     III                                 THE




             A Reformed
            Semi-Monthly
                  -
I                                        BBR
            Magazine
                                                                                             m





                                                Robert C.  Harbach





                                                                        Robert C. Harbach
                                                                      (minister emeritus, PRC>


            ""
              I.   ""
                       ,   IYU.    IV

            February  IS,  1990


 Contents                                                                                    THE
                                                        February ?5,? 990              SlYWARD
Meditation  - Rev. Jason L. Kortering                                                      BMREIR
   THE COMFORT OF THE ROD AND STAFF                                           2 1 9
                                                                                        ISSN 0362-4692
Editorials  - Prof. David  I. Engelsma                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during  June, July,
   CRANDVILLE PUBLISHES HARBACH                                               221      and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                       lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
   THEN LUTHER TOO WAS WRONG  _:                                       2 2 1           at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
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LETTERS                                                                       223      49516.
                                                                              :        EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                       Editor: Prof. David  j. Engelsma
A Cloud of Witnesses  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                          Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                       Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
   TERTULLIAN   - THEOLOGIAN                                                  225      DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                       Rev.  Rbnald   Cammenga,  Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                       Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
Decency and Order  - Rev. Ronald C.  Cammhga                                           Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof.  Herr&w
  STUDENT AID                                                                 2i8      Hanko, Rev. Ronald  l+nko,  Rev. John Heys, Rev.
                                                                                       Kenneth  Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Mr. James
                                                                                       Lanting, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.  Marybeth  Lub-
In His Fear  - Rev. Arie  denHartog                                                    bers, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev. Charles  1.erpstra,
                                                                                       Rev.  Cise  VanBaren,  Rev. Ronald  VanOverloop,
  THE FUNCTION OF THE CONSCIENCE OF MAN                                       229      Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard  Woudenberg.
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  THE NECESSITY OF EVANGELISM                                                 233      Reader Asks Department are welcome. Contribu-
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218  I The Standard Bearer  I February  15,.1990


                                                                                                      i         :,.



                                         The Comfort of the
Meditation
Rev.  jason Kortering                    Rod and Staff

   "Yea, though I walk through             The threat of storms is intensi-      to reach this is through the
the valley of the shadow of              fied in the canyons and river bot-      valley of the shadow of death.
death, I will fear no evil; for          toms. A sudden thunder storm               Yes, we have to contend with
thou art with me; thy rod and            can cause the gently flowing            the mountain of death that stands
thy staff they comfort me. "             brook to turn into a raging river       between God and us. Death is the
                                         that could easily drown the             penalty for sin. It obscures the
  The valley of the shadow of            sheep. Higher up, the rain may          light of Jehovah that shines so
                                                                                 brilliantly beyond. The gospel for
death!                                   well turn into snow or sleet and
  What familiar language.                the sheep could be threatened by        us is to know that it is a shadow
  It deals with the most critical        chill and pneumonia. One mis-           of death. A shadow is not the
time for shepherd and sheep, the         placed rock can turn into a roar-       real thing. It takes on the
time when the shepherd takes             ing missile of death. In this           character of death, but lacks the
the flock from the safe confines         valley, the shepherd must con-          substance. How can this be? The
of the home range, the farm-             tend with snakes, coyotes,              answer is that Jesus is our Good
stead, and moves them to the             wolves, and other predators             Shepherd, who laid down His life
higher summer range. There is            which take advantage of rocky           for the sheep. He came to this
only one way to get there, and           narrow confines. The thorns can         side of the mountain and took
that is through the valley.              impale a sheep and cause infec-         the burden of Gods wrath
  A good shepherd will take his          tion or even immobilize it. The         against our sins. He contended
flock on this course. It is the gen-     cliffs and sudden drops can send        with death in all its horrible realii-
tle approach. His sheep cannot           a sheep rolling helplessly down         ty. A moment's contemplation of
scale the canyon walls or climb          to its death.                           the cross will remind us of this.
the steep mountain grade. No,              The Holy Spirit led the               In the awful darkness He cried,
the shepherd must follow the             Psalmist David to see a close           "My God, My God, why hast thou
steady, upward grade that takes          analogy between such an ex-             forsaken me." That's death in its
him through the valley. At the           perience of the shepherd and the        terrible reality. Jesus took away
same time, the valley will pro-          saints' pilgrimage.                     our death as judgment and satis-
vide the necessities for the s,heep.       There are moments when we             fied God's demands, so that now
There the water cascades down-           are secure in the home range (we        it is for us a shadow.
ward as the winter snows melt            lie down in green pastures and             As we pass through the valley
higher up. There the tender              drink beside still waters). There       of this shadow of death, we en-
blades of grass grow and afford          are also moments when we reach          counter many evils. Some of us
the sheep necessary grazing for          the upper summer range and en-          know the sorrow of death that
their upward trek.                       joy a table set before us in the        has taken away loved ones. Life
  But the valley is fraught with         presence of enemies and are             is not the same; the place is so
dangers and many hazards as              anointed with oil with a cup that       empty. Often times we ex-
well. It is aptly called, "the valley    runs over. In a sense, the direc-       perience pain, disease, injury to
of the shadow of death."                 tion of our spiritual life is always    our bodies. There are the
                                         upward. We reach heavenward             moments when loved ones fail
                                         to enjoy sweet communion with           us, a husband leaves his wife or
                                         our God. God in His infinite            wife leaves her husband.
Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Prot-    wisdom knows that the only way          Children turn their backs on
estant Reformed Church of  Grand-
vale,  Michigan.                                                                 parents. Sin breaks our homes

                                                                                 February 15, 1990 I The Standard Bearer  / 2'19


and our hearts. The valley is                     on their behalf. In the sphere of     and separate the wool to Iook for
marked by the tears of those                      the nations, presidents and rulers    disease or for any signs of i:njury.
who forsake Jesus Christ, become                  are Christ's ministers (shepherds)    This became known as passing
backsliders, sometimes even                       to watch over Christ's sheep. In      under the rod (see Ezekiel 2!0:37).
enemies of the truth.. The love of                the church, Christ calls pastors,     If one of the sheep began to
many waxes cold. Even the                         elders, and deacons to do this        wander in the distance, he would
events of the nations of the                      work. In a sense, all of us are       skillfully throw his rod at the
world seem threatening to our                     called to be shepherds over one       sheep and spook it so that it
own safety as people of God.                      another within the fold of Christ.    would stay in the fold. Other
   How sweet the song of the                        Always the real Shepherd is         times the rod became the'
shepherd, "Yea, though I  walk                    Jehovah, Who leads us through         weapon to drive off or kill the
through  the valley of the shadow                 Jesus.                                predator that threatened.
of death, I will fear no evil." The                 The rod and the staff of the          What a lesson this contains for
valley will not swallow us up. We                 shepherd provide comfort.             us.
walk through it unto the higher                     The staff is the best known of        What is the rod and staff? It
ground of sunshine and sweet                      the two. Every picture of a           can be only one thing, the Word
fellowship with God.                              shepherd and sheep includes the       of God. God has given to us His
  The Lord is my shepherd!                        staff, the long stick with a crook    Word. The tools of shepherdizing
  We do well to remind our-                       on the end. The shepherd chose        are not the philosophies of men;
selves that the shepherd makes                    a proper branch from a certain        but God has given to us, the
all the difference in the critical                tree and soaked the end and bent      church of Jesus Christ, the in-
transition through the valley. The                it to the shape of a crook.           fallible Word, authoritative for
true mettle and loyalty of the                      The staff was used to keep the      doctrine and life.
shepherd are tested in the valley.                flock together. At times the new-       The Word keeps the flock.
All the skill he ever developed                   born lambs became separated           together. Nothing does that more
will be called into action as he                  from their mothers, and the           effectively in the church than the
leads his flock through the                       shepherd could not touch it with      preaching of the gospel. The
valley.                                           his hand for then the mother          Word keeps the family together
  David sang from his own ex-                     would reject it. Rather he carried    when father and mother read
perience and focused his eye of                   it with the staff. The staff was      and apply the Word of God to
faith upon Jesus. Jehovah is my                   used to nudge the leader sheep        themselves and the children. The
shepherd! He is the Creator of                    through a difficult area so that      Word guides our feet into the
the heavens and earth, the Lord                   the rest would follow. The crook      paths of truth in the midst of the
of the universe. He is abundantly                 was used to reach out into the        dangers of this world. We need
able to provide all our needs                     waters to rescue a drowning           the Word to comfort us in our
through this valley. Even more,                   sheep or lift one out of the          sorrows, to encourage us in our
He is the one Who has. planned                    ravine into which it had fallen.      distress, to warn us when we
each valley in our lives. He                        The rod was fashioned out of a      stray. It is the staff in the hand of
knows what valleys are impor-                     sapling. The shepherd would dig       the Good Shepherd.
tant for our spiritual good as He                 down to get the heavy knob that         The same Word is the rod. of
draws us closer to Him in the                     formed just where the roots           inspection. So it is for the elders
higher ground. He has sealed His                  separated from the trunk.             of the church at family visiting,
love to us in Jesus Christ. He has                Carefully he would whittle it to      for the deacons when they seek
exalted Him to His own right                      fit his hand and be properly          to determine proper objects of
hand and has given to Jesus all                   balanced.                             mercy, for the pastor when Ihe
authority over heaven and earth.                    The rod was used for protec-        rightly divides and applies the
Even princes and rulers are sub-                  tion. -We think of Moses who had      preaching. The Word warns us of
ject to His control. As the Good :                his shepherd's rod which God          sin and expounds the gospel
Shepherd He calls us by name,                     used as a symbol of His own           truth which keeps the enemies
we hear His voice and we follow                   power to shepherdize Israel. The      away.
Him.                                              rod was used for counting the           No wonder the Psalmist says,
  Jesus uses human agency to                      sheep. In a narrow place -in the      thy rod and staff they comfort
shepherdize. In the sphere of the                 valley, the. shepherd would stand     me.
home, parents are the shepherds                   and force the sheep to pass             The proper use of the Word by
of the family. In the school the                  under the rod to be counted and       Christ and His undershepherds
parents place teachers to do this                 inspected. He would take the `rod     guides'the sheep safely through

220 I The Standard Bearer  I February 15, 1990


the valley of the shadow of               They are not gregarious; they are            We have the Good Shepherd
death.                                    independent and easily wander             with the Rod and Staff.
  There is only one way that we           off. Sheep are helpless animals.             What a comfort, what peace of
will admit this.                          They are hard to handle. There            mind in the midst of difficulties.
  That we are sheep. If we think          are the cranky ewes, the tough               Dear reader, we shall pass
we are more than sheep, we will           rams, the frisky Iambs.                   through the valley to the summit
imagine that we can do it alone,             Without a faithful shepherd            of glory.
without the help of others. Sheep         with proper tools we would                   Ultimately, that is heaven
admit they need a shepherd. The            never make it safely through the         itself. What a comfort! 0
nature of sheep is to wander.             valley.



