Vol 96 Issue 21

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. Joshua 2:1 The children of Israel, the church of the old dispensation, completed a forty-year-long journey through the wilderness. Three generations (all those above twenty years of age) had died in the wilderness, including Moses, their faithful, patient, and meek leader. Joshua was chosen by God to replace Moses (Num. 27:18-23; Deut. 1:38). Moses encouraged him (Deut. 31:7, 8) and God commissioned him (Josh....

In the August 2020 editorial, I pressed home the Reformed conviction that decisions of ecclesiastical assemblies are “settled and binding.” What a consistory, classis, or synod decides is the end of the matter; unless, of course, someone brings good objections to the decision in an orderly way. Otherwise, the matter is finished and is binding upon all church members. The importance of that can hardly be overstated. It is the decency and order required by Scripture and our Church Order. Ignoring it is indecency and the disorder of chaos and schism. ‘Deliberative’ How these settled and binding decisions are made...

Discerning the pandemonium I write this article as a follow-up contribution to the editorial “Reformed theology’s commentary on the pandemic of 2020 (2)” published in the July 2020 edition of the Standard Bearer. In the introduction the author made the statement “The police’s killing of George Floyd in the U.S. state of Minnesota….” While the author’s point and overall message were sound, this statement was not. The mainstream media often chooses not to portray law enforcement in a favorable way. The media and other groups regularly use law enforcement encounters with the public as a driving force for accomplishing their...

Previous article in this series: August 2020, p. 444. Ecclesiastes 12:12-14 The preceding verses set before us the Word of God as truth. It is divinely inspired, infallibly written, and as the Word of God, to be relied upon. God is our faithful Shepherd. In that connection the text continues: And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of the making of many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh (Eccl. 12:12). The concern of the text is not to disparage books and study in themselves, but to contrast the divinely inspired Word...

Over against the Reformed believer’s confession of the infallibility of Scripture, it is often alleged that the Bible contains contradictions. The line of argument of these critics is that since there are contradictions in the Bible, it cannot be the Word of God—the Word of God in the words of men. The response of the Reformed Christian must be to insist that there are no real contradictions in Scripture, but only apparent contradictions. This is the presupposition of faith. There may be discrepancies in the Bible, but there is always an explanation for these discrepancies. As the Word of God,...

Please see the PDF file, pages 497-503, for the index to volume 96.

Trivia question What is the second most western congregation in the PRCA? See the church profile section for the answer. Lynden, WA is farther west. More trivia next time. Sister-church activities From the bulletin of the Covenant ERC of Singapore: Our nation celebrates her 55th birthday amid the COVID-19 pandemic and dengue fever outbreak. We are thankful to God for giving us a stable government that allows us to freely worship Him without fear or persecution and for keeping the country’s coronavirus under control. This has allowed us to return to church for worship though only for a maximum of...

A call went out across the country to Rev. Herman Hoeksema in Grand Rapids from a group of forty families in Redlands, California. The year was 1932, and these families had left the Christian Reformed Church due, at least in part, to the consistory’s decision to end worship services in the Dutch language. Thankfully, Rev. Hoeksema’s consistory gave its okay and the great teacher came to California to instruct the saints there and to help organize First Protestant Reformed Church. (While in California Rev. Hoeksema also helped establish a church in Bellflower, south of Los Angeles.) Things happened quickly the...