              dkDMD =
                                        . .                                    ,
A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine





       "This Word was produced from God, and was generated by being produced,
    and therefore is called the Son of God, and God, from unity of substance with God.
            When a ray is projected from the sun it is a portion of the whole sun;
                    rbut the sun will be in the ray because it is a ray of the sun;
            the substance  is not separated  but extended. So God comes from God.
               ,     This ray of God glided down into a virgin." -TertuZZian


CONTENTS:                                                                                                                                December   15,  1995
I                                                                                                                                                                                                                        /
Meditation  - Herman Hoeksema
          Bethlehem's Hidden Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*................................... 123
Editorial  - Prof. David J. Engelsma
          The Birth of the Only Begotten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126                                                                          ISSN 0362-4692
Guest Article - Rev. Jason L. Kortering                                                                                                                                                                                       Semi-mqnthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
          Good Tidings for All People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127                                                                   Published bythe Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
Taking Heed to the Doctrine  - Rev. Steven R. Key                                                                                                                                                                             4940 lvanrest Ave., Grandville, MI 49416. Second Class
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Postage:Paid at Grandville, Mlchlgan.
          God's Creative Handiwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129                                                                Postmastac Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
Search the Scriptures - Rev. Car/J, Haak                                                                                                                                                                                      P.O. Box 603, Grandville, Ml 49469-0603.
          The Feeding of the Five Thousand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*............................. 131                                                                                                                   EDtTORtAL COMMITTEE
Go Ye into All the World - Rev. Jason L. Kortering                                                                                                                                                                            Editor: Prof. David J. EnQelsma
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Secretary:  Prof. Robert D. Decker
           Mission Labors of the E.R.C.S. (2) . . . . . . . . ..**..*.*......***...*...........**.... 133                                                                                                                     Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
All Around Us - Rev. Gise J. VanSaren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135                                                                                       DEPARTMENT EDITORS
A Word Fitly Spoken - Rev. Dale Kuiper                                                                                                                                                                                        Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. Roneld Cammenga, Prof. Robert
          All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138         Decker, Rev. &ie denHartog, Rev. Carl Haak,  Prof. Herman
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. Jason Kortedng, Rev. Dale
Church and State - Mr. James Lanfing                                                                                                                                                                                          Kuiper, Mr. James Lanting,  Mrs. MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev.
          A Federal Court Declares Nation's First                                                                                                                                                                             Thomas,  Mierema, Rev. Gise VanEaren, Rev. Ronald
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              VanDverjoop, Mr. BenjaminWigger,  Rev. BemardWoudenberg.
                Physician-Assisted Suicide Law Unconstitutional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139                                                                                                                       EDtTORtAL OFFICE             CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
Decency and Order - Rev, Ronald L. Cammenga                                                                                                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer          Mr. Ben Wigger
          Warding Off False Doctrines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.................... 140                                                                                           4949 Ivanrest                6697 40thAve.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Grandville, MI 49419         Hudsonville, MI 49426
Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .              142                 WINE& OFFICE                 NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143                                                                                                                The Standard Bearer          The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Don Doezema                  c/o B. i'anHerk
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Grandville. MI               Walnuiomata. New Zealand
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       (6161636-1779
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       .  _,               c/o Mr. Jonathan McAulev
         In observance of Christmas, several articles  in  this issue of the  Standard                                                                                                                                        FAX:   (616)  631.3033       164 Church Rd., Glenwh&y
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Ballymena, Co. Antrim BT42 3EL
Beaver  treat- of the wonderful birth of Jesus Christ the Lord.                                                                                                                                                                                            Northern Ireland
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              EDITORIAL POLICY
         The meditation by Herman Hoeksema probes, in a  ddctrinally devotion-                                                                                                                                                Every edior  is solely responsible for the contents of his own
al (or is it devotionally doctrinal?) way, God's revelation of Himself in the                                                                                                                                                 articles.  +ntributlonsofgenerallnterestfromourreadersand
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              questions for The Reader Asks.deparlment  are welwme.
event of Jesus' birth. Hoeksema published the meditation 50 years ago in
the December 15, 1945 issue of the SB. His Christmas and Lenten medita-                                                                                                                                                       mustb-sr-@lywrittenortypewritt~~,andmu&eslgned. Copy
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              deadlines are the first and ffieenth  of the month. All
tions brought out the very best in him. Those whose appetite is whetted by                                                                                                                                                    communlcatlons relative to the contents should be sent to the
the meditation should read  Hoekse'ma's  published work of Christmas medi-                                                                                                                                                    edltorlal         qflce.
tations, The  Mystery  of  Bethlehem. This 197-page  book is available from the                                                                                                                                               REPRINT  POLICY,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              PermIssIonis herebygrantedforthe ieprintlngofartiolesinour
RFPA, P.O. Box 2006, Grand Rapids, MI 49501. Come to think of it, the                                                                                                                                                         magazin~byotherpublicattons,pmvldedz  a)thatsuchrepdnted
book would make a fine Christmas present.                                                                                                                                                                                     articles are reproduced in full; b) that proper acknowledgment
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              is made;`c) that a copy of the perlodioal in which such reprint
         Gripping is the text of Rev. Jason Kortering's sermon to an `audience in                                                                                                                                             appears is sent to our editorial office.
Singapore that included a number of Chinese idol-worshipers. It brought                                                                                                                                                       SUBSCRlPTlON POLICY
the good news of Jesus' birth into a pagan culture (read "Good Tidings for                                                                                                                                                    Subscription price: $17.00 per year in the U.S., US$2O.W
All People").                                                                                                                                                                                                                 elsewhere. Unless a  deflnlte request for discontinuance Is
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              received, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the
         The editorial directs attention to the biblical testimony that Bethlehem's                                                                                                                                           subscrlptlontocontlnue,andhewill  bebllledforrenewal.  lfyou
baby was, and is, God's only begotten Son. It defends the retention of this                                                                                                                                                   haveachangeofaddress,pleasenotiitheBuslnessDfficeas
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              early as,p+xslble  In order to avold the inconvenience of
fundamental description of Jesus in the churches' English Bible in the face of                                                                                                                                                Interrupted delivery. Include your Zip or Postal Code.
the omission of it by modern versions. If "only begotten" no longer appears                                                                                                                                                   ADVERTISING POUCY
in the versions used by the church, it will soon disappear also from the                                                                                                                                                      The SfandardEearerdoes  notacceptoommerclal  advertising
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              of any  kktd. Announcements of church and school events,
confession of the people. Already, it is reported, some confess the Apostles'                                                                                                                                                 anniversaries, ob+rles, and sympathy resolutions will be
Creed with "only Son," rather thati "only begotten Son."                                                                                                                                                                      placadfora$lO.OOfee.  Thes-eshouldbesenttotheBuslness
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Ofh'ceandshouldbeacccmpanlddbythe$1O.OOfee.  Deadline
         There is even a timely poem:  fl Joy to the Church."                                                                                                                                                                 for announcements Is at least one month prior to publloatlon
         This is the will of God disclosed in the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:lO).                                                                                                                                                 date.
      "This is also the wish of all of us involved in producing the SB for our                                                                                                                                                BOUND VOLUMES
readers: a joyous, blessed Christmas.                                                                                                                                                                                         The Business  Oftkx will accept standing orders for bound
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              coplesofthecurrentvolume.  Suchordersarefilledasswnas
                                                                                                                                                                                                   - D J E                    possible after completion of a volume year.

** Foi the cover picture we are indebted to Mrs. Marilyn Wassink                                                                                                                                                              16mm  mlcroftlm,  36mm mlcrofllm  and 1Mmm mlcroflche,  and
                                                                                                                                                      (First PRC, Holland, Ml).                                               article copies are available through University Microfilms
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              International.

122/Sfandard Bearer /December  15,1995


                         Bethlehem's Hidden
                                             Revelation*

       Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and    with the genesis of Jesus that is             The sign!
see this thing which is come to pass,        called the Christ, the son of                 That which may be seen and
which the Lord bath made known unto          Abraham, the Son of David,' the Mes-      handled of the Son of God become
us.                                          siah. There He is presented as .the       flesh!
                               Luke 215      fuhillment of the prophecy that a vir-        Let us go now and see! Thus
                                             gin should be with child and should       spoke the shepherds! And they went
       How near!                             bear a son and that His name should       and saw!
       Let us see this thing, this Word      be called Immanuel. In Mark the               Let us, too, go, and let us be-
that is come to pass!                        gospel proceeds at once to picture        hold the thing that has come to pass.
       How close He is to us, there in       Him as the mighty King., marvelous            Yes, and let us follow the shep-
Bethlehem, in the manger, in the             in power. On the wings of the pro-        herds, that we may behold what they
swaddling clothes, in the flesh and          found revelation of John we are in-       saw. To the first witnesses of the
blood of that little babe.                   vited to soar into the mysterious         fulfillment of the promise they be-
       Let us go now, and see this           heights of eternity, the "beginning,"     long, and through their eyes, by
thing, this Word, Him, the God of            when the Word was with God and            faith, we would behold the Word
our salvation! Let us behold Him;            was God. But the gospel as Luke           that is come to pass. Yet, as today
and, yes, let us touch Him if we may:        viewed it brings Him very close to        we turn to Bethlehem, let us not be
for now He is as close to us as pos-         us, as the Son of man, like unto His      satisfied ,with the company of the
sible! Let us go now, and see this           brethren in all things.                   shepherds, to follow them alone.
thing that has come to pass, for He              His incarnation narrative centers     Other witnesses have come, and
is there of which the apostle later          in the simple words of Luke  2:7,         seen, and heard, and handled. They
declared: "That which was from the           marvelous in their simplicity, amaz-      heard and testified that He has the
beginning, which we have heard,              ing in their inexhaustible depth:         words of eternal life; that He is the
which we have seen with our eyes,            "And she brought forth her firstborn      Christ, the Son of the living God;
`which we have looked upon, and              son, and wrapped him in swaddling         that He is the One who is in the
our hands have handled of the Word           clothes, and laid him in a manger;        bosom of the Father, the Word be-
of life."                                    because there was no room for them        come flesh, the Way, the Truth, the
       The God of our salvation!             in the inn."                              Life, and the Resurrection. They
       Naturally, it is through Luke that        0, yes, marvelous things are          heard Him speak, they saw His
this invitation to go to Bethlehem           told us as the narrative continues.       mighty works, they witnessed His
and see this thing comes to us. With         Angels appear to shepherds in the         awful death, they beheld the reality
him we find the narrative of the in-         hollow of the night. They preach          and the `glory of His resurrection,
carnation from its human aspect, the         and sing, they rejoice and give glory     and they' looked up into heaven as
story of that which might be seen            to the Most High. Yet, it all concen-     He was received into the heavenly
and heard and touched. In Matthew            trates in that little Babe in the man-    !wY~
the gospel is particularly concerned         ger. Of Him they speak, to Him                Let us go now unto Bethlehem
                                             they point, toward Him they direct        - not as if we had no more than
                                             the way of the angels when they de-       the beginning of this revelation of
Herman Hoeksema was the first editor         clare unto them: "And this shall be       the God :of our salvation, but with
of the Standard Biarer.                      a sign unto you: ye shall find the        all these witnesses, that in the light
* Standard Bearer,  December 15,             babe wrapped in swaddling clothes         of their light we may see, and by
1945.                                        and lying in a manger."                   their testimony we may believingly