                                          Grandville Publishes Harbach
Editoria Is                               Then Luther Too Was Wrong;1
Grandville                                   "The Good Shepherd and His             Rapids, MI 49504. The price is
Publishes Harbach                          Sheep" is also excellently suited        $2.00 a copy, which includes
                                           to be a guide for the study of           postage and handling.
   The Protestant Reformed                 John 10 by a society or Bible-              In any reprinting of the
Church of Grandville, Michigan             study group. Our societies may           booklet, and in other publishing
has just published a very fine             well consider spending several           in the future, Grandville should
study of the 10th chapter of the           weeks studying John 10, using            print a mailing address in the
Gospel of John by Rev. Robert C.           Harbach's work.                          book itself. There is no address in
Harbach, entitled "The Good                  Harbach's style is lively,             this booklet. One into whose
Shepherd and His Sheep." This              vigorous, and interesting:               hands the booklet falls will be at
booklet of 57 pages consists of 10           Our missionaries have authority to     a loss to know where he can ob-
brief chapters, treating the main          go where they go, and to be where        tain copies, or correspond with
topics of our Lord's profound,             they are, having the right to go any-    the author or publisher concern-
rich, and comforting teaching in           where to ask after the Great             ing the truth presented in the
the glorious passage on "the              Shepherd's sheep. Our missionaries        booklet. In fact, the Church
Good Shepherd."                            push in where they are not wanted        might still rectify this by a stamp
   The little book will have many         saying, "Excuse me; I think my            or label.
uses. It will instruct, warn, and         Master has one of His sheep here,
                                           and I am come after it. " Our mis-          Readers of The %mdQrd
edify the saints. This is devo-            sionaries have a search-warrant from     Bearer will want to distribute this
tional literature at its best. It will     the Chief Shepherd, and therefore        work to their children, relatives,
be an effective witness to central         have a right to enter anywhere and       friends, and acquaintances. Cl
truths of the gospel to many who          search after their Lord's stolen                                                   -DJ:E
err, or are led astray - to               property. (p. 21)
"evangelicals" and nominally                 The appearance of the book is          Then Luther Too
Reformed who suppose that                  also attractive. The white-on-blue       Was Wrong
salvation is accomplished by the           cover features an appropriate
free will of man; to the cultists,         drawing by Ellen Dick from the              A recent issue of the religious
who deny that Jesus is God; to all         Grandville Church of a shepherd          paper, Christian News (December
those professing Christians who            leading his sheep.                       25, 1989), took notice, at some
fear that believers can fall away            The print is large and easily          length, of The Standard Bearer's
from grace and salvation; and to           read.                                    review of the book, A Case for
all church-members who entrust               Copies can be ordered from             Arminianism: The Grace of God,
themselves to undershepherds               Grandvilie Protestant Reformed           The Will of Man (December 1,
who have not entered into the              Church, Attn.: Rich Peterson,            1989). The editor of Christian
sheepfold of Christ by the Door.           O-1081 Lute St., SW, Grand               News is Herman Otten, well-

                                                                                    February 15,  .I990  / The Standard Bearer I 221


known pastor in the Lutheran                        Reformed churches to shame.            reprobation, Luther assured
Church - Missouri Synod. Otten                      They will not even mention the         Erasmus, even though this d.oc-
has made his periodical a                           bondage of the will, much less         trine "gives the greatest pos.sible
vigorous defender of historic                       oppose the error of free will. By      offence to common sense or
Lutheranism and an unrelenting                      this silence and supine failure to     natural reason" and even thlough
enemy of all departure from the                     withstand one of the most              Luther himself "stumbled at it
Lutheran faith, especially within                   prevalent and powerful attacks         myself more than once, down to
the Missouri Synod.                                 on the gospel of grace in our          the deepest pit,of depair . . . ."
   Christian News is also a sharp                   time, these churches become            Those who deny that God has
critic of Calvinism, seldom pass-                   responsible for the betrayal of        both eternally appointed some
ing up the opportunity to assail                    the gospel of the glory of God.        men to salvation and eternally
the Reformed faith. This some-                        Our joy over the forthright          appointed the others to damna-
times takes surprising forms, e.g.,                 confession of the bondage of the       tion necessarily teach thtit G.od
Otten's declaration that Calvinism                  will is rudely disturbed by the        "(leaves) it to them to choosle
is a source of the charismatic                      equally blunt assault on the Re-       whether they would be saved or
heresy.                                             formed doctrine of predestina-         damned, while He Himself, per-
   Editor Otten (presumably the                     tion. Evidently the editor of          chance, goes off, as Homer says,
author of the unsigned article)                     Christian News is reacting against     to an Ethiopian banquet." (Cf. the
pursues his controversy with the                    the defense of double predestina-      translation of J.I. Packer and O.R.
Reformed faith in his comments                      tion in The SB's review of A Case      Johnston, James Clarke & Co.,
on The SB's review of A Case for                    for Arminianism. His language is       Ltd., 1957, pp. 190-238.)
Arminiansim.  Having quoted a                       imprecise. The Reformed faith                The same explicit teaching of
long section of the review, Otten                   does not speak of "election" to        reprobation is found in Luther's
remarks:                                            hell, but of "rejection" to hell.      Lectures on Romans  of 15  15.,
  Man does not have a, free will in                 Election is exclusively God's eter-    1516, which lectures were instru-
spiritual matters. He is totally cor-               nal choice, in love, of certain,       mental in leading Luther to the
rupt. He can do nothing to save him-                definite persons to eternal life.      actions of reforming the church
seK Salvation is a free gift. Armin-                The eternal appointment of the         that took place in 1517 and
ianism undermines the scriptural                    tithers to eternal death, in           following years. Regarding the
doctrine of justification by faith                  punishment for their unbelief and      reality that some men "are
alone. Luther strenuously opposed                                                          damned," writes Luther, "God
Erasmus  who taught that man has a                  other sins, is reprobation. Never-
free will to choose God. The                        theless, the Lutheran position is      wills it so and in so willing He is
Lutheran Confessions condemn                        plain: Calvinism errs in its teach-    not evil. For all things are of
synergism (Arminianism). While the                  ing of reprobation.                    Him, as the clay is the potter's.
Bible does teach election to heaven,                  If Calvinism is wrong, Martin        Therefore He gives commands
it does not teach any election to Hell.             Luther too was wrong.                  that the elect might fulfill them
Calvinists are wrong when they                        For Luther too confessed dou-        and the reprobate be enmeshed
teach election to damnation or dou-                 ble predestination, eternal            in them, so that He. might show
ble predestination . . . .                          reprobation to hell as well as         both His anger and His mercy."
  This denial and condemnation                      eternal election to heaven. In         Explaining Romans 11:4 ("I have
of the lie of free will is cause for                typical Luther-style, he confessed     reserved to myself seven thou-
rejoicing. Similarly heartwarming                   double predestination as he con-       sand men, who have not bowed
is his repudiation of Arminianism,                  fessed all doctrines that he con-      the knee to Baal"), Luther says,
which, writes Otten in the                          sidered vital - clearly, boldly,       I`       He indicates indirectly that
paragraph that follows, character-                  forcefully, and polemically.           tie' kimself is the author of the
izes "many evangelicals such as                       In the very work against the         reprobation of the others . . (. .Y'
Billy Graham." Because what is                      free willist, Erasmus, referred to     Luther recognizes that "there are
at stake here, as Otten also notes,                 by Otten, The Bondage of the-          many arguments against predesti-
is nothing less than the truth of                   Will, Luther wrote that God            natioli," but they all "proceed
salvation by grace alone, denial                    "mark(s) out by sure election          from the `prudence of the flesh."'
of free will is essential to the                    those that should be saved and               It is in this context of a
Protestant faith.                                   those that should be damned."          defense of double predestination
   The good confession by this                      He insisted that "God . . . of His     that the Protestant Reformer 6x-
Lutheran, that the sinner is                        own mere will abandon(s),              presses his conviction that Christ
"totally corrupt" and that there-                   harden(s) and-damn(s) men . . . ."     did not die,for all men, but only
fore his will is bound, puts many                   He believed and confessed              for the elect. In light of the .fact

222  / The Standard Bearer  I February 15,  1990


that later Lutheranism appealed              because He says: "This is My blood     disciples of Martin Luther in the
to similar texts, in  The Formula            which is poured out for you" and       matter, vital to Luther, of the om-
of Concord (a Lutheran creed), in            "for many" - He does not say: for      nipotence, sovereignty, and grace
support of its teaching that God             all  - "for the forgivenes of sins"    of God in salvation. He should
wills all men to be saved, it is             (Mark 14:24, Matt. 2628). (CL          freely admit that the later
highly significant that Luther               Luther's Works,  Concordia, 1972,      Lutherans, in rejecting reproba-
asserts that Christ died only for            Volume 25, pp. 375, 376, 421.)         tion, significantly deviated from
the elect as he is answering an                Luther never recanted the doc-       and renounced the man whose
objection to predestination that             trine of  The Bondage of the Will.     name they bear.
appeals to I Timothy 2:4 ("Who               On the contrary, he expressly re-         But what is of greater impor-
will have all men to be saved,               affirmed the teaching of this          tance to us is the question,
and to come unto the knowledge               book towards the end of his life.      whether a church can maintain
of the truth"):                                "Calvinists are wrong when
                                             they teach . . . double predestina-    the denial of free will, if it rejects
  The second argument (against               tion," claims the Lutheran, Her-       double predestination. Since the
predestination  - DJE) is that "God                                                 denial of free will is basic to the
desires all men to be saved" (I Tim.         man Otten.                             gospel of salvation by grace
2:4) . . . These points and others like        Then Luther too was wrong.           alone, can the gospel of grace be
them can be refuted as easily as the           Otten should honestly                maintained apart from the con-
first one. For these verses must             acknowledge this. He should            fession of double predestination?
always be understood as pertaining           publicly recognize that Calvinists
to the elect only, as the apostle says       (those at any rate who still hold         We Calvinists think not.
in 2 Tim. 2:10,  "everything for the         double predestination - the only          Luther did not think so
sake of the elect." For in an absolute       true Calvinists) are the genuine       either. 0                             -DJ:E
sense Christ did not die for all,



Letters

Requests More on                             In Defense of our                      and sing from these Psalter songs
Premillennialism                             Psalter                                as their comfort.
                                                                                        In the good providence of God,
   I am a new subscriber to The                 I am writing in regard to the        I had Rev. Gerrit Vos as my
Standard Bearer  and would like              article in  The Standard Bearer         minister for many years. He
to know if at any time there was             under the caption, "The Psalms,        usually read each verse of the
published in this periodical an ar-          Metrical Psalmody, and The             song we were to sing. Many
ticle something like "The Illusory           Psalter" (Dec. 15, 1989). I am sad     times he added, "Let's sing these
Hope of the Rapture" (SB, Jan. 1,            and appalled at the article. It is     words with meaning and see the
1990).                                       very bold to write an article on a     truth of God's Word in them." I
   If there is such an article I             subject about which the writer         can assure you that when you d.o
would be happy to remit the cost             says; "Music is, of course, an area    that you're not thinking about
of a photocopy or the issue in               in which my knowledge is so            "English grammar," "hymn
which it was printed.                        limited that there are very few        tunes," etc.
     Barney Sikma                            things I can say." I was taught            Is the problem, perhaps, that
     Neti York, NY                           that if one knows little or nothing    the author of the article has
                                             about a topic, he ought to keep        never learned to sing the Psalter?
Response                                     silent.                                By whom cannot the 25% or
  We are sending you copies of                  As an elderly saint and             more of the songs in our Psalter
several articles on premillennial-           organist I have played and sung        not be sung? Where is the end? I
ism that have been published in              the Psalters (all of them) many        don't have that problem. Our
The SB. There is no charge. We               years, although some sing easier       congregation in Grandville sings
welcome you as a new                         than others. They are very             all the Psalter numbers. How
subscriber.                          -Ed.    precious to me. I've heard many        many Psalter numbers has the
                                             elderly saints and children quote


