      The
STANDARD
     BEARER
       A  REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE





  The sin of homosexuality is not one shame-
ful sin among many; rather it is the sin that
most fully works out and manifests sin's vile-
ness-it is the nadir of the degradation of sin.
. ..in the sin of homosexuality, new depths of
sin are plumbed; under the Divine giving up,
society reaches the last stages of moral rot.
See "The Vile Sin of Homosexuality"
                                                         -page 490




                                      Volume  LVII, No. 2 1, September 15, 1981  -0


482                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER
                                  CONTENTS                                                                                   ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                    Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                                          Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
  Meditation-                                                                             Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       Israel Sold to Chushanrishathaim. . . . . . . . . . . . .482                       Depnrtment  Editors:  Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma,  Re\ Arie
                                                                                          denHartog, Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J. Engelsma, Rev.  Richard
                                                                                          Flikkema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman  Hando, Rev. John A. Heys, Mr.
  Editorials-                                                                             Calvin Kalsbeek, Rev. Kenneth  Koole, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George C.
                                                                                          Lubbers, Rev. Rodney Miersma, Rev.  Marinus Schipper, Rev. James Slopsema,
       A Dangerous and Deceitful Euphemism. . . . . . .485                                Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren, Rev. Ronald Van Overloop, Rev. Herman Veldman.
       Kalamazoo's New Church Building . . . . . . . . . . .486                           Editorial  Office: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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MEDITATION

                     Israel Sold to Chushanrishathaim
                                                                              Rev. M. Schipper

                    "Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of
               Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim
               eight years.
                   And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the
               children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.
                   And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war; and
               the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand pre-
               vailed against Chushanrishathaim.
                   And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. "                                                  Judges 3:8-l 1

  Concerning the original inhabitants of the land of                                            In the first place, we are told that Israel had not
Canaan there are two notices given in the context                                           driven them out completely as the Lord had  com-
that ought to be observed.                                                                  manded.


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                             483



   0, indeed, there was a large portion of the in-          Awful truth!
habitants which had been driven out. All of those           Israel sold to the enemy!
dwelling on the east of the Jordan were vanquished
before Israel crossed the Jordan. This portion had          But what does this mean?
been occupied by such heathen powers as repre-              It cannot mean that the Lord abandoned Israel,
sented by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king       though the figure of the Lord selling His people into
of Bashan. This portion of Canaan was to have been        the hands of the enemy might appear on the surface
given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and a half-        to signify that He had utterly abandoned them.
tribe of Manasseh. We also learn that through the         When you or I sell our house or our car, then we no
conquests of Joshua many of those living on the           longer dwell in the house or drive our car. The pro-
west of the Jordan had been overcome, at least suf-       perty rights are transferred to the party that pur-
ficiently for the tribes inheriting this portion to       chased them; they are now the sole possessors of
dwell in their inheritance. And in Judges 1 we learn      them. So when we read that the Lord sold Israel, it
that Judah with Simeon overcame the heathen               would seem to mean that He no longer possessed
dwelling in their portions, under the leadership of       Israel. He allowed Israel to slip out of his
Caleb and his nephew Othniel. But for the rest,           possession and control. In one word, it appeared
Israel allowed the heathen to remain in the land.         that He had abandoned Israel. Yet we know that
The last part of Judges 1 makes plain that especially     this is utterly impossible. Jehovah cannot abandon
the northern tribes, such as Manasseh, Zebulon,           Israel for His own Name's sake. His honor is tied
Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Ephraim, were guilty of         up in that people. For His covenant's sake He can-
this. For this reason the Lord had remonstrated           not dispossess His people. The promise He made to
with Israel at.Bochim (Judges 2: l-4).                    Abram, Isaac, and Jacob is an unfailing promise.
  On the other hand, we are told that the Lord left       Should He fail to fulfill that promise, He would.
these heathen in the land; and that for two reasons.      prove Himself to be unfaithful. And this can never
In the first place, He did it in order that they might    happen.
serve as thorns in the sides of Israel who would sin        But it does mean that He so wonderfully with-
against Jehovah. And in the second place, the Lord        draws His help that that people could no longer
would use these heathen to teach Israel to be a mili-     stand before their enemies. This is what is literally
tant people-He would teach them to war (Judges            said in Judges 2:14, 15. There you read that He sold
3:2).                                                     them into the hands of their enemies round about,
  As a consequence of the fact that the heathen           so that they could no longer stand before their ene-
were allowed to live in the land, we find Israel          mies. And that means that He withdraws His help
dwelling among them. Apparently the majority of           from that people-just as, when we for a time walk
Israel were content to be unequally yoked with the        in sin, He withdraws His grace from us, so that we
wicked. This is evident from the statement that the       sense our helplessness and hopelessness. So here
children of Israel "dwelt among them." This is still      He withdraws His saving help from Israel who had
more evident when we read that they intermarried          forsaken Him, that Israel may feel its desolate state
with the heathen.                                         without Him. They no longer had the spiritual for-
                                                          titude to oppose the enemy. In desperate fear they
  As is always the case, because of this the majori-      succumb to the power of the enemy.
ty of Israel served the gods of the heathen. Not all
were given to idolatry. Also now there was a                The enemy in this case was Chushanrishathaim.
remnant, the seven thousand, who did not bow the          Little or nothing is known of him except what is
knee to Baal, who served Jehovah in truth. But be-        said in the text. In the original text you read:
cause they were a despised minority, and for fear of      "Chushanrishathaim king of  Aram of the two
the majority, they kept silence, and thus made            rivers." That the King James version has "king of
themselves guilty. They did not fight against the         Mesopotamia" is commentary.  Aram represents
heathen, nor did they fight against their brethren        the land which the Greeks called Mesopotamia,
according to the flesh. They evidently contented          which lay between the Euphrates and the Tigris
themselves with the evil thought that it would not        rivers to the north and east of the land of Canaan.
do any good to protest.                                   We probably remember it best from the Genesis
                                                          narrative as the place where Abram came when the
  But the majority were apostate. They forgot the         Lord called him from Ur of the Chaldees. When
Lord their God, and they served Baalim and the            Abram was called the second time to go to the land
groves.                                                   God would show him, he left behind his father
  Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against         Terah and his brother Nahor who stayed in this
Israel, and He sold them into the hands of  Chus-         land. It was to this place that Jacob later came when
hanrishathaim.                                            he fled from the wrath of his brother Esau, and


484                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



where Jacob labored for twenty years for his wives       God. Later the apostle Paul would write to the
and substance.                                           church at Corinth, "For godly sorrow worketh re-
  Chushanrishathaim was a heathen king ruling            pentance to salvation, not to be repented of, but the
over that land at the time of our text. Evidently he     sorrow of the world worketh death" (II Cor. 7:10).
was not satisfied with the boundaries of his own         So it always is that godly sorrow which worketh re-
kingdom, and therefore thought for expansion by          pentance is a sorrow which God realizes in His
including also the territory in which especially the     people and they sorrow because they have offend-
northern tribes of Israel now dwelt. All this was        ed the living God.
under the providential direction of Jehovah. "The          In the way of repentance Jehovah responds with
king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; as rivers of    deliverance. This is always the divine order in the
water, He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Pro-        matter of our salvation. So it must also be under-
verbs 21: 1). This king the Lord will use now to         stood that salvation is of the Lord. He does not save
prove Israel. So this king with his ambition to in-      His people on condition that they repent, but He
crease his territory and power turns to conquer nor-     saves them always in the way of repentance which
thern Palestine, to serve the divine purpose of          He Himself creates within them. Thus we read in
proving Israel.                                          the text that the Lord raised up a deliverer to the
  Because Israel had forsaken Jehovah their God,         children of Israel, who delivered them. . . .
they did not have the spiritual or physical stamina        Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger
to oppose this enemy. This is always the plight of       brother!
those who forsake the Lord and choose the idol.            Remarkable it is indeed that this deliverer is one
Not only do they discover the vanity, the emptiness      who comes, not from Zebulon, Naphtali, or other of
of idol worship, but they lose their spiritual and       the northern tribes, who were to be delivered, but
physical vitality. It also became evident that they      from the south country, from the land of Judah.
would have nothing of war, deploring war on the
grounds that it is proper to live at peace with their      From Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, who pro-
fellow men; but they also did not possess the heart      phetically is said to be he whom his brethren shall
to wage war.                                             praise, the lion's whelp who coucheth for the prey;
  Consequently the enemy exacted from them and           the one from whom the scepter would not depart
brought them under oppressive servitude. For eight       until Shiloh  come,(Gen.   49:8-10). Out of this tribe
years Israel felt the power of the enemy which,          the Lord raises up the deliverer, who stands in the
with its police brutality, collected the tribute for     line from whom the Saviour must come-Who is
their heathen king. His armies were there to haul        God's lion, His Strong One.
away the crops made ready for harvest. The situa-          Remarkable too, is the name Othniel! Literally it
tion for Israel appeared utterly hopeless and des-       means: lion of God, or my lion is God. Such was the
perate.                                                  faith of his father Kenaz when this son was born.
  Under these oppressive circumstances Israel            Not Othniel is the lion, but the God of Kenaz, and
cried unto Jehovah, and He heard them.                   now of Othniel. He is the Lion, the Strong One.
  It was a cry of the penitent that moved Him.             In chapter one of Judges we learn of his faith and
Never does He hear the cry of the rebellious. 0,         courage when his uncle Caleb challenged him to
indeed, the rebellious in Israel cried by reason of      fight against Kerjath-sepher, and rewarded him
the oppression. It is inconceivable that they would      with a wife from one of his daughters. Remarkable
be insensitive to the exacting powers of the enemy.      it is that this man who stands in the loins of Judah is
It may even have been true that the rebellious           the one whom the Lord now raised up.
realized that their oppression was because the Lord        The first judge and captain over Israel!
had withdrawn from Israel His help. But their cry          The Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he
is one of rebellion and cursing which the Lord does      judged Israel, and went out to war. That he became
not hear. Rather, it was the cry of those who de-        the first judge meant that he taught Israel to put
plored Israel's rebellion. It was the remnant accord-    away their idols, and he moved Israel once more to
ing to the election of grace who historically and or-    seek Jehovah's face to worship Him. That he led
ganically belong to the nation that rebelled, the be-    Israel to war  (3:2) meant that he first taught Israel
lieving Israelites who sense that the oppression is      how to fight-God's people must be a militant peo-
brought about by Jehovah because of Israel's sin,        ple; and then he went before them into battle with
who now deplore Israel's sin and plead for Jeho-         the enemy. All was the work of the Spirit of Jeho-
vah's mercy.                                             vah which came upon him. Not of himself was he a
  Jehovah always hears their cry. Forget it not-it       deliverer; but Jehovah is the Strong One Who will
is He Who creates within them true sorrow after          deliver Israel through him.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .                               485