                                                                                           December 15,1995lStandard  Beared


contemplate this thing that has come        mighty God calleth them all by                      Yet, how far away!
to pass!                                    name!" Your attention is not now                    This, too, must be confessed as
       Then we know: that Child is          called to the fact that "the heavens        we go to Bethlehem to see the thing
the God of our salvation!                   declare the glory of God, and the           that has come to pass!
       The Wonder of wonders: God           firmament sheweth his handiwork."                   For, as we stand there at the
come near, extremely near us!               On the contrary, you must now, for          manger and contemplate this amaz-
       Yes, even in that Christmas          the moment at least, turn your eyes         ing revelation of the living God, we
night, Mary knew, through her own           away from these witnesses of God's          cannot but be struck by the astound-
amazing experience as interpreted by        eternal power and Godhead, and              ing fact that now He is completely
the words of the angel beforehand:          you must look for your God close            hid!
That holy thing that shall be born of       by, very near, where you may even                   In His highest revelation it is
thee shall be called the Son of God!        touch Him; to Bethlehem you must            wholly concealed!
       Joseph knew, for in a dream it       direct your steps, into a stable you                In His closest approach to us He
had been revealed to him that Mary          must enter, and there the sign and          has wholly receded from within the
was with child of the Holy Ghost,           symbol of your God shall be a Babe,         range of our vision!
that her child should be called             a manger, swaddling clothes!                        0, indeed, always there is an el-
Immanuel, and Jesus, for He would                  How near, how dreadfully near!       ement of concealment in the revela-
save His people from their sins.                   Yet, though you approach with        tion of God. Does not the revela-
       And the shepherds knew, for the      fear and trembling because of this          tion of the Eternal necessarily imply
angels in the fields of Ephratah had        nearness of your God, how blessed           that He speaks to us in time? When
preached the gospel unto them.              is this proximity! For He is become         the Infinite makes Himself known
       Yet, as they went and saw, they      like unto us! He tabernacles with           to us, does He not come down to
could not behold Him, as we do by           us! Uniting Himself with us in per-         the level of the finite? When His
faith, in the light of His terrible         sonal union He has fellowship with          Word goes forth to the understand-
death and glorious resurrection!            us!                                         ing of man, does it not assume the
       Let us go, then, and see! No,               There in the manger of               form of human speech? And is
indeed, not to fathom the mystery           Bethlehem is the central realization        there; then, in that limitation of time
of the Babe in the manger; not to           of the tabernacle of God twith men,         no concealment of the Eternal? Does
comprehend the Wonder of all won-           the eternal covenant of God's friend-       not always the measure of the finite
ders; for the oftener we go and see,        ship in its highest possible fulfill-       hide the Infinite? And is not human
and the more earnestly we contem-           ment!                                       speech incapable of representing
plate this thing that has come to pass,            In the first Paradise God, too,      completely the fullness of the divine
the more profound and amazing the           was near to man. Yet, Adam's                Word? And would it not lead us to
Mystery becomes. Yet, as we now             knowledge of the living God, and            idolatry if we should forget this ele-
go to Bethlehem and look upon that          his fellowship with Him, were al-           ment iof concealment and anthropo-
Babe in the manger in the light of          ways mediate: though near, God              morphism, and identify the glory of
His own Word which He spoke con-            was always far.                             the sun and of the moon, and of all
cerning Himself, in the light of His               But in the manger we see the         the starry heavens and all the wide
deep humiliation and glorious exal-         thing come to pass that God is be-          creation, with the glory of the Cre-
tation at the right hand of God, in         come man!                                   ator Himself?
the light, too, of the Spirit He has               He that is eternally in the form         Yet, in the works of creation the
given us - we know and under-               of God, even while we behold that           glory of God shines through!
stand the riches of the gospel that         Babe in the manger, assumed the                 The heavens do declare the glo-
there, in the manger, in that frail lit-    likeness of man, the likeness of sin-       ry of God, and the firmament does
tle Baby, is very God come down to          ful flesh!                                  show `His handiwork Day unto day
us!                                                The eternal One has come with-       does utter speech concerning God;
       How near He is!                      in the limitation of time; the infinite-    and night unto night does shew
       Near He is, not in the providen-     ly Immense lies wrapped in swad-            knowledge of Him. In and through
tial sense, according to which in Him       dling clothes!                              the things that are made, the invisi-
we live and move and have our be-                  God lives our life, thinks our       ble things of Him are clearly seen,
ing. For, mark you well, we must            thoughts, is moved by our desires,          even His eternal power and divini-
go to Bethlehem, to a manger, to            is come into our sin-cursed world!          ty. For even the concealment is rev-
swaddling clothes, to a little Child,              In this Child the fellowship of      elation! We know Him as the One
this time, to behold our God. No,           God with man is immediate!                  that calleth the things that are not
this time the message is not: "Lift                How amazingly near!                  as if they were! Though He reveals
up your eyes on high, and see who                                                       Himself in time, recognizing clearly
hath made all these things; your                                                        the element of concealment, we

124/Sfandard  Bearer/December 15,199!5


know that He is eternal; though His          stance; yet now, here in Bethlehem,          of eternal life; and He will uerform
revelation takes place within the lim-       the Word cannot speak. He must               mighty works such as no m&e  man
its of the finite, we know that He is        learn our language.                          ever did: He will heal the sick, open
the Infinite.                                        If you worship Him there, and        the eyes iof the blind and the ears of
    But as we go to Bethlehem to             kneel down at the manger, He will            the deaf, cast out devils, bid the tem-
see this thing that is come to pass,         pay no attention to your devotion.           pest be still, and raise the dead.
what do we see?                                      If you pray, He will not answer.         Yet, !His glory must be eclipsed
    A Babe!                                          In His central revelation God is     still more completely than it is in
    A Child like unto our children!          lost in concealment; in His closest          that Babe in the manger: it must be
    A manger! ~ Swaddling clothes!           approach to us He is far away!               contradicted in death!
    And as you enter you quickly                     0, how far!                              Then, when He, the God of our
shut the door of the stable, lest the                                                     salvation, who took all our sins upon
chill of the night strike that frail lit-               +-H++++=++                        Himself; has descended into deep-
tle body; and you are careful not to                                                      est death, when His glory seems
remove those swaddling clothes.                      Marvelous beginning!                 hopelessly swallowed up of death,
The little Child might get a chill. It               The paradox of the incarnation!      yea, of the death of the cross, then
might get sick. It might even . . . die!             The union of God and man, of         He will mightily break forth through
For you see `Him there in the like-          the Creator and the creature, of the         the darkness into the glorious light
ness of sinful flesh, weak, mortal,          Eternal and the temporal, God re-            of the resurrection, and ascend into
subject to death.                            vealed completely hid, very near yet         the glory of the Father.
    No, He will not die until His            far away!                                        And then He will reveal l!Iim-
hour is come, we know! He has                        The living God in the midst of       self, through His Spirit and Word,
power to lay ,down His life and to           death!                                       as being God with us, very near with
take it again. He is the life and the                But we must not be lost in the       His blessed fellowship.
resurrection, the mighty God!                paradox of Bethlehem. We dare not                He will draw us unto Himself,
    But in Bethlehem you cannot see          forget, as we stand by the manger            that we may be with Him.
this: it is completely hid!                  and contemplate that Babe, and mar-              For evermore! 0
    Where now is the glory of the            vel at the mystery of godliness, and
Eternal? It is concealed in the tem-         worship and give glory to God in
poral, and the .etemal  glory is not         the highest, that here we behold only
even suggested here in Bethlehem.            the beginning of the revelation of
Where is the incomprehensible glo-           Jesus Christ, of the Anointed of God,
ry of the Infinite? It is wholly hid in      who came to save His people from
the finite, wrapped up in human              their sin. In the greater, the clear
flesh and blood, in swaddling                light of His complete revelation,                  joyTO 5wE CHURCH
clothes! Where is the majesty of the         through the faithful and inspired tes-
Lord of heaven and earth? 0, it still        timony of those that heard and saw           Joy to the church -
shines in the heavens; but here in           and handled the Word of life and                 her Lord is born -
Bethlehem, the central and highest           declared Him unto us, we know that           In Flesh,, the Son of God!
revelation of the God of our salva-          this beginning of God revealing              The holy Child,
tion, it is quite covered by the form        Himself in the likeness of sinful flesh      The Undefiled,
of a servant!                                was indeed necessary unto our sal-           He's born to be our King!
    If in Bethlehem we must behold           vation.                                      Let us in triumph sing
our God, where is His omnipotence?                   His glory must be hid before it      Hosanna!
It has assumed the form of a frail           can shine forth in greater glory.                Let praises to our Savior ring.
human body, mortal flesh!                            Nay, it must be hid in order that
    Where is the I AM, the Immuta-           it may be revealed in all its riches         Joyfully sing!
ble, the Self-existent, the Indepen-         and beauty of divine power and vir-              The Lord has come
dent, the Creator? He is wrapped             tue.                                         To set His people free.
up in the swaddling clothes of a                     Yes, as this Child grows up, in-     The sin-enslaved
weak, changeable, dependent crea-            creases in stature and understand-           By Him are saved.
ture!                                        ing as any other child, the Wonder           Adore on bended knee -
    How far away is our God in               of the incarnation, of His being             The Lord Incarnate - He!
Bethlehem, though He is so near!             Immanuel, God with us, will become           Sing praise;
    For, indeed, He is the Word that         known to those that believe. For He              Sing'praise  eternally!
is God, the effulgence of the Father's       will speak with authority, words of
glory, the express image of His sub-         grace as no man ever spoke, words                                - Thelma We&a

                                                                                              December 15,199!ilStandardSearetil25


                                 The Birth of the
                                     Only Begotten
                                                                               I                                                          I

         The churches' observance of              conception by the Holy Ghost. He           was claiming to be the Son of God.
Christmas is due to Jesus' being the              was the Son of God before His con-         They knew that He was claiming to
only begotten Son of God.                         ception as a child. He was, and is,        be the Son of God by begetting. For
         True celebration of the birth of         the Son of God by virtue of being          they understood that by  His claim
Jesus consists of worshiping Him as               begotten of God in eternity.               He was "making himself equal with
the only begotten of the Father.                        Jesus did not begin to be the Son    God". (v. 18). He is equal with God
     The birth of the firstborn son of            of God when He was born. He was            only if He shares the divine being,
Mary in the stable in Bethlehem was               the Son of God before He was born.         and He shares the divine being only
the birth of the only begotten Son of             He is the Son of God eternally. His        by being begotten of God. For this
G         o    d    .                             begetting is an eternal begetting.         claim; they sought to kill Him.
     This is the description of Jesus             There never was a "time" in eternity             The unbelief of theological mod-
by the apostle John in John 1:14,18;              when He was not, as the Son. God           ernism similarly resents and rejects
3:16,X4; and I John 49. In the Greek,             was never without His Son.                 the biblical teaching that Jesus is the
it is one word: "monogenees. 0 The                      In the conception and birth of       only begotten. It too is guilty of at-
word means "only begotten." It de-                Jesus, God did not make a Son, but         tempted murder. It seeks to kill the
scribes Jesus' origin. His origin is              gave and sent His Son.                     truth, ispecifically the truth that Jesus
the being of God. Out of the being                      The birth of Jesus was the be-       is the'only begotten Son of God. It
of God He is produced as the Son.                 ginning of the Son of God as a man.        seeks to kill Jesus in His revelation
This producing as Son, or begetting,              Without ceasing to be God the Son,         in the confession of the true church.
from God's being has Him sharing                 He begins to be the son of Mary, of         All that is meant, say the liberals
God's being, as Son. The one begot-              David, of Abraham, and of Adam.             (who thus show themselves denser
ten of the being of God is Him-                         The birth of Jesus was His in-       than the unbelieving Jews, who at
self God, just as the child be-                           carnation: The eternal Word        least understood what "only begot-
gotten of an earthly father                 In the         and Son became flesh, and         ten" means), is that there came to
thereby and therefore shares             conception        dwelt among us (John 1:14).       be a special relationship between the
the human nature of the fa-               and birth         But very definitely, the one     man Jesus and God.
ther.                                      of Jesus,        now dwelling among us in              How surprising, how ominous,
                                         God did not
     The only begotten is                                   the human flesh of the baby      how inexcusable, how destructive for
God.                                     make a Son,        in the manger is the "only       the Christian faith that the modem
     He is the Son of God as              but  gave        begotten of the Father, full      English translations of the Bible
God the Son.                              and sent         of grace and truth."              r e f u s e   t o    translate John's
     Since it is Jesus who is the         His Son.          Of this becoming flesh of the    "monopees  `I as "only begotten." In
only begotten, Jesus is God the                          only begotten, the virgin birth     all the passages, the Revised Stan-
Son. "No man hath seen God at any                was both clear sign and necessary           dard Version and the New English
time; the only begotten Son (Jesus               means.                                      Bible translate "only" (Son). The
Christ, according to the preceding                      Unbelief has always ridiculed or     New International Version (NIV) has
verse - DJE), which is in the bo-                raged against the description of Jesus      either "only" (Son) or "one and
som of the Father, he hath declared              as only begotten. This was true dur-        only" (Son).
him",(John 1:18).                                ing the earthly ministry of the only             This is erroneous translation of
     The baby in the manger; indeed              begotten. Jesus claimed the distinc-        the Greek word.
in Mary's womb, was God - the                    tion in John 5:17, when He referred
infinite, glorious God.                          to God as His very own Father: "My            In the NT monogenees . . . means
     Jesus was not the Son of God                Father worketh hitherto, and I                "only begotten." . . . In Jn. 1:14, 18;
only, or even mainly, by virtue of               work." The Jews knew that Jesus               3:16,:18;  I Jn. 4:9 monogenees denotes
                                                                                               more than the uniquenfzss  or incom-

126lStandard  Bearer/December 15,1995


  parability  of Jesus. In all these vers-    Christ. We are today in danger of          substance, or being, of God. Take
  es He is expressly called the Son,          losing by Bible translation what was       away the "only begotten," and the
  and He is regarded as such in 1:14.         won for the church by grand theolo-        "homoousion" falls. With the fall of
  In Jn. monogenees denotes the ori-          gy, vigorous controversy, blessed          the  "hombousion U falls Christianity.
  gin of Jesus. He is monogenees as
  the only-begotten (Buchsel,                 martyrdom, and Spirit-guided syn-              "Only begotten" is fundamental.
  "monogenees, s in Gerhard Kittel, ed.,      odical decision.                                    "I believe in one Lord Jesus
  Theological Dictiona y of the New               In light of Johns "only begot-         Christ, the only begotten Son of
  Testament, vol. 4, pp. 739,741).            ten," Mark's "beloved Son" and             God!"
                                              Paul's "His own Son" will, and                      As the only begotten Son, the
    This is a puzzling, willful break         must, be understood to teach that          baby of Bethlehem can and will save
with the longstanding tradition of            Jesus is Son by sharing the being of       His people from their sins. Other-
translating monogenees as "only be-           God. Lose John's "only begotten,"          wise not.
gotten."                                      and the fundamental testimony to                    As the only begotten Son, He is
    Fact is, the translations "only"          the generation of the Son is effec-        the revelation to all who believe of
(Son) and "one and only (Son) teach           tively stricken from Scripture. Lost       the love of God toward us, for "God
falsehood. Jesus is not the only, or          is the clear biblical explanation as to    sent his only begotten Son into the
the one and only, Son of God. God             how Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of        world, that we might live through
has many other sons and daughters.            God, namely, by begetting from the         him" (I John 4~9). Otherwise not.
All elect believers are children of           divine being.                                       As the only begotten Son, He
God both by adoption and by re-                   At Nicea in A. D. 325, the issue       must be honored by our believing
birth. Jesus is the only Child by be-         - and the whole of the Christian           in Him. "He that believeth on him
getting,  that is, by (eternal) deriva-       faith - hinged on this: Jesus is "of       is not condemned: He that believeth
tion of His being from God's own              one substance with the Father." But        not is condemned already, because
being.      This is. the force of             Nicea grounded this confession upon        he hath not believed in the name of
monogenees, and this is perfectly ex-         Jesus' being "the only begotten Son        the only begotten Son of God" (John
pressed in the translation, "only be-         of God, begotten of the Father be-         3:18). Otherwise not.
gotten."                                      fore all worlds . . . very God of very              We have reason to rejoice in the
    The loss of the description of            God, begotten, not made."                  birth of Jesus.
Jesus as only begotten in the new                 The Nicene confession of Jesus'                 And to marvel.
English versions of Scripture is a real       Deity - the "homoousion" ("of one                   It was the birth of the only be-
threat to the fundamental Christian           substance")  - rested solidly on           gotten.  Cl
doctrine of the Godhead of Jesus              Johns doctrine of the "monogenees"                                               - DJE
                                              as the begetting of Jesus from the