                                                                                    February  15,199O  I The Standard Bearer I223


 writer taught his congrega-                       these songs are very beautiful,         like in order to gain better. If Mr.
 tion . . . .?                                     and Psalter #53 (The Lord is My         De Jong insists on keeping every-
       Mrs. Bert (Henrietta) Maring                Shepherd) has been a favorite of        thing he likes, and I insist on
       Grandville, Ml                              old and young for a long time.          keeping everything I like, and
                                                   Also Psalter #16, 24, 42, 59, and       others do the same, then talk
 Back on Pitch                                     81 were said to be "plainly too         about revision quickly
    The Standard Bearer is always                  difficult for a congregation to         degenerates into unhelpful quar-
 read and enjoyed. It is a good                    sing." These songs we have sung         reling.
source of spiritual strength and I                 well and often and, I'm con-               4) My criticism of the early
 hope you keep up the good                         vinced, with our Lords good ap-         English psalters in the staternent
work.                                              proval.                                 which Mr. De Jong quotes was
    However, the contribution of                     May our Lord continue to bless        too strong. These psalters w,ere
the December 15, 1989 issue re                     us with the singing of Psalms in        the ones which restored the
our Psalter left a poor tune and I                 our churches, homes, and schools        Psalms to the hearts and mouths
hope to see someone get us back                    until He comes again.                   of God's people, and ought to be
on pitch. Singing from the Psalter                      Ken De Jong                        highly regarded for that reason.
in church has been a blessing,                          Lansing, IL                        However, it cannot be denied
from my experience. The songs                      Response                                that such language as "He
are based on the inspired Psalms                                                           feedeth me the quiet waters by,"
and they are very meaningful,                        There are a few things which I        "Thy rod and staff me comfort
harmonious, and edifying.                          would like to say in response to        still," "His praise forth tell," and
   After reading the article I got                 Mr. De Jong's letter.                   "Approach with joy His courts
out one of our well-worn books                        1) Our love for The Psalter          unto," is awkward. Here is
and softly sang from each song.                    ought not to make us afraid or          another example from The Scot-
Those that I thought our                           unwilling to ask if its music is the    tish Psalter, Psalm 17:3.
churches sang excellently and                      best possible, and if its texts              Thou prov'dst mine heart,
often I marked down in one                         faithfully represent the Word of                   thou visit'dst me
group. Those that I thought we                     God. Mr. De Jong does not con-               By night, thou didst me try,
sang quite well but not as often I                 tradict any significant point I              Yet nothing found'st; for that
marked in another group. And,                      made about the texts and, in                       my mouth
finally, those that I did not                      fact, admits that the songs of               Shall not sin, purpos'd I.
remember, or remember them                         The Psalter "are based on the in-         5) Perhaps it would be helpful
being sung with difficulty, I                      spired Psalms." Would it not be         if I would give an example of the
marked in a third group. Now                       better to sing the Psalms than          sort of thing I would like to see.
this is strictly a personal tabula-                songs based on them?                    Here is a versification of Psa'lm 3
tion but the result is as follows:                   2) There is always a subjective       which can be sung to tune #426
      274 numbers (63%) with                       element involved in evaluation of       in The Psalter.
          beautiful tunes and well                 music. So we will never reach                0 LORD, how many are my
          sung by our churches,                    perfect agreement on how many                      enemies!
       135 numbers (31%) with nice                 of the tunes in The Psalter are              Many are they who rise to
         tunes and sung reasonably                 bad. But that's not the most im-                   stand against me!
         well by us, and                           portant question. The important              Many are they who say
        27 numbers (6%) with tunes                 question is, "Can we do better?"                   about my soul now,
          I didn't know, or remem-                 If we can, then we ought.                    "There is not any help for
         ber being sung with diffi-                  3) If revision of The Psalter                    him in God."
         culty. Now I really don't                 were undertaken we would all, of             But Thou, Jehovah, art #a
         think that is too bad since               course, lose some tunes or texts                   shield for me,
         we are not all expected to                which we like very much. This is             My glory and the one who
         have angelic voices.                      unavoidable. But we ought to                       lifts my head high.
   Also puzzling in the article was                have a broader perspective than,             I cry out with my voice
the claim that Psalter #53 and                     "Am I going to lose this or that                   unto Jehovah:
268 are examples of versifica-                     tune or text which I like?" We               He answers me out of His
tions which are "awkward, fre-                     ought instead to ask the question,                 holy hill.
quently difficult to understand                    `Can The Psalter be improved?"              I lie down, and I sleep. I
and sometimes comic." Both of                      and, if it can, then we ought to
                                                   be willing to lose a few things we                 wake again,

224  / The Standard Bearer  / February 15, 1990


    Because the LORD continues                 Arise, Jehovah! Save me, 0           A quick comparison of this and
           to sustain me.                        my God!                         The Psalter's versifications
    I will not be afraid of the                For Thou dost smite the jaw       (Numbers 5 and 414) with the
           ten thousands                         of foes, and break out          KJV will show that it is much
    Who set themselves against                 The wicked's teeth. Salvation     closer to the actual words of
           me all around.                        is Jehovah's.                   Scripture. 0          -(Rev.) K. Hanko
                                               Thy blessing always on Thy
                                                 people rests.


A Cloud
 of Witnesses
Prof. Herman Hanko                     Tertdian - Theologian

   Although Paul writes to the            The church of the third cen-            market-place; we have left you
Corinthians that the general rule      tury had spread throughout the             nothing but your temples.
of God in the church of Christ is      Roman Empire. It was divided                  The church in North Africa
that "not many wise men after          geographically and nationally in-          had come to know what persecu-
the flesh, not many mighty, not        to two parts. The Eastern                  tion was, for the sands of this
many noble, are called" (I Corin-      Church, including Palestine,               part of Africa had been soaked
thians 1:26), nevertheless, God is     Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and             with the blood of countless
sometimes pleased to give to the       Egypt, was basically Greek. It             martyrs. Tertullian spoke out of
church of Christ men of outstand-      spoke the Greek language and              personal experience when he
ing ability and great intellectual,    possessed the speculative Greek           wrote that the "blood of the
moral, and spiritual strength,         mind. The Western Church, in-              martyrs is the seed of the
who stand as giants in the annuls      cluding Italy, Spain, Gaul, and           church." In an angry defense of
of the church's history.               North Africa, was Latin. It spoke         the Christians, Tertullian had
  Such a man was Tertullian.           the Latin language and was                charged the Empire with unjust
  Though he is little known and        under the influence of the prac-          hatred against Christianity.
though the Roman Catholic              tical Roman mind with its em-                The term "conspiracy" should not
Church, with some justification,       phasis on law. Tertullian be-             be applied to us but rather to those
considers him a heretic and            longed to the Western Church.             who plot to foment hatred against
apostate, he remains a towering           Christianity had come to North         decent and worthy people, those
figure whose importance in the         Africa early, probably from Italy.        who shout for the blood of the inno-
church stands on a par with such       But the Lord's work there                 cent and plead forsooth  in justifica-
men as Augustine, Luther, and          brought much fruit and by the             tion of their hatred the foolish ex-
                                                                                 cuse that the Christians are to blamie
Calvin.                                middle of the 3rd century 90              for every public disaster and every
  Much of his life has been lost       ministers were laboring in the            misfortune that befalls the people.  Kf
in the dusty past. Only the            area of the province in which             the Tiber rises to the walls, if the
sketchiest of details have come        Carthage was found. Tertullian            Nile fails to rise and flood the fields,
down to us.                            had reminded the pagans in his            if the sky withholds its rain, if there
  He was from Carthage, a city         own land of these blessings of            is earthquake or famine or plague,
whose importance in the history        God.                                      straightway the cry arises: "The
of the Roman Empire is known             If we wanted to act not simply as       Christians to the lions!"
to the youngest of school boys         secret avengers but as open enemies,         Tertullian was born in Car-
who have learned a bit of              what effective opposition could be of-    thage from heathen parents. No
history.                               fered us? We are but of yesterday,        one knows the date of his birth.
                                       and yet we have filled all the places     The guesses range from A.D. 145
                                       that belong to you - cities, islands,     to A.D. 160, although the earlier
Prof. Hanko is professor of Church     forts, towns, exchanges; the military     date is probably nearer the truth.
History and New Testament in the       camps themselves, tribes, town coun-      His father was a Roman cen-
Protestant Reformed Seminary.          cils, the palace, the senate, the

                                                                                 February 15, 1990  / The Standard Bearer I225


turion in the army of Africa,                        Tertullian was a fierce enemy            Although his successor in
something like an "aide-de-camp"                  of all who attacked Christianity.        North Africa, Augustine, was the
to a higher officer. Because his                  He defended the church against           one used by God to develop the
father had higher aspirations for                 paganism and despised pagan              doctrines of total depravity and
his son, he was prepared for civil                philosophy. He fought against the        sovereign and particular grace
service in the empire through                     heretic Marcion, the first higher        over against Pelagianism and
training in jurisprudence and the                 critic of Scripture who attacked         Semi-pelagianism, Tertullian anti-
art of forensic eloquence. His                    the infallible inspiration of God's      cipated Augustine in some
unusual intellectual abilities soon               Word. He wrote at length against         respects. "He was the pioneer of
put him at the head of his peers.                 the Gnostics.                            orthodox anthropology and
   All this was abandoned when                       This latter is of no little impor-    soteriology, the teacher of
he was converted to Christianity.                 tance. The Gnostic heresy, which         Cyprian (another North African
Although he does not speak of                     caused the church so much grief          theologian, H.H.), and forerunner
his conversion in his writings, he                in her early history, can very           of Augustine, in the latter of
alludes to the fact that it was a                 well be classified as the first at-      whom his spirit was reproduced
sudden and dramatic event. He                     tempt to establish a worldwide           in twofold measure, though
writes: "Christians are made, not                 religion to which all men could          without its eccentricities and
born," and uses this to describe                  subscribe. It fused together into        angularities" (Encyclopedia of
God's sudden work which                           one system elements of Christian-        Biblical, Theological and Ec-
brought him from the darkness of                  ity, of Greek philosophy, and of         clesiastical Literature).
paganism to the light of the                      Oriental mysticism. It proposed a           One striking instance of this is
gospel.                                           religion acceptable to all men           his doctrine of traducianism.
   From the time of his conver-                   because it kept what was sup-            Traducianism teaches that the
sion, he became an unrelenting                    posed to be the best elements in         soul of a man is given him, along
opponent to every enemy of the                    every religion. It is like much of       with his body, from his parents
church and a vehement and                         modern ecumenism which also              and is not specially created by
forceful defender of the faith. He                seeks to forge a system of doc-          God at the moment of concep-
was a man of great ability, sur-                  trine which can be acceptable to         tion. While the rightness or
passed by few in the church's                     Christians, Jews, Buddhists,             wrongness of this doctrine is not
history. But he was also a man of                 Mohammedans, and pagan.                  so important to us, it becomes
sharp and vehement temper,                          Against the fierce attack on           important because Tertullian
quick of wit and able to wield an                 the church Tertullian waged un-          taught it in defense of the truth
often bitter and satirical pen                    compromising war. He insisted            of original sin; i.e., that sin was
against those who denied the                      that the Christian faith was unique      transmitted through conception
faith. His writings use language                  among all the religions of the           and birth to result in a depra.ved
which reminds one of Luther: he                   world because it had its origin in       nature. We receive a corrupt
was not afraid to call his enemies                Scripture and Scripture was given        body and soul from our parents
anything within even the widest                   by God, All other religions were         because both body and soul
bounds of decency. He fought                      apostate and deviations from the         come from our parents. He was
hard and long and fearlessly in                   truth.                                   far ahead of his times in this
defense of the faith.                               It is not surprising that this         respect and almost alone taught
  Within ten years of his conver-                 stand did not win Tertullian             this important truth.
sion, he became a presbyter. in                   friends. It was opposed then as it         What gives Tertullian a place
the church. This,is  rather surpris-              is now, for it is the enemy of all       of lasting, importance in the
ing in light of the fact that he                  compromise and unholy tolera-            memory of the church is his
was married, for the church                       tion.                                    teachings concerning the divinity
already at that early date tended                   But Tertullian did not only            of Christ and the doctrine of the
to frown on married men holding                   wield his fiery pen against              trinity.
special offices in the church. In                 heretics of every sort; he also            To appreciate this, we must
two letters of great length to his                devoted his energies to the              understand that the church d.id
wife he extolled the blessedness                  development of the truth. This is        not have at this time any for-
of the marriage state, warned                     beyond doubt his outstanding             mulated doctrine of these im:por-
against adultery and immodesty,                   contribution to the history of           tant truths; They are, of course,
and produced some writings                        Christ's church.                         the most profound in all the
which are pertinent to our own                      Two areas especially are               Christian faith. And the church
immoral age.                                      notable in this respect.                 struggled with them. How can

