The Christian's Reasonable Service

Fully Indexed PDF Files of The Christian’s Reasonable Service!

2011-08-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

I recently was contacted by Buks van Ellewee, a software engineer, who wrote the following:

I have fully indexed the four pdf files of “The Christian’s Reasonable Service.” This makes them much more accessible and easy to use. When you open one of the indexed pdf’s in e.g. Adobe Reader, you will notice a little bookmark (ribbon like) symbol at the top of the left hand margin. Clicking the bookmark symbol now opens a table of contents listing the chapters in the open volume. Clicking on a chapter will take you straight to the start of the selected chapter. It just makes the text a little more accessible for quick referencing.

Needless to say, I am delighted that, with Buks’ permission, I can now make these indexed files available to you. You will find these files when you click on the button “à Brakel’s Magnum Opus .” (Upon opening the file, you also need to open the Adobe Reader Toolbar. Once the toolbar appears on the left side of the document, you will see the bookmark symbol.)

A very heartfelt thank you, therefore, to Buks van Ellewee for having taken the time to do this for us, and for his willingness to make these files available to us!

Also, you will now find a major entry about à Brakel in Wikipedia.

May God continue to bless you as you pursue the writings of Wilhelmus à Brakel—a remarkable man of God upon whose writings the stamp of God’s approval continues to rest.

Bartel Elshout

Additional Testimonials and Two Excellent New Articles

2011-03-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Under the rubric “Testimonials” you will find endorsements by three well-known Reformed scholars: Dr. J. V. Fesko, Dr. Richard Muller, and Dr. Derek Thomas. I have also posted two excellent new scholarly articles in which the authors explore various themes in The Christian’s Reasonable Service. The first article is written by Jonathan Holdt, a Th. M. student at PRTS, and is entitled A Brakel’s Use of Doctrine in Calling Sinners to Repentance and Faith. In this article he effectively argues that à Brakel avails himself of every opportunity to exhort his readers to repentance and faith, thereby highlighting one of the unique features of The Christian’s Reasonable Service. The second article is written by Lydia Kim-van Daalen, a student of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is entitled à Brakel’s Spirituality of Virtues and its Implications for Soul Care. In this article she ably demonstrates that useful lessons for pastoral care can be extracted from à Brakel’s masterful treatment of Christian virtues. Both articles will enable you to taste the rich flavor of à Brakel’s experiential theology.

-- Bartel Elshout

An Interview with Rev. David Carmichael about Wilhelmus à Brakel's Impact on His Life

2010-11-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Excellent New Article

2010-11-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to be able to post a new article about à Brakel and his theology. This new article is a paper written by Paul Smalley, a Th. M. student at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS) in Grand Rapids. The title of this excellent and well-written article is, “Satisfied with the Lord’s All-Sufficiency.” In this paper, Paul argues convincingly that spiritual joy is one of the dominant themes of à Brakel’s theology. Highly recommended!

Click here to read the article.

Bartel Elshout

New Article Posted & Digital Version of the Original Dutch Version of The Christian’s Reasonable Service

2010-09-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have received and posted an interesting article by Mark du Preez, entitled Second Reformation Theology and the Question of Legitimacy: Calvin and À Brakel Compared. Mark wrote this paper for a course taught by Rev. C. Pronk of the Free Reformed Churches.

Mark Du Preez also forwarded a link to me to a Dutch web-site that posts a digital copy of the entire Dutch version of The Christian’s Reasonable Service (De Redelijke Godsdienst). Click here to access this version.

Furthermore, I want to introduce you to the blog of Joseph P. Grigoletti from Quebec. Joseph recently acquired the four-volume set of The Christian’s Reasonable Service from Reformation Heritage Books, and has committed himself to blog on a regular basis about his readings in this work. Click here to visit his blog.

Finally, I want to draw your attention to Dr. Joel Beeke’s recommendation of the scholarly paper by Dr. Richard A. Muller, entitled The Covenant of Works and the Stability of Divine Law in Seventeenth Century Reformed Orthodoxy: A Study in the Theology of Herman Witsius and Wilhelmus à Brakel. Dr. Beeke writes, “Dr. Muller's article not only elucidates with clarity the views of two of the most famous Dutch Further Reformation divines, Herman Witsius and Wilhelmus a Brakel, on the covenant of works, but also shows how critical the covenant of works is for the whole field of covenant theology. That note needs to be sounded today when so many who claim the mantel of being Reformed, have relegated the covenant of works to the dustbin of outdated orthodox scholastic theology. Muller ably shows us how misconceived those theologians are who deny any form of pre-fall covenant.”

Dr. Joel R. Beeke’s Endorsement of The Christian’s Reasonable Service

2010-08-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, Wilhelmus à Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service is one of the most valuable set of books available in English today. I don’t say this because I had the privilege of organizing the task, raising the funds for its translation and printing, and serving as its final editor, but I believe this is true because of the rich doctrinal, experiential, practical, pastoral, and ethical content this classic conveys. When one reads Brakel, one is not surprised to learn that for centuries this set of books was as popular in the Netherlands as John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was in English-speaking countries. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most Dutch farmers who were of Reformed persuasion would typically read a few pages of “Father Brakel,” as he was fondly called, every evening to his family as an important part of their family worship. When he completed the entire work, he would start over!

This massive work is arranged in three parts. The first volume consists of a traditional Reformed systematic theology that is packed with clarity of thought, thoroughness of presentation, and helpfulness of application. The concluding applications at the end of each chapter, applying the particular doctrines discussed to the lives of believers and unbelievers, are the highlight of this section. I believe that à Brakel’s practical casuistry in these applications supersedes any other systematic theologian, both in his day and ever since. They represent Reformed, Puritan, experiential theology at its best.

The second part expounds Christian ethics and Christian living. This part covers the concluding section of volume 2, all of volume 3, and most of volume 4. It is the largest and most fascinating section of à Brakel’s work, packed with salient applications on a variety of topics pertinent to living as a Christian in this world. In addition to a masterful treatment of the ten commandments (chs. 45-55) and the Lord’s Prayer (chs. 68-74), this part addresses topics such as living by faith out of God’s promises (ch. 42); how to exercise love toward God and His Son (chs. 56-57); how to fear, obey, and hope in God (chs. 59-61); how to profess Christ and His truth (ch. 63); and how to exercise a host of spiritual graces, such as courage, contentment, self-denial, patience, uprightness, watchfulness, neighbor love, humility, meekness, peaceableness, diligence, compassion, and prudence (chs. 62, 64-67, 76, 82-88). Other topics treated most helpfully include fasting (ch. 75), solitude (ch. 77), spiritual meditation (ch. 78), singing (ch. 79), vows (ch. 80), spiritual experience (ch. 81), spiritual growth (ch. 89), backsliding (ch. 90), spiritual desertion (ch. 91), temptations (chs. 92-95), indwelling corruption (ch. 96), and spiritual darkness and deadness (chs. 97-98).

The third part (4:373-538) is devoted to a history of God’s redemptive, covenantal work from the beginning to the end of the world. It is reminiscent of Jonathan Edwards’s History of Redemption, though it is not as detailed as Edwards; à Brakel’s work confines itself more to Scripture, and has a greater covenantal emphasis. It concludes with a detailed study of the future conversion of the Jews from six passages of Scripture (4:511-38).

The Christian’s Reasonable Service represents, perhaps more than any other work, the Puritan heartbeat and balance of the Dutch Second Reformation. Here systematic theology and vital, experiential Christianity are scripturally and practically interwoven with a covenantal framework, the whole bearing the mark of a pastor-theologian deeply taught by the Spirit. Sweeping in coverage, nearly every subject treasured by Christians is treated in an unusually helpful way, always aiming for the promotion of godliness.

In my opinion, this pastoral set of books is an essential tool for every pastor and is extremely valuable for lay people as well. Happily, you can now read it freshly translated into contemporary English. Buy and read this great classic. You won’t be sorry. As publisher, we have already sold more than 10,000 sets and have never received a single complaint about it; rather, we have been inundated with encouraging comments about its merits.

Joel R. Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 4 vols., trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2001), Retail $160; available from Reformation Heritage Books for $90 plus postage.

Articles About À Brakel and The Christian’s Reasonable Service

2010-08-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

One of the objectives of this developing web-site is to make this the one place where you will be able to find anything (and someday everything!) that has been written about à Brakel and The Christian’s Reasonable Service.

I have made a small beginning by posting four articles. Under the rubric “Articles” you will find:

1. Wilhelmus à Brakel and the Importance of Hope, written by Derek Baars in 2006 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course I teach at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, entitled The Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel.

2. Seeking God in Personal Devotions In Wilhelmus à Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service, written by Rev. Maarten Kuivenhoven in 2006 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course I teach at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, entitled The Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel.

3. Wilhelmus à Brakel—A Biographical Sketch, written by Rev. Cornelis Vogelaar (written in Dutch). Rev. Vogelaar is the pastor of the Gereformeerde Gemeente (Netherlands Reformed Congregation) of Zwolle, the Netherlands. During the years that I translated the CRS (1989-1995) he was my pastor, who, due to his expertise in seventeenth century Dutch, provided me with invaluable assistance in arriving at the correct translation of archaic vocabulary and/or idiomatic expressions.

4. The Covenant of Works and the Stability of Divine Law in Seventeenth-Century Reformed Orthodoxy: A Study in the Theology of Herman Witsius and Wilhelmus à Brakel, written by Dr. Richard Muller (Calvin Theol. Seminary). This is a scholarly article by one of the world’s foremost scholars of Reformation and Post-Reformation theology.

Early next year, the Lord willing, some papers from Th. M. students at PRTS, who took the course The Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel this past May, will be posted as well.

I am actively searching for additional written material (English or Dutch) about à Brakel and The Christian’s Reasonable Service. Should you have access to such material, I would be greatly indebted if you would forward this to me, so that I can post it as well. Please contact me at belshout@gmail.com. Thanks.

BE

Why should you read à Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service?

2010-07-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Christian’s Reasonable Service (hereafter CRS) occupies without question a unique place in the genre of Reformed systematic theologies. Though à Brakel breaks no new theological ground in the CRS, it is a classic Reformed theological systematic theology nevertheless, and it is organized according to the classic framework of such systematic theologies.

What makes the CRS so unique, however, is that it is a devotional and experiential systematic theology; that is, it is a systematic theology written specifically for the edification of the church. When reading the CRS, you will quickly discover that à Brakel extracts spiritual instruction from the doctrines he expounds, making experiential application whenever and wherever possible. It is this warm, devotional, and experiential flavor that has endeared the CRS to theologians and believers in the Netherlands for more than three centuries—and is now endearing it to readers throughout the English-speaking world.

To stimulate you to discover this for yourself, let me give you a sample from the CRS’s chapter entitled The Person and Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Meditation upon His Godhead will cause us to trust in Him according to His own command, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). Oh, how confident a person may be who has received Him by faith, and when his entire case and all his circumstances have been given over into His hand! How safely is the soul preserved who has surrendered to Him. Such a soul may put all fear and concern aside and say with an assured and steadfast heart, “Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps 73:24). He is God and therefore supreme goodness Himself. He is omniscient and thus knows the frame, desires, sincerity, and anxieties of the soul. He is almighty to deliver, keep, and comfort the soul, as well as usher him into eternal felicity. How blessed is such a soul which may have the Lord Jesus as his Savior! Let such a soul rejoice in His Name (CRS, Vol. 1, p. 512).

As you read this work, you will discover many such delightful spiritual delicacies. And therefore in addition to being an excellent resource in terms of Reformed systematic theology and Christian ethics (with an unmistakable Puritan flavor!), you will also find it to be devotional reading at its best. Tolle lege!

-- Rev. Bartel Elshout

Is there a particular aspect of à Brakel's teaching that stands out in your mind?

2010-07-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Was Wilhelmus à Brakel a Puritan?

2010-06-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Regeneration Defined

2010-04-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Regeneration is a word derived from human birth. We must not understand this to refer only to giving birth itself, but it is inclusive of all that pertains to it, such as conception, fetal growth, and the birth itself. We must not be of the opinion that man possesses life prior to regeneration, as if there were a preparation for regeneration, which we would understand to be conversion. No, man is dead prior to regeneration and receives life by way of regeneration. There is no third state between death and life, and thus also not between being converted and unconverted.

Although we can make a distinction between calling, regeneration, conversion, and sanctification, considering them to be sequential—that is, the one issuing forth from the other—Scripture does not always use this distinction. Instead, Scripture comprehends all these in either one word or the other.

It is not the justice of God which requires regeneration, but it is a necessity as far as the will of God is concerned. Without satisfaction of the justice of God, absolutely no man can be saved. Regeneration, however, neither contributes anything toward satisfaction for guilt nor toward obtaining the right to eternal life. It would

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therefore not be in conflict with His justice if it so pleased the Lord, at the moment of death, to translate a person who is chosen and reconciled through Christ’s death into the state of perfection and thus into eternal felicity. This is true for such children who die prior to birth or prior to the years of discretion. All the regenerate, whether they live a longer or shorter period and are converted at an earlier or later date, are made perfect in one moment at the hour of their death. However, it is the will and wisdom of God concerning those who have come to the years of discretion, not to bring them into heaven except He first regenerates them in this life by means of His Word.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 2, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1993), 233-34.

The Duty to Join the Church and to Remain with Her

2010-03-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

In the previous chapter we have defined the nature of the church. It is, however, not sufficient to be acquainted with her as such, but everyone with a desire to be saved is obligated to join the church, to remain with her, and not to separate himself from her in order to establish a more orthodox church. Furthermore, he who wishes to remain with her must also persevere in having fellowship with her by the use of the holy sacraments. We shall now discuss each of these matters in detail.
It is the duty of everyone who desires to be saved to turn to the church, making diligent effort to be accepted as a member of the church community.
First, this is God’s way whereby He leads the elect unto salvation. “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47); “Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people” (Isa 56:3).
Secondly, this has been the task of the apostles in accordance with their commission (Matt 28:19), as is to be observed in the entire Acts of the Apostles.
Thirdly, this is consistent with the nature of God’s children. As soon as they are converted, they cannot rest until they have been received into the bosom of their spiritual mother (Gal 4:26).
Fourthly, this is the consistent confession of the church of all ages, and particularly of churches of the Netherlands. In article 28 of the Belgic Confession we read: “We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and that out of it there is no salvation, that no person of whatsoever state or

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condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself, to live in a separate state from it; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it.” We have elaborated on this in chapter 24.
Fifthly, the church is the glory of Christ. It is there that Christ is confessed and proclaimed throughout the world, being held forth as a banner upon a hill around which one must gather himself. This is the city upon a hill, and a light shining in the darkness. She is the means whereby the truth is made known and preserved, and the means unto the conversion of souls. Everyone is therefore obligated to facilitate this by joining himself to the church.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 2, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1993), 55, 56.

What is Unique about à Brakel?

2010-02-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

à Brakel on Fasting

2010-02-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

To fast [(ta‘anith)], is a derivative of the words to oppress, humiliate, torment, as well as to be distressed. Others translate this Hebrew word as “to fast”: “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness” (Ezra 9:5); “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?” (Isa 58:5). Also the word Mwc (tsoom) means “to fast” (Isa 58:5). In Greek we have the word nestei/a (nesteia), which means not to eat. It is the latter which we wish to express by the verb “to fast.”

Fasting is a special religious exercise in which a believer deprives himself for a day from all that invigorates the body, humbling himself in body and soul before God as a means to obtain what he desires.

Fasting is a religious exercise—an exercise in which one seeks after God. Fasting due to poverty, avarice, illness, for health reasons, or a being prevented from eating food due to business activities is not applicable here. Rather we speak here of fasting as a religious exercise; it is God-focused and its intent is to seek God thereby. Since all practice of religion is neither to be self-willed nor practiced according to human institutions, but only according to God’s command and precept, this is also applicable for fasting. It does not consist of idleness, but is an activity which is a day-long engagement consisting of secret dealings with God.

It is a special exercise. It is not a daily activity such as prayer, reading, thanksgiving, and singing. Rather, it is practiced at special seasons of need, such as being threatened or oppressed by the danger of a plague, having to engage in a very weighty task, perplexity, or having to make a choice concerning a weighty matter. It can even relate to everyday matters such as seeking

communion with God, the need for strength to oppose specific sins, and growth in grace.

Fasting: To be Deprived of All That Invigorates the Body

Fasting primarily consists in a depriving one’s self of all that invigorates the body, being desirous to bring the body for that given day into a condition of withdrawal, distress, pliableness, and weakness.

It consists, first of all, in a depriving ourselves of all food (being expressed by the word fasting), for he who partakes of any food has broken the fast. Observe this in Esther 4:16: “... fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink.” We do not fast by merely depriving ourselves of meat. In the Old Testament there was a distinction between foods and between clean and unclean; however, this is not related to fasting. Paul states, “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine” (Rom 14:21). It is also not related to days of fasting; rather, this pertains to giving offense to a weaker brother. The latter occurred during that period when there were some who still made a distinction between foods as dictated by the law of the Old Testament. It is in reference to this that the apostle states: “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (1 Cor 8:13). That is, “I would rather deprive myself of this than that I should offend anyone.” Some had freedom to eat animals which had been sacrificed to idols. The apostle declared that there was such freedom, since the idol was in reality nonexistent. Others, however, did not believe they had such freedom and were offended when they observed that others did so. Therefore, not only did the apostle refuse to eat the meat of sacrificed animals, but he wanted to eat no meat at all, if someone would be offended by it. Except for such occasions, however, he would eat meat. Thus, these texts cannot be used in support of papal fasting, at which time they deprive themselves of meat. Else, they should also deprive themselves of wine and ought not ever eat meat.

Secondly, on a day of fasting we are to deprive ourselves of all external ornamentation. In Old Testament times the people covered their bodies with a type of material which was of the most inferior kind. They would then draw this as tightly around the body as if they were putting goods into a bag in preparation for transport, for they normally wore wide garments (Isa 3:24). Furthermore, they made this sack, which they wrapped around themselves, dirty by sprinkling dirt and ashes upon it, so that they would display themselves before God and men in the most wretched and humblest circumstances, thereby declaring that they were unworthy

of everything. “A day for a man ... to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?” (Isa 58:5); “My clothing was sackcloth” (Ps 35:13); “Gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes” (Jer 6:26); “No man did put on him his ornaments” (Exod 33:4).

Thirdly, on a day of fasting we must deprive ourselves of all entertainment such as recreational games; taking a walk for the purpose of seeing gardens, ornamental works of art, or plantations; or going out by boat or horse and carriage merely for pleasure. “Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure” (Isa 58:3). One must even refrain from marital union (1 Cor 7:5).

Fourthly, we must also refrain from performing the labors of our calling. “And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest” Lev 23:30,32.

Fifthly, there must also be a refraining from sleep. On such a day we must arise early and retire no earlier than normal. On such a day we may also not slumber, for that would be entirely contrary to the objective of the day. Such slumber results in a loss of time, and it is as if we would bring a dead body before the Lord—as if it were the body that was fasting. It is in conflict with a humbling of ourselves. Sleep invigorates a person, and the purpose of this day is the humbling of the soul as facilitated by the faintness and weakness of the body—and thus to humble one’s self deeply.

Sixthly, above all things we must carefully guard against the commission of sins. It would be the abomination of all abominations if upon a day that we wish to humble ourselves over our sins and desire to pray for forgiveness—as well as to be spared from those plagues which we have made ourselves worthy of by way of sin—that at the same time we were to tempt the Lord by the commission of sin. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness” (Isa 58:6).

Fasting: A Humbling of Ourselves

The second aspect of fasting is a humbling of ourselves according to body and soul. Soul and body are so intimately united that the ill disposition of the one begets the ill disposition of the other. When the body, due to the withdrawal of all refreshment, is rendered feeble, pliable, and is subdued, the soul will also be in such a disposition; and thus the natural disposition takes on a spiritual dimension. Fasting, in and of itself, is not a religious practice. It is only so when it is a seeking after God by way of fasting. He who has merely deprived himself of all refreshment has not partially observed a day of fasting, for fasting and a humbling of

ourselves are not two separate duties. Fasting must be characterized by a humbling of ourselves, and the humbling of ourselves must be done by way of fasting. Fasting serves but one purpose: to facilitate the humbling of the soul; it has no significance beyond that. Since fasting facilitates this, however, the act as such is nevertheless required. It is an essential aspect of a day of fasting—however, only in union with, and thus inseparable from, the humbling of ourselves. They do not function in a dual sense, but in unison.