    Good Tidings for All People*

    Christmas is a time for good                  The story of Jesus is not an in-       went to the city of Bethlehem, in the
news. The Christian gospel is the             teresting legend that has been hand-       Middle East, just south of Jerusalem.
good news about the birth of Jesus.           ed down for many centuries. There          She was pregnant and about to de-
We are thankful to God for each one           are many such stories in our Chi-          liver here son. Her husband was not
of you here tonight. We want to tell          nese tradition. We think of Kuan           even the,father  of her baby. Rather,
you about the "good tidings of great          Yin, or the Goddess of Mercy, the          God had come down upon her and
joy."                                         Monkey King, or the Monk Tang              conceived within her this son. When
                                              Cheng, and the Pig Man. The story
                                              of Jesus is different in that Jesus ac-
                                              tually was born and lived on the                    * This article is the transcript of a
                                                                                         Christmas (1994) message delivered by our
Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Refot7md       earth. Almost 2,000 years ago a            minister-on-loan to a people of another cul-
minister-on-loak  to Singa@re.                young virgin by the name of Mary           ture.

                                                                                                  December 15, W95lstandardBearerli~


they came to the little village of       herds had no reason to be afraid.         around our necks. It binds us in
Bethlehem there was no room in the       We do not have to be afraid of God's      our pride and unbelief. Jesus saves
hostel. So they stayed the night in      angels either. As Christians we           us from this. More important to
the stall where the donkeys of the       know that fairies and ghosts are not      Christians than face-saving, pride,
travelers were kept. It was during       even real. True, there are evil spir-     family name is that we are part of
that very night that she gave birth      its in this world, but the wonderful      the family of God. We are willing
to her son and called His name Jesus.    truth about Jesus is that He has con-     to give up that tradition and even
Jesus actually was born and lived        trol over all of them as well. We         suffer family conflict in order to be
on the earth. He is both God and         Christians are not'afraid of any evil     part of the church of Jesus Christ,
man.                                     spirit. We thank God for this.            the family of God. The church is
    Joseph and Mary were happy               The good tidings mentioned by         much. older than Chinese tradition,
that God had given to them this son.     the angel is given-in verse 11: "For      it goes back to the very beginning of
They knew this son was special. The      unto you is born this day in the city     history.
angel of God had told them that He       of David a Savior, which is Christ            Thirdly, Jesus saves us from our
would be the Savior of the world.        the Lord."                                love for money and material things.
This is the good news which makes            Jesus is our Savior.                  Without Jesus we are so concerned
us Christians so happy on Christ-            To save someone means to de-          with auspicious days and auspicious
mas.                                     liver that person from evil. Jesus        colors. We think that they will bring
    There were shepherds taking          came into this world to save us from      "good luck." We are willing to bow
care of their sheep just outside the     great evil. What is that evil?            before the Chinese gods and burn
little village of Bethlehem. These           First, that without Jesus we be-      joss sticks to the spirits of departed
men were Christians and were pray-       lieve a lie. Does not that make you       family members out of the fear that
ing for the birth of Jesus to take       tremble? Who wants to believe             if we do not we will have bad luck,
place. You see, God had promised         things which are not true? Bowing         and if we do, it will bring good luck
to Christians for many years that        before the gods of Buddha and the         We are tempted to gamble to get
this Savior, Jesus, would be born.       many other Chinese gods is a false-       more money than we have. We will
God sent His angels to the shepherds     hood. Buddha is no god, and the           work `long hours and pursue more
to tell them that Jesus had finally      Kitchen god, the Monkey god, and          courses to get greater success. We
been born.                               the goddess of mercy are no gods.         want landed property, we like to
 When the shepherds first saw            If we bum joss sticks to them, it is      drive expensive cars, and we want
this angel of God, they were afraid.     empty, it is no different than if we      to enjoy long holidays so we can
You must understand that an angel        were to bow before an empty wall.         show off our wealth to others. This
is not a fairy that floats around in     Jesus came to save us from this de-       is evil in God's eyes. Jesus as Sav-
the air. Neither is an angel a ghost     ception. He came to lead us to the        ior delivers us from this evil. Mate-
with a long tongue hanging out of        true God, Jehovah, the God of the         rial things are good only in that they
its mouth, roaming around the earth      Bible. He is the One who created          meet our needs to serve God's pur-
making trouble. Many of our older        heaven and earth. He is the One           pose for us in this world. It is more
Chinese friends know about fairies       who gave us Jesus, His Son, as Sav-       important for a Christian to take
and ghosts. When they think of           ior. He is the only true God. He is       time to pray, to meditate, to enjoy
them, they are afraid. Angels are        alive right now and watches over          Christian fellowship than to make
different. They are wonderful crea-      us. Jesus shows to us this God, and       more money.
tures of God. God made them to be        we begin to know Him and love                 By the good news of the gospel,
His messengers. They go back and         Him as our God and our Father in          God shows to us where we are
forth between this earth and heav-       heaven. That is good news.                wrong and points us to the way of
en, bringing messages and helping            Secondly, Jesus saves us from         forgiveness. Are you worshiping a
Christians even when we cannot see       our pride and selfishness. Without        false god? Are you more interested
them. You ask, Why then were the         Jesus we think so much about our          in your pride and family face than
shepherds afraid? The angel said,        success and ability to do well. We        listening to God and embracing Jesus
"Fear not." The reason is that the       become preoccupied with what peo-         as Savior? Are money and material
shepherds knew that they were sin-       ple think of us. Our family tradi-        things more important to you than
ful men and that the angels were         tions mean more to us than anything       the salvation of your soul? Every
perfect, without sin. They were          else. Our family name and honor           Christian here has experienced the
afraid the angels had come to pun-       are most important to us. You say,        same thing. It is terrifying for us to
ish them for their sins.                 what is wrong with that? If we al-        think that what we used to do is
    The very opposite was true. The      low family and tradition to be more       wrong, we believed a lie, we were
angels had come to tell the shep-        important to us than to listen to the     more interested in ourselves than in
herds that Jesus was born. The shep-     good news of Jesus, it is like a chain    God. But there is hope. There is a

128IStandard Bearer/December 15,1995


way out. Because Jesus came into                 old Chinese saying, "Mountcains can                                                We are glad you are here. Your
this world as both God and man,                 be moved, but a man's disposition                                         family ai-td friends have invited you
Jesus was able to take upon Himself             cannot be changed," is wrong. The                                         to come with them tonight, just to
the punishment of our sins on the               wonderful thing about being a Chris-                                      share with you this good news.
cross. The good news of the gospel              tian is that God is able to change                                                  In closing we ask you to consid-
does not stop with Jesus' birth, it              our disposition. All of us Christians                                    er this gospel very carefully. The
continues  in His entire ministry on            testify to that truth. We thank God                                       Bible is God's Word. If you would
earth, but especially with His death            for that.                                                                 like to learn more about Jesus, we
on a cruel cross. "For God so loved                       The good tidings of Christmas,                                  can furnish you with either a Chi-
the world, that he gave his only be-             as the angel announced, "is for all                                      nese or ,an English Bible. We can
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth            people." Christianity is not a west-                                      give you some tracts in the different
in him should not perish, but have               em religion. It is not a new religion                                    languages. We can speak with you
everlasting life" (John  3:16). God             which came to Singapore in recent                                         from our hearts as well. Jesus calls
gave Jesus to die on the cross as a             times. Christianity is the oldest reli-                                   all of us tonight to turn from our
payment for our sins. When we                   gion in the world. Besides that, God                                      own false ideas of gods, pride, and
come to God in sorrow, repenting                intends it to be for all people. Yes,                                     material things. He calls us to con-
of our sins, God will forgive us of             the shepherds were Jews who went                                          fess that these things are sins in His
all our past sins for the sakeof Jesus,         to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. The                                        sight and to forsake them and fol-
His Son.                                         gospel is for the British, for Ameri-                                    low God's way of salvation in Jesus
        There is one more thing we must         cans, and for Australians, but also                                       Christ l+s Son and to lead a holy
remember about Jesus. He is alive               for Chinese, Indians, and Malays.                                         life of thanksgiving.
right now. He is no more on earth,              The history of the nations of the
but He is alive in heaven. He is in             world shows that Christianity has                                                   Closing prayer.
the presence of God, the angels, and            come to all these countries many                                                   Father, we t$nk Thee for Jesus.
the saints. From heaven He looks                years ago. What the angel said is                                              Without Him we are lost in our
down on us this very night. He is               true, it is for all kinds of people. The                                       own  snperstition,  our pride,a nd
the One who comes to each of us                 wonderful thing about being a Chris-                                           our love of money. Humble each
tonight and calls us to turn from our           tian is that we do not even look on                                            one of `us so that we may come to
sinful way and to believe in Him                                                                                               admit onr sinful condition. Help
                                                race, color of skin, language, or cus-                                         us to know our need for the for-
and in the true God. He gives us                toms. When we are Christians we                                                givene$s  of our sins in the blood of
His power, the grace of God, and                are one in faith and we become a                                              Jesus. IGive us more and more the
the presence of His Holy Spirit to              wonderful family of God, the true                                             joy of jiving  -a Christian life. May
give us strengthto do His will. Ev-             human race saved by the grace of                                               Thy Holy Spirit work this in our
ery Christian rejoices in that we can           God.                                                                           hearts as we seek to serve Thee. In
turn from our sins, we can forsake                        This good news comes to you                                         Jesus' Name, Amen. c1
our past sinful life, and change. The           with earnestness tonight.





            God's Creative tiancliwork

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                                                          Laying hold of the truth of Scrip-                             things which do appear." We take
                                                ture, we consider the question: How                                       our position without apology to any
                                                did this world come into being?                                           scientist.
                                               With Hebrews  11:3 we  talce our
                                                stand. "Through faith we under-                                          The Theory of Evolution rejected
Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Re-        stand that the worlds were framed                                                  Our viewpoint is affected by our
formed C~UVC~ of Randolph, Wiscon-             by the word of God, SO that things                                        faith. But we would remind every
sin.                                           which are seen were not made of                                           man who considers this question:
                                                                                                                                  December 15,1995lStandardSearm'l29


