AUGUST 2020 ~ Volume 22, No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Official PublicaGtionla odf t hTe Miidssiionn gCsommittee of the CONTENTS Heritage Reformed Congregations AUGUST 2020 ~ Volume 22, No. 2 MEDITATION James Beeke, Chairman [email protected] Telephone: 604-794-7109 Abrahamic Blessing on the Gentiles Through Jesus Christ – Rev. Don Overbeek, Vice Chairman Rev. Bart Elshout ........................................................................... 1 Scott Van Grouw, Secretary EDITORIAL Rob Koppert, Treasurer The Gospel Goes Worldwide – James Beeke ................................. 1 John Beeke, Benjamin Engelsma, Greg Kamp, Corney Les, Ed Otten, Gijsbert VandenBogerd MISSION UPDATES South Africa – Mukhanyo News – Dr. Brian DeVries ................... 2 Domestic Outreach Committee Kevin Ash, Chairman South Africa – Nakekela and Lockdown – Dr. Sonja Miskin ....... 4 [email protected] Indonesia – Sumba Mission Sunday School Program – Rev. Johnny Serafini, Vice Chairman Bernie Pennings ............................................................................. 5 William J. Tanis, Sr., Secretary CHURCH EVANGELISM Brad Baker, Treasurer Heritage Reformed Congregation, Hull, Iowa – Rev. Pieter van der Hoek, Harry Brouwer, Annette Maggert John M. Byl, Chris den Hertog Vacation Bible School – ..................................... 8 DOMESTIC OUTREACH Editorial Committee James Beeke, Chairman, Editor “Ought Not Christ…?” – Kevin Ash .............................................. 9 Ben Engelsma, DeVries MLC Heritage Reformed Church, Bradford, Ontario – William Kuivenhoven, Finance Committee Plans Change…God Changes Not! – Rev. Don Overbeek ............ 10 Managing Editor - Jane Korevaar BOOKS to Advance Your Mission & Evangelism Skills – Email: [email protected] Erin Willis ........................................................................................ 11 Telephone: 011 27 73 608 6529 YOUTH EVANGELISM Youth Editor - Lori Van Beek Hull Junior Youth Group – Heather Van Grootheest ...................... 11 - Coby DeJonge / Janet Les Editorial Assistants Hull Senior Youth Group – Toby Maggert ...................................... 12 Subscription Manager - Leneke Fintelman Bible Quiz - Firsts – Lori Van Beek ............................................... 12 HRC Missions, P.O. Box 147, Burgessville, Ontario, Canada N0J 1C0 Email: [email protected] MISSION FINANCES – Rob Koppert & James van den Brink ...... 12 Glad Tidings is published three times a year, April, August and December. Articles and POEM announcements are due by 15th of February, June and October. John Johns It is available free of charge and without obligation to anyone who requests it. Please Come, Kingdom of our God – send address changes to the Subscription Manager. Please provide new and old address. Printed by Advance Graphics, St.Catharines, Ontario Additional Sources For a list of printed Reformed literature (both new and used books in English MISSION STATEMENT and used books in Dutch), write: Reformation Heritage Books, 2965 Leonard The purpose of the Heritage Reformed Congregations missions program Street, NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, or visit our on-line bookstore at is to glorify the Triune God, by proclaiming the message of salvation alone www.heritagebooks.org. in Jesus Christ throughout the world, in order that lost sinners might be For a subscription to The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth write: The Banner of reconciled to God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Sovereign Grace Truth, 540 Crescent NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 or email [email protected]. For free sermons write: Inheritance Publishers, P.O. Box 1334, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501. For free sermons and radio messages of HRC ministers write: The Gospel Trumpet, 540 Crescent NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503. For tract distribution write: Banner of Truth Tract Mission, 540 Crescent Street, NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503. For tapes, CD’s of sermons, lectures, classes, etc., write: The Tape Room, 540 Crescent Street, NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503. For material related to theological training write: Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, 2965 Leonard Street, NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525 or on-line at www.puritanseminary.org. In all publications the Heritage Reformed denomination aims to remain true to inerrant Scripture and its Reformed heritage as expounded in the Reformed doctri - nal standards: the Belgic Confession (1561), Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and Canons of Dordt (1618-1619), Westminster Standards of the 1640s (the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms). For additional information on HRC ministries, please visit our website at www.heritagereformed.com Attendance Being Taken at Sunday School in Sumba, Indonesia You can find this magazine electronically at https://heritagereformed.com/page_gladtidings.php MEDITATION truth: The Living Word was made the curse of His written Abrahamic Blessing on the Gentiles Word! This reminds us of the inexpressible mystery Luther Through Jesus Christ tried to