Vol 75 Issue 11

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Evangelism Activities We received the following from the Evangelism Committee of the Southwest PRC in Grandville, MI and decided it was worth passing along for your consideration. “Did you get behind in your Standard Bearer reading during late December/early January and miss the offer to write for the cassette recording of a fireside chat given by Rev. Cornelius Hanko? Before a good-sized crowd at the fall meeting of the Eastern Men’s and Ladies’ League, September 22, 1998, Rev. Hanko spoke from his long experience with family devotions,...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. 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. Matthew 24:6 Ever since the fall of our first parents in Paradise, the world has been at war. The disobedience of Adam and Eve and their alliance with Satan by eating of the forbidden tree already created between the two of them a strained relationship which could only be healed by grace. God had put enmity between the seed of...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

The late Homer Hoeksema was professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Once more it must be emphasized that a clear understanding of the character of Cain’s sin is essential. What took place when Cain killed his brother Abel? Was it a mere murder — homicide, or even fratricide? That would bring the narrative wholly in the sphere of the merely natural. It would rule out the specific scriptural element. The Word of God does not deal with mere murders. It treats of the history of God’s kingdom and covenant and thus of the battle...

Rev. denHartog is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. Some time ago we wrote an article for this department reflecting on what our Reformed confessions say regarding the return of the Lord. It was our intention at that time to write a second article on the above named subject as a follow-up. We believe that the perspective of the Reformed confessions (especially the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession) on the return of the Lord is hardly ever heard in the church world today. The Reformed confessions focus on the truth that Jesus will return for judgment....

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. He giveth snow like wool….” Psalm 147:16 I love snow. I love its texture, its freshness, its coldness, and its symbolism. I love the pristine whiteness of new-fallen snow, its dazzling brightness chiseling little dagger points into my eyes, the kind of snow that we experienced last month in the Midwest. And while others button up their coat collars ever more securely and shield their faces with the warmest of woolen mufflers, I love the gentle touch, or biting sting, of snowflakes on my...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. We continue our discussion of the elders’ calling to visit the sick by considering how the elders ought to conduct the sick call in specific instances. When the elder must call on a parishioner who is about to submit to major surgery, he ought to visit the person before the surgery takes place. The elder can make this call either the night before the day of the surgery or he can visit the person an hour or so before the surgery is scheduled to take place. There is...

Could Christ Sin? In the article “Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (1)” (Standard Bearer, Jan. 1, 1999), Prof. Hanko states that it is an error to believe that “the temptations of Christ were real only because Christ could have fallen into sin.” My question is this: If Christ in His manhood, in His humanity, while He was walking around on earth could not have sinned when Satan tempted Him, how was His perfect obedience to God the Father worth anything, except that He was some kind of robot? I believe that Christ was sinless (He did not sin) and...

In the editorial of February 1, 1999, I described ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) as a uniting of evangelicals and Roman Catholics for fellowship and cooperation in the gospel. The purpose of this influential movement is threefold: to fight the “culture war”; to evangelize the lost; and to realize the oneness of the church. Demonstrating from Scripture that justification is central to the gospel of the glory and grace of God, the editorial charged that ECT compromises, and thus loses, the biblical doctrine of justification as confessed by the Reformation. A more serious charge could not be imagined. This raises...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1 No condemnation! The apostle Paul has shown us earlier in this epistle that since the fall of Adam in Paradise the whole human race is under condemnation. That is true of those who are not under the gospel preaching. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of all who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For when they know...