Your viewpoint also involves reli-               calls us to lift our eyes toward Him,            But we must say more. For God
gious belief.                                    who is the eternal I AM, the Creator        Himsdf  says more.
     Our young people who attend                 of heaven and earth. God created.                He does not stop with the reve-
or who have attended state colleges              So says Genesis 1:l.                        lation that He is the Creator. After
and universities almost without ex-                    This is also the testimony of the     all, almost anyone who calls himself
ception have encountered professors              whole of the Bible.                         a Christian will confess that God cre-
who insist on maintaining the  theory                  In Isaiah  45:12, Jehovah, the        ated. But many will go only so far
of evolution. Sad to say, so have                Holy One of Israel, says, "I have           as to say, "God created the initial
those who are taught at some so-                 made the earth, and created man             mass,  from which all things then
called Christian colleges (as the edi-           upon it: I, even my hands, have             evolved." So we must point out that
tor pointed out in the September 15,             stretched out the heavens, and all          the wonder work of creation is fur-
1995  issue of the  Standard Bearer).  In        their host have I commanded." And           ther revealed in the rest of the chap-
fact, in many instances,` to call evo-           in verse 18 the prophet says, "For          ter of Genesis 1, as well as in Gene-
lution a theory will bring vehement              thus saith the LORD that created the        sis 2.
objection. But evolution is indeed a             heavens; God himself that formed
theory. No matter whether you call               the earth and made it; he hath es-          How God Created
it uevolutionn  or "theistic evolution"          tablished it, he created it not in vain,         God not only says, "I created."
or "progressive  creationism,N it                he formed it to be inhabited: I am          But He reveals hozv He created. And
makes no difference. It is a'theory.             the LORD; and there is none else."          He reveals that work of creation in
    More than that, to take the view-                  In many of the Psalms - Psalm         such a way that faith understands.
point that this world came into be-              33, Psalm 110, Psalm 104, and oth-          "Through faith we understand that
ing by a process of evolution is a               ers - God reveals Himself as the            the worlds were framed by the word
religious belief. Make no mistake.               Creator God. We read in Psalm 5O:l:         of God, so that things which are seen
It is a false religion; but it is religion.      "The mighty God, even the LORD,             were not made of things which do
The teaching of evolution extols a               hath spoken, and called the earth           appear."
god. It is not the God of the Scrip-             from the rising of the sun unto the              God created. There are different
tures, the only true God;                        going down thereof."                        terms used in Scripture to denote
    Evolution rejects the God who                      This is God's world. He has de-       this wonderful act of creation. In
reveals Himself and His work in the              termined it from eternity. He creat-        Genesis there are especially three
Bible. Evolution will not have God's             ed it with the Word of His power.           terms used.
account of the world's beginning.                      Moreover, we must realize and             First of all, Genesis 1:l speaks
For evolution has a higher                                  confess that this Creator is     of God creating. The term "to cre-
knowledge, the knowledge of                 To take           the Triune God.                ate" means "to divide; to give sepa-
man. Man and man's mind               the viewpoint           With God the Father in         rate existence to something." From
has become the god of those          that this world           creation was the Son, who     eternity, everything had its proto-
who would maintain evo-              came into being           .was to become Christ. So     type in the counsel of God. Is that
lution's account of the ori-             by a process          we read in John 1:1,3: "In    not amazing! God knew it all from
gin of all things.                       of evolution          the beginning was the         eternity! Things did not just "fall
    That is the seriousness              is a religious        Word, and the Word was        into place." The creatures in this
of the error of evolution. It               belief.           with God, and the Word         vast creation did not evolve haphaz-
is idolatry. It elevates man                                 was God.... All things were     ardly! Rather, the sovereign God
and man's science to a place                               made by him; and without him      gave existence to that which stood
above God. It rejects the God who                was not any thing made that was             from  ,eternity  in His own divine
reveals Himself and His work in                  made." Christ was there in creation.        counsel. He says, "I am God, and
Scripture.                                       So we read also in Hebrews  1:2,            there is none like me, Declaring the
    We lay hold of God's Word by                 Colossians  1:15ff., and Proverbs 8.        end from the beginning, and from
faith. That Word is infallible, au-                    But also the Spirit was active in     ancient times the things that are not
thoritative, and easy enough for a               the creative handiwork of God. Al-          yet done, saying, My counsel shall
child to understand.                             ready in Genesis 1:2 we read, "And          stand,, and I will do all my pleasure"
                                                 the Spirit of God moved upon the            (Is. 46:9,10).  By creating, God called
Who Created                                      face of the waters." In Psalm 104, a        into being that which stood before
    In the very first verse of the Bi-          beautiful Psalm reflecting on God's          His mind and in His counsel from
ble we are brought to the very be-              wonder work of creation, we read             all eternity.
ginning of time. We are shown "that             in verse 30: "Thou sendest forth thy             Secondly, God speaks of His
which eye hath not seen, neither hath            Spirit, they are created."                  work of creation as a work of mak-
ear heard, nor entered it into the                     God, the Triune God., created         ing something. God, e.g., made the
heart of inan." -For God speaks. He              the universe and every creature.            firmament, as we read in Genesis

130lStandard  BearerPecember  15,1995


1:7. That speaks of the creation be-         ation. But He has laid out the entire      in the works of His own hands.
ing a masterpiece of God's work-             course of history! And for that en-            But the most amazing thing is
manship.                                     tire course of history, the creation is    that God has sovereignly willed to
        Thirdly, He formed His creatures.    to serve as the stage!                     glorify Himself in such a way that
"The LORD God formed man' of the                 God hashamed it all, putting ev-       we His people may experience His
dust of the ground" (Gen. 2~7, 8).           ery creature in its divinely ordained      glory. We shall do so in Christ.
"And out of the ground the LORD              place in this perfect organism of the          The  :expression with which
God formed every beast of the field,         creation, each to serve its own pur-       Scripture begins - "In the begin-
and every fowl of the air" (Gen.             pose as God realizes the history of        ning" - speaks of a time frame to
2:19). He formed  them. That is, Je-         His world.                                 follow. Creation shall run through
hovah God gave to each creature its              When we understand that, we            a course lof history according to the
own peculiar form and nature, after          lay hold of the gospel! For all things     counsel and will of God. All the
its kind. In the one unified creation        point to Christ! And all things serve      creation shall be united in Christ as
of God, there is .distinction among          to unite the creation under Christ as      the Head, and that too in the way of
all creatures according to God's pur-        its Head, the Savior of the world.         sin and grace.
pose. Each bears its own peculiar                                                           In wisdom and with purpose
form, as shaped by the Divine Pot-           A Creation with a Purpose                  God created the heaven and the
ter.                                             All things are for Christ's sake.      earth. With purpose He framed the
        But then in Hebrews  11:3, we        So says the Bible. God will glorify        worlds. All the various creatures in
find a term used with respect to cre-        Himself through Jesus Christ, His          the vast creation must serve togeth-
ation that is different from those           Son, our Lord.                             er the one purpose of functioning as
used in the creation account of Gen-             Oh yes, creation is for God. In        the stage upon which man lives to
esis. The inspired writer to the He-         heaven His church shall acknowl-           serve the Creator. More specifical-
brews speaks of the worlds being             edge that truth. "Thou art worthy,         ly, all the creation must serve as the
framed by the Word of God.                   0 Lord, to receive glory and honour        house in which man will dwell as
        There is a magnificent truth set     and power: for thou hast created all       God's covenant friend-servant. Man,
forth in these words! The text               things, and for thy pleasure they are      as the crown of the creation, created
speaks of the worlds being formed.           and were created" (Pev. 4:ll).             in God's image, is to serve and to
Literally, rather than worlds, we read           For His pleasure He created all        glorify his Creator, and to experi-
of the ages. The meaning, then, is           things.                                    ence His' fellowship and friendship
this: Not only has God created the               "The LORD hath made all things         through Jesus Christ.
heavens and the earth, dividing the          for himself: yea, even the wicked for          So God shall be glorified. And
light from the darkness and waters           the day of evil" (Prov. 164). To say       we who are in Christ shall testify,
from waters, calling forth the plants        we understand doesn't mean that            "0 Lord, our Lord, how wonderful
from the earth. Not only has He              we comprehend the wonder of it all.        are thy works and ways!" 0
formed every creature in the cre-            But we believe. The Lord rejoices



                                       The Feeding
                      of the Five Thousand
                                                        John 6:1-21

                                                 The time in which this great mir-      gether. The twelve had just returned
                                             acle of our Lord took place is im-         from their mission of preaching to
                                             portant  for us to note. From the          the lost sheep of Israel (Mark 6:30).
                                             other gospel narratives we gather          Herod  had beheaded John the Bap-
Rev. Haak is pastor of Bethel Protes-        that it happened during the third          tist and was eager to see Jesus, be-
tant Reformed Church in Elk Grove ViZ-       year of His ministry and at a time         lieving that Christ was John risen
lage, Illinois.                              when many things were coming to-           from the dead (Luke  9:7-g).  .Jesus

                                                                                           December 15,i !295/stendard  6earer/l31


had been so busy in His work that           multitude had eaten filled twelve            in all four of the gospel accounts?
He had not even had the time to eat         baskets.                                         e., Can we say that whereas
(Mark 6:31).                                        The events following the mira-       chapter 5 showed His rejection in
    This led Jesus to seek a time of        cle are equally significant. We see          Judea,  chapter 6 will show His re-
seclusion and rest (Mark 6:31). He          Jesus dismissing the crowd and               jectioh in Galilee?
and His disciples travel by boat to a       sending the disciples across the sea         2. Why does John give us the no-
secluded spot (Bethsaida) on the            in order to prevent them from mak-           tice in verse 4 that the Passover was
northern shore of the Sea of Tiberias       ing Him their earthly king. And we           nigh?
(Galilee). However, the enthusias-          see Jesus before His Father in prayer        3. Is, there any reason why the Lord
tic crowds follow on foot, some even        as His church is threatened and              would choose PhiZip  for the ques-
outrunning the ship, so that soon af-       helpless before the onslaughts of the        tion He asks in verse  5? Is there
ter His arrival the multitudes have         world, represented in the raging sea.        anything suggestive of the character
again flocked to Him (Mark 6:33).           The Lord reveals Himself as ruler of         of Andrew in the fact that he finds
The Lord spends the day teaching            the waves and comes to His church,           this lad and responds much the same
and healing.                                bringing them to a safe haven.               way as Philip to the possibility of
    But a real turning point has                    What a wonderful passage! "We        being, able to feed this multitude?
come in His ministry. The people            see Jesus" (I Pet. 1%) as the One pos-       (John 14:8,9; 1:41-45;  12:21,22.)
have followed Him for the miracles          sessing in Himself abundance of life         4. What is a pennyworth?
He has performed (John 6:2). When           for us! And we see Him as being              5. Do we find here any directives
they witness this miracle they will         the One who is able to keep us from          for the practice of prayer before
show plainly why they have fol-             falling and to present us without            meal.s(v.  ll)? . . . after meals? (Deut.
lowed Him. They are laboring for            fault before the Father in glory (Jude       8:lO).
the meat which perishes, not for the        24,25).                                      6. What is the  significance  of this
meat which endureth unto everlast-                                                       miracle?
ing life (John 6:27). They envision a                                                        a. Do you find a prefiguration
savior who would supply them with                             Outline                    of it in I Kings 17~16;  II Kings 442;
the good things of this life, not a         1. The setting for this miracle (w,          Numbers 11:15?
Savior from their spiritual bankrupt-       l-4) - His popularity and His re-                b. What does it show to us of
cy and corrupted state. In this mir-        treat for a time of seclusion and rest.      Jesus and His salvation?
acle and the subsequent sermon,             2. The feeding of the five thousand              c. What virtues of Christ are
Jesus will make plain that He is not        (w. 5-14).                                   revealed, and how is Christ pictured
the savior they had in mind. He                     a. The testing of Philip (w. 5-      in His relation to His people?
gives a beautiful sign of who He is         7).                                              d. Is there any significance in
as the Bread of life sent down from                 b. Andrew finds five loaves          the fact that in this miracle the mul-
above, able to sustain the spiritual        and two fishes (w, 8,9).                     titudes are not only spectators but
life of His people by His crucified                 c. The miracle itself (w. 10-13).    participants? (It is not a miracle per-
body and shed blood. He will resist                 d. The response of the people        formed upon a single man, but all
every effort to crown Him an earth-         (v. 14).                                     are involved in it, I Cor. 10:4.)
ly king. The multitudes will wit-           3. Jesus prevents the attempt to             7.  How did the  people respond  to
ness and even taste of His power,           make Him king (w. 15,16)1.                   this miracle?
but will to a large measure stumble         4. Jesus walks on the water (w. 17-              a. What prophet are they re-
over Him as the true heavenly               21).                                         ferring to in verse 14? (Deut. 18:15-
bread.                                                                                   18; Acts 3:22).
    The significance of this miracle                         Questions                       b. Show that the people re-
is rich for us. It is a sign that points    1. What can be said about the con-           vealed that they wanted a Messiah
to Jesus Himself and to what He ac-         text for this miracle?                       who would be able to provide their
complishes in the realm of grace.                   a. When in the Lord's minis-         physical needs and desires.
He, as the true bread, is sufficient        try did this miracle take place?                 c. How does the fact that Jesus
for all His people. No matter how                   b. Why did Jesus retire at this      was able to give them bread lead
great the multitude of the redeemed         time to the other side of the Sea of         them to conclude that He was the
may be, all find in Him an abun-            Galilee (Sea of Tiberias)?                   man who ought to be their king?
dance of life and grace that instead                c. What had been happening in            d. Would  .they actually have
of diminishing continues to multi-          the Lord's ministry at this time? (See       tied by force to make Him an earth-
ply itself, so that the need of all the     Matthew 14:12ff.; Mark 6:30; Luke            ly king?
members of His body is fully satis-         9:7-9.)                                          e. Show that the Lord's dis-
fied. And in Him is an abundance.                   d. Is there any significance to      course: in chapter 622-58  is spoken
The fragments, gathered after the           the fact that this miracle is recorded       exactly in response to the people's

132lStandard BearerPecember  15,1!3!35


attempt to make Him an earthly              8. Show how the Lord's actions             10. Discuss the significance of the
king.                                       prevented any attempt to make Him          miracle of the Lord's walking on the
    f. How is this same thing done          their king.                                water. How is the church pictured
today?                                      9. What do we learn of Him and             in this? `Christ? How does this ap-
    g. How can we be guilty of              of our need for prayer when we read        ply to us in our daily fears?
this?                                       that the Lord went up to a moun-           11. Is there another divine wonder
    h. What kind of a king is Jesus?        tain alone to pray?                        recorded in verse 21? (Psalm 107:23-
(John l&36).                                                                           32.)  0




                                    Mission Lalbors
                            of the E.R.C.S. (2)

