Vol 66 Issue 09

Mr. Sugg is a ruling elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Houston, Texas. Is it possible that even a great multitude of God’s people now living are guilty of real and damnable suicide, a suicide within their own hearts? How many of us are guilty, and how often are we guilty of this insidious destruction of our own living persons? Is suicide not only physical destruction, but also an inward resentment against some aspect, or the whole of one’s own person, whom God made? At this point a highly-placed churchman impressively steps forward and, diverting our thoughts for a...

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregational Highlights The Choral Society of the Faith P.R.C. in Jenison, MI presented a Candlelight Christmas Concert after their evening service on Christmas Eve, December 24. Please correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first time that I can remember any of our choral groups presenting a candlelight concert. And what a wonderful concert that was. What a great way to begin the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior the following day. On December 20 the Choral Society of the Lynden...

January 10, 1990 Hope Protestant Reformed Church Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 10, 1990 at the Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Grand Rapids. Each church was represented by two delegates. Rev. G. Van Baren served as chairman of this session. Present at this session, at least for a short time, was the church history class of Covenant Christian High School. Reports were received from the stated clerk, the classical committee, and from the church visitors. The only churches visited this past year were Norristown and Covenant. The report regarding these visits were treated in closed session and...

Mr. De Jong is a confessing member of the Protestant Reformed Church in South Holland, IL. He is a law-student of Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN.

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. No, we cannot know the day and the hour that Jesus is coming again to make all things new. We can’t know when He will return to take the church to glory. We may not try to determine the day or even the year. But, you say, if we cannot pinpoint the time the Lord will come, is there any profit in studying about those days, and even asking how close they are? Definitely, yes! It’s not for nothing that the Bible gives us information about the...

Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. The Vision of the Throne of God in the Temple “In the year that Uzziah died I saw the Lord (Adonai) upon the throne, high and lifted up, and his train (skirts) filled the temple.” It is of utmost importance for a correct interpretation of this beautiful chapter to notice that we are here dealing with a divine theophany, which Isaiah saw at a very critical point in the history of the coming of the Son of God to save all His people from their sins. God appeared here...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Norristown, Pennsylvania. The name of the Covenant Reformed Fellowship is not new to the readers of The Standard Bearer. Synod of 1988 decided to send a delegation to Larne to help the saints there. Rev. Kamps and Prof. Engelsma went and the report of their visit is found in the December 15, 1988 issue. It gives a brief history of the fellowship, and details of the visits and work of the delegates. Synod also decided to instruct the Committee for Contact “to secure the labors of one of our ministers to...

Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. In Philippians 1:12-26 the apostle Paul writes concerning his own situation. Most letter writers, understandably, will first tell about their own circumstances. Paul’s concern, of course, is not to gain sympathy from the readers nor even merely to inform them concerning himself. Paul understood that the church of Philippi was worried about him—but even more so, they were concerned about the church of Christ which seemed to need Paul and his labors in their midst. Paul had been imprisoned now for almost four years: two years in Caesarea and two...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. One of our Bible Study groups asks in connection withI Peter 2:11-17, “When must we obey God rather than man? In which area of life may this principle be used?” In the passage of Peter’s epistle referred to above, Scripture is pointing to our calling as Christian pilgrims in regard to the magistrate, emphasizing our duty to “submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” The Word of God goes on to say that this includes every form of government and authority placed over us, whether...

The SB on Cassette On page 100 under the head “Editorially Speaking . . .” you have an article about the Standard Bearer on cassette tape. The Christian Observer is interested in doing an article about that. Would you be kind enough to send it or to ask one of the other editors to do so. We have many readers with vision problems. Personally, we would like to be on the list of those who receive the tapes; for my husband, Edwin Elliott, Sr. is legally blind. We find it difficult to get material for the blind which is worth very much so we...