  Saved by the wonder of grace!                                  the eight years of oppression.
  It is not sufficient to say that the Lord delivered                Until Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died!
Israel by the hand of Othniel, though this was the                   Until then, the spiritual remnant governs. This is
fact. For the Lord raised up a deliverer to the                  the significance of the history of the Judges. So long
children of Israel. What we must see here, if we are             as the judge lived, spiritual Israel is in control.
to hear the Word of God in our text, is the truth that           Those who still served idols had to do so in secret.
when He delivers it is a wonder of grace-just as                 The predominate power of the judge and the spiri-
truly as Israel's deliverance from Egypt was a                   tual remnant brought the service of Jehovah again
wonder of grace; just as truly as the destruction of             to the fore. So long as the God-appointed authority
Jericho was a wonder of grace. So are the deliver-               was recognized and obeyed, Israel prospered. But
ances of Israel in the book of Judges, the manifesta-            always, at the death of the judge, Israel returns
tion of Jehovah's grace. That is the saving truth in             again to its evil ways. It is this fact that constantly
our text. That is always the saving truth in all the             recurs throughout the entire period of the Judges.
work of Jehovah's salvation.                                        The lesson then is this: Israel, according to its
  And the land had rest for forty years!                         sinful and corrupt nature always departs from Jeho-
  Joyous, but typical rest!                                      vah,      and suffers the consequences. Israel,
  The hard thing that Israel had to learn was the                according to the election of grace, in principle
fact that to forsake the service of Jehovah can only             serves Jehovah, deploring Israel's sin, repenting in
end in oppression, war, and unrest.                              sorrow after God, imploring His mercy. And Jeho-
                                                                 vah remembers His covenant. Always He provides
  The joyous truth Israel must always learn is that              redemption. He raises up The Deliverer. He graces
when they serve the Lord from the heart, they will               that Deliverer with His Spirit. And He brings His
experience peace and rest. Such is the rest Israel               people at last into the everlasting rest.
now enjoyed. It was typical, not the final, perfect
rest. It was temporary, for it lasted only so long as                Thanks be unto Him, the God of our salvation in
Israel served the Lord. It lasted for only forty years,          Jesus Christ, for His everlasting salvation!
not for ever; it was a long time in comparison with

EDITORIALS
Prof. H. C. Hoeksema


       A Dangerous and Deceitful Euphemism

  "We endorse quality education, whether it be                   proposed  millage  increase." And then they added
public or private."                                              the endorsement quoted above and also urged their
  What do you think about this statement?                        constituents to vote.
  This was a statement which appeared in an                         Purposely I have omitted names. It is my inten-
"open letter" addressed to the members and con-                  tion to focus on the issue, not on the persons and
stituents of two Christian schools. The letter was               schools involved.
prepared and signed by the boards of those schools,
and it was published in a weekly newspaper. The                     Neither is it my intention to argue the question
occasion was an upcoming  millage  vote in which                 whether it is wise and responsible for a Christian
the voters in a certain Public School District were              school supporter to approve tax  millage  increases
being asked to approve a 3.0 millage  to cover oper-             for the state schools, in view of the fact that the
ating expenses. Representatives of the two Chris-                Christian school supporter pays "double'`-his
tian schools' boards had met with representatives                taxes for the state schools and tuition and gifts for
of the public school board, "reviewed vital infor-               the Christian school.
mation and discussed areas of mutual concern,"                      Nor do I intend to argue the question whether it
and then published an open letter to their constitu-             is the proper domain of any Christian school board
ents. In the letter they did not recommend either a              to meddle in an affair of this kind and to publish
Yes or a No vote on the proposal, but urged their                open letters on such issues. Personally, I doubt the
constituents to study and "to seriously consider the             propriety of this very much.


486                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



  But I will pass by these matters in order to con-       potential multitude of ills. Private education can be
centrate on what I deem a more important matter-          education that is owned and operated by some pri-
what I call a dangerous and deceitful euphemism.          vate individual or corporation for profit-making
  Now what is a euphemism?                                purposes; again, it can be education which does not
                                                          even purport to be Christian. It may be humanistic;
  Webster tells us that it is "the substitution of an     it may be consciously non-sectarian; it may even be
inoffensive or mild expression for one that may of-       committed to some other religion. It may be just a
fend or suggest something unpleasant."                    "private school" for the children of the wealthy.
  And what, then, is euphemistic about the state-         Private education may also be parochial,  church-
ment quoted at the beginning of this editorial?           controlled education. And this, in turn, may be of
  The main elements of substitution are those two         various kinds: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Adven-
terms,  public and private, and, along with them, that    tist, Baptist, Jewish. Or again, private education
expression  quality education.  Taken in itself, of       may be parental education and involve schools that
course, the expression "public education" denotes         are owned, operated, and controlled by associa-
education which is sponsored, controlled, directed,       tions of parents. These, in turn, may be of various
and paid for by the public, and thus by the govern-       kinds, including our own covenantal schools, devo-
ment and its elected officials. Thus viewed-apart         ted to educating our covenant children in harmony
now from the fact that education is not the affair of     with our Reformed principles.
the state-that term pubZic  education is quite innocu-      But, you see, as soon as you view the multitude
ous. In fact, it would in itself be possible that such    of private schools from the point of view of their
public education could even be "quality educa-            spiritual dimension, their controlling spiritual
tion." And taken in itself, "private education" is        principle, then there is but one answer to the ques-
education which is sponsored, controlled, directed,       tion as to which private schools truly offer  quality
and paid for by private individuals and/or organiza-      education, namely: our Christian, covenantal, Re-
tions and with private funds. Again, the expression       formed schools!
itself is quite innocuous; and again, it is quite con-      In the second place, that term public is, after all,
ceivable that such "private" education might also         an inoffensive or mild expression substituted for
be "quality education."                                   one that may offend. Consider the fact that the
  And after all, who would be so foolhardy as not         public school is humanistic, pro-evolution,  anti-
to endorse, i.e., "give one's name or support to,         God, anti-Christ, anti-Scripture in its whole ap-
sanction," quality education. That would be like          proach to education. Can any right-thinking Re-
being opposed to motherhood and apple pie! Do we          formed Christian dare to call such public education
not certainly need more, rather than less, "quality       "quality'`-no matter what school or school district
education"?                                               is in question?
  However, as soon as one begins to give substance          Now go back to that quoted statement and in
and content to these formal terms, and then begins        your own mind fill in for those terms "public" and
to view them from the perspective of one who is           "private" the truly descriptive terms which we as
committed to parental, Christian, covenantal, Re-         Reformed Christians would use, and then take note
formed education and to evaluate their quality or         of the horrible contradiction which results. And
lack of quality from the viewpoint of their spiritual     then ask how a Christian school board-or any
dimension-then, I say, the dangerous and deceit-          Christian parent, for that matter-could subscribe
ful character of this euphemism becomes evident.          to such an endorsement, and that, too, "In His Ser-
  In the first place, that term  private  covers a        vice."


               Kalamazoo's New Church Building


  Last spring our news column reported the  dedi-         in celebrating that happy occasion. The evening
cation of the new church building of our  Kalama-         was undoubtedly a highlight in the life of the little
zoo (Michigan) Protestant Reformed Church. At the         flock of Kalamazoo, a congregation which for many
time, a goodly number of people from neighboring          years has had a rather checkered history and which
congregations joined the Kalamazoo congregation           often has struggled to maintain a distinctively  Re-


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                               487



formed witness in that community.                       view and one an interior view. And so our readers
  The church there now-has a small, but very neat,      may get a glimpse of Kalamazoo's new facilities.
pleasant, and useful building, located in a better        For those who may wish to visit our church
area of the city than was their former meeting          there, here are the directions. Take the U.S. 131
place.                                                  expressway from Grand Rapids, getting off at the
  At the time of the dedication there were no pic-      second M. 43 exit (W. Main Street). Follow West
tures available, and at the evening program it was      Main Street to Drake Road (the first traffic signal).
too dark to get pictures.                               Turn right on Drake Road and follow it to the first
                                                        street on your left (Greenacre Drive). Follow
  Recently, on a preaching appointment, I had the       Greenacre Drive approximately one block; it  dead-
opportunity to get a couple pictures, one an outdoor    ends in the church parking lot.





                                  The Presbyterian
                   "Join and Receive" Movement

  Both the columns AZZ Around Us and the editorial      union of the three conservative Presbyterian deno-
department have reported and commented from             minations without a long process of discussion and
time to time on what has come to be called the          negotiation concerning differences in doctrine and
"Join and Receive" movement in American Presby-         practice. There will, of course, still have to be ar-
terianism. To refresh your memory, let me remind        rangements made and decisions reached with
you that this movement at present involves three        respect to various physical assets and organization-
Presbyterian denominations: the PCA, or Presby-         al aspects.
terian Church in America, by far the largest of the       However, in all three denominations the first
three; the RPCES, or Reformed Presbyterian              major step toward union was taken. The RPCES
Church Evangelical Synod; and the OPC, or Ortho-        General Assembly approved the proposal by a
dox Presbyterian Church. These three, through ac-       much wider margin than the necessary two-thirds
tions of their respective General Assemblies, are       vote. The OPC General Assembly first rejected it by
now officially committed to what has been nick-         a very close vote, failing to give the necessary two-
named the "JR" movement.                                thirds vote of approval. However, reconsideration a
  According to this plan, the two smaller denomi-       day later led to a sufficient switching of votes to fur-
nations will simply join the larger PCA on its con-     nish the needed margin. And the PCA General
fessional and governmental basis, and the PCA will      Assembly approved the receiving of both denomi-
receive them. The purpose of this plan-and sup-         nations into its fold.
posedly also its advantage-is to accomplish a             This is not the end of the process, however. In


488                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



both the OPC and the RPCES there are two more             could be that a large portion of the OPC could be
hurdles. First of all, in each denomination  two-         locked into a continued separate existence which
thirds of the presbyteries (a presbytery is equiva-       they do not desire. Or would some, perhaps, not
lent to our classis) must give their approval. Then,      tolerate that continuation of a separate existence,
in 1982 the General Assembly of each denomina-            but attempt to join the PCA regardless? In the
tion (if the presbyteries have approved) must again       second place, in these proposals there is no provi-
provide approval by a two-thirds margin. Mean-            sion made, apparently, for a possible minority who
while, three-fourths of the presbyteries in the PCA       for reasons of principle (at least in their opinion)
must ratify the action of their General Assembly.         cannot approve the merger. Does the denomination
Only then can the merger be accomplished and the          to which they have been loyal simply intend to
Presbyterian "amalgam" be formed.                         leave them ecclesiastically stranded? And what do
  It is not my purpose at this time to comment            these people and/or churches of the minority them-
again on the fact that, should the "JR" movement          selves intend to do? Will they have the courage of
succeed, the result will indeed be a rather bland         their convictions and hold back if and when the
Presbyterian amalgam.                                     majority merges? And if so, will they continue a
                                                          separate existence as an OPC remnant? Or will they
  Two things I wish to point out, especially with         seek affiliation elsewhere?
regard to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In the
first place, a negative vote by only four presbyteries           These matters I have, thus far, not seen ad-
can defeat the entire proposal. The result of that        dressed in print.

