Dear Providence Reformed Congregation, dear Reverend and Mrs. Pronk and family, dear deputies of the RCA, all visitors and witnesses both here present and those listening in, it is a wonderful day. for the gospel cause here in this place, in Grand Rapids, and more specifically for you as a congregation. And dear congregation, you are receiving from God's hand, out of free mercy, a new minister of the everlasting gospel to occupy this pulpit a preacher of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, and a pastor for your never-dying souls. Let it be known that Pastor Pronk is not an executive, not a CEO, not an administrator, not a coach, not a counselor or a community organizer. Your pastor is a gift from Calvary, purchased at the great price of the Savior's own blood, to preach and to pastor to Christ's bride here on the earth, the flock that he has purchased with his own blood. And this Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, would have the world know the truth of the gospel, that there is a living Savior who yet from heaven sends forth his gospel far and wide, that sinners might be saved. And this, in essence, is what Pastor Pronk has come to do in this place. In order for us rightly to esteem and prize and use this inestimable privilege that the Lord is affording you, let us learn from the Scriptures, the only source of life and light, as to how we should view the gospel ministry, and where especially its strength and supply and sufficiency lies. As we hear in the words of our text, which you can find in 2 Corinthians 3, and especially verse 5, the last part. Let me read verse 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Our theme looking to the Lord tonight is simply Our sufficiency is of God. Our first point is, our deficiency illustrated. And secondly, His sufficiency exalted. Our sufficiency is of God. Our deficiency illustrated. His sufficiency exalted. Well, congregation, in the epistle of Paul, the second Corinthians, Paul was constrained and helped by the Holy Spirit to defend his ministry and his message, as he does especially in this chapter three. And our verses are part of this defense of his apostleship, his ministry, and the manner of his ministry against those who attacked him and sought to detract from him. You see, people asked for his credentials. for letters of reference that somehow would give him credibility among the people. And Paul, of course, who was educated and was an apostle, and he could at some level have produced certain letters, he refuses to go down this path entirely. He needs not letters of commendation from others. In fact, the Corinthians themselves are the only letters that he needs, because their lives, their hearts are testimonies of the fact that God, through the preaching of the Word through Paul, had wrought wondrous things. The hearts of these Corinthians were as paper, and Paul was the pen. But the ink was that of the Spirit, writing God's truth and grace upon the hearts of these Corinthians. Just as the Lord does in every age and in every continent where he uses the preaching of Christ for the salvation of sinners. This calling of a minister is a high calling. It's an impossible task for any sinner. It's something that, when we think about it, by the light of Scripture, we would think this is best reserved for angels, for unfallen ministers of God, but God would not have it so. And yet, congregation, God would have us to realize our own insufficiency and deficiency. And that is how He works in all things. to strip man, to abase man, to show man for what he is in all his frailty, fault, and sin, in order that we would not boast in man, but rather in God, who works through man. And just to illustrate our own deficiency, let us take a bird's-eye view of all that a minister is called to do within the work of the Christian ministry. In congregation, it doesn't begin with preaching, though you might think it does. As we read in Acts chapter 6, the apostles had this motto, we will give ourselves to prayer. and to the ministry of the Word of God. And what a work the work of prayer is. Anyone who knows anything of true prayer in their heart realizes that this is warfare against flesh and blood. That there is so much in us, in ourselves, in our flesh, that wars against true prayer. Not superficial prayer. Not man-centered prayer. Not pharisaic prayer, that's easy for the flesh, but true prayer, the cry of the heart to Almighty God. And we must give ourselves, brother, to the work of prayer. But the work of the ministry also involves a taking heed to ourselves and to the flock, but taking heed to ourselves. This is where many of us fail so often. We're ready to scrutinize others. And first, the magnifying glass needs to go over our own heart and over our own lives. Take heed to yourself, the apostle says, and to the doctrine, and then to the flock over which the Lord sets you. To take heed to ourselves is the most difficult work because we have so much in so many blind spots. We have so much insensitivity to sin and to coldness, to the hardness of our hearts. We're lacking, aren't we, when we're honest, in vigilance, in watchfulness. Watch, therefore, and pray, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The work of the ministry involves a constant dependence on omnipotence. on the Spirit of God. And it involves the thing that is so hard for us to do by nature, and that is the abdication of self-reliance. We love relying on self, depending on self. We're born to do that. We're trained and taught in this world to pull ourselves up, to make something out of ourselves. But when it comes to Christ and when it comes to the gospel, that's the very opposite of what we need to do. We need to look away from self, trust not in man, nor in the sons of men whose breath is in their nostrils, but to depend on Almighty God. The work of the ministry cannot be done without looking to Christ, without communing with Christ, without having our hearts drawn out after Christ. Did not our hearts burn within us? While he walked with us and talked with us, by the way, that's what we need. We need that constant bringing of our own emptiness to the Lord and drawing from his fullness, out of his fullness, grace for grace. The work of the ministry involves taking the lowest place, humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, washing the feet of those we've been called to minister unto, loving people when they are not so lovable, ready in season and out of season to give, to carry burdens, to carry the care of all the churches, as Paul says, as it weighed upon him by day, but also by night. The work of the ministry involves ministering to those who are deeply exercised in the matters of faith, the sheep, but also the babes in grace, both strong sheep as well as sick and broken sheep and those who are carrying young. The work of the ministry involves studying the Word of God, which is a mighty deep, to prize this Word, to mine from this Word treasures new and old. The work of the ministry involves discerning the precious from the vile. taking the precious from the vile, as the prophet says, saying to the wicked, as hard as it can be, to face someone and say, it will go ill with you if you continue on the path on which you are. And then to say to the righteous, it will go well with you, despite what you often fear, fainting soul. The work of the ministry involves winning souls. He that winneth souls is wise. And how wise we ought to be in winning souls, all sorts of souls. People like us, but people so very much unlike us. Pleasant people, sure, but unpleasant people as well. Do the work of an evangelist, Paul writes to Timothy. Making the gospel center stage in all we say, all we do. To preach from the pulpit, yes, but to preach in our lives, to preach in our example. Preach in season and out of season that his house may be full. To go on the highways and the byways and compel them to come in. To preach to those who are so unwilling. We're willing captives to Satan and the snare of the devil and doing his bidding every day. To care for those who don't care for their own souls. The work of the ministry involves hardship. Endure afflictions, Paul says. That's God's command, endure them. The ministry often involves loneliness. It can involve betrayal, many snares, many instances of venom from people. Flattery, wiles, and many temptations of Satan endure afflictions. The ministry involves preaching the incorruptible Word of God and not defiling it with our own corruptible thoughts, not exchanging the Word of God for our own thoughts, not whittling away at the Word of God with all its force because it's too stark, too sharp, too strong. The work of the ministry involves warning people against their own ruin and finding these warnings going unheeded and to bear with that. The work of the ministry involves standing ready, in season and out of season, with good counsel to face all manner of struggles, dilemmas, confusion, sometimes things that we don't know at all from our own experience, and yet people look to us to open the Word of