When, on a given day of fasting, we humble ourselves by way of fasting, then, at the very outset of the day, there will be a greater appetite for food than normal—already prior to the normal mealtime. This is not always due to the corruption of our nature—a nature which always hankers for that which is forbidden. Rather, it issues forth from the relationship between fasting and the humbling of ourselves. Sorrow over the deficiency of the soul engenders sorrow about that which the body is lacking, and a deficiency in the body engenders sorrow over the deficiency of the soul. They are thus both subservient to the humbling of ourselves (Deut 10:12). “... and ye shall afflict your souls” (Lev 23:27).

A humbling of one’s self consists in:

(1) The confession of sin, accompanied with grief and shame: “Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting ... and confessed their sins” (Neh 9:1-2); “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens” (Ezra 9:6).

(2) Declaring ourselves to be worthy of judgment and a subscribing to justice if the Lord were to execute those merited judgments upon us. “Howbeit Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly” (Neh 9:33).

(3) A supplicating for grace, frequently accompanied with weeping. Concerning the day of a solemn assembly we read in Joel 2:17: “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord.” This is also to be observed on the day of fasting recorded in Neh 9. Consider also the following passages: “I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom” (Ps 35:13); “And when they had fasted and prayed ...” (Acts 13:3); “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matt 17:21);

(4) A renewal of the covenant with the wholehearted intent to forsake former sins and to live a godly life: “And because of all this we make a sure covenant” (Neh 9:38); “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness” (Isa 58:6);

(5) The giving of alms: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” (Isa 58:6-7).

The Duration of Fasting

The duration of fasting is limited to a twenty-four hour period—from evening to evening.

(1) Moses Deut 9:9, Elijah 1 Kings 19:8, and the Lord Jesus Christ Matt 4:2 fasted for forty consecutive days, during which time the Lord preserved their lives in a miraculous manner. We are not commanded to imitate this; to do so is only superstition. Furthermore, no one can be without food for such a long period of time. We do not follow the Lord Jesus if we deprive ourselves of meat for such a period of time while yet eating something during the day. He did not eat at all during that period, nor did He designate His fasting to be an example to be followed by us. Many things He either did by virtue of His divinity or in regard to His mediatorial office, we are neither able nor permitted to imitate.

(2) We also read about seven days of fasting 1 Chron 10:12 and of three days (Esther 4:16). This is to be understood as a period during which something was eaten each evening. Or else, due to there being a warmer climate in those countries, they were able to be without food for a longer time, without doing harm to their health. However, the normal time period for fasting is one day—from evening to evening Lev 23; (Isa 58:5).

Question: Are all men obligated to fast for an entire day? Would one then, upon becoming somewhat faint and thus unfit for prayer and other duties of that day, be able to eat something, such as a piece of bread or something similar?

Answer: In respect to certain persons the rule applies, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6). This applies to women who have given birth, the sick, nursing mothers, those who are exceptionally weak (even though not sick), nursing babies, as well as children who must be dealt with according to their age. Some are not to be deprived of anything, others are to be given as little as possible, and again others need to learn how to fast. However, the healthy must deprive themselves of everything for the entire time. To become somewhat faint is the objective of fasting, and one must not shrink back from that objective. The pretense of being unfit for prayer issues forth from the opinion that fasting is no more than an exercise to become more fit for prayer and similar exercises. Such

believe that this faintness is not a part of fasting, thinking that it is only spiritual in nature. One will also experience that, rather than becoming unfit, this faintness will render one more fit to pray with increased humility, as well as cause one to call upon God with the disposition of one who is entirely destitute. Even if the manifestation of all this is not as vehement as is otherwise the case, toward the evening, prayer will become more earnest, and then at times a special blessing will follow.

The Distinction Between Public and Private Fasting

As far as the persons who fast are concerned, a distinction can be made between public and private fasting.

First, public fasting occurs when:

(1) It is proclaimed by the government due to a general national need—be it war, pestilence, famine, an insect plague, extraordinary drought, persistent rain, or similar occurrences. In such events, governments have the right to proclaim fast and prayer days. This does not mean that such a day of fasting is a commandment of men; no, the observance of days of fasting is commanded by God. Instead, governments do but designate the time as determined by God by way of extraordinary circumstances.

(2) A synod, classis, or elders of a particular congregation designate a day of fasting for the church under their supervision, doing so due to an extraordinary need in the church—be it persecution of that church or churches in other lands, the manifestation of false doctrine, the need for reform due to decline, the calling of ministers or the election of consistories, or other specific circumstances. This is also not a human institution, but the observance of a divine command.

Secondly, private fasting occurs when:

(1) some individual bosom friends agree to set apart a day—be it due to their own needs or the needs of others, or an exceptional desire to seek the Lord earnestly for a desired matter—either for body or soul;

(2) a father institutes a day of fasting for his family;

(3) an individual sets apart a day for himself. Everyone has personal freedom in doing this, be it that he sets apart a day for special occasions; that he schedules days of fasting which, in his judgment, are most suitable for him—this having been the custom of eminently godly persons—lest that by having to select a day anew each time the matter be neglected; or that he selects such a day each time anew. In so doing we will acquaint ourselves with the Lord; we will become more modest and holy, and the Lord

generally grants more spiritual grace to such. In setting such a day apart, every one is free as to the extent to which he wishes to do so. It can be that he will desist from his labors if he is self-employed and if it is not to the disadvantage of his family; he can do this without anyone else noticing this. Or it can be that he sets this day apart while nevertheless intending to do his work—this being required by his circumstances—and to eat a limited amount of food, so as to conceal from others the fact that he is fasting that day. The latter must very much be his objective according to the instruction of Christ in Matt 6:16-18: “Moreover when ye fast (this applies to private rather than public fasting), be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. ... But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head (dress yourself in an honorable manner, as you are accustomed to do), and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” If, however, you cannot conceal this from your family, then you must not allow this to detract you. But, if this would cause you to be ridiculed, you must fully conceal this and eat a little.

Exhortation to Fasting

It is sad—a sign of great decay in the church—that so little work is made of fasting, both in public as well as secretly. Therefore all who wish to lead a life of tender godliness and desire to see the good of Zion ought to stir themselves up to exercise this duty, for:

(1) Has not God has commanded this? (Lev 23:27; Joel 2:12);

(2) Have not the church and the saints of all ages practiced this and left us an example to be followed? Observe this in (Judg 20:26); 2 Chron 20:3 and Neh 9:1. References to solitary fasting are to be found in Neh 1:4 and Ps 35:13. This was not only a duty and practice in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament (cf. Matt 6:16-18; Matt 9:15; Mark 9:29; Luke 2:37; Acts 13:3; Acts 14:23; 1 Cor 7:5). Therefore, as obedient children of God and followers of the saints, fast frequently. This was the practice of the original Christian church and of believers at the outset of the Reformation—and even long thereafter. Do not allow this practice to die out.

If a public fast has been proclaimed, conduct yourself well in doing so. There are but few who fast well. If, therefore, there is perplexity in the land where the church resides, God’s eye will be upon you in a special manner. It will be pleasing to Him when He observes your standing in the breach to turn away His anger from the land. Perhaps He would deliver the land upon your prayer; and even if

the land were to be destroyed, the eye of the Lord and His mercy will be upon you and your loved ones. You will then have peace in your conscience wherever you go, knowing that you have endeavored to uphold the pillars of both church and country.

If some of the godly have agreed to set apart a day, endeavor to join them, and stir up some other godly person to do likewise. The Lord will most certainly be among you; He will come to you and bless you. It will engender a sweet bond of mutual love, a holy mutual fellowship, and quicken both love and the performance of good works. When you make work of having solitary days of fasting, you will experience that the promise is true and will be fulfilled for you: “Thy Father ... shall reward thee” (Matt 6:18). The Lord will manifest that this is pleasing to Him. He will increase your light, and strengthen your heart in faith; you will be nearer to God in your walk, and lead a life which is more sober and thoughtful; and your conscience will be more tender. You will have more strength against sin, and receive more comfort from the Lord. He who has exercised himself in this has never regretted that he has done so, and we wish to recommend it as an exceptional means unto spiritual growth.

When you thus have determined to observe either a public or secret day of prayer, you must prepare yourself for this ahead of time by removing all obstacles, by being moderate in your intake of food and drink in the evening, and by getting a moderate amount of sleep at night. Confess your aversion for such a day of prayer as a sin before the Lord, and ask that you may be fit to conduct yourself well on this day of prayer. If you intend to observe this with others, pray that the others may be fit for this as well.

If the day of prayer is spent as described above, let your conduct also be appropriate subsequent to this. Rejoice in the evening that you have food to eat, since you are not worthy of one bite of bread. Thank the Lord that He gives it to you in His favor—as having been purchased with the blood of Christ. Be moderate in your use of food as well as in sleeping. Preserve the impression of all that has transpired that day; that is, of all your initiatives toward God and of God’s manifestations toward you. Give close attention as to how God responds to your day of prayer, for God will respond to it. In this way you will accustom yourself to this duty, and discover so much sweetness in it, that you will long to have such a day of prayer by renewal.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 4, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1995), 3-10.

à Brakel on Singing

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Singing is a religious exercise by which, with the appropriate modulation of the voice, we worship, thank, and praise God.

It is a religious exercise, for we make use of the skill and sweetness of our voice to move others to have dealings with God. God has given man a voice to make his thoughts known to others. He has given man the ability to modulate his voice to either a high or a low pitch, or to speak slowly or rapidly, thereby enabling him to render his voice sweet and pleasant. It is also God’s will that we shall use our voice in prayer, thanksgiving, and our speaking to Him: “Let Me hear thy voice” (Song 2:14). Since the modulation of our voices at a suitable rhythm is capable of unlocking our hearts and stirring our emotions, God thus also wills that we shall lift up our hearts to Him in singing: “... singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col 3:16). However, our voice and the melody in and of themselves are not pleasing to God; rather, it is the motion of the heart relative to the spiritual matters which we express before the Lord in singing which pleases Him. Both the voice and the melody are means to bring us into a spiritual frame and to lift up our hearts heavenward—as well as the hearts of those who hear us.

The Proper Use of the Voice

To singing belongs the appropriate modulation of the voice. One can sing in an unskilled manner when, for instance, we have an inclination to sing while being alone in order to give expression to those matters about which we are reading (and are recorded in non-poetic form), or those which issue forth from a godly heart. This is done while modulating the voice between a high and a low pitch and by singing either slowly or rapidly—not in an artistic

manner but according to the motions of the heart. A very godly farmer, whom I knew very well, used to say, “When I am alone in my field, I can sing all psalms, even though I do not know their tunes.” Many of the godly will be able to confirm this from their own experience. The Lord has given some people the ability to create artistic pieces of music which express the affections of the heart in a marvelous manner and wondrously stir up the emotions. As the builders of Noah’s ark received no advantage from the structure they built, it entirely being intended for Noah and his family, such is frequently also the case here. Many musicians greatly exert themselves; however, it is to the advantage of the godly. The entire world and all that is contained in it are theirs. This is also true for all forms of art; they may freely make use of them. The manner in which someone is moved by music will be consistent with the nature of his heart. A natural man will but be moved in a natural sense, whereas the melody will move the spiritual heart in a spiritual sense.

The Various Types of Songs

Some musical compositions are of a stately and dignified nature, by which the heart is inclined toward solemnity and reverence. Such is true for the tunes of the psalms of David which are sung in the church. Some are of a melancholy nature by which we are moved to be sorrowful—yes, even to weeping. Others are of a jubilant nature whereby the heart is lifted up to jubilate; such is the singing of the psalms in the Scottish churches. Again, others are of a very rhythmic nature, whereby the heart is stirred up to skip and leap for joy—as Hannah said in her heart: “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord” (1 Sam 2:1). Other compositions are very stern in nature, whereby the heart is ignited to anger and, so to speak, demands vengeance. If, however, the heart is spiritual, this spiritual heart, by way of various tunes, will become aware of spiritual motions consistent with these tunes, and by such inner motions will be drawn to God—be it prayerfully, jubilantly, joyously, or while giving thanks and praising Him. Thus, the spiritual man does not merely relate to the melody; rather, the melody is complementary to the spiritual matters, and spiritual matters complement the melody—in both cases the heart is involved. Thus, it can be that the heart, being in such a frame, will either yield both subject matter and melody, or the subject matter and melody will move the heart in such a manner. The more pleasant the voices or instruments are which sing or play these melodies, the more the heart is moved. When Jehoshaphat and two kings showed Elisha the peril in which their armies were, due to lack of water, he said, “But

now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him” (2 Kings 3:15). By way of the playing of this instrument his spirit was quickened, and having been brought into a fitting frame, he received the revelation that they would receive water.

Singing Practiced from the Beginning of Time

Creatures have engaged in singing from the very beginning of creation. The angels, having been created upon the first day and being a witness to creation the following five days, glorified God concerning this in singing: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). Not all that transpired prior to the time of Moses has been recorded, but it is credible that the godly, from the time of Adam, have delighted themselves in singing. Job, who is considered to have lived during Abraham’s time, makes mention of singing in his book: “Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night” (Job 35:10). After the children of Israel had left Egypt and had gone through the sea on dry ground, they praised the Lord in song: “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord” (Exod 15:1). The ninetieth psalm has the following title: A prayer of Moses. Moses, his death being imminent, gave the children of Israel a song which had been dictated to him by the Lord (Deut 31:16-30). After Sisera had been defeated, Deborah sang a song (Judg 5:1).

David was the sweet psalmist (2 Sam 23:1). To sing unto the Lord with instruments, and to lift up voice and heart to God, was his daily work. In His goodness the Lord has given us David’s psalms in His Word. We have the substance of them, but both the Hebrew art of poetry and the melodies are mostly concealed from us. I maintain that all the music which is now to be found in the world is not comparable to David’s music. I believe that the melody was then composed in harmony with the motions of the heart, giving expression to this in a most appropriate manner. Since the melody proceeded from a spiritual frame of heart, it was wondrously capable of stirring these emotions in others as well. The melody of a psalm could thus not be used for any other song, since that melody was only applicable to that inner motion and that given word. The combination of musical tones, inner motions, and words was such that it would cause all who heard it to be in ecstasy. Our music does not have such an effect. We sing the melody irrespective of whether it is consistent with both the inner motions of the heart and the words. Since the art of poetry and song primarily consisted in this at that time, it is simply not practical to seek to discover David’s poetic art-form—much less the melodies

he composed. Nevertheless, there are some elements here and there which are also to be found in Greek, Latin, and Dutch poetry.

Scripture Enjoins Us to Sing

David did not merely sing by himself, but continually exhorts everyone to sing. For that purpose he also submitted his psalms to be sung in the temple by the appointed chief singers. The textual references to this are so numerous that there is no need to point them out. After David’s time we also find psalms among the prophets, along with many exhortations to sing. We find such exhortations also among those prophecies which declare that in the days of the New Testament men would praise the Lord with singing. “Sing unto the Lord; for He hath done excellent things” (Isa 12:5); “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine” (Isa 27:2); “O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth” (Ps 96:1).

Not only are we exhorted in the Old Testament to sing, but this is true for the New Testament as well. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19); “... teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col 3:16); “Is any merry? let him sing psalms” (James 5:13); “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Cor 14:15); “And they sung a new song” (Rev 5:9).

Other Spiritual Songs in Addition to the Psalms

A number of godly men have composed spiritual songs for this purpose with a variety of melodies. It appears that Luther has been the first one to do so during the Reformation. His songs are still sung today with edification by the Lutherans in their churches, as well as privately by us. In our days the unforgettable Justus Van Lodesteyn has composed a songbook which is second to none as far as spirituality is concerned. Cl. Marot has put the first fifty of David’s psalms to rhyme in the French language, and Theodore Beza the other one hundred. Subsequent to this, Claud. Gaudemelius, a famous musician in Paris (who perished as a martyr in the massacre of Paris), composed the melodies, which could not have been improved upon in the judgment of musicians. Petrus Dathenus has translated them in poetic form from the French, preserving the identical tunes. It would be desirable if an artistic and godly poet were to take upon himself the task to improve them by putting them to poetry in an identical fashion, and in better harmony with the original text, so that they could be accepted for public use in the churches.[1] The decision of

the Dutch Synods has been very correct indeed, namely, that none other but the Psalms of David are to be used in the churches.

The General Lack of Singing Lamented

It amazes me that the godly in the Netherlands have so little desire to sing, and also engage in this very infrequently. It is true that singing little is consistent with the lackadaisicalness of our nation (compared to other nations). Nevertheless, worldly people sing quite a bit, but they sing vain songs which stir up the heart toward vanity and immorality. The godly are, however, generally silent in these parts. The one says, “I am too busy”; the other, “I have no voice”; the third, “I do not know any of the melodies”; the fourth, “I do not dare for fear the neighbors would hear me and deem me to be a hypocrite.” All of this is, however, not truly the problem, but it is a lack of desire. If the heart were more spiritual and joyous, we would more readily praise the Lord with joyful song and thereby stir up ourselves and others. I am here not only speaking of singing in church. (Even there many do not sing; and for some the very best they can do is read the psalm silently.)

Exhortation to Sing

It is thus needful that I stir up everyone to sing—not only psalms, but also spiritual songs. Therefore, believers, dispense with this listlessness. “Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing” (Ps 100:2).

First, you must know that singing is not a neutral matter in which you may or may not engage. Rather, it is God’s command. As we have shown you before, God requires this from you and desires to be served by you in this manner. Consider these and similar quotes and impress them upon your heart as being mandatory. Begin to engage in this duty with an obedient heart; break open your mouth and your closed heart will open as well.

Secondly, God has created this ability in the very nature of man. This is to be observed in children of three or four years old. Take note of how they walk around the house while singing at the same time. Observe how even in nature the birds in their own way already praise their Creator early in the morning by way of singing. If you go outside in the morning, or if you have birds in your home, you will hear it. Will the birds and small children rebuke you, and would you, who have the greatest reason in the world to sing joyously, be dumb and silent?

Thirdly, it is the work of angels, for they glorify the Lord in song (cf. Job 38:7; Luke 2:13-14; Rev 5:11-12), and it is the work of the church upon earth and in heaven: “And they sung a new song,

saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev 5:9); “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne ... and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth” (Rev 14:3); “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty” (Rev 15:3). If you have no desire to sing, then what will you do in church and in heaven? Furthermore, if you are desirous to magnify the Lord with an eternal hallelujah, you should presently begin upon earth.

Fourthly, God is particularly pleased when His children praise Him in song. There where the Lord is sweetly praised in song, there He will come with His blessings. “But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Ps 22:3). It is noteworthy to consider what transpired at the dedication of the temple. “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one ... that then the house was filled with a cloud ... so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God” (2 Chron 5:13-14). When Jehoshaphat, together with his army, lifted up their voices in joyous exclamation and song (2 Chron 20:22), the Lord defeated their enemies. When Paul and Silas sang praises unto God in the middle of the night, the doors of the prison were opened and the bands of all the prisoners were loosened (Acts 16:25-26). Therefore, if you are desirous to please the Lord, and delight in having the Lord visit your soul and desire to experience His help, then accustom yourself to singing.

Fifthly, singing will move a heart which frequently remains unmoved during prayer. It can be that while singing the tears will drip upon the book. Have you not frequently experienced this? Have not you been stirred up by hearing the singing of others? Others will therefore also be stirred up by your singing. The Papists in France knew this, and therefore they strictly forbade the singing of psalms and meted out cruel punishment for this—even prior to massacring the church. Therefore, no longer be silent, but lift up your voices—in spite of the devil and all the enemies of God—to the honor and glory of your God, as this has done you too much good already (and still does) than that you would refrain from thanking the Lord with songs of praise. You must furthermore do so in order that you might stir up others to serve the Lord with gladness. It will then become manifest to all natural men that godliness is a joyous rather than a grievous life, and they will

become desirous for this as well. And if you sing, sing with understanding, with a fervent desire, conscious of the presence of the Lord (and thus reverently), with a modest demeanor, and with both inner and external attentiveness, so that it may all be becoming before the Lord and to the edification of others who surround us.

[1] This occurred in the year AD 1773.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 4, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1995), 31-37.

Christ's Incarnation: A Cause of Joy for Christians

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...the description of the incarnation of Christ also ought to arouse in us a joyous gratitude towards God, and we ought to welcome the fact that the Lord Jesus has assumed our nature. This the angel conveyed in his message to the shepherds when he said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10). If our soul should rejoice in anything, it ought to rejoice in this great and wondrous work of God. To this end consider the following:

(1) It was prophesied that men would rejoice upon the Savior’s advent into the world. “They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” (Isa 9:3, 6); “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isa 25:9); “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation” (Zech 9:9). Since it has been prophesied as such, and since we are living in the fulfillment of all this, we ought to lift up our souls with joy and thanksgiving.