THE LORD GAVE THE WORD


                               Missionary Methods (7)
                                             Prof. Robert D. Decker


  It is our contention in this series that if the         and those are idols. God cannot be limited in any
church is to be correct in its missionary methods         way by man. God is the Creator! (This, by the way,
these methods will have to be gleaned from the            points out the seriousness and necessity of taking
Bible. Scripture not only lays down the principles        the Bible's creation account by faith as it stands!
which must govern the church in its mission work,         Those who tamper with and impose their scientific
but Scripture also teaches the proper methods by          theories upon Genesis one and two must needs fall
which this work must be done. This applies to all         into idolatry! They concoct their own conceptions
ages and all cultures, for Scripture is not bound         of the sovereign Creator of heaven and earth.) God
either by time or by culture. In previous issues we       made the world and all things therein, proclaimed
have been busy analyzing the Apostle Paul's               the Apostle. This means that God is Lord, sovereign
preaching in Athens. There in the very center of          Lord, of heaven and earth. And this in turn means
heathen religion and culture the Apostle courage-         that it is utterly impossible that God should dwell
ously pointed the Athenians (especially the Stoics        in temples made with hands. Solomon declared that
and Epicureans) to the root of their error. They          even the heaven of heavens cannot contain God (I
were very superstitious. In their superstition they       Kings  8:27). Because God is the Creator of heaven
erected an altar to the "Unknown God" (Acts               and earth He is not worshipped with men's hands
17:22, 23). What they worshipped in their spiritual       as though He needed anything. God gives to all
ignorance, that the Apostle declared to them. They        men life and breath and all things. God is not only
worshipped a conception of their own sin-darkened         self-sufficient; He is the source of all life. The mo-
minds, and that is an idol.                               ment the Lord withholds the breath of a man, that
                                                          man dies and returns to the dust. Thus these Athe-
  The Apostle continues by pointing them to the           nians and all men everywhere, if they are to know
one, true God and Jesus Christ Whom He has                God and worship Him aright, must have the proper
sent (Acts 17:24-34). God, thus Paul preaches, does       conception of God. That proper conception comes
not dwell in temples made with hands. Temples             only from God through the Holy Spirit. Apart from
constructed by man cannot contain God. Temples            that there is only idolatry in all its vanity and futili-
can only contain the productions of men's hands,          ty-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               489



       The Apostle continues by telling them that God          own poets recognized the unity of the human race,
     made of one blood "all nations of men for to dwell        they refused to seek the Lord. In spite of the fact
     on all the face of the earth" (vs. 26). At this point     too that God is not far from every one of us and in
     the Apostle preaches the great truth of Scripture         Him we live and move and have our being they re-
     that all nations of men on the face of the earth came     fused to seek Him. God is indeed near to man in
     from one man. This is the truth of the organic unity      His creation. Even His invisible things, His eternal
     of the human race. God did not create individuals         power and Godhead are clearly seen through the
     or individual nations. God created a race, a race         things that are made (cf. Romans 1: 18ff.). In spite of
     which fell in the first Adam and was saved in the         all this, man changes the glory of God into an image
     last Adam. This truth was in direct opposition to         made like unto corruptible man!
     the notion  of'the Greek and Roman philosophers             Having established the fact that God is the Crea-
     who believed that each nation had its origin in its       tor of the human race, Paul instructed them not to
     god. Polytheism had no conception at all of the           think that God can be compared to gold or silver or
     unity of the human race. But there is more these          stone, "graven by art and man's device" (vs. 29).
     Athenians had to learn. This Creator God Who              That is impossible. This too points to the futility of
     made of one blood all nations of men also "hath de-       Greek philosophy and religion. The gods of the
     termined the times before appointed, and the              Greeks were less than those who presumably
     bounds of their habitations." The Creator God is          worshipped them! They could be manipulated by
     also the God of providence. God determined the            their worshippers. What folly! What nonsense!
     history of the race. God governed and upheld the          Paul brooks no compromise. He proclaims the
     nations. God determined where and when and for            gospel of sovereign grace over against the back-
     how long they should exist in time and history. God       ground of their spiritual ignorance and terrible sin!
     ruled them too so that they served His purpose in         This is what every missionary must have the
     Christ. "This is borne out by what we read in Gen.        courage to do.
     ll:l-9: `The whole earth was of one speech and of
     one language.' There were no separate nations               The Apostle continued: "And the times of this ig-
     prior to the confusion of tongues at Babel! God           norance God winked at; but now commandeth all
     made the nations! It is stupid pride and horrible un-     men everywhere to repent" (vs. 30). The transla-
     belief that would make each nation come from a            tion "Winked at," of the Authorized Version, is
     national god or primordial. It is a denial of the         both incorrect and unfortunate. It implies that God
     judgment of God and of God's Christological pur-          for a time condoned the idolatry of the heathen.
     pose in all things, namely, that Japheth shall dwell      This simply is not true. God is angry with the
     in the tents of Shem. But here the record is set          wicked every day. His wrath is revealed from
     straight. Of this Moses sings in Deut. 32:7-g, where      heaven against all unrighteousness of men. The
     we read: `Remember the days of old, consider the          word literally means: to overlook, take no notice of,
     years of many generations: (generation and genera-        not attend to. The point is that in the Old Testament
     tion] ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy          times, before Christ came, salvation was limited to
     elders and they will tell thee. When the Most High        Israel. To Israel was the promise, the type, the
     divided the nations their inheritance, when He            shadow, the law. Not all the Israelites were
     separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of          children of the promise but  .a11 the children of the
     the people according to the number of the children        promise were Israelites. In that sense God over-
                                                               looked the heathen. God kept them with but very
     of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob    few exceptions (Rahab, Ruth,  et al.)  in ignorance.
I    is the lot of His inheritance!' " (Rev. George C.         But now all of that is changed. Christ has come and
I    Lubbers, The Standard Bearer, vol. 41, p. 467).           through His cross and resurrection (vs. 31) He has
       The Apostle proclaimed God's eternal purpose in         brought redemption. Now God will gather His
     Christ with all of this. God made the nations of one      church out of all nations. Therefore God  "...now
     blood. God set the boundaries of their habitations.       commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (vs.
     God determined the times of their existence. God          30).
     in His providence ruled them. "That they should             The Apostle also gives the reason for this univer-
     seek the Lord, if  haply they might feel after Him,       sal command to repent: "Because He (God) hath
     and find Him, though He be not far from every one         appointed a day, in which He will judge the world
     of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our         in righteousness by that Man Whom He hath
     being; as certain of your own poets have said, For        ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all
     we are also His offspring" (vss. 27, 28). God's pur-      men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead"
     pose was that men should serve Him, "find Him             (vs. 31). That day of judgment has already come.
     and feel after Him." In spite of the fact that through    That day came with the incarnation of "that Man
     "glimmerings of natural light" even some of their         Whom He hath ordained," viz. our Lord Jesus


490                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



Christ. He Himself to Whom all judgment has been             the Apostle did  not  do is preach an offer of the
committed (John 5:22) said not long before He went           gospel. He preached the gospel of the sovereign
to the cross: "Now is the judgment of this world:            grace of God in Jesus Christ against the dark back-
now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And          ground of human depravity which renders all men
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men       everywhere incapable of any good. The overwhel-
unto  Me.  This He said, signifying what death He            ming testimony not only of apostolic preaching but
should die" (John  12:31-33). The cross of Jesus             also of all of Scripture contradicts all notions of free
Christ as sealed in His blessed resurrection from            will, offers of the gospel, and universal atonement.
the dead is most emphatically the judgment of the            The only possibility of salvation for those who are
whole world. For this reason the command to                  dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:lff.) is:. "By
repent must be preached to all universally. All men          grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is
everywhere must be confronted with the command               the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).
of the gospel. All must give answer. The elect will
respond in faith (vs. 34) and the ungodly will re-             The fruit? Some mocked. Others said we will
spond in unbelief (vs. 32). All are rendered without         hear thee again of this matter. A few believed (vss.
excuse. That day of judgment, ordained of God,               32-34). But Athens was confronted with the sove-
will culminate in the final judgment at the end of           reign God in Jesus Christ. They were commanded
the ages. Then all shall appear before the judgment          to repent. They gave their answer and the vast ma-
seat of Christ to receive according to the deeds done        jority stood condemned under the just judgment of
in the body, whether good or evil (II Cor. 510).             God. The elect believed and were saved. Thus it is
                                                             always wherever the gospel is preached in truth
  Consider now what Paul has done here in                    according to the Scriptures. This must characterize
Athens. He has without compromise exposed these              all mission preaching. With the same boldness of
philosophers of Athens in all their superstition and         faith must Christ's ambassadors open their mouths
idolatry. He has preached the God of creation and            to make known the mystery of the gospel of sove-
providence. He has instructed them concerning the            reign grace to the glory of God (Eph.  6:19). Thus
proper worship of Jehovah. He has preached Christ            will the church be gathered out of the nations. The
crucified and raised. He has announced the judg-             world will be brought into judgment. God will be
ment of the world by Jesus Christ. He has preached           praised.
the universal command to repent. Once more, what

TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE


                   The Vile Sin of Homosexuality
                                                    David EngeZsma