God, to speak to their needs, their wants, their situations. The work of the ministry involves speaking to young adults, young people, young children, not hindering them. Oh, to hinder one of God's little ones. Christ's little ones are so dear to him that he would rather a millstone be hung around your neck and you thrown into the depths of the sea than to hinder even ever so slightly one of Christ's little ones. We must seek to lead the elders whom the Lord has given to co-labor with us and deacons and fellow ministers, to submit to oversight, to watch together, to labor together, to watch against wolves, wolves in sheep's clothing, hard to spot, to warn against old errors lest we fall in them again. but especially against new errors of our day. To speak one moment to a self-righteous sinner, another moment to a careless sinner, an indifferent sinner, an infidel. All these things we are called to do. Sometimes in the morning we meet with someone who has just been re-reaved of their dear one, their spouse, a child even. And then later, we go to the hospital and sit with someone who's just received a child from the hand of the Lord, called to bury children, console those who cannot receive children, to counsel married ones going into marriage, counseling those in marriage whose marriage has gone to pieces. And in this all, we must fight against a spirit of discouragement, burnout, unbelief in our souls, and many, many unhappy disappointments with ourself, with others. And of course, never with the Lord. He cannot disappoint. You see, congregation, something of our deficiency when it comes to this work of the ministry, And then we must preach death in Adam and life in Christ. We must preach the whole compass of truth from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, the law in all its forcefulness, and the gospel in all its wideness and freeness. The Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of the Faith. We may not allow the sacraments to be corrupted. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We must preach the drawing love of the Father, the dying love of the Son, the indwelling love of the Holy Spirit. I ask again, who is sufficient for these things? Paul is very clear. We are not sufficient so much as to think or reckon ourselves to be sufficient. When he says it like that in the beginning of verse five, he's essentially saying, not only are we not sufficient, we aren't sufficient to even start to think or imagine that we would be sufficient for anything this great. Let the nations know that they are but men. My brother, I know you know this well, but who can exalt the love of Christ? adequately, sufficiently. So often we preach the riches of Christ's love for sinners, and we don't do justice to it. To the breadth and the height and the depth of the love of Christ. And to preach it with feeling, to preach it with experiential knowledge, so that you're not simply a tinkling symbol. that you know it for yourself, because your people sense when you know it and when you don't know it. Not that they have any excuse. Of course, the truth is the truth. But, oh, to preach a felt Christ, someone whom you know in your own experience in that moment, to know indeed your sin, to know your death, to know your deficiency, And then to preach of the fullness and freeness of Christ for sinners. To preach indeed the law. As this chapter goes on to speak about the ministry of condemnation. Speaking as he does, especially about the Old Testament. about Moses' role in the economy of salvation, but there is that working of the law that must be preached even still today, that sinners might be uncovered to their need of a savior, but not to end there. But to preach the riches of the glory of Jesus Christ. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And to preach, brother, with great plainness of speech. We use, he says later on this chapter, great plainness of speech. To not cloud the word of God in any way, but especially to preach it With liberty, with freedom, with unctuous that we don't have, but that God can give and must give. To preach in great weakness that the power might be of God and not of man. To preach in such a way that you're but a friend of the bridegroom, and that he's the bridegroom. And that you learn to say, I must decrease and He must increase. And to be content to go into the shadows when Christ may be but in the limelight for His people and for the congregation. I ask you again, who is sufficient for these things? When we think of these things, I understand Jonah, who ran from the presence of the Lord. I understand Moses who said, I cannot speak. I understand Jeremiah who said, I'm far too young for this. I understand Paul when he says, I am less than the least of all saints. I'd have to preach this, minister like this. But congregation, let us then know once and for all, all of us, You, brother, myself, all ministers here, you too, congregation, we are not sufficient to think anything, anything of ourselves. Man truly is nothing in the sight of God. And let that be so. Let God be true and every man a liar. But here, here is the truth. Our sufficiency is of God. And literally, it says here in the original, our sufficiency is out of God. It comes forth from God. It comes pouring forth out of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is out of Him. It's there before we had our first breath. It's there before we saw anything even of the need of preaching. It was coming forth from eternity past, from the heart of the triune God. God, in the stillness of the never begun eternity, had designs of mercy on sinners. And he chose the gospel ministry as the means, generally speaking, whereby sinners may be saved. How shall they hear without a preacher? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so in the last few moments of our message congregation, we just want to seek to draw just a few things out of this fullness, this deep, deep, deep unfailing well of fullness that lies in God. In God, the Father who chooses sinners. in a never-begun eternity for Himself to glorify His great name in them. And He who has chosen them, will He not also call them? And whom He calls, will He not also justify them and glorify them? And will He not do it through the gospel ministry? And will He not take care that gospel ministers have a sufficiency that is not their own? And that makes up for all the compass of their deficiencies. And Satan will not be able at all to succeed in drawing even one sinner whom God has set his sights upon to draw them away. Our sufficiency is from God. who commanded the light to shine in the darkness and who now shines in our hearts through the gospel ministry to give the knowledge of the grace and glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Satan is no match to that. God will have his own honor, his own glory. Our sufficiency is out of God the Father. But secondly, and most eminently in a certain sense, most centrally in the Gospel, our sufficiency is out of God the Son. It's out of the One who said, Lo, I come. He was more than sufficient. He was all sufficient. In Christ was packed all sufficiency. The Son of God in our nature. Never was there a preacher like Him. Never spake any man like Him. Never was any obedient like Him. He never could say or needed to say that He was deficient unto anything. Never suffered, never endured anyone, anything like Him. And with a love in his heart, he went the road of suffering. He went the way of the cross to be made a curse for sinners through the gospel ministry. And for gospel ministries, for ministers, there might be sufficiency in gospel work. It's all in Him. It's all in Him, brother. It's all in Christ. Of Him are ye in Christ. And from beginning to end, it's all about Christ's congregation. The whole of congregational worship is Christ from beginning to end. He thrusts into the ministry. He equips for the ministry. He speaks through his ministers. He reveals himself through his ministers. Remember them that have had the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, who? Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the center of preaching. He is the compass of preaching. He is everything in the gospel ministry. And therefore, Paul says, we preach not ourselves, never, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Yes, to the one it'll be a stumbling block. To the other, foolishness. But to them that are being called, He is the wisdom of God and the power of God. Our sufficiency is out of the Father. Our sufficiency is out of the Son. And our sufficiency, lastly, is out of the glorious, precious, indwelling Holy Spirit. As Paul goes on to say, who hath also made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth. But the Spirit giveth life. You see, congregation, in terms of how this works on the ground, the sufficiency of the gospel ministry is this, that the Holy Spirit converts and calls a minister of the gospel, calls him into the ministry, thrusts him forth, gives him a message from out of the Word of God. and uses the mouth of that minister as a mouthpiece to herald forth the gospel of free and sovereign grace. And thanks be to God, the gospel is not a letter. It is not law in the sense that it simply kills and leaves you there to produce your own self-righteousness. No, it goes after that. It kills you at that level. For I, by the law, and dead to the law that I might live unto Christ. And a gospel minister must be someone who knows the distinction between law and gospel and how that works in our lives, in conversion and in the Christian life. So often we go back to the law. We go back to Sinai. We skirt around it until it drives us away from itself and we die once again in order to live unto Christ. And the Holy Spirit enlivens us again and again. We need it. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Then shall I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. And in answer to the prayers of God's people for the Spirit, the Spirit to come not just with oil on the preacher, but with oil on the congregation, so that you might be anointed to hear And in turn, you anointed to broadcast the world over the good tidings of Jesus Christ for the equipping of the saints, for the purpose of drawing in a multitude which no man can number. O congregation, as we close this first part of our service today, congregation, pray your minister into the hands of omnipotence. Pray your weak, deficient minister, as we all are, into the hands of omnipotence. Don't look to him to have any sufficiency in himself. Look past him. Look past his faults and all our faults to the God who is all sufficient. Be a Berean people, comparing scripture with scripture. Be patient with the earthen vessel that God has entrusted unto you and always look past the earthenness of the vessel to the treasure that he has been called to bring. Those among you who are converted, pray that he would be used to strengthen you in the most holy faith. God would give that the gospel that comes forth from his lips would be a balm for you as you face many temptations, dangers, toils and snares. Mix faith with your hearing. Come sit in these pews with prayers that God would bless him and speak to your soul and revive his work in the midst of these years. My dear unconverted friends here today. Pray that this minister would be used for your never-dying soul. Take the words that he speaks most seriously. Don't give him grief with your continued unbelief and the hardening of your heart. My friend, whoever you are, you will one day give account for every word that you have heard from this pulpit and wherever else you may find yourself. Hasten. Before Almighty God, kiss the son, lest he be angry. Know that in the judgment seat, ministers will rise up and give account of the souls entrusted unto them. And may they do it with gladness and joy and not with grief. To have to answer their maker and sender on that day. Did you send him the gospel? Did you preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ to her? to have to say I did with failings, with inadequacy, but I did. Oh, my friend, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you. Oh, may you be used as a robber of hell and as a glorifier of God here in this place. My dear friend, Pastor Pronk, Shall we not together grow more and more convinced of our own deficiency? And shall we not take our deficiency and go to the Lord and exchange it for the sufficiency that he gives away, that he freely, without money, without price, all for the sake of his own son he gives? And notice this word, sufficiency. Sometimes people say, In ministry, strive for excellence. Strive to be the superb minister. Oh, my friend, I like this word, sufficiency. He gives enough. He gives what you need. He gives what he needs to do his work. It's sufficient. And test it then, and find that it's true time and time again. Ability, sufficiency, an able minister of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit of the living God. May the Lord give this all to his praise alone. Amen. Shall we pray? Gracious, good doing and all sufficient Lord God of heaven and of earth, we confess our great and grave deficiency before such a task. A task better suited in a certain sense to angels than to us. But thou hast designed earthen vessels to carry thy treasure. And what a willing savior thou art. We pray thee that our brother would experience from the first time he opens his mouth, thy enabling, thy equipping, Thy sufficient making work in His life, that the triune God would be His sufficiency, and that from out of Him, from out of Father, from out of Son, from out of Holy Spirit, there would be all things necessary and sufficient to perform the work of the ministry in this place. We thank Thee for those who have gone before Him, A long list of ministers who have occupied this pulpit, whose faith we've observed and watched, knowing the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Be with every single soul here. Be with thy dear people in this place. Give a spirit of prayer, supplication, of unity, of love, generosity, of witness. We with those who do not care for their own souls, Lord, make a difference even this very night. Bless each and every one of us for good and take away all our many sins. We ask this in Jesus' name and for his sake alone. Amen. Shall we sing to conclude this part of the service? Number 4, 21, 3, and 5. Blessed is the man whose strength thou art. StSq2 2.60 ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ To thee, O God of Israel ♪ ♪ To thee, O God of Israel ♪ ♪ O God of Israel ♪ ♪ O God of Israel ♪ ♪ Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ God bless the U.S. Army. It has been a long, long time to me. Standing by the fire, it is time to me. I know not the end, I know not the end, but as much as this I pray. Good. Ah, that sounds more like the mic is live. Thank you. Beloved in the Lord, we have come to install a minister of word and sacrament in Christ's holy church. Christ alone is the source of all Christian ministry through the ages, calling men and women to serve. By the Holy Spirit, all who believe and are baptized receive a ministry to witness to Jesus as Savior and Lord, and to love and serve those with whom they live and work. We are ambassadors of Christ who reconciles and makes whole. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. Following his resurrection and ascension, Christ gave gifts to the church. These gifts were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. We stand within a tradition where God calls and empowers deacons, elders, and ministers of word and sacrament. As these three offices are united in Christ, so also in the Church. One office is not separate from the others. The minister of Word and Sacrament does not serve without the elder, and neither without the deacon. Together they enable the whole mission of the Church. Providence Reformed Church of the Reformed Church in America, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has called the Reverend Johann Theodor Prank. to be its pastor and teacher. And the classes of Great Lakes City has approved the call of Reverend Pronk to be pastor and teacher of this church. And we invite you to come forward, Reverend Pronk, as a sign that you accept this call. Ministers are called to build up Christ's church. They are to proclaim God's word, to declare forgiveness through Jesus Christ, to call publicly on the name of the Lord on behalf of the whole congregation, to celebrate Christ's holy sacraments, baptizing and presiding at the Lord's Supper. They are to be pastors and teachers, sharing people's joys and sorrows, encouraging the faithful, recalling those who fall away, helping the sick and the dying. Reverend Pronk, you are here to be received into the membership of the classes and installed into the ministry of pastor and teacher of this congregation. so that it may be clear to all here present that you are both willing and able to accept this call to ministry in Christ's church, the class has asked you to reaffirm the vows you made when you were ordained as a minister of word and sacrament. Do you confess together with us and the church throughout all ages your faith in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Yes, truly, with all my heart. Amen. Amen. Let us stand now with the Reverend Pronk, confessing our faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Congregation, you may be seated. Reverend Pronk, we have some questions for you. Do you believe in your heart that you are called by Christ's Church and therefore by God to this ministry of word and sacrament? Yes, truly, with all my heart. Do you believe the books of the Old and New Testament to be the word of God, the perfect doctrine of salvation, rejecting all contrary beliefs? Yes, truly, with all my heart. Will you proclaim the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, upholding the witness of Holy Scripture against all schisms and heresies? I will, and I ask God to help me. Will you be diligent in your study of Holy Scripture and in your use of the means of grace? Will you pray for God's people and lead them by your