         We focus in this article on the    spondence and upon invitation of           quested that I accompany Pastor
work that the Evangelical Reformed          some of the church leaders in the          Mahtani to attend this conference
Churches of Singapore are doing in          Bangalore area to speak at a disci-        and also to develop further the orig-
India. This has become Part 2, since        pleship training session, the church-      inal contacts made in 1989. Pastor
India has been "upstaged" by the            es here seized upon the opportunity        Mahtani and I spent an enjoyable
work in Myanmar. Chronological-             to learn the Lord's will of doing mis-     four weeks traveling across India,
ly, the work in India precedes the          sions outside Singapore. The trip          meeting' with people and speaking
more recent work in Myanmar. It is          indicated keen interest in the Re-         at public and private gatherings
not that the churches in Singapore          formed faith, though it was an ini-        about the Word of God, thus sow-
lack interest in the India work, it is      tial contact and hence the first expo-     ing the seeds of the gospel of the
that the opportunities for work in          sure of many of the people as well         sovereignty of God. It was a leam-
Myanmar seem more pressing. This            as the leaders to the wonderful doc-       ing experience for me to accompany
is due to our contact with students         trines of grace. Only time could tell      this dear brother who so energeti-
from Myanmar in Singapore and the           whether the Holy Spirit was truly          cally carried in his heart a love for
readiness for the churches there to         working in the hearts of the people.       his kinsmen after the flesh.
be organized and develop as Re-             The great struggle of soul of the              Once again it was establishing
formed churches. Subsequent events          Mahtanis was whether they were re-         and developing contacts, some orig-
have demonstrated the truth of this         ally interested for the truth's sake       inal and others for a second time.
as well.                                    or for bread. Also; there was a            Hence it was more along the lines
    By saying this we do not inti-          strong charismatic emphasis among          of pioneer work. We could not offer
mate that opportunities in India are        them which complicated the ques-           these brothers and sisters any com-
lacking or that the potential for           tion of further work                       mitment. We could only say that we
meaningful work there does not ex-              The churches of Singapore did          would continue to keep contact with
ist. We trust that our review of the        make a commitment to continue this         them and learn what the Lord's will
events and work we are presently            initial contact; but due to other pres-    would be concerning future work
doing will demonstrate otherwise.           sures of work and needs within the             The contact we kept was by way
    Way back in October 1989 Pas-           ERCS itself, it was not developed aS       of correspondence. We formulated
tor Mahtani and his family made a           much as they had desired. IOppor-          a letter ,which  was sent to all the
tip from Singapore to India to in-          tunity to develop these contacts fur-      people with whom we met. We
vestigate the possibility of doing mis-     ther came when Pastor Mahtani re-          thankedlthem  for their kindness and
sion work in India. Through corre-          ceived an invitation to speak at the       interest im the Reformed faith and
                                            Sindhi Christian Conference in             told them that it was our desire to
                                            Nagpur, India. This conference met         be used: by God to assist them in
                                            in October 1992. By that time we           their spiritual growth. We especial-
                                            had just arrived as minister-on-loan
Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Rejortned                                               ly had in mind a correspondence
minister-on-loan  to  Singapore.            to the ERCS, so the churches re-           course, which would give us oppor-

                                                                                           December 15,1995lStandardBearetil33


tunity to offer them Reformed liter-       Cometh with great joy and benefit.        the Lord delivers him out of them
ature and books as well as keep in         We sent him a copy of John                alY (Ph. 3419).
personal touch with them. From 1992        Blanchard's booklet,  "IJltimate              Another brother who is much
to the present, about five of the          Questions," and he was so enthused        interested in serving the Lord in In-
brothers continue to write and en-         .about  it that he requested that they    dia is the brother- in-law of Pastor
joy fellowship by way of letters.          publish it in Tamil and he would          Stephen (it was his sister who died).
Some of the original contacts which        offer the translation. He has request-    He is a young man who is presently
held great prospect for working to-        ed copies of much of our literature       studying in school, mostly in the
gether have ended, since these men         and enjoys the emphasis on God's          field of computer, but wants so bad-
were looking for more intensive in-        sovereignty.                              ly to serve the Lord as pastor. He is
volvement and financial support in             Such a visit, however, was not        so enthused about the gospel of the
their ministries. We cannot fault          the Lord's will so to direct. The         Reformed faith that he holds "club-
them for this, for such is the Lord's      ERCS became so heavily involved           meetings" with fellow students and
work. They need to earn their daily        in Myanmar that they saw it the           has led many of the non-Christians
bread as well as work actively in          Lords will to meet the needs there.       to the Lord. He now feels the need
their villages and cities. If we can-      At this point we inquired whether         to support financially, not only his
not meet their needs, they must look       the PRC would be interested to take       own parents, but also the family of
elsewhere. Does this mean a lack of        an active role in the India work, but     his sister. He originally wanted to
commitment to the truth? Only God          they too had prior commitments to         come to Singapore as a student, but
knows, but we must be honest with          other fields. So we continue on be-       financial burdens make this impos-
these people. I would not dare to          half of the ERCS to do our best with      sible for him. Now he wants to come
say that those who expressed inter-        correspondence and sustain what in-       to Singapore to work, for he finds it
est have forsaken us for bread. It         terest remains.                           impossible to get a job in India. He
would be quite judgmental for all of           A few developments have also          would, like to study "part time"
us who have "steak" to look down           taken place.                              while working here. Now I am try-
on those who cry for "rice." It might          Pastor Stephen informed me just       ing to find out whether there is any
be in some instances that all they         a few weeks ago that his wife died.       possibility to have him come here
were looking for was a "foreign            She had a stroke about a year ago         on a work permit. It seems pretty
sponsor who could write the check."        and required medical attention. Sub-      dark for the moment.
In other instances, it might have          sequently they determined that she            These are the sorts of burdens
been a real desire to be busy with         needed heart-valve surgery, some-         which we carry for India. The con-
the Lords work, and a looking to           thing they could not afford. The lat-     tact is very limited, but it seems sin-
us for necessary assistance. But such      est I had heard was that some ar-         cere and offers opportunities for the
a commitment we were not able to           rangements were made to have some         sake of the gospel. I am convinced
give.                                      kind of heart surgery in Madras, and      that the only way we can really
    A measure of impatience is             he requested prayers for them. Since      know is to make a trip to India. Cor-
shown by those who continue to cor-        we keep the churches here informed        respondence has reached its limits.
respond with us. Last year we had          of our contacts with India, we re-        Perhaps the Lord will open a way
held forth the prospect of making a        membered this family at our               that someone can make such a trip
trip to southern India, the Madurai        Wednesday evening prayer meeting.         both for an on-the-scene evaluation
area, and to hold teaching seminars        The next week I received a telegram       and for quality time teaching and
there. We suggested this district,         with the brief words, "My wife ex-        praying with these saints who long
since most of our correspondents are       pired." We have written them, but         for guidance and help.
in southern India, and it appeared         have not heard from him as yet.               We trust that with this informa-
that they would be able to take time       This leaves this dear brother with        tion you will be able to pray more
off from their work and travel to          five children and no mother. So the       knowledgeably for the work in In-
Madurai for such a time of teaching        Lord adds more to his burden, and         d i a .
and fellowship. In addition to that,       what this will do to his future min-
our most enthusiastic helper, Pastor       istry we cannot say. Do pray for this     Book fund for needy servants
Stephen, lives there, and he is most       family as well, for they are severely         My heart was cheered when I
encouraging to proceed with this           tried. We only pray that some ar-         read in the church bulletins that a
work. He reads the Standard Bearer         rangements can be made to provide         collection was going to be taken at
with joy,  even  translates some of the    help for the family, so that his work     the Men's and Ladies' League meet-
meditations and distributes them to        can continue. He did spend some           ing for the needy pastors with whom
his suffering neighbors. He has stud-      of his time working as a farmer to        I come. into contact. This was done
ied eschatology and read through           provide for his family. "Many are         last year and it was very helpful. I
Herman Hoeksema's  Behold He               the afflictions of the righteous, but     do not blow a trumpet for such ii-

134lStandard Bearer/December 15,1995


nancial help. .I rather keep it low-        village pastors throughout England                                    is no travel allowed between
key and voluntary. For this reason          were too poor to buy her husband's                                    Yangoon and Manipur. So near, yet
we are grateful for such initiative         books. She decided to set up a fund                                   so far!
and sensitivity.                            to raise money so that these worth-                                           We are in the process of work-
    We do come into contact with            while books could be sent to all theo-                                ing out jthe details for the Book Fund
pastors and students who need fi-           logical students and pastors who de-                                  for Needy Servants with the Joint
nancial assistance. Some of these are       sired them but could not afford to                                    Mission Committee of the ERCS.
here in Singapore, others in India,         buy them. She carefully set up a                                      Again, iwe believe this fund should
still others in Myanmar. So far we          method whereby the recipients                                         be under the supervision of the
have placed this fund under the su-         would indicate their financial needs                                  church.' It will take great discretion
pervision of the Joint Mission Com-         and promise to use the books in their                                 to determine who is worthy of such
mittee of the ERCS. We do not want          study to the glory of God.                                            books. ~DO not all students and pas-
to handle money on our own. This                 That set both my wife and me                                     tors want free books? It will require
avoids any temptation to use it im-         to thinking.                                                          some sort of form to be filled out
properly, but it also provides ac-               We need this fund badly here in                                  and signed to show sincerity and in-
countability to the churches, which         Singapore. What better wa:y to use                                    tent. These details we are now con-
is proper. It is not run so tightly that    money for mission work than to pro-                                   sidering.
we cannot spend without prior ap-           vide good materials for students and                                          Thi first check to go into this
proval. Rather, we use our discre-          pastors who cannot afford them.                                       fund will be from the League Meet-
tion and then report it to the JMC          Now that we are working in                                            ing.
and they monitor its use. This mon-         Myanmar and hope to travel there                                              Please don't send U.S. checks to
ey is spent in different ways. Some         in January, we are learning firsthand                                 us. Too much money is lost in the
is just sent in the Name of the Lord        of more worthy students and pas-                                      transaction. If any of you are inter-
to show mercy in situations which           tors who can work with English ma-                                    ested in contributing to this cause,
call for help. Some is used to buy          terial, but are too poor to buy them.                                 arrangements can best be made,
books to be sent to foreign countries.      The same is true with the brothers                                    through the synodical  treasurer, to
We have discovered that the men             with whom we work in India. The                                       deposit it in our U.S. banking ac-
with whom we correspond in India            most enthusiastic responses we re-                                    count, and we will have it trans-
are so poor they can hardly afford          ceive is when we send good Re-                                        ferred to Singapore.
the stamps for the correspondence           formed books to them. I think of a                                            The Lord is good in all His ways.
courses, so we purchased stamps in          dear brother in Manipur (northern                                             May this article inspire our read-
India and include self-addressed,           India, just over the border from                                      ers to pray earnestly for the gather-
stamped envelopes for them to use.          Myanmar) who is teaching theologi-                                    ing of the sheep of Christ from all
    Recently we read in a copy of           cal students (some also from                                          nations,. Those already gathered
the Banner of Truth magazine an ar-         Myanmar). We sent him a copy of                                       need constant attention. Those who
ticle entitled, "Susannah Spurgeon:         Reformed Dogmatics by H. Hoekse-                                      are servants of Christ, busy in the
A Ministry of Love."        This is an      ma, and every time he writes me he                                    ingathering,  need even more. May
article about the wife of Charles           thanks me for that worthwhile book                                    the Lord help us to work together
Spurgeon, who filled a need in her          He is so poor that when his old type-                                 that the lost sheep may hear the
day. Her husband wrote books, and           writer broke down he had to write                                     voice of /the Good Shepherd and find
she became aware of the fact that           by hand. I desired much to travel                                     safety in the fold of Christ.
many students in London and also            to him when in Myanmar, but there                                             Glory to His Name. 0

                                                                          ,.'            `.,,
$@y$@moj  &ii!@                T     :       i,  ,`,,  :,~,:,:--:~`,`;~::;:.   "  :,  i.  :,  *'  "  ..T.  ;:,
         I.                                                                                 I
n Contemporary Worship                      and expresses legitimate dismay.                                      has to say about them:
    An interesting article concerning       Now I have never attended a "con-
"contemporary worship" appears in           temporary" worship service. I have                                            Wh$ is contemporary worship
the Outlook, Oct. 1995, written by          often wondered what was involved                                        versus traditional worship? As it
Rev. Mark Beach. He evaluates               in such a "worship" service  -                                          is usually understood, contempo-
"contemporary" worship services             though I could make a reasonable                                        rary worship is essentially a form
                                            guess. This article explains the "con-                                  of worship that makes its appeal to
                                                                                                                    unchurched people who have little
                                            temporary" service, though it points                                    or no Christian background. It is
Rev. VanBaren  is pastor of the Protes-     out as well that not all "contempo-                                     worship geared for their needs,
tant Reformed Church  of Loveland,          rary" services are conducted in the                                     their tastes, their comfort zone and
Colorado.                                   same manner. This is what Beach                                         their appreciation. It is simple in

