Vol 45 Issue 05

Rev. H. Veldman, in a bulletin notice, asked his congregation to remember him in their prayers as he is confronted with the call to serve our church at South Holland, Ill. Redlands’ pastor, Rev. C. Hanko, has declined the call he had from our Hull church.

THE LITURGY of the Reformed Church in America Together with THE PSALTER, selected and arranged for responsive reading; Gerrit T. Vander Lugt, Editor; The Board of Education, 1968; 518 pp. 

But there is more to the subject of confessions for the proposed new church. Churches today want “new” and relevant confessions. The present instance is no exception. Although the proposed plan of union does not declare that a new confession shall be made—it does declare that an attempt shall be made to compose a new confession. Article 12 of their Covenant of Agreement states:

In the previous articles we have been discussing the work of missions in the old dispensation. The question was raised whether we can properly speak of missions before the new dispensation, that is, before Christ gave the great commission and poured out His Spirit upon the church. The church of the shadows was limited within the narrow confines of national Israel. Those who were converted from heathendom were, for the most part, brought into Israel as proselytes of the gate. The same still applies to the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The struggle for the maintenance of the truth goes on unabated in the history of the church of God throughout the ages. That the forces of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism should appear to hold the upper hand in this unceasing conflict need not surprise or discourage us. Indeed, should the opposite be true, then it would be time indeed for us to “sit up and take notice.” 

“And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;  And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 

THE NECESSITY OF A DIFFERENT PRIESTHOOD (Hebrews 7:11-14)—continued 

As the twig is bent the tree will grow; and as the child is trained the man will walk.  Therefore the twig must be securely tied in the position in which you would have it grow; and by the Word and by a rod the child must be kept in the way that the man should walk. 

You may recognize this heading as taken from the Scriptures. Maybe you even recall that it is part of Jesus’ summons to His disciples. In its entirety it reads, (Mark 16:31): “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” 

“But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  Galatians 4:4, 5