Vol 98 Issue 01

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Philippians 3:8 To a considerable extent our current society is characterized by mediocrity. That mediocrity is frequently evident in the sphere of education as well as in the workplace. In contrast, there are those involved in the pursuit of excellence—academic excellence, athletic excellence, excellence in job performance. As Christians, we are involved in the pursuit of excellence. It is...

At the beginning of this new volume year for the Standard Bearer, we have many things to report. We start with the most significant.   New editors! At a special and significant Staff meeting on August 31, the Standard Bearer Staff appointed two new editors. Rev. Joshua Engelsma and Prof. Brian Huizinga become editors to join the undersigned and to replace Prof. Russell Dykstra and Rev. Kenneth Koole. The Staff is very pleased and encouraged to have these brothers on board. Readers are aware of Prof. Dykstra’s resignation this summer on account of his taking the call to be Byron...

Honor. Respect. Esteem. Three words. Synonyms. In fact, so much so, that to define any one of them is difficult to do so without using the other two. And yet, though they overlap in meaning, each has a different connotation. As my term as an editor draws to a close, we will use these words to reflect on important issues that face us as believers in our present lawless society, and then along with that, what must be true of ourselves as members of the Protestant Reformed Churches looking forward. That is, if we are to remain in unity of...

Previous article in this series: July, 2021, p. 424. Most recently in this series I have expounded the biblical concept of the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to us in justification. As our representative head, Jesus came under the law, was rendered guilty in our place, and suffered all the punishment that the law threatens for our transgressions. He suffered all the punishment we deserve for our sins. On our behalf He also rendered in full all the obedience that the law demands for the satisfaction of God’s justice. He provided all the obedience necessary for us to be...

The end of time is coming, and coming quickly. Soon this world and all that is in it will be subjected to a great upheaval and a violent conflagration. Soon we will be forever separated from every earthly possession, pursuit, and pleasure. For soon our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the clouds of glory in mighty power to fulfill His promise to bring the history of this world to its close. There will be no earthly utopia. There will be no earthly kingdom of Christ. Instead, the Lord the righteous Judge will destroy it all. We who confess such...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2021, p. 205. In our last article we noted that the elders must oversee the election and installation of officebearers, and the work of officebearers. Doing that, they oversee the various offices in the church. Now we see that their oversight is even more specific: it extends to the doctrine and life of every officebearer personally.   Overseeing their doctrine and life The elders are to oversee both the doctrine and the life of the church’s officebearers—that is, they oversee each officebearer personally. The Form of Ordination of Elders and Deacons requires this...

Authority. We begin a series of articles unpacking that word, with this article spelling out the ABCs of the topic. Why a series on this subject? First, this matter of authority is foundational. Q&A 93 of the Heidelberg Catechism says that the Ten Commandments are divided into two tables: “…the first of which teaches us how we must behave towards God; the second, what duties we owe to our neighbor.” Within that second table of the law, the fifth commandment is first. And that fifth commandment concerns authority. The order of the commandments is not arbitrary. In God’s wisdom, it...

“Come and get it, Jay.” Those words, recalled Rev. Jason L. Kortering some fifty years later, were the exact words spoken—at his graduation from seminary in 1960. We’ll return to them in a moment. Suffice it to say, now, that informality seems to have been the order of the day. Have you been at the seminary on Ivanrest recently? If so, you were greeted by a full-time receptionist. Just to your right, you would have seen an office for the registrar, one of whose duties is the calculating of cumulative grade-point averages and of the regular reporting of them to...

Trivia Question: (Yes, we do plan to continue our predecessor’s tradition!) With Josiah Tan’s graduation this spring, what graduate number was he in the PRC Seminary’s history?   PRC News (Denominational) Classis Meetings: Classis East met on September 8 in Grandville MI PRC. Classis West met in Crete IL PRC on September 29. Look for reports of these meetings in the SB. Officebearers’ Conference: In connection with Crete PRC hosting Classis West on September 29, the Council decided to host an Officebearers’ Conference the day before on September 28 at the church. The theme of the conference is “Sanctification—the Blessed...