All Articles For Haak Carl J

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. In these first 18 verses we have a summation of the entire book. All that will follow to the very end of the book is intended to prove the truth of the things declared in these first 18 verses. They make clear to us how John will approach his presentation of the Lord’s work and person-that Jesus Christ is the eternal and natural Son of God now made flesh for our salvation. (See Lord’s Day 13 of the Heidelberg Catechism and Art. 10 of the Belgic Confession.) Nowhere...

 Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. The very first words of this prophecy deserve serious and concentrated study by every believer. Why? First of all, the words “I have loved you” stand as the foundation of the entire book, as well as the ground on which God brings His complaint against His people. All of the terrible spiritual indifference, the weariness of worshiping God, the violation of God’s covenant in the married state, which were prevalent in Malachi’s day, were at heart this: insensitivity and coldness to the love of God. God’s first word...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. When Ruth returned home that night after her first day of gleaning and recounted all that had transpired, Naomi began to see the merciful providence of God breaking through the dark clouds of her bitterness and poverty. As she listened to Ruth tell of the kindness of Boaz, and when she saw the material blessings Ruth brought back, Naomi blessed the Lord “who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Especially when Ruth told her of Boaz, whom Naomi knew to be...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. The loving reverence for God, the sincere worship of His holy name, the living service and dedicated life which is alone worthy of God – all these were absent among the people of Malachi’s day. This was evident in the manner in which they worshiped God. It was not that the temple was abandoned and the outward rites of religion altogether neglected, but it was all “performed” in a cold, indifferent, and resentful way. This was especially true of the priests, the spiritual leaders, but it characterized also...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington.

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. Boaz had promised Ruth that he would see to her rights as a widow in Israel. Naomi had assured her that Boaz would not rest until he had done it. And so it was; the very same day found Boaz at the gate of Bethlehem, representing the cause of Ruth before the elders of the city. The gate of the city in that day was the near equivalent of our present county court house. Here all business was transacted. There contracts were publicly verified, trials were held, judgment...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. The book of Ruth begins with a sad picture of famine and sin, of death and a door closed on begetting covenant seed. But what a bright and beautiful picture it is with which the book closes. Boaz takes Ruth to be his wife, and she bears a son. And beyond this, God unfolds His purpose to continue the line of Christ. The beauty of the book of Ruth, along with all the Bible, is the salvation which God gives us in Christ, who was born in that...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. God will ever see to it that there is a people on earth who serve Him even in the midst of the most hardened and callous spiritual apathy. As a jewel cast on a pile of coal, so in this section of Malachi we are shown a God-fearing remnant in the midst of the most blatant and blasphemous religious indifference. The words ofRomans 11:5 are underscored by our lesson: “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (see Rom. 11:3-6)....

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those who published it.” The compulsion to preach the gospel is the greatest yearning and desire which God works in a sanctified heart. Many are the holy desires which God works in the hearts of His children. Believing parents can confess that God gives them a great jealousy and yearning to impart to their children the “praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Ps. 78:4). A wife and mother is...

Carl J. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. We can know our regeneration. We can be assured of our being born from above and thus be assured that “now are we the children of God” (I John 3:2). Assured that we are born again by the will of God, we will also be convinced of the love of God towards us (I John 4:16), and possess the perfect hope that one day we shall see Him as He is (I John 3:3). Assured of our regeneration, we will also live in holiness and as dear...