Vol 93 Issue 18

Trivia Question Once upon a time there was a Protestant Reformed congregation whose members all lived in one U.S. State and their church building was in another State. Do you know what town they worshipped in? Answer later in this column. Denominational Activities Classis East noted with thanks the work of its former stated clerk, Mr. Jon Huisken, for his faithful labors over the past 40 years. The annual Synod of the PRC convened June 13 in Hudsonville, MI PRC. A large and weighty agenda was to be treated by the delegates. Seven students underwent examination, with all gaining synod’s...

Previous article in this series: March 15, 2017, p. 277. Introduction Public, corporate worship is a covenantal assembly in which God the Sovereign enters into a holy dialogue with His people at His command and under the government of His will. We have seen that God has commanded that the sacraments be used as a part of this dialogue. God speaks in the sacraments, and we respond. We have seen how our Reformed fathers captured this notion of the holy dialogue of worship in the Reformed Forms for Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We have seen that the unique way...

Lord’s Day 35 Question 96. What doth God require in the second commandment? Answer. That we in no wise represent God by images, nor worship Him in any other way than He has commanded in His Word. Question 97. Are images then not at all to be made? Answer. God neither can nor may be represented by any means. But as to creatures, though they may be represented, yet God forbids to make or have any resemblance of them either in order to worship them or to serve God by them. Question 98. But may not images be tolerated in...

I write in response to an article in Vol. 93, No. 14 of the Standard Bearer [April 15, 2017] by Rev. Kuiper entitled “Psalter Revision: Governing Principles (3) Text (cont.).” Depending on Synod 2017’s decision regarding the protest of a brother regarding the Psalter revision, this may become irrelevant, but I write regardless and will leave it to the discretion of the editor whether a response is warranted. First, I wish to comment positively. I appreciate Rev. Kuiper’s articles regarding the principles the committee is following with the Psalter revisions. Breaking the principles down and providing examples has been very...

I read with interest Rev. Jonathan Mahtani’s article in the May 15, 2017 Standard Bearer entitled, “Antinomianism: A Heresy Within.” I especially appreciated Rev. Mahtani’s urgent and pastoral warning against the “practical antinomianism” of using the fact of our freedom in Christ as an excuse to commit sin. The call to holiness as the proper response for gracious salvation was edifying for me personally, and I pray that it was for others as well. May Rev. Mahtani’s love for the church’s holiness be in every pastor’s heart as we minister to Christ’s bride. However, I was uncomfortable with the true/false...

Editor’s note: The decisions of the 2017 Synod have been reported to the Protestant Reformed congregations in daily emailed reports, and are available online at prca.org. Therefore, this editorial makes no attempt to be a comprehensive report. Prayer is a wonder. It is a privilege that God gives to His people whereby they communicate with God. It is an act of worship, clearly. A believer, a sinful, earthly creature, is given access to the courts of heaven. From this earth, he addresses God, the “wholly Other,” the glorious Creator, exalted far above all that He has made. He is the...

This is an abridged form of the pre-synodical sermon preached in Hudsonville PRC, June 12, 2017. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door...