All Articles For Veldman, Herman

It is during Jesus’ first public Galilean ministry that He calls four of His disciples to become fishers of men. They are Simon and Andrew his brother, and James with his brother John who were sons of Zebedee. This is not their first calling to the discipleship. We must remember that the Lord’s first Galilean ministry did not begin until He had completed His first series of labors in Judea. This stay in Judea is recorded in the second and third chapters of John. It is during this period that the cleansing of the temple and the Lord’s remarkable conversation...

“Coming to Jesus” is a thought which is expressed repeatedly in Scripture. In Matt. 11:28 the Lord Himself calls unto the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him and obtain rest. Also in John 7 this same thought is expressed by our Saviour, when, upon the last day of the great feast, He stood and cried: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” Well known are the words in Isaiah 55 where we read of the calling of Jehovah unto those that thirst to buy without money and drink of the water of life. And...

The expression, mystery, occurs frequently in the Holy Scriptures. In I Tim. 3:16 Paul, writing to Timothy, speaks of the great mystery of godliness, consisting of: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Also in I Cor. 15 the same apostle speaks of “mystery.” There he writes of the great change which shall take place when, at the last trump, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall all be changed. And in Ephesians 6:19 Paul speaks of...

We have gathered here today, as Protestant Reformed brethren and sisters, to celebrate Rev. Hoeksema’s 25th anniversary as minister of the Word of God. Surely, no higher calling can any mortal have than to be minister of God’s Word. The connection between this anniversary and our Standard Bearer is not difficult to see. Of these 25 years he has labored now almost 16 years as Editor-in-Chief of our well-known semi-monthly standard of the truth of the Holy Scriptures. Besides, the Standard Bearer surely represents his untiring efforts in the proclamation of the sovereign grace of God which we love. Hence,...

On Thursday, August 15, we, as a Protestant Reformed people, came together at John Ball Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, to commemorate Rev. Hoeksema’s 25th anniversary as minister of the Word of God. Surely, no greater privilege and no greater work can be bestowed upon mortal man than to preach the Word of God. Ordinarily this is an event worthy of remembrance. And when a minister of the Word of God has labored 25 years in his chosen work, this event is usually celebrated in some form or another. Fact is, the Bible is the Word of God, the infallible, divinely...

*This speech was delivered at the last December meeting of our League of Men’s Societies. The movement known as the “Reformation” is characteristically spiritual. It denotes that work of God whereby His people, His church was liberated out of the shackles of Roman Catholicism. To be sure, the Reformation also had far-reaching political results. Yea, to many it was merely political. This is due to the fact that the Roman Catholic, Church, besides being a spiritual power, was also clothed with political might. Nevertheless, the Reformation, in its origin and according to its fundamental significance, is decidedly spiritual. We associate...

Sin is guilt. Guilt is obligation to pay. Sin involves us in the obligation to suffer the extreme penalty, the wrath of God. And this wrath of God is eternal. For God is eternal life. Man, created as adapted to God’s service and communion, can experience peace and happiness only in fellowship with the Most High. The love of God, my love of God and God’s love of me, is for me eternal life and joy. Sin deprives us of this happiness. It places us in the state of guilt. And God, Who maintains Himself and will not suffer evil...

The existence of the divorce evil, particularly in our “democratic” country (democratic also in a spiritual sense of the word), need not be established. It is an indisputable fact. In some circles divorce is almost as common as marriage. And it can be obtained on almost any conceivable ground. This fact as such need not be discussed at length in this brief article. Reno, Nevada, is fully as notorious as are Crown Point or Valparaiso in Indiana. However, we would emphasize the evil inseparably connected with this divorce situation. Firstly, what is principally the divorce? What constitutes its sin? Before...

The cross of Calvary, which is again the subject of preaching in a special sense during the Lent season now upon us, is a power of God unto salvation. We do well to emphasize that the cross is indeed the salvation of the Church. According to Paul in 2 Cor. 5:19, it is the word of reconciliation. By it our reconciliation was effected. Upon Golgotha’s accursed tree God purchased us with His own precious blood and we have been redeemed from all iniquity. And no less striking is the truth as expressed in John 1:29, namely, that Jesus is the...

To arouse the child’s interest and hold his attention once awakened is a major problem in the sphere of instruction. What is attention? How can it be enforced? Volumes have been written on this subject. This question confronts us with a problem also from the purely natural, psychological point of view. The teacher, in school or in catechism, must cope with this difficulty. One must know not only what to teach but also how to teach it. This question also asserts itself in the realm of the spiritual. We refer to instruction in the things of God’s Word and covenant....