Vol 57 Issue 12

Dear Timothy, The emotions of man have always been hard to understand. This is not because we are not familiar with them for we experience our own emotions every moment of our life. But (and this is true of all those things which are most familiar to us), although we know them so well from personal experience, when we try to describe what they are and understand them somewhat, then we run into all kinds of trouble. 

While our Pella and our Hope, Michigan churches rejoice in the recent installations of their’ new pastors, Reverends Lanting and Flikkema respectively, our Redlands congregation has extended another call, this one to Rev. Koole, who currently serves in our church of Randolph, Wisconsin. 

COMMENTARY ON ROMANS, Chapters 1-8, William Hendriksen; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; 303 pp., $14.95 (cloth). (Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema.) This is one of Dr. Hendriksen’s series of New Testament Commentaries. Like others of the series, it is, generally speaking, a conservative, reliable, and helpful commentary. It is also written for the general public, that is, in such a way that references to the Greek do not interfere with its use by those who do not know the Greek language. 

The Gospel of Luke spells out in greater detail the life and ministry of Jesus Christ than any of the other Gospels. The author, Luke, the beloved physician, also wrote the book of Acts. Hence his interest in a historically accurate account of the ministry of Jesus extended also to an account of the establishment of the New Testament church. In a real sense he is the inspired historian of the early church. 

The story you are about to read is a story of the sovereign leading by God of a people which were once not a people but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. We invite you to walk with us through our pathway, one with many narrow corridors of strife and purging, to the present, and experience with us the grace of God to His Church. Many there were who walked in our band and left; many there were who had sharp disagreements with the path taken; and many were the...

(Westminster Confession)

. In this particular article I will reply to two separate letters that the undersigned received with respect to two articles that I wrote last fall in the November 1 and December 15 issues of the Standard Bearer entitled “Choosing At The Becoming Of Age” and “The Choice Of Faith.” In order that the reader may see the complete picture and benefit from this exchange I will quote these letters insofar as they pertain to the subject.  The first letter reads as follows:

. For centuries the Church of Christ has heeded the admonition of the apostle Peter in I Peter 4:7: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” No doubt many an Old Year’s sermon has been preached on this passage. We today also hear its warning and prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord. We consider the events which take place in the world about us and quickly arrange them in their proper perspective.

. Before turning to a discussion of the Report itself, I must relate a significant exchange of letters between the official Information Service of the GKN andWaarheid en Eenheid, the paper which, as I reported earlier, published the entire Report on the Nature of the Authority of Scripture. This exchange of letters was published on the front page of the January 30 issue ofW & E. It must be remembered that originally this same Information Service had sent the report to broadcasters and press with only the restriction that it not be published before the end of October.

. Singaporean Guest Article In this issue you will find a very interesting account of the history of the G.L.T.S. by a member of the Executive Committee of that organization, Francis Quek. (His full name is Francis Quek Kok How. By the way, the Francis is a Christian name, such as many of the young people add to their Chinese names. But do not be misled by the “Kok”. That has no connection with the Dutch name Koh.) The article was originally intended for our Mission Issue.