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Dear student NN,
Grace and peace be unto you! It was not my intention to write you a letter, Mr. NN, but some relatives took me to the NRC-congregation in L., so I have heard your sermon on Sunday evening (Sept. 26, 2004) about Zech. 8:4-6. The beginning of your text-explanation was true and biblical. I went to church in deep spiritual misery to hear the voice of my King, and it was remarkable that the question you asked the congregation was in my hearth. But my dear friend, Christ was hardly heard in your preaching. Besides, your exegesis concerning these text verses were not biblical. But before I continue, I will point out something: This commentary letter doesn't concern your person and your state before God, but your doctrine, and not only yoúr doctrine, but the general doctrine of your NRC-denomination. Please, keep that in mind! I felt a burden on my heart, so I have to tell you these things, not as an 'insured' Christian, but may it be with the love of Christ.
Although I have close ties with some children of God that are members of your denomination and though my respect for some 'Gereformeerde Gemeente' preachers from times past, is it very sad to say, brother NN, but you misused the words of the text verses of Zech. 8 for an unbiblical doctrine concerning the way of salvation. That is a very serious case, because it concerns the honor of God and the salvation of souls. I have to be faithful before God, honest to myself and to my neighbour-pilgrims, including you. To the point: I am wondering which calf you have ploughed concerning your exegesis about Zech. 8:4-6. The visions of Zecheriah are prophecy, my dear friend, so the text verses of your sermon have nothing to do with the way of conversion. Therefore, the spiritual meaning of these text verses is very different from what you preached. In the first place, the text verses deal about old men and old women who dwell in the streets of Jerusalem and every man with his staff in his hand for very age (verse 4). You started with the playing boys and girls (verse 5), for an easy understanding for the children, but that is not the biblical order. Gods Words in Zech. 8 starts with old men and old women and that has a valid spiritual reason. The old men and women with their staff in their hand are an image of the Church, especially in the last days. These old men and old women in Zech. 8 will be sitting in the streets of Jerusalem. That means that the Church will be unfruitful to bare children for the Kingdom of God. Old men en old women cannot bare children, right? That is impossible! But look at the wonder that the Lord speaks: There will be playing boys and girls in the streets of Jerusalem! In spite of men! And these children are children of the promised Seed. Why? Because the Christ must be born! Christ is the contents of the prophecy in Zech. 8:4-6! I will show you this in the previous chapter 6. "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying: Behold the Man whose Name is The Branch; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the Temple of the LORD", Zech. 6:12. Not the Church, but Christ shall build the Temple, namely: the spiritual Jerusalem!
We can see the same unfruitfulness by Abraham and Sarah, when they were old, so old, that they needed a staff for moving themselves. For Sarah was too old to bare the child of promise, namely Isaac. You know the history. Abraham made a mistake and became in trouble with Hagar and Ishmael, because he was asking for the Lord to deal with Ishmael in stead of the son of promise. But the Lord told Abraham (twice), that Sarah would bare the child of promise. And the fulfillment of that promise took place in the impossibility of Abraham and Sarah's old age. However, the Lord had spoken to Abraham that nothing was too marvelous for Him and we see the same expression in the text-verses of your sermon (verse 6). Zech. 8:4-6 shows us that there are no impossibilities for the Lord to keep and multiply His Church, because Christ must be born. Zech. 8:4 means that the Church will be unfruitful, workless, because every man and woman will be sitting (Staten Vertaling) in the streets of Jerusalem. But the Lord says: "From Me is thy fruit found", Hos. 14:8b. The Lord promises in Zech. 8:5 namely: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof", verse 5. That is the order in which God always works, namely through the impossibility of men. So, the Triune God fulfills His prophecy and promises in spite of men. That is also the same in the way of salvation. The old men and women (the Church) in the text verses have to live of the wonder of free grace. That is what the Lord wants to glorify in His Word and in the life of His children, namely free grace!
Also the staff of the old men, whereof you spoke, has nothing to do with the staff of the righteousness of Christ, because there is written: "… with his (own) staff in his hand!" There is not written: 'Thy staff and Thy stick' as a comfort for the people of God. No! I cannot read that anywhere in this chapter! So, all men and women will sit down with their staff (plural speaking) and that cannot be the righteousness of Christ. There is (thank God!!) ONE staff of Christ' righteousness and no more! However, the righteousness of Christ is more than enough for the salvation of all Gods people.
In the second place, you made an unbiblical doctrine of your own explanation, and that is a serious misleading of souls. You are not allowed to deform a prophecy in a way of conversion. Besides, your doctrine about the true conversion is unbiblical too. There is not ONE child of God who is not justified by the righteousness of Christ. All the real people of God are justified, both on God's side and in the tribunal of their conscience. All the experiences before the justification by faith are near coming work of the Spirit. Of course, there are steps in the way of knowledge of Christ, but the justification has nothing to do with little or big faith, but only with true faith in Jesus Christ. If you cover a false way of conversion with an unbiblical text-explanation, you make a double mistake, my dear friend. Is that your goal of ministry? I cannot believe that. However, I know you have to preach that way, because in your denomination the regeneration and the justification are separated and exalted as a biblical doctrine.
