News

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Do You Receive and Read "The Standard Bearer"?

Are you a Standard Bearer subscriber and reader? Do you know about this encouraging and edifying Reformed magazine? Would you like to receive more information about it? And if you do receive it, do you take the time to read it for your spiritual growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)?

We introduce you here to the latest issue of the "SB", and urge you to visit the "SB" website where you will find details on ordering this periodical. As you will notice from the insert below, the February 15, 2014 issue contains a variety of instructive and profitable articles.

Whether you are a "seasoned saint" or a young Christian, new to the Reformed faith, you will find that The Standard Bearer contains something profitable for your continued spiritual growth: meditations and devotional articles, doctrinal and practical pieces, Bible study materials, mission articles, and resources on marriage and family life.

Now is a good time to start receiving and reading this great Reformed periodical!

SB-Feb15-2014

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"Covenant Reformed News" - February 2014 Issue

The Covenant PRC of Ballymena, N.Ireland has just released their second issue of the "Covenant Reformed News" for 2014. This issue also contains two articles, one by Rev.Angus Stewart and one by Prof.Herman Hanko (emeritus professor of the PR Seminary). Both articles are included below, and you may find them separately on the website at the links provided. In addition, you may find the pdf version attached here (go the bottom of this news item to find the link for that).

Both of these articles address timely and important subjects. You will want to make them part of your spiritual growth reading.

CR News head

February 2014  •  Volume XIV, Issue 22

Melchizedek is a mysterious figure in the Old Testament. He pops up in the life of Abraham and then he is not mentioned until one of the Psalms some 1,000 years later. Moses gives him three verses (Gen. 14:18-20) and David only one verse (Ps. 110:4). This makes just four verses in two passages in all the 39 books of the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, Melchizedek is mentioned frequently in the book of Hebrews. There are three references to him in Hebrews 5-6 (5:6, 10-11; 6:20). Hebrews 7 explains the significance of Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110, giving us, perhaps, the fullest exposition of any two Old Testament passages anywhere in the New Testament. Some identify Hebrews 7 on Christ’s Melchizedekian priesthood as the heart of the epistle. We may compare Hebrews 7 with other chapters in this inspired letter. If Hebrews 5 treats the nature of Christ’s priesthood and Hebrews 9 explains the use of Christ’s priesthood, then Hebrews 7 extols the excellency of Christ’s priesthood. He is not just any mere priest: He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7 touches upon contemporary issues for both Gentile and Jewish Christians. First, Roman Catholicism uses the bread and wine which Melchizedek brought to Abraham (Gen. 14:18) as a proof for its mass, the chief work of its own priesthood. Second, Christian Reconstructionism seeks to reintroduce the Old Testament civil law into nations today. Third, premillennialism teaches the return of Aaronic priests and bloody sacrifices during a future, literal, thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. None of these views are supported by Hebrews 7 on Christ’s Melchizedekian priesthood.

Hebrews 7 also helps the believer better to understand the Old Testament, the larger of the two testaments which constitute God’s written Word to us. This chapter also reveals to us the glory of Christ’s priesthood: a unique, untransferable, everlasting priesthood, a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. Understanding and believing in Christ’s glorious Melchizedekian priesthood serves the edification and comfort of the child of God. “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (19).

Unbelieving first-century Judaism had a host of objections to Jesus Christ. You see this time and time again in the four gospel accounts. The Jews (wrongly) criticized the Lord for fellowshipping with sinners, breaking the Sabbath, blaspheming by claiming to be the Son of God, etc. In the pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we read of Christ’s battles with the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes who tried to trip Him up.

Attacks on Christ and His kingdom continued after His ascension into heaven. Just read of the persecution of the church in Acts. The New Testament epistles also speak of this struggle. Of all the 27 New Testament books, Hebrews especially addresses the biblical and theological objections of unbelieving Jews to the Christian faith.

The background to Hebrews 7 involves a Jewish attack, specifically on Christ’s office as priest: “You Christians say that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for sin and that forgiveness comes only through His shed blood. But I don’t see that the Messiah spoken of in the law and the prophets is to be a priest. Find me a passage in Moses or the prophets which speaks of the coming deliverer as a priest!”

The Jews argued that their sacrifices were offered by priests who descended from the house of Aaron and the tribe of Levi. All this was according to God’s Word, from Exodus to Deuteronomy and throughout the Scriptures. Their priesthood was hoary with antiquity, and God preserved it for some 1,500 years before Jesus came along. The Jews boasted in their glorious temple in which God dwelt, an imposing edifice with huge stones, an impressive courtyard and a divinely appointed altar. The priests and high priests were clothed with beautiful garments and they officiated at wonderful feasts and religious ceremonies. You can hear the siren call to Jewish Christians from their unbelieving kinsmen: “Return to the old paths, God’s ancient ways, revealed to our fathers! Leave this newfangled cult of Jesus with its plain and barren worship!” Many did just that and others were tempted to apostatize, including those to whom Hebrews was first written.

