Of the calls Rev. Flikkema has received as reported in our last issue, he has accepted the call of our Hope congregation of Walker, Michigan. As a result there will be no need for many of the classical appointments listed in the accompanying Report of Classis East.  From a Kalamazoo bulletin we learn that Rev. Woudenberg, Rev. Van Overloop, and Rev. Bekkering gathered in Houston, Texas during the week of January 25 for a “study session on proper Reformed methods of doing church extension work.” 

Classis East met in regular session on January 14th and 15th at the Hudsonville Prot. Ref. Church. Each church was represented by two delegates, except on the second day when Kalamazoo had but one delegate. A special welcome was given to Rev. R. Miersma who, as pastor of Holland, attended Classis as a delegate for the first time. 

Of our Saviour it is prophetically stated in Psalm 69:4, “They that hated me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.” These are the words of David, and they do describe correctly the situation in his life. In the day of shadows, and long before Christ appeared in our flesh, what He would endure was typically endured by those of His children who in special measures represented Him.

In Matthew 24, the classic chapter concerning Christ’s return and the signs which forewarn the child of God concerning that return, Jesus explained to His disciples the sign of wars and rumors of wars. In verses 6-8 we read the following, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. . . .

One cannot help but be amazed at all the work which Jesus did while upon earth. Some details of these three years are compressed in the sixteen chapters of Mark. As the Servant of Jehovah He worked day and night. How humanly touching are the words of Mark 6:31, “Come ye yourselves apart in the desert place and rest awhile.” The disciples could hardly keep up. 

On occasion our readers submit material to theStandard Bearer or its individual writers which they consider of interest and perhaps usable in a rubric. (We deeply appreciate this.) One such article I received some time ago from a reader in Randolph, Wisc. He presented a quotation from Science Digest, Jan./Feb. 1981. The quote indicates the degree of confusion on the part of men who maintain the evolutionary theory yet can not reconcile acknowledged difficulties. These men appear to admit that on the basis of their theories, there ought to be no universe at all!

A reader sent in the following question:  May we as Christians and as Protestant Reformed people support the National Right to Work Committee?  The questioner included some material about this committee. In the meantime, I have also written for information in regard to their various activities. From all that I have read it is evident that they are working hard to oppose the unions, which prevent many of our members from finding work, especially in certain areas. They speak of:

I was asked to write an article on the topic of the liberty of the Christian conscience. I will attempt to do this, although I am not sure the following will quite be what the brother had in mind when he chose this topic for an article in this publication. In writing upon this topic we will stay very close to the Scripture’s account of our topic. We will attempt to set forth the principles of the Scripture as they address our topic.

From all that we have gleaned out of Scripture and our Reformed Confessions it ought to be obvious that the sole foundation of Missions has to be God’s eternal good pleasure in Christ. It pleases God to save His elect Church in Jesus Christ. It pleases God to manifest His immeasurable glory in that Church in Christ in the New Creation. It pleases God to gather these elect out of every nation into that multitude which no man can number (Rev. 7:9ff.).

(In the last paragraph Kuyper has begun chapter 3 of this pamphlet which deals with the deformation of the church. Kuyper introduced this general subject with a discussion of various kinds of imperfect churches: mission churches, churches under persecution, and aggrieved churches.)  37. How the Deformation Of the Churches Is To Be Explained