226 I The Standard Bearer  I February  15,199O


                                     The Western Church never did          Tertullian joined this sect. Some
                                     have any trouble with these           ascribe it to his eccentricity,
                                     problems, was not bothered by         some to his radical nature, some
                                     these heresies, and had, almost       to his ascetic bent. We cannot
                                     from the outset, a correct under-     tell. What we do know is that
                                     standing of these difficult ques-     Tertullian did protest vehemently
                                     tions. That this was true was due     against all forms of worldliness
                                     to the genius of Tertullian. He       and spiritual carnality within the
                                     was the one who, a century            church. And it may be that the
                                     before Nicea, understood the doc-     ascetic character of the Mon-
                                     trine, taught it and wrote about      tanists appealed to him. At any
                                     it, and gave to the church terms      rate, in this sect he spent the 1as.t
                                     which we still use today, terms       years of his life, and as a
                                     such as "trinity," "person," and      member of this sect he died.
                                     "substance." He was the first to      Augustine says that Tertullian
Tertullian  - c. A.D. 150-c.  212    teach that God was one in             returned to the church before his
                                     essence and three in Person.          death, but there is no evidence
God be both three and one? If           I find this almost beyond un-      that this is true. It is a sad ending
God is three, it would seem as if    derstanding. While storms of con-     to a gifted man, and we leave
the Christian religion taught a      troversy tore the Eastern Church      judgment to the Lord. The
polytheism little different from     apart over these difficult doc-       greatest of men in this world of
paganism. If God is one, Christ      trines, the West went on its quiet    sin have their faults. Our trust is
cannot be God. How can these         way, undisturbed by the storms,       not in men, but in the Lord.
problems be solved?                  firmly rooted in these truths, all       His membership with the Mon-
   Many answers were suggested,      because of the labors of Ter-         tanists is, however, an abiding
all of which were rejected by the    tullian who taught them a cen-        warning that such movements a.s
church as being contrary to the      tury before Nicea.                    Montanism and Pentecostalism
Scriptures. Every time an answer        But the story of Tertullian is     rush into the church as a mighty
was suggested, the church looked     not complete without its last sad     wind to fill a spiritual vacuum in
at Scripture and condemned it as     chapter.                              the church, a vacuum created b:y
being contrary to the teaching of      The last years of Tertullian (he    world-conformity and dead or-
God's Word. But it took a long       died somewhere between 220            thodoxy. Let us learn history's
time before the church was ready     and 240) were spent as a              lessons and be wise. 0
to say what Scripture in fact did    member of a sect, the sect of the
teach on these important points.     Montanists.
Partly the problem was that the        The Montanists were the             Then let each day become a song,
church had no adequate ter-          beginning of a movement within           And every night a hymn;
minology to express this truth       the church which throughout her       Each hour the song, and hymn
because the terms we use, such       history emphasized the mystical             prolong,
as person, essence, nature, sub-     and subjective, and which has its     Till tears thine eyes bedim, thrice
sistence, are not Biblical terms.    modern manifestation in Pente-              blest!
The church had, so to speak, to      costalism and the Charismatic            Till tears thine eyes bedim.
develop and agree upon a ter-        movement. They were an ascetic        Nay, then, but thou in heaven
minology which it could use to       sect characterized by protests              shalt sing,
express the teachings of Scrip-      against worldliness and carnality       Sing songs to Christ for aye;
ture. It was not until A.D. 324,     in the church, but tending            Exultant shall thy praises ring
and only after a long and bitter     towards outward forms of self-        Through an eternal day, glad
struggle, that these problems        denial which Paul describes as              heart,
were solved and the great creed      having no profit. They held to          Through an eternal day.
of Nicea drawn up. You can find      subjective revelation through the                                   -S.B 1928
the creed in the back of                                                                                        -9
                             The     Spirit and special manifestations
Psalter.                             of the Spirit in those who were
   One striking feature of these     Spirit-filled. There is, indeed,
controversies was the fact that      nothing new under the sun.
they were almost exclusively           Many students of church
limited to the Eastern Church.       history debate the question why

                                                                           February 15, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  I 227


Decency
and Order
Rev. Ronald Cammenga                               Student Aid

   "The churches shall exert                          The situation changed for the      students . . . to be trained for the
themselves, as far as necessary,                   churches of the "Se&&ion" or          ministry of the Word." The first
that there may be students sup-                    "Afscheiding" of 1834. These          concern of Article 19 is not with
ported by them to be trained for                   churches declared themselves          the support of students but that
the ministry of the Word."                         free from domination by the           there be students to be sup-
Church Order, Article 19.                          state. They assumed for them-         ported. The churches are to give
HISTORY OF STUDENT AID                             selves the care of their own          proper support to students. But
   From the very beginning, the                    needy students. Provincial            this is only one means of en-
Reformed churches made provi-                      treasuries were set up for this       couraging young men to study
sion for the assistance of those                   purpose, treasuries which were        for the ministry of the Word.
who were preparing themselves                      replenished by church collec-            There are several ways in
for the ministry. The Synod of                     tions.                                which the churches can "exert"
Emden,  1571, the earliest of the                    In the Christian Reformed           themselves that there may be
Dutch Reformed synods, took                        Church there was at first             students. Certainly parents ought
steps already for the support of                   established a common fund that        to lay before their sons consider-
students for the ministry, Sub-                    was administered under the            ation of the call to the ministry
sequent synods, e.g. Dordt, 1574                   supervision of the synod. But         of the Word. Christian school
and 1578, Middelburg, 1581, `s                     already in 1888 the Synod of the      teachers ought to discuss this
Gravenhage, 1586, Dordt,                           Christian Reformed Church de-         with young men who give
16 18-' 19, made similar provisions                cided that each Classis should        evidence of possessing the gifts
for student support.                               have its own student fund. This       for the ministry. But especially
   One of the reasons for such                     has been the case in the Christian    the officebearers ought to do this.
support in the early years of the                  Reformed Church ever since.  -        The minister ought to make men-
Reformation was the necessity                        In our own Protestant Re-           tion of this in his sermons, irn-
for young men to study abroad at                   formed Churches the care of           pressing upon the congregation
such places as Geneva, Heidel-                     needy seminary students is en-        the need for ministers and calling
berg, Basel, or Zurich. Often the                  trusted to a denominational com-      the young men to give considera-
support of a student was assumed                   mittee, "The Student Aid Com-         tion whether this may not be
by a particular congregation. In                   mittee." The members of the           God's will for them. He ought to
return, the student would pledge                   committee are appointed by and        mention these matters in his con-
himself to the future service of                   report annually to the synod. The     gregational prayers. And he
that congregation.                                 activities of the committee are       ought even to discuss the
  At the time of the established                   regulated by the "Constitution of     ministry personally with you.ng
church in the Netherlands, stu-                    the Student Aid Committee." Re-       men who show promise of the
dent support was taken over by                     quests for aid must be made to        gifts for the ministry. The elders
the government. Funds were                         and approved by this committee        ought also to be involved, bring-
used for this purpose from con-                    each school year. Funds for "The      ing these matters up on family
fiscated property and possessions                  Student Aid Committee" are            visitation.
of the Roman Catholic Church.                      taken from the synodical assess-        The second duty placed upon
The name of this fund was "Ex                      ment paid by each congregation.       the churches in Article 19 is the
Bonis Publicis," which is Latin for                THE TWOFOLD DUTY                      support of seminary students..
"Out of the Public Goods."                         ENJOINED BY ARTICLE 19                This support has always been
                                                     The first and main duty ex-         viewed as an aspect of the
Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the                     pressed in Article 19 is that "the    church's calling to support the
Protestant Reformed Church of                      churches shall exert them-            ministry itself. As much as it is
Loveland, Colorado.                                selves . . . that there may be        the calling of the church to sup-

228  I The Standard Bearer  / February  15,199O


port those men who'actually oc-              Theological School of the Prot-         prescribed course of study (at our
cupy the office of the ministry, so          estant Reformed Churches in             seminary, R.C.), wish to pursue the
it has been recognized that the              America."                               study of theology beyond this point.
church must provide for the                    Such students are to be sup-          The article does not forbid it. But
financial support of those prepar-           ported "as far as necessary" Arti-      aside from this, whether it should be
ing for the ministry. This support           cle 19 states. On the one hand,         pronounced desirable for the candi-
                                                                                     date to continue beyond the
will be necessary in view of the             this means that students who are        prescribed point, depends chiefly
Reformed insistence on a trained             worthy of support are those who         upon the mental and spiritual calibre
ministry.                                    are unable to provide their own         of the pedagogues at whose feet he
  This calling is the calling of the         support. And on the other hand,         would sit if he continued. If they be
"churches," that is, the churches            it means that the extent of sup-        men who can actually give him
in common. The churches in                   port is according to the student's      something that cannot be gotten at
common provide for the educa-                needs. Students must have their         the seminary where he studied, if
tion of seminary students at the             needs met, which is the duty of         they can lead him into new avenues
denominational theological                   the church in regard to the office      of thought that he by himself should
school. And it will be the                   of the ministry.                        in all likelihood never discover and
churches in common who will                    Support is often necessary            that the instructors who had him
                                                                                     know nothing of, let him study on, if
benefit from the labors of the               because study at the seminary           he be a person with marked ability
prospective minister.                        over the course of 7 or 8 years is      as a student." (Standard Bearer, voi:
  The important implication of               costly. There is the cost of            11, p. 47).
Article 19 is that lack of personal          schooling. There are the costs of          Perhaps our churches ought to
funds must never be an impedi-               living. There is the cost of obtain-    consider this matter as an en-
ment to the calling to the                   ing a library. Now, certainly, a        couragement to some of our men
ministry. of the gospel. If a man            student must.do what he can for         to pursue post-graduate studies.
possesses the gifts for the                  his own support. He can work               Re-payment of student aid is
ministry, but lacks the money                during the summer when school           not required. Student aid is not
necessary for training, the                  is in recess. He may even be able       benevolence. Nor is it a loan that
churches must make appropriate               to work part time during the            must in time be paid back. But it
provision.                                   school year, although this will be      is support of the office of the
OBJECTS OF STUDENT AID                       limited by the many hours re-           ministry of the gospel. Re-
  The objects of student aid, ac-            quired each day for study. But in       payment need only be made
cording to Article 19, are                   so far as he is unable to support       when the student does not enter
"students . . . for the ministry of          himself, the churches must pro-         the ministry of our churches:
the Word." It ought to be obvious            vide support.                           "That he will repay in full what-,
that the reference is to students              It is a question whether this ar-     ever money he has received from
who are studying at our                      ticle provides for support of those     the Student Aid Fund should he
denominational seminary.  This is            who desire to pursue post-              refuse to enter the service of our
spelled out in the "Constitution of          graduate studies, either at our         churches or transfer to another
the Student Aid Committee," V,               own seminary or elsewhere. Rev.         school or church prior to his in-
A: "All applicants for aid from              Ophoff remarks about this:              stallation as a minister" ("Consti-
the Student Aid Fund must be                   Another question raised is whether    tution of the Student Aid Com-
enrolled or pre-enrolled in the              aid may be given to candidates in       mittee," V, D, 1). Cl
                                             theology, who, having completed the
                                        -


                                        The Function of the
 In His Fear
Rev. Arie                               Consbience of Man
              den/-/artog


Rev. denHartog  is pastor of Hope              What is called our                    is not only of great theoretical in-
Protestant Reformed Church of                "conscience" is a subject worthy        terest but also of significant prac-
Redlands, California.                        of our consideration. This subject      tical importance. Paul charges

