Volu 100 Issue 08

Rev. Michael DeVries, minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches and member of Southwest PRC in Wyoming, Michigan Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in world. I Peter 5:8, 9 The apostle Peter would be used by God to equip us as pilgrims and strangers in the earth to fight the battle of faith. In the final admonition of his first epistle he sums up our pilgrim calling....

Prof. Barrett Gritters, professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Hudsonville PRC The Lord’s Day and its rest are part of our Protestant Reformed Churches’ rich heritage from the Lord that we share with other Reformed and Presbyterian denominations. But as valuable as that heritage is, if we fail to appreciate it, we can lose it quickly. Pray God that we do not. The Lord’s Day is an ancient landmark (Deut. 19:14; Prov. 22:28, for example). The large stones called “land­marks” delineated each tribe’s or clan’s inheritance in the Promised Land. Once placed, they...

Rev. Ronald Hanko, minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches and member of Covenant of Grace PR Fellowship in Spokane, Washington The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. Nahum 1:1 Introduction The prophecy of Nahum is little known, though it ought to be better known. It is similar to that of Obadiah in being a book of judgment pronounced on a single foreign nation and people. Nahum’s prophecy, however, is later than that of Obadiah and belongs to the period just prior to Judah’s exile in Babylon. The nations against which they prophesy are...

Rev. Martyn McGeown, pastor of Providence PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan Previous article in this series: November 15, 2023, p. 85. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20 The terminology In the last article in this series I explained the concept “old man”; in this...

Prof. Douglas Kuiper, professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Trinity PRCi in Hudsonville, Michigan Previous article in this series: December 1, 2023, p. 130. We saw last time that New Testament textual criticism is the scholarly work of comparing the readings of currently available Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, observing the differences in their readings, and trying to explain those differences, in order to determine as best as possible which Greek words the Holy Spirit originally inspired. We also noted that the work of textual criticism is not inherently...

Rev. Jonathan Mahtani, pastor of the Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.” Hebrews 12:5 Young people have forgotten, and adults along with them, the difference between chastisement and punishment. When a parent angrily smites and the child shrieks in rebellion during discipline, they have forgotten the difference. When a teacher berates his stubborn students, and teenagers murmur about the consequences, they have forgotten the difference. When we become impatient and...

Mr. Dan Kuiper, science teacher in Covenant Christian High School and member and elder of Hope PRC in Walker, Michigan Imagine, for a moment, a man lost and wandering through the desert. He is not prepared for the extreme heat and has no water. As he stumbles through the sand, the sun beats down on him. His feet drag. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth and his head pounds as he becomes more and more dehydrated. His primary objective is to find real, refreshing, life-giving water. Without it, he has no hope of survival. In the distance,...

Rev. Joshua Engelsma. translator, pastor of Crete PRC in Crete, Illinois From A Brief Explanation of the Church Order by Johannes Jansen Article 73: “Secret sins of which the sinner repents, after being admonished by one person in private or in the presence of two or three witnesses, shall not be laid before the consistory.” This article already dates from the Synod of Emden (1571) in Article 27.1 But it was then somewhat broader, and distinguished between two kinds of secret sins: namely, secret sins of which the sinner, after being admonished personally in private or in the presence of...