                                                                                                                          December 15,1995/stendard Beam'135


       format, informal in its conduct, and     tate into a religious variety show          duty service of that kind. Suppose
       does not presume to impose either        whose main focus is on us and on            he came away and said to himself,
       "churchy" culture, or language, or       what makes us tingle. Why else              "Now I understand what the Chris-
       music into the service, since un-        the nightclub format for public wor-        tian faith is all about: it's not about
       churched people are unfamiliar and       ship? Why else have prayer war-             lament, or repentance, or humbling
       uncomfortable with these things.         riors come trotting out in combat           oneself before God to receive God's
       This means that praise choruses are      fatigues? As David Wells asks in a          favor. It's got nothing to do with a
       sung instead of hymns, and hymn          new book, why do certain evangel-           lot of boring doctrines. It's not
       books are exchanged for overheads.       ical preachers punctuate their ser-         about the hard, disciplined work of
       Where the goal is to keep services       mons with such eye-popping an-              mortifying our old nature and
       within an hour, sermons are short-       tics as sudden ascensions to the            learning to make God's purposes
       ened to make room for personal tes-      skylights via invisible wires? Why          our own. It's not about the inevi-
       timonies, dramatic skits, liturgical     illustrate the prophecy of John the         table failures in this project, and the
       dance or some other alternative          Baptist that the ax is now laid to          terrible grace of Jesus Christ that
       means to teach a lesson or offer         the root of the tree - why illus-           comes so that we may begin again.
       praise. Where possible, organs are       trate this prophecy by pulling a            Not at all! I had it all wrong! The
       replaced with electric guitars and       chain saw to life, walking over to a        Christian faith is mainly about cel-
       drums, and/or orchestra and brass.       couple of potted trees on stage, and        ebration and fun and personal
       Why? Because organs sound                buzzing your way through them as            growth and five ways to boost my
       "churchy" and hinder outreach to         the congregation gasps and roars            self-esteem!"
       the lost.                                its delight?...                               My question is, again, a simple
          Contemporary worship has be-            You start to change things in your        one: How do you prevent that con-
       come quite the rage in some parts        services. The non-religious haven't         clusion? Or, to sum up for now,
       of the Christian Reformed Church.        much of a feel for the holiness of          let's put the question very general-
       Christian Reformed Home Missions         God, so you do away with silent             ly: How likely is it that a popular
       promotes it with enthusiasm, as I        prayer and expressions of our lit-          God!is really God? How likely is
       learned from its conference last         tleness. Secularists don't like to          it that a user-friendly God will re-
       June in Colorado Springs. Many           confess their sins, so you remove           buke sin? Or save people with
       mission-minded people marvel at          the service of penitence. Without           transcendent and unexpected force?
       the remarkable success of Rev. Bill      confession of sin, you hardly need          Or have to suffer to do it? Or call
       Hybels and the Willow Creek              the grace notes of an assurance of          us to suffering and discipline as
       Church of Willow Creek, Illinois         pardon: out it goes.                        well as to joy and freedom? Mean-
       (located in the suburbs of Chica-          ln general, you assume that the           while, how can we talk about sin
       go). This church draws thousanL          non-religious like things simple and        to people, including ourselves -
       upon thousands of "seekers" to its       upbeat. That's where much of the            people who have lost an ear for
       services every Sunday.                   popular culture is, after all, so away      some of its overtones?
                                                with lament, away with hard ques-
         Beach then quotes from a pam-          tions, expressions of anguish, dark           We too had better remember
 phlet written by Prof. Cornelius               ambiguities of any kind. While            that we gather to worship  our God
 Plantinga, Jr. of Calvin Seminary:             you`re at it, away with creeds and        in our services  - and not seek to
 "Fashions in Folly: Sin and Character          confessions, away with explicit ref-      gain "self-esteem" or be entertained.
in                                              erences to Christian doctrine, or to
       the 90s.  m Under the subtitle: "Do-     the history of the Christian church.      Man-centered, humanistic "wor-
 mesticated Worship  of  the democratized         On the other hand, seekers ure          ship" is all too often the order of the
 God, " he makes the following ob-              interested in improving themselves,       day - and increasingly in Reformed
 servations:                                    so you maximize promises of per-          circles too. God's Word has  a  stem
                                                sonal growth and self-realization.        reminder  to God's people that they
         Many of us are familiar with a         Secularists do like pop music, so         are not to "remove the ancient land-
       history of theological liberalism in     here it comes into the sanctuary,         mark" (Prov. 22~28).
       which the profile of God has been        along with semi-celebrity music
       cropped in various ways. Sad to          performers and audience applause          n The Interclassical Conference
       say, some  evangel&& have lately         for their performances. The non-
       been following suit. Some of the         religious also like sports figues,  so    of Christian Reformed Churches
       new revised versions of God are          in the bigger budget services, in             A report from Darrell Todd
       appearing in domestic evangelical        comes Tommy LaSorda,  longtime            Maurina, Press Officer for United
       markets. In these markets, God is        manager of the Los Angeles Dodg-          Reformed News Service, gives an ac-
       not our Lord but our chum - may-         ers - here comes LaSorda to tell          count of the actions taken at the re-
       be even our gofer whose job it is to     us how "the Great Dodger in the           cent meeting of a conference  called
       make us rich or happy or religious-      sky" has helped him win games             by Classis California South held the
       ly excited or self-actualized in some    and lose weight....                       week of November 5 at South Hol-
       other way.                                 Suppose a seeker came away              land, Illinois.         According to
         Not surprisingly, worship of this      from a service of the kind I've been
       domesticated God is likely to mu-        describing - let's say a fairly heavy     Maurina's  report, there were an "un-

 136lStandard  Bearer/December 15,1!395


precedented 290 delegates from 110          The proposal is presented as a way                 reminded of the situation in Israel
of the Christian Reformed denomi-           to prevent "schism" while maintain-                in the days of the judges when "there
nation's 985 churches." These "vot-         ing distinctives regarded as impor-                was no king in Israel: everydman did
ed to call the Christian Reformed           tant by many in the CRC. Dr. W.                    that which was right in his own
synod to lead the denomination in           Robert Godfrey, professor of Church                eyes" (Jud. 21:25).
repentance. The call to repentance          History         a n d   p r e s i d e n t   o f        The `conference did place some
will respond to Synod 1995's deci-          Westminster Seminary in California,                "teeth" in their call to repentance: it
sions allowing women to serve as            presented this proposal in the Out-                adopted a resolution to "inform syn-
ministers, elders, and evangelists in       look,  Oct. 1995 as follows:                       od that should she not humble her
the 294,000-member  denomination                                                               heart in repentance before the Lord,
and its failure to sever ecclesiastical         1. Form new classes based on our               this conference will reconvene next
fellowship with the CRC's mother              historic Christian Reformed doc-                 year to consider a proposal to form
church, the Gereformeerde Kerken              trines and Church Order. We ex-                  a new denomination."
in Nederland, despite its earlier de-         pect that synod will approve these                   If the threat is carried out, then
cision to admit practicing homosex-           new classes. We do not recognize,                the new denomination will face a
uals to church membership and to              however, the right of synod to pre-
                                              vent this action. The decisions of               jungle of thorny issues. Will it be a
ordain them to church office."                Synod 1995 forced this action upon               denomination which holds to all past
        To accomplish the above, the          us when it acted tyrannically and                decisions of the CRC - except those
conference also voted to form a Cov-          unbiblically and so disrupted the                pertaining to women serving in the
enant Union of Christian Reformed             life of our churches. Since Synod                office of ,elder or minister, and those
Churches (CUCRC) seeking "to re-              1995 has declared some aspects of                pertaining to maintaining fraternal
turn the Christian Reformed denom-            the Church Order "inoperative," we               relations with the GKN? Or will it
ination to its historical biblical posi-      have no choice for the protection                go back further and renounce those
tions regarding important denomi-             of our churches except to follow                 decisions which earlier allowed
national issues.n The report contin-          that precedent. We may have to
                                              declare some articles of the Church              women to serve as deacons? Or will
ues:                                          Order inoperative for us;                        it go further back still and reject
                                                2. Organize these like-minded                  those decisions which allowed wom-
        The Covenant Union, to be orga-       classes into the "Fellowship of Con-             en to vote in congregational meet-
  nized as a non-profit corporation,          servative Reformed Classes." These               ings? Then would such a denomi-
  is to hold an annual conference and         classes will only receive synodical              nation condemn earlier  synod&l
  may hold regional meetings as well          deputies from other classes in the               decisions which gave approval to
  to "encourage its members to form           Fellowship;
  a united front in their participation         3. Declare that the new classes                worldly amusements as the dance
  in classical and synodical sessions."       will only send delegates to synod                and earlier still to movie attendance
  Other specific objectives for the           if no women officebearers arts del-              (both decisions in part based on the
  Covenant Union will be to "assist           egates to the synod;                             CRC doctrine of common grace)?
  in the preparation of overtures and           4. Declare that the Fellowship                 Perhaps it is but wishful thinking
  communications," "promote educa-            will not recognize the GKN as a                  but could such a new denomination
  tion for office bearers," "enable its       church in ecclesiastical fellowship;             reconsider the whole issue of com-
 -members and member churches to                5. Declare that the new cllasses               mon grace and the effect that this
  do ministry," and "promote the res-         accept the Church Order as it ex-
  toration of discipline in its member                                                         decision ;has had on current difficul-
                                              isted in 1994, but reject all supple-
  churches."                                  ments to it that have the effect of              ties that the churches face?
                                              changing its  meaning including:                     Our prayers must be with dedi-
        Strangely, the conference re-                a. the supplement to Article 3            cated children of God who strive to
sponded to the actions of six CRC             permitting the ordination of wom-                find their way through this "jungle"
classes which have exercised an op-           en;                                              in order to glorify God and to pre-
tion given them by Synod 1995 to                     b.  the supplement to Article 7           serve a faithful church. We ought
permit the ordination of women by             restricting ordination under this ar-            also, however, to pray that these take
declaring parts of the church order           ticle to very few. We are in great               no "half-way" measures, but deal
                                              need of historically Reformed min-
"inoperative," by voting to "endorse                                                           carefully and thoroughly with all of
                                              isters and cannot be limited any
the idea of classes based on the idea         longer to graduates of Calvin Theo-              the issues which have affected the
of theological affinity for churches          logical Seminary who have been                   CRC in past years. 0
that in conscience believe they must          made candidates by the synod."
be part of such classes." This would
mean that classes would be formed               Godfrey himself admits that
based on theological viewpoints             "this proposal is radical and will be
rather than geographical boundaries.        controversial." Indeed it is. One is

                                                                                                  December 15, i!WGtandard  Bearetil37


::                  `., "  .`.  .,  ,`,-  .:, . .  ..
      j&&  f&&&@&p   $qpi&@@l-   j:.,:..  .i             `,  "L  .'  -,`:  ,.'  j         /                          R@M   Dab  Ki@mT

                                                                             All
         The Reformed believer is intensely interested in the                        scope of the word "all" is to be derived from the con-
use of the word "all" in Holy Scripture. He finds the                                text. Unless these rules are followed, a Bible reader
chief, doctrinal use of this word in connection with God                             ends up in universalism,  or in the free-will waters of
Himself,with God's works outside of Himself, and es-                                 Arminianism, which posits two, paradoxical, contradic-
pecially with God's salvation. Because the honor and                                 tory wills in God: a desire to save only the elect, and a
 glory of God are at stake according as we interpret the                             desire to save all men in general, or at least those who
word "all," the Reformed believer wants to get it right!                             hear the gospel preached. In John 3:16, "whosoever" does
         The all-ness that is in God refers to the infinite good-                    not hint that faith is a possibility for everyone if he ap-
ness and limitless perfections. No limits can be placed                              plies himself a bit, but literally states "all the ones be-
upon God's Being or virtues. It belongs to God's sover-                              lieving." In I Timothy  2:1, Christians are not exhorted
eign greatness that He is all mighty (Gen. 17:1), so that                            to pray for every living soul (how could we ever do
He is the source of all power, force, and movement;                                  that?) but for all kinds of men, also those in eminent
that He is all-knowing having perfect understanding of                               positions, for God's people are sometimes to be found
Himself (I Cor. 2:10), our words and activities before                               among them. We are to, pray also for them, because
they take place (Ps. 139:1-6),  even all His works from                              "God will have all men to be saved and to come unto
the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18); that He is all                              the knowledge of the truth," and Christ "gave himself a
(omni) present so that He is near to everyone of us                                  ransom for all" (I Tim. 2~4~6). The all-ness of God Him-
(Acts 17:27)  and simply cannot be eluded (Ps. 139:7-12);                            self, the all-ness of His counsel which God works unfail-
that He is the God of all grace (I Pet. 5:1O), the God of                            ingly, requires that His gracious salvation includes all
loveliness and beauty who is to be desired above every                               kinds, categories, and types of people: male and female,
earthly thing (Ps. 73:25); that He is the only wise God                              bond and free, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile.
(Rom.  1627)  and therefore the all-wise, God; that His                                 One further example of allowing the context to speak
mercy is abundant (I Pet. 1:3) and rich (Eph. 2:4) be-                               to the meaning of the word "all" is II Peter 3:9. Not only
cause He is the God of all mercy.                                                    is this a favorite text of the Arminians, not only is this
         The all-ness that is in God Himself implies, even                           text badly twisted by those who claim to be Reformed,
requires, that He reveals this all-ness in His works in                              but this passage is also a favorite of the true, five-point
time. God does not do things in a corner (Acts 27:27),                               Calvinist in that it explains the seeming delay of Christ's
nor does He employ half measures; rather, He works                                   second coming, and comforts the believer with the truth
extensively and all-embracingly. God works, in Christ,                               that not a single elect shall fail to be saved. The Lord
all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:ll).                            Jesus will not return in glory prematurely because he is
All things are of Him, through Him, and unto Him, to                                 "not willing that any should perish, but that all should
whom be glory forever (Rom. 11:36). His purpose is to                                come to repentance." If "all" refers to every individual
gather together all things in Christ, put all things under                           we are left to several dismal choices: Christ will never
Christ's feet, that the fullness of Christ might fill all in                         return; there will be opportunity for some to believe
all (Eph. l:lO, 22, 23). Accordingly, God has concluded                              after death; the will of the Lord is weak and is not ac-
all in unbelief that He might have mercy on all (Rom.                                complished; or, the text is giving us just one of the wills
11:32).  God created the human race to be represented                                of the Lord. But God, who has but one will and does
by Adam so that "by one man sin entered the world,                                   not reveal that will by speaking out of two sides of His
and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for                              mouth, comforts us in this wonderful passage by assur-
that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). By Adam's offence                                 ing us that there is great reason to trust His promise to
judgment came upon all men to condemnation; by the                                   send Christ, and there is no reason to grow faint in
righteous One the free gift of justification came upon all                           waiting for Him, for a premature return of Christ would
men (Rom. 5:18). Understanding the headships of both                                 result in some unborn, or unconverted, elect perishing,
Adam and Christ we can appreciate I Corinthians 1522,                                an intolerable thought in the light of all the Scriptures.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be                              So we comfort ourselves and one another with the truth
made alive."                                                                         that the second advent of Christ awaits the salvation of
         Who are the "all" in Christ? When we come to the                            the last, precious elect of God. For the Lord is
"all" passages which speak of God's desire to save, and                              longsuffering to  usward! God's promises in Christ are
of those who are saved, there are two rules which must                               particular to  usward! In that glad day the Father of
guide our understanding and faith. First, the word "all"                             Jesus Christ will have all the glory; and He will be all in
does not mean "every." Second, the exact meaning  and*                               all!  0
Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Profesfant R@rmed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

138Btandard  Bearer/December l&l995


            A Federal Court Declares Nation's First
                        Physician-Assisted Suicide Law
                                          Unconstitutional

                   "Oregon's Assisted Suicide Act withholds from terminally ill citizens the same protec-
              tions from suicide the majority enjoys. In the process, it has lowered standards and reduced
              protections to a degree that there is little assurance that only competent terminally ill per-
              sons will voluntarily die. The majority has not accepted this situation for themselves, and
              there is no rational basis for imposing it on the terminally ill."
                                                                     Lee o. Sfate of Oregon, U.S. District Court,
                                                                                                   Aug. 3,1995.