  "For this cause God gave them up unto vile af-             so, that a preacher wonders whether it is not even a
fections: for even their women did change the                shame to speak of them. Such is the subject-the
natural use into that which is against nature:               sin-dealt with in the last part of Romans 1, the sin
  "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural            of homosexuality. Perhaps, thinks the minister, we
use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward            could better be silent about this.
another; men with men working that which is un-                 But the world will not permit it. The world dis-
seemly, and receiving in themselves that recom-               cusses homosexuality publicly. It is on the front
pense of their error which was meet.                         page of the daily paper. It is part of the news on
  "And even as they did not like to retain God in            radio and television. The world accepts homosex-
their knowledge, God gave them over to a repro-               uality and defends it. It is a "sexual preference"
bate mind, to do those things which are not con-             and an "alternative lifestyle." Casually, the tele-
venient."                                                    vision critic of the  Chicago  `Tribune   remarked in a
                 -Remans 1:26-28                              recent column that a new program will involve a
  There are some subjects, especially certain sins,          gay uncle caring for a family. Psychology, that most
which a preacher hesitates to treat in his public            uncertain science, holding its finger in the wind of
teaching. They are shameful evils. So much is this           public opinion and judging what should be from


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER               _                                 491



what is, has already exonerated as "normal" that         own sex, whether of a woman for a woman or of a
which it formerly called an illness and an abnor-        man for a man, and the carrying out of that lust in a
mality.                                                  sexual relationship. It is an evil that has to do with
   If we were able to hold our peace in the face of      the fundamental physical differences between men
the world's approval of homosexuality, this be-          and women; with the sexual nature of humans; and
comes impossible when the churches chime in to           with the sexual relationship and activity. For this
give their sanction. This unbelievable thing is hap-     reason, the apostle does not use the ordinary words
pening today. The churches, poor, pathetic institu-      for "men" and "women," but the words that mean
tions, desperate to appear "modern," craving the         `males' and `females.' We should understand the
esteem of society, devoid of faith in Holy Scripture,    passage in this way, as treating of the basic physical
fall in line. They have long since forgotten that the    division of humankind`: "their females did change
church is pillar and ground of the truth, God's          the natural  use...likewise  also the males, leaving
bulwark of godliness in the abounding lawlessness        the natural use of the female...males with males..."
of the end-time. Denying the commandment of              The same word that is here  translated"men"
God in the learned, hollow language of "cultural         occurs in I Corinthians  6:9, where we read of
conditionedness" and "hermeneutical principles,"         "abusers of themselves with mankind," and in I
they sanctify Sodom and pollute Zion, making the         Timothy  l:lO, where we read of "them that defile
gate to eternal life broad and the way wide, so that     themselves with mankind." In both of these
many may find it (who are not even seeking it).          passages, the reference is to homosexuality.
   Reformed churches are included. Officially,              The passage in Romans 1 sets forth this sin as an
some have decided that, although homosexual              exceedingly shameful iniquity. There are different
practice is to be condemned, homosexual nature is        aspects of sin; one aspect is the shamefulness of sin.
not sin. Other Reformed churches have already            Whereas all sin is shameful, since it misses the
taken the next step and have officially approved         mark of God's glory, certain sins show this shame-
practicing homosexuals as members in good                fulness more than others. Such is homosexuality. It
standing in the churches. Other denominations            is "unseemly" (v. 27), i.e., indecent, ugly. The prac-
have approved homosexual officebearers. Such is          tice of it is a doing of "things which are not con-
the impudence of the homosexuals themselves that         venient" (v. 28) i.e., things not fitting for a human
they do not hesitate to identify themselves in the       being. Verse 26 speaks of "vile affections," i.e.,
church papers and to call for acceptance of homo-        affections of dishonor, or disgraceful affections.
sexual practice as part of the freedom of Jesus
Christ.                                                    The sin of homosexuality is not one shameful sin
                                                         among many; rather, it is the sin that most fully
  The main reason, though, for speaking out is that      works out and manifests sin's vileness-it is the
Holy Scripture speaks on this subject. One need          nadir of the degradation of sin. This is plainly the
think only of the history of Sodom in the Old Testa-     teaching of the passage. First, the apostle is describ-
ment (Gen.  19:1-11). That city practiced the sin of     ing the very end, the fullest development, of the
homosexuality, giving the name "sodomite" to             ungodliness and unrighteousness of men apart
those who afterward practice the same sin. Refer-        from the gospel which he has spoken of in verse 18.
ring to this, the prophet Ezekiel says that Sodom        Second, this is the force of the word "working" in
"committed abomination" before Jehovah (Ezek.            verse 27, "males with males  working that which is
16:50).  Among the abominations of the heathen for-      unseemly." It is not merely that they do the deed,
bidden to the Israelites was this, that "Thou shalt      but that they work out to its fullest possibility the
not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is           unseemliness of sin. In this sin, they exhaust the
abomination" (Lev.  18:22. Cf. also Lev.  20:13 and      ugliness of sin.
Deut.  23:17). I Kings  14:24 notes of Judah already
in the days of Rehoboam that "there were  sodom-           Third, the apostle writes that God gives men and
ites in the land," viewing this as evidence of Ju-       women up to this sin. Men have appealed to these
dah's doing "according to all the abominations of        expressions in this passage in support of the theory
the nations" and warning, "which the LORD cast           of common grace, the theory that there is a gracious
out before the children of Israel."                      operation of the Spirit in the unregenerated re-
                                                         straining sin in them, so that there is still some good
  The New Testament expressly states its oneness         in them and so that they can do some good works in
with the Old Testament in the condemnation of            the sphere of society. The argument based on these
homosexuality. It does this most fully in the            expressions goes like this: If God at some point
passage quoted at the beginning of this article,         gives human beings up to these vile affections and
Romans 1:26-28. The sin spoken of is homosexuali-        gives them over to this reprobate mind, He must
ty: the sexual desire of a person for a member of his    have been restraining sin in them before this point.


492                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



The passage is explained as teaching that there is a       human race, depravity is worked out to its vilest
development in the wicked from good to bad.                end. The example is not that a man who is almost
Abraham Kuyper gives this explanation in his work          dead finally dies, but that the corpse rots and de-
on common grace, De Gemeene  Grutie. "Common               cays more and more. Exactly this is the teaching of
grace was expanded after the Flood; now it shrinks         the passage: in the sin of homosexuality, new
again; and this shrinking again of common grace            depths of sin are plumbed; under the Divine giving
the apostle represents to us in these words, that          up, society reaches the last stages of moral rot.
God has given over our human race to a reprobate             The reason for this is that homosexuality is a sin
mind. " "Thanks to common grace had God begun              contrary to -nature. It is a sin practiced with the
to take the guidance (Zeidingj of the nations into His     body; and, therefore, the shamefulness of sin,
own hand, after the Flood; but when once again,            which can be hidden somewhat in other sins, is dis-
from the root of sin, a general apostasy came forth,       played. But it is a sin which, in distinction from for-
God has given the nations over to another                  nication and adultery, is contrary to nature:  "...fe-
guidance, namely, to the guidance of their own per-        males did change the natural use into that which is
verse heart and thus really to the guidance of             against nature: And likewise also the males, leaving
Satan."  " . ..being given over in itself only means       the natural use  of the female, burned in their lust
that the evil of sin is no longer so strongly re-          one toward another...." Homosexuality is contrary
strained by God as previously" (Vol.  1,  pp. 415,         to the revealed law of God in Holy Scripture; in
416. Cf. also Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p.       addition, it is contrary to the fundamental law of
442, and  De Drie  Punten in  Alle  Deelen  Gerefor-       God in creation, or nature. God created two sexes;
meerd, p. 44).                                             and by virtue of that creation it is laid down in
  Against this stands the entire passage itself.           nature itself that the female satisfies the sexual
Where is there so much as a hint of any good in            desire by the male and that the male has a natural
fallen man-on the contrary, there is only wicked-          use of the female. But in this sin, the female
ness. Where is there a gracious attitude of God to         changes the natural use and practices something
fallen man apart from the gospel-on the contrary,          contrary to nature; and the male, likewise. This is
there is only the wrath of God revealed from               still deeper degradation and fouler shame than for-
heaven. Where is there any testimony of a restraint        nication. The apostate race carries out its revolu-
of sin-on the contrary, there is a positive act of         tion against God its Creator to the final stage, diso-
giving over to sin. The interpretation of "giving up"      beying the basic laws of creation.
that infers a previous restraint is a reading into the       If one thing is clear, it is that homosexuality is
text of that which is not there.                           not a natural life-style, a normal expression of
  God's giving up of men to sin certainly indicates        humankind's sexual nature. It is unnatural and
development of sin, but a development from bad to          monstrous. In the literal sense of the word, it is per-
worse. Both in the life of the individual and in the       verse.
life of a particular society and in the life of the old                      (to be continued)

GUESTARTICLE

                                    Family Devotions (2)
                                             Rev. Ronald Cammenga



  About family devotions themselves we ought to            the verses 6 and following he sets before them their
notice a few things. In the first place, they are devo-    calling to teach the Word of the Lord unto their
tions, That implies that the source out of which           children, to talk of it when they sit in their houses,
family devotions arise is the love of God in our           when they walk by the way, when they lie down
hearts. That's what the very word devotion implies.        and rise up. How are they going to do that? What
Someone for whom you have devotion is someone              alone will insure that they carry out this calling?
whom you love. Love can be the only possible               The answer is: the love of God. And so Moses ex-
source for family devotions. Moses makes that              horts the children of Israel in verse 5: "And thou
clear in Deuteronomy 6 to the children of Israel. In       shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                             493