                                                                                     February  15,  1990 I The Standard Bearer I229


Timothy in I Timothy 1:19 to                       tions, it is good to know some-         also be condemned in the day of
hold faith and a good conscience.                  thing about what really our con-        judgment. There are those today
This `exhortation is certainly ap-                 science is. It is a mistake, as some    who teach that only people who
plicable to every Christian. The                   have done, to make the con-             have rejected the gospel of Christ
Bible mentions the matter of our                   science a separate faculty in man.      will be condemned in the da:y of
conscience in a number of places.                  Rather our conscience is a func-        judgment. The heathen who
Sometimes this subject is men-                     tion of our mind and heart. The         never had a "chance" to hear the
tioned with direct use of the                      conscience of man is the inner          gospel will not be condemneld.
word "conscience." At other                        knowledge and sense he has of           Those who teach this contradict
times the subject itself is dealt                  right and wrong, good and evil.         the clear teaching of Paul in
with using other words.                            The conscience is the testimony         Romans 1 and 2. The Gentiles
   It is my intention to deal with                 within a man that condemns him          who never had the law preached
this subject in some detail. Much                  when he does evil and absolves          to them as Israel did nevertheless
has been written about this sub-                   him when he does the right. It          have the works of the law writ-
ject over the years and there is                   accuses and excuses him.                ten in their hearts. This is not the
much difference of opinion. I am                   Sometimes the conscience has            same as saying that they have
indebted in this study to a series                 been described as the voice of          the law in their hearts. if the
of articles written in the Standard                God in the heart of man. There is       ungodly Gentiles had the law of
Bearer a number of years ago by                    some truth to this description in       God in their hearts they would
Rev. Herman Hoeksema.                              that our conscience is created in       love God and live in obedience
  According to the testimony of                    us by God. But our conscience is        to Him. This they do not do.
scripture every man has a con-                     also the testimony of our own           They however have the "works
science. Both the child of God                     heart and mind.                         of the law in their hearts." T:he
and the ungodly man have a con-                      The literal meaning of the            "works of the law" are those
science. The conscience of the                     biblical word translated as con-        things which the law does for
ungodly man is part of the "rem-                   science is instructive for a proper     and in man, namely that it shows
nants of natural light" which he                   understanding of what con-              to man what is good and what is
retained after the fall. The child                 science is and how it functions.        evil and commands man to do
of God has a sanctified con-                       Literally the word means "to            what is good and to reject that
science. This aspect of our nature                 know together with" or "to know         which is evil. It condemns th.at
was also changed through the                       along with." The immediate ques-        which is evil and promises
wonderful transformation of                        tion that arises is, to know            rewards to those who do good.
regeneration.                                      together with or along with             God Himself has written the
  The Bible speaks of a good                       whom or what? Some translate            works of the law in the heart of
conscience and an evil or defiled                  the word to mean to know along          every man. God writes the works
conscience. According to the                       with oneself, to know within            of the law in the heart of every
writer of Hebrews, the child of                    oneself. We cannot agree with           man through the revelation of
God has his heart sprinkled from                   this interpretation. Rather, the        His Word in nature and through
an evil conscience. The apostle                    correct interpretation of this          the general operation of His
Paul on a number of occasions                      word is to know along with God.         Spirit in their heart. Through the
spoke of living in good con-                       The conscience judges according         works of the law that have been
science before God. This was part                  to Gods testimony in the heart of       written in his heart the natural
of the testimony that he gave in                   every man.                              man is able to discern between
defending himself against his ac-                    Romans 2:15 is probably the           good and evil, right and wrong.
cusers. The apostle speaks of                      most instructive passage of all         He knows that which is good and
commending himself to the                          scripture on the idea of con-           that he must do that which is
conscience of the saints. Accord-                  science. "Which show the works          good. When he does evil he does
ing to the Word of God, holding                    of the law written in their hearts,     it knowing that it is wrong, and
a good conscience is absolutely                    their conscience also bearing           he is therefore left without ex-
necessary for our walk of faith                    witness, and their thoughts the         cuse. By the testimony of Gold
and sanctification. We are to love                 mean while accusing or else ex-         written in his heart man is con-
out of a good conscience. We are                   cusing one another." In this            demned when he does evil.
to serve God with a pure                           passage Paul is showing how the           According to Romans 2 the
conscience.                                        Gentiles, who did not have the          conscience is distinguished from
  Since scripture speaks of our                    law of God as a written code as         the works of the law which God
conscience in so many connec-                      the Jews did, will nevertheless         has written in the heart of man.

230  / The Standard Bearer  / February 15, 1990


Conscience in man finds its basis      psychologically disturbed he must        can live such a life-style and still
in the works of the law that God       undergo psycho-therapy. Very             imagine himself to be a good per-
has written in man's heart. If it      definitely God created in man a          son. The world is ever progress-
were not for the works of the          conscience. This conscience is           ing, or shall we say degenerating,
law written in man's heart he          based on the unchangeable law            in sin and wickedness. The heart
would have no conscience.              of God written in the heart of           of man is becoming more and
  The conscience of the ungodly        man.                                     more hardened to evil. The
man is the inner judgment of his          The ungodly man tries every-          world is becoming more and
mind and heart based on the            thing to escape the condemning           more ripe for judgment. But it
works of the law which God has         voice of his conscience. He will         still remains true that man will
written in his heart that con-         make himself so busy that he             never be able absolutely to
demns him whenever he does             never has to be alone with his           silence the voice of his con-
evil. The ungodly man cannot           thoughts. He will do' everything         science. His conscience will still
escape that judgment. He must          to silence the voice of his con-         always condemn him and leave
agree with it though he acts con-      science. Much of what he does,           him without excuse before God
trary to it. The conscience of the     he does at least in part for this        and he will be prepared for the
ungodly man inflicts the pain of       reason. The alcohol and drugs he         final judgment. In the day of
judgment. It often torments him.       takes, the loud music he listens         judgment the righteous judgment
This was the case with Cain and        to, the worldly philosophy with          of God will be pressed upon the
with King Saul in the Old Testa-       which he seeks to fill his mind,         conscience of every man.
ment and King Herod in the New         and many more things are in                In our next article we will con-
Testament. This was vividly            part an attempt to escape the            sider the function of the con-
manifested in Judas when in            judgment of his conscience. The          science in the Christian. 0
remorse over having betrayed           ungodly man will devise all sorts                                                  I
Jesus he went out and hanged           of humanistic philosophy by                         Gethsemane
himself. Such torment is not to        which he seeks to justify the evil
be identified with genuine, godly      that he does and to convince                      by Samuel 2. Beam
sorrow over sin. Such torment is       himself that there is nothing            There, in Gethsemane, behold
the judgment of God in the heart       wrong with his wicked ungodli-              The suffering Son of God!
of the ungodly man. The judg-          ness.                                    He kneels in agony untold,
ment of man's conscience is              Through his many efforts he               In tears and sweat and blood.
predictive of the final judgment       will sometimes to a measure              With broken heart and weeping
that shall come in the great day       silence the voice of his con-                  eyes
of the righteous judgment of God.      science. In fact in our modern age          He falls upon his knees;
  One thing that is certain from       we are often shocked that man            And, "Father," unto God He cries,
the scriptural presentation of the     can do such great evil without, it          "Remove this cup from Me."
conscience of man is that this too     seems, being tormented by his
is a creation of God in man.           conscience. How can evil                 But, then, in sweet submission still,
Man's conscience did not come          mothers of this world murder                He modifies his tone,
about through a process of evolu-      their own unborn children and            And says to God, "Yet not My wiill,
tion in which man evolved above        not, we say, be tormented by                But Thine alone be done."
the amoral beast of the field and      their conscience? It is hard to          And then an angel strengthens
became a moral creature. Neither       understand. Surely they them-                  Him
is the conscience of man some-         selves know how wrong and evil              With po.wer from on high;
thing that has come purely as a        it is. It is so very obvious that all    And with new courage given Hilm,
result of man's environment and        the humanistic reasoning of the             He hurries forth to die.
the so-called social mores of the      world is not in the least convinc-       And thus the Saviour yielded up
society in which man grew up.          ing that their deed is not cold-            To God his own free will;
This latter is a favorite "explana-    blooded murder. How can the              Resolved to drink the bitter cup,
tion" of the conscience of man         ungodly of this world live in               God's purpose to fulfil.
given by the modern-day                open and braien fornication and
psychologists; According to this       adultery and pretend it is harm-         0 that I could, with rapture, tell1
teaching, man's conscience can         less and that there is nothing              The matchless sacrifice
and must be changed according          wrong with it?- We are living in a       Of Jesus, our Immanuel,
to the age and society in which        modern age. Everyone is doing               Who paid the countless price!:
he lives. When a man is                it. According to the world, one                                       -S.B., 1928

                                                                                February 15, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  I231


                                                   Committee for Contact
 Guest Article
Prof. Herman Hanko                                 with Other Churches

                        January  17,199O              The group at present consists      work as much as possible. While
Dear fellow saints,                                 of five families with 14 children    nothing definitive has yet been
   The Contact Committee had                        ranging in age from a few            decided (the question will be
decided to prepare a brief report                   months to 15 years old. There        coming to the Synod of 1990),
of our labors in the past few                      are also three individuals who        the saints in England are
months. We have three or four                      are committed to the group,           desperately longing for Biblical
important matters to bring to                      another family which attends the      and Reformed preaching and1 are
your attention.                                    meetings with some regularity, a      looking to us for such help a.s we
   The Committee has been busy                     young girl and her boy friend         can give.
helping the saints of the Cove-                    who are taking catechism with a         At the instruction of the Synod
nant Reformed Fellowship in                        view to joining the church, and a     of 1989, the Contact Corn.mittee
Larne, Northern Ireland. At the                    few others who attend the meet-       has also been attempting to
instructions of the Synod of 1989,                 ings and worship services.            secure the services of one of our
the committee. requested the con-                     The Covenant Reformed              ministers to labor in Burnie,
sistory of Norristown, PA to                       Fellowship is actively working to     Tasmania. You will recall that
release its pastor to work in                      extend the witness of the             Prof. Hoeksema worked ther,e for
Larne, which they graciously                       Reformed faith in Ulster. They        nine months and returned home
consented to do. Rev. K. Hanko                     hold public lectures every Friday     when the Lord terminated his
labored there for about six                        night in Larne, and have on           work by illness.
months. Prof. H. Hanko followed                    several occasions held public lec-      Thus far we have been unable
him and worked in Larne for                        tures in Ballymena, where be-         to secure a man to work in
three weeks during the holiday                     tween 15 and 20 visitors have at-     Tasmania and we are continuing
break at Seminary. And at pres-                    tended. They are increasingly         our efforts. The saints there grew
ent Rev. J. Kortering, with the                    convinced that the Lord is            in spiritual understanding and
consent of his Consistory, is busy                 leading them towards the              knowledge of the Reformed faith
with the work. We are presently                    establishment of a Reformed           under Prof. Hoeksema's ministry,
attempting to secure a minister to                 Church in Ulster.                     for they-had been long without a
follow Rev. Kortering. All the ex-                    The Contact Committee also         pastor of their own; and they
penses of these trips are paid for                 has a number of co@acts  in           earnestly desire to continue to
by the Covenant Reformed                           England and Scotland with             have such assistance. While the
Fellowship, who have repeatedly                    people who are interested in the      Evangelical Presbyterian Church
expressed their deep gratitude to                  Reformed faith. The men who           of Australia has its own pastors,
our churches and congregations                     have gone to Larne have at-           there are only three who do the
for the assistance we have been                    tempted to keep up these con-         work, and they are very busy
able to provide.  +.                               tacts. In fact, last month a con-     men in their own congregations
                                                   ference was held in Barnsley,         and in the work of the denomina-
                                                   England to which these in-            tion as a whole. The assistance of
                                                   terested men were invited. The        a minister from the Protestant
                                                   men who were there discussed          Reformed Churches is very much
                                                   what could be done to establish a     desired. The congregation at Bur-
                                                   Reformed work in England, and         nie also has committed itself to
Prof. Hanko is professor of Church                 the Covenant Reformed                 ?ay for the traveling expenses of
History and New Testament in the                   Fellowship in Larne has com-          :hose who come, as well as the
Protestant Reformed Seminary.                      mitted itself to assisting in this    salary, so that such assistance as