own example in faithful service and in holy living? I will, and I ask God to help me. Will you accept the Church's order and governance, submitting to ecclesiastical discipline should you become delinquent in either life or doctrine? I will, and I ask God to help me. Will you be loyal to the witness and work of the Reformed Church in America, using all your abilities to further its Christian mission here and throughout the world? I will, and I ask God to help me. Will you strive to fulfill faithfully, diligently, and cheerfully all the duties of a minister of Christ, to preach the word of God in sincerity, to administer the sacraments in purity, to maintain proper discipline in the household of God, and to shepherd the flock faithfully? I will, and I ask God to help me. Rev. Pronk, will you publicly declare your commitment to Christian ministry among us? Congregation, if you might stand for this, please. We now ask Rev. Pronk to read a declaration that all ministers read as they come to membership in the classes. I, Johannes de Oudorpronk, and becoming a minister of the Word of God in the Reformed Church in America within the Great Lakes City classes, sincerely and gladly declare before God and with you that I believe the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ as revealed in Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and as expressed in the standards of the Reformed Church in America. I accept the scriptures as the only rule of faith and life. I accept the standards as historic and faithful witnesses to the word of God. I promise to walk in the spirit of Christ in love and fellowship within the church, seeking the things that make for unity, purity, and peace. I will submit myself to the counsel and admonition of the classes, always ready with gentleness and reference to give an account of my understanding of the Christian faith. I will conduct the work of the Church in an orderly way and according to the liturgy and the Book of Church Order, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength I pledge my life to preach and teach the good news of salvation in Christ, to build up and equip the church for mission in the world, to feed the enslaved, to relieve the oppressed, to comfort the afflicted, and walk humbly with God. I ask God and you, his servants, to help me so to live until that glorious day when with joy and gratitude we stand before our great God and King. Amen. Congregation, you may be seated. Reverend Pronk, would you come forward and sign that declaration that you just read? Sign here and print your name there. Wonderful. We welcome you to the Great Lakes City Classes. It's a joy to have you joining us after such a long wait. It felt like a trial. We are so glad that you and your wife and son are here with us. Welcome. Thank you. Yeah. I'm going to keep you up here just for one moment, if you might. Reverend Prank, beloved servant in Christ, be attentive to yourself and to all the flock given to your care. Love Christ, feed his lambs, tend his sheep, be an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Attend to reading, prayer, Study, preaching, and teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. Put these things into practice. Devote yourself to them, so that you may see all progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Reverend Pronunciation. guard what has been entrusted to you, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. Amen. Amen. Now, congregation, might you stand again? And Reverend Pronk, could I ask you to come up by the mic? You don't need to talk. You know, I ask you to rise now to affirm the covenant that you make with this minister who God has given you. So I have some questions for you, and I will prompt you when it's the right time to answer. And all of the answers are very simple, they are, we do. And I invite you, when you answer those, if you might look at Reverend Pronk, and not at me, Reverend Pronk, if you might look at the congregation that has called you to be her pastor. And I know that some so want to be with us in person tonight but are unable, so if you're worshiping online in some way and you're viewing this or listening to this, if you're a member of Providence Reformed Church, I invite you to answer these questions also out loud wherever you are now. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you receive in the name of the Lord, this servant, Reverend Johannes Pranck, to be your pastor and teacher? If you're so minded, look at him and say, we do. We do. Do you promise to receive with meekness and love the word of truth he proclaims? If you're so minded, say, we do. We do. Do you promise to honor his authority, welcome his pastoral care, and follow as he guides you in serving Jesus Christ, the only head of the church? If you're so minded, you may say, we do. We do. Do you promise to encourage and pray for him, to labor together in obedience to the gospel for the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unity, purity, and peace of the church, and the welfare of the whole world? If you're so minded, say, we do. And do you promise him such financial and personal support that he shall serve among you with joy and not with grief, as long as you covenant together? If you're so minded, you may say, we do. We do. Amen. You may be seated. And you, too. Thank you. You may be seated. at a service of installation just as the incoming minister of word and sacrament receives a charge, so too the congregation. So, beloved people of God, receive with joy your minister in the Lord. Remember, God speaks to you through him. Receive the word he shall preach to you as it is in truth the word of God. Respect those who labor among you. Esteem them highly in love because of their work. Let those who preach the gospel of peace, bringing good news, and announcing salvation be beautiful and pleasant to you. It's in the name and by the authority of the classes of Great Lakes City, I now declare that the pastoral relationship between the Reverend Johannes Prank and Providence Reformed Church is fully constituted, and that the Reverend Pronk is a duly installed pastor and teacher of this church. Thanks be to God. Pray with me, please. Almighty and ever-loving God, you taught us to pray for ourselves and for others and to give thanks for all of life. May every grace of ministry rest on Reverend Pronk, keep him strong and faithful. May he herald the joy of your kingdom, serving rather than being served. Give your grace to this congregation. Strengthen them as they labor together. Preserve them in peace. Enlighten them through your word. Inspire your whole church with your spirit of power, unity, and peace. Grant that all who trust you may live together in love. Lead all nations in the way of justice. Direct those who govern, that they may be fair. Maintain order, support those in need, and defend the oppressed, that the world may know true peace. Give grace to all who proclaim the gospel through word and sacrament and deeds of mercy, that by teaching and example, others may come to live for you. Comfort and deliver, O Lord. all who are in trouble, in sorrow, in poverty, in sickness, in grief. Heal them in body, mind, spirit, or circumstance. Working in them by your grace, wonders beyond their dreams and hopes. through Jesus, our Savior, who taught us to pray, saying, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen. Amen. Friends, your pastor has been installed. May the peace of Christ be with you. Amen. Amen. Reverend Kuyper. I'm Reverend Bruce Kuyper and I was the class's supervisor and I have four to seven minutes just to kind of connect Reverend Pronk with our denomination and give a word of encouragement and read a verse of scripture to you and it's a pleasure to see the men who I worked with for the past few years. I'm not even sure how long. This was supposed to be a two or three month assignment, which we all know turned out to be quite something. But I just wanna say this and we'll have a word of prayer. I wanna read the scripture and then make the connection. I was coming home from a church meeting and I was riding back with a seasoned pastor. And it was the ordination or installation of another pastor, I forget which, and he said, why did we clap for him? Shouldn't have we warned him? And I started to laugh, I almost went off the road. But, I just want to share why we clapped and why we cried. With the way the Apostle Paul tells it. And it's a grand privilege to be a pastor of a church, though. And that's what we ended up talking about all the way back, is the pleasure of preaching the gospel to a congregation. Let's pray. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, we thank you for all that you are and all we become in you. We thank you for this wonderful gospel of grace. Without it, none of us would be here. We would be in despair and depression and agony. we would be gone the way of the world. But you plucked us out of the fire. You chose to give us new life in Christ, in whose name we pray now for this congregation, this pastor, and our church. In Jesus' name alone do we pray. Amen and amen. Paul, in Acts 20, 24, he's meeting with the Ephesian elders. And I want to just read verse 24. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself. So I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Amen. I say amen to everything that Dr. Bilkus preached and edifying, just God's words to us. And that's what we do as pastors. As Spurgeon said, I preach the gospel every Sunday to my congregation because they forget it every week. And you have to remember that many of us are Frisians, so we come back to hear it again because we forget easily. Some of you would have to know your Dutch history to understand that one a little bit. I want to just share, some thirty-odd years ago I came to this church, and it was for the Reformed Layman's Publicity Committee, and the church was about to close. And it did close within ten years after that, when I graduated from seminary. And then, 20 years ago, in South Grand Rapids classes, what we used to call that, Harvey Heneveld. Do you guys remember Harvey's dedication to this congregation and to this building that the gospel would be preached here? And he did a lot of work, and I had a lot of admiration for Harvey Henneveld. And then about 10 years ago, I came and did some classes things here, and the congregation was doing well. And then, the past few years, the congregation has been doing very well with strong lay leadership, with past pastors who preach the gospel diligently. And really, that's what I want to say about this congregation and your grand privilege. Paul, later on in this story that we know, He's teaching the Ephesian elders and they kneel together and they pray and they weep because of the relationship that they have with their pastor. And there is no other job, there is no other calling, there is no other career that gives us this deep embedded satisfaction that we are, rightly so, called by God, held accountable for every word. But what a privilege, is it not, men, who preach the gospel to a congregation and you build this kind of relationship with them of trust and love and weeping. So Reverend Prank, you have great elders here. You have Walt, and Don, and Dave. And the deacons are not the junior varsity, they're capable men as well. And they have worked hard and diligently, they have sacrificed. And they have given of themselves and their time. He had a beautiful parsonage. I don't know if you guys know this, but he's got one of the nicest parsonage. We had a meeting there one night, and I'm just kind of going, whoa, wow. Yeah, that's pretty neat. I love it. But these were men who love the gospel, and they were praying for you. and for your family, and they wanted you to be free from the things of this world. So that you could come to this pulpit and tell them about the grand and glorious gospel of grace. A sovereign father who elects us unto salvation. A benevolent father who hates sin so much and he should not have accepted us. He should not have reached out to us. But he sent his son to die for us. That's the gospel. And He looks at us now, and He sees the finished work of Christ. And therefore, He loves us because He loves Christ. And He calls you to just be that, and to teach that, and preach that. I want to connect you again to the denomination. And then I want to just close with another Dutchman that was sent over here by the name of Theodore Freelinehuysen. I don't know if you're familiar with this upstart from the 1700s. So, he's responsible for one of America's great awakenings. Jonathan Edwards said, well, the Spirit is doing the same thing down in the Rayatan Valley with this Friedlein Hosen guy. He didn't quite get it right. But you have people like Lee DeYoung, part of the classes. I tell this story often, Lee, you don't know it, but about 35 years ago, I went over to Lee's house, and I dropped something off, and then I went to a morning Bible study, and they said, well, Lee's going to come. I said, Lee DeYoung's not coming. I was at his house last night dropping some stuff off. He was parking his car to shine the headlights on his yard to mow the grass. He's still mowing grass, I think. And sure enough, here comes Lee DeYoung. That taught me an important lesson of maturity, mature manhood. As Paul would say in Ephesians 4.13, you got all kinds of wonderful men and their families like Lee DeYoung. like Walt and Don and Dave, who are gonna be alongside of you to stand firm, to keep watch, to play the man, and to be strong. You have a wonderful privilege to be the pastor of this congregation because it's the gospel. It's amazing, isn't it? That God would call us as sinners to not only be saved, but to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then to build relationships with families and others through that gospel that binds us together. And a congregation like this, that is faithful to the word of God, that is diligent in their service to the Lord. And then remember this, that savage wolves will come. Paul says this as well. And you'll go to war for the gospel. That's why I closed with Theodore Freeland Heysen. Freeland Heysen came to America and he was a Phrygian. and he thought the Reitan Valley was somewhere in Friesland. He didn't know his geography, but he knew his theology. And he started to preach the gospel. And people were quite upset with him because they just wanted to carry on a few Dutch traditions. And they wanted to make money. That's why the Dutch came here, to make money. But he wanted to convert souls. And that was the only thing that mattered to him, not the denomination, not whether he hurt people's feelings but he had a methodology in his preaching to teach and preach to the saved to those who were saved but didn't have assurance and he would build them up with the gospel but there were some this may come as a shock to you who come to church And they're unsaved. They want to do good works. They want to feel good about themselves. And he would have none of that. He wanted the conversion of souls. Eternity was always on his mind. And so, men like Walt and Don and Dave shored up with him. And drove off the wolves at great peril and great price. But, They always look to eternity, to this gospel that Paul said he was called to do with a singular idea. And so, Reverend Pronunciation and Mrs. Pronunciation and children, kids, your men, not children, your men there, you have come into a place where the gospel is radiant and real. And I hope and pray that you will continue to love them and lead them through this wonderful gospel. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being who you are, men. And it's really been a privilege. So maybe in another 30 years, I'll come back, OK, when Reverend Pronunciation retires. Let's pray. Father God in heaven, we thank you for Reverend Pronunciation. We thank you for his wife and the young men in his family for leaving and coming to our country because he was called to preach this gospel, the exclusivity of the gospel, not works righteousness. not good works, but that God has saved sinners through the blood of Jesus Christ, his beloved Son. And he sends his Holy Spirit to awaken dead people today as he did when Christ called out Lazarus out of the tomb. Now, Lord, we pray that he would be bold and brave that he would build up and equip the elders, and that he himself would be nourished and nurtured by this beautiful gospel, the gospel of grace. In the name of Jesus, all God's people said, Amen. This is a time where there's an open microphone for greetings from other churches in the area. And we have received five letters from other churches. And as a Consistory, we decided to read them publicly at this time as greetings. And then we'll open the microphone if there is anyone else who would like to speak a word. So the first letter is from the Free Reformed Church of Hamilton. Dear Consistory and Congregation of Providence Reformed Church, By means of this letter, we are expressing that our thoughts are with you on January 2, 2022. This is very special for you, and we wish to congratulate you that you again have your own pastor and teacher. We understand that this is not the work of man devising plans, but that God has ordered and ordained all things. We hope and pray that this may be confirmed as well for the pastor and the congregation. We hope that Reverend J.T.H. Pronk may experience the Lord's nearness in his study, in the pulpit, and in the homes as he labors to study and distribute the word of God. May the word of God be preached in all its fullness, that sinners may be brought to the feet of the Savior. May those that sit in darkness be brought into light, and may God's children grow with deeper knowledge of themselves and of the holy and righteous God. May the Lord give you a blessed service. Next is from the Kalamazoo Reformed Church. To Reverend Pronk and the congregation of Providence Reformed Church, from your brothers and sisters of Kalamazoo Reformed Church, we rejoice with you all on this long-awaited occasion. Our prayers are with you all that the Lord may bless your congregation and the ministry