Vol 61 Issue 03

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). Byron Center Church was privileged, on October 14, with the public confession of faith of Lori Holstege. Lori, as many of you know, is a twenty-two year old deaf-mute. Rev. Gritters preached Romans 10:10 on “Confession of Faith.” Two years ago Mrs.

Another year of printing The Standard Bearer has come to an end, and once more our songs of joy and praise ring out. For sixty years now our Covenant God and Father has in His rich mercy given us as Protestant Reformed people the privilege of sounding forth His truth in the printed page. He has not only given this glorious heritage to our grandfathers and fathers, but also to us, their sons and daughters. We have been given a tremendous blessing, but also a great responsibility to remain faithful to His Word.

In Ezekiel 23 we find two names of women given to the two nations in Canaan. According to this word of God, Aholah represents Samaria or the ten tribes of the north, and Aholibah represents Judah. The prophecy concerning Aholah and Aholibah contains for us today much needed instruction, as well as a warning which should serve to bring us to repentance and watchfulness.

In previous articles we have been examining the Ten Commandments from this viewpoint, that in the Commandments God reveals Himself to His people in all His glory. The Commandments, therefore, are not mere arbitrary precepts for our life, but a ten-fold (and therefore complete) lesson in God’s perfections and in our calling to be perfect us He is perfect (Matt. 5:48).

Preaching may be defined as “the authoritative proclamation of the gospel by the church in the service of the Word of God through Christ” (Herman Hoeksema, Reformed Dogmatics, p. 637). Missions may be defined as that work of God in Christ by which, through the official ministry of the Word by the church, He gathers His elect in the new dispensation out of all nations of the world, both Jew and Gentile, with a view to the realization of the manifestation of His glory in the New Heavens and Earth.

In our study of the history of the doctrine of Scripture, the name of John Wycliffe (1330-1384) deserves a special place. An Englishman, well educated and trained, an Oxford professor, pastor and teacher, Wycliffe set forth in clear form the fundamental principles of the Reformed doctrine of Scripture more than one hundred years before the commencement of the Reformation. The first full English translation of the Bible is associated with his name as well. He truly deserves the designation, pre-reformer.

Esther agreed to come before the king to plead for the lives of her people, after Mordecai showed her that really she had no choice. If she did not go in to plead for her people, she would die, even though she was in the house of the king. The decree Haman got enacted was that every Jew must be killed. And the law of the Medes and the Persians altereth no, Esther 1:19 and Esther 8:8.

(Kuyper is discussing the marks of the true and false church so that those who are called to engage in church reformation may be able to recognize the difference. He has criticized the view of those who hold to a pure-church ideal and who make the holiness of individual members a mark of the true church.)

Since 1977 our domestic mission committee has been made up of members of Classis West in the Hull-Doon-Edgerton area as well as members of Classis East in the Grand Rapids area. This year the membership consists of EAST: Rev. R. Flikkema, Rev. J. Kortering, Rev. R. Miersma, Rev. B. Woudenberg, Mr. G. Feenstra, Mr. J. Kalsbeek, Sr., and Mr. C. Kregel; WEST: Rev. M. Kamps, Rev. J. Smith, Mr. H. Hoekstra, Mr. A. Kooiker, and Mr. E. Van Ginkel.

From two or three different sources in recent months I have been asked for advice about the subject of admitting guests to the communion table in our churches. The subject is not that of admitting guests from sister congregations in our denomination. That, it seems to me, is not a very difficult question.