232  / The Standard Bearer  I February 15, 1990


we can give them would not be a         King of the church. We cannot,          proceeding well. The Contact
financial burden on our churches.       in good conscience before God,          Committee has appointed a sub-
  We commit the need in Burnie          simply ignore our fellow saints         committee of various couples
to you that your prayers may            who have not the rich blessings          from our churches in Michigan to
arise to God to suppIy someone          which we have.                           do much of the work. They are
to go over and help them.                  The difficulty is, and the Con-      working hard and have made
  The Contact Committee often           tact Committee is well aware of         some excellent plans for the Con-
ponders the question why the            it, that to assist these saints re-     ference, including the prepara-
Lord is pleased to give us these        quires sacrifice on the part of our     tion of a commemorative booklet
contacts throughout the world           consistories and congregations. It      for those who attend. We expect
and what our responsibilities are       is not easy to be without the           to have at the Conference, the
in helping them. It is clear that       labors of one's pastor. And in-         Lord willing, men from England,
we hear the end of the ages and         deed a pastor is called to his own      Ireland, Singapore, New Zealand,
the return of our Lord Jesus            congregation to labor there. Yet        and Australia. Several of the men
Christ. Throughout the world            the fact remains that we are            from foreign lands h.ave been in-
there remain remnants of saints         given by Christ the,mandate,            vited to speak.
who have come to love the Re-           which we ignore at our peril, to           We will publish more plans in.
formed faith and who eagerly            go into all the world and preach        the near future, but ask you, for
look to us for help and assistance      the gospel. Faithfulness to Christ      the present, to pray for the Con-
in their struggle to maintain and       requires obedience to this great        ference and make, if possible,
witness to the Reformed faith in        command. Let us together pray           plans to attend.
their own lands.                        that we may be faithful to this            May God bless our churches in
  These cries for help cannot be        calling.                                the great work which He has
ignored. They come from Christ             Finally, the plans for the Con-      called us to perform.
Himself Who is the Head and             ference with sister churches are                   With Christian greetings,
                                                                                           The Contact Committee [7




Into All                                The Necessity
the  world
Rev. Ronald VanOverloop                 of Evangelism

   Every local congregation must          How must evangelism be                missionary for the purpose of the
do the work of evangelism!              viewed? Evangelism is literally         gathering of God's people unto
  Evangelism is not a matter of         the proclamation of the good            the formation of an instituted
choice. It is not a matter of           news of the gospel. It is bringing      congregation in another area; the
whether a church has the man            the gospel to those outside the         distribution of literature and
power and/or the time to do it. It      congregation and gathering the          tapes; and the personal witness of
does not depend on whether or           elect into the church. It is the ac-    each member.
not they have a pastor.                 tivity of making known the                 When the apostle Paul places
  The Bible is clear. It does not       Bible's claims concerning the           before Timothy the calling to
give a.local church the choice of       Lord Jesus Christ to those outside      preach the Word in season and
whether it will or will not per-        the local church.                       out of season, he adds, "do the
form the work of evangelism. No           Evangelism includes the follow-       work of an evangelist" (II
excuse is allowed.                      ing methods: the preaching by           Timothy 4:1-5). It is obvious that
                                        the pastor to those outside the         Paul did not want Timothy to
`Rev. &zdverloop is pastor of Bethel    church, either in lectures or in        consider evangelism as some-
Protestant Reformed Church in Elk       studies of the Scriptures held in       thing to do if and when time per-
Grove Villbge,  Illinois.               homes; the sending forth of a           mitted.

                                                                                February 15, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  /2!33


   A church must not view evan-                    "and lo, I am with you alway,           gregation that this is an obliga-
gelism as an additional, optional                  even unto the end of the world."        tion. At times the preaching must
item, as one might consider a sun                  The apostles died, but the prom-        give Biblical incentives to th.e
roof when purchasing a new car.                    ise stands throughout all the           members to be active in their
Evangelism is part of the total                    days of this life, even unto the        witnessing. The preaching must
package that makes up a church,                    end of the ages. Even as each           always be that which gives the
part of the very nature of the                     local congregation delightedly          members the contents of their
church. Just as four tires and an                  claims the promise that their           witnessing.
engine are needed for a car to be                  Lord and Savior will be always             Evangelism must be a matter
an operating vehicle, so the local                 with them, so the mandate to            of prayer. The ministers must
congregation needs evangelism                      make disciples, baptizing and           mention it in the congregational
to be a.church. Without                            teaching them, is given to each         prayers. The prayers of the .home
evangelism a church is not really                  local church.                           must keep this calling ever
a church!                                             And, most importantly, notice        before the mind of its members.
   The main reason for a con-                      that in this commission Jesus           Individual prayers must be for
gregation's involvement in                         gave the command to preach and          wisdom to seize the opportunities
evangelism is obedience to her                     to baptize. Who preaches and            and to say the word in season.
Lord. He determines the church's                   who baptizes? Such is not the             The consistory and congrega-
nature and mission. That is why                    calling of the church in the sense      tion must be willing to free their
faithfulness in evangelistic work                  of the broader assemblies, such         pastor periodically in order that
is a sign of spiritual health (along               as presbyteries, classes, general       he might be able to go to those
with other marks of a church's                     assemblies, or synods. Less is it       outside of the congregation.
fidelity to Christ). Therefore, it                 the calling of mission boards or        Sacrifices must be made so that
has been said that "a church dies                  mission committees. Even less is        the gospel, which is so precious
if it does not evangelize."                        it the responsibility of individuals    to believers, may be brought to
   The Lord of the church, as He                   and mission societies. Preaching        others in order that the church
was ascending into heaven, gave                    and baptizing are responsibilities      might be gathered. Elders might
His disciples the commission, "Go                  which the Lord has given ex-            have to conduct catechism or
ye and teach all nations, baptiz-                  clusively to the local congrega-        lead society in order to free up
ing them in the name of the                        tion.                                   the minister.
Father, and of the Son, and of                       Therefore, each and every               The local congregation must
the Holy Ghost: teaching them to                   church must be evangelizing.            not let anything interfere wi,th
observe all things whatsoever I                    They must be reaching beyond            their ability to do the work of
have commanded you" (Matthew                       the scope of their own members;         evangelism. The construction
28:19, 20). Literally Jesus corn-                  They must be proclaiming the            and/or purchase of their own
manded, "Going out, make                           gospel to more than those who           church building as a place of
disciples of all nations, baptiz-                  gather regularly on the Lord's          worship must not be the cause
ing . . ., teaching them."                         Day in their place of worship.          for a congregation's evangeliism
  To whom is the command                             Because evangelism is not a           to come to a grinding halt. It is
given? The Reformed church has                     matter of choice, but a necessary       true that one's own church
always taken Jesus' Great Com-                     obligation, each local congrega-        building is important in
mission to be not for the eleven                   tion must take this calling             evangelism as a means of iden-
apostles only, but for the whole                   seriously.                              tification in a community. But let
organism of the church, as it                        The consistory and the con-           us not over-estimate the value of
manifests itself in local congrega-                gregation as a whole must be            a church building in evangelism.
tions in every age.                                ever conscious that evangelism is       The kind of people whom the
  First, "making disciples" is not                 just as much a part of their call-      church wants to gather in her
the responsibility only of the                     ing as is the catechetical instruc-     evangelism have much more con-
eleven men whom Jesus called to                    tion of the children of the con-        cern about the preaching and
be apostles. Making disciples is                   gregation. Time, money, and ef-         about the life of the congreg,ation
the work of the church, always                     fort must be allocated and ex-          than they do about the building
and of every age.                                  pended.                                 in which the congregation wor-
  Secondly, notice that im-                          The minister of the congrega-         ships. May we say that the Lord
mediately following the words of                   tion must preach about this             is pleased with a building? May
the Great Commission is the                        Christ-given task. Periodically his     we say that the Lord is much
beautiful promise of our Lord,                     preaching must show the con-            more pleased with the on-going

234  I The Standard Bearer  / February  15,199O


work of bringing the gospel to          (Acts 20:27) to all men, in .order  to       `lt is the sacred duty and privilege
those outside the congregation?         lead them into fellowship with Christ     of the Church of Christ to carry out
Constantly congregations in the         and His Church. Evangelism is the         this calling to the glory of God and
middle of building projects must        activity of preaching the gospel to       according to the measure of their
be reminded to keep their               those outside the congregation that is    God-given ability. This official task is
priorities straight.                    already established in the truth, in      to be sponsored and supervised by
   As an example of the way in          order to bring them to Christ and His     the consistory.
which a congregation must view          Church.                                      "`In fulfilling this mandate the con-
                                          liLocal evangelism is that aspect of    sistory shall encourage the congrega-
the work of evangelism, allow           the work which is performed by a          tion to be witnesses for Christ in
me to quote the Preamble of the         local congregation in order to main-      word (I Peter 3:15)  and deed (Mat-
Constitution of the Evangelism          tain a witness to Christ primarily in     thew 5:16),  and to support the work
Committee of Bethel Protestant          the communities in which the              by their prayers (II Thessalonians
Reformed Church.                        members of the congregation wor-          3:l) and gifts (Philippians 4:14).  Not
  "In obedience to the command of       ship and live.                            least, the people of God are to live
Christ to preach the gospel to every                                              with each other in the church in
creature (Mark 16:15),  the Church                                                such a way that the Spirit will bless
must bring the whole counsel of God                                               their witness outside the church." 0
                                                                                                                             -





From Holy Writ
Rev. George Lubbers                     Exposition of Isaiah 6 (211

  It is of no little consequence,         Then let it be understood that          Isaiah sees the Christ of God, sit-
for the correct understanding of        according to John, the evangelist,        ting at the right hand of God,
the text, to ascertain the identity     he is no less than the glorified          high and lifted up, the LORD of
of the exalted Being-who sits on        Son of man. This is the Son of            lords, the King of kings in Old
the throne in the temple, high          man who must be lifted up even            Testament theophanic vision.
and lifted up both in glory and         as Moses lifted up the serpent in         Much later John will see this
majesty.                                the. wilderness, in order that            Christ, the exalted Son of man, in
  The question is this: is this Per-    everyone believing in him should          the Visions of Patmos. There
son on the throne the triune God,       not perish but have everlasting           John sees the victorious Christ
or is He the glorified Son of God       life (John 3:13-17). He is the            riding on a white horse (not
perfected in the reward of His          Christ who must suffer all these          merely on the foal of an ass),
suffering and death as so clearly       things to enter into His glory            having on his garment and on his
spoken of in Philippians 2:5-ll?        (Luke 24:25-27).  Yes, He is the          thigh written KING OF KINGS,
  John `12:41 tells us that Isaiah      one of whom we read in                    AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev.
"saw his glory" when he spoke           Hebrews 2: 10, "For .it became            19:l l-16).
the words quoted by John from           him, for whom are all things, in             That such is the identity of this
Isaiah 6:10, to wit the message         bringing many sons to glory, to           Jehovah of Hosts is clear from
which Isaiah as prophet has             make the author of their salva-           many passages in the Old Testa-
solemnly enjoined by the Lord of        tion perfect- throughsufferings"!         ment. Dimly this is already seen
hosts to proclaim to "this              He is the same who gave com-              by Balaam in his vision. Says this
people." We will come to the im-        mandment to His disciples on the          strange "prophet" in Numbers
plication of this message in            mount, "Go ye therefore, and              23:21 and 24:7, "the shout of the
another connection. Here we are         make disciples of all the-nations,        king is among them," and also
interested in who this Lord of          baptizing them. in the Name of            "he is higher than Agag." This is
hosts is.                               the Father and the Son and the            the eternal Son of God, the king:,
                                        Holy Spirit, teaching them . . ."         Shiloh, who will come with His
`Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus    (Matt. 28:19, 20).                        glorious sceptre as king to whom
in the Protestant Reformed Churches.      There can be no doubt that              the nations will gather in willing

