
graphical sketch of the author. Each
section begins with a helpful chronol-
ogy of events that help frame the time in
which those sermons therein were
preached.
This book can be read with much
profit in our day. When so many pulpits
are silent regarding political issues we
are reminded through this volume that
not only does Scripture have much in-
struction for their establishment of civil
government and its daily operation but
also colonial churches were full of pas-
tors who took their calling seriously to
teach their people the duties of civil
government and their duties as Chris-
tian citizens. One can onlywonderwhat
our nation would have been like with-
out this preaching.
July! August 1993 ;. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedou ;. 31
It is l e ~ r what our nation has be-
come today without faithful exposition
of God's Word. The problems that con-
front our society today--abortion, eu-
thanasia, homosexuality, debt, educa-
tion and family breakdown can only be
truly addressed through Scriptural ap-
plication to Spirit awakened hearts.
I was reminded of this recently when
I read of President Clinton'S response to
a student's question regarding when life
begins. The President pointed out that
the issue is one of religion and "one over
which Christians have argued for a long
time."
''When does the soul enterthe body,
so that to terminate the living organism
amounts to killing a person? That is the
question. It is a deep moral question
overwhichserious Christians disagree.':
(Quoted in World 3/6/93 p. 16)
I seriously doubt that such an an-
swer would have been given by a na-
tionalleader in the days when sermons
such as these were preached in a na-
tional scale.
A look at these sermon texts re-
minds the readerthat Christians in Scrip-
ture were often in contact with political
leaders of the day, even pagan tulers
such as Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, and
Pilate, proclaiming God's Word to them
and society as a whole. Clearly in Bible
days, colonial times, and today political
institutions are always in great need of
practicing their callings correctly in
agreement with God's Word.
Here we also find clear evidence that
our nation was founded on Christian
principles, Thus this book is important
also as historical proof to counter much
ofhistoty, that has been written to deny
Christian influence in colonial America.
This book will be a great asset to
personal, church and home school li-
braries. Although one may not agree
with the interpretation and application
of every text still there is much spiritual
food forthe weary soul of today. Teach-
ingAmerican religious and pOlitical his-
tory, parents can assign one or more of
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
BULK RATE
Pehnit No. 1553
Greenville, SC
29602
these sermons to be read by their high our hope rests not in politiCS but only in
school or college aged children. Hope- our Redeemer, the LordJesus Christ. In
fully the Lord will use this book to our current political situation we are
rekindle the fire of Christ-centered world reminded there are answers but only as
and life preaching that burned much God's Word is seriously studied and
brighter in colonial generations. In the applied to the problems that beset us
pages of this book we are reminded that today.n
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32 '" THE COUNSEL of ChalcedQn '" Jnly/ August 1993