Vol 23 Issue 18

De Gereformeerde Kerken. (O.A. 31 K.O.) Statistics: We recently received the 1947 Yearbook of these Churches in the Netherlands and pass on to our readers some of the figures. RECAPITULATION Classis                # of Churches      Ministers     Vacant        Souls   Conf. Members Groningen                   42                   29             16          19196         10221 Friesland                     28      ...

The first question, therefore, to engage our attention is: what is there in Psalm 68:18 that warrants Paul in changing “received gifts” into “gave gifts”? If our assumption is correct that Paul has infallibly grasped the sense of this passage in writing “gave” instead of “received” this ought to become clear to us from a study of Psalm 68 itself. It seems to us that a brief study of this Psalm is in order. In general it can be said that in this Psalm the poet is recounting the mighty victories and triumphs of Israel over all her enemies. These...

That the readers of these lines are children of God, we firmly believe. The unbeliever finds no delight in the things spiritual and looks elsewhere for his reading material. As children of God the readers of these lines then also confesses that they fear the Lord. Yet we live in a world of superficiality and of great temptation and in a time when the material things are increasingly crowding out our spiritual activities. We so easily assume the habits of the world and practice their evil works. We so easily let the world set our styles and determine our behavior...

Saul in Michmash with his three thousand strong and valiant men now realized that he instantly must bestir himself or suffer the loss of all his prestige. Thus now he was compelled to act by the concurrence of circumstances. The choice was no longer his. So “he blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear,” hear the summons to rally about their king in Gilgal for war with the Philistines. The people responded to that call not under the impulse of faith but because they concluded that it was their only hope of survival as a...

So have the people of Israel, as admonished by Samuel and terrified by the Lord’s thunder, finally confessed their great sin of asking that a king be set over them. Concluding that they were about to be consumed by God’s anger, they cried to Samuel beseeching him that he pray for them that they die not. The seer told them that they had nothing to fear if only they would serve the Lord with all their hearts. Samuel having’ finished his discourse to the people, Saul now came forward. He chose him three thousand men of Israel and this for...

In our last article under the above caption we were occupied with Article 31 in connection with the doctor’s interpretation of it. Let us get the article before us once more: “If anyone complain that he has been wronged by the decision of a minor assembly, he shall have the right to appeal to a major ecclesiastical assembly, and whatever may be agreed upon by a majority vote shall be considered settled and binding, unless it be proved to conflict withe Word of God or with the articles’ of the Church Order, as long as they are not changed by...

Q. 59. But what doth it profit thee now that thou believest all this? A. That I am righteous before God, and an heir of eternal life. Q. 60. How art thou righteous before God? A. Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ; so that, though my conscience accuse me, that I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and am still inclined to all evil; notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ; even so,...

Our readers have, perhaps, been wondering why, in the last few numbers of The Standard Bearer, they found no continuation of the discussion by the Rev. L. Doekes of our “De Geloovigen en Hun Zaad.” If so, the answer is simple: in the last five or six issues of De Reformatie our brother in the old country did not continue his discussion. The reason for this delay we know not. As soon as he resumes his discussion we will publish it. In the meantime, “De Geloovigen en Hun Zaad” appears to have been read rather generally. It also has been...

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Phil. 1:3-5 Beautiful testimony! Every remembrance of you is that you are united in the fellowship of the gospel, and that, too, constantly, without fail, from the first day until now! Beautiful, and blessed, too, this testimony is all the more, because it was, to be sure, Paul, the prisoner in Rome, that thus expressed his appreciation of the spiritual well-being of his beloved church in...