Oregon's Suicide Law                       physician to comply with a patient's       causing or aiding another to com-
     In November of 1994, Oregon           written request for a fatal drug pre-      mit suicide is defined in Oregon as
voters narrowly approved a state-          scription where a "competent" pa-          manslaughter; another Oregon law
wide referendum that permitted a           tient is suffering from a  fl terminal     provides that a person may use
"terminally  ill: adult to obtain from      disease" (defined as an incurable dis-    physical force to thwart an attempt-
the attending physician a fatal dose       ease producing death within six            ed suicide, etc.)
of a lethal drug for the express pur-      months). The law permits the sui-              The court then concluded that
pose of committing suicide. The Or-        cide to occur without notification of      Oregon's historical state interest in
egon measure became the nation's           spouse, family, or next of kin, ap-        preserving life and outlawing the
first physician-assisted suicide law,      parently concerned only that the pa-       suicide assistance was "arbitrarily
and its passage was hailed a great         tient "end his or her life in a hu-        and irrationally abrogated" by the
victory by "death with dignity" and        mane and dignified manner...."             law passed by a majority of Oregon's
"right to die" zealots across the               The law incorporated several          voters. The judge held that these
country.                                   "safeguards," including the attend-        older la&s protect vulnerable pea;
     However, prior to its effective       ing physician's determination that         ple "who might otherwise seek sui-
date on January 1,1995, opponents          the terminally ill patient was "capa-      cide in response to treatable depres-
of the controversial law.filed suit in     ble," that the death request was "vol-     sion, mental illness or coercion," not-
the Oregon federal court to have the       untary," and that there be a l5-day        ing a majority of states have similar
measure declared unconstitutional.         waiting period "between the pa-            laws imposing criminal penalties on
The federal court immediately de-          tient's initial oral request and the       one who :assists suicide. The state's
layed the effective date of the Act        writing of the prescription."              interest underlying these statutes,
pending the litigation, and in Au-              The federal court, after conced-      the court said, include preservation
gust of 1995 issued an opinion strik-      ing that a majority of Oregon citi-        of life and protection against suicide.
ing down the law as violative of the       zens apparently desired such a sui-            Reading the new voter-ap-
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th.       cide law, nevertheless ruled that          proved assisted-suicide law in this
Amendment.                                 "the judiciary cannot simply defer         context of the state's interest to pre- .
                                           to state legislative processes when        serve life, the court found several
Presumed Safeguards                        presented with a law which may not         fatal flaws in the new measure. First,
    The law permits an attending           provide adequate constitutional            the court ruled that the alleged "safe-
                                           guidance to its citizens." The court       guards" ih the measure were not suf-
                                           then noted that the state of Oregon        ficiently designed to differentiate be-
Mr. Lading, a member of South Hol-         has numerous laws that clearly ex-         tween competent and incompetent
land Protestant Reformed Church: is a      press a state interest to prevent  sui-    persons. #The court took judicial no-
practicing attorney.                       cide (e.g., recklessly or intentionally    tice that one of the leading factors

                                                                                          December 15,1995/Sbndard  Bearetil39


that motivates suicide is depression,      ment, which commands that no state              basis for some to choose suicide,
and the new law does not provide           shall" deny to any person within its            there is little limit to the justifica-
for sufficient mental evaluation of        jurisdiction the equal protection of            tions which can be advanced for
the terminally ill. Secondly, the court    the laws."                                      state-sanctioned suicide. Where in
complained that the definition of                                                          the constitution do we find distinc-
"terminal disease" is woefully im-         Other Reasons?                                  tions between the terminally ill with
                                                                                           six months to live, the terminally
precise, resulting in a category that          The careful reader of the Lee               ill with one year to live, paraple-
is inherently unstable. Thirdly, the       opinion receives the impression,                gics; the disabled, or any category
new law requires only that the phy-        however, that Judge Hogan may                   of people who have their own rea-
sician assisting in the suicide act "in    have used the "equal protection" ar-            sons for not wanting to continue
good faith." The court saw this to         gument to strike down the question-             lhhg?
be a subjective standard, allowing         able law while he actually enter-                     +-++   ++4   +*
physicians even to act negligently,        tained more fundamental (objections               In two hundred and five years
so long as they did so in "good            to state-sanctioned suicide. After all,         of our existence no constitutional
faith."                                    the equal protection objections could           right to aid in killing oneself has
                                           possibly be remedied by additional              ever been asserted and upheld by
                                                                                           a court of final  jurisdiction.  Unless
Equal Protection Denied                    safeguards incorporated into the Act            the federal judiciary is to be a float-
     The court concluded its opinion       by the suicide activists.                       ing constituttonal  convention, a fed-
by declaring that the new law was              But what about the basic con-               eral court should not invent a con-
constitutionally deficient because it      cept of the legislation itself - that           stitutional right unknown to the
created a legal disparity between Or-      government sanctions physicians as-             past,and antithetical to the defense
egon's treatment of terminally ill per-    sisting their patients to take their            of human life that has been a chief
sons and those who are not termi-          own life. In a somewhat obscure                 responsibility of our constitutional
nally ill. The legislation withheld        footnote, Judge Hogan finally                   government.
from terminally ill citizens, declared     broaches the rudimentary problem
the court, the same protections from       with the new law (which perhaps                   We have not heard the last of
suicide the majority enjoys. The           penetrates deeper than the "equal             the Ltz case, since the Judge Hogan's
measure reduced protections to a           protection" defect):                          decision released in August of 1995
degree that there was little assur-                                                      has been appealed to the U.S. Court
ance that only competent terminally            Certain of the defendants would           of Appeals and may indeed end up
ill persons will voluntarily die. Since      limit the court's analysis of the con-      before the U.S. Supreme Court. In
the majority did not lower these sui-        stitutional issues to the context of        any event, Reformed Christians
cide protections for themselves, there       the terminally ill class as defined         would hope that Oregon's suicide
was no rational basis for imposing           by the new law and the court has            law will not survive constitutional
it on terminally ill persons.                so limited its analysis. Monethe-           scrutiny. But one would also hope
                                             less, the candor of the defendants
    This disparity between the pro-                                                      that the higher courts strike down
                                             boldly presents the underlying is-
tection of the majority of Oregon cit-                                                   the controversial law for reasons
                                             sue: what are the boundary lines,
izens from suicide and the conse-                                                        much more fundamental than the
                                             if any, to state-sanctioned suicide?
quent lack of protection for termi-          While a diagnosis of terminal ill-          "equal protection" objections which
nally ill persons was, in the court's        ness with less than six months to           may be circumvented by clever
view, a violation of the Equal Pro-          live may be a persuasive rational           amendments to the challenged leg-
tection Clause of the 14th Amend-                                                        islation.  c1



               Warding Off False Doctrines

                                               To ward off false doctriines and errors that multiply exceedingly through
                                           heretical writings, the ministers and elders .shaZI use the means of teaching, of
Rev. Cammenga is pastor  of  Southwest L-
                                           refutation, or warning, and of admonition, as well in the ministry of the Word as
Protestant Reformed Church in              in Christian teaching and family-visiting.
Grandville, Michigan.                                                                               Church Order, Article 55

14OlStandard  Skarer  Pecember  15,199s


Banning heretical writings                   inces, including also foreknowledge       doctrine.      Article 55 calls the
    The original article is almost un-       of his classis.                           officebearers to exert themselves to
recognizable in our present Article                                                    preserve!& congregation in purity of
55. Originally the article concerned           This type of censorship was not         doctrine and holiness of life.
the censorship of books and the ban-       unheard of in the days following the            Heresy must be opposed! False
ning of heretical writings.                Reformation. Well known is Rome's           doctrine must be refuted! Error
    The fathers were aware of the          banning of "heretical writings" in its      must be condemned and warned
power of  the pen. They had wit-           Index Librorum  Prohibiforum. Includ-       against!
nessed the revolution caused by the        ed in the books banned by the "In-              This is a strange sound in our
invention of the printing press. They      dex" were the works of the Reform-          theologically tolerant day. Room is
had seen the influence of the print-       ers, as well as their translations of       made in the church for deviant
ed page in the spread of the Refor-        the Bible. Anyone caught possess-           views. It is said that those holding
mation. They had witnessed the tre-        ing a book listed in the "Index" suf-       to two completely different posi-
mendous impact that books had in           fered severe punishment, some even          tions, for example on the issue of
the spread of new ideas. And they          death.                                      women in office, may rightfully co-
were concerned that this new tool              Following the tradition of Rome,        exist in the same church federation.
for the promotion of truth not be          the early Reformed synods sought            The importance of maintaining clear-
used as an instrument in the service       to control the spread of heretical          ly defined doctrinal positions is
of the lie.                                writings. Anyone interested in pub-         downplayed. The individual's right
    Already in 1517, the Provincial        lishing a book dealing with religion        to take exception to binding doctri-
Synod of Dordt passed the follow-          had to gain ecclesiastical approval.        nal statements is defended. And let
ing resolution:                                But this kind of ecclesiastical         no one dare to criticize anyone or
                                           censorship, although well inten-            any group, or church, or organiza-
  The brothers deemjt necessary that       tioned, was misguided. For one              tion that diverges.
  the following means ought to be          thing, it proved impossible to en-              Neither are our churches im-
  taken to eradicate false doctrines       force. As books became more easily          mune to the influence of this kind of
  and heresies, which increase more        available, the mere fact that a book        mind-set, Among us too there are
  and more by the reading of hereti-       had been banned aroused sufficient          those who can be heard to complain
  cal books: 1) The ministers shall        interest to promote its sale. Neither
  exhort the people from the pulpit                                                    about negative sermons, negative
  to read the Biblical writings, and       did the government show any great           speeches, and negative editorials.
  they must warn against unhealthy,        inclination to assist the church in this    "Isn't it enough," it is asked, "that
  heretical books, mentioning even         sort of enterprise. From a principle        we set forth the truth positively?  Do
  the titles of the books from time to     point of view, such censorship was          we have to criticize others?"
  time.  2)  Those book sellers who        legalistic and infringed on inclividu-          Certainly the truth must be set
  are kindly disposed to pure doc-         al Christian liberty.                       forth positively. The gospel of grace
  trine shall be exhorted by the min-          For these reasons the Synod of          and the holy life that adorns that
  isters neither to print nor sell such    Utrecht, 1905, re-wrote Article 55.
  books. 3) The ministers shall pay                                                    gospel must be proclaimed. But the
                                           The Christian Reformed Church
  careful attention at home visitation                                                 gospel must also be proclaimed an-
  of the members of the congrega-          adopted Utrecht's revision in its           tithetically. The lie must be pointed
  tion whether they have detrimental       1914 English edition of the (Church         out and condemned, Those who
  books in their homes so that they        Order.  Our Protestant Reformed             teach false doctrine must be identi-
  may exhort them to get rid of such       Churches have taken over this revi-         fied and warned against.
  books.                                   sion and incorporated it into our               How can there be any doubt
                                           Church Or&r.                                about this!
    The original Article 55 as draft-                                                      Read the prophets! Examine the
ed by the Synod of Dordt, 16%`19,          A clear calling                             ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ!
read:                                          Ministers and elders are to "...        Peruse the apostolic writings! Study
                                           ward off false doctrines and er-            our confessions!
  No one of the Reformed religion          rors...." That is the mandate of Ar-            The prophets were not content
  shall undertake to have printed or       ticle 55.                                   only to be positive. No one could
  otherwise distributed any book or            There is a close connection be-
  writing produced or translated by                                                    be more scathing in his criticism than
                                           tween this article and the preced-
  himself or by another concerning                                                     our Lord. The apostles were often
                                           ing. Articles 53 and 54 concerned
  religion unless the same has been                                                    sharp in their condemnation. Our
  examined and approved by the             the signing of the "Formula of Sub-         confessions are bold to warn against
  ministers of the Word of his classis,    scription." By signing the "Formu-          heresy.
  or by the particular synod, or Pro-      la" officebearers vow that they them-           This is the nature of the gospel.
  fessors of Theology of these prov-       selves will uphold and defend true          And this is clearly the calling of the

