Volu 100 Issue 14

Rev. James Slopsema, minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches and member of First PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. I Corinthians 10:13 You may find yourself in a situation where you are sorely tempted by the powers of darkness. You have struggled against this temptation for a long time. You are not...

Prof. Barrett Gritters, professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Hudsonville PRC I have heard from friends who made confession of faith about 50 years ago (which betrays my age) that when young people wanted to confess their faith, it was common for groups of a dozen and more to be allowed into the consistory room. Each was asked a few questions from a book of prepared questions and, with very little more, were approved to make public their confession of faith and come to the Lord’s Supper. Memories can be faulty or weak...

Rev. Martyn McGeown, pastor of Providence PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24 Introduction In the ordo salutis, the logical sequence in which the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of salvation decreed by God in election and purchased by Christ on the cross, we come to the subject of justification, which in the ordo salutis is in fifth place: “Regeneration, Calling, Conversion, Faith, Justification, Sanctification, Preservation, and Glorification.” Fifth place is not in order of importance, but in logical, even temporal, order. Remember that the ordo salutis...

Prof. Douglas Kuiper, professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Trinity PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan Previous article in this series: March 1, 2024, p. 280 New Testament textual criticism is the scholarly work of comparing two or more 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. When two or more manuscripts have different read­ings, how does one decide which reading is probably that...

Rev. Richard Smit, pastor of Randolph PRC in Randolph, Wisconsin Previous article in this series: April 1, 2024, p. 324. In this article, we conclude our observations from the book of Acts that the early New Testament churches, established by means of the mission labors of the apostles, manifested in their institutional life the threefold Christian character of being self-governing, self-propagating, and self-supporting. In particular, we consider now that these churches were self-propagating and self-supporting. After the history of the Jerusalem church at the end of Acts 2, newly established churches were self-propagating. Although this would be true of all...

Rev. James Laning, home missionary in the Protestant Reformed Churches and member of Zion PRC in Jenison, Michigan Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord, Recently my wife and I made trips to Texas and Hun­gary. According to the decision of Synod 1993, Hun­gary and all of Europe fall under Domestic Missions. It was a great joy to begin to get to know some of the saints in both places, and we are very much looking forward to working with them in the future. Texas Our trip to Texas in December went very well. We had an opportunity to visit...

Rev. Jonathan Mahtani, pastor of the Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan …Preserve and increase Thy church; destroy the works of the devil and all violence which would exalt itself against Thee: and also, all wicked counsels devised against Thy holy Word. Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 48 Satan’s ploy in history Three hundred years after the first coming of King Jesus, the Devil used an antichrist named Emperor Diocletian to organize the most violent persecution against Christ’s church that the world has yet known. The prior persecutions under rulers like Nero and Domitian were considered minor in comparison to the...

Mr. Brian VanEngen, member of the Hull PRC in Hull, Iowa and a practicing attorney It is not often that we would think of an article on banking regulations as a topic that would fit in a rubric addressing Church and State religious liberty matters. However, a recent gaffe by the late-night comedy show “Saturday Night Live” recently brought attention to an issue that is of growing concern to Christians. The comedy show, which frequently mocks religious and conservative individuals, often includes a segment called “Weekend Update,” depicting a news report in which the actors portray news reporters and anchors....

Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Church­es met on March 6-7, 2024, in Randolph (WI) PRC. The congregation did an outstanding job of hosting the twenty-five delegates from the thirteen churches in the Classis, as well as a number of visitors. Classis began on Wednesday, March 6, with open­ing devotions led by the chairman of the previous meet­ing, Rev. John Marcus (pastor of Peace PRC), who gave a fitting meditation on Solomon’s request for wisdom from I Kings 3. After Classis was legally constituted, the meeting was capably chaired by Rev. Stephan Regnerus (pastor of Hull PRC). Two first-time delegates...

Mr. Charles Terpstra, member of Faith PRC in Jenison, Michigan and full-time librarian/registrar/archivist at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and SB book review editor The following book is reviewed by Prof. David Engelsma, former editor of the Standard Bearer, Professor-emeritus of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, and member of Trinity PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan. Theoretical—Practical Theology, by Petrus van Mastricht. Vol 1: Prolegomena. Tr. Todd M. Rester; ed. Joel R. Beeke. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2018. Pp. xci + 238. $50.00 hard.   Such is the esteem of Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706) in all...