All Articles For Vol 82 Issue 19 8/1/2006

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregation Activities Members of the Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI were invited to take a moment before a recent Sunday morning worship service to look at a copy of the 1793 edition of the Liturgical Form for Baptism displayed in their narthex. This 1793 edition was the first translation of that form from Dutch into English, and members of Georgetown could see that the form and questions asked on the occasion of baptism in our churches were identical to the form and questions that have been in...

Rev. Eriks is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Contentment is the gift of God’s grace whereby we submit to and delight in God’s will for us. It is to accept joyfully God’s way with us. In His Word, God commands us to be content with what we have. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The apostle Paul reminds us of our calling to be content in I Timothy 6:6: “But godliness with contentment is great...

Reprinted from When Thou Sittest In Thine House, by Abraham Kuyper, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1929. Used by permission of Eerdmans Publishing Co. Giving of Name The newborn child is by no means alone in getting a name. On the contrary, there is a need to call everything that we severally desire to indicate, by a name of its own. God the Lord Himself set the pace in calling inanimate things also by a name. “And God,” so we read in the majestic document of creation, “called the light day, and the darkness he called night.” In the...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. Previous article in this series: May 1, 2006, p. 345. There are centrally two errors taught concerning the sacraments: the error of denying that the sacraments are means of grace, and the error of teaching that everyone who receives the sacraments receives grace. The second error amounts to teaching either that the sign becomes the grace of God or that God’s grace and the sign are inseparably connected. Either way, the result is that everyone who receives the sign receives also the grace. Roman Catholics and Lutherans are...

Rev. denHartog is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. Previous article in this series: February 15, 2006, p. 232. It was a dramatic moment for Paul. He was brought to the Areopagus, a famous Greek arena, a place where the great men of the world would give their lectures for the debate and discussion of those interested. He stood before a large audience, including philosophers and teachers and learned men, the great and wise of the world. There he stood in the providence of God. He was an apostle by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ,...

Prof. Engelsma is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: July 2006, p. 420. The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (“liberated”) The most precipitous and dramatic falling away from the faith of “The Three Forms of Unity” is that of the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (“vrijgemaakt”) (Reformed Churches in the Netherlands [“liberated”]). This is the denomination that separated from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN, “synodical” churches) in the early 1940s under the leadership of Dr. K. Schilder. It was the conditional covenant theology of these churches, embraced and preached by...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. Previous article in this series: May 1, 2006, p. 343. The Third Disputation: Chapter 2:10-16 10. Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenants of our fathers. This first verse of the third disputation seems to have little connection either with what precedes or with what follows, but is in fact an important introduction to the new third section of the prophecy. It is, though one of the most difficult...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan and a member of the DMC. On June 17, 2006 First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, through a council appointed committee (AIM—Active in Missions), hosted a full-day program that they called “Mission Awareness Day.” The program’s goal was to promote the mission work and evangelism efforts of the PRC and to encourage mission mindedness among our people. The activities of the day began with devotions at 10:00 A.M. in the sanctuary of First PRC. After Rev. Slopsema, pastor of First, led in devotions, the group of around...

In earlier issues of this volume year we dealt with the error of the free offer (cf. Nov. 1, Nov. 15, and Dec. 1, 2005 issues). We refuted the charge of the promoters of the free offer that opposing the teaching that God loves everyone (including even those whom He hates from all eternity) makes one a Hyper-Calvinist—as if opposing the free offer and ‘God desires the salvation of everyone’ makes one ‘Hyper’ per se.

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church in Byron Center, Michigan. “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:17-19 We who are saved by grace alone through faith alone without any works are called to live in a way that harmonizes with this salvation. Instead of being “conformed...