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Starmount (NC): Helen S. Korbler, 96, Aug. 13.


Union (SC): John Walker McWaters, Sr., 85, May 6. John Theodore Ratterree, 80, Aug 1.


White Oak (GA): John Cecil “J.C.” Hunter Jr., 90, Aug. 15. Natasha McCurry Schro- eder, 46, Sept. 7.


New Communicant Members


Chester (SC): Harriet Lynn Kelsey, Witt Welborn.


Ebenezer (SC): Joy Berry, Ian Brink, Kieran & Kylie Graney, Emmylou Lambert, Sarah Lemmon, Connor Hare, Bryson Howell, Benjamin Merritt Jr., Ethan Mick, Miles Vance.


Lake Placid (FL): Dick & Denis Woodhull. Lake Wales (FL): Amy & Chandler Crews. New Albany (MS): Parker Henson. Old Providence (VA): Denise Marshall.


Rock Hill First (SC): Landon & Scottie Ard, Jack & Emily Cox, Dianne Hardison, Kathy Herlong, Sarah Marion.


Starmount (NC): Pedro Pollorena, Jaris Santana, Lucas Oliveira, Livia Oliveira, Lu- cas Pastorio de Morais, Marcelo Oliveira, Edjane Oliveira, Jose Neto.


Union (SC): Tom & Martha Morgan, John “Bud” Lyle, Ann Reid Austin.


Graduations


Edgemoor (SC): Riley Alexander, Jayden Barnes, Bryson Bazemore, Chip Bowman, Emma Clark, Bo Elliott, Annie Gaston, High School. Larya Carter, Clemson Univ.; Nicholas Bolton, Erskine College; Christian Cok, Liberty Law School; Hailee Allen, Win- throp Univ.; Hunter Damron, Univ. of South Carolina.


Old Providence (VA): Emma Staton, Chap- man Smith, Kayla Clemmer, Trevor Mish, James Rea, Aaron Smith, Clay Kelly, Jessica Gordon, Tanner Collins, High School.


Salem (TN): Jamie Baum, Christian Broth- ers Univ.


Starmount (NC): Pedro Pollorena, Jonathan Brooks, Reformed Theological Seminary.


Tirzah (SC): Daniel Good, High School.


Union (SC): John Mark Bennett, David Simpson, High School.


Installations New Sterling (NC): David Sides, Elder Emeritus.


30


Christmas: Prophecy and Fulfillment By Dr. Derek Thomas T


he Bible has a fondness for the number seven. For example, there are seven creation days, and Joshua and his men marched around Jericho seven times. And then, the book of Revelation features seven letters written by Jesus to seven churches, as well as seven seals, seven bowls, and seven trumpets. Seven, then, is often referred to as a “perfect number.” Even the infamous number 666 is alluding to the fact that it is not 777.  1:17–4:17). As he describes the birth of Jesus and the period before Jesus be-  born of a virgin (1:22–23); His birth is in the city of Bethlehem (2:5–6); the          - cents in Bethlehem (2:17–18); the home-base of Nazareth (2:23); the ministry of the forerunner, John the Baptist (3:1–3); and the start of Jesus’ ministry in the northern regions, where people who walked in darkness saw a great light (4:13–14). Careful checking of each of these seven events will reveal Old Testa- 


Christmas, and what follows, lies deep in the Old Testament. At every turn,


- diction. No aspect of the Messiah’s ministry of redemption was without antici-  the Old Testament came into sharp relief: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4). Our salvation is something God has been planning for a very long time— outside of time, to be exact: in the counsels of eternity, in a covenant that was made between the three persons of the Trinity, namely, the so-called covenant of redemption. Scripture speaks of the Lamb as “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). The second psalm seems to depict a pre-temporal account of the terms of the covenant established between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:


I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Ps. 2:7–9) From eternity, the Lord has loved His people. Christmas is the visible demonstration of it; Calvary, the cost of it; resurrection and ascension, the triumph and effectiveness of it. Little wonder, then, that creatures sur- rounding the Lamb’s throne in heaven exclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12)—a sevenfold blessing.


Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas is senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., and Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. From Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. © Tabletalk magazine. Website: www.ligonier.org/tabletalk. Email: tabletalk@ligonier.org. Toll free: 1-800-435-4343.


CLASSIFIED ADSCLASSIFIED ADS If you would like to advertise, please contact arpeditor@arpsynod.org. The cost is $.50 per word. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


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