with all thy soul, and with all thy might."                reason to give thanks unto God for all His blessings.
  If our family devotions are to succeed, there            That's what makes meal time, from a practical
must be in our homes first of all the love of God.         point of view, the best time to have these family de-
Where that love is revealed, family devotions will         votions. As the children grow older and become
flourish. Where families love God, and reveal that         busier, the time when the entire family is at home
love within the life of the family itself, family devo-    in generally mealtime. That these are family devo-
tions will have no trouble being sustained. Where          tions means that the whole family ought to partici-
husbands love their wives, where parents love their        pate in these devotions. Nevertheless, the leader-
children and receive them as gifts from God's own          ship in these devotions ought to be assumed by the
hand, where children reverence their father and            father and husband. He is the God-appointed head
mother and show love to each other, there family           of the house. He is the one whom Moses is addres-
devotions will necessarily thrive. But where family        sing in Deuteronomy 6 in particular. The word of
relations are strained, where husband and wife do          the Lord in Ephesians  6:4 is: "And ye  fathers,
not get along, where children are disobedient to           provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them
their parents, where there is constant fighting be-        up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
tween brothers and sisters, there family devotions         That doesn't mean, of course, that the mother and
will wither away and die. We will succeed in our           wife has no place in conducting family devotions.
family devotions, only when we ground them in              In some instances it may be that she is best quali-
the love of God and love for one another for God's         fied to read and lead the family devotions. But a
sake.                                                      husband must not neglect or quickly relinquish his
  Secondly, that these are family  devotions  means        duty to his wife for any reason. Also in family
also that they are part of our worship of God. That        worship he is the head and she is the help-meet.
is also contained in the very idea of the word devo-         Perhaps some practical suggestions for conduct-
tion. Devotion is not simply the deep emotion of           ing family devotions might be in order. These are
love. It's not simply love in our hearts. But              intended to be just that, suggestions. We ought not
devotion is love in action. It is consecration and         to lay down laws and precepts governing this prac-
worship. That implies that we do not practice              tice by us. We mustn't start saying that this or that
family devotions first of all in order that we might       way is the best way to conduct family devotions, as
get something out of them for ourselves. To be             if there is really only one proper way. Family situ-
sure, we do "get something" out of family devo-            ations differ. In one family one way is going to
tions. There is benefit, great benefit to the faithful     work out better than another. It does seem, how-
practice of family devotions. There is the assurance       ever, that making the evening meal the special time
of salvation worked in our hearts by the Holy Spirit       of the day for family devotions works out about the
through the reading of the Scriptures and prayer.          best for most families.
And surely the benefit of family devotions for our           But though we ought to avoid laying down laws,
children is that they are instructed by us in the          there are certainly some practical suggestions
truths of God's Word and in the practice of prayer.        which we can make in regard to family devotions.
They learn the contents of the Scriptures, and also        The first is that father and mother insist on taking
how to apply the Scriptures to their everyday life.        and setting aside the time for these family devo-
They learn from us how to pray, what to pray for,          tions every day. Obviously, all other suggestions
and the reasons for prayer. But above all else,            will be of no value, if this is not done. Parents
family devotions do not have as their primary, and         should discipline themselves to do this, and they
certainly not their sole, purpose that we get some-        should insist on it for the rest of the family.
thing out of them for ourselves. Their purpose is de-      Children must not be allowed quickly to gobble
votional. They are intended to be an expression of         their food down and be excused from the table
our love to God. They are worship, bending the             because they have this meeting or that activity to
knee before God in humble adoration and thanks-            which they must go. Parents must insist that meal-
giving. They are worship through especially the            time and family devotions take precedent over
two means of prayer and the reading of the Word.           everything else. Secondly, it's a good idea for
Prayer is the chief part of thankfulness. The              parents to provide the members of the family with
reading and believing of God's Word is worship of          Bibles. That the younger children are able to follow
God in which God takes no greater delight.                 along as father reads, or are even allowed to do
  But we must not either forget that these are             some of the reading themselves, goes a long way in
famiZy devotions. The point that needs to be empha-        making them involved and interested in the family
sized is that they are devotions carried on by the         devotions. Besides, following along in the Bible
family as a whole. The family as family has needs          means that two senses are at work in our devotions:
to bring to God's throne of grace. The family has          we not only hear God's Word being read, but we


494                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



see it in the Bible before us. This will aid in remem-           votions to teach their children how to pray. Prayer
bering the passage which is read. Thirdly, after the             is something that is learned. Children are not born
reading of Scripture it would be profitable if there             with an innate -knowledge of and ability to pray.
were some discussion of the passage. This will also              Children must be taught to pray. This is best done
promote remembering the Word that was read.                      during family devotions by the father praying
Parents can start by having the smaller children                 audibly. More and more it is becoming the custom
recite the last few words that are read. Perhaps a               in our homes that the fathers pray silently along
few questions could be asked the older children. In              with all the rest of the members of the family. This
this connection, it is helpful to have some study                is not good. I fear it indicates that fathers them-
aids handy, especially a concordance and Bible dic-              selves do not know how to pray as they ought.
tionary. If we are going to profit from our Scripture            Fathers ought to pray aloud at family devotions.
reading, we must know and understand what we                     They ought to do that so that their children may
read. In the fourth place, parents ought to stick to             learn by their father's example how and for what to
the King James' Version of the Bible. They ought to              pray. But the children themselves ought also to
do this because, to my mind, this is by far the best             pray. They ought to be taught a short prayer which
and most faithfuil translation available to us today.            they pray before and after the meal. They ought to
But they ought to do this also because the use of                be taught to ask for the Lord's blessing and to give
different and various translations for our family                Him thanks.
devotions is going to promote confusion among our                  May we cherish the practice of family devotions.
children. The use of other versions is good for                  May our homes be homes where God's Word is
private study, but not for reading of the Scriptures             read and studied, and prayer is offered to God. May
as devotions in the family. As a father, I want my               we not succumb to the temptation to slight family
children to become familiar with the Scriptures,                 devotions, or even lay them aside altogether. In this
and this will not happen if I am continually reading             way our family devotions shall be glorifying to the
to them out of different versions. In the fifth place,           name of our God and serve our own and our chil-
parents ought to use the opportunity of family de-               dren's spiritual edification.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES


                                   Signs in the Church
                                                        Rev. K. Koole



       "But there were false prophets also among                 state. This is true with respect to its preaching and
       the people, even as there shall be false                  with respect to the hearing regarding the doctrine
       teachers among you, who privily shall bring               (dogma), and regarding the walk of its members.
       in damnable heresies, even denying the                    There are signs which speak of imminent judg-
       Lord that bought them, and bring upon                     ment. These signs can be listed under the general
       themselves swift destruction. And many                    heading of Apostasy, departure from the truth.
       shall follow their pernicious ways;" II Peter             Apostasy can be looked at both from the point of
       2:1,2                                                     view of the pulpit and of the pew. Christ speaks of
                                                                 both in Matthew  24:11, 12. "And many false pro-
  When one writes about signs of coming judg-                    phets shall arise, and shall deceive many." That is
ment as manifested by the church, one writes about               the pulpit. "And because iniquity shall abound, the
serious things, things which involve the name of                 love of many shall wax cold." That is the pew. In
our God and the truth. From many points of view                  the quotation at the heading of the article Peter
these are grievous matters, matters which have                   speaks of both as well. He mentions false prophets
eternal consequences in the lives of those who may               "who shall bring in damnable heresies," but he
be close to us. Therefore, though these are things               also speaks of the pew when he says that "many
that must occur before the end, seeing them occur                shall follow their pernicious ways." Paul also
gives one no delight.                                            speaks of both in II Timothy  4:3, 4. "For the time
  The Christian church of our day is in a dreadful               will come when they will not endure sound  doc-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                             495



trine." That's the pew. "But after their own lusts         ers, mind you, say that of the Holy Scriptures! Sons
shall heap to themselves teachers." That is again a        of the very churches which were unshackled from
reference to the pulpit. For there to be apostasy, the     Rome by an  insistance upon Scripture's ultimate
two must work in conjunction. The pew must be              authority over every tradition of mere men, now
ripe for the false doctrine coming over the pulpit,        despise that very Scripture. And they work the
and the pulpit must be willing to cater to the pew.        hardest to undermine its veracity.
  We begin by examining the pulpit, the preach-              The upshot of the matter is that the Christian
ing, because that is where heresy and apostasy             church is not to imagine that it has an absolute
start, with wolves in sheep's clothing who seek to         standard of truth in its hands. We are to approach it
scatter the flock.                                         not with childlike faith, but with the  scepticism of
  The question is, where does one start? The pul-          the scholar. All the Scriptures give us are perspec-
pits of our day are rife with false doctrines. Here-       tives of holy men of old as they were confronted by
sies come so thick and fast, two by two as it were,        the TRUTH. And we are confronted with other per-
that one can not stay current. If we were to try to        spectives of the Truth in the "Koran" of the Mo-
deal with every species of heresy, we would soon           hammedans, the sayings of Confucius, and the
have enough material to fill Noah's ark. The church        dialogues of Plato. The confession "Sola Scriptural'
is being drowned with a deluge, a flood of false doc-      is heard no more from many Protestant pulpits.
trine. As Christ states in Matthew 24: 11,  "many          Such a confession, it is said, is not compatible with
false prophets shall rise." Indeed they have. Their        the spirit of Christian love, but smacks of religious
name is Legion, though they claim that their name          bigotry. No wonder thousands upon thousands
is Reformed, and Christian, and Protestant. In the         turn to the sects and cults. They at least  claim  to
name of Christ they call into question everything          have an absolute standard of truth. People feel
from the creation to the resurrection, and deny            more secure in these states of pretended certainty.
everything from total depravity to the Virgin Birth.
They are horrified if you call them false prophets,          Things are bad on Protestant pulpits. How bad?
and declare that they teach "damnable heresies."           Things are so bad that we find that, on such vital
They assure you that it is done in the service of          truths as the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, and the fact
their Lord, Christ, and in the best interests of the       of the resurrection, and on such practical issues as
church. Such is their false claim.                         divorce and remarriage, and abortion, we have
                                                           more in common with Rome than with many  so-
  The great evil that besets the church in our day is      called Protestant churches. So far things have
that Protestant pulpits are filled with Pontius  Pi-       slipped. Protestants make Rome look almost ortho-
lates. As preachers assent to the murder of the            dox at times. We say this not out of any admiration
truth, the Word of God, they piously wash their            for Rome, who remains as idolatrous and  man-
hands. They have simply given the people what the          centered as ever, but to show how bad things are.
people have been clamoring for. The re-occurring           Protestant men have gone even further in the way
question raised on Protestant pulpits is the same as       of heretical teachings than Rome.
Pilate's cynical response to Christ on trial, namely,
"What is truth?" They ask this question while look-          The Reformation sufficed to cause a reformation
ing directly at the Word of God! Men ordained to           of the church in the sixteenth century, a cleansing
preach the gospel, who are called to point to Christ       and a rededication to the truth. I will be so bold as
as the way, the truth, and the life, who are called to     to say that there is no reformation that can revi-
declare "Thy word is truth," and that the truth shall      talize the Protestant churches which have  aposta-
set men free, ask "What is Truth?"!                        tized in our century. Members of the Roman Catho-
                                                           lic Church could be revitalized because they lived
  Protestant theologians, at least, used to hold up        in dark ignorance of the Scriptures. The Word was
the Bible in response to that question and say,            deliberately kept from them. But once the Word of
"Here is THE TRUTH. It is that from cover to               God was preached to them, they saw the light. Such
cover. It is the word of the only true and living          is not the case today. Protestants are not afflicted
God. It is infallible, inerrant, inspired, and perspi-     with an unschooled ignorance, but with a willing
cuous. It is the absolute standard of all spiritual        ignorance. Having heard about the truth they
reality, the compendium of our faith, and the only         despise it. The words of Isaiah and Christ apply.
standard by which we must live." Such Protestant           "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their
theologians once declared. No more! Now the Bible          ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have
is simply one perspective of the truth as seen             closed" (Matt.  13:15). There is only one cleansing
through the opaque eyes of ancient men. It is,             that remains for the Protestant church world that
therefore, historically inaccurate, scientifically pri-    has become apostate in our day, a being rooted up,
mitive, and morally out of date. Protestant preach-        cast out, and burned.


