Vol 61 Issue 18

Rev. DeVries preached his farewell sermon at Southwest Church in Michigan the evening of May 26 and was installed in our Edgerton Church in Minnesota June 6th. Rev. R. Moore was installed in our Hull Church in Iowa the evening of May 26. Rev. Kamps led the church service. Since the time that Rev. Joostens declined the call to our Lynden Church in Washington, Lynden Church has formed a trio of Rev. R. Hanko, Rev. K. Koole, and Rev. G. Van Baren. Rev. C. Haak has declined the call to Southwest Church and Rev. D. Kuiper has asked for an...

We have been considering the reformers’ doctrine of Scripture and its interpretation. Rome taught that Scripture was a dark book which would not be understood by the ordinary believer. According to Rome, Scripture needed to be supplemented by the traditions of the church which served as an additional revelation alongside of Scripture. Moreover, Rome taught that only the hierarchy of the church, popes, and councils could explain that Word of God. The believer therefore might not draw his own interpretation and understanding out of the Word of God but must trust in the pronouncements of the church, even if they...

Chapter XXI The Mystery Of The Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9 THE SEVENTY YEARS AS PRESENTED IN THE “SEVENTY SEVENS”—Daniel 9:24ff. (continued) All attempts to “read into” this symbolical number definite chronological dates must needs fail. And they have. The Lord will keep the waiting saints in holy suspense until He will reveal the grand Gospel news to the aged Simeon that he will not see death until he has seen the Lord’s Christ—the Messiah (Luke 2:26)! Hence, we must not be tempted to outwit and outdo the Dispensational advocates in attempting to give a better and more plausible interpretation...

The fall of man into sin has had devastating consequences for marriage and the family. The most beautiful and blessed of all human relationships, that of husband and wife in marriage, was thoroughly corrupted and spoiled because of sin. The reason of this is that fallen man’s nature has become totally depraved, and this militates against all possibility for a happy and blessed marriage, the foundation of the family. Our Lord describes the great evil that proceeds from the depraved heart of man: “For from within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,...

Jesus said it. And we do well to give heed to it and remember it, if we would rightly understand the message in the book of Esther. What did He say that applies to this book? You will find it in Matthew 7:20where we read: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” In the verses preceding it He had spoken of entering into the kingdom by the strait gate and of being wary of false prophets. Already inMatt. 7:16 He had stated, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” And plainly...

The Impurity of Our Souls Signified According to the opening statement of the Baptism form there are three principal parts to the doctrine of holy baptism. A quick survey of the Baptism form reveals that these three principal parts of baptism follow the three-fold division of the Heidelberg Catechism: how great my sins and miseries are; how I am delivered from my sins and miseries; how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance. The first principal part of the doctrine of baptism is “that we with our children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore are...

In this series we are studying I Corinthians 9:19-23. This passage, we believe, has a good deal to teach concerning the proper attitude and conduct of a faithful missionary of the gospel. In the previous two articles we treated I Corinthians 9:19-20. The entire passage reads: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under...

Debate on Christ’s Resurrection The Christian News, April 15, 1985, reports on a debate in England within the Church of England in which one of its Bishops, Right Rev. David Jenkins, allegedly casts doubt on the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The article states: Bishop Wood, . . . an evangelical, says he believes his brother bishop to be a hind and academic man, “but, nevertheless, I believe he should not be a bishop in the Church of England.”  He says Bishop Jenkins should return to his academic life unless he could preach unreservedly this Eastertide that Christ was raised...

This year’s synod was off to an early start. On Monday evening the pre-synodical service, at which the Rev. David Engelsma (last year’s president) preached on Judges 6:11-17, was held; and on Tuesday morning Synod of 1985 began. Tuesday was devoted to organization, which includes the election of officers (Rev. J. Kortering, president; Rev. G. Van Baren, vice president; Rev. J. Slopsema, first clerk; and Rev. C. Haak, second clerk) and the appointment of advisory committees. The latter spent the rest of Tuesday preparing advice to steer Synod in its deliberations. For the next three days Synod alternated between the advice...

“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” Romans 8:33, 34 In the context, the Lord has chosen a people from before the foundation of the world. And these people rejoice in the midst of the world because of wonderful things. We hear them say that all things work together for good. And this: God will grant us all things for sake of His Son, for “he that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all...