Vol 27 Issue 20

  IN SESSION, JULY 11, 1951 at HOLLAND, MICHIGAN The opening exercises were conducted by Rev. B. Kok. After the singing of Psalter No. 88 he reads II Tim. 2 and leads in prayer. The credentials are read and reveal that Chatham is represented only by the pastor, the rest of the churches are represented by two delegates. Classis being declared constituted, Rev. H.H. Kuiper, according to rotation, is called upon to preside. He speaks a few words of welcome to the delegates. A few delegates who are present for the first time sign the Formula of Subscription. The minutes...

Dear Friend: In 1950 an appeal was sent to members of our congregations; this appeal was to determine whether our people would be willing to assume the financial obligations of three former Episcopalian ministers and their families over a period of three years. During this period these men intend to devote their time attending our Protestant Reformed Seminary. Through God’s grace, which doth work in us to will and to do, our people have responded and with the help of the ministers doing part time work the past year has been successful. During this time the congregations in the vicinity...

Dear Editor: Would you please give light on the following questions? Is it showing love of parents, brothers and sisters, to attend the wedding of a son or a daughter who after several admonitions marries away from the Protestant Reformed Churches into an Arminian, not even a so-called Reformed Church? Is it sin for the party that marries away? And is it loving brother or sister above God for the ones that congratulate such a party after the ceremony? signed N. N. ANSWER: The Editor referred this question to the undersigned, since he lacked the time prior to his vacation,...

A bit early? Yes, as this is being written it is the middle of July. The mercury hovers around the 90-degree mark. And almost no one,—at least of all the children,— thinks of school yet, with the exception, perhaps, of some board members and teachers who will be charged with opening the school doors at the proper time. Yet, when this appears in our Standard Bearer, it will be August. And August is generally the month for enrollment with a view to the opening of the schools themselves in September. And because when you enroll your children you take a...

The beautiful and well-known passage of Matt. 5:3 reads as follows: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In our exposition of this passage it may be well to remember, what the fathers of Dordtrecht write, when speaking of the various degrees and different measures in which the elect of God arrive at the certainty of their election. Our Fathers emphasize that we do not arrive at this certainty by curiously prying into the secret things of God, but rather that we arrive at such certainty by observing in ourselves with spiritual joy and...

Calvin’s second labors in Geneva. His first act after his return was to demand of the Council that it approve and adopt a Church Order setting forth and calling for the introduction of a “Reformed Church Polity or Government”. The Council did so. Calvin’s plan of Church Order was taken directly from the Scriptures, definitely from the New Testament. It provided four orders of men for the instruction and government of the Church—the pastor, the doctor, the elder or presbyter, and the deacon. According to the Church Order proposed by Calvin, the ministers of the Gospel and the elders form...

THE SECOND DAY Genesis 1:6-8 We quote: “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” Immediately an interesting question confronts us here We will first state the question as such. On the one hand, did the Lord upon the second day of creation-week for the first time make separation between the heavens and the earth,...

Continuing with our answer of the article which appeared in the “Gereformeerd Gezinsblad” during the month of February of this year, we repeat what we wrote in our article of the July issue, that we will not reflect upon all the matters which appear in that article. The article, e.g., discusses the decision of the June 5, 1950, consistory meeting in connection with the acceptance of members, which decision was endorsed by the October, 1950, Classical meeting of Classis East. We surely need not enter again into these matters which have been mentioned again and again. However, before we discuss...