496                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



  Such is the bitter fruit where the teachings of           called translations that men become confused as to
false prophets have been allowed to take root. They         what God's Word really does say. The very transla-
have brought in "damnable heresies,"  devil-                tions (if one dares to call a "paraphrase" a transla-
contrived doctrine. So as the apostle Peter states,         tion) contradict one another, or at least fail to
"They bring on themselves swift destruction. And            support each other at crucial points. By means of
many shall follow their pernicious ways; . . .whose.. .     these unfaithful translations false prophets can
damnation slumbereth not" (II Peter 2: 1,2).                deny every fundamental doctrine and support
  Admittedly, we pass serious judgments, though             every false one, and seeds of doubt concerning
we say no more than the Scripture itself says. When         Scripture's absolute trustworthiness are sown in
dealing with the cynical attitude of Protestant men         congregations' minds. For my part I can not recom-
towards God's Word we deal with serious matters.            mend the King James Version strongly enough. It is
To deny Scripture as the infallible, authoritative,         an excellent translation. It omits no true doctrine, it
and perspicuous Word of God is the same as                  supports no false one. Personally I have become
denying Jesus as the Christ, the Word of God made           convinced that it is based even on the best available
flesh. It is simply unbelief. Such has eternal con-         manuscripts,     manuscripts providentially pre-
sequences, as the Christ Himself points out. "And           served. However that may be, one thing is certain,
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the       it is the best available English translation by a long
world, and men loved darkness rather than light,            shot. Perhaps it can be improved upon in some
because their deeds were evil" (John  3:19). To             minor linguistic way, but such an improvement has
teach that God's Word is obscure, murky, or even            yet to see the light of day. The charge is often made
in some place mistaken is to call the light darkness,       that the K.J.V. uses archaic language, and is, there-
and so to bring condemnation upon one's self and            fore, unclear. Such is a smoke screen. It is clear
upon all whom one misleads as well. God keep us             enough if one but takes the time to read it, study it,
from such self-deception and unbelief.                      and become familiar with it. The Bible becomes
                                                            clear to us through constant use. Let us make God's
  We make one observation in conclusion. In our             Holy Word our constant companion. It is our best
day and age the Devil has added to his deceitful            defense against every subtle teaching of false
mischief not by keeping the Scriptures from men,            prophets.
but by printing such a bewildering variety of  so-

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE


           Acts - Christ Gathers His Church (2)
                                                 Rev. J. Kortering


  We now must see how the Holy Spirit led Luke                2. A record of the ascension is given  (1:9-11).
to write in detail concerning the work of Christ in         This includes the fact that Christ was taken up
the gathering of the church. In a relatively short          while the disciples were present and a cloud re-
time (A.D. 29  - A.D.  60), the gospel spread from          ceived Him (1:9), and two angels explained that He
Jerusalem to Rome and encompassed both Jews                 was taken to heaven and would come again in like
and Gentiles. The key verse to the book can be              manner (l:lO, 11).
found in chapter  18, "But ye shall receive power              3. The activity of the eleven disciples during the
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye          ten days in which they waited for the Holy Spirit is
shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and            recorded ( 1: 12-26). They stayed in the upper room
in all Judea and in Samaria  and unto the uttermost         and filled their time with prayer (1:13, 14); the chief
part of the earth."                                         priests purchased the field of blood with the money
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK                                         Judas returned (1: 15-20); and the disciples chose by
  1. The introduction to the book (1: l-8). He              lot Matthias as a replacement for Judas (1:21-26).
identified Theophilus as the intended recipient               4. The Holy Spirit was given to the church (2:1-
(l:l), and reviewed the activity of Christ after His        47). The three signs signaled His presence and there
resurrection, including His teaching and appear-            was a twofold reaction among the people  (2:1-13);
ances (1:2-8).                                              Peter preached a sermon in which he emphasized


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              497



that the event was a fulfillment of the prophecy of        church had rest  (9:31);  at Lydda, Aeneas, sick of
Joel and David and that God has raised Christ Who          palsy for eight years, was healed  (9:32-35); Dorcas
sent forth His Spirit  (2:14-36). The result of this       of Joppa was also raised from the dead  (9:36-43);
sermon was that 3,000 were added to the church             Cornelius received a vision and he sent for Peter to
and the disciples expressed their unity by sharing         come and preach (lO:l-8); Peter also received a
their possessions (2:37-47).                               vision of animals in a sheet which represented
  5. The healing of the lame man by Peter and its          Gentiles to whom Peter was called to preach,
results  (3:1-4:37). This man was lame from birth          especially Cornelius. He went there and the Holy
and he sat in the Gate Beautiful of the temple while       Ghost fell upon them and Cornelius believed and
begging alms. Peter commanded him to rise up and           was baptized  (10:26-48); Peter had to give account
walk  (3:1-10).  When the multitude gathered, Peter        to the church at Jerusalem for preaching to a
preached Christ crucified and risen  (3:l l-26). The       Gentile; after he explained the vision and the appli-
Jews were disturbed that 5,000 were added to the           cation, they rejoiced that the gospel was for the
church, so they placed Peter and John in prison            Gentilesaswell(ll:l-18).
(4:1-4).  The Jewish council was struck by the bold-         10. The gospel spread to Antioch which became
ness of Peter, so they warned the disciples to stop        the missionary center (11: 19-12:25). The persecuted
preaching in the name of Jesus (4:5-22).  The gather-      Christians fled from Jerusalem to Antioch and took
ing of the faithful turned to God for spiritual            with them the message of the gospel  (11:19-21).
strength and shared their worldly goods more               Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch who in turn
fervently  (4:13-17).                                      sought the help of Saul of Tarsus (11:22-26); Agabus
  6. The church was tested by sin from within and          prophesied a drought in Jerusalem which gave rise
persecution from without (5:  l-7:60). God's               to the need for help ( 11:27-30); Herod  killed James
judgment fell upon Ananias and Sapphira who lied           and put Peter in prison, from which the angel deliv-
about giving to the apostles all the money from the        ered him (12:1-l 1); Peter went to the home of Mary,
sale of land while they kept back part of it (5: l-11);    mother of John Mark (12: 12-18); Herod  was angry
Peter's shadow had healing power over the sick             and ordered the guards killed; he in turn died,
(5:12-16); the apostles were imprisoned, but an            being eaten by worms (12: 19-25).
angel came by night and released them; they                  11. Paul's first missionary journey (13: l-14:28).
preached in the temple and were taken before the           The church of Antioch ordained Paul and Barnabas
Sanhedrin; Gamaliel gave his advice that they              as missionaries  (13:1-3);  at Cyprus, the deputy of
should not harm the apostles, for, "if it be of God        the island believed and was opposed by one
ye cannot overthrow it." They beat the apostles and        Barjesus, who was struck blind  (13:4-12); John
let them go  (5:17-4-Z).  The Grecian widows com-          Mark forsook them at Perga (13:13); Paul preached
plained of being neglected and seven deacons were          in the Jewish synagogue at Antioch and many
chosen to assist (7: l-7). Stephen, one' of the            Gentiles expressed interest, but unbelieving Jews
deacons, defended the ministry of Christ; he was           drove him out of the city  (14:1-7);  at Lystra they
taken to the council and falsely accused; he               healed the crippled man and the people tried to
preached a word of defense, pointing out that all          worship them as gods  (14:8-18); the Jews from
during the Old Testament there were unbelievers            Antioch came to stone Paul and left him for dead,
who resisted the Christ, and that these Jews were          but he rose up and travelled to Antioch, following
guilty of murdering Christ  (7:8-53).  The Jews            the same route, and ordained elders in the newly
stoned him to death while Saul held their garments         formed churches  (14:19-28).
(7:54-60).                                                   12. The council at Jerusalem  (15:1-35). The
  7. The gospel spread in  Samaria  (8: l-40). Saul        question arose at Antioch concerning the circum-
persecuted the Christians in Jerusalem and they            cision of the Gentile converts, and a meeting was
were scattered (8:1-40);  Philip went to Samaria  and      called at Jerusalem to deal with this (15: l-6); Peter
Simon the Sorcerer believed  (8:5-13);  Peter and          addressed the group, calling such circumcision a
John labored in  Samaria   (8:14-25);  the Ethiopian       yoke  (15:7-11);  Paul and Barnabas spoke  (15:lZ);
Eunuch was converted (8:26-4-O).                           James spoke  (15:13-21); all agreed that Gentiles
  8. Saul's conversion  (9:1-30).  Christ appeared to      need not be circumcised. So letters were written to
him on the way to Damascus  (9:1-9);  Ananias was          the churches explaining this decision  (15:22-30);
sent to him  (9:10-18); Paul was baptized and he           the decision was well received ( 15:3 l-35).
preached to the saints in Damascus (9:19-22); a plot         13. Paul's second missionary journey (15:36-
against Saul's life failed and he went to Jerusalem        18:22). A dispute arose over taking John Mark, and
(9:23-30).                                                 Paul took Silas instead  (15:36-41); at Lystra,
  9. Peter's missionary labors  (9:31-11:18). The          Timothy joined them  (16:1-3);  they delivered the