The Jews had another argument, based on God’s words to Aaron in Numbers 18:7: “Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.” “Don’t you Christians claim that Jesus descended from David, so He is of the tribe of Judah (cf. Heb. 7:14)? But one of the line of Judah cannot be a priest according to God’s law, and he who attempts it ‘shall be put to death’ (Num. 18:7)!”

How would you respond? Remember that I Peter 3:15 states that we must “be ready always to give an answer” for our hope, including to unbelieving Jews. In Christian history, from the Dialogue With Trypho by Justin Martyr in the second century and through two millennia, Jews and Christians have been debating such issues. This is difficult work since, “when Moses is read,” the Jews have a veil “upon their heart” (II Cor. 3:15). But by His grace, the Triune God has converted Jews, such as Alfred Edersheim, throughout the New Testament era. Jehovah brings them to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our “priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4)!   Rev. Stewart


For more on Melchizedek and the Lord Jesus, listen to “Christ’s Priestly Office” (Belgic Confession Class, vol. X: Articles 20-21a), 6 Christian doctrine classes on 6 CDs in an attractive box set: (1) God Hath Manifested His Justice and Mercy in Christ, (2) Christ’s Threefold Office, (3) Introducing Christ’s Melchizedekian Priesthood, (4) Christ’s Melchizedekian Priesthood, (5) Christ’s Melchizedekian Priesthood and Time, and (6) Christ’s Priesthood Outside Hebrews. Cost £8 (inc. P&P, plus 1 class handout).


“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)
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A reader asks, “We are taught in the Heidelberg Catechism that we as believers have ‘only a small beginning’ of the new obedience. If this is so and continues throughout our lives, why does Paul speak of us reaching the ‘measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ in Ephesians 4:13?”

Before I answer the question, I urge our readers, if it is at all possible, to attend the British Reformed Fellowship Family Conference to be held this summer (26 July - 2 August) in Scotland (http://brfconference.weebly.com). It will be on the subject of sanctification and many such questions as the above will be answered.

The quote from the Heidelberg Catechism reads:

Q. 113. What doth the tenth commandment require of us?
A. That even the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God’s commandments never rise in our hearts; but that at all times we hate all sin with our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.
Q. 114. But can those who are converted to God perfectly keep these commandments?
A. No; but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so, that with a sincere resolution they begin to live not only according to some, but all the commandments of God.

It is interesting to note that, although the Catechism is discussing the tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” the answer says nothing about covetousness, but rather concentrates on the incompleteness of sanctification in this life.

There is, however, good reason for this. The tenth commandment is the only one of all the commandments that specifically speaks of the inner requirements of the law. The other commandments, at first reading, address themselves to our outward conformity to Jehovah’s will. The tenth commandment tells us that outward conformity to the law of God is not enough; we must be without sin in our hearts and minds and souls. This is an extremely important truth, forgotten or ignored by those who speak so glibly about an entirely sanctified life and who are satisfied with only external observance of the law, whereas Jesus tells us that love is the keeping of the whole law.

The fact of the matter is that in this life we do not attain the perfection we shall have in heaven in the life to come. And Paul is speaking of that final perfection in Ephesians 4:13. Only in heaven will we possess the full unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, the perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

We have only a small beginning of the new obedience. In another place, discussing our justification, the Catechism gives as a reason why our good works cannot be the ground of our justification: “Our best works in this life are all imperfect and defiled with sin” (A. 62). It is the towering arrogance of proud man who boasts of his good works as the ground of justification—as does Rome and as do those who teach the views of the Federal Vision.

Our hearts are regenerated. By regeneration, we are born again. The new man is created by the work of the Spirit of Christ. To help us understand this, we could call the heart of man the entire nature of man (body and soul) in microcosm, something like an oak tree is, in its entirety, in an acorn. Our natures, including our bodies and our souls (minds and wills), remain depraved, totally so. But our regenerated hearts exert great and powerful influences, through the work of the Holy Spirit, on our entire natures. We know God with our minds (while we also know sin); we desire to serve the Lord according to His holy law (although we also desire sin); we pray, sing Psalms, confess Christ’s name, submit to God’s will, etc. (although very imperfectly).

This is the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), the struggle that Paul describes so eloquently in Romans 7:13-25.

