Volu 101 Issue 12

was the first editor of the Standard Bearer and pastor of First PRC, Grand Rapids, Michigan for 40 years (1886-1965)   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him—Ephesians 1:3, 4 Blessed be He who blessed us! It cannot escape our attention that the same word is used twice: God blesses us, we bless Him! Yet, there is a profound difference in meaning between the two uses of the word. For, first of all, God’s blessing...

professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, and member of Grandville PRC in Grandville, Michigan   Would you not agree that the hypocrisy of any Protestant Reformed man, woman, or young person who loves and lives like the wicked world is a double hypocrisy? All professing Christians who love and live like the wicked world must be sharply admonished, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Jam. 4:4). All must be...

In the past we have tried to include in the July issue of the Standard Bearer (SB) some follow-up from the annual meeting of the PRCA synod, including the pre-synodical sermon, an article written by an editor recapping the decisions of synod, pictures, and the graduation address in the event of a PRC Seminary student commencement. Look for this material next month in the August issue. Moving forward, if we include material from synod, we would like to use the August issue. Our policy is that articles submitted to the SB are due one month before the scheduled publishing date...

minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches, and member of Covenant of Grace PR Fellowship in Spokane, Washington   Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion. walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin—Nahum 2:11-12   In Nahum 2:11, 12 the lions are the Ninevites; the old lion, the king of Nineveh;1 the lionesses, his queens; the young...

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: May 1, 2025, p. 274. The Grammatical-Historical-Spiritual method of Bible interpretation is based on the orthodox view that Scripture is God’s inspired revelation to His church. The foundational principle of this method is that Scripture interprets Scripture. These points were made in the first article in this short series. The second article explained the grammatical and historical aspects of this method of Bible interpretation. It explained why we must pay attention to a...

professor emeritus of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, and member of Southwest PRC in Wyoming, Michigan   In this and following articles in the rubric “Taking Heed to the Doctrine,” I plan to spend an article or two explaining a number of different theological terms. These are terms that are used to explain important doctrines of Holy Scripture. Often these words are used in our Reformed confessions, in systematic theologies, and even in upper level catechism books like the “Essentials of Reformed Doctrine,” by Herman Hoeksema, which is used by high school students in the...

From a brief explanation of the Church Order by Johannes Jansen* pastor of Crete PRC in Crete, Illinois   Article 76: “Such as obstinately reject the admonition of the consistory, and likewise those who have committed a public or otherwise gross sin, shall be suspended from the Lord’s Supper. And if he, having been suspended, after repeated admonitions, shows no signs of repentance, the consistory shall at last proceed to the extreme remedy, namely, excommunication, agreeably to the form adopted for that purpose according to the Word of God. But no one shall be excommunicated except with advice of the...

pastor of Southeast PRC in Wyoming, Michigan   The strength of youth is Jesus Christ. He is our strength and song, and He is become our salvation (Ex. 15:2; Is. 12:2). And into Him we have been baptized (Rom. 6:3). This article is about remembering our baptism, which Jesus has appointed for our strengthening in Him. When is the last time you remembered yours? The story is told: [Martin Luther] had hours during which he was confused about everything—about the Reformation, about his faith, even about the work of Jesus Christ Himself—hours when he knew of nothing else to help...

member of the Hull PRC in Hull, Iowa, and a practicing attorney   In recent years, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has issued a substantial number of opinions interpreting the freedoms guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.1 For many years, the Supreme Court issued relatively few rulings on this area. The Court maintained a position that the government could impose on the exercise of religion as long as it was for a legitimate purpose and the law was of general applicability.2 The Court had ruled against...

member of Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and administrator at Eastside Christian School in Grand Rapids, Michigan   We express a sincere thank you to those of you who have submitted your family histories for publication in The Standard Bearer under the rubric “Remembering The Days of Old.” Your efforts involved much research and collaboration among your own relatives, for which we are grateful. Some of you were sought out by me, some of you sought me out. We encourage any interested family to contact us. We want to hear from you and give you the opportunity to tell...