All Articles For Philemon

Question  Dear Prof. Hoeksema: 

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phil. 2:21

The quake was not, according to the Richter scale, particularly severe. It did not take as many lives as many other earthquakes. Yet, two days before Christmas, there was a reminder of the terrible devastation that an earthquake causes. The Central American capital Managua, of the country of Nicaragua, was virtually wiped off the map. The quake, with its epicenter in the heart of this city, caused unbelievable destruction. Evidently no one knows for certain the number of lives taken. Time magazine presented the estimate of 6,000 dead and at least 20,000 injured.

One of the signs of the last days is the apostasy within the churches. I have reminded you of this in past articles. To my mind, this remains one of the clearest signs that the return of our Lord is at hand.  In this connection, I would call your attention once more to “Key 73” and its progress in our city of Grand Rapids. I fear the danger of overdoing opposition to a certain project as this—yet so much of what I see is so disturbing that I believe it necessary to point it out and warn against walking in...

One of the signs of the end of time, says Jesus, is that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12). And the Word declares in I Tim.

In the last issue of the Standard Bearer we were talking about the recent legalization of abortion and the controversy which is surrounding this issue. We discussed the fact that the central question involved in abortions is the question of a violation of the sixth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” And we noticed that this question must be answered by defining the nature of the fetus. The question that is asked therefore is: When does the soul enter the body of the unborn child?

We have been much preoccupied by shortages in our land lately whether these have been contrived or real shortages, they have been affecting our land and our lives. We are even inclined to complain: against the government; against farmers; against the middleman. Such complaint or dissatisfaction is rather strange — since we still have food in such abundance that it almost literally “comes out of our ears.” Much is still thrown away after meals are fished. We have such variety yet that kings of old could hardly equal.

Yes, “Agnes” talked. She had a message of God to you. Did you hear what she had to say?  One could hardly miss “Agnes.” Her name made the headlines in the daily newspapers. It was featured prominently in news magazines. Radio and television made extensive references to her. Time declared in its July 3, 1972 issue:

In his History of Doctrines, Hegenbach, writing on the Intermediate State, Vol. I, 221-222, writes as follows:

The truth of the communion of the saints is far more than merely an abstract doctrine that we only confess with our mouth. It is a blessed, practical, spiritual reality for the saints of God that is begun here on earth and shall be perfected in glory. This article of our faith involves many important implications for the calling of the individual saints of God. How often do we think of ourselves as members of the communion of the saints? We are not merely so many individual members of the church of Jesus Christ.