Yet we must remember:
1) We are justified, that is, we are completely without sin in the mind and heart of God on the basis of Christ’s perfect work.
2) Though the struggle within us is long and bitter, we are always victorious over sin when we confess our sins, find forgiveness and walk in a new and holy life.
3) We do keep God’s law. We keep it so well that we can even command God to examine us, knowing He will find righteousness there. Read Psalm 139:23, although we pray at the same time, the prayer of verse 24. Read Psalm 26. In fact, this truth is almost a major theme in the Psalms. The Psalmist repeatedly pleads his righteousness as a reason why God should bless him. He is not boasting like the Pharisee; he is conscious of Christ’s righteousness imputed to him. But he is also confessing how he has walked and does walk according to God’s will by the Holy Spirit’s saving power.
4) Every moment, we come nearer the full sanctification that is ours when we come to glory. Our sanctification is like the painting of a picture. Gradually it nears its completing and perfection. Each brush stroke brings it closer. The artist may be using inferior paints and poor brushes; he may be working on a dirty canvas. But he overcomes by his great skill every obstacle until the painting is so good that it hangs in a special place in the Louvre.

The Triune God is the skilled artist who, we are told by Scripture, will complete the good work He has begun in us.


Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
83 Clarence Street, Ballymena, BT43 5DR • Lord’s Day services at 11 am & 6 pm
Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live broadcast: www.cprf.co.uk/live
Pastor: Angus Stewart, 7 Lislunnan Road, Kells, N. Ireland, BT42 3NR • (028) 25 891851 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.www.youtube.com/cprcniwww.facebook.com/CovenantPRC

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Annual PRC Visit to CERC in Singapore

CERC Session-2013Rev. K.Koole (Grandville PRC) together with elder Dave Kregel (Grandville PRC) will be traveling to Singapore this coming Thursday, Feb. 20, on behalf of Grandville PRC as calling church (of the minister-on-loan) and for the Contact Committee for the annual visit to our sister church, Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church

They plan to conduct church with the CERC Session (see picture taken in September of 2013 at the time of her 26th anniversary) and family visitation with the Lanings, as well as discuss with the CERC her calling of Rev. A.Lanning to be their minister later this year. 

The delegates will be in Singapore the Sundays of Feb. 23 and March 2, returning home, D.V., Monday, March 3.

May God be pleased to grant them safe travels and profitable meetings with our sister church and our minister-on-loan and his family.

UPDATE: From Grandville PRC's March 2, 2014 bulletin:

"Rev Koole and Dave Kregel plan to return home from Singapore Monday evening, DV. They conducted family visitation with the Lannings and Church Visitation with the Session. Our unity in the reformed truth is very evident, and makes for sweet fellowship with the saints here. They are very thankful for the work of the PRC and the Lannings. The Lannings send their greetings and are thankful for the prayers of the congregation on their behalf."

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February Updates from Seminary Hill

Having entered the month of February, we can give you a few new updates from snowy Seminary hill.

1. Prof.B.Gritters (professor of missions as well as of practical theology and NT studies) and his wife, along with elder D.Wassink and his wife, arrived home safely from their mission trip to India on behalf of Georgetown PRC. You will remember that Prof.Gritters is on a partial sabbatical this year. During the second semester he is teaching two courses - Homiletics/Liturgics and NT Exegesis, - while continuing his special work in the area of church polity.

ProfBGritters teaching-Jan2014-1

2. In connection with that sabbatical the Seminary also welcomes Rev.K.Koole, pastor of Grandville PRC. Rev.Koole is teaching OT Isagogics (introduction) this semester for Prof.B.Gritters.

RevkKoole-OT Isagogics

3. Also welcomed back the beginning of this new year is senior Seminarian Josh Engelsma. Josh and his wife Courtney and their three children spent last summer and his 1st semester doing his internship in Peace PRC in Lansing, IL. He testifies to it having been a wonderful experience in preparation for the ministry of the Word. As he finishes his final classes this semester, he anticipates his examination before the PRC Synod in June to be held in his home church of Hope PRC, Walker, MI.

4. Following the special study period in January (and a special educational day-trip to Chicago), the PRC Seminary is now a couple of weeks into its second semester schedule (see also the Seminary calendar at the bottom of its homepage). The professors and students have quickly settled into their daily routine of classes and assignments. The two students licensed to speak in the churches also have practice preaching this semester: Josh Engelsma and Ryan Barnhill. But the first year students are also busy preparing their first sermons this semester (to be delivered in class only).

5. We also have a goodly number of auditors (class visitors) this semester, with people from the Grand Rapids area and even from Kalamazoo taking in Prof.R.Cammenga's NT Hisotry and Dogmatics classes, and Prof.R.Dykstra's Church history, History of Dogma, and Reformed Symbols (confessions) classes. It is a delight to have this interest in the Seminary and a joy to have their fellowship.