(2) Consider the longing of the saints for the coming of Christ in the flesh. After Eve had given birth to her first son, it appears that she was of the opinion that the promise had been immediately fulfilled, for she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen 4:1). The Lord Jesus said concerning Abraham, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day” (John 8:56). David gave expression to his desire when he said, “For this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow” (2 Sam 23:5). This desire was also present in the God-fearing kings and prophets. “For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see” (Luke 10:24). Yes, all the saints of the Old Testament longed for this. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them” (Heb 11:13). What joy they would have manifested if they had seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh! We may experience the fulfillment of this. Therefore it behooves us to rejoice and to thank the Lord for this most precious gift, for such a dear and precious Savior.

(3) When Christ came into the world, heaven and earth were filled with joy. John the Baptist leaped for joy in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:44). Mary sang a doxology, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47). The tongue of a dumb Zacharias broke loose, exclaiming, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:68-69). Old Simeon took the child in his arms, praised God, and exclaimed, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:29-30). Come, join and rejoice with them. Will your heart always be heavy-laden? Would you not rejoice for once? And if your heart would rejoice, what could be more motivating than the incarnation of Christ? Therefore, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil 4:4).

However, someone may possibly say, “My heart remains in bondage; I cannot rejoice in this, for I fear that He was not born for me anyway, and that I am not a partaker of all this.” I respond to this by saying that:

(1) This is merely a fear, for you are also not assured that the contrary is true;

(2) This is not the only problem. The reason one does not rejoice in the incarnation is for lack of holy meditation upon the subject, its miraculous nature, the promises, the Person, the fruits, and this great salvation brought about by His suffering and death. What reason for rejoicing would he who does not attentively reflect upon this have?

(3) Since there is such a Savior, however, can it be a matter of indifference to you whether or not there is such a Savior? If you are not indifferent to this, why do you not rejoice over His coming into the world, even if you still are no partaker of Him?

(4) You who yearn for Jesus, however, in order to be justified and sanctified by Him, even if it is accompanied by much darkness, fear, anxiety, and concern (John 6:40); you, in whose heart Jesus dwells by faith, so that your desires are repeatedly drawn towards Him (Eph 3:17); you, in whom Jesus has been formed (Gal 4:19) and in whom Jesus lives (Gal 2:20), so that He is all your joy and desire, generating within you a hatred towards sin, a desire to walk as He walked, and perceiving within you a battle between spirit and flesh; you, who love Jesus (1 John 4:19)—you have reason to be assured that He has been born for you. Therefore you have double reason to rejoice with delightful and unspeakable joy, and to jubilate concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus in the flesh.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 1, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), 514-16.

"Preface" to Wilhelmus à Brakel's The Christian's Reasonable Service

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Those acquainted with Dutch Reformed orthodoxy will know that the name of Wilhelmus à Brakel is among the most venerated of the theologians representing the Dutch Second Reformation (Nadere Reformatie) period which is similar to and coincides with English Puritanism. This veneration is largely due to the profound influence of his magnum opus De Redelijke Godsdienst, now being made available in English for the first time as The Christian’s Reasonable Service.
The importance of this work was recognized soon after its publication in 1700. Even though à Brakel had great difficulty finding a publisher for the initial edition (finally finding a Roman Catholic publisher!) his work was in demand within a very short time. New and improved editions soon followed, twenty in the eighteenth century alone. The respect for à Brakel was such that he was commonly referred to as “Father Brakel,” a title not only expressive of high esteem but also of the authority he commanded and the influence he exerted. He is still known today in the Netherlands by this honorary title. It ought therefore to be self-evident that Father Brakel is considered one of the fathers of the Reformed tradition to be found in present day orthodox Reformed circles in the Netherlands.
One of à Brakel’s contemporaries, Abraham Hellenbroek, who spoke of his friend as being a man of tender and intimate piety, recognized the importance of this work when he stated in almost prophetical terms that this work was so valuable that it would transcend the passage of time. We trust that the very fact that this work is now being made available to the English-speaking world will assist in validating these words.
To provide one practical illustration of the influence of this work in the Netherlands which now spans nearly three centuries, we wish to relate an incident from the life of the Rev. G. H. Kersten, the founder of the denomination (the Gereformeerde Gemeenten—the Netherlands Reformed Congregations) which has initiated and undertaken the translation and publication of this

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classic. When Rev. Kersten was approximately twelve years old, his parents discovered that their young son, in whose heart the Lord had begun a saving work, was reading regularly far beyond midnight. In order to keep himself awake, he placed his feet in a basin filled with cold water. What book was it that so captivated the mind and heart of this young seeker after God? à Brakel’s Redelijke Godsdienst. When asked by his parents why he sacrificed his sleep to read this weighty book which was well beyond the level of twelve-year-olds, he responded, “I must know how the Lord converts His people.” The reading of these volumes clearly placed a stamp upon the writings and entire ministry of Rev. Kersten.
Why is it that à Brakel’s work is one of the true classics of the Dutch Second Reformation? Why has this work been so influential? Why do we trust that The Christian’s Reasonable Service will be a valuable addition to the rich heritage of post-Reformation orthodoxy?
The uniqueness of à Brakel’s work lies in the fact that it is more than a systematic theology. His selection of the title is already an indication that it was not merely his intention to present a systematic explanation of Christian dogma to the public. In selecting the words of Romans 12:1 as the basis for his title, à Brakel not only wished to indicate that it is an entirely reasonable matter for man to serve His Creator who has so graciously revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ by means of His Word, but he primarily wished to convey that God demands from man that he serve Him in spirit and in truth, doing so in an intelligent, reasonable, and godly manner.
This brings us at once to the heart of the matter. à Brakel wrote this work for church members—not for theologians, though it was his wish that they benefit from it as well. This explains why this work is permeated with practical application of the doctrines he so thoroughly explains. à Brakel’s intent in writing is inescapable: He intensely wished that the truths expounded may become an experiential reality in the hearts of those who read. In a masterful way he establishes the crucial relationship between objective truth and the subjective experience of that truth. He first establishes a solid biblical foundation for each doctrine with which he deals, by quoting profusely from the Scriptures. You will find his selection of quotes to be a most impressive feature of this work, proving he had a profound grasp of the Scriptures and their comprehensive context. This scripturalness is rationally reinforced by his frequent resorting to the scholastic method to validate his positions.
As a man taught of God, he very ably defined and described Christian experience in biblical terms. The undeniably mystical flavor of this work represents biblical mysticism at its best—a Spirit-

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wrought mysticism that fully harmonizes with the Spirit-inspired Scriptures. This explains at once why Jesus Christ truly has the preeminence in this work. It is the Logos, Jesus Christ, who is the very marrow of God’s Word and every doctrine contained in it. It is therefore self-evident that in the subjective experience of this Word, Jesus Christ also has the preeminence. No wonder then that this work brims with references to Him whom the Father has given a name above every name. For à Brakel the name of Jesus is sweeter than honey; you can almost sense the inner stirrings of His soul when He exalts Jesus as the Father’s unspeakable gift to fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
These rich experiential applications found at the conclusion of each doctrinal chapter in the first two volumes make this work invaluable and pastoral. à Brakel was first and foremost a pastor who made his astute theological acumen entirely subservient to the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of His church. In writing this work, à Brakel practiced what he advised all ministers to do. In chapter 28 he writes: “He [the minister] ought to use all his scholarship to formulate the matters to be presented, in order that he might express them in the clearest and most powerful manner. While using his scholarship, however, he must conceal his scholarship in the pulpit.” When necessary, however, he will cause his scholarship to bear on an argument, thereby proving himself to be a theologian par excellence.
In reading this work, one cannot but be struck by its kinship with English Puritan literature. This is particularly evident in the third and fourth volumes which are devoted almost entirely to the life of sanctification. As is true for the Puritans, à Brakel was a most able physician of souls. How ably he proves himself to be a divine intimately acquainted with spiritual life and all its vicissitudes! The chapters pertaining to sanctification particularly validate Hellenbroek’s observation that à Brakel was a man of tender, intimate piety. Like the Puritans, he makes it unmistakably clear that godliness is a scriptural vindication that we have experienced the truth in our souls. Inward experience manifests itself outwardly in true piety. à Brakel does not leave us in the dark as to what he understands the Christian life to be. We believe it will be difficult to find a work in English devotional literature which spells out the nature of true holiness as specifically and meticulously as à Brakel does.
The obvious similarity between à Brakel’s writings, which represent the cream of Dutch Second Reformation literature, and Puritan literature is highly significant. It proves that the Puritans and the Dutch Second Reformation divines (sometimes referred to as

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the Dutch Puritans) were essentially cut from the same cloth. It will be difficult to find essential differences in Christian experience between à Brakel and such English Puritans as John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and John Bunyan. The divines of the Dutch Second Reformation have translated literally hundreds of English Puritans into Dutch, recommending them warmly to their congregations. The Dutch Second Reformation was greatly indebted to English Puritanism for a wealth of sound experiential material. On the other hand, few writings of Dutch Second Reformation divines were translated into English. The translation of à Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service is an initial attempt to redress an imbalance of several centuries.
To acquaint the English reader somewhat with à Brakel’s life and times, as well as provide him with an overview of the Dutch Second Reformation, we have included the following in this volume:
(1) A translation of the applicable portion of Theodorus à Brakel, Wilhelmus à Brakel, en Sara Nevius (Houten: Den Hertog, 1988), authored by Dr. W. Fieret and A. Ros. Dr. Fieret is the author of the Wilhelmus à Brakel biography;
(2) A slightly revised appendix to Assurance of Faith: Calvin, English Puritanism, and the Dutch Second Reformation, by Joel R. Beeke (New York: Peter Lang, 1991), entitled: The Dutch Second Reformation (De Nadere Reformatie).
Hopefully, the translation of à Brakel’s work in four volumes (volumes 2, 3, and 4 should be available within a year, D.V.) will initiate in some small measure the merger of the rich heritages of the two premier experiential movements of the post-Reformation period: English Puritanism and the Dutch Second Reformation. Orthodox Reformed circles in the Netherlands have enjoyed this privilege already for centuries and have witnessed divine approbation upon these writings.
May God grant that the publication of this work will enhance the ongoing proliferation of Reformed experiential writings throughout the world. May this phenomenon prove to be preliminary to a Spirit-worked revival of lukewarm, famished Christianity. Then the vital Christianity à Brakel promotes throughout this work will again flourish and adorn the church of Jesus Christ. May David’s cry therefore be ours, “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary” (Ps 63:1-2). To that end may we pray without ceasing to the God of the covenant of grace—a covenant that has such a central place in this work—

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crying out with the bride, “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits” (Song 4:16).

Joel R. Beeke
Bartel Elshout

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 1, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), xix-xxiii.

B. K. Campbell's Comment on Wilhelmus à Brakel's The Christian's Reasonable Service

2009-11-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have read all the major Reformers from Augustine to Calvin to Luther, all the big name classics, but I must admit, I have never read anything clearer than Brakel. When first purchasing this set the man who sold it to me said that “if he was forced to live on a desert island and could only take one set this wd. be it” . I thought he was crazy, and very much under read. Then I read Brakel for myself. The man’s rational was totally justified! I wd. take Brakel over Calvin. To many Christians this sounds like a big leap, but Brakel is possibly the easiest work I have ever read. Far easier than Calvin, and for myself, I take what I can know. No point in reading a book if you will never understand it. For the record, I do understand Calvin, Luther and friends, but I can understand Brakel first and I can understand him better. Importantly, this work is not readable because it contains shallow fragments and watered down doctrine suitable only for beginners. Instead, the work is in-depth and easy to understand; in most cases this is a rare combination. Contains no puritanical-wordiness, or John Owen five page sentences, doctrine is sound, thoroughly Reformed, practical and concise. If I only had one choice wd. I take this set to a desert Island? Well… I wd. have to give it a bit more thought, but I assure you it wd. be on the very top of my list and should be on every Christian’s shelf...
--B. K. Campbell

Source: Monergism Books

The Dutch Second Reformation (“Nadere Reformatie”)

2009-11-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

by Dr. Joel R. Beeke

The Dutch Reformation proper may be divided into four periods: the Lutheran period (1517-26), the Sacramentarian phase (1526-31), the Anabaptist movement (1531-45), and the most influential—the Calvinist infiltration. From the outset of the Calvinist penetration into the Netherlands (southern Netherlands, c. 1545; northern, c. 1560), the movement showed greater strength than its persistent numerical inferiority might suggest. Nevertheless, the buds of Dutch Calvinism did not flower profusely until the seventeenth century, initiated by the Synod of Dort in particular (1618-19), and intensified by the Dutch Second Reformation (Nadere Reformatie), a primarily seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century movement, which may be dated from such early representatives as Jean Taffin (1528-1602) and Willem Teellinck (1579-1629), to its last brilliant lights, Alexander Comrie (1706-74) and Theodorus van der Groe (1705-84).

The Term “Nadere Reformatie”

The term Nadere Reformatie poses a problem. There is no standard English translation of “nadere,” no doubt partly due to its inexactness, and perhaps also because the movement has been unaccountably ignored in English-speaking scholarship. Literally, “Nadere Reformatie” means a “nearer,” “more intimate,” or “more precise Reformation.” The intended emphasis lies on working out the

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initial Reformation more intimately in personal lives, in the church’s worship, and in society as a whole.
Translations of Nadere Reformatie inevitably express judgments of its significance. Consequently, it has been translated on occasion as “Further Reformation.” This is not altogether accurate, since “further” implies that the first Reformation did not proceed far enough. This was not the contention of the Nadere Reformatie. Rather, it sought to apply Reformation truths to daily life and “heart” experience. To avoid this false implication, Cornelis Graafland has suggested the terms “Continuing Reformation” or “Second Reformation.” But the term “continuing” has three disadvantages: It does not sufficiently distinguish the Nadere Reformatie from the Reformation proper; it is of recent usage in English; furthermore, it sounds awkward.
We prefer to use “Dutch Second Reformation” or “Second Reformation.” While this is a weak translation and “misses the Dutch term’s emphasis on continuity,” it has a long pedigree and appears to be gaining acceptance among scholars, albeit partially by default. Moreover, “Second Reformation” was a term used by some of the Dutch divines of that era. For example, Jacobus Koelman (1632-1695), who had much contact with Scotland’s Second Reformation, spoke of the Dutch movement as a “second reformation” and a “second purging.”
Others have dubbed the Nadere Reformatie descriptively as “Dutch Precisianism,” “Dutch Puritanism,” or “Dutch Pietism.” There are objections to each of these designations.
First, “Dutch Precisianism” is a pejorative rather than a constructive expression. It is the least acceptable representation of the Nadere Reformatie, since it attributes to the movement a legalistic (wettisch) tone which caricatures the whole. It is true that most Second Reformation divines promoted a strong negative ethic. Voetius, for example, forbade “such practices as visiting public houses, playing with dice, the wearing of luxurious clothes, dancing, drunkenness, revelry, smoking and the wearing of wigs.” Nevertheless, such “precisianism” was not an end in itself. Rather, it was cultivated “in the face of the alleged worldliness then prevailing” and “as a means of sustaining and developing individual faith and conduct against spiritual shallowness.”
Secondly, the Nadere Reformatie is in fact the Dutch counterpart to English Puritanism (and in some senses, to the Scottish Covenanters). The link between these movements is strong, historically and especially theologically. Keith Sprunger has documented that during the seventeenth century there was an English-Scottish community of Puritan persuasion numbering tens of thousands in the

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Netherlands, at one point consisting of more than forty congregations and 350 ministers. The Dutch government allowed them to organize churches and form an English Classis within the Dutch Reformed church. Cornelis Pronk rightly notes:

The presence of so many English and Scottish Puritans was bound to have some influence upon the Dutch churches. Many Dutch Reformed ministers were impressed by the practical divinity of the English Puritans. They saw it as a healthy corrective to the dry intellectualistic sermonizing that was becoming the trend in their churches.

And Douglas MacMillan summarizes:

Both Puritans and Covenanters were to interact very intimately with religious life in the Netherlands. This linking ... helps identify the point at which British and Dutch Calvinism had their closest contact. Both these great spiritual movements were concerned with Second Reformation issues and that concern was to shape the course of the 17th century in England and Scotland. Events there were, in turn, to reach deeply into the Netherlands, influencing its theology, deepening its spirituality, and linking it closely into the traumatic experiences of the British Church. We have to learn to look at the Second Reformation, not as a small, localized, Scottish, or even British, phenomenon but as a movement of international significance.

The divines of these groups held each other in high esteem. They influenced and enriched each other through personal contact and especially a vast array of translated writings, particularly from English into Dutch. More Reformed theological books were printed in seventeenth-century Netherlands than in all other countries combined. These movements embraced similar ideals and bore similar roles: to foster biblical and God-glorifying experiential piety and ethical precision in the life of individuals, churches, and the entire nation. Only England, however, had an opportunity to work out these ideals in full, during the Cromwellian years.
Thus, despite similar outlooks, these parallel movements did have and would develop historically and theologically distinctive identities. To call the Nadere Reformatie “Dutch Puritanism” denies the endemic nature of the Dutch movement. Hendrikus Berkhof provides too simplistic an analysis when he states that the Second Reformation resulted merely from “the practical piety of the English Calvinists blowing over to the Netherlands.” Though English Puritanism was of primary influence on the Nadere Reformatie, as Willem Jan op ‘t Hof has ably and perhaps exaggeratingly emphasized (particularly in stressing the need for a personal, domestic, and congregational lifestyle of experimental and practical godliness), it was not an exclusive influence, for the Dutch movement was coupled with other non-English factors. In fact, in some

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respects the Dutch movement was more Puritan-Reformed than English Puritanism itself:

In England from an orthodox Reformed perspective, for all but a short period under Cromwell, there were always grossly unbiblical things to fight: the presence of bishops, superstitious rites in the Book of Common Prayer, vestments, etc. In the Netherlands none of these were present, and the task was all the more subtle. Defenders of the status quo were not so clearly unreformed as in England. In this context the true spirit of Puritanism came to the fore.

Despite similar emphases, English Puritanism and the Nadere Reformatie differed from each other in significant ways. Generally speaking, Dutch Second Reformation divines were less interested in reforming the government and organization of the church (as long as the church was not controlled by the state) than were their English brethren. Theological emphases also varied at times; this work has shown that variations existed between these groups on the doctrine of assurance. The Dutch were more inclined to emphasize theology as a science, whereas the English emphasized the practical aspects of theology. These variations are not respected sufficiently when the Dutch movement is collapsed too fully into the English by the use of “Dutch Puritanism.” As Jonathan Neil Gerstner concludes:

To notice a similar role between two movements does not imply that one is dependent on the other. Even if English thought had given the initial impetus to the Continuing Reformation, it does not follow that its success was not due to similar ideas present in the Netherlands.

“Dutch Pietism” might appear at first to be an acceptable alternative to represent the Nadere Reformatie. Its usage has been the most widespread, underscoring that the Nadere Reformatie was pietistic in many respects. Problems with this term, however, also exist. (1) Calling the Dutch movement Pietism suggests too strongly an intimate German connection. Moreover, the Nadere Reformatie predates Spener’s initial appeal for reform by nearly half a century and became a more extensive movement than German Pietism. (2) Pietism in German Lutheranism came to be regarded as being largely concerned with the believer’s inner life rather than with transforming society, whereas most Nadere Reformatie divines were dedicated also to the latter. (3) Pietism is usually regarded as a protest against rational Protestant scholastic theology and doctrinal precision, whereas many Nadere Reformatie divines were formulators of Reformed orthodoxy and meticulous doctrinal analysts:
Gisbertus Voetius is generally acknowledged as both the greatest Dutch Reformed scholastic theologian and one of the greatest representatives of the Continuing Reformation. Pietism as it would later develop

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would more and more show marked antipathy for all but the most simple doctrinal concepts. ... Pietism was ready to embrace and work with all other believers who strove after a godly life, regardless of their confession. Zinzendorf tried to bring all churches together ignoring theological differences. The Continuing Reformation, on the contrary, was on the polemical forefront against theological errors, seeing the divisions within Protestantism as far from irrelevant. William Ames, one of the direct links between English Puritanism and the Dutch Continuing Reformation called Lutherans heretics. When Pietism appeared on the continent, leaders of Dutch Continuing Reformation like Wilhelmus à Brakel attacked the movement.
Confusing misconceptions arise when the term “Pietism” is used to describe the Second Reformation, for these terms represent distinct movements which vary in a number of important senses. German Pietism, English Puritanism, and the Dutch Second Reformation had much in common. Each was rooted deeply in the sixteenth-century Reformation and longed for more thorough reform; yet each movement retained a distinct historical, theological, and spiritual character.

