Vol 77 Issue 11

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Evangelism Activities   On Friday evening, January 26, and again on Saturday morning, January 27, the Evangelism Committee of the First PRC in Holland, MI sponsored their Third Annual Reformed Bible Conference. This year’s conference looked at Pentecostalism and asked the question whether it is a “Spirit-Filled Blessing or a Dangerous Heresy?” Prof. D. Engelsma spoke on Friday evening under the theme, “Pentecostalism—Its Identity, History, and Influence.” He was followed the next morning by Rev. W. Bruinsma, pastor of the Kalamazoo, MI PRC, speaking on the subject,...

Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Reformed minister-on-loan to Singapore. Recently I was walking towards the bus-stop when a young man who lives across the street from us pulled up to me on his bicycle and began to chat. “I understand you are a pastor,” he said. I affirmed the accuracy of his information. He continued, “I would like to come and join your church.” That got my attention, though I felt a bit uncomfortable with his calling FERC my church. “And why do you want to join my church,” I interjected. “How many baptisms did you have last year?” he...

Miss Lubbers is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This article, one in a series of articles that began November 15, 1998, continues the examination of the critique by Rev. George M. Ophoff and Rev. Herman Hoeksema of six Specific Principles that were adopted in 1925 by the Christian School Union. The Christian School Union was later known as the national Union of Christian Schools (NUCS) and is currently denominated the Christian Schools International (CSI). The critique was contained in articles that were written for the Standard Bearer by G.M. Ophoff in 1926 and by...

Homer Hoeksema was professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. God’s Judgment with Regard to His Dealings with Man A second, closely connected, statement of Genesis 6 is the one in verse 3, concerning the Lord’s dealings with man in the prediluvian period. What is the meaning of this striving of God’s Spirit with man? There is an interpretation of this expression which holds that there is a nonsaving and nonregenerating operation of the Holy Spirit whereby sin is graciously restrained in man, so that he is not as depraved as he might possibly be and so that...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. By the time you read this article, most of our Protestant Reformed Churches will have again installed new deacons for the year. For two or three years these men, believing themselves to have been called of God Himself to their office, will devote themselves to the work of administering the mercies of Christ to the poor and needy. A weighty calling! The question is: what kind of men have been put into this office? Councils and congregations, what kind of men did you nominate and elect? Deacons,...

I have read your editorial, “Shall We Please God or (Certain Kinds of) People?—or, the Regulative Principle of Worship (4)” (Standard Bearer, Vol. 77, No. 3, November 1, 2000). If I am not mistaken, the general thrust of your editorial seems to be that the Second Commandment (i.e., The Regulative Principle of Worship) does not require that the church sing the Psalms of the Old Testament exclusively in her worship. However, even though the Second Commandment does not require exclusive Psalmody, the Synod of Dordt, the Protestant Reformed Churches, and all who truly stand in the tradition of the Dutch...

The position that the seeming good works of the ungodly are glittering vices was that of the Reformers and of Augustine before them. In his attack on the gospel of the Reformation, Erasmus argued for the free will of the sinner, upon which salvation must depend. In support of free will, Erasmus asserted that there is some good still in unregenerated men, some ability for good, and the actual performance of works that are good. These are Erasmus’ words: “Not every energy in man is [sinful] flesh.

If the seeming good of the unregenerated is not the fruit of a gracious operation of the Holy Spirit within them, as the previous editorial argued it is not, how must this seeming good be judged? What must the Reformed church say of the works of unbelievers that glitter with the apparent glory of righteousness; mercy; love for family, neighbor, and country; and goodness? That there are such works is undeniable. Defenders of the teaching of the third point of common grace adopted by the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in 1924 appeal to these works in defense of the teaching....

Rev. Miersma is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 The words of Christ here in the text are very familiar to us. We know them well. However, they just do not seem to be correct. The earth appears to be possessed by the bold and proud. In recent years the world has progressed very rapidly in all areas of learning. It would appear that the only way anything gets accomplished is for man to take things into his own hands. Certainly no room for...