Let's remember the Seminary in our daily prayers, for the calling is high, the work is great, and the Lord alone has grace to meet the needs of all of us.

P.S. This important note can also now be included here:

Future Teachers and Ministers: Information for the 2014 PR Scholarship Fund essay competition is now available. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive the essay topics and submission requirements. Completed essays must be submitted by May 31st.

Byron Center PRC's February Men's Conference: "The Godly Man"

GodlyMan-BCPRCConf-2014The 2014 PRC Men’s Conference, hosted by Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church, is planned for February 27-28.  The theme this year is "The Godly Man" and is based on I Timothy 6:11-12. 

The conference will be held at Hudsonville PRC. Each evening will feature a speech followed by sectionals that the attendee can choose. The sectionals planned are as follows: 

Sectional Topics:

  1. Servant Leadership in Marriage
  2. Dealing with Family Finances
  3. Raising Covenant Youth
  4. Communication and Devotions in Marriage

Of the four groups under the “Raising Covenant Youth”, one will focus on Discipline and another will focus on Dating.  If you prefer to be in the group discussing Discipline or Dating, please email your preference to Doug Kooienga (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or indicate this on your registration form. 

Registration is now open and is required by February 14 if you wish to attend (cost is $10).  Please visit the conference webpage for more information and to access the registration form.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Below is the schedule of events for both Thursday and Friday nights:

6:45     Registration

7:00    Opening prayer, Announcements, Singing

7:20    Speech Thursday by Rev. Spriensma  “The Godly Man’s Contest”
                      Friday by Rev. Bruinsma  “Called To Fight”

8:00    Sing and Question & Answer

8:15    Refreshments

8:35    Discussion Groups Thursday
        Raising Covenant Youth
        Communication/Devotions in Marriage

        Discussion Groups Friday
            Servant-Leadership in Marriage
            Dealing with Family Finances

9:35    Refreshments

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Issue #2 of Reformed News Asia

RefdNewsAsia-BannerThe second issue of "Reformed News Asia" has been released by the Christian Literature Ministry of our sister church in Singapore, the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church , and this issue too is filled with informative and edifying content (for information on Issue #1, click on this link)!

 

Of special significance is the fact that this issue contains the second set of devotions on the Belgic Confession by various PRCA ministers, covering Articles 7-9 on the doctrine of holy Scripture. Written by Prof.H.Hanko, Rev.A.Brummel, Rev.A.den Hartog, and Rev.J.Kortering these devotions on the BC take you through the month of February. You will find great spiritual profit in these devotions.

 

In addition to this noteworthy item, the newsletter also contains information about the CLM's pamphlet and book ministries and about activities going on in the CERC. Of special interest is notice of two new pamphlets the CLM has produced from material written by Mrs. Connie Meyer, one a treatment of TULIP (doctrines of grace) for children and another containing snapshots of Reformed church history. You will want to check these items out.

 

BC Meditations - Feb2014-coverTo receive your own digital copy of this newsletter and those to come, visit the Christian Literature Ministry page at the CERCS ' website and click on the subscribe button. There you will also find a downloadable digital copy of these devotions.

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Philippines Mission News

MaranathaPRC-ValenzuelaThe recent delegation from Doon PRC and the FMC have returned home. If you have not yet seen the posts on the Kleyn's blog about this visit, you ought to do so - complete with plenty of fine pictures!

 

The combined consistories of the Berean Protestant Reformed Church and the First Reformed Church of Bulacan will hold their next meeting this Friday, January 31, 2014, the Lord willing.  The meeting will be held in the Berean PRC’s building in Mayamot, Antipolo City.

 

In that connection, our missionaries also report that the government recently approved a name for the proposed federation of churches in the Philippines. Here is the announcement they made:

“The combined consistories of the Berean Protestant Reformed Church and the First Reformed Church report that the desired name for our new denomination has been approved by the SEC after our second attempt at registration with the SEC.   “Federation of Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines, Inc.”  is the name that has been approved by the SEC.  As a result, the final step of the registration process with the SEC can be completed by the end of January.  We give thanks to our heavenly Father for this good news, and seek His continued blessing upon our preparations for the organizational meeting on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, according to His will.”

 

Let's remember to pray for our missionaries and their wives and families, for Rev.V.Ibe and his family, for Rev.J.Flores and his family, for the other pastors, and for the saints there. May the Son of God continue to gather, defend, and preserve to Himself by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, that church chosen to everlasting life (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 54).

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