The Essence of the Dutch Second Reformation

Several additional factors also served to promote the emergence of the Dutch Second Reformation. After the Reformation in the Netherlands, strenuous efforts were made to replace the Roman Catholic Church with the Reformed Church as an inclusive people’s church (volkskerk). During the Reformation, one-tenth of the population held membership in the Reformed church. By the end of the seventeenth century more than sixty percent of the Dutch population were members of the Reformed Church which possessed a “preferred status” (bevoorrechte) with the government. The church’s success in acquiring external growth, however, had dire consequences for spiritual life. Abraham Kuyper claimed that this additional fifty percent of the population which flooded into the church ruined its Reformed distinctiveness: “From that moment on it was impossible to maintain church discipline.” It became easy to confuse being anti-Catholic with being Reformed. Nominal church membership and loose living became fashionably acceptable. Spiritual and ethical sterility grew rampantly, particularly when combined with newfound prosperity. The United East-India Company, formed in 1602, and other Dutch industry ushered in a period of unparalleled affluence. The majority were inclined to live for this life rather than for the world to come. Moreover, the state increasingly interfered in church matters and church discipline. The state controlled the universities where Reformed ministers were

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being trained under the increasing influence of Rationalism, particularly the philosophy of Descartes and Spinoza.
These spiritual, social, and intellectual conditions existed in sharp tension with historic Dutch Calvinism which was intrinsically oriented toward sound doctrine and piety. The Calvinism of the Canons of Dort stood in marked contrast to the spirit of the age. Moreover, the stipulations the Synod of Dort had laid down with regard to the supervision of pastors, professors, and theological writings were not being followed. All of these circumstances, combined with the influence of English Puritanism, German Pietism, the Genevan reform, and native Dutch influences (e.g., medieval mysticism, the Devotio Moderna, and Anabaptism —each of which emphasized sanctification), gave rise to the Dutch Second Reformation and its protest against the laxity of the age. Reflecting the concern of the Second Reformation, P. de Witte wrote, “Oh times, oh morals! What do parents do but bring up their children to become the prey of all kinds of seductive spirits, such as the papists, Anabaptists, Arminians, and libertines? Yes, even to become the booty of the devil, to be the heirs of eternal damnation and the firewood of hell.”
The Dutch Second Reformation was a movement that arose out of the ashes of the burning expectation which had moved the early Reformers. Also the early Second Reformation divines envisioned a theocratic society and an ideal church in which the bulk of the population would be involved in personal and communal renewal. Reference was frequently made to the unbreakableness of a “three-fold cord,” consisting of God, the Netherlands, and the House of Orange. But the vision that the Netherlands would yet become “the New Israel of the West” in society and church life proved to be an unattainable ideal. The post-Reformers lived to view the failure of that dream. They faced the painful reality that the majority of parishioners had not become more spiritual as a result of the Reformation. To their followers, many of whom found conventicles (gezelschappen) more spiritually edifying than formal worship, the church was no longer the communion of saints, but at best a very mixed multitude and at worst a “Babylon” or an “Egypt.” Jodocus van Lodenstein’s assessment of the Reformed church in his day is typical of that of later Second Reformation divines: “Babylon of Babylons, a thousand times worse than that of the Papacy because of the light that she had but did not rightly use.” The church seems “more deformed than reformed,” he lamented. “There is no practicing of the truth, but a parroting of the words of the catechism is all that one finds among Reformed people.”

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Another prominent Second Reformation divine, Bernardus Smytegelt complained:

There are few converted preachers. Many of them are lazy idlers, vain fops.... Among external professors you will find much chaff and hardly a grain of wheat. There are heaps of external professors, and are they not indifferent and ungodly? What are they like in the families? Dear man! Do you not know how scarce pious parents are? How rare it is to find a godly mother or grandmother! How unusual to find a pious servant or maid! How unusual to find godliness among children as with Timothy! ... How few are acquainted with the Bible! How few use the Bible regularly in the home! How few pray with each other, teach each other, and seek to lead each other toward heaven!

Consequently, in opposition to sin and complacency, an urgent, zealous call went out for fresh personal, church, and societal reform: The scriptural appeal for sanctification must be zealously pursued; Reformation doctrine must be lived.
S. van der Linde, a leading Dutch scholar on the Second Reformation, rightly affirms that the movement must not be equated with “non-dogmatical” (ondogmatisch) Christendom; rather, its goal was to join doctrine (leer) to the whole of daily life (leven):

The Second Reformation ... is not at all a-dogmatic or anti-dogmatic. It only desires that dogma be experienced as spirit and life. ...
The protest of the Second Reformation is not primarily against dogmatism as engendering a quenching of the Spirit, but much more against a certain vitalism as well as secularism whereby one observes the Spirit as being grieved.

Elsewhere van der Linde expands these concerns and notes:

The Second Reformation sides entirely with the Reformation and levels criticism not so much against the reformata (the church which is reformed), but rather against the reformanda (the church which needs to be reformed).

Moreover, though the Second Reformation is preeminently concerned with spiritual life (geestelijk leven) and experience (bevindelijk), so that a heavy accent falls on the practice of piety (praxis pietatis; praktijk dergodzaligheid) and even on precision (preciesheid), there is notwithstanding an array of emphases:

In Voetius we have the church-organizer, in Ames a very original theologian, in Teellinck and Brakel, divines of practical religion, and in Lodensteyn and Saldenus, the men of “mysticism,” cross-bearing, and meditation upon the life to come.

Despite diversity, however, van der Linde concludes that there is an underlying element of “precision” in the Second Reformation which

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is inseparable from a fervent desire to counteract prevailing impiety with a piety which “consciously consecrates all of life to God.”
Several attempts have been made to define the core of the Dutch Second Reformation as a logical development from and application of the Reformation proper. Herman Witsius emphasized that the motto, “the Reformed church needs to be ever reforming” (ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda) applies only to the church’s life and not to doctrine since Reformation doctrine was established as foundational truth. Every Second Reformation divine was convinced he was following his Reformed forebears and upholding Reformed orthodoxy, although some pointed out defects in the Reformation era, usually centering around the fact that the Reformation divines were also sons of their time. For example, Teellinck gently chides the Reformers for being more concerned with the reformation of doctrine than of life, with justification than sanctification.
Consequently, Heinrich Heppe defines the Second Reformation as “a striving for the completion of the church reformation of the sixteenth century (as being a mere reform of doctrine) by way of a revival of piety or by a reformation of life.” Johannes Hofmeyr concludes:

Although this movement also had other spiritual fathers, it can be contended that the central thrust of the Second Reformation (which involves a personal spiritual piety, an articulated ecclesiology and a theocratic outlook on society) is broadly derived from Calvin. It should therefore be regarded not as a correction but as a development of the Reformation.

J. van Genderen enlarges these concepts:

By this term, Nadere Reformatie, we mean a movement in the 17th century which was a reaction against dead orthodoxy and [the] secularization of Christianity in the Church of the Reformation and which insisted on the practise of faith. This may also be called a special form of Pietism, because the central idea is the “praxis pietatis.” The origin of the pietistic trend lies in England and the father of Puritan Pietism [who] was William Perkins. Via Willem Teellinck and Guilielmus Amesius a direct influence on a kindred movement in Holland ensued. To this movement belong the Teellincks, Voetius, Van Lodenstein, Saldenus, the two Brakels, and especially also Witsius. This movement is not meant as a correction of the Reformation but as the consequence of it. The background of the conspicuous preciseness is the desire to serve God fully according to His will.

Cornelis Graafland, another leading Dutch scholar on the Second Reformation, refers to it as a movement “which turned against the generally poor conditions prevailing in the Reformed church ... to achieve a radical and complete sanctification of all facets of life.”

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Graafland describes the movement as a “deepening and broadening of the sixteenth-century Reformation.”
Another attempt to express the heart of the Second Reformation is that of P. B. van der Watt, which is paraphrased by Hofmeyr as follows:

[The Second Reformation] revolted against the unspiritual state of the nation, ministers, and congregations. They plead also for a personal commitment to Christ. The experienced and tested religion is to them of central importance. Although nothing is done to undermine the church, the office, the sacrament, and the covenant, they regard rebirth as the priority. They also assume a reasonably strong Puritan point of view. They plead for the observance of the Sabbath and the carrying out of the demands of the Lord. The church must be pure and should be cleansed of all that is unholy. Finally, they had a high regard for the Scriptures and for the Heidelberg Catechism.

Finally, a definition of the Second Reformation was formulated in 1983 by the group of scholars responsible for Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie:

This movement within the “Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk,” while opposing generally prevailing abuses and misconceptions and pursuing the broadening and progressive advancement of the sixteenth-century Reformation, urges and strives with prophetic zeal for both the inner experience of Reformed doctrine and personal sanctification, as well as the radical and total sanctification of all spheres of life.

Despite these somewhat oversimplified generalizations of the versatile Dutch Second Reformation, its complexity is not to be underestimated. Graafland points out that the Second Reformation had no organizational structure beyond a strong feeling of spiritual kinship existing among its divines. At times this led to small organized circles such as the so-called “Utrecht Circle” under the leadership of Voetius or to programs for action such as those promoted by Willem Teellinck and Jacobus Koelman. For the most part, however, each Second Reformation divine brought the message of the necessity of reform to his own parishioners. The contours of this call to reform naturally took on distinctive shapes in each locality and generation.
Due to this lack of organization and an increasing emphasis on internal, experiential life, the Second Reformation’s initial call to action in every sphere of life diminished rapidly. For example, in its earlier, so-called classical period, the Second Reformation strongly opposed a state-dominated church and worked strenuously for the church’s independence. Due to opposition from both the government and citizens, however, the classical Second Reformation could not retain this position. Anabaptist tendencies towards isolation increased

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with time. Various sub-movements, such as the Labadists, tended to withdraw from civil and church affairs, and became separatists, but continued to bear substantial influence on the larger movement. Though few Second Reformation pietists condoned separatism, numerous conventicles (gezelschappen) were formed for the nourishing of spiritual life. Gradually the Second Reformation became increasingly reminiscent of the Devotio Modern in its emphasis on thorough separation from the unredeemed world. This is exemplified in a comparison of Willem Teellinck and Wilhelmus Schortinghuis (1700-1750; renowned for his Het Innige Christendom [Inner Christianity]) as typical early and late representatives of the movement:

For Teellinck the experience of the heart remained central, but then as a center which penetrated a wide area, including not only the family and the congregation, but also the entire church and nation, politics inclusive. For Schortinghuis subjective experience is the fort to which the believer withdraws himself from the world and even from the congregation around him.

These differences must not be exaggerated, however, for Teellinck also displayed elements of internal withdrawal, as did other early Second Reformation proponents such as Koelman and Lodenstein, whereas van der Groe, often considered the last representative of the movement, strongly emphasized church and social life as a whole, including the political context. Van der Linde concludes:

Most of those who can be considered representative of the Second Reformation, being promoters of a theocratic structure as far as the relationship between church and state are concerned, are open for that which is not so purely spiritual, such as the political state.

Generally speaking, the complex Dutch Second Reformation focused on a variety of major themes. In summarizing the movement, Graafland addresses the following contours: election, regeneration, sanctification, the family and the congregation, the church, creation and natural theology, eschatology, and theocracy. Through promoting a pious lifestyle and a theocratic concept of all social relationships based on family worship, the parish, and the church as a whole, the Second Reformation aimed to establish and enforce moral and spiritual discipline in all spheres of life. Second Reformation sermons addressed all of these mostly active themes, but simultaneously stressed the fall of Adam, the natural man’s inability to aspire to good, the absolute sovereignty of divine predestination and grace, dependence upon God, the necessity of adequate conviction of sin, the experience of conversion, and the simplicity of true worship. C. Vogelaar’s summaries of the content of the preaching of Bernardus

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Smytegelt (1665-1739) and Johannes Beukelman (1704-1757), are typical particularly of the later period of the Second Reformation:

In [Smytegelt’s] sermons much emphasis was laid on the practice of godliness, on the holy duties of Christians, on the life of God’s people and on the frames of their hearts, as well as their experiences of light and darkness, the leading and operation of the Holy Spirit, and giving instructions and directions to the godly.
In his sermons [Beukelman] applied the message to his hearers: revealing clearly the false, sandy foundations of the nominal Christians, proclaiming plainly our misery and total depravity, recommending especially the way of reconciliation with God in Christ, bringing the sincere invitations and callings of the gospel, encouraging the concerned souls of true seekers of God, showing unto the godly ones the causes for their little progress in faith and sanctification, and also giving the right means to make their calling and election sure—and to live in true sanctification in the fear of God’s Name and to His honor.

Thus, the preaching of the Second Reformation emphasized experiential theology, which M. Eugene Osterhaven has defined as “that broad stream of Reformed teaching which, accepting the creeds of the church, emphasized the new birth, the conversion, and the sanctification of the believer so that he might acquire an experiential or personal knowledge of Christ’s saving grace.” External religion, orthodox doctrine, sound theological propositions are all insufficient for salvation; feeling, experience, spiritual warfare, and genuine prayer are essential for faith and practice. The “head” knowledge of doctrine, albeit necessary, must be accompanied by the “heart” knowledge of scriptural experience:

There were some, of course, who carried the emphasis on feeling, on intense religious experience of an emotional nature, to dangerous lengths, but most Reformed pietists stopped far short of making that the norm. The norm is Scripture alone but, they held, as the Frisian Catechism put it, that “true faith demands an experiential knowledge, emerging from a conviction and an experiencing of God’s Spirit, and conforming to the word of truth.”

For Second Reformation adherents, “formal Christianity, by which they meant a Christianity exhausting itself in externals, was only slightly better than none at all. For that reason they, like the mystics before them, emphasized the primacy of the inward response to God.” Hence struggles of faith held a central place.
With regard to assurance of faith, the Second Reformation as a whole not only emphasized the promises of God and the witness of the Spirit, but also increasingly accentuated the syllogisms, making a transition from the syllogismus practicus in the classical period to the syllogismus mysticus in the later period. Graafland

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and van der Linde are sharply critical of this transition, but the latter fails to note that also the mystical syllogism is inseparable from the enlightening of the Spirit:

Rather than seeking assurance in the Spirit, i.e., in the promise of the gospel and thus not in ourselves, the “marks of grace” have come upon the scene. It is difficult to view them with anything but pity since they yield so much melancholy and uncertainty. It is thus obvious that one believes to honor the Spirit the most by seeking assurance of faith and salvation primarily in the so-called mystical syllogism, i.e., that one endeavors to draw the conclusion that he is indeed a true Christian due to being acquainted with mystical, inner stirrings and emotions of which a worldly person has no knowledge.... Our Heidelberg Catechism does as yet have the courage to state that we can be assured of our sonship by our good works as being fruits of faith. In the course of Reformed tradition this practical syllogism has increasingly fallen into abeyance. This did not only occur in conjunction with a turning away from all that is external in order only to deem “internal” matters as being spiritual and valid (incorrectly in our opinion), but also due to a fear for hypocrisy when considering how our “pious flesh” is capable of adorning itself. ...
We are without expectation as far as the syllogismus mysticus is concerned. If this is not conjoined to the external practice of faith, there will be nothing to hold on to for the man who is genuinely in need.... His only certainty is definitely not a syllogism, for it is not logic which reigns in the grace of God, but only the witness of the Holy Spirit in and through the gospel.

Assessment in Secondary Sources

The complexity of the Dutch Second Reformation is compounded by its assessment in secondary sources. The nineteenth-century theologians at Groningen were the first to make an effort to view the Second Reformation as a movement from a historical perspective. W. van ‘t Spijker shows, however, that these divines, such as P. Hofstede de Groot, differed little from the view of Ypeij and Dermout in their Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Hervormde Kerk (History of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands). Neither Ypeij and Dermout nor the Groningen professors researched the movement from its primary sources, but tended to model the movement after their own ideals. In particular, the Groningen theologians viewed Thomas à Kempis, Wessel Gansfort, Willem Teellinck, Jodocus van Lodenstein, and others as their ideal.
Later in the nineteenth century (1879), Heinrich Heppe published Geschichte des Pietismus and der Mystik in der reformirten Kirche, namentlich der Niederlande (The History of Pietism and Mysticism in the Reformed Church, particularly in the Netherlands). The following decade

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Albrecht Ritschl’s three-volume history of Pietism was published (Geschichte des Pietismus, 1880-86). These works helped to establish the seminal issues involved in the Second Reformation and are still being discussed by scholars of the movement. Heppe concludes that the roots of Pietism are found in Puritanism, for he posits that the “second reformation” moved from English Puritanism to the Dutch Second Reformation to German Pietism. Ritschl placed Pietism in a broader framework of movements of reform present in the Western church since the Middle Ages, pointing particularly to Franciscan observances, the mystical theology of Bernard de Clairveaux, and the Anabaptists with regard to the Dutch Second Reformation.
Van ‘t Spijker views the 1911 work of W. Goeters (Die Vorbereitung des Pietismus in der reformierten Kirche der Niederlande bis zur labadistischen Krisis 1670; The Groundwork for Pietism in the Netherlands until the Labadistic Crisis in 1670) as a significant step forward in research on the Dutch Second Reformation in that he emphasized the need to study the divines of the movement on an individual basis. Goeters detected various streams of thought in the Second Reformation and avoided simplistic assessments as to their origins. Moreover, in addition to theological and practical issues, he pointed to social and historical roots which paved the way for the movement. He also highlighted some important themes of the Second Reformation, such as the striving for an ideal church. In fact, he defined “the essence of this movement to be a striving of the visible church to approximate her essence (which is found in the invisible church) as much as possible.”
Much negative reaction against the Second Reformation can be traced to Abraham Kuyper and his emphasis on the church’s cultural mandate. Early in his ministry Kuyper was profoundly influenced by a simple, God-fearing woman of Second Reformation persuasion, Pietje Baltus, who emphasized the necessity of experimental conversion. Subsequently, however, he became troubled that the Christians among whom he labored had become too pietistic and sheltered due in part to a constant diet of reading the “old writers” (oude schrzjvers), as experimentally oriented laymen were fond of calling Second Reformation authors. At times Kuyper disparagingly called the pietistic elements in the Dutch church, “Methodists,” though he retained a strong element of piety in his devotional writings as well as respect for the Second Reformation divines. Kuyper’s attempts to teach laymen to apply Christianity to all spheres of life led to a revival of Calvinism in the Netherlands. His followers, however, frequently called neo-Calvinists, went far beyond

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Kuyper by rejecting nearly all semblances of piety and by “externalizing the gospel” in a flurry of kingdom-activity. Still today “the neo-Calvinists in The Netherlands on the whole are quite antagonistic toward the Second Reformation. They see it as an other-worldly, anti-cultural and scholastic movement which has done the church more harm than good.”
Also reacting negatively to the Second Reformation are Otto Ritschl who views the Second Reformation as a falsification of the Reformation; Theodorus L. Haitjema who regards it as degeneration (ontaarding); and Aart A. van Schelven who esteems it to be overly baptistic, spiritualistic, and influenced by Semi-Pelagianism. E. D. Kraan considers the Second Reformation to be too steeped in subjectivism, while Rudolf Boon states that it “inclines to Anabaptism.” Teunis Brienen sets Reformation gospel preaching over against Second Reformation preaching which speaks to various “soul conditions” among the hearers.
Positively, Hans Emil Weber, Arie Vergunst, James Tanis, J. H. R. Verboom, Jonathan Gerstner, Willem Jan op ‘t Hof and others view it largely as a profitable outgrowth of Calvinism. Also Stoeffler’s assessment is largely positive and a most helpful, needed corrective:

[The Second Reformation] was by and large a thoroughly responsible, evangelical movement. On the personal level it emphasized love for God and man and a type of daily conduct based on what it regarded as the New Testament ethic. Its larger aim was the reformation of the visible Church according to the pattern of apostolic Christianity. Intellectually it was highly respectable in so far as practically all of its leaders had enjoyed the opportunity of excellent theological training. For that reason it had the support of the best minds of the day. Voetius, Essenius, Hoornbeeck, and later such Coccejans as Witsius endorsed it enthusiastically. ... [It] constituted a significant and influential party with the Reformed churches. ...
The coming of Pietism [i.e., the Second Reformation], like the rise of any reform movement which tends to challenge the established order of things, caused some strains and difficulties. At the end, ... however, the Reformed churches were the better for having made the necessary adjustments.