of the word in the days to come, both to the conversion of the unsaved and the comfort of his people. with brotherly greetings in Christ. Next is from the Free Reformed Church of Bornholm. To the Consistory of Providence Reformed Church, we rejoice with you that once again the Lord has supplied you with another under-shepherd and teacher. May the Lord richly use and bless Pastor Pronk in your midst. Fill him with knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual understanding, giving him the grace to hold fast the word of truth Even though an international border divides our two congregations, and even though we may have a different denominational name, we may serve the same King who is the head of our churches. We have had the privilege of having your former pastor, Pastor Vandenberg, proclaim the gospel in our church, and we hope that we may be able to continue this relationship. Wishing you the Lord's richest blessing. Sincerely, the Sister of the Born Home Free Reformed Church. Next is the Free Reform Church here locally of Grand Rapids. Consistory and Congregation of Providence Reform Church, dear brothers and sisters, we rejoice with you that the Lord and his kind providence has brought your pastor into your fellowship. We welcome Pastor Pronk and his family to our community and pray for the Lord's indispensable blessings to accompany his ministry within your congregation and our city. For many years, our Free Reform ministers have had the privilege of preaching Christ from your pulpit. May God, by his blessed spirit, continue to work with his word in your midst, making Christ precious in your worship services. May you receive Pastor Pronk as a gift of God to you. May your thanksgiving for your pastor be joined to prayers for him, that the Lord would empower him to minister among you with much joy, particularly in preaching the unfathomable riches of the builder of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ. May the words of Romans 10 verse 15 be realized among you as Pastor Pronk's ascender uses his ministry in your midst with brotherly greetings. Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. And the last is the Free Reformed Church of Dundas, Ebenezer. Dear consistory of the Providence Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Pastor Cronendonk informed us that you look forward to install Pastor Pronk, Sunday, January 2. We share in your joy of receiving Pastor Pronk to lead the congregation in worship, serve as your teacher, and to labor in love amongst you. May the Lord bless your congregation and Pastor Pronk's calling to serve in the Providence Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. We pray you shall be fed with knowledge and understanding, with the Lord having called according to his heart. We have received a blessing from your former pastor, Vandenberg, and as overseers, we thank you for enabling this. There is much love in our congregation for the surname Pronk, as Pastor Cornelis Pronk, a local FRC emeritus pastor, has often preached the word to our congregation. We pray that the installation, led by Dr. Vilkas, may be an edifying afternoon service together as a church family, and that all may go well, the Lord willing. And I believe I have one more from the Pre-Reformed Church of Hamilton. I can't remember if I read that one or not. I did not read it? OK. Dear Cassistry and congregation of the Providence Reformed Church, by means of this letter, we are expressing that our thoughts are with you on January 2. This is very special for you, and we wish to congratulate you that you again have your own pastor and teacher We understand that this is not the work of man devising plans, but that God has ordered and ordained all things. We hope and pray that this may be confirmed as well for the pastor and the congregation. We hope that Reverend Pronk may experience the Lord's nearness in his study, in the pulpit, and in the homes as he labors to study and distribute the word of God. May the word of God be preached in all its fullness, that sinners may be brought to the feet of the Savior. May those that sit in darkness be brought into light and may God's children grow with deeper knowledge of themselves and of the holy and righteous God. May the Lord give you a blessed service. Now the microphone is open. If there are any others who would like to come, you may come to the microphone here and give greetings to Reverend Pronk. And then I will, if no one is coming, I will give my greetings. And Reverend Pronk and family, it's my joy and privilege to, on behalf of the consistory and of the congregation here at Providence Reformed Church, to welcome you here to take up your ministry in this place. You've come from another country and a different culture, and your thoughts must be many as you came here a couple of weeks ago wondering just what you were getting into. and what we were like. We don't know each other so well. And as you came here and as I was thinking about these things, I wanted to just read as an encouragement just a few words from Romans chapter 10. And I'll read 14 and 15 and 17. So, Verse 13 starts, "'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" Because there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek. And then in verse 14, "'How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. and bring glad tidings of good things. And in verse 17, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so this is something that transcends cultures. Something that's true all over the world. And I want to encourage you as you come here and you may wonder, how do I understand the people here? How do I understand this culture? What things should I say or not say? what's important to them, what's not important, and yet this is something that transcends all, that faith comes by hearing, and it's God's ordinary means to bless the preaching of the Word. And so you may trust that God will use the preaching of the Word, the explaining of the Word, the exhortation from week to week, and that's His means to give faith, both faith for the first time to those that are lost, but also from week to week to build up the congregation, to increase faith, and to give growth and grace. And so, no matter what differences we may have, and as time goes, you will learn more and more who we are, and we will get to know you, and we're so thankful that you can be here. But be encouraged that that word that goes forth from week to week is what God uses, and that he will use it to give fruit in the congregation, we pray. Jesus, when He looked out at times, He said, the fields are white already to harvest. And it's my prayer that it may be that way here too, that there are fields in our neighborhood here, that your ministry may have much fruit here, and that God will own it with the work of His Holy Spirit. Congregation, let's sing standing before we hear a message from Reverend Pronk, Psalter 374. And we'll sing verses 1, 4, and 5. 374, 1, 4, and 5. O praise ye the names of your fathers, O praise ye the names of your fathers. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Dear congregation, I would like to read some verses from the Word of God. Let's open the Gospel of John, first chapter, John 1, verses 29 up to 34. John 1, 29 up to 34. And there we read the Word of God. The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him and says, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me come as a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I know him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore, I am come baptizing with water. And John bear record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I know him not. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw in Berekert that this is the Son of God. Dear congregation and guests here and abroad, what is the role of a preacher? We have heard many things about the role of a pastor and a preacher. Many books have been written on this subject. We could easily speak for hours on this subject, what is the role of a preacher and a pastor. However, we are certainly not mistaken if we call a preacher a herald. As a herald, the preacher brings good news, the gospel. of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Savior of sinners. The Apostle Paul fully agreed that the preacher is an herald. When he writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, verse 11, where to I am appointed a preacher, And the word preacher over there is the Greek word kerks. And we also could translate it as heralds. In medieval times, there was the town crier, also called a bell man. And he would stand in the open town square and proclaim news that was important for the people of that city or town. He would give a public announcement on behalf of authorities, by example, a king, a message of victory or some other important message. Well, in the Bible verses we just read, we hear of another herald, also a bellman, But actually, he is not a town crier. He is a desert crier. He stands not in the square of a city or a town. He stands in the open field of a desert. And he