All Articles For Vol 80 Issue 05 12/1/2003

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Signs of the Times We read, somewhat casually, the book of Revelation. The events mentioned there seem remote from our present time and our current experience. There is presented the opening of the seals (Rev. 6), the sounding of the trumpets (Rev. 8), and the pouring out of the vials (Rev. 16). The seals present the average destructive forces that affect the earth (1/4 of the earth is touched). The trumpets represent an increase over that average to 1/3. The vials portray the final destruction of all things on...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not…”  Psalm 71:18 One thing about life is certain: we all must die. Every single day brings each of us one step closer to the grave. None is immortal, although the great ones of Greece sought by epic and philosophy to cross the River Styx and achieve immortality, and Ponce de Leon scoured the New World for that elusive Fountain of Youth. Today, as well, scientists hunch over their lab dishes in the...

Still More on Lying In the April 15, 2003 issue of the Standard Bearer Rev. Garrett Eriks’ article, “God’s Hatred of Lying,” raises some interesting questions. For example, Eriks says, “… a murderer may be caught with a smoking gun at the crime scene with a motive for the murder. He knows he committed the crime. But when he is asked in court what he pleads, he responds ‘not guilty.'” Eriks calls this lying. But had the defendant pleaded guilty, he would have forfeited any right to counsel, and to a trial by a jury of his peers, rights that...

Before the fiftieth anniversary year of the great schism in the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) passes, reflection on the doctrinal issue that occasioned the split is in order. Earlier editorials called for a denomination-wide remembrance of the schism, informed readers of a fine, new resource for study of the schism, and demonstrated that the dividing of the PRC was indeed schism on the part of the faction that left the PRC (Standard Bearer, April 15, May 1, and May 15, 2003). The controversy that rocked the PRC in the late 1940s and early 1950s culminating in the schism of 1953...

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities Our denomination’s missionary in Pittsburgh, PA, Rev. J. Mahtani, reported recently to the members of the fellowship there of his and Rev. D. Overway’s labors in Allentown this fall. There continues to be good progress made in that work. They had ten at a recent Friday evening Bible study, twelve at the first worship service the following Lord’s Day, and eight at the second service. These numbers are small, but Rev. Mahtani reminded the mission in Pittsburgh how few they themselves had had when they...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Randolph, Wisconsin. Deacons in Reformed churches are often expected to perform various duties. The most obvious to the members of the church is that they take all the collections and they care for the financial affairs of the church. As a result, one of the deacons is often made the bookkeeper of the church, and it falls to the deacons to prepare a budget for the coming year. Perhaps they are asked to perform other duties as well, for example, organizing events such as church picnics or serving as the...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Lynden, Washington. Introduction The prophecy of Haggai, though little known, is a book of enormous value, not only as a record of God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament, but also as a reminder of God’s regard for and faithful care of His church in the New Testament. The book of Haggai is a book about the church, about the calling that every member of the church has within the church, and about God’s faithfulness to His church. It is, therefore, a book that very much needs to...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. *In the previous installment of this sermon (Nov. 15, 2003) we answered the question, “To whom must the truth be committed?” In this installment we answer two questions. The first is, “What must be committed to these men?” The second is, “How is it possible to commit the truth to these men?” Committing what To these faithful men who are able to teach others, the truth must be committed. The text says, “the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses … commit thou to faithful...

*Recently, I discovered this article in my files as an old, yellowed manuscript. How and where I got it, I do not know. The manuscript bears the title under which we publish the article, “The Covenant Concept.” In addition, the manuscript states that the article was “dictated by Herman Hoeksema in 1943.” The date is important. In 1943, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands were debating the doctrine of the covenant. By this article, which undoubtedly circulated among the ministers in the Protestant Reformed Churches, if not also among the people, Hoeksema carefully and clearly laid out the Protestant Reformed...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” ii Psalm 55:22David wrote this psalm because he experienced a great difficulty. He calls it a burden. The weight of this difficult problem was extremely heavy. Every child of God knows the heaviness of trials and problems. In addition, the burden of sin can be very heavy. Every sheep of the Shepherd walks through the valley of the shadow of death. Every disciple of Jesus Christ is required...