498                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



decrees of the council to the churches  (16:4);  the                      at Miletus he bade farewell to the elders of the
Holy Ghost directed them by suffering them not to                         church of Ephesus  (20:13-38); he spent seven days
go into Asia, but through the vision of the                               at Tyre; at Caesarea he was warned by Agabus that
Macedonian man, guided them into Greece (16:5-                            he would suffer in Jerusalem; he continued his
10); at Philippi, Lydia and the jailor were converted                     journey just the same (21:1-16).
(16:11-40);   a church was established at  Thessa-                          15. Paul was taken captive in Jerusalem and
lonica even though the Jews assaulted the house of                        held captive in Caesarea  (21:17-26:32).  He was
Jason in an attempt to capture Paul  (17:1-g);  the                       rescued from the mob of Jews  (21:17-39); he
Bereans searched the Scripture daily, and Paul fled                       addressed the multitude (21:40-22:21);  they in turn
when the Jews once again attacked him (17:10-15);                         raged against Paul; the chief captain threatened to
in Athens, Paul preached on Mars' Hill concerning                         turn him over to the Jews; Paul claimed Roman
the "unknown god"  (17:16-34); at Corinth Paul                            citizenship and was protected in the castle (22:22-
labored 18 months; he lived in with Aquila and                            29); under Roman protection Paul addressed the
Priscilla since they shared the same craft of  tent-                      Jewish Sanhedrin; there was much division and the
making. Paul also preached, and  Crispus, the chief                       soldiers returned Paul to the castle  (22:30-23:lO);
ruler of the synagogue, was led to the faith; most                        forty Jews vowed not to eat or drink until they
Jews opposed him, however, and he turned to the                           killed Paul; he was secretly taken to Caesarea,
Gentiles (18: 1-17); Paul stopped at Ephesus briefly                      bearing a letter addressed to Felix  (23:11-35); Paul
on his return trip and also went to Jerusalem to                          was tried before Felix  (24:1-21); a second hearing
keep the feast (18: 18-22).                                               was held (24:22-26); Paul was confined to prison for
   14. Paul's third missionary journey (18:23-                            two years and when Festus became the new
21:16). As Paul travelled to Ephesus, he stopped at                       governor, he had another hearing; during this trial
the churches of Galatia and Phrygia  (18:23);                             Paul appealed to Caesar  (24:27-25: 12); King Agrippa
Apollos was led to faith by Aquila and Priscilla                          also had a hearing (25: 13-26:32).
(18:24-28); when Paul arrived he concentrated his                           16. Paul's journey to Rome and his imprison-
labors in Ephesus, making it the center of his work                       ment there (27: l-28:31). Paul was placed in the
for two years. During this time the disciples of John                     trust of Julius, a centurion; they sailed to Rome by
the Baptist were baptized (19:1-7);  Paul began with                      ship; at Fair Haven Paul warned them to wait for
the Jews, then preached in the school of Tyrannus,                        better weather, but they sailed anyway and suffer-
even performing miracles  (19:8-12);  the seven sons                      ed shipwreck at Melita; all 276 souls on board were
of Sceva tried to exorcise devils out of a man in the                     saved  (27:1-44); they spent three months on the
name of Jesus, but fled naked  (19:13-16); many                           island; a viper bit Paul who suffered no ill effect; he
believed and showed their faith by burning their                          healed many sick including the father of Publius, a
h e a t h e n   b o o k s   (19:17-20);  t h e   u p r i s i n g   b y    chief man of the island  (28:1-10); they sailed for
Demetrius the silversmith took place  (19:21-41);                         Rome and Paul was greeted by the brethren there.
Paul left for Macedonia and spent three months                            He explained the past happenings to the Jews and
there; he visited Troas where Eutychus fell from                          for two years was confined to a prison house where
the window and was raised from the dead (20: 1-12);                       many came to hear him preach (28: 11-31).





OUR SAVIOR GOD, Studies on Man, Christ, and                               the Savior, The Word of Christ, and Electing Love.
the Atonement; James M. Boice, Editor; Baker Book                           The book is, on the whole, an excellent defense
House, 1980; 189 pp., $6.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H.                        of the five points of Calvinism. Some of the ad-
Hanko)                                                                    dresses are good, some are of exceptional value.
   This book is comprised of a collection of ad-                          The defense of the five points is, throughout,
dresses delivered at the Philadelphia Conference on                       pointed, uncompromising, interestingly presented,
Reformed Theology during the years 1977-1979.                             and above all, Biblical. There are excellent sections
They were given by such men as John H. Gerstner,                          dealing with the Scriptural doctrines of the place of
R.C. Sproul, Jam.es  M. Boice, Edmund P. Clowney,                         women in the Church (by Elizabeth Elliott), the
Roger R. Nicole, and J.I. Packer. The book is                             total depravity of man (even in connection with the
divided into four sections: Man the Sinner, Christ                        so-called good that sinners do), the bondage of the


                                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                    499



will, particular redemption, and sovereign election.                                                      of a rather lengthy series on Deuteronomy, were
There is also an interesting section on the Puritan                                                       preached in June and July of 1555. During that year
concept of "seeking" as a tool of evangelism-a                                                            Calvin saw the final downfall of the Libertines in
concept with which I cannot agree, however. And                                                           Geneva, after a long and bitter struggle which
there are passing references to the free offer of the                                                     lasted for the better part of a decade, and Calvin
gospel and God's intent to save all-although these                                                        fought a battle in defense of the truth of sovereign
latter are very few and far between and not                                                               predestination against heretics from Berne who
developed.                                                                                                attacked his doctrine. These issues which the
    I recommend the book strongly to all those who                                                        Genevan Reformer faced are reflected in these
are interested in the Reformed faith. I was person-                                                       sermons.
ally extremely pleased to see such a strong defense                                                          The sermons are a practical and homiletical
of these doctrines in this age of doctrinal indiffer-                                                     development of the basic thoughts on the ten com-
ence and apostasy. A book such as this can go a                                                           mandments which are set forth in Calvin's  Insti-
long way towards a return to historic Calvinism.                                                          tutes.  They give flavor and spice to Calvin's
We hope and pray that this may be so.                                                                     treatment of the law in the Institutes and they show
                                                                                                          (along with Calvin's other sermons) that the great
                                                                                                          Reformer was, above all, a preacher of the Word of
SERMONS ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, by                                                                       God. They give a dimension to Calvin which is not
John Calvin; Edited and translated by Benjamin W.                                                         often known and they shew the peerless character
Farley; Baker Book House, 1980; 326 pp., $12.95.                                                          of Calvin's ability as Geneva's pastor.
(Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                                                                                 It would be well worth while for every minister
    A major effort is being put forth in the past few                                                     to read these sermons in connection with his own
years to publish (often after decades and even cen-                                                       preaching on the Decalogue, and it would be
turies) Calvin's sermons which he preached while                                                          equally well for all who hear the preaching of the
pastor in the Church of Geneva. We commend this                                                           law to read these sermons as part of their spiritual
effort wholeheartedly and urge all our readers to                                                         preparation.
purchase and read these books of Calvin's sermons.                                                           The price of the book is a real bargain in these
They make some of the finest reading available.                                                           days of high cost books.
    The sermons on the ten commandments, a part




                                                                                             Index

                                 TEXTUAL INDEX                                                            II Corinthians 8:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 122
                                                                                                          Hebrews 9:24-26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 386
                                                                                                          Hebrews  11:23 . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 170
Numbers 25: l-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 50                             Hebrews  11:24-26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 410
Judges 2:10b-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 218                          I Peter 5:7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 266
Judges 3:8-11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 482
Psalm 33:22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 146                                                     BOOK REVIEWS
Psalm36:9.................................C  H 26
Psalm136:1................................H  V 74                                                         Analysis of the Institutes of the Christian
Matthew.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..J K 63                             Religion ofJohn  Calvin. . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . HCH 286
Matthew.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..J K 88                          Are Five Points Enough?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I. . . . HH 430
Matthew.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..J K 131                         Bible and Its Literary Milieu, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 262
M a r k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   K   1 8 2       Commentary on Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . HH               94
Mark.......................................JI  ( 233                                                      Commentary on Romans, Ch.  l-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  HCH 286
Luke23:33.................................M  S 314                                                        Commentary on Romans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 431
John  lo:16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 242                      Exposition on the First Epistle to the Corinthians
A c t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `. . . . . . . . . J   K   4 6 9       and Exposition on the Second Epistle to the
A c t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   K   4 9 6        Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214
Romans  1:7b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HB 338                         Facets ofPrayer.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 455


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IandIICorinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH 310                            Covenant Christian High School
First Epistle ofJohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . HH 22                             (Grand Rapids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DD 112
Gospel and Law, Contrast or Continuum?. . . . . . . . HH 407                                           Covenant Christian School (Lynden) . . . . . . . . . . . HT 117
Our Savior God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 498                        C r u c i f i e d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C   H   4 5 8
Parables  ofJesus,  The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 359                         Crystal Cathedral, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 140
Peter, Stephen, James  andJohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214                                  Current Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 273
Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214
Philosophy and Scripture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 333                                                                         -D-
Philosophy  of  Revelation, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 143
Preaching With Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 262                                  Dangerous and Deceitful Euphemism. . . . . . . . HCH 485
Principles of Sacred Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 2 14                                 Delay and Punishment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH                             7
Stand By, Boys! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 22                        Demands and Obligations in God's Covenant. . . CH 406
Sermons on the Ten Commandments. . . . . . . . . . . . HH 499                                          Denied Admission to the Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 471
Theology of Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 286                           Distressed But Not Depressed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 397
This Was John Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 455                            Dr. Taylor Misses the Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                                 6
Understanding Church Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 358                                    Dogmatic Religions Finished?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 160
Voice of OurFathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 213                           Dogmatics and Old Testament Studies . . . . . . . HCH 33
Westminster Confession of Faith, The. . . . . . . . . . HCH 286                                        "Down With...All Gambling". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 139
                                                                                                       Dream Come True, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 477
                                            -A-                                                        "Dutch Churches on Homosexuals" . . . . . . . . . GVB 232

