All Articles For I Peter

Rev. Bruinsma is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldst receive him forever. Philemon 1:15 These are pretty soft words, it seems, to describe a dastardly sin committed in the house of Philemon! Philemon was a Grecian convert who, together with his wife, Apphia, and his son, Archippus, were close personal friends of the apostle Paul. For years the church of Colosse had met in Philemon’s house, and it was during this time that he and Paul had become close to one another. Now Paul, in this...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A striking passage on the subject of patience is James 5:1-11. After the apostle has warned the rich against fraudulently keeping back the wages of the laborers while they themselves lived in pleasure and wantonness, he writes, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rains. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” This...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. One of the main duties enjoined upon the elders in Article 23 of the Church Order is family visitation: “The office of the elders (is) . ..both before and after the Lord’s Supper, as time and circumstances may demand, for the edification of the churches, to visit the families of the congregation, in order particularly to comfort and instruct the members, and also to exhort others in respect to the Christian religion.” Family visitation is a distinctively Reformed practice. No other churches that I am aware of regularly...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. Our New Testament words steward andstewardship come from a Greek word, the parts of which mean “house” and “manager.” A stewards is one who labors in the house of another, manages that house as to its business and affairs, with the calling to work for the welfare and advancement of his master. Joseph was such an overseer in Potiphar’s household, and Chuza was steward in Herod’s house. Three things stand out in this matter of stewardship. First, God is the great Master of the universe, the absolute Owner of all...

The late Homer Hoeksema was professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. God’s Temporal Judgments (cont.) In this context we may try to discover something of the meaning of each of those pronouncements of the Lord and its effect upon human existence. We may take note, first of all, of the extent of those judgments. They embrace the entire earthly creation. The woman, the man, the ground, and with it the plants and the animals—all of these are included. In other words, the whole sphere of earthly life is affected by them. The entire realm which...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. In all churches there shall be a consistory composed of the ministers of the Word and the elders, who at least in larger congregations, shall, as a rule, meet once a week. The minister of the Word (or the ministers, if there be more than one, in turn) shall preside and regulate the proceedings. Whenever the number of elders is small, the deacons may be added to the consistory by local regulations; this shall invariably be the rule where the number is less than three. Church Order, Article...

Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. It is indeed striking, and very revealing, that the apostle John presents in the Scriptures the awesome truth that in his day there were many antichrists. We do well to bear in mind that the word “antichrist” refers to those who are against Christ. That prefix “anti” means against, even as we use it in the word antifreeze, which -plainly means that which is against freezing. And here John presents that word antichrist five times in his first and second epistles, referring to men who were against Christ. In I...

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Evangelism Activities The Reformed Witness Committee of the Hope PRC in Walker, MI recently sponsored a two-day combined Spring Lecture/Conference on Personal Witnessing. This conference took place on the 2nd and 3rd of April in Hope Church’s auditorium. On Friday evening Rev. R. VanOverloop, pastor of Bethel PRC in Elk Grove Village, IL, spoke on “Winning Souls.” Rev. VanOverloop based his remarks on Proverbs 11:30. Using that text for a base, he emphasized that we do not have the power to persuade, but that winning souls involves, rather,...

Is Grace in Things? I so want you to know how much the Standard Bearer has been a blessing to me. In this day and age it is hard to find publications that are scripturally correct. I have found two: the SB and the Banner of Truth. I have been blessed by Rev. G. Lubbers’ articles on I and II Timothy, and I’m hoping and praying that you will please send copies of the previous thirteen, because when I finish reading the SB, I pass it on. I do have a couple of questions I’m hoping you could answer. In...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. Although the word “scandal” or “scandalize” does not appear in our Authorized Versions, the Greek wordskandalon could well be transliterated. It is sometimes translated “offence” and sometimes “stumbling block.” The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses skandalon for the Hebrew word which means to trap, to hinder, to be the cause of ruin. In the New Testament, Jesus is the great offence and stumbling block; He is always a scandal to natural men. The Jews were offended by this carpenter, this son of Mary, who had wisdom...