loudly shouts a message which is so important. Every man should hear this message. There is no better message than this precious message. See the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and its whole world in his heart and around him. What a precious message this is. Why does he bring good news in the desert? He must certainly have good reasons to stand in the desert. But in the word of God, we come across and we encounter the desert many times. And upon closer examination of all these instances of occurrences of the desert, we will discover that in the Bible the desert is a place of preparation. A place of preparation. Think about the people of Israel. For 40 years they wandered in the desert. Why? As a preparation before entering into that land overflowing with milk. They were prepared by the Lord for 40 years. Think about the Lord himself, Jesus, the Son of God. Before he went publicly in his ministry, he was prepared for 40 days exactly in the desert. In the desert. Our earthly life is as a journey through desert. Or isn't it for you? It is. When we honestly open the Word of God and the Holy Spirit makes us honest, this earthly life is a journey through a desert. No more, no less. It is a time of preparation. for eternity. No, no, no, I would say it different. Eternity starts here. And the choices we make here are the choices for eternity. As the tree falls, it will lie. Well, and in this time of preparation, the Lord make use of means and he brings good news. The first mean the Lord uses in this time of preparation in this earthly desert to lead us to that heavenly Jerusalem are trials and afflictions. Yes, indeed. I hope you recognize it from your own life. The life of a Christian, a child of God. is a life with trials and afflictions. And please, if it is otherwise, then pray to God that you will be made honest before Him. And all these trials and afflictions, they will drive us out on our knees. And we will raise our hands and expect all our help and expectation from the Lord. We need these trials and afflictions. But there is another mean, and that's the primary means which God uses in this life, which is a desert, a time of preparations, and that is His word, the proclamation of the good news. And that's the primary means. Well, what is the proclamation of John the Baptist in the middle of the desert? We see him before a nice picture, isn't it? What does he wear? A rope of camel's hair, a leather girdle around his loins. He is dressed like an Old Testament prophet. And indeed, according to Luke, there is no greater prophet than this John. We see him standing, it's pictured before our eyes, in the midst of a huge crowd. All of Jerusalem and Judea had come out to see this prophet and to hear his words. And then we see him, his arm outstretched, And he's pointing to whom? To himself? No, no, to Jesus, the Savior. And he shouts out loudly, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. What a message is this. Let us unpack these words a little bit more and consider their meaning, because it are true gospel words. Paul would agree. He writes in 1 Corinthians 2, second verse, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ. and him crucified. With these words, I said farewell to the congregation of Sir Janslout in the Netherlands. Well, consider these words of John. Behold, behold. John draws all attention to Jesus. and him alone, not to himself. He easily could have drawn attention to himself. Actually, he was called to be the forerunner of the Messiah. What a great honor and privilege. But he doesn't point to himself. Hear to me, listen to me, I am great. No, he points to Jesus, the Lamb of God. John is like a signpost. There are so many signposts in this world. But this herald and every preacher is a signpost pointing towards Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Isn't this the main task and the most important task of every preacher and pastor in the pulpit? in the houses, in the categorization classes, wherever the pastor and the preacher is, he is a signpost of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. This is also my calling as your pastor and preacher. to divert your attention from all these many temptations here in life. There are so many signposts crying out, look here, look here for life, look here for an excitement. But in the midst of this world with so many signposts, In the silence of this house, I, as your pastor and preacher, am a signpost of Jesus Christ. That's my only task, nothing more, nothing less. that in the midst of your afflictions and trials, you will discover the preciousness of Jesus and his strength, his wisdom, his all-sufficiency. But in order to capture your and my attention for Jesus, we need the Spirit. It is not the words of the pastor. It's not the word of any other preacher. It is the spirit we need. The preacher in himself is powerless, unwise. Don't expect anything from me as a human being. I am weak. And I'm a sinner, like all of you. Pray for the Spirit, that he may fill me, that you may hear the Word of God and come to life. But let's unpack the words a little bit more. John not only draws our full attention to Jesus, but he spells out who he is. If I ask you, who is Jesus? What is your answer? Who is Jesus? Who is he? John spells it out. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. How precious these words are. He is of God. He's the great gift of God. For the world, there is no greater gift of God than His only begotten Son, who became human and suffered and died at Calvary's cross and even went down into hell to save you. that you may travel to that heavenly Jerusalem and will live in Father's house. He is a gift of God. Well, but John unpacks it even further. He says it is a gift of God, yes, but what kind of gift? A lamb. When we think about a lamb, probably we will get tender feelings. A sweet lamb, so adorable, so lovely. But this was not what the people around John heard. When John spoke about a lamb, their thoughts were completely different. Their thoughts were about a sacrificial lamb. And they would think immediately about the prescriptions and stories and texts in the Old Testament. Well, to name a few of you, every morning and every evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the house of God, in the temple, every morning and every evening. And that lamb was burned. No portion was reserved to be eaten. The whole sacrifice is turned to smoke so that it becomes a pleasant odor to God. Actually, a burnt offering indicates a total surrender to God. And that's exactly what Jesus did. His whole life was a total surrender to his Heavenly Father. to save the world. May our lives be such a surrender, a burnt offer for the Heavenly Father. But on hearing these words of a lamb, another picture would emerge before the Jewish eyes. They would also think about Passover. The blood of a lamb smeared upon the doorposts, so the angel of death would pass by, life behind the blood of that precious Lamb, the Son of God. Well, and here is that Lamb of God, and whosoever smears his blood on the doorpost of your heart and your life, receives eternal life. His blood is so precious. It is all sufficient. Please don't pass by Jesus. Please don't bypass him. But another picture would emerge before the Jewish eyes at that time. And they would remember how Abraham offered his dear son Isaac. But actually, before Abraham could really sacrifice his son Isaac, the Lord gave another lamb, a substitute. Well, here is the great substitute, Jesus Christ, the lamb of God. and to come up with another and a last picture from the Old Testament, probably they would immediately remember the words of Isaiah, the prophet, 53 verse 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter as a lamb brought to the slaughter. Imagine the Son of God, the Most High, brought as a lamb to the slaughter and He didn't say anything to save you. That's Jesus. Now you understand why John is using these words. Behold the Lamb of God. Jesus gave His life voluntary according to the will of his Heavenly Father. How terrible and almost unbearable was his fate. He cried out in Gethsemane, oh my father, if it be possible, let a cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he shed his blood and he gave his life out of love to his Heavenly Father. But there is another love in this Lamb of God. It is not only the love to His Heavenly Father that He gave His life and shed His blood. It is a love to a lost world. And therefore, He shed His life. He also loved the world. And what a world it is. Rebels. Sinners. If anyone is better, I would like to hear it. No one is better. We are all rebels and sinners. That's world, a fallen world. And God, our Creator, gave his only begotten Son to love that fallen world. Rebels like you and me, sinners like you and me. Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Come to Him, drink of Him, eat of Him, and find forgiveness of all your sins. Find righteousness, find holiness, find eternal life. All you need for time and eternity you can find in Him and Him alone, but completely in Him. Keep coming to Him every day again. Bow your knees, please. Don't keep standing. Bow your knees and come to repentance. Every day bring your sins to that precious Savior, the Lamb of God, and trust Him, not yourself. Keep coming to Him and find comfort and joy in the midst of all your afflictions and trials. I can assure you in the midst of afflictions and trials, when you keep your eye and you gaze upon that Son of God, Jesus Christ, then your heart starts to be filled with joy eternal. and all-surpassing joy. Keep coming to Him and find a meaningful life. Keep coming to Him and become a reflector of His love. So the others around us will be drawn to Jesus Christ because you are a reflector of His love. Keep coming to Him, repenting your sins. and acknowledging your feebleness, your frailty. Keep coming to Him every day of your life. Maybe you ask, is it for me? Is it also for me? I ask this question many times. Lord, is this precious Savior also for me? Is it written that He's not for you? Is it with an ease for all except for Will and John? He came for the world. And we are that world. He came for lost sinners. He came for all of you. To bear the sins, sin of the world. To bear and take away the guilt which stands between us and God. That's what he came to do. Well, it is the fervent desire of my master who called me to this ministry to preach you that gospel. It is the fervent desire of my master, my savior, to bring you this gospel and to lead you on the gospel way in my pastoral work. It is the fervent desire of my Master, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to bring this Gospel in the catechization classes. To bring this Gospel in the neighborhood here, so that lost and blind people, both in Providence and wherever they are, will see their Savior, Jesus Christ, and find everlasting life. in him. Behold, the Lamb of God. Congregation, it's my only message. Don't expect any other Lord's Day, another message. This is the same message with what I want to bring to you again and again. Jesus Christ and him alone. Amen. before concluding this service, and I know it's late. It has been a long time already, but just bear with me a couple of minutes. I would like to thank you all. for welcoming me and my dear wife and two sons in the midst of you. We already have experienced so much warmth and love from your side over the past two weeks, and actually over the last two years. Words are not enough to thank you for all you have done. The parsonage, it was already mentioned, and indeed it is beautiful. It is fully furnished, imagine. And when we came, we found a full fridge. Amazing, isn't it? We didn't have to buy food for a week. It's amazing. Many other gifts, food, fruit, candies, gift certificates. and much more. Thank you from the bottom of my heart on behalf of me, my wife, and my two sons. We were invited to dinner by several of you. Many of you have offered help. Thank you so much. I would like to thank the board, the elders, and the deacons for all their support and help during this long period of waiting, the period of transitioning now. And I would like to include also the members of the previous board, Will Heykoop, and Walter Rosenboom and Ron Halkmuth. Thank you for all your prayers and support and contacts by phone, by email, by WhatsApp, whatever. Thank you. Thank you, congregation, for all your prayers in the long period of waiting. It was indeed a fierce trial, probably also for you, but for me it was. And many times I gave my call back to the Lord. I just said, Lord, I don't know anymore. If you want me to travel to Grand Rapids and to become the pastor of Providence Reformed Church, you open the way. I can't anymore. Lord, here I am. And I gave it back to him, you see. And in the end, he brought me here. Thank you for all your support and prayers during that long period and all these trials and temptations. A word of special thanks for my dear brother and friend, Reverend Bilgus. You willingly helped the congregation in this long period of vacancy. You administered sacraments, you preached, you visited congregants, helped wherever and whenever you could. But although we didn't meet often, and we didn't write often, it felt like you became a friend for me and a dear brother. And I don't know if you know, but My wife and my sons, we always attended the Providence Reformed services, your morning services. It was our afternoon at 3.15 in the afternoon. And I preached in the morning and in the evening. So we always, as a family, Lord's Day after Lord's Day, we could attend your services here. You never saw me, but I was there, my wife and my kids. And I listened so often to Pastor Bilkos in Gronendonk. And I found so much food in the words you preached. Thank you for that, for your faithful service to this congregation. May the Lord bless you, Pastor Bilkus and Pastor Karnadonk. I would also like to thank Reverend Pastor Kuipers. Maybe you pronounce it differently here, but in Dutch it is Kuipers. Okay. You was a great help for Providence in the vacant period as a supervisor. Thank you for your efforts and we probably will meet soon. I hope so. And also thank you, Reverend Cheryl, for the installation and for the meeting last week. Thank you for all your efforts and I hope we will meet more often in the future. And thank you other delegates here for being here. and being present here. I would also like to remember, and then I close, the listeners in the Netherlands, and if you don't mind, just a few words in Dutch for them, a few sentences, if you don't mind. Dear mother, children, I miss you, but I know that the Lord brought me here. He called me, He will take care of you. Municipality of Zeeland, you have tolerated me for a long time, but I have always been able to bring you God's Word. Thank you for the encouragement and the prayers to this day. And I know that many of you are listening now and later. When I switch back to English, so you could understand me. Sorry for these few words in Dutch. I just thank my dear mother and my kids and the congregation of St. Jansland. They're often in my mind and in my prayers. Well, my last word is to the Lord. He is it who brought me here, who appointed me as your pastor and preacher. And it's amazing, it's a wonder that he uses people like us, weak and frail, but he uses people like us as a means to bring the gospel. Don't look to the means. Don't look to this pastor or to the other pastors and look upwards to God. who gave us to you to bring you the gospel news and to lead you to that heavenly Jerusalem. My prayer is that I always will be and stay a cross-bearer. I hope you understand me. The cross of self-denial. That I will be a good steward and the herald pointing to Jesus, the Lamb of God. May the Lord bless his word and thank you for coming here. Let us close in prayer. Almighty God, we come to Thee at the end of this special service and stand in awe before Thee. Lord, Almighty God, Thou art our Creator. We are Thy creature. Thou art the One who guides the course of this world in great and all affairs. Thou art the Most High King. Thou art the Sustainer of life. But Thou art also our Judge. And one day, and that day might be soon, We will meet you and appear before thy heavenly throne, and we all will bear responsibility of our works. Lord, by the mighty power of thy Spirit, give us faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. that we may see him and come to him in repentance, in confession of our sins, and find in him perfect righteousness, holiness, everlasting life. Lord, open our eyes for the first time. And then from that moment on, every moment in our life. Open our eyes to the completeness and preciousness and all-sufficiency of your Son, Jesus. Lord, thank Thee for all Thou gave us in this first Lord's Day of this newly begun year. Thank Thee for this installation service. We ask forgiveness of all our shortcomings, not only in preaching, but also in leading this service, in listening, in attending this service. But Lord, that thou word will remain and travel with us, that our spirit will indwell us. Hear our prayer in the name of thy beloved Son and our precious Savior and King, Jesus Christ. Amen. We close by singing the doxology. I forgot to sing some, Psalter 40, 401, but it's already late. Maybe it's better. So we close with singing the doxology, Psalter 410. 410 verses one and two. ♪ We glory in thy love and praise thy name ♪ ♪ We sing the glory of God's love ♪ ♪ We sing the glory of God's love ♪ O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant Lift up thy hearts to God, the Almighty God, the Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and receive the blessing of God. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord, he lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen. Thank you, thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Welcome to our class, and to this congregation. Thank you. May the Lord bless this word and ministry. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. So we traditionally close with a word of prayer. Yeah. you you