Still others provide mixed assessment, noting the evolving changes within the movement itself. This is particularly true of several Reformed scholars in the Netherlands (such as J. G. Woelderink, Arnold A. van Ruler, S. van der Linde, Cornelis Graafland, Willem Balke, K. Exalto, W. van ‘t Spijker, J. van Genderen, and others ) who have done considerable pioneer work on the Second Reformation. Generally speaking, these Dutch scholars have varying degrees of appreciation for the Dutch Second Reformation (particularly its

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classical period) though they feel that it was not as theologically rich as the Reformation proper. S. van der Linde and Cornelis Graafland affirm the early Dutch Second Reformation as embracing some positive characteristics, but see decay setting in largely through excessive introspection such that the movement failed in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries “to combine breadth with depth.” Similarly, Hofmeyr asserts that “the classical phase of the Second Reformation shows definite links with Calvin, while the distance between Calvin and the stricter pietism of the later phase of the Second Reformation is much greater.” In a different vein, Prozesky concludes that “the movement as a whole underwent gradual change with its early precisianism losing ground to devotional and on occasion mystical pursuits, besides also evolving or adapting its own typical institutions, such as conventicles, edificatory sermons and Pietistic literature.” Osterhaven discerns two streams in the Second Reformation:

The one stream emphasized mysticism, inwardness, felicity, prayer, spiritual elation, and joy in the Lord. Overworked words among these folk were gelukzaligheid and godzaligheid. ... Involving the whole person, his intellect, feeling, and will, it is the ultimate blessing that God can give one in this life and the greatest proof that God is a gracious father to his children. The other stream was activistic and laid stress on doing the will of the Lord. Here the law as an expression of God’s will was much to the fore and the practice of piety was conceived largely in thinking, saying, and doing what is right before the Lord. This latter emphasis ...came to be know as Preciesen in Dutch, or, as they were sometimes called by their opponents, Fijnen, sanctimonians, we might say.
Whatever the emphasis, all pietists believed heartily in experiential theology and were known as de ernstige, the earnest, zealous Christians of their place and time. ...
In its better representatives, like Wilhelmus à Brakel, the experiential theology sought a healthy balance between mysticism and precisionism.

Van Ruler calls the movement as a whole a “legitimate experiment.”
The wide divergence of these opinions calls for further studies in the Dutch Second Reformation as a movement in its own generations. In future studies the Second Reformation should be evaluated in its distinct spiritual, theological, and political milieu. Too often the Second Reformation is judged by the Reformation proper, the latter being regarded as normative. Calvin is presented by A. Ritschl and others as an ideal and all differences from him (even in areas where his thinking is largely embryonic, such as covenant theology) are prone to be considered in a negative light. The unfair conclusion is then reached that the Second Reformation is not a “further reformation” (nadere reformatie), but

c

a “further deformation” (verdere deformatie). It is our conviction that a more careful, objective study of the Second Reformation will yield the conclusion that these Dutch divines as a whole did not misread Calvin and the Reformers, but simply adapted the teaching of the early Reformers in a practical way to their own day.
Additional work also needs to be done on the influence of Phillipp Jakob Spener, August Hermann Francke, Friedrich Adolph Lampe, Gerhard Tersteegen, and other German Pietists on the Dutch Second Reformation. Monographs need to be written on several important Second Reformation divines who are either the subjects of outdated studies or who, as yet, have not been thoroughly studied. Caricatures against the movement and the influence of Reformed scholastic orthodoxy need to be unveiled for what they are. Particularly needed are both primary and secondary sources published in English on the Dutch Second Reformation.
English and American Puritanism have received considerably more attention from Dutch writers than the Dutch Second Reformation has received from English writers. The Dutch Second Reformation divines deserve to be treated with the same scholarly care devoted to their Puritan counterparts. Such treatment will recognize that the long-term influence of the Second Reformation has been seriously underestimated. An amplification of Stoeffler’s reassessment is needed:

While the [Second Reformation] dream of reforming the Reformed never succeeded it could hardly be doubted that the perfectionistic ideals of this reform party brought about significant changes in the life of the Church. It was responsible for an emphasis upon effective, religiously significant preaching such as is seldom found in territorial churches, together with a similar emphasis upon pastoral work which is equally unusual under such surroundings. Many of the classes and synods began to stress catechization to a degree unknown since the early days of the Genevan reformation. Church discipline, which had been exercised almost solely with regard to faith and order, was oriented to include the daily conduct of church members. A devotional literature was created such as continental Protestantism had never known because its need had not been recognized. Family worship was encouraged and free prayer found a place along with printed prayers. In fact prayer was encouraged as perhaps never before within the Reformed churches. Even conventicles ... were authorized by various ecclesiastical bodies. For the first time since the days of Geneva the Reformed churches knew of genuine religious awakenings such as the one at Friesland in 1672, where a group of pastors entered together upon an evangelistic venture with noticeable results. Last but not least the matter of training an effective ministry, interested in piety as well as doctrine and polity, was given serious attention. The result was the later development of theological seminaries.

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Further, the influence of Second Reformation devotional writings and sermons in the eighteenth and nineteenth (and even twentieth) centuries remained great among the conservative, experimental Reformed in the Netherlands, South Africa, and North America. Today their writings are being reprinted as rapidly as the Puritans are in the English-speaking world. It is our hope and prayer that the translation of Wilhelmus à Brakel’s classic, De Redelijke Godsdienst, may serve to arouse interest in the history and theology of the Dutch Second Reformation.

Source: Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 1, trans. Bartel Elshout (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), lxxxv-cxi.

The Christian's Reasonable Service: A Brief Synopsis

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The Christian's Reasonable Service

à Brakel's Objective in Writing this Work: To Minister to the Congregation
à Brakel's objective in writing this work was straightforward: to instruct and edify the congregation of the Lord. In this work we hear the heartbeat of one who was consumed with love for Christ and His church and who deemed it to be his singular calling to be a faithful pastor to His flock. This explains why à Brakel does not claim to have presented a ground-breaking treatment of Reformed theology--and indeed, his work is not a systematic theology in the classic sense of the word. It is more than a systematic treatment of theology: It is experiential systematic theology.
That this was à Brakel's intent is evident from the subtitle, in which he expressed that De Redelijke Godsdienst is a work "in which divine truths concerning the covenant of grace are expounded, defended against opposing parties, and their practice advocated [emphasis mine]." In other words, what à Brakel presents in this work is applied theology. The theology he presents is a living, experiential theology. One does not need to read long in this work to detect its warmth and spiritual vibrancy. Therein lies the secret of the success and prevailing influence of this work. à Brakel speaks the language of Scripture from and to the heart.
Its importance was therefore recognized soon after it was published (though à Brakel initially had difficulty finding a publisher). F.J. Los comments: "Being founded upon God's Word, Brakel's work has become the most popular dogmatics of the Reformed in the Netherlands."
As of today, at least twenty-six editions have been published in the Dutch language, to which must be added a translation into the German language and the recently published four-volume English translation, entitled The Christian's Reasonable Service. Never could à Brakel have anticipated that his work would be so widely received and would exert its influence until this very day--much less that this work would become available to the English-speaking world. Stoeffler makes a striking observation in this regard:

It is not difficult to see why this extensive treatment of Christian theology was most highly regarded by Reformed Pietists. All the subjects dear to their hearts were treated fully, and each carefully balanced with all the other, the whole having only one aim, namely, the promotion of godliness. The words of scripture and what could logically be deduced therefrom were regarded as the sole basis for any valid assertion. The preciseness of Lodensteyn and Voetius were combined with the lush mysticism of the older Teellinck and the older Brakel. The knowledge of the renowned Coccejus was drawn upon for purposes of interpreting God's dealings with his Church, and that of the famous Witsius in the interpretation of the covenant and of saving faith. All the Pietists on both sides of the channel had ever thought and said was here summarized and put in the language of the people. It is safe to assume that had it not been for the language barrier the younger Brakel would have achieved the distinction of being one of the outstanding Pietistic theologians in Europe and America [emphasis mine].

In the preface of this work, à Brakel expresses the wish that he could preach to all of the Netherlands, and even to all the world. He therefore rejoiced in the invention of the printing press which, by way of the printed word, enabled him to reach every Dutchman with the truth he yearned to preach. His wish has been fulfilled beyond what he could have anticipated. Stoeffler's prophetic assumption is presently being validated!
Since the value of this work is for a considerable part due to the experiential application of the truths it sets forth, let us briefly consider the experiential dimension of De Redelijke
Godsdienst.

The Experiential Dimension of this Work
In selecting the words of Romans 12:1 as the basis for his title, à Brakel not only wished to indicate that it is an entirely reasonable matter for man to serve the God who has so graciously revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ by means of His Word, but he primarily wished to convey that God demands from man that he serve Him in spirit and truth, doing so in an intelligent, reasonable, and godly manner.
This brings us at once to the heart of the matter. à Brakel wrote this work for church members--not for theologians, though it was his wish that they benefit from it as well. This explains why his work is permeated with practical application of the doctrines he expounds. In a masterful way he establishes the crucial relationship between objective truth and the subjective experience of that truth. He first establishes a solid biblical foundation for each doctrine with which he deals, quoting profusely from the Scriptures. His selection of quotes is an impressive feature of this work, proving he had a profound grasp of the Scriptures. This scripturalness is rationally reinforced by his frequent resorting to the scholastic method to validate his positions.
As a man taught of God, he ably defined and described Christian experience in biblical terms. The undeniably mystical flavor of this work represents biblical mysticism at its best--a Spirit-wrought mysticism that fully harmonizes with the Spirit-inspired Scriptures. This explains at once why Jesus Christ truly has the preeminence in this work. It is the Logos, Jesus Christ, who is the very marrow of God's Word and every doctrine contained in it. It is therefore self-evident that in the subjective experience of this Word, Jesus Christ also has the preeminence. No wonder then that this work brims with references to Him whom the Father has given a name above every name. For à Brakel the name of Jesus is sweeter than honey; you can almost sense the inner stirrings of his soul when he exalts Jesus as the Father's unspeakable gift to fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
The rich experiential applications found at the conclusion of each doctrinal chapter in the first two volumes make this work invaluable and pastoral. à Brakel was first and foremost a pastor who made his theological acumen subservient to the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of His church. In writing this work, à Brakel practiced what he advised all ministers to do. In chapter 28 he writes: "He [the minister] ought to use all his scholarship to formulate the matters to be presented, in order that he might express them in the clearest and most powerful manner. While using his scholarship, however, he must conceal his scholarship in the pulpit." When necessary, however, he will cause his scholarship to bear on an argument, thereby proving himself to be a qualified theologian.

The General Outline of this Work: The Six Loci of Reformed Systematic Theology
Even though the covenant of grace is the dominant theme and organizing principle of De Redelijke Godsdienst, the outline of à Brakel's devotional systematic theology follows the order of the six loci of Reformed systematic theology, which by that time had become the accepted structural framework for the presentation of Reformed doctrine. In examining the table of contents (see appendix), one will observe, however, that approximately sixty percent of his work is devoted to soteriology. If we consider that applications found at the end of nearly every chapter in his treatment of the first three loci are soteriological in nature, we could conclude from the table of contents alone that the experience of doctrine in the heart, and the outworking thereof in one's life, is the dominant theme of this work.
Though the scholastic structure of this work as such is not as pronounced as one would find for instance in the systematic theology of Francis Turretin, à Brakel's doctrinal chapters do have a scholastic flavor, as he uses the polemical objection/rebuttal and question/answer approach to bring important issues into focus. He uses this approach especially to define the truth sharply against the background of the frontburner issues of his day: Cocceianism, Labadism, and Roman Catholicism. Even when he uses this approach, however, one cannot help but detect the beating of a pastoral heart in the answers he gives. His overriding goal is to edify and build up the saints in their most holy faith.
This possibly explains why à Brakel unconventionally deals with ecclesiology before soteriology. Against the background of the Labadistic controversy and the pernicious influence of Anabaptism, à Brakel was leery of the individualism, unbiblical mysticism, and denial of the organic nature of the church that was infecting the Reformed Church of the Netherlands. This, along with the covenantal theme of De Redelijke Godsdienst, may have motivated him to define the church in Biblical terms as the divine organism in which the Spirit applies the work of Christ, thereby adding living stones to His spiritual temple. This prominence of the church in the divine operations in the hearts of men appears to be implied in the words of Psalm 87 that the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than the individual dwellings of Jacob. Strange and unbiblical practices prevailed in à Brakel's days, making the doctrine of the church a matter of paramount importance to him. à Brakel was first and foremost a pastor, and this makes it rather likely that he made theological considerations subservient to pastoral concerns.

Source: Bartel Elshout, The Pastor and Practical Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1997), 20-24).

Brief Biographical Summary of à Brakel

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A Biographical Perspective

Youth and Education (1635-1662)
Wilhelmus à Brakel was born on January 2, 1635, in Leeuwarden, the capital of the Dutch province of Friesland. He was the only son of two very godly parents--a renowned minister of the gospel, Theodorus à Brakel, and Margaretha Homma. The godliness of these parents placed its stamp on the rearing of their son, the only survivor of six children. Wilhelmus was trained in the fear and admonition of the Lord. His mother would at times pray so intensely for him that she would forget herself. Of his father Theodorus, Dr. Fieret relates the following incident recorded in the classic biography of Wilhelmus à Brakel by Dr. F.J. Los: "Following his childhood, Wilhelmus attended the Latin school in Leeuwarden. At that time his father pastored in the village of Beers, southwest of Leeuwarden. Distance made it impossible to travel back and forth each day. Wilhelmus would come home on Saturday and return to school on Monday. His father would accompany him for a distance. As long as possible he would watch his son in the distance while quietly beseeching the Lord to protect him. This concern and dependency upon God made such a deep impression upon Wilhelmus that he would frequently be in prayer himself as he continued his walk to Leeuwarden."
To the joy of his parents Wilhelmus manifested the fear of the Lord at an early age. "Later in his life à Brakel said he knew of no change in his life. From his earliest years he remembers having a great love for His Savior Jesus Christ."
His parents provided him with a thorough education, culminating in his study of theology at the Franeker Academy in preparation for the ministry of the gospel. In 1659, at the age of twenty-four, à Brakel was declared a candidate for the ministry. Since there were hardly any pastoral vacancies in Friesland, he was not ordained into the ministry until 1662. The interim period was a very fruitful period for him, however, as he
studied at the University of Utrecht under the well-known theologians, Gisbertus Voetius and Andreas Essenius. Particularly Voetius greatly influenced him in regard to his personal piety.

Pastor in Friesland: Exmorra, Stavoren, Harlingen, Leeuwarden (1662-1683)
For twenty-one years à Brakel served in his native province Friesland. With great zeal he began his ministry in the difficult and indifferent congregation of Exmorra. His diligent labors during his three-year pastorate there were not in vain, as there was evidence of a noticeable stirring and blessing during his tenure. While laboring in Exmorra, the Lord also granted him a godly and faithful wife, Sara Nevius, with whom he enjoyed a blessed marriage in the Lord.
From Exmorra, the Lord's way led to Stavoren in 1665. Though little is known about his ministry in Stavoren, his close friend, Abraham Hellenbroek, wrote: "The extraordinary fruit which he enjoyed in Stavoren has been very significant and widely recognized."
He became pastor of Harlingen in 1670, where he labored for three years with great blessing. As Rev. Hellenbroek noted: "The shining forth of the countenance of God upon his ministry was also...evident for him there.... A wondrous change took place under his ministry. He has begotten a multitude of spiritual children there."
In 1673 à Brakel accepted the call from the congregation in Leeuwarden, the city of his birth. For ten years he ministered to this large congregation as one of six ministers. His pastorate there was not without controversy. When intense desire to instruct his flock in the ways of the Lord led him to organize house services or "conventicles," he met with opposition from his consistory which was fearful of the formation of churches within the church. à Brakel finally acquiesced in conducting a public catechism under the auspices of the consistory.
He also came in conflict with his consistory and the governing officials of Friesland when he permitted his exiled fellow minister, Jacobus Koelman, to preach in his pulpit. When the government of Friesland also wanted to forbid him to preach, à Brakel stood his ground and challenged the government's right to interfere in the government of the church. à Brakel prevailed, and as a result of both his courage and the publicity surrounding this controversy, he became a man of national renown.
After weathering the Van Giffen controversy, in which à Brakel took a public stand against Rev. David Flud Van Giffen and his Cocceian views concerning the interpretation of the Old Testament, à Brakel accepted the call from Rotterdam where he would serve for twenty-eight years until his death in 1711.

Pastor in Rotterdam (1683-1711)
Through his previous pastorates, the Lord had prepared à Brakel for the great task that would await him in Rotterdam. He was installed on November 21, 1683 by Peter Tilenus and preached his inaugural sermon from 2 Corinthians 5:20. Fieret writes: "In this sermon he only allowed God's Word to speak for itself; he
shared nothing concerning himself. He did not mention where he came from, where he had served, what labors he anticipated to perform, etc. He spoke as one who had been commissioned to pass on the words of His Master, or as he himself wrote later: to be the mouth of God to the congregation. This certainly is indicative of the seriousness with which he commenced this new episode in his life."
During his lengthy pastorate in Rotterdam, three matters stand out: his struggle against the Labadists, his battle for the independence of the church, and the publication of his magnum opus, De Redelijke Godsdienst.
The Rotterdam pastor took a strong stand against the teachings and practices of the Labadists, the followers of the converted French Jesuit, Jean de Labadie. De Labadie, who had come to the Netherlands from Geneva, spoke out strongly against the ills that plagued the church and promoted "a pure church in which the Christian religion would be practiced as strictly as possible." He became a strong proponent of a pure church consisting only of true believers, to which he joined a unique unbiblical mysticism. Initially he had a tremendous reputation and following, and caused a great stir in the Netherlands. à Brakel, deeply troubled about the corruption of the church and the lack of vital godliness, confessed that during his pastorate in Stavoren he felt very much inclined toward de Labadie and his teaching. After an intense spiritual struggle concerning this matter, he was persuaded that de Labadie's views were unscriptural.
Once à Brakel had a settled conviction about this matter, he took the Labadists and their views to task, being convinced that their teachings were detrimental to the well-being of the church. As was so common in these days, he became involved in a battle of the pen. His best known polemical work in regard to Labadism is Leer en Leydinge der Labadisten (Doctrine and Government of the Labadists). History proved à Brakel to have been correct in his analysis of Labadism, which, due to the unbiblical extremism of its teachings and practitioners, largely collapsed as a movement.
As he had done in Friesland, à Brakel strenuously opposed any manifestation of Erastian church government. His unwavering conviction was that Christ alone is the Head of His church and that the government--be it local, provincial, or national--has no business intermeddling in church affairs. This uncompromising stand resulted in a confrontation with the city fathers of Rotterdam who annulled the call extended by the consistory of Rotterdam to David Combrugge to fill the vacancy of the deceased Johannes Ursinus. When à Brakel, in response to this, preached a sermon about Psalm 2:6, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion," the battle lines were drawn. à Brakel was consequently prohibited to preach--an order which he ignored due to his conviction that as a minister he was accountable to King Jesus only. For a while he even had to live in exile, though he continued to preach. This conflict, in which à Brakel had the full support of his consistory, was finally resolved by the intervention of Governor William III (who later also became king
of England). He persuaded the magistrate to let the matter rest.
The third matter for which his Rotterdam pastorate is best known is the publication of De Redelijke Godsdienst (The Christian's Reasonable Service). After all the upheaval he experienced in battling the Labadists and the local city fathers, he entered a tranquil period of his ministry during which he could devote himself to the work that has endeared him to the hearts of so many, and was without question the most significant accomplishment of his lengthy ministry.

Last Days
On August 30, 1711, Wilhelmus à Brakel preached the gospel for the last time. In his last sermon, during which he often had to sit down, he expounded the preamble of the Lord's prayer. This message concluded the public ministry of a man of whose preaching Hellenbroek said that he could thunder as a Boanerges, comfort as a Barnabas, instruct as a Paul, and allure as a John.
Until his last day he remained a man of prayer who continually interceded for the welfare of Zion, and particularly for his beloved congregation of Rotterdam. He also remained faithful to his calling to speak on God's behalf, exhorting whenever he had the opportunity. One evening, when suffering from much anxiety, he asked that the following message be conveyed: "Tell the congregation in my name that I have preached to her the truth which I have known; which I have tasted; which one can rely upon; by which one can obtain salvation; and trusting in which I die."
On October 30, 1711, an hour before he died, someone asked him how he was doing, to which he replied, "Very well; I rest in my Jesus; I am united to Him; I but wait that He might come; however, I submit myself with all quietness."
After having been comforted by his son-in-law, Rev. Van der Kluit, Brakel closed his own eyes, and calmly entered the eternal rest that remains for the children of God. He died in the Lord at the age of seventy-six after having served His Master faithfully for forty-nine years in the ministry. His Spirit-anointed ministry lives on, however, in the work we shall now examine more closely.

