Of all the months of the year, none has greater significance for the church of God, has more to say to us, carries with it more sentiment, than this month of December, which is with us once again. How soon! How time does fly! First of all, first also in the minds of young and […]

“And the Word was made flesh.” John 1:14a Incarnation! What a miracle, and what a mystery! It means: coming into or being clothed with flesh. We might, of course, also speak of the birth of Christ. However, that is not enough. The mere word—birth—does not express what really happened in that wonderful stable. Every person […]

Never does the difference between the church and the world, the Christian and the unbeliever, reveal itself more strikingly than it does on New Years Eve, the night of December 31. In its vain and foolish attempt to banish from its mind all thoughts of the end and in its anticipation of a new year […]

Genesis 31 A. Jacob’s complaint—verses 1-8. a. Why had Laban’s countenance changed?—verse 2. What do we read of Laban’s sons? Why did they complain? Were they carnal as their father, afraid, perhaps, that their inheritance was suffering? b. Who commanded Jacob to return to the land of his fathers? Would Jacob’s departure be difficult and […]

Genesis 28 A. Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him to Padanaram. 1. Introduction a. Jacob obtained Isaac’s blessing through fraud. We mean that Jacob deceived his father, regardless now of the question whether Isaac was actually deceived or not. b. What does this emphasize? It emphasizes that God blessed Jacob in spite of his fraud. […]

Genesis 27 Jacob and Padanaram— A. Isaac’s determination to bless Esau— Genesis 27:1-4 1. Isaac’s old age. a. Compare Gen. 27:46 with Gen. 26:34 and 25:26. How old was Isaac when Esau married Judith and Bashemath? b. Compare Gen. 41:46, 47; 45:6 and 47:9. How old was Jacob approximately when Joseph was born? c. Joseph […]

In the February issue of our Beacon Lights, the associate editor of this magazine, H. W. Kuiper, wrote an editorial entitled: The Need for Protestant Reformed High Schools. This article had been criticized in subsequent issues of our Beacon Lights. And that part of the editorial which has been the principle target of this criticism […]

What comfort doth the “resurrection of the body” afford thee? That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head; but also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. […]

“Father, the hour is come.” – John 17:1 What a terrible hour that was – the hour of suffering and death, of Gethsemane and Golgotha! Jesus and His disciples are on their way to Gethsemane.  The last Passover had been celebrated – and the first Lord’s Supper, too.  The last discourse of Jesus to His […]

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life:  he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.  Believest thou this?” Believest thou this? “I am the resurrection and the life.”  To know Me is to know the Father.  […]