                                                                                  February 15, 1990 I The Standard Bearer I235


obedience (Gen. 49:lO). Is it                        dwells between the Cherubim             Why would there be no doubt?
necessary to speak yet further of                    upon the mercy-seat, where the        Because He alone is worthy to sit
the beautiful description of this                    blood of the sacrificial beast is     upon this throne in God's temple,
"King, Jehovah of Hosts," as                         sprinkled. Hence, there is a new      which is His church.
foretold in glowing terms in                         and living way into the secret           The fulness of Him that filleth
Isaiah  2:2; 11:lO;  49:6, 7;  55:4, 5?              place of God. Only He who has         all in all (Eph. 1:15-31; Col.
   A closer scrutiny of the text,                    brought such a sacrifice has the      1:18-23; Col. 1:18-23; 2:8, 9). Yes,
and the very usage of the Name                       proper credentials to enter into      this is the SON who received the
"Jehovah of hosts," will bear this                   the city; for Him the everlasting     great inheritance as the "HEIR
out! First of all, we should notice                  doors must swing open wide! Lift      SON" - Lord over all things. We
that the term "hosts" is written in                  up your heads, o ye gates!            read in Hebrews 1:3, 4, "Who be-
the plural. The term in Hebrew is                      The Poet, Christ Jesus, through     ing the brightness of his glory,
derived from the verb zabha                          His Spirit says here by the mouth     and the express image of his, per-
which refers to an army going                        of the Psalmist: Who is this King     son (Being), and upholding all
forth into battle against the                        of glory, of grace, power, and all    things by the word of his po'wer,
enemy (Numbers 31:7; Isaiah                          dominion? Who is He that              when he had by himself purged
29:7, 8; 31:4, 5;  Zech. 14:12).                     demands a rightful place upon         our sins, sat down on the right
Hence, the well-known term                           His rightful throne within the        hand of the majesty on high, be-
Zebaoth, which is plural, refers to                  Holy Place? And the answer is: it     ing made so much better tha.n
the hosts of Israel, as these are                    is none other than "Jehovah           the angels, as he by inheritance
supported by the legions and                         strong and mighty," yea,              obtained a more excellent name
myriads of angelic hosts. Did not                    "Jehovah mightly in battle!" Yes,     than they."
Jesus speak, standing before                         He is the one who conquers all          Let us not forget that Jesus in
Pilate, that as king of Israel, He                   His foes, who crushes the head of     His parable of the wicked
could call His officers to His aid                   the Old Serpent, the Devil, by        husbandmen puts His being the
as the Jehovah of hosts, so that                     bringing the sacrifice of the PRO-    heir in the mouth of these
no one could bring Him to trial?                     PITIATION IN HIS PERFECT              wicked husbandmen, saying,
This is the wonderful truth that                     OBEDIENCE. He has made an             "This is the heir, come let us kill
He could call upon His Father,                       open shame of Satan, as the           him" (see also Mark 12:7 and
even in death's hour, for more.                      Lamb slain from the foundation        Luke 20:14, 20).
than twelve legions of angels to                     of the world (Col. 2:13-15;  Rev.       In conclusion, notice that the
defend Him. Yes, Jesus is indeed                     13:18). Lift up your heads, ye        children of God as sons of adop-
the Lord of hosts, the battling ar-                  everlasting doors, and this King-     tion are joint-heirs with Christ,
mies of Israel, as these are led by                  priest, who as God in the flesh       sharing in His glory as the Lord
two troups of angels, who go                         will enter in as the rightful King    of glory. Romans 8:17; Ephesians
before and behind.                                   to sit upon His throne!               3:6; Hebrews  11:9, and I Peter
  Secondly, we ought to take a                         Such is this "Jehovah of hosts"     3:7 all join in to affirm this heir-
close look at the use of the term                    who came to save His people           ship of the children of God with
"Jehovah of Hosts" in Psalm                          from their sins. He is the Son of     His dear Son, who is the exalted
24:7-10.  We should then observe                     God who is called Jesus; He is        Lord of glory. q
that this Psalm was evidently                        lmmanuel, God-with-us, born
written in connection with the ar-                   from a Virgin! To Him it was
rival of the Ark of the covenant,                    given to sit upon the throne of
also called the Ark of the                                                                 Imputed Righteousness
                                                     His father David, to be king in
Witness, and then is portrayed as                    Judah; and of His kingdom there       Mine is the sin, but Thine the
standing before the heavenly                         is no end (Dan. 7:14). See also            righteousness;
doors of the temple of the living                    Micah 4:7; Hebrews 1:8.                 Mine is the guilt, but Thine  the
God, as portrayed in the earthly                       In the light of the foregoing              cleansing blood.
temple in the most holy place.                       conclusive evidence from Scrip-       Here is my robe, my refuge, and
Now this earthly Jerusalem had                       ture, should there be any doubt            my peace -
been the stronghold of the                           in our hearts that this Jehovah of      Thy blood, Thy righteousness,
Jebusites. But all the idol gods                     hosts of whom the seraphim sing              0 Lord my God.
must forever give way before this                    before the throne is anyone else                              -S.B., 1929
King of the glory of grace. God                      than the glorified Christ, the ex-
will meet with His people at this                    alted and lifted up Son of Man? I
Ark of the testimony, as He                          think not!

236  I The Standard Bearer  I February  15,  1990


BOOK  REVIEW                              book are its thorough knowledge                  does about the theology of the
                                          of the material and its faithful-                others.
THEOLOGY OF THE RE-                       ness. in presenting it, especially                  George's style is clear. He skill-
FORMERS, by Timothy George.               the latter. In contrast to those                 fully intersperses key quotations
Nashville, TN: Broadman Press,            who ignore Luther's doctrine of                  from the Reformers themselves.
1988. 337 pages. $21.95 (cloth).          predestination, or who minimize                  The quotation from Luther, giv-
Reviewed by the `Editor.                  the place of predestination in                   ing spiritual counsel to a woman
   This is a book for all who want        Luther's theology, or who even                   troubled by the question of her
to learn what the main Protestant         deny that Luther held double                     election, is a classic (pp. 78, 79).
Reformers taught. It is also the          predestination, George (a                           One criticism: In one line,
book for those who can benefit            Southern Baptist!) asserts and                   George gives some slight
from a fresh, solid reexamination         proves that predestination was                   credence to the infamous tactics
of the teachings of the                   central in Luther's theology.                    of Suzanne Selinger and William
Reformers. No layman need fear              Luther did not shrink from a doc-              Bouwsma. Selinger and Bouwsma
that this study is over his               trine of absolute, double predestina-            are engaged in the unscientific
theological head. In fact, church         tion, although he admitted that "this            and scurrilous work of explaining
librarians may well order the             is very strong wine, and solid food              away Calvin's ministry and
book for the congregation. But it         for the strong." . . . Against the ob-           theology by means of their
is likely that the pastor will be         jection that such a view turns God               analysis of his alleged psycholog-,
first in line to check it out.            into an arbitrary ogre, Luther
                                          answered - with Paul - "God wills                ical problems. George pays
  Church historian and historical         it so, and because he wills it so, it is         deference to this psycho-
theologian, Timothy George,               not wicked." . . . "Let God be good,"       biography (psycho-fiction!) when
gives us the central teachings of         cried Erasmus the moralist. "Let God        he writes, about Calvin: "This no
Martin Luther, of Huldrych                be God," replied Luther the theo-                doubt contributed to his sense of
Zwingli, of John Calvin, and of           logian . . . . Luther  never  softened      personal anxiety and unrest" (cf.
Menno Simons (not "Simmons" as            his doctrine of predestination (as did      1p. 168 and appended footnote).
in the table of contents).                later Lutherans) . . . . (p. 77).                This kind of biography resembles
Although not a biography, the               Although the Reformed reader                   the Roman Catholic practice in
book does bring in important and          will not have the interest in Men-               time past of exhuming the corpses
                                                                                      i
interesting incidents in the lives        no Simons that he has in the                     of the hated saints in order
                                                                                      ,
of the four that are helpful in           other three men, he likely has                   further to mutilate and destroy
understanding their ministries.           more to learn about the theology                 them. It is unworthy of Dr.
  Outstanding virtues of the              of this anabaptist leader than he           ,George - even one line. 0
                                                                                      -

                                          N.ews From
                                   Our Churches
Mr. Benjamin Wigger



                     February  15,199O    for at least three. weeks. During                   Rev. R. Dykstra declined the
  Alice Hanko, daughter of Rev.           that time Alice was to resume                    call he received from our con-
C. Hanko, one of our churches'            taking medication in hope of get-                gregation in Randolph, WI. And
emeritus ministers, was scheduled         ting her thyroid to a normal                     after that decline, Randolph's
to undergo biopsy surgery on a            level. If after those three weeks                consistory has formed a new trio
tumor in her throat January 17;           all is where .it is supposed to be,              consisting of Revs. M. DeVries,~ E3.
but, due to a low thyroid condi-          her surgery would take place at                  Gritters, and S. Key
tion, her surgery was postponed           that time.                                       CONGREGATIONAL
                                          MINISTERIAL CALLS                                HIGHLIGHTS
`Mr. Wigger is a member of the Prot-         The congregation of our Hope                     Now that Rev. and Mrs. Korter-
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-        P.R.C. in Isabel, SD has extended                ing have left their home con-
ville,  Michigan.                         a call to Rev. S. Key.