Source: Bartel Elshout, The Pastor and Practical Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1997), 14-19.

Lectures on Brakel & The Christian's Reasonable Service (Given at 2003 Banner of Truth Minister's Conference)

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Lecture #2

Wilhelmus à Brakel & the Christian's Reasonable Service
By Bartel Elshout

As stated yesterday, à Brakel's objective in writing The Christian's Reasonable Service was straightforward: to instruct and edify the congregation of the Lord. In this work we hear the heartbeat of one who was consumed with love for Christ and His church and who deemed it to be his singular calling to be a faithful pastor of His flock. This explains why à Brakel does not claim to have presented a ground-breaking treatment of Reformed theology--and indeed, his work is not a systematic theology in the classic sense of the word. It is more than a systematic treatment of theology: It is experiential systematic theology.
That this was à Brakel's intent is evident from the subtitle, in which he expressed that The Christian's Reasonable Service is a work "in which divine truths concerning the covenant of grace are expounded, defended against opposing parties, and their practice advocated." In other words, what à Brakel presents in this work is applied theology. The theology he presents is a living, experiential theology. One does not need to read long in this work to detect its warmth and spiritual vibrancy. Therein lies the secret of the success and prevailing influence of this work. à Brakel speaks the language of Scripture from and to the heart.
Its importance was therefore recognized soon after it was published (though à Brakel initially had difficulty finding a publisher). His biographer, F.J. Los, comments: "Being founded upon God's Word, Brakel's work has become the most popular dogmatics of the Reformed in the Netherlands." It became a spiritual guidebook to all who were committed to intelligent piety--that is, subjective piety grounded and rooted in the objective truths of God's Word.
As of today, at least twenty-six editions have been published in the Dutch language, to which must be added a translation into the German language and the recently published four-volume English translation. Never could à Brakel have anticipated that his work would be so widely received and would exert its influence until this very day--much less that this work would become available to the English-speaking world. Stoeffler in his The Rise of Evangelical Pietism makes a striking observation in this regard:

It is not difficult to see why this extensive treatment of Christian theology was most highly regarded by Reformed Pietists. All the subjects dear to their hearts were treated fully, and each carefully balanced with all the other, the whole having only one aim, namely, the promotion of godliness. The words of scripture and what could logically be deduced therefrom were regarded as the sole basis for any valid assertion. The preciseness of Lodensteyn and Voetius were combined with the lush mysticism of the older Teellinck and the older Brakel. The knowledge of the renowned Coccejus was drawn upon for purposes of interpreting God's dealings with his Church, and that of the famous Witsius in the interpretation of the covenant and of saving faith. All the Pietists on both sides of the channel had ever thought and said was here summarized and put in the language of the people. It is safe to assume that had it not been for the language barrier, the younger Brakel would have achieved the distinction of being one of the outstanding Pietistic theologians in Europe and America.

Simply stated, The Christian's Reasonable Service is a masterful synthesis of Puritan and Dutch Second Reformation theology--or to use a recently coined phrase, of North Sea piety.
In the preface of this work, à Brakel expresses the wish that he could preach to all of the Netherlands, and even to all the world. He therefore rejoiced in the invention of the printing press which, by way of the printed word, enabled him to reach every Dutchman with the truth he yearned to preach. His wish has been fulfilled beyond what he could have anticipated. Stoeffler's prophetic assumption that Brakel would have been one of the outstanding Pietistic theologians in Europe and America had it not been for the language barrier, is presently being validated!
Since the value of this work is for a considerable part due to the experiential application of the truths it sets forth, let us briefly consider the experiential dimension of The Christian's Reasonable Service.
In selecting the words of Romans 12:1 as the basis for his title, à Brakel wished to indicate that it is an entirely reasonable matter for man to serve the God who has so graciously revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ by means of His Word. More importantly, however, he wished to convey that God demands from man that he serve Him in spirit and truth, doing so in an intelligent, reasonable, and godly manner.
This brings us at once to the heart of the matter. à Brakel wrote this work for church members--not for theologians, though it was his wish that they benefit from it as well. This explains why his work is permeated with practical application of the doctrines he expounds. In a masterful way, he establishes the crucial relationship between objective truth and the subjective experience of that truth. He first establishes a solid biblical, foundation for each doctrine with which he deals, quoting profusely from the Scriptures. His selection of quotes is an impressive feature of this work, proving he had a profound grasp of the Scriptures. This scripturalness is rationally reinforced by his frequent resorting to the scholastic method to validate his positions.
As a man taught of God, he ably defined and described Christian experience in biblical terms. The undeniably mystical flavor of this work represents biblical mysticism at its best--a Spirit-wrought mysticism that fully harmonizes with the Spirit-inspired Scriptures. This explains at once why Jesus Christ truly has the preeminence in this work. It is Jesus Christ, the Logos, who is the marrow of God's Word and every doctrine contained in it. It is therefore self-evident that in the subjective experience of this Word, Jesus Christ also has the preeminence. No wonder then that this work brims with references to Him whom the Father has given a name above every name. For à Brakel the name of Jesus is sweeter than honey; you can almost sense the inner stirrings of his soul when he exalts Jesus as the Father's unspeakable gift to fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
The rich experiential applications found at the conclusion of each doctrinal chapter in the first two volumes, make this work invaluable and pastoral. à Brakel was first and foremost a pastor who made his theological acumen subservient to the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of His church. à Brakel himself confirms this assertion when in his preface he expresses the desire that ministers and theological students would profit from this work.

I will also rejoice if my work may be useful in giving direction to theological students, student preachers, and young ministers. May it enable them to comprehend the unique, distinct nature of divine truths so that they may safeguard and practice these truths in deed. May they present them to the congregation in such a manner that it may result in the conversion and strengthening of souls and in the edification of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Regarding the contents of The Christian's Reasonable Service, we can say that the covenant of grace is its dominant theme and organizing principle. This is primarily to be attributed to the fact that The Christian's Reasonable Service is the enlargement of à Brakel's exposition of Psalm 8, consisting of a rather extensive treatise of the covenant of grace. As to its outline, however, à Brakel's devotional systematic theology follows the order of the six loci of Reformed systematic theology, which by that time had become the accepted structural framework for the presentation of Reformed doctrine. In examining the table of contents, one will observe, however, that approximately sixty percent of his work is devoted to soteriology. Furthermore, if we consider that applications found at the end of nearly every chapter in his treatment of the first three loci are soteriological in nature, we could conclude from the table of contents alone that the experience of doctrine in the heart, and the outworking thereof in one's life, is the dominant theme of this work.
Though the scholastic structure of this work as such is not as pronounced as one would find for instance in the systematic theology of Francis Turretin, à Brakel's doctrinal chapters do have a scholastic flavor, as he uses the polemical objection/rebuttal and question/answer approach to bring important issues into focus. He uses this approach especially to define the truth sharply against the background of the frontburner issues of his day: Cocceianism, Labadism, and Roman Catholicism. Even when he uses this approach, however, one cannot help but detect the beating of a pastoral heart in the answers he gives. His overriding goal is to edify and build up the saints in their most holy faith.
This pastoral and practical dimension of his work we shall now examine more closely by considering selected quotations from the practical applications found in every chapter of The Christian's Reasonable Service.
In the locus of Theology Proper, the treatment of the doctrine of Scripture, for instance, is not merely a dogmatic and academic exercise for à Brakel. His explicit goal is that his readers
might read the Scriptures in a God-glorifying and edifying manner, so that spiritual growth and prosperity might result. For this purpose, he gives directions which are practical and to the point:

The eunuch read while riding in his chariot (Acts 8:28). The Bereans searched the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). How everyone ought to practice this in private, prior to going to work, both by himself alone, and with his family! At noon when one nourishes his body, he ought also to nourish his soul. In the evening after work, one must end the day by seeking some refreshment from the Word of God. In the meantime, while engaged in his occupation, by meditating upon what has been read, the soul will maintain communion with God. He will be enabled to understand the spiritual meaning and also experience the power of God's Word. This will cause the soul to grow in grace, protect against vain thoughts, control the tongue, suppress corruptions, and direct man to fear God.

Then, after having expounded the doctrine of God's essence, it is the evident desire of this pastoral theologian that his readers might worship the God of theology. As an astute theologian, he therefore stresses long before he deals with Christology the necessity of knowing God in Christ, in whom alone the Father has revealed Himself to the children of men as a gracious and merciful God.

It is essential that one considers God to be His God in Christ. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is to be found in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Outside of Christ, God is a terror, and can only be viewed as a consuming fire. In Christ, however, one may have liberty; and God reveals Himself to such who approach unto Him in that way. Then one will better be able to endure the light of God's countenance, rejoice in it, and therein glorify God. One ought to be cautious, however, of becoming too free and irreverent when considering God as Father in Christ and in the contemplation of His perfections which are unveiled by means of the covenant of grace. The proper frame for contemplation upon God is to be humble, reverent, and to tremble with awe before the majesty of the Lord.

In dealing with the doctrine of the Trinity, he writes as a man who adores the God of whom he writes,

Behold, must you not admit that faith in the Holy Trinity is profitable? Is it not the only foundation of a truly godly life and the fountain of all comfort? Therefore, consider God as being one in essence and existing in three Persons... There will be a wondrous illumination concerning the unity of the Godhead as you consider each individual Person, and of the Godhead in its Trinity as you contemplate its unity. If so much light, comfort, joy, and holiness may be derived from perceiving what is but an obscure glimmer of the Trinity, what will it be and how will the soul be affected when he may behold God's face in righteousness, and awake, satisfied with His likeness? (Psa. 17:15).

A bit further on, when à Brakel deals with the extrinsic works of the divine Being, he concludes his chapter about the covenant of redemption by underscoring the steadfastness which issues forth for the believer from a proper understanding of this covenant:

The elect need but be still and let the Lord work. They need but to open their mouths to receive, for whatever is comprehended in the articles of this covenant will most certainly be given to them. On the other hand, they must focus upon this covenant, be active in entering into the covenant of grace, and living therein, they must make it the foundation of their life. This will motivate the godly to proceed with understanding and steadfastness, neither resting in the steadfastness of their faith or godliness nor, as one is so often inclined to do, being tossed to and fro when both (i.e., faith and godliness) appear to diminish.

In the locus of anthropology, à Brakel alludes to the steadfastness of this covenant in his chapter about the Breach of the Covenant of Works. As pastor, he knows how inclined God's children are to look within themselves rather than outside themselves to the finished work of Christ, the Mediator of the covenant. He therefore moves from the doctrinal to the practical when he concludes this chapter with the following exhortation:

Thus the covenant of works has been broken and it would be to the advantage of God's children to look away from this covenant. How much yearning there still is for the covenant of works! This becomes evident both in the manifestation of unbelief when falling into sin--as if sin would nullify all the promises and as if one must find something within himself before coming to Christ--and by secretly resting in our own works, being more encouraged when things go reasonably well. Therefore one must make Christ in the covenant of grace the foundation for all rest and comfort and seek holiness from Him as a principal element of salvation.

In treating the doctrine of sin, à Brakel, as we would expect from this shepherd of souls, does not conclude without pointing to God's remedy for sin--and thus direct sinners to flee to Christ, the Savior of sinners:

Now consider all this together, and take some time to meditate on how completely abominable, condemnable, and hopeless your situation is. If you are unconverted, it may be a means to stir you up to seek and to ask, "Is there yet help? Is there no hope? Is there yet a way whereby I may be saved?" If you are then directed to Jesus Christ as the way, He will become precious, and you will earnestly seek to become a partaker of Him by faith. If you are converted, the contemplation upon the state of sin, no matter what it may have been for you prior to your conversion, will make and keep you humble; it will teach you to esteem Christ highly and to make use of Him continually. It will motivate you to glorify God as an expression of gratitude for sending His Son to deliver poor sinners through Him and to lead them to eternal felicity.

In the locus of Christology, we meet Father Brakel as a man who has a burning love for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this evident love for Christ that makes à Brakel's theology a living theology. In his masterful treatment of the doctrine of Christ, he always aims for the heart. Many times, therefore, he is actually preaching to his readers, inviting them with all the love of his pastoral heart to come to the Jesus who has the preeminence in his heart and ministry. As a balanced Reformed theologian, he does not hesitate to invite sinners freely, unconditionally, and compellingly to flee to Christ by faith: Thus he writes in his chapter about "The Necessity of the Satisfaction by the Surety Jesus Christ":

Oh, that you were truly destitute and perplexed! Then there would be hope for your salvation, not because of your perplexity, but because there is a Surety for such perplexed ones--Jesus Christ, whose voice sounds forth, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mat. 11:28). To you who are perplexed, without hope, destitute, and troubled, I proclaim that there is one Savior--a Savior unknown to the heathen. Although they know that there is a God, they do not know that there is a Savior and Surety who is proclaimed among us. This Surety calls you, invites you, and promises to save you if you come to Him. Therefore rejoice in such a blessed reality. Look outside of yourself, go to Him, receive Him by faith, and be saved.

The experiential flavor of à Brakel's work can also be perceived in his chapter about the kingly office of Christ. As a worshiper of this exalted Christ himself, he exults,

How blessed are the footsteps of this King to such a soul [the believer]! How it draws his heart in love to Him! His will is the soul's will, and it is the greatest delight of such to do and refrain from doing as pleases Him. Oh, how the soul longs for immediate communion with Him, to behold Him face to face, and to sink away eternally in this mutual and perfect love! Already on this side of the grave, the name of Jesus is written with golden letters in his heart. For Jesus' sake the soul would readily part with his honor, belongings, friends, husband, wife, parents, and children.

Also near the end of his Christology section, when expounding the doctrine of Christ's exaltation, he stresses the experiential acquaintance of the believer with Christ:

There is nothing more delightful for a child of God than to behold Jesus. It is God's desire that His children be joyful, for He frequently exhorts them to this, promising that He will meet "him that rejoiceth" (Isa. 64:5). There is nothing in which they find more inward and consistent joy, than in beholding the glorified Jesus. Therefore let your meditations of Him be sweet.

In the Ecclesiology section of his work, à Brakel gives us a stirring definition of the purpose and calling of God's church--a definition which is again anything but academic:

The primary purpose of the church's existence is the glorification of God. Since the church is the kingdom of heaven, the people of God have God as their Father and the Lord Jesus as their king, so the glory of God can be observed when these people live in the love and fear of God. This is true when they are obedient to Him as their Lord, trust in Him as the almighty and faithful One, and live pure and holy lives personally among each other and towards others. The Lord's name is desecrated, however, when this people who are called after His Name do not conduct themselves accordingly. It is the Lord's will that His Name be hallowed by the coming of His kingdom (Mat. 6:9-10). He has formed that people to show forth His praise (Isa. 43:21); to show forth the praises of Him who hath called them (1 Pet. 2:9); to be to the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 8:23).

In light of the fact that this Church is the purchased property of the Lord Jesus Christ, he exhorts office-bearers as follows:

Reflect upon the congregation over which the Lord has appointed you as overseers. It is the church of God, the Church which Christ has bought with His blood, which Christ has loved, and for which Christ has given Himself. There you have the Lord's precious sons and daughters, his darling children, over whom the Lord has appointed you as nurses. Will you then not tenderly treat such darlings of the Lord--protecting them from the violence of those who wish to harm them, keeping them from error, giving them food and drink, and instructing them as such beloved ones of the Lord Jesus? Did Jesus buy them with His blood and would you not concern yourself with them? If the love of Jesus towards His church fills your heart towards the church, it will also make you diligent to care for her with all your might and to seek her welfare.

The soteriology section of The Christian's Reasonable Service is the lengthiest section of this work. Especially in these chapters we hear the heartbeat of the Dutch Second Reformation. à Brakel understood that soteriology is the Spirit-wrought experience of Christology. We could say that soteriology is the doctrine of Christian experience, as it details the saving and applying ministry of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God's elect. As expected, à Brakel deals with this doctrine in a thoroughly experiential fashion. Let me illustrate. In his chapter about faith, à Brakel characteristically describes the life of faith as a continual fleeing to and feeding upon Christ:

They [believers] frequently, if not a thousand times, receive the Lord Jesus by faith. They always believe that their reception of Him has not been as unreserved as it ought to have been and that it has not been with sufficient clarity and sincerity; it was not as wholehearted as it ought to have been. This receiving of Him is their daily food and therefore they repeat it over and over.

à Brakel also addresses the lack of abiding assurance in the hearts of so many believers. Rather than endorsing this to be the norm, he counsels believers concerning the way in which such abiding assurance may be obtained:

Many who are truly justified do not attain to assurance, or readily lose it, since they wish to be their own judge and establish their feelings as the foundation of their assurance. It would be a blessing if someone could always have this; however, it is not God's normal way always to seal His children and to give them the sense of this assurance. The Lord has established another foundation which is more steadfast, durable, and consistent: His Word. Turn to the Word of God to observe what promises are made there, and to whom they are made. Let him, while lifting up his soul, ascertain the certainty of these promises as being pronounced by a God who is true.

Consistent with this, he stresses in his chapter about spiritual joy (as one of the fruits of justification) that

God is pleased with the joy of His children. It is His will that they delight themselves, value the benefits, fully trust in His Word and in His promise, and jubilate, leap for joy, and sing His praises with joyful and singing lips. Cheerfulness and joyfulness are a delight to Him.

Realizing that the believing use of the promises is of pivotal importance for the experience of spiritual joy, Pastor Brakel gives this advice:

Seek out a promise which is applicable to your situation. Consider this promise as having been made by the God of truth to His children, and that they will be fulfilled with more certainty than certainty itself. Consider that the behavior of His children (whatever it may be) will not cause God to change and nullify His promises since this given promise has been made in an absolute sense--as is true for all the promises of the covenant of grace. Their fulfillment is not contingent upon any condition from man's side.

à Brakel's detailed and exhaustive treatment of the doctrine of sanctification truly qualifies him as a Dutch Puritan. Knowing how much believers can struggle with the inadequacy and failure of their sanctification, and how this inclines them at times to discredit their Christian experience, he writes, in typical Puritan fashion, a chapter in which he presents 13 cases of conscience in which hew addresses 13 possible reasons why believers may doubt the genuineness of their faith. When dealing with the complaint of spiritual deadness, he writes,

If you were as dead as you imagine yourself to be, from whence then does this displeasure with your condition, your sorrowful brooding, and your languishing proceed? A dead person does not have any feelings. However, the fact that you are sensible of your insensitivity shows that there is life--though it be feeble....When spiritual life is held before you in its preciousness, consisting in sweet union with Jesus, a leaning in love upon Him, peace of conscience in light of the forgiveness of sins, and a humble and tender walk before the Lord--aren't you then acquainted with it? Does not your previous experience come to mind? If it could be given to you in one word, wouldn't you then wholeheartedly and eagerly choose for this, as you love such a disposition? These are indeed clear evidences that in all your deadness there is yet life, and that therefore you ought not to disown your state due to your deadness.

The Christian's Reasonable Service ends, as expected, with the doctrine of the last things. The final paragraph of this work (excluding the appendix), in which à Brakel stirs up the believer to anticipate joyfully the glory that awaits them, is a truly fitting ending to this experiential and pastoral body of divinity. In it, à Brakel reminds the believer once more what his reasonable service is while he anticipates the glorious return of his precious Savior.

He who may have such a lively expectation of glory, holding this before him, will be motivated by that hope to prepare himself for this. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3). Believers, you may therefore anticipate that such glory will shortly be your portion. Thus, haste to complete your task, and be an example of godliness, faith, courage, and hope upon glory. Make this glory, and the way which leads to it, known to others and lead them along unto felicity, so that you may join the Lord Jesus in saying, "I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do...I have manifested Thy name unto...men. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me!" (John 17:4-6). HALLELUJAH!

