All Articles For Joel

Rev. Davis is pastor of the Grand Valley Orthodox Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Saved to Worship Christians are saved from their sins to become worshipers of God. The Father seeks true worshipers (John 4:23). His seeking is saving. He seeks sinners to save them that they might become true worshipers of God Most High, and the Father finds the fulfillment of His seeking lost sinners to make them worshipers in the Son of man’s coming to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Christian worship is an issue of salvation in Jesus Christ. God’s...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. One cannot help but note a vast difference between the Old and New Testament eras. The Holy Spirit “was not yet” in the Old Testament (John 7:37-39). This does not mean that the Holy Spirit did not work in the Old Testament. In I Peter 1:10-12 we read this: “…of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa. One of the most common problems the church faces today is an ignorance concerning the importance and calling of church membership. Many have separated themselves entirely from the instituted church, from the oversight of elders, and from the faithful preaching of the gospel. Some have done so because they insist that membership in God’s church does not necessarily mean membership in a church institute. One can belong to the body of Christ, they say, regardless of whether or not he has anything to do with a local congregation....

The text to which we call attention in this essay reads as follows: “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

“Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?”

LORD’S DAY 41, Chapter 3: Chastity (cont.)  And hearing this word, and knowing his own sinful nature, he” humbles himself daily before God, with the prayer of the publican on his lips, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He implores the God of his salvation daily for the forgiveness of all his transgressions, also of the sin against the seventh commandment.

Rev. Miersma is pastor of the Loveland Protestant Reformed Church in Loveland, Colorado. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:21 Pentecost! The words of this text were spoken by the apostle Peter in the very first sermon that he preached after the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The signs of the Spirit, the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, the cloven tongues like as of fire, and the speaking in tongues, had manifested themselves. As a result, a multitude had...

It ought to be quite obvious that the mission work of the Church of Jesus Christ must be grounded in Scripture. It is only from the Word of God that tie are able to learn the principles which govern missions. From the Word of God either directly or by implication we are also able to learn the proper methods or practice of missions. Whatever we say concerning missions both from a principle and a practical point of view, we must say what Scripture says.