                                                                                           December 15,199SlStandardBearedi41


faithful officebearer. In his parting      out the departures from the truth of       preaching. The elders ought to dis-
words to the elders of Ephesus, Paul       the Charismatics, the New-Agers,           cuss this element of the preaching
points them to this calling: "For I        the Reconstructionists, the Pre-and        with the minister and feel free to
know this, that after my departing         Post-millennialists, the feminists, the    make :suggestions in this regard.
shall grievous wolves enter in among       Promise Keepers, the Christian Psy-             "Christian teaching" is the gen-
you, not sparing the flock. Also of        chology movement, the false ecu-           eral work of both minister and el-
your own selves shall men arise,           menical movement, and many more.           ders as they go in and out among
speaking perverse things, to draw              The concern here is certainly the      the members of the congregation.
away disciples after them. There-          welfare of the church. For the church      Individual pastoral labor is in view
fore watch, and remember, that by          is built upon the truth. And the           here. Included are the catechism
the space of three years I ceased not      church is called by God to be "the         classes of the congregation, led ei-
to warn everyone night and day with        pillar and ground of the truth" (I         ther by the minister or the elders.
tears" (Acts 20:29-31).  If the calling    Tim.  3:15). Out of love for the           Especially in the older classes, which
of every believer is to "believe not       church the faithful officebearer must      deal more with doctrine, attention
every spirit, but try the spirits          warn against every attack upon and         must ,be given to identifying false
whether they are of God: because           departure from the truth.                  doctrine and warning against error.
many false prophets are gone out               But of even more concern is the             Mention is also made of "fami-
into the world" (I John 4:1), how          honor of God. The truth is God's           ly-visiting." Part of the spiritual in-
much more is this not the calling of       truth. Every false doctrine and ev-        spection of the families of the con-
officebearers?                             ery heretic who promotes false             gregation is seeing to it that there is
                                           teaching dishonors God. For the            no embracing of false teaching in the
What is at stake                           sake of the glory of God the faithful      home. Family visitation gives the
    This will require boldness. It         officebearer must take seriously his       elders a good opportunity to warn
will require forthrightness. It will       calling to defend the truth.               against errors and movements that
require good application of the Word                                                  are a special threat `at the moment.
to the needs of the congregation.          Opportunity for refuting false doc-        Since `Article 55 refers especially to
    Past errors which still threaten       trine                                      the multiplication of false doctrines
the church today must be warned                Officebearers must take every          through "heretical writings," family
against. From a certain point of           opportunity to carry out the calling       visitation is also a good opportunity
view, there is no new thing under          of Article 55. Refutation and warn-        to exhort the members of the church
the sun when it comes to false doc-        ing, publicly and in private, are in       to the reading of sound, Reformed
trine. Every error that the church         order whenever and wherever offic-         literature, both books and maga-
faces today has, in one form or an-        ers have opportunity to confront           zines, that explain and defend the
other, been faced by the church in         false doctrine.                            faith. "Are good books bought and
the past. This is why a good under-            Article 55 mentions some spe-          read? Does the family subscribe to
standing of church history and a           cific opportunities:  `I... as well in     the Standard Bearer and Beacon
thorough acquaintance with our             the ministry of the Word as in Chris-      Lights? Do the parents encourage
confessions       is necessary for         tian teaching and family-visiting."        their children and young people to
officebearers.                                 Certainly the minister must take       read?"
    At the same time, officebearers        the lead here. The ministry of the              The congregation served by
must not be content merely to warn         Word is mentioned first. In the pub-       officebearers who carry out the call-
against errors of the past. But cur-       lic preaching in the congregation er-      ing of Article 55 is going to be
rent I enemies of the truth must be        ror must be pointed out and heresy         blessed. That congregation is not
exposed and their teachings con-           condemned. The minister must pay           going to be "tossed to and fro, and
demned. Officebearers must keep            attention to this in his regular ser-      carried about with. every wind of
themselves abreast of developments         mon preparation. The elders must           doctrine . . . . II (Eph. 4:14), but is going
and movements in the church world          insist on it that this be done in the      to be a congregation "established in
of today. They must be able to point                                                  the present truth" (II Pet. 1:12). 0



                                           xvii-480. $19.99  (cloth). [Reviewed by    and elders of the church a quick,
Leadership Handbook  of Practical          Prof. R. D. Decker.]                       brief reference to a wide variety of
Theology:  Outreach and Care, James                                                   practical concerns in the church.
D. Berkley. Grand Rapids, MI: Bak-             This book is a "handbook," i.e.,       This volume has seven main sections
er Book House Company, 1994. pp.           it is intended to provide the pastors      dealing in order with the following

142lStanclard  Bearer/December 15,1995



                                                                                             ,


areas: Evangelism, Missions, Social         God's Hammer: The Bible and Its           doubt the best book I have read on
Involvement, Pastoral Care,' Pasto-         Critics, by Gordon H. Clark Hobbs,        . . . the doctrine of Scripture's inspi-
ral Counseling, Christian Education,       New Mexico: The Trinity Founda-           ration and infallibility."
and Chaplaincies. Part V, which            tion, repr. 1995. 232 pp. $10.95 (pa-          In his introduction to the re-
deals with mental illness, is particu-     per). [Reviewed by the editor.]           print, John W. Robbins  states that
larly helpful. The volume is en-                                                     Clark defends Scripture against re-
hanced by helpful, although in most             This reprint edition of the book     cent "severe and sustained attack"
instances very brief, bibliographies       originally published in 1982 adds a       on "the idea of divine revelation, the
for further study at the end of each       foreword by Harold Lindsell, an in-       adequacy of human language, the
main section.                              troduction by John W. Robbins, and        notion of literal truth, and the trust-
    The contributors are too many          two chapters by Gordon H. Clark,          worthiness of human logic" (p. xi).
to list. All are, as best this reviewer    "What is Truth?" and "The Re-                  Chapter 8, "The Concept of Bib-
could determine, in the evangelical        formed Faith and the Westminster          lical Authority," is interesting and
tradition.                                 Confession."                              helpful regarding the contemporary
    The book will prove helpful for             The Sfundurd  Bearer published a     "evangelical" apostasy from Scrip-
pastors. Because it lacks a Reformed       review of the book by Prof. Herman        ture's doctrine of its inspiration, par-
perspective the book must be used          Hank0 on pages 21 and 22 of vol-          ticularly' the falling away of Fuller
with discretion.  n                        ume 65 (October 1, 1988). Prof.           Seminary.  Cl
                                           Hanko called the book "without




                                                                                     guest speaker at a Reformation Day
Evangelism Activities                        meeting at Trinity with the specific    Lecture sponsored by the  Pella, IA
    This year's catechism collections        purpose of bringing  the Gospel to      PRC. Pastor Haak spoke on the
from the Lynden, WA PRC are be-              many Hindus residing in Houston.        theme,  "Soli Deo Gloria."
ing used to support the outreach             These meetings begin with instruc-           On November 10 the Reformed
evangelism of the Trinity PRC in             tion from God's Word and con-           Witness Committee, made up of
Houston, TX. We thank Lynden for             clude with a discussion of the mes-
                                             sage as well as a topic of interest
sending the following brief review                                                   members from the Doon and Hull,
                                             chosen by the Sindhis.                  IA PRCs along with the Edgerton,
of Trinity's outreach in Houston so           A series on Christian marriage
that we can share it with you.                                                       MN PRC, sponsored a lecture by
                                             was recently concluded,, and in Oc-
                                             tober a new series on the Ten Com-      Prof. H. Hanko, from our seminary,
    One of the specific areas of out-        mandments was begun. Anywhere           in the B.J. Haan Auditorium at Dordt
  reach for our Trinity congregation         from a dozen to about 20 people         College in Sioux Center, IA. Prof.
  continues to be its work among the         attend.                                 Hank0 spoke on the topic, "The Cov-
  Hindu Indians, and particularly                                                    enant Family."
  among a group of people called               The Evangelism Committee of
  Sindhis, who originally came from        the Covenant PRC in Wyckoff, NJ           Congregational Activities
  Sind, Pakistan. Over. the years a                                                      The Council of the Faith PRC in
  large population of Indians have         was able to sponsor a Reformation         Jenison, MI has decided that the cat-
  migrated to this country from In-        Lecture on October 27. Rev. Dale
  dia and have chosen Houston as           Kuiper, pastor of the Southeast `PRC      echism collections for this year will
  their home. For the past couple of       in Grand Rapids, MI, spoke on the         be for the Free Christian School in
  years `Rev. Mahtani, Trinity's pas-      subject, "The Reformed View of An-        Edgerton, MN.
  tor, who is himself a Sindhi, has        gels."                                        The Monday night catechism
  been working with a few Sindhi               `We should also include here that     classes at the South Holland, IL PRC
  Christians by having Bible studies       Covenant is starting to iron out de-      recently had a special assignment to
  with some of them, making visits         tails for an upcoming Spring Con-         coincide with Reformation Day.
  to Indian areas of businesses, at-                                                 They were to read the October 15th
  tending and speaking at other In-        ference. They have chosen the             issue of the 
  dian Christian Conferences, etc.         theme, "Family Values." Further in-                        Sfundard  Bearer on "The
  This has developed into a monthly        formation regarding speakers and          Reformation of 1924" and answer a
                                           the date for the conference will be       sheet of questions prepared by their
                                  !        included here as soon as it becomes       pastor. I wonder if you or I could
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Profes-      available.                                pass that test.
tant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,           Rev. Carl Haak, pastor (of the            The congregation of the Peace
Michigan.                                  Bethel  PRC in Itasca, IL, was the        PRC in Lynwood, IL held a special

                                                                                         December 15,1!395/StandardBearedl43


                                                                                                                        SECONDCLASS
                                                                                                                        Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                        Grandville, Michigan
   P. 0. Box 603
   Grandville, MI 49466-0603


dedication service for their new            cial worship service held the night                   reading the form for ordination. In-
church building on November 17.             before, at which time Allen Brummel                   deed,' this is always a time of spe-
Thanks be to God for providing              preached an assigned sermon as part                   cial blessing for our churches when
them a place in which to worship.           of his exam. Mr. Brumm~l capably                      Christ prepares a minister of the
Young People's Activities                   gave account of his faith and his                     Word of God for the ministry of our
    The  Lodging committee of the           knowledge at this special meeting,                    churches.
South Holland, IL PRC's Young Peo-          and Classis unanimously voted that                        Rev. S. Key received the call to
ple's Society has made tentative            Edgerton  proceed with his ordina-                    serve `as pastor of the Doon, IA PRC.
plans to host next year's young peo-        t i o n .
ple's convention at Wheaton  College               On November 13 the ordination
the week of July 29 to August 2.            service of Pastor-elect Brummel took                               Foodfor Zliozyht
    Sunday afternoon, November              place in Edgerton, with Rev.                              "A proud heart and a lofty
19, the Federation Board of our             Dykstra, as their moderator, preach-                  mountain are never fruitful."
Young People's societies sponsored          ing the sermon and Rev. R. Moore                                                 -Gumall  0
their annual Thanksgiving Mass
Meeting. This year's meeting was
hosted by the two societies of the
Hudsonville, MI PRC. Rev. B.
Gritters, pastor at Hudsonville,                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
spoke on a theme based on I Timo-                  With thankfulness to God, our parents,             The  Consistory and Congrega-
thy 4:3,4, emphasizing that we can                 ED and MARY LOTTERMAN,                         tion of the First Protestant Reformed
use the things listed in these.verses       celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary             Church of Edmonton, AB express
. . . if created by God, if Christ died     on December 12, 1995. We, their children              their heartfelt sympathy to the fol-
for us, if God is a God of provi-           and grandchildren, are grateful to God for            lowing fellow members and their
dence, and`if these things are sancti-      His gracious care in the past 25 years.               families:
fied by God's Word and prayer.              Above all we are thankful for the godly                   M r .   a n d   M r s .   K o r s   Vanden
                                            upbringing we have had through them. It               Boogaard in the loss of her sister,
Minister Activities                         is our prayer that He will continue to bless                MARRITJE HOGENES.
    Rev. R. Harbach, emeritus min-          and keep them for many years to come.
ister in our churches, underwent sur-              Psalrh 100:5,  "For the Lord is good:              Elder and Mrs. Henry Nieuwen-
gery in mid-October to repair a de-         his mercy is everlasting; and his truth               kamp, and Mr. and Mrs. Albert
tached retina. The surgery went well        endureth to all generations."                         Nieuwenkamp and family in the loss
and Rev. Harbach returned to his            9 Larry and Amy Rypstra                               of their mother and grandmother,
home in Raybrook  Manor in Grand                     Alaina and Allen                                     MARIA JONGEJAN.
Rapids, MI.                                 9 Cornelis and Rebecca Kleyn
    Rev. R. Dykstra, who accepted                    Rachel                                           Rev! and Mrs; Michael DeVries
the call to our Hope PRC in Walker,         9 Andrew, Heidi, Lindy, Russell,                      and family in the loss of their fathdr
MI, was scheduled, the Lord will-                                 Katie,  HoUly, Emily,           and grandfather,
ing, to preach his farewell sermon                          and  Bethany Lotterman                       CHARLES DE JONG.
at the Doon, IA PRC on November                                        Byron Canter,  Michigan
19. He was to be installed as Hope's                                                                  May they continue to experience
tenth pastor one week later, the 26th                                                             the blessed truth that, "Our only
of November.                                                                                      comfort in life and death is that we
    There was a special meeting of                             NOTICE!!
                                                                                                  are  not our own, but belong body
Classis West held in the Edgerton,                 Classis East will meet in regular
                                                                                                  and soul unto our faithful Savior
MN PRC on November 9. This                  session on Wednesday, January 10,
                                                                                                  Jesus; Christ" (Heidelberg Cate-
classis  was called to conduct the clas-    1996, at the Southeast Protestant
                                                                                                  chism; Lord's Day 1).
sical examination of Pastor-elect           Reformed Church, Grand Rapids,
                                                                                                     Rev. Michael  DeVries, President
Allen Brummel. There was a spe-             Ml.
                                                      Jon J. Huisken, Stated Clerk                                Henry Ferguson, Clerk

MI/Standard  Bearer/December 15,1995