This brings to a conclusion the brief sampling of the pastoral and experiential applications which make the Christian's Reasonable Service such a unique and valuable work. And unique it is indeed! In which systematic theology do you also find chapters such as this: Love toward God; Love toward the Lord Jesus; Contentment; Self-denial; Secret prayer; Singing spiritual songs, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual desertion, etc.?
Is it not this powerful combination of solid Reformed, systematic theology and the pastoral and experiential application of this theology which yields the reason why the veneration of à Brakel and his magnum opus continues unabated in the Netherlands today? Is this not the reason why the reception of the English translation of this work has greatly transcended our expectations, and why this work is presently finding its way into the libraries of many ministers and theologians throughout the world? Is it not because à Brakel in his masterful exposition of the doctrines of Scripture simultaneously touches the heart strings of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity?
More important than human approval, however, is the historically validated divine approval The Christian's Reasonable Service has received. Throughout recent centuries, God has owned this work to be a faithful exposition of His mind as revealed in His Word--even though this work also has its human weaknesses and inaccuracies.
While yet alive, the value and divine approbation of this work were already recognized. Abraham Hellenbroek, a contemporary Dutch Second Reformation divine, a fellow minister in Rotterdam, and a close personal friend of à Brakel, therefore highly recommended the purchase and reading of it: "No family should be without it: the fruit which it has borne everywhere, and still bears, is extraordinary: from afar and near one hears of the most lofty and remarkable testimonies." This explains why during the eighteenth century, next to the Bible, there was hardly a book read more frequently in the Netherlands than this work.
To verify the latter statement, let me conclude by giving you several quotes from one of my favorite chapters of The Christian's Reasonable Service, entitled, "Love toward the Lord Jesus." Especially in this chapter, one senses how greatly à Brakel loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and how he desires to encourage others to love Him in sincerity as well.
As background for his treatment of this subject, he first identifies those professing believers who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ--an approach much needed in preaching today. He writes that

Many know Jesus according to the letter, but not internally by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, such also have no love for Him. They do desire Him as a servant to protect them from hell and to help them get into heaven--of which they also have no correct perceptions. Beyond that, they have no use for Him. There is no entering into covenant with Him, no surrendering to Him, no receiving of Him by faith unto justification and sanctification, no heart-union, and no exercising of fellowship with Him. They are neither acquainted with His presence nor with His absence. They are satisfied if they are but good church-members, partake of the Lord's Supper, live honestly, and have the illusion that they will be saved. On that basis they proceed--even though Jesus remains a stranger to them, remaining outside of their heart and thoughts. Since you are acquainted with human love, you will thus perceive that you have no love to Jesus, whom you ought to love more vehemently than men. You may say that you love Jesus. But then I ask you, "How is this evident? Is there esteem and reverence for Him? Do you grieve and long for Him? Do you endeavor to live in immediate union with Him? Is there a resemblance between your nature and His? Are you obedient and do you keep His commandments?

After these searching questions, posed by a man who knows that he must deal honestly with souls, à Brakel proceeds to encourage all who do love the Lord Jesus Christ.

As wretched as those are who do not love Jesus, so blessed are they who do love Him. He who does not love Jesus, readily imagines that he does love Jesus, but he who loves Jesus in truth frequently fears that he does not love Him. Such a person finds two reasons within himself causing him to have such suspicion about himself: He does not feel the sweet motions toward Jesus which, in his opinion, ought always to be inherent in love. Furthermore, if he loved Jesus, he would be more obedient to Him and live a holier life. Such ought to know first of all, that the probability of love being present is very great if one is so suspicious of his conduct. If this is accompanied with a desire to love Him, and if there is grief that he does not love Him; if this does not only issue forth out of a fear for the judgment which will come upon those who do not love Him, and a desire to be saved (thus desiring love as but a means to acquire something); but if these concerns issue forth and are accompanied with the desire to love Jesus--since one delights in the act itself of loving Him--then there is not only a probability, but there is proof that one loves Jesus. It is natural for upright souls to distrust themselves if they do not clearly perceive a matter within themselves. Such is the conduct of God's children. 'Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting' (Psa. 139:23-24).

Then he addresses those believers who grieve over the deficiency of their sanctification, and therefore question whether they truly love the Lord Jesus. Pastor Brakel has a ready answer for them also:

Deficiency in sanctification is indeed indicative of the imperfection of love, but no proof of its total absence. Love is still small, and besides that, the old Adam is still present; these two strive against each other. Our corrupt nature prevents love from breaking through--and furthermore, sins do not proceed from love but from our corruption. Love is, however, not strong enough to prevent and overcome these sins; love groans under them and is grieved by them. "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me" (Rom. 7:17). Wherever there is aversion for, hatred for, and opposition to sin; wherever there is a desire and love for godliness; wherever there is prayer to the Spirit for sanctification; and wherever there are elements of a desire to please Jesus (motivated by love), there is true sanctification. Believers, from this you may now observe that your reasons for concern are unfounded and that they ought not to prevent you in the expressions of your love toward Jesus.

With great pastoral sensitivity, he also seeks to encourage the believer who grieves over the coldness and deficiency of his love for Jesus.

To further assure you that you love Jesus, consider the following: Place all that you love upon earth next to Jesus and observe then toward which side your heart leans. Would you rather be in the presence of those whom you love dearly, or would you rather be with Jesus if you were given and permitted to delight yourself in His love? Do you prefer money, valuables, and that which is beautiful, and delightful--or do you prefer Jesus? I do not ask for your judgmental observation, but what the issues of your heart are. If you were to make such a comparison, would you not say, "For me it is a thing of great importance. It is Jesus and Jesus only. Everything else, apart from Jesus, would only be grievous to me. To have Jesus, however, while having to miss everything else, would gratify me, and I would willfully forsake everything for Jesus' sake as long as I might live with Jesus in the enjoyment of love toward Him.

Finally, à Brakel lists six impediments which keep the believer from growing in love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. They are: Ignorance, partial love, lack of fellowship, unbelief, willful sins, and fearfulness. Concerning lack of fellowship he writes,

Be on guard against a lack of fellowship. Love wants to be maintained. If we are too far from the fire, we shall become cold. The closest friends will become estranged due to lack of fellowship. Such is also the case here. Jesus wants to be sought for and perceive that His friendship is of great value to us. Jesus wants to be waited on and to have time made available for mutual manifestations of love. You must therefore frequently endeavor to speak to Him and to tell Him again what your heart's disposition toward Him is, while in an intimate manner expressing your desire toward Him, and your grief that you cannot love Him more. That stirs up love.

Brothers, may God grant that our love for Jesus may be such that we would fully concur with Father Brakel when he states,

If the soul may sit in the shadow of the love of Jesus, and if her love sweetly issues forth to her Beloved, she has a heaven full of joy, and only then is she in her element. Then she wishes that this love would never be disturbed...a loving soul rejoices in the expressions of her love to Jesus, and in the sensible enjoyment of Jesus' love toward her.

Is it not evident from this quote and others that the author of The Christian's Reasonable Service is a God-fearing rather than a mere academic theologian? Does he not show us the way as ministers of the gospel by illustrating for us that the power of faithful preaching lies in the experiential application of divine truths to the souls of men?
Brothers, it is therefore my earnest wish that à Brakel's work would not only be a source of instruction and edification for you, but that we would also view à Brakel's approach as a model for our pastoral ministries.
Finally, as we now conclude our brief excursion into The Christian's Reasonable Service, this masterful exposition of intelligent piety, may Father Brakel's wish, expressed in his preface, be richly fulfilled in our day:

May the almighty and good God, who repeatedly encouraged me when I had intentions of discontinuing this task and who is the Author of whatever good is to be found in this work, pour out His Holy Spirit upon all who will either read or hear this book read. May it be to the conversion of the unconverted, the instruction of the ignorant, the restoration of backsliders, the encouragement of the discouraged, as well as to the growth of faith, hope, and love in all who have become partakers of a measure of grace.

Therefore, take and read -- and, take and buy!

Lectures on Brakel & The Christian's Reasonable Service (Given at 2003 Banner of Truth Minister's Conference)

2009-11-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

Lecture #1

Wilhelmus à Brakel & the Dutch Second Reformation
By Bartel Elshout

From the inception of God's church, it has pleased the Lord to use a cloud of witnesses to fulfill the rich covenant promise of His Word that His truth shall be to every generation (Psa. 100:5; 105:8). In the execution of His eternal and sovereign good pleasure, the Lord has used a countless multitude of sinful men, quickened by His Spirit and called to the sacred ministry of the Word, to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Among them, however, God has sovereignly elevated some of His servants above the level of the common and often obscure ministers of the gospel.
For anyone conversant with the Post-Reformation history of the Reformed churches in the Netherlands, the name of Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711) will immediately come to mind as one of such ministers. à Brakel is unquestionably one of the premier and most widely read representatives of Dutch Reformed orthodoxy. The prominence the Lord has been pleased to give to this man, his ministry, and his written legacy is such that until this present day his name recognition exceeds nearly all the men of God with whom Jehovah has graced His church in the Netherlands during the last three centuries. This is particularly true in those Reformed churches which highly esteem experiential preaching. In these church communities the name of Wilhelmus à Brakel is a household name, even for the common church member.
This is particularly to be attributed to à Brakel's magnum opus, De Redelijke Godsdienst (The Christian's Reasonable Service). Since its publication, the veneration for this work among those of orthodox Reformed persuasion has been such that in former generations (as recent as the pre-World War II generation) it was customary to read The Christian's Reasonable Service sequentially during long winter evenings. This long standing practice is a significant reason why this eminent divine, one of the acclaimed fathers of the Dutch Reformed tradition, continues to be held in such high esteem until the present. Already during his forty-nine-year ministry in the Netherlands (1662-1711), during which several editions of The Christian's Reasonable Service were printed, esteem for him was such that he was affectionately referred to as "Father Brakel," a name by which he is still known today in the Netherlands.
à Brakel's ministry transpired during one of the most blessed periods of Dutch church history, the period of the Nadere Reformatie, known in the English-speaking world most commonly as the Dutch Second Reformation. Therefore, in order to understand the enduring significance of à Brakel's ministry, and particularly the significance of the greatest achievement of his ministry, The Christian's Reasonable Service, we must briefly examine its historical context.
The Nadere Reformatie, which literally means "further reformation," represents a rather well-defined period and movement in the history of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. This historical designation of the movement expresses the common objective of the ministers whose ministries comprise the Dutch Second Reformation: the further reformation of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands.
Its approximate chronological boundaries are the early part of the seventeenth century and the latter part of the eighteenth century. It is generally agreed among scholars that the ministry of Willem Teellinck (1579-1629) marks the beginning of the Dutch Second Reformation. He is known therefore as the father of the Dutch Second Reformation, whereas Theodore VanderGroe (1705-1784) is considered to be the last clearly distinguishable representative of this movement, and is therefore referred to as de hekkesluiter (the one who closed the gate).
Historically, the Dutch Second Reformation coincides, and largely runs concurrent with, both English Puritanism in the British Isles, and German Pietism. Each of these movements had as a common objective to make the wondrous truths of Scripture, rediscovered in the Reformation, a vibrant reality in the hearts and lives of ministers and parishioners alike, and thus strive for a life of genuine piety issuing forth from a life of intimate fellowship with God. These three movements are therefore at times placed under the one umbrella of European Pietism.
In global terms, these three movements do indeed represent one historical movement; however, each movement had its own unique distinctives. Joel Beeke, in his work, "Assurance of Faith," comments: "Each was rooted deeply in the sixteenth-century Reformation and longed for more thorough reform; yet each movement retained a distinct, historical, theological, and spiritual character." English Puritanism was primarily an ecclesiastical reaction to conditions in the Church of England, the church of compromise; German Pietism was a reaction to the dead orthodoxy of the Lutheran Church in Germany; and De Dutch Second Reformation, though a reaction against the dead orthodoxy in the Dutch Reformed Church, clearly had as its objective the further reformation of the entire nation of Holland.
The Dutch Second Reformation, though striving for the sanctification of heart and life as the other movements did, was therefore a uniquely national movement which particularly during its early, militant stage had as one of its explicit goals the national, moral reformation of the Netherlands. Stirred up by the unparalleled prosperity of the historically coinciding Golden Age of Dutch History, the Netherlands was a nation falling prey to the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).
The nature and objectives of the Dutch Second Reformation are perhaps best expressed in a definition of this movement formulated in 1995 by the SSNR (The Institute for Study of the Dutch Second Reformation):

The Dutch Second Reformation is that movement within the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which, as a reaction to the declension or absence of a living faith, made both the personal experience of faith and godliness matters of central importance. From that perspective, the movement formulated substantial and procedural reformation initiatives, submitting them to the proper ecclesiastical, political, and social agencies, and/or in conformity therewith pursued in both word and deed a further reformation of the church, society, and state."

à Brakel and his ministry functioned at the approximate center of this movement, both historically and theologically. On a time line, beginning in 1606 with the ministry of the father of the Dutch Second Reformation, Willem Teellinck, and terminating in 1784 with the death of Theodorus Vander Groe, à Brakel's ministry (particularly his most important pastorate in Rotterdam from 1683-1711) marks the center of this time line. However, more significantly, his ministry represents a remarkable balance of the Dutch Second Reformation relative to both its early and concluding stages. Dr. Fieret, in his biographical essay about à Brakel, concludes: "Wilhelmus à Brakel could be considered a model for the entire movement," and must be considered as one of its primary representatives.
Early in the Dutch Second Reformation there was a strong emphasis on the outward manifestation of internal piety, i.e., a godly walk. One will find this particularly in the writings of Willem Teellinck who zealously strove to promote the godliness he had witnessed during his stay among Puritan brethren in Bambury, England. In the eighteenth century, subsequent to à Brakel's ministry, when the goal of national reformation had become an ideal rather than a reality, the Dutch Second Reformation internalized. Consequently, the preaching and the writing of the later representatives of the Dutch Second Reformation increasingly focused on the internal experiences of the heart, since an external piety which did not issue forth from internal piety became prevalent. This explains why the ministries of Alexander Comrie and Theodorus Vander Groe, two of the final representatives of the Dutch Second Reformation, are very discriminating in nature and focus more on the constituent elements of saving faith and its exercises than on the life of sanctification.
In à Brakel's ministry, both the discriminating treatment of saving faith as found in Comrie and VanderGroe, as well as the detailed exposition of the life of sanctification as found in Willem Teellinck, function in a balanced manner. Justification and sanctification function biblically as two inseparable sides of one coin. This scriptural balance does justice to the internal and external dimensions of Christian experience. Here lies the one reason for à Brakel's enduring influence as a premier divine of the Dutch Second Reformation. In fact, à Brakel's The Christian's Reasonable Service is one of the main reasons why the influence of the Dutch Second Reformation extends until this day in a vibrant and recognizable manner in orthodox Reformed circles in the Netherlands. His ministry represents a Christianity that is thoroughly scriptural, experiential, and devotional. In his major work, we find one of the most complete, comprehensive, and balanced expressions of Dutch Second Reformation theology.
F. Ernest Stoeffler, in his work The Rise of Evangelical Pietism, summarizes as follows:

His main distinction...lies in the fact that in his 'The Christian's Reasonable Service' he supplied Reformed Pietism with a theological textbook which, unlike the Marrow of Amesius, came out of a tradition wholly native to the Netherlands. In it he, too, preserved the balance between the mystical and ethical elements in Christianity which is so characteristic of the great Pietists in the Reformed communion.