express in these words, “God forsaken of God.” Rev. Bart Elshout No wonder the full wrath of God came down upon Christ’s head. Being the curse in the flesh, the Father has to That the blessing of Abraham might come on unleash the full fury of His provoked Being upon His the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Galatians beloved Son. Why did the Father do so, and why did the 3:14 Son willingly become the curse in our stead? So that we, the The apostle Paul here reminds the Gentiles, might become the recipients of His blessing—so Galatians that they, and other Gentiles, that we can be justified by faith and be reconciled with God. have become the recipients of the blessing Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift! of Abraham. What exactly is this blessing This blessing will continue to come upon the Gentiles— of Abraham? The answer is found in verses upon a people that do not know God. It is God's eternal 8-9: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify purpose that it should be so. To that end He stirs up His the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto church to preach the gospel to the very ends of the earth, so Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then that the nations of the earth may hear of the only Name they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” given under heaven whereby they must be saved. It is by The blessing to which the apostle is obviously referring means of that ministry that it pleases God, by His Spirit, to was the blessing of justification by faith. He is saying here lead sinners to exercise faith in His Son—a faith that will that those Gentiles who do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ justify the Gentiles also today. shall be blessed in identical fashion as faithful Abraham was And thus sinners will continue to become partakers of blessed. And concerning Abraham we read in simple and yet the blessing of Abraham until Christ returns. May God most profound language: “And he believed in the LORD; continue to stir us up to preach the gospel to a perishing and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6; cf. world, so that many more may become partakers of the Rom. 4:3, James 2:23) blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ who was made a And thus in response to his Spirit-wrought faith, God curse for us. constituted and declared Abraham righteous. Though a EDITORIAL sinner, God considered Abraham as righteous because of the The Gospel Goes Worldwide imputed righteousness of His great Son, the Lord Jesus James Beeke Christ. As a result, Abraham was reconciled with God and had peace with God (Rom. 5:1). How blessed he was indeed! “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the Our text tells us, however, that this blessing would also everlasting gospel to preach unto them that be the portion of the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. And dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and indeed, wherever sinners respond to the gospel by believing kindred, and tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6). in the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall be justified—they shall be Tucked in between the blasphemous beasts blessed with God's favor and fellowship. with their ungodly rule and persecuting But how is it possible that ungodly Gentiles—and for that power in Revelation 13, and prior to the matter any sinners—can be the recipients of divine blessing, great fall of Babylon in chapter 14:8, we when in this same chapter we read, “Cursed is every one find the verse quoted above. The everlasting gospel will be that continueth not in all things which are written in the preached across the entire world. How amazing! Despite all book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10)? The answer is found opposition of sin, world and Satan, the preaching of the in the verse preceding our text: “Christ hath redeemed us everlasting gospel goes forward. Yes, to every nation, from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Christ, kindred, tongue and people. as Mediator, was subjected to the curse of the law in order We may observe the truth of this today. In fact, God is that sinners, utterly worthy of that curse, might instead be granting us, as a small HRC denomination, to serve a role in the recipients of God's blessing and favor. His great plan of salvation. Our denominational mission However, we must go a step further. Not only was Christ work is training pastors to preach the everlasting gospel subjected to this curse by hanging on the accursed cross, but across the globe. We are working in: our text says that He was made a curse! In other words, • Africa – We work with Mukhanyo Theological College Christ, the Living Word, became the embodiment of the in South Africa training pastors to preach the curse recorded in His written Word. What an astounding everlasting gospel in Africa. We provide our missionary AUGUST 2020 1 Glad Tidings pastor, Dr. Brian DeVries, to serve as principal and MISSION UPDATES lecturer there. We also provide funding for one additional full-time lecturer at MTC. SOUTH AFRICA – • Brazil – We work with Martin Bucer Seminary in Sao Mukhanyo News Paulo training pastors to preach the everlasting gospel Dr.