                                                                                           February  15,199O  / The Standard Bearer I237


gregation`in Grandville,  MI, and                  periences in the Canadian             Due to difficulties caused by the
by God's grace will spend the                      Churches in the 50's.                 differences with the Danhofs, the
first two months of this year in                   SCHOOL ACTIVITIES                     congregation was severely
N. Ireland, Grandville's pulpit is                   Last fall, students at Heritage     divided and had to be reorga-
being supplied by our Seminary.                    Chr. School in Hudsonville, MI        nized on February 28, 1927 #as the
Prof. Engelsma is scheduled to                     sold candy to raise money for the     P.R.C. of Hull, Iowa. The newly
preach Sunday mornings on the                      school's athletic department. As a    organized church then numbered
Heidelberg Catechism, and Prof.                    way to `say thank you, Heritage's     10 families and 5 individuals. For
Decker will be preaching a series                  Boosters' Club invited these          a time there was a dispute over
of sermons on Sunday night.                        students, along with their dads,      the church property and the new
Their Adult Bible Class was                        to a night of basketball, volley-     congregation had to meet in the
scheduled to be led by Rev. H.                     ball, and swimming at Hudson-         town hall.
Veldman, who used this oppor-                      ville High School.                       Rev. Verhil became their :next
tunity to explain some of his ex-                    You might be interested to          pastor, followed by Rev. C.
                                                   know that during that night an        Hanko. The great depression
                                                   un-official diving contest was        came and for a time meetimgs
              My Friend                            held: which dad could make the        were held only in the church
                                                  biggest splash? Without a doubt,       basement in order to save
I have a Friend who seeth me                      at least in my mind, the un-           heating costs. Even though the
   As down life's thorny path I                   disputed winner had to be Rev.         way was hard, Hull's congrega-
          tread                                   B. Gritters. His best dive was a       tion was led by God's hand, He
Thru dangers all He watcheth me                   complete 360° somersault,              supplied their needs, and pro-
   And sheltereth my defenseless                  leading into a "can-opener."           vided them with faithfm preach-
         head.                                    What a splash! No other dad            ing.
In journeys oft, in tempests wild                 could even come close to                 Rev. Vermeer served as pastor
Mid wicked men all sin-defiled                    duplicating his effort, or was         from 1935-38 and Rev. A. Cam-
I know, I know I am His child                     even of a mind to try. The             menga pastored the flock from
   And e'er His eye is watching                   students along with their dads         1938 to 1950. The Lord pros-
         me.                                      finished off the evening with a        pered the congregation through
I have a Friend who guideth me                    snack of some 40 pizzas from           these years and they came to
   When pitfalls oft beset my way                 Domino's.                              number 66 families and 300
In burden's hour He helpeth me                    HISTORY OF HULL PRC                    souls.
   And bids me all on Him to lay                     On March 16, 1925 the "Pro-           Rev. De Jong came in 1950
When called His bounties given                    testing Christian Reformed             and it was during his stay that
      to share                                    Church" was organized in Hull,         the heresy of conditional
When called the woes of men to                    Iowa as a response to the. adop-       theology was embraced by many
      bear                                        tion of the "Three Points of Com-      in Hull. Once again those who re-
I know, I know that He is there                   mon Grace" by the Christian            mained met in the city hall. But
   And His own hand is guiding                    Reformed Church. This new con-         again the congregation ex-
         me.                                      gregation consisted of about 37        perienced the covenant faithful-
I have a Friend who loveth me                     families, and they first met in the    ness of God in sustaining them in
   Tho' checkered oft my life hat:h               Davidson Opera House in Hull           the walk of faith.
         been                                     with Rev. B. Danhof serving as           Rev. Heys became their next
Before the throne.He pleads for                   their first pastor.                    pastor and served from 1955 -
      me                                            By September of that same            1959. During these years and
   And thru His blood removes my                  year this group had purchased          during the first part of Rev.
         sin.                                     and built a large parsonage and        Kortering's ministry in Hull, the
Then day by day, yes, hour by                     by December they held dedica-          congregation continued to meet
      hour                                        tion services for their new church     in the city hall. But by God's
Forgiving grace and Spirit's                      building as well. Already by this      grace the congregation prospered
      power                                       time the congregation numbered         under the Word, and in 19641
Are poured upon me more and                       50 families and 260 souls.             they were able to purchase back
      more                                          However, the congregation            the original church property in
   And this dear Friend receiveth                 soon faced many trials as they by      which they still worship today.
                                                  Gods grace continued to pro-
                             -S.B.,1930           claim the truth of the Scripture.

238 I The Standard Bearer  I February 15, 1990


  Since Rev. Kortering's two          trance to the seminary depart-        per grade teacher for the  19.90:
pastorates in Hull, the congrega-     ment. These entrance re-              1991 school year. For more in-
tion has been served by Revs. M.      quirements are listed. in-the         formation, contact Henry..
Hoeksema and R. Cammenga,             seminary catalog available from       Kamps, President of the Board
and from 1984 until the present       the school.                           at (616) 878-3417, or call the .
by Rev. R. Moore. Their con-             All seminary department ap-        school office at (616) 453-9717.
gregation now numbers about 70        plicants must appear before the
families and over 310 souls, with     Theological School Committee          RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
more than a third being children.     for interview before admission           The Council of Southwest
They have been richly blessed by      is granted. In the event that a       Protestant Reformed Church ex-
God over the years, and while         student can not appear at the         presses its sincere Christian sym-
God was pleased to lead them          March 15th meeting, notifica-         pathy to fellow office bearers,
through many trials, He has           tion of this fact along with a        deacon, Isaac Kuiper in the loss
always cared for them abundant-       suggested interview date must         of his father, and to elder,
ly. Presently they have plans to      be given to the secretary of the      Clarence Kuiper in the loss of
build a new church building by        Theological School Committee          his brother MR.-JACOB KUIPER,
1996 if the Lord wilis. And they      before this meeting.                  SR. whom the Lord in His mercy
trust that His care will be with         All correspondence should be       recently took home to glory.
them as in the past, for He is the    directed to the Theological              "The steps of a good man are
faithful God. Cl                      School Committee, 4949                ordered by the Lord: and he
                                      lvanrest Ave., Crandville,            delighteth in his way."
                                      Michigan 49418.                       (Psalm 37:23)
                                            Jon Huisken, Secretary          Rev. M. Kamps, President
CALL TO  ASPiRANTS                                                          Bill  DeKraker,  Vice-Clerk
TO THE MINISTRY                        ANNOUNCEMENT                         RESOLUTION OF  SYMPATH.Y
   All young men desiring to             The Protestant Reformed               The Ladies' Society of Hope
begin studies for the 1990-1991        Christian School of South            Protestant Reformed Church
academic year in the Theolog-          Holland, Illinois is in need of      (Walker) expresses sympathy to
ical School of the Protestant          several teachers for the  1990-      Mrs. Cornelia Kuiper and her
Reformed Churches should               1991 school year. Please con-        family in the death of her hus-
make -application at the March         tact Mr. Lamm Lubbers (16535         band, MR. JACOB KUIPER.
15, 1990 meeting of the Theo-          Elm Court, South Holland, IL            "For this Cod is our Cod
logical School Committee.              60473;  [708]  339-6585), ad-        forever and ever; He will be  ou.r
he-seminary Students:                  ministrator, or Mr. Bert Wories,     guide even unto death."
  A transcript of grades-from          Jr. (18757 Bernardine St., Lan-      (Psalm 48:14)
high school and college (if any),      sing, IL 60438;  [708]  474-4926)    Rev.  J. Slopsema, President
a letter of testimony from the         Board secretary.                     Melva Mastbergen, Secretary
student's pastor or consistory,
and a certificate of health from       ANNOUNCEMENT                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
a reputable physician must ac-           The Northwest Iowa Prot-              The Hope Choral Society of
company. the application.             estant Reformed Christian             Hope Protestant Reformed
Seminary Students:                     School of  Doon, Iowa is in need     Church (Walker) wishes to ex-
  A testimonial from the stu-         of one-teacher for grades 3, 4, 5     press its Christian sympathy to
dent's consist&y that he is a         for the 1990-1991 school year.        Mrs. Jacob Kuiper, and Mrs. Ar-
member in full communion,              Please contact Mr. Chester           thur Bleyenberg, in the death of
sound in faith, and upright in         Hunter (106 5th Ave.,  Doon, IA      their husband and father, MR.
walk, a certificate of health         51235;  [712]  726-3381)  ad-         JACOB KUIPER, SR.
from's  reputabte  -physician, and     ministrator, or Mr. Robert              May they be comforted with
high school and college tran-         Mantel (RR2 Box 92; Hull, IA          the words of II Corinthians  5:1,
scripts must accompany the ap-        51239;  [712]  726-3478), Board       "For we know that if our  earthl:y
plication. All applicants to the      , President.                          house of this tabernacle were
seminary department must have                                               dissolved, we have a building of
completed the equivalent of a         ANNOUNCEMENT                          Cod, an house not made with
four-year college education (125         Hope Protestant Reformed           hands, eternal in the heavens."
semester hours) and must meet         Christian School of Grand             Steve Lotterman, President
the course requirements for  en-      Rapids; MI is in need of an up-       Marcia Lotterman, Secretary

                                                                            February 15, 1990 I The Standard Bearer I239


  THE
STANDARD                                                                                                       SECOND CL4SS
                                                                                                               Postage Paid at
 BE4REiV                                                                                                       Grand Rapids, Michigan
 PO.  Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                         transportation from the airport                RESOLUTION OF  SYMPATIHY
   The Reformed Witness Com-                   should notify the Clerk of South                  The Consistory and Congrega-
mittee of Hope Protestant Re-                  Holland's Consistory.                          tion of the  Edgerton Protestant
formed Church (Walker) extends                 Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk                    Reformed Church express their
Christian sympathy  to.Mrs.                                                                   sincere sympathy to Mr. and
Jacob Kuiper and family in the                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                            Mrs. Allen Brummel and  th,eir
death of their husband, father,                   On January  30,1990,  our                   family in the loss of their father
and, grandfather, MR. JACOB                    parents and grandparents, MR.                  and grandfather, MR. JACOB
KUIPER.                                        and MRS. JOHN JABAAY cele-                     KUIPER, SR., who went to be
   May they be comforted by                    brated their 60th wedding an-                  with his Lord on December 31,
the words of the Lord in John                  niversary. We are thankful to                  1989.
11:25, "I am the resurrection                  our Cod for the many years we                     May they be sustained by
and the life: he who believes in               have enjoyed with them and we                  God's grace and comforted in
me, though he were dead, yet                   pray that the Lord will continue               His Word: "Thou shalt guide me
shall he live."                                to bless them and keep them in                 with Thy counsel, and afterward
Gordon Terpstra, president                     His care.                                      receive me to glory." (Ps.  7:3:24)
Doug Kooienga, secretary                          "For the Lord is good, His                  Rev. Michael  DeVries, President
                                               mercy is everlasting, and His                  Allen Hendriks, Clerk
NOTICE!!!                                      truth endureth to all genera-
   Classis West of the Protestant              tions." (Ps. 100:3)                            NOTICE!!!
Reformed Churches will meet in                 Chris and Pat Jabaay                              All students enrolled in the
South Holland, Illinois on                     Jakeand Jeanne Jabaay                          Protestant Reformed  Sem.inlary
Wednesday, March 7, 1990, at                   Tony and Die  J,abaay                          who are in need of financial
8:30 AM, the Lord willing. All                   10 grandchildren
                                                                                              assistance for the coming
delegates in need of lodging or                   8 great grandchildren
                                                                                              school year (1990-1991) are
                                                                                              asked to contact the Student
                  CONFERENCE ON PREACHING                                                     Aid Committee (secretary, Peter
                                                                                              Koole, 554 Kenowa S.W.,
                                   March 6, 1990                                              Walker, Ml 49504  [616]
                              South Holland Protestant                                        453-2524). This contact  shoiuld
                                 Reformed Church                                              be made before the next
                               16511 South Park Ave.                                          meeting of the committee on
                               South Holland, Illinois                                        Monday, March 26, 1990.
  9:00 ,AM - Keynote Address:
     "The Reformed View of Preaching" . . . . . . . . Prof. Robert Decker                     RESOLUTI0.N  OF SYMPATIHY
  lo:30 AM - Sectionals:                                                                         The Christian Fellowship
     "Organization and Homiletics". . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Ronald Hanko               Society of the Hull Protestant
     "Preaching from the Old Testament". . . . . . . . . . Rev. John A. Heys                  Reformed Church expresses its
     "Heidelberg Catechism Preaching" . . . . . . Rev. Ronald Cammenga                        Christian sympathy to Mr. and
  1:00 PM - Sectionals:                                                                       Mrs. Bruce Korver whose infant
     "The Importance and Improving of Delivery" . Rev. Gise VanBaren                          son, KELLY JOEL was taken to
     "The Elders' Oversight of the Preaching" . . . . Prof. Herman Hanko                      his eternal rest.
     "Missionary Preaching" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma               May they be comforted by
  3:00 AM - Sectionals:                                                                       the words of the Lord in Psalm
    "Series Preaching" . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. M. Kamps    29:11, "The Lord will give
    "Preaching as Teaching" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Thomas Miersma               strength unto his people; the
    "Applicatory Preaching" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. C. Haak      Lord will bless his people with
                                                                                              peace."
              Coffee breaks and noon dinner will be provided.                                 Rev. Richard Moore, President
                                                                                              Denise Critters, Secretary


240 I The Standard Bearer I February15,1990


