Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in
the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from
the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the
Lord, and shall not find it (Amos 8:11-12).
COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:
“That the preaching of the
gospel is intended by God as a ‘blessing’ to all that hear is said to appear
especially from the following perspective:
According to sacred
Scripture, God punishes those, who do not obey His voice, sometimes by withdrawing
His word from them. In the prophecy of Amos we read: ‘Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they
shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall
run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it’ (Amos
8:11-12). The same threat lies enfolded in the preaching of Jesus in the
Synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4:22-27).
If indeed, now, were it
God’s purpose that the gospel be merely a curse for some (i.e. the
ungodly reprobate), then the thought arises: could not He have best punished
the disobedient, not by ‘withdrawing’ the gospel from them, but by sending them
more gospel? By this means, He would have brought greater destruction
upon them. But God punishes the ungodly, according to Amos 8 and Luke 4, by depriving
them of the gospel. Surely the clear implication of this is that the
ministering of gospel was a blessing to them—a token of God’s grace and
favour to those that are in possession of it. How else should we interpret
these passages of Scripture?”
(I)
Prof. David J. Engelsma
The presence of the gospel is a
great good thing in itself, regardless of God’s secret purpose with it. For men
to reject and despise it is a great evil, deserving of God’s taking it away.
Here the Reformed distinction between God’s hidden will and His revealed will
comes into play. God’s revealed will is that all who come into contact with the
gospel receive it by believing the gospel. His secret will is that the gospel
convert some but harden others. When He sends the gospel to a people or nation,
all that matters for the people is that the presence of the gospel is a good—a
very great good. They are called to believe the gospel for their salvation and
for the glory of God. For the people to despise the gospel is an evil—a very
great evil, punishable by the taking away the gospel. What God’s secret will
may be—“whom He will He hardeneth” (Romans 9)—is not the concern of the people.
But He does have such a secret will with regard to some people to whom He sends
the good gospel (Romans 9). The punishment for their deliberate contempt of the
good gospel is His taking away of the gospel, so that, in the future, there is
no one among such a people who have the gospel and are saved by it. When the
gospel remains among a people, some among the people are saved by the gospel.
After the gospel is removed, there is no salvation of anyone: a famine of the
word.
As for the possibility of
retaining the gospel among a hard-hearted people, to harden them further, there
comes the point that the people are hardened—hardened sufficiently—so that
there is no need to harden them further. Retaining the gospel among them for
more hardening would be, so to speak, a waste of time and energy. God’s purpose
with the people is achieved and they have accomplished the fulness of their
wickedness. God, therefore, removes the gospel altogether. This is happening in
the formerly Christian West. (DJE,
29/07/2019)
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(II)
More to come! (DV)
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