Vol 90 Issue 12

Sister-Church Activities The Covenant Keepers (young people) and Covenant Keepers Seniors (young adults) of our sister church in Singapore, the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church, celebrated their anniversaries on January 25. It was fourteen years for Covenant Keepers and six years for Covenant Keepers Seniors. The celebration began with the singing of some Psalter numbers, and an exhortation by Elder Felix Chan based on Romans 11:36-12:2, in which he spoke of using everything in this life to serve Christ. This was followed by an address by one of the young people, Marcus Wee. Fol­lowing that, there was a welcoming of new...

I think the right method of preaching is this. At our first beginning to preach at any place, after a general declara­tion of the love of God to sinners and his willingness that they should be saved, to preach the law in the stron­gest, the closest, and the most searching manner possible; only intermixng the gospel here and there, and shewing it, as it were, afar off…. I mean by preaching the gospel, preaching the love of God to sinners, preaching the life, death, resurrection, and intercession of Christ, with all the blessings which in consequence thereof are freely given...

“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God.” Genesis 28:20, 21 What is the meaning of God’s everlasting cov­enant of grace and what is its significance for you? The covenant has its meaning and significance for your parents and for your church. Your parents belong to the people of God. They believe in Him, and through faith...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2014, p. 211. If God has chosen to save only some, and if He regen­erates these people without their seeking it, what is the purpose of preaching the gospel to all men? Many professing Christians ask this question. It is common to hear them ask it when they hear the truth that God desires to save only some people. That doctrine does not fit with their view of the content of the gospel and the purpose of the preaching. In other words, the question these people ask serves to bring out an important...

Previous article in this series: March 1, 2014, p. 256. In this article we continue to examine one of the paragraphs of the preamble to the constitution of the Domestic Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches. That paragraph reads: We believe that this missionary activity includes the work of church extension and church reformation, as well as the task of carrying out the Gospel to the unchurched and heathen. However, we are convinced that our present duty lies primarily in the field of church extension and church reformation (1942 Acts of Synod, p. 26). In our last two articles...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2014, p. 201. Introduction The Moral Law of God is permanent and therefore useful for the church in the New Testament age. It re­veals the holy character of God in its demands. It drives us to the cross of Christ for forgiveness. This Law also leads us into obedience, freed as we are by the gospel of Jesus Christ to take up our part in the covenant as friend-servants. The Law and the Worship Service The Law can and ought to be used those ways in the worship service of the church. The...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2014, p. 199. Introduction Contrary to the overconfident declaration of the previ­ous article in this series, that my treatment of postmillen­nialism was ended, I find that several additional articles are required to complete a thorough treatment of the false doctrine. A biblical, creedally Reformed critique of postmil­lennialism has pastoral purposes. It intends to warn Reformed Christians off from this error. It desires to deliver Reformed saints who have been deceived by the false doctrine. For the realization of these purposes, it is not enough to demonstrate that postmillennialism is unbiblical and opposed to...

Previous article in this series: March 1, 2014, p. 245. Churches of the Reforma­tion have been zealous for Christian schools, endors­ing, promoting, preaching, sup­porting them in any way possible. Those churches also steadfastly in­sisted that Christian schools are the responsibility of parents. This was the oft repeated teaching of Luther, Calvin, Knox, and the churches in the Netherlands. However, circum­stances necessitated that the state be heavily involved in financing the schools, and that the churches supervise the teachers and their instruction. That was the pattern established in Luther’s Germany, in Calvin’s Geneva, in Scotland, and in the Netherlands. History demonstrated...

The April 1, 2014 issue of the Standard Bearer will be a special issue on the Reformed tradition of singing the Psalms. The issue will include a history of Psalm-singing and will present various Reformed traditions of Psalm-singing. One article is devoted to singing the imprecatory Psalms. And we will examine how the 1912 Psalter might be improved. All this and more, coming in the next issue, D.V. —RJD

“…exhort…shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” Titus 2:7, 8 Paul has noted frequently in his instructions to Titus that the acknowledging of the truth is to be accompanied with godliness. Faith and acknowl­edging of the truth “is after (accords with, is in harmony with) godliness” (Titus 1:1). He commands Titus to speak “the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). This must be the case because Jesus Christ...