This naturally leads to the question: To what extent is there a relationship between the Dutch Second Reformation, The Christian's Reasonable Service, and Puritanism?
Anyone conversant with the English Puritans who reads à Brakel will be struck by the similarity between the two. This similarity should come as no surprise. In the overall movement of Pietism, the kinship and interrelationship between Puritanism and the Dutch Second Reformation is perhaps the strongest. As Beeke states, "The Dutch Second Reformation is in fact the Dutch counterpart to English Puritanism....The link between these movements is strong historically and especially theologically." In fact, scholarship has yet to settle the question definitively to what extent both movements influenced each other.
Gisbertus Voetius, the theologian par excellence of the Dutch Second Reformation, paid a visit to England for the purpose of indulging himself in unadulterated Puritanism. Jacobus Koelman, a prominent representative of the Dutch Second Reformation, and a contemporary and friend of à Brakel, was strongly influenced by Puritanism. Also à Brakel himself was "...very enamored with the practical godliness and preaching style of the English."
Another contributing factor to the influence of English Puritanism on the Dutch Second Reformation was the translation of a large number of Puritan writings into Dutch--which occurred to a far greater extent than the other way around. The preoccupation of the Dutch Reformed Church with doctrinal controversies such as the Arminian controversy during the early part of the seventeenth century, left little time for devotional writing. This vacuum was filled by a steady stream of translations of Puritan writing which clearly put a stamp upon the Dutch Second Reformation. The men of the Dutch Second Reformation felt kinship with the Puritans, and so endorsed their writings that they imported and recommended their writings without reservation to the Dutch public.
This kinship and oneness of approach is evident in à Brakel's writings. This is particularly evident in volumes three and four of The Christian's Reasonable Service. In these volumes, à Brakel gives us a thorough and detailed treatment of the life of sanctification, the contents of which, according to Stoeffler, is "strictly reminiscent of Pietistic Puritanism."
In fact, this is one reason why the availability of à Brakel's magnum opus in the English language is significant. à Brakel's work bridges English Puritanism and the equally rich heritage of the Dutch Second Reformation, which due to the language barrier has largely been inaccessible to the English-speaking world. Those who have acquired a taste for the spiritual delicacies found in Puritan writings, will find their spiritual appetite amply satisfied by the rich treasures found in The Christian's Reasonable Service of Wilhelmus à Brakel.
Since this work was the ripe and mature fruit of his ministry, a biographical sketch of this remarkable man of God and his gospel ministry is now in order.
Wilhelmus à Brakel was born on January 2, 1635, in Leeuwarden, the capital of the Dutch province of Friesland. He was the only son of two very godly parents--a renowned minister of the gospel, Theodorus à Brakel, and Margaretha Homma. The godliness of these parents placed its stamp on the rearing of their son, the only survivor of six children. Wilhelmus was trained in the fear and admonition of the Lord. His mother would at times pray so intensely for him that she would forget herself. Of his father Theodorus, the following incident is recorded in F. J. Los' classic biography of Wilhelmus à Brakel: Following his childhood, Wilhelmus attended the Latin school in Leeuwarden. At that time his father pastored in the village of Beers, southwest of Leeuwarden. Distance made it impossible to travel back and forth each day. Wilhelmus would come home on Saturday and return to school on Monday. His father would accompany him for a distance. As long as possible he would watch his son in the distance while quietly beseeching the Lord to protect him. This concern and dependency upon God made such a deep impression upon Wilhelmus that he would frequently be in prayer himself as he continued his walk to Leeuwarden.
To the joy of his parents, Wilhelmus manifested the fear of the Lord at an early age. Later in his life à Brakel said he knew of no change in his life. From his earliest years he remembers having a great love for His Savior Jesus Christ.
His parents provided him with a thorough education, culminating in his study of theology at the Franeker Academy in preparation for the ministry of the gospel. In 1659, at the age of twenty-four, à Brakel was declared a candidate for the ministry. Since there were hardly any pastoral vacancies in Friesland, he was not ordained into the ministry until 1662. The interim period was a very fruitful period for him, however, as he studied at the University of Utrecht under the well-known theologians, Gisbertus Voetius and Andreas Essenius. Particularly Voetius greatly influenced him in regard to his personal piety.
For twenty-one years, à Brakel served in his native province Friesland. With great zeal, he began his ministry in the difficult and indifferent congregation of Exmorra. His diligent labors during his three-year pastorate there were not in vain, as there was evidence of a noticeable stirring and blessing during his tenure. While laboring in Exmorra, the Lord also granted him a godly and faithful wife, Sara Nevius, with whom he enjoyed a blessed marriage in the Lord.
From Exmorra, the Lord's way led to Stavoren in 1665. Though little is known about his ministry in Stavoren, his close friend, Abraham Hellenbroek, wrote: "The extraordinary fruit which he enjoyed in Stavoren has been very significant and widely recognized."
He became pastor of Harlingen in 1670, where he labored for three years with great blessing. As Rev. Hellenbroek noted: "The shining forth of the countenance of God upon his ministry was also...evident for him there.... A wondrous change took place under his ministry. He has begotten a multitude of spiritual children there."
In 1673, à Brakel accepted the call from the congregation in Leeuwarden, the city of his birth. For ten years he ministered to this large congregation as one of six ministers. His pastorate there was not without controversy. When intense desire to instruct his flock in the ways of the Lord led him to organize house services or "conventicles," he met with opposition from his consistory which was fearful of the formation of churches within the church. à Brakel finally acquiesced in conducting a public catechism under the auspices of the consistory.
He also came in conflict with his consistory and the governing officials of Friesland when he permitted his exiled fellow minister, Jacobus Koelman, to preach in his pulpit. When the government of Friesland also wanted to forbid him to preach, à Brakel stood his ground and challenged the government's right to interfere in the government of the church. à Brakel prevailed, and as a result of both his courage and the publicity surrounding this controversy, he became a man of national renown.
After weathering the Van Giffen controversy, in which à Brakel took a public stand against Rev. David Flud Van Giffen and his Cocceian views concerning the interpretation of the Old Testament, à Brakel accepted the call from Rotterdam where he would serve for twenty-eight years until his death in 1711.
Through his previous pastorates, the Lord had prepared à Brakel for the great task that would await him in Rotterdam. He was installed on November 21, 1683 by Peter Tilenus and preached his inaugural sermon from 2 Corinthians 5:20. Dr. Fieret writes: "In this sermon he only allowed God's Word to speak for itself; he shared nothing concerning himself. He did not mention where he came from, where he had served, what labors he anticipated to perform, etc. He spoke as one who had been commissioned to pass on the words of His Master, or as he himself wrote later: to be the mouth of God to the congregation. This certainly is indicative of the seriousness with which he commenced this new episode in his life."
During his lengthy pastorate in Rotterdam, three matters stand out: his struggle against the Labadists, his battle for the independence of the church, and the publication of his magnum opus, The Christian's Reasonable Service.
The Rotterdam pastor took a strong stand against the teachings and practices of the Labadists, the followers of the converted French Jesuit, Jean de Labadie. De Labadie, who had come to the Netherlands from Geneva, spoke out strongly against the ills that plagued the church and promoted a pure church in which the Christian religion would be practiced as strictly as possible. He became a strong proponent of a pure church consisting only of true believers, to which he joined a unique unbiblical mysticism. Initially he had a tremendous reputation and following, and caused a great stir in the Netherlands. à Brakel, deeply troubled about the corruption of the church and the lack of vital godliness, confessed that during his pastorate in Stavoren he felt very much inclined toward de Labadie and his teaching. After an intense spiritual struggle concerning this matter, he was persuaded that de Labadie's views were unscriptural.
Once à Brakel had a settled conviction about this matter, he took the Labadists and their views to task, being convinced that their teachings were detrimental to the well-being of the church. As was so common in these days, he became involved in a battle of the pen. His best known polemical work in regard to Labadism is Leer en Leydinge der Labadisten (Doctrine and Government of the Labadists). History proved à Brakel to have been correct in his analysis of Labadism, which, due to the unbiblical extremism of its teachings and practitioners, largely collapsed as a movement.
As he had done in Friesland, à Brakel strenuously opposed any manifestation of Erastian church government. His unwavering conviction was that Christ alone is the Head of His church and that the government--be it local, provincial, or national--has no business intermeddling in church affairs. This uncompromising stand resulted in a confrontation with the city fathers of Rotterdam who annulled the call extended by the consistory of Rotterdam to David Combrugge to fill the vacancy of the deceased Johannes Ursinus. When à Brakel, in response to this, preached a sermon about Psalm 2:6, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion," the battle lines were drawn. à Brakel was consequently prohibited to preach--an order which he ignored due to his conviction that as a minister he was accountable to King Jesus only. For a while he even had to live in exile, though he continued to preach. This conflict, in which à Brakel had the full support of his consistory, was finally resolved by the intervention of Governor William III (who later also became king of England). He persuaded the magistrate to let the matter rest.
The third matter for which his Rotterdam pastorate is best known is the publication of The Christian's Reasonable Service. After all the upheaval he experienced in battling the Labadists and the local city fathers, he entered a tranquil period of his ministry during which he could devote himself to the work that has endeared him to the hearts of so many, and was without question the most significant accomplishment of his lengthy ministry.
On August 30, 1711, Wilhelmus à Brakel preached the gospel for the last time. In his last sermon, during which he often had to sit down, he expounded the preamble of the Lord's prayer. This message concluded the public ministry of a man of whose preaching Hellenbroek said that he could thunder as a Boanerges, comfort as a Barnabas, instruct as a Paul, and allure as a John.
Until his last day, he remained a man of prayer who continually interceded for the welfare of Zion, and particularly for his beloved congregation of Rotterdam. He also remained faithful to his calling to speak on God's behalf, exhorting whenever he had the opportunity. One evening, when suffering from much anxiety, he asked that the following message be conveyed to his beloved congregation: "Tell the congregation in my name that I have preached to her the truth which I have known; which I have tasted; which one can rely upon; by which one can obtain salvation; and trusting in which I die."
On October 30, 1711, an hour before he died, someone asked him how he was doing, to which he replied, "Very well; I rest in my Jesus; I am united to Him; I but wait that He might come; however, I submit myself with all quietness."
After having been comforted by his son-in-law, Rev. Van der Kluit, Brakel closed his own eyes, and calmly entered the eternal rest that remains for the children of God. He died in the Lord at the age of seventy-six after having served His Master faithfully for forty-nine years in the ministry. His Spirit-anointed ministry lives on, however, in The Christian's Reasonable Service, a work we shall examine more closely tomorrow in the second lecture.
However, to arouse your interest in this classic, which has as its unique feature that it is an experiential and pastoral systematic theology, let me whet your appetite by introducing you to its contents via à Brakel's chapters concerning the office of the ministry. The quotes I will share with you, will quickly reveal his objective in writing The Christian's Reasonable Service, namely, to instruct and edify the congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Upon reading these chapters, once cannot but come to the conclusion that à Brakel himself was a man who took his calling to the ministry very seriously. It can truly be said of à Brakel that his pursuit of the discipline of theology, as was true for John Calvin, had but one objective: to be an able minister of the New Testament.
à Brakel describes the main elements of an internal call to the ministry, and begins by positing that one must have a knowledge of this office. He expounds this premise by stating that

One must know what it means to be a servant of Christ, to be the mouth of the Lord, to proclaim that great gospel, to teach ignorant men the way of salvation, to be instrumental in delivering men from the devil, and to lead them to Christ. One must know that it consists in comforting those who mourn, stirring up the indolent, bringing back those who have strayed, exposing hypocrites and temporal believers to themselves, defending the truth against error, rebuking the ungodly, helping to keep out or expelling from the church those who lead offensive lives, and adorning the church, so that by the holiness of those who profess the truth she would bring glory to Christ. One must know that it consists in being an example and in being able to give an account of the souls entrusted to him. How can he who is neither thoroughly acquainted with these matters, nor perceives the weightiness of it all, nor takes this to heart, have intentions to be faithful?

He then describes as additional aspects of the internal call:
a) the knowledge of one's aptitude for this work;
b) an extraordinary love for Christ, His church; and the souls of the lost;
c) a willingness to deny all that is of the world, such as honor, material goods--yes, even life itself;
d) and, a great desire for this work.
Subsequently, he proceeds to list the qualifications a man must have to be an able minister of the New testament, which, not surprisingly, parallel the five components of the internal call to the ministry. Among other things, he stresses that a minister, in addition to having a thorough knowledge of theology, must also be apt to teach, stating that "All good theologians are not able to be pastors and teachers. Everyone does not receive the gift to communicate the treasure of truth, to make oneself understood, and...to express himself in a clear and desirable manner to the consciences of men."
Having said that, however, he quickly adds,

All of this is nevertheless of no avail if he himself has not been illuminated and converted by the Holy Spirit, so that the truths which he reads in God's Word are also found in his own heart. He should know by personal experience what conversion, prayer, believing in Christ, the wrestlings of faith, the subtle delusions as well as the assaults of Satan, darkness, the sealing work of the Spirit, self-denial, and mortification of sin, etc. are....He will then be able to say, 'That...which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; that...declare we unto you' (1 John 1:1, 3).

à Brakel also gives a stirring, nine-fold description of what the disposition of a minister of the gospel ought to be as he contemplates fulfilling the chief obligation of his calling: the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us, among other things, that for this sacred work

it is needful:
(1) that, in lifting up his heart, he seeks to remind himself in a lively manner that God has sent him, that he ascends the pulpit as an ambassador of God, speaks in the name of God, and is as the mouth of the Lord unto the congregation. This ought to cause him to fear and tremble concerning the matters he will bring forth, as well as the manner in which he will do so, as the Lord will take careful notice as to whether he preaches as he was directed to preach;
(2) that he have the heart of a preacher; that is, he must stand in awe of the God in whose Name he preaches, and with love seek the welfare of the souls to whom he preaches. He must know himself to be entirely undone in himself and have a lively impression of his own inability, so that he will not trust too much in having studied properly.
(3) He ought to use all his scholarship to formulate the matters to be presented, in order that he might express them in the clearest and most powerful manner. While using his scholarship, however, he must conceal his scholarship in the pulpit. To labor to be reputed as being scholarly, and to bring much Latin into the pulpit for this purpose, is only a seeking of self. Every word of Latin is nothing but a pound of flesh (that is, carnality) and is frequently held in contempt by scholarly divines, whose objective it is to make themselves pleasing to the consciences of men by the revelation of the truth.
(4) having performed his task, he ought to descend from the pulpit as Moses descended from the mountain, so that his awe for God and the weightiness of that great task may as yet be manifested upon his countenance.
(5) that upon arrival at home, he immediately ought to go to his room and consider in what frame he has preached. There he ought to humble himself before God concerning that which was lacking, to thank the Lord for His assistance, and to pray for a blessing upon the Word for himself and for the congregation.

In addition to describing the proper disposition of the preacher, à Brakel also focuses on the manner in which he ought to preach. Characteristic of both Puritan and Dutch Second Reformation preaching, à Brakel stresses the necessity of aiming the word at the heart and conscience of the hearer, and thus applying the word in a most personal manner. He also stresses to ministers that their preaching must function as one of the keys of God's Kingdom. It must open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.

A minister must use this key by making specific application...from the pulpit. He must first of all give a clear analysis of who true believers are, so that every one may perceive what his own condition is; he must then proclaim to such the forgiveness of sins. On the other hand, he must clearly and forcefully uncover the condition of the unconverted, proclaiming unto them that they are still objects of the wrath of God and must anticipate condemnation if they remain unconverted. The minister must use this key faithfully with much tenderness of heart, without respect for persons, and with boldness, upon the authority given him by Christ, to promote the building up of His kingdom. He must therefore give heed to the manner in which he uses this key. If he leaves this key unused, he is unfaithful to Christ and His church. If he thereby grieves the godly and hardens the ungodly, he ought to fear for the judgment of God.
Needless to say, a minister who takes his calling seriously, will be motivated to do so by love to the God who called him, and love toward the congregation to which God has sent him. This necessarily makes a faithful minister a man of prayer--or in the words of à Brakel:

This love will cause a minister to pray much for the congregation and pray that he himself might receive grace to communicate this to the congregation. He will study for his sermons prayerfully, and he will prayerfully traverse the street towards the pulpit....Love will cause him at all times to pray for the congregation, thereby seeking her benefit. 'Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith' (1 Th. 3:10).

In addition to being a man of prayer, a minister must also exemplify the truth he preaches in his walk. McCheyne has said that the life of a minister is the life of his ministry. à Brakel expresses this as follows:

A minister must therefore diligently give heed to his internal condition and his external behavior. He is like a polished diamond; the smallest hair or thread on it will easily be detected. He must be aware of the fact that he is observed to a far greater degree than one would be inclined to think; and that men are more aware of his internal condition than he would suspect.

Recognizing that among the ministers of the gospel there are also hirelings, à Brakel intersperses his treatment of the office of the ministry with warnings against those who hold this sacred office presumptuously. With great earnestness, he warns that

There is no creature more abominable under the sun than a minister who seeks himself, for he uses God and all that is sacred to satisfy his own evil lusts. How abominable it is to display holy zeal in prayer, preaching, and speech, and yet to have nothing but strange fire or to pretend love for God in order to receive love and honor for self!

à Brakel shows his pastoral bent when throughout his work he makes his applications very practical and to the point--and at times seasoned with some humor. This is also true in his exhortations to ministers. Let me give you a sampling:

One must not be pretentious. One then seeks to create the appearance of gravity even though such is not the case, or desires as it were to be pointed out with the finger and have people say, "There he is." One accordingly becomes pretentious in all things, wears his hat accordingly, holds his head in the air, and walks with a ridiculous gait. How abominable is such ridiculous pretention which has self-aggrandizement as its mother!

When dealing with the matter of public prayer, he writes,

He must also refrain from referring too much to his bodily weaknesses if he either does not feel well or imagines this to be so. This gives too much an impression of soliciting pity from people or providing an excuse if he does not preach too well, either because he did not study enough, or to solicit adoration for doing well in spite of being so weak.
Finally, à Brakel concludes his chapter about the ministry with great pastoral earnestness by focusing on the day of judgment when every minister will have to give an account of the ministry God has entrusted to him. He first issues a loving warning to all who are unfaithful in their calling, and concludes with a word of encouragement to God's faithful servants:

How dreadful will this investigation and interrogation be for many overseers! How pitiful and dreadful will be the sentence that will be pronounced upon them! If only they had never been born and had never been an overseer! What will it be to perish due to one's own sins, and then also to be burdened by so many souls. They will see you in the last judgment and rise up against you, saying, "You knew very well that I was ignorant, and that I lived in sin. If you had looked after me--had warned, rebuked, instructed, and led me in the way of salvation--I would have been saved. Look, however, you unfaithful minister...I am now going lost! Let God require my blood from your hand, and deal with you as a wicked and lazy servant!"
However, what a precious moment it will be for faithful ministers, elders, and deacons when the Lord will make manifest their labors, their prayers for the congregation, their special discourses, their exhortations, their warnings, and the manner in which they gave direction to souls. He will then cause them to enter into glory, saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Mat. 25:21).

May God grant that we too, by the grace of God, may be such good and faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that our ministries in some measure may be an emulation of the ministry of Wilhelmus à Brakel, this beloved servant of God who truly practiced what he preached!

An Interview with Rev. Bartel Elshout by Dr. Derek H. Thomas

2009-11-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

1. Bart , you translated into English, from its Dutch original, the four-volumed work, The Christian’s Reasonable Service by Wilhelmus à Brakel. Can you first of all tell us a little about à Brakel? Is this a case of “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much” again?

À Brakel (1635-1711), a contemporary of Voetius and Witsius, was a major representative of the Dutch Second or Further Reformation (known in Dutch as De Nadere Reformatie). This movement was contemporaneous with and greatly influenced by English Puritanism. Scholars in the Netherlands have defined this movement as follows:

The Dutch Second Reformation is that movement within the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which, as a reaction to the declension or absence of a living faith, made both the personal experience of faith and godliness matters of central importance. From that perspective the movement formulated substantial and procedural reformation initiatives, submitting them to the proper ecclesiastical, political, and social agencies, and/or in conformity therewith pursued in both word and deed a further reformation of the church, society, and state.

à Brakel and his ministry functioned at the approximate center of this Pietistic movement, both historically and theologically. On a time line, beginning in 1606 with the ministry of the father of the Nadere Reformatie, Willem Teellinck, and terminating in 1784 with the death of Theodorus Vander Groe, à Brakel's ministry (particularly his most important pastorate in Rotterdam from 1683-1711) marks the center of this time line. However, more significantly, his ministry represents a remarkable balance of the Nadere Reformatie relative to both its early and concluding stages.

His prominence as a major representative of this movement is largely due to his magnum opus The Christian’s Reasonable Service. After its initial publication in 1700, this four volume work was quickly recognized as a monumental contribution to the literature of the Nadere Reformatie. It has been argued by scholars that this work is a synthesis of the best Puritan literature published in England and the Netherlands. Nadere Reformatie scholar, F. Earnest Stoeffler puts it this way, “He supplied Reformed Pietism with a theological textbook which…came out of a tradition wholly native to the Netherlands. In it he…preserved the balance between the mystical and ethical elements in Christianity which is so characteristic of the great Pietists in the Reformed communion.”

As a result of this work, à Brakel has permanently endeared himself to hearts of Reformed believers in the Netherlands. Already during his lifetime, the affection for him was such that he was fondly referred to as “Father Brakel”—a title by which he is known in the Netherlands until this day. For more than three centuries the influence of The Christian’s Reasonable Service has been such that “Father Brakel” continues to be the most influential of all the representatives of the Nadere Reformatie (frequently referred to today as Dutch Puritanism). Since the publication of The Christian’s Reasonable Service in English, his influence is growing steadily among both scholars and lovers of Puritan literature as well.

2. How is The Christian’s Reasonable Service different from other volumes on theology?

The uniqueness of à Brakel's work lies in the fact that it is more than a systematic theology. His selection of the title is already an indication that it was not merely his intention to present a systematic explanation of Christian dogma to the public. In selecting the words of Romans 12:1 as the basis for his title, à Brakel not only wished to indicate that it is an entirely reasonable matter for man to serve the God who has so graciously revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ by means of His Word, but he primarily wished to convey that God demands from man that he serve Him in spirit and in truth, doing so in an intelligent, reasonable, and godly manner.

This brings us at once to the heart of the matter. à Brakel wrote this work for church members—not for theologians, though it was his wish that they benefit from it as well. This explains why this work is permeated with practical application of the doctrines he so thoroughly explains. à Brakel's intent in writing is inescapable: He intensely wished that the truths expounded may become an experiential reality in the hearts of those who read. In a masterful way he establishes the crucial relationship between objective truth and the subjective experience of that truth.

I am therefore fond of referring to The Christian’s Reasonable Service as an experiential systematic theology. When reading this work, one cannot escape the conclusion that the author is a capable and articulate theologian indeed—a theologian, however, who is first and foremost a minister of the gospel, whose aim it is to glorify Christ and edify His church. It is this experiential flavor that has made this work such a favorite for more than three centuries.

3. What exactly do you mean by “experiential,” and how does this govern the way he “does theology”?

I would define experiential theology as that theology which explains how the doctrines of Scripture become an experiential reality in the hearts and lives of believers. One could say that experiential religion is doctrine experienced. It is unquestionably à Brakel’s intense desire that his exposition of the doctrines of Scripture would lead to the experience of the reality of these doctrines. Once you grasp this, you will observe how in the theological sections of his chapters he lays the ground work for the experiential application. His aim in “doing theology” is the edification of the believer. He does this by describing what the experiential application of the expounded doctrine should be, and by describing what it often is when believers struggle to appropriate the precious truths of Scripture. In doing so, he magnifies Christ and touches the heartstrings of every true believer. Therefore, when reading The Christian’s Reasonable Service you will be both educated and edified. What a rare and unique combination!

4. Can you give us an example of how his contribution is distinctive?

Let me do so by quoting the final paragraph of the chapter entitled “The Divine Persons”:
Behold, must you not admit that faith in the Holy Trinity is profitable? Is it not the only foundation of a truly godly life and the fountain of all comfort? Therefore, consider God as being one in essence and existing in three Persons. Take notice of the operation of each Person in the administration of the covenant of grace, especially as it occurs within you. If you may entertain appropriate thoughts, make appropriate comments, and have appropriate exercises concerning each Person of the Trinity, you will experience considerable and consistent progress in godliness. There will be a wondrous illumination concerning the unity of the Godhead as you consider each individual Person, and of the Godhead in its Trinity as you contemplate its unity. If so much light, comfort, joy, and holiness may be derived from perceiving what is but an obscure glimmer of the Trinity, what will it be and how will the soul be affected when he may behold God’s face in righteousness, and awake, satisfied with His likeness? (Ps 17:15). Then they will walk by sight (2 Cor 5:7), and they will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Therefore, “Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance” (Ps 33:12). [Vol. 1, ch. 4, p. 191]
In this quote you hear the heartbeat of à Brakel’s experiential theology!

5. Who should read these 4 volumes? Is there any way of reading an extract or two to get something by way of a flavor of his writing?

I would recommend the reading of these volumes to every serious student of the Scriptures. The uniqueness of this work is such that both the scholar and the “average” church member will greatly benefit from reading it. Having said that, however, I would especially recommend its reading to ministers of the gospel. Since their initial publication (that is, the English translation), countless pastors from around the world have expressed their appreciation for these volumes. Many have personally thanked me with tears for having translated this magisterial work into English.

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with à Brakel, his magnum opus The Christian’s Reasonable Service, and/or the Dutch Second Reformation, I have written a small booklet entitled The Pastoral and Practical Theology of Wilhelmus à Brakel (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 1997). In addition to providing the reader with pertinent historical and biographical information, you will also find a representative sampling of quotes from all four volumes. I think you will find this little volume a helpful introduction to à Brakel.

The same interview is available from Reformation21