All Articles For Huizinga, Brian

Previous article in this series: October 1, 2015, p. 19. The Universality of War against God The universality of sin (and death, for that matter) is undeniable. Wherever man is, moral evil abounds. The Bible declares it (I Kings 8:46; Ps. 14:1-3; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; Rom. 3:1-20; Gal. 3:22; I John 1:8, 10). Experience confirms it. Even those who desperately cling to the dream of the essential goodness of man find their own experiences and relationships darkened by sin and sin’s consequences. Sin is wicked war against God and His law. Natural man is not merely separated from God....

Previous article in this series: May 15, 2015, p. 375. The Fall “And he did eat.” “…she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat,” (Gen. 3:6). “And he did eat.” With that very brief and unadorned statement, the Bible recounts a literal, historical, creationchanging event. A man named Adam ate. Adam’s eating is what we, in catechism class, call “the Fall.” We say “fall” because Adam sinned, and by sinning he fell away from God—his loving Maker and Friend—and into darkness and death. We say “the Fall,”...

Previous article in this series: February 15, 2014, p. 232. What a lovely world of beauty and perfect peace God made in the beginning! All creatures in the heavens above and earth beneath were fully consecrated to God’s glory. “Good,” declared God, beholding all He had made, “very good.” The divinely inspired narrative of literal history in Genesis says so. Then, without any warning, a talking, man-tempting, God-slandering serpent appears on the scene (Gen. 3:1). Evil. Very evil. It gets worse. The serpent tempts the woman Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve sins. Eve tempts her husband Adam. Adams...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2014, p. 114. Jehovah is a Man of war (Ex. 15:3). His right hand dashes in pieces the enemy (Ex. 15:6). Jehovah has sworn that He will have war with Amalek from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16). Jehovah bends His bow like an enemy, and stands with His right hand as an adversary (Lam. 2:4). Jehovah is mighty in battle (Ps. 24:8) and mustereth the host of the battle (Is. 13:4). Jehovah teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight (Ps. 144:1). Jehovah is “The Lord of hosts.” Hosts are armies...

Previous article in this series: October 1, 2014, p. 18. By way of introduction in this series, we have, first, sounded the bugle-call to battle. Second, we have proved the necessity of viewing the Christian life as one of warfare. Third, we have defined the holy war in which we are engaged. We proceed now to our first main topic in treatment of the subject of Christian warfare, namely war’s origin. A proper understanding of any subject demands an examination of its origin. In Heidelberg Catechism class, prior to studying Lord’s Day 1, we ask and answer concerning the writing...

Previous article in this series: August 2014, p. 443. We have acknowledged that we are called to warfare and that we must be conscious of this warfare. We have demonstrated this calling from Scripture, and therefore find it in our Psalter, Three Forms of Unity, and doctrinal terminology. By “war” in this series we are referring to our ongoing spiritual hostility towards all that is opposed to God and His kingdom. There is war between God and Satan—the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness—and by virtue of our union with Christ the head of God’s covenant and King...

Previous article in this series: May 15, 2014, p. 375. Unavoidable is the theme of, and even imperative, for warfare that runs throughout all of Scripture and therefore also our Psalter, our Three Forms of Unity, and the doctrinal terminology taught us in catechism class. If the Bible were a book I had never seen, and upon my first encounter with it I read it through from beginning to end and thereafter someone asked me what were some things that struck me about that book, whether I had saving faith or not, I would surely conclude, among other things, “Warfare....

We are at war. Not a war that leaves our blood pooled on the soil underfoot and holes in our flesh—though it may and it did for the captain of our salvation one dark day on a hill outside of Jerusalem—but it is a war in which souls are killed. It is a war with Satan and his hosts, with this present evil world and all of its rebellious attitudes, vain philosophies, carnal pleasures, and corrupt behaviors, and with our own desperately sinful flesh. It is a war with and against sin. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth...

What among men has endured as many ages under the sun as the psalms…the psalms sung…the psalms sung in corporate worship? Precious little. Psalmody has seen Solomon’s temple used and burned, doleful children of the covenant marched to Babylon and jubilantly returning, the Son of God incarnate humiliated and exalted, Rome risen and fallen, the mighty wave of the gospel of salvation sweeping through the Mediterranean world, into Europe, over the seas to America, and now to the ends of the earth, always with the bitter death of apostasy following in its wake. Over the past three thousand years much...

This is the text of the speech Rev. Huizinga gave at the annual meeting of the RFPA on September 19, 2013. Previous article in this series: December 15, 2013, p. 129. What Can We Do? The Ten “P’s” Now what can we do to encourage and promote the reading of sound, spiritually-edifying literature, particularly among the next generation? 1. Support the Preaching Deliberately we begin here. Were I not a preacher but a cobbler, I would still begin with preaching, as every Re­formed man should. Pray for the seminary, support the seminary, pray for the minister, see to it that...