Rome does the same! I do not find this way of conversion by the doctrine of the Bible, neither by the doctrine of the Reformation. My dear friend, I am speaking in the presence of God, you will be the first person if you can give me a biblical proof of that kind of conversion that you have preached. Be sure, it will never happen, because all the elected people of God are justified as an ungodly and not as a regenerated man or woman. That is what the Bible teaches us and what the experience of saints is! The biblical justification takes place by the forgiveness of sins and without the forgiveness of sins, there is no true faith in Christ (HC. 7), no justification, no regeneration, yea, nothing in the eyes of God. I am afraid that the foolish virgins have a deeper spiritual experience than the experience of 'the playing boys and girls' you portrayed, because you said that the playing boys and girls do not rest upon Christ, but that experience has nothing to do with soul-saving faith. However, the biblical experience of the living Church, namely the playing boys and girls in Zech. 8:5, is well founded in Christ, how little their faith may be! Christ is the only and real Comfort in life and death (HC. 1) for all God's children. And all the real children of God have -more or less- soul-saving knowledge of Christ and the forgiveness of sins. Of course, the experience about the knowledge of Christ goes deeper and deeper in a healthy life of grace, but the consequence of your preaching is that seeking sinners remain stuck in the child-birth. But that work is all under the Law and has nothing to do with any application of the Gospel of free grace, because every child of God knows Christ and is known by Him. Those are the words of Christ Himself! (Joh. 10:14).
All that kind of experience without the experience of the forgiveness of sins is near coming work of the Spirit, like I said before, but that near coming work of the Spirit is not a part of the biblical regeneration. And that is for sure the big mistake of the theology of your denomination. The fruit of that mistake bares half-converted people, because the separation between regeneration and justification is not the work of the Holy Spirit, but from the pope! My dear friend, the END of the Law is Christ and the biblical regeneration takes place when a sinner is died (not dying) through the Law to the Law, because the Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin, righteousness and punishment, because they believe NOT in Christ. In that way an elected sinner dies when the Law comes in, because the end of the Law is Christ, to righteousness, each and everyone that believes. Of course, every real child of God has more or less knowledge of near coming work of the Spirit, but the Holy Spirit teaches all the real people of God that that near coming work does not belong to the soul-saving faith. The Holy Spirit -in His soul-saving work- takes all His work out of Christ, to proclaim it to His people that their souls are saved by faith alone. For they are cleaned, because Christ has revealed Himself to them in the hell of their existence! In the Bible there is no difference between a revealed Christ and an applied Christ. That is nonsense. When Paul says that God has pleased to reveal His Son in him, he speaks about the application! Or do you think that Paul after the revelation of Christ has been waiting a couple of days (or even a couple years) yet for an application? That kind of conversion comes from Rome! After his conversion Paul preaches Christ immediately. How can that happen, if Paul didn't know he was justified? You said to the children in the church that they have to be glad if they are (spiritual) playing boys and girls, but you said too, that spiritual playing boys and girls cannot appear before God. What kind of gladness do you mean, if spiritual playing children are glad with nothing…? If you preach that spiritual boys and girls in Christ need more than the only Comfort in life and death whereof they have knowledge, you agree with Rome. Rome could not beat you on it! Mr. NN, can you now see how unbiblical your preaching is?
Finally, concerning regeneration, only dead sinners will hear the voice of the Son of God and they that heard that voice, shall live. But first the Holy Spirit brings a convicted sinner under the justice of God. Under God's holy justice a sinner agrees with God about his well-deserved punishment, like the murderer on the cross. A sinner under God's justice believes the holy Law of God not as a warning finger, but in her absoluteness and he feels the power of his own damnation. So, that is lost, for ever lost for him. But that is the way to die through the Law to the Law (Gal. 2:19). And then it is time for Jesus. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost", Luke 19:10. The Bible teaches us namely the justification of the ungodly (Rom. 5:6-10).
That is the fact around which the wheel turns in personal and biblical conversion. But this biblical doctrine of salvation, namely the justification of the ungodly, is totally disappeared in most of the preaching, including yours. You can say: "I am not the only one who preaches it like that." My friend, may I ask you: In whose countenance are you standing? I send you this letter not because I strike against flesh and blood, but because of the honor of God and that is the only reason that you (and your whole denomination) have to return from the evil doctrine, which I have refuted with the Word of God. Remember: All the elected people of God will be delivered through justice! Befóre justification, the conviction of sin takes place to make room for the Mediator, Jesus Christ, Him crucified! But conviction of sin is not yet regeneration, not even when a convicted sinner has a reference upon Christ. Hell will be filled with sinners that are convicted and have had reference upon Christ (like the foolish virgins), because their enmity has not been put to death in the death of Christ. Paul wants to know nothing else than Jesus Christ, Him crucified! Amen. Such a preaching creates a lot of public enmity against the living Christ, because Christ is still a stumbling-block for the religious flesh, like we can read in the Bible and if it is right, we know it by experience. Conviction of sin is absolutely necessary, but also our enmity against the Gospel has to be convicted, because only enemies become reconciled with God.
Rev. Vogelaar recently complained at the Synod, that there is no spiritual brake-through work in the church, and that is true, but I showed you the cause of it, namely an unbiblical preaching! Or do you like a lot of hypocritical adorers, because you do not cut off every experience outside the justice of God in Christ? I don't want to accuse you of this matter, but I have warned you in love and I am free of your blood! But I am nothing and I have no human brains. I am a fool and a wicked rebel, who deserve nothing but hell. So, all the glory and adoring concerning salvation will be to God the Father, to God the Son and to God the Holy Ghost, because it is through Him, through Him alone, for the sake of His eternal pleasure! Amen.
May the Lord guide us in His Truth,
Yours in Christ,
G.P.P. Burggraaf
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