Acts - Christ Gathers His Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 469                                                                                  -E-
Acts - Christ Gathers His Church (2) . . . . . . . . . . JK 496
Adams Street School (Grand Rapids). . . . . . . . . . . CK 104                                         E.P.C. of Australia - Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 77
All this in a Covenant Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 322                                 E.P.C. of Australia - Revisited (2) . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 125
A l m s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J   S   3 2 9    E.P.C. of Australia - Revisited (3) . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 149
Also: Report 44 and the Infallibility Question . GVB 377                                               E.P.C. of Australia - Revisited (conclusion) . . HCH 173
And: Attack on Christ's Deity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 303                                    Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                       5
And: License Teachers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 84                                  Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 29
Annual Secretary's Report - R.F.P.A. . . . . . . . . . DH 70                                           Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 77
Another Garment and More Injustice . . . . . . . . . . JH 370                                          Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 101
Ans'wer  of Peace, An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 419                         Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 148
Antichrist's Drive to Annihilate an Elect                                                              Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 197
    P e o p l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R   F   9 0      Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269
As Many as Were Ordained Believed . . . . . . . . RGM 428                                              Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 368
At Year's End - Two More Retirees . . . . . . . . . HCH 151                                            Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461
Attending Our Seminary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 39                                  Enlarge Thy Tent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAS 10
                                                                                                       Evangelism and Practical Godliness. . . . . . . . . . AdH 304
                                            -B-                                                        Evangelism and the Reformed Faith (1) . . . . . . . . DE 154
                                                                                                       Evangelism and the Reformed Faith (2) . . . . . . . . DE 204
Baal-Peor, In the Matter of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 50                                Evangelism and the Reformed Faith (3) . . . . . . . . DE 306
Be Ready With An Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 184                                 Evangelism and the Reformed Faith (4) . . . . . . . . DE 353
Berkhof and the Virgin Birth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 376                                    Evil of Abortions, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 349
Big Bang Paradox vs. Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 231
Born of the Virgin Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 290                                                                           -F-
B y F a i t h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M A   S   1 3 7
                                                                                                       Faith of Amram  and Jochebed, The . . . . . . . . . . . HV 170
                                            -CL                                                        Family Devotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 466
                                                                                                       Family Devotions (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 492
Calling of All Believers in the Work of                                                                Foreign Missions: Jamaica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 256
    Evangelism, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 175                            Foreign Missions: Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 259
Celebration of Sin, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 14                           Free Christian School (Edgerton). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Choice of Faith, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 141                            From the Theological School Committee -
Choosing at the Becoming of Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 66                                           The Seminary:, The View from the T.S.C. . . . . JJH 41
Christ of Trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 434
Christ's Entry Into Heaven Itself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 387                                                                               -G-
Christ's Virgin Birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 303
Church Extension Work: Bradenton. . . . . . . . . . . CH 252                                           GKN on the Nature of the Authority
Church Historical Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 34                                    of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 221
Clouds Return After the Rain, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 208                                     GKN on the Nature of the Authority
Clowns, Jesus, and the Preaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 59                                         of Scripture (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269
Convocation Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 54                               GKN on the Nature of the Authority
Correspondence and Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461                                              of Scripture (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 293


                                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                           501



GKN on the Nature of the Authority                                                                     Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HI-I          16
   of Scripture (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 317                         Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 79
GKN on the Nature of the Authority                                                                     Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 158
   of Scripture (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 366                         Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 202
GKN on the Nature of the Authority                                                                     Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 271
   of Scripture (6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 389                         Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 320
G.L.T.S. - The Evidence of God's Sovereign                                                             Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 444
   L e a d i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F Q K   H   2 8 0       Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 462
Gambling, " "Down With...All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 139                                       Liberty of the Christian Conscience . . . . . . . . . RGM 228
Gas Warfare in Christendom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 90                                     Library, Our Growing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 46
Getting the Principle Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 54                                  License Teachers?, And:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 84
God's Suffering Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 362                               Liturgical Changes in Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . CH 405
Grace Abounding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 122                            Loveland Prot. Ref. Christian School . . . . . . . . . TDV 108
"Greenhouse" on Seminary Hill, The. . . . . . . . HCH 29                                               Luke - The Gospel of the Son of Man . . . . . . . . . . JK 283
                                                                                                       Luke - The Gospel of the Son of Man (2) . . . . . . . JK 327
                                          -H-
                                                                                                                                               -M-
Hated Without a Cause. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 237
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. XIII, Q.A. 33 . . . . . . CH                                        2        Master of Dreams, Sold for Silver, The . . . . . . . . . JH 297
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. VIII, Q.A. 34 . . . . . . CH 194                                             Matthew - The Gospel of the Promised
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. XIV, Q.A. 35-36. . . . CH 290                                                    Messiah (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 63
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. XV, Q.A. 37 . . . . . . . CH 362                                             Matthew - The Gospel of the Promised
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. XV, Q.A. 38 . . . . . . . CH 434                                                Messiah (2) ...............................JK 88
Heidelberg Catechism L.D. XV, XVI,                                                                     Matthew - The Gospel of the Promised
   Q.A. 39,44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 458                           Messiah (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK 131
Home Missions: Birmingham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 248                                        Mark - The Gospel of Jehovah's Servant (1) . . . . JK 182
Home Missions: Lansing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SH 250                                Mark - The Gospel of Jehovah's Servant (2) . . . . JK 233
Homosexuality, The Vile Sin of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 490                                    Marks of the Beast, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 397
Homosexuals, " "Dutch Churches on. . . . . . . . . GVB 232                                             "Means of Grace"?, A New. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 57
Hope Christian School (Redlands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . EG 10 1                                     Mission Issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    242
Hope School (Grand Rapids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mr. JS 102                                    Mission Work Among the Jews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 12
Hull Prot. Ref. Christian School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RK 115                                   Mission Work Through Radio Broadcasting . . . . DH 254
                                                                                                       Missionary Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 295
                                           -I-                                                         Missionary Methods (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 331
                                                                                                       Missionary Methods (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 343
I.R.S. and the Christian Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 231                                     Missionary Methods (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 415
Impressions of Singapore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 319                                  Missionary Methods (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 442
Impressions of Singapore (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 341                                   Missionary Methods (6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 473
Impressions of Singapore (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 364                                   Missionary Methods (7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 488
Impressions of Singapore (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 391                                . Mistakes on All Counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 437
In the Matter of Baal-Peor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 50                          , Moses' Decisive Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 410
Introducing Our Student Body (Seminary). . . . . . . . . . 39                                          Movies Portray Real Life? . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . GVB 57
Israel Sold to Chushanrishathaim . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 482
                                                                                                                                               -N-
                                          -J-                                                          Necessity of Reformed Apologetics, The. . . . . . RCH 92
Jacob's Faith Triumphs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 186                             Necessity of Reformed Apologetics, The (2) . . . RCH 152
Jesus Christ Our Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 194                             New "Means of Grace"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 57
Jesus' Other Sheep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 242                           New Presbyterian Church, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 395
John - The Gospel of the Son of God (1) . . . . . . . . JK 378                                         New Testament Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 36
John - The Gospel of the Son of God (2) . . . . . . . . JK 426                                         News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 23
"Join and Receive" Plan for Presbyterians. . . . GVB 417                                               News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 48
Journal, Our Theological . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 43                                 News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 71
Justified Believer, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 338                            News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 95
                                                                                                       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 119
                                          -K-                                                          News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 143
                                                                                                       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 167
Kalamazoo's New Church Building. . . . . . . . . . HCH 486                                             News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 192
Kuyper's Prayer for the "Free" . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 126                                       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 216
                                                                                                       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 239
                                          -L-                                                          News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 263
                                                                                                       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 287
Lacking the Power of Godliness. . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 345                                        News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 312


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News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 360                             Prayer for Jehovah's Mercy, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 146
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 384                             Prayer for Babylon's City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 21
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 408                             Presbyterian "Join and Receive" Movement. . HCH 487
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 43 1                            Preservation and the Call to Repentance . . . . . . . CH 166
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 456                             Principles of Missions (A summary), The. . . . . . . . RD 226
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 479                             Promise Reaffirmed, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 162
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 503                             Prot. Ref. Christian School (South Holland) . . . . . LL 110
No, Size Does Not Matter, But Faithfulness                                                      Protestant Reformed Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 246
   D o e s ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H C   H   6
Northwest Iowa Prot. Ref. School (Doon) . . . . CH, Jr 111                                                                               -Q-

                                        -o-                                                     Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 20
                                                                                                Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 166
Objects of Missions, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 81                         Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 190
Objects of Missions, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 129                         Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 230
Of God's Covenant With Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 67                                  Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 404
Of God's Covenant With Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 164                                 Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 405
Of God's Covenant With Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 278                                 Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 406
Of Singing and Playing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 308                      Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH' 453
Office Assistants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
One Against the Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 349                                                                  -R-
Only Begotten Son of God, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH                            2
Our Growing Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 46                         Readmittance of the Excommunicated . . . . . . . GVB 140
Our Pre-Seminary Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                         3 1     Reckoned Among the Transgressors. . . . . . . . . . . MS 314
Our Special Missions Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 245                            Reformation Day, 1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 53
Our Theological Journal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 43                          Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Out of War Arises Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 235                               Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH                                18
                                                                                                Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
                                        -P-                                                         Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper [translation) . _ HH 188
                                                                                                Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                          Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH 199
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH                                18      Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                          Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH 224
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 188                                    Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                         Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH 381
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 199                                    Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                         Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . _ HH 393
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 224                                    Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                         Concerning, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) _ . HH 440
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 381                                    Reformed Ecumenical Synod, The. . . . . . . . . . . GVB 84
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                      Reformed Evangelism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 197
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 393                                    Reformed, Yet Always Reforming . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 356
Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the                                                      Reformed, Yet Always Reforming (2). . . . . . . . . . HH 368
   Church, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . . . . . HH 440                                    Reformed, Yet Always Reforming (3). . . . . . . . . . HH 402
Plea for Psalms, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 418                    Remarks on Pentecostalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 418
Pornographic Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 350                        Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 23
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 240
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 127                 Report of Classis  East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 432
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        Report of Classis West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 47
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 177                 Report of Classis West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 336
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        Response and Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 276
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 206                 Rise of Cults: A Cause for Government
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                           Control of Religion?, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 325
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 299                 Rising of Another Generation, The. . . . . . . . . . . . MS 218
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        Rock `N Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 160
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 351
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                                                                 -s-
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 421
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        SchoolIssue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    98
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 446                 Second CRC Seminary?, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 396
Postmillennial Proof-texts in Holy Writ,                                                        Seeing the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 26
   The So-Called . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 464                 Seminary Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               33
Practical-Theological Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RD 37                           Seminary Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     29


                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                         503



Seminary: The View from the T.S.C. . . . . . . . . . . JJH 41                       Two Philips, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 404
ShameofaP.R.Minister,The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 179
ShiningCityonaHill,A.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RF 158                                                         -u-
Signs in the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 494
Sinful Reaction to Sin, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 85          Union Dues Vs. Religious Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 472
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 127                                               -v-
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 177      Vile Sin of Homosexuality, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 490
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 206                                              -w-
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CL 299      War With the Remnant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 372
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in                                             We Have Heard, We Will Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 98
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 351      Westminster Confession of Faith, The. . . . . . . . RVO 67
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in                                             Westminster Confession of Faith, The. . . . . . . . RVO 164
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 421      Westminster Confession of Faith, The. . . . . . . . RVO 278
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in                                             What is Anti-Semitism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 83
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 466      What View of Scripture's Inspiration and
So-Called Postmillennial Proof-texts in                                                Authority?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..HC H 438
   Holy Writ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 464      "Who Shot J.R.?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 14
"Soft Line" on Hell, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 161             Wholly Carefree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 266
Spirit of This Age, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 400        Women Deacons, That Third Opinion. . . . . . . . GVB 351
Spirit of This Age, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 424          Women in Office - Despite Scriptural
SpiritofThisAge,The(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .KK 451                   Teachings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 302
Spiritual Illiteracy and the Rise of Antichrist . . . WB 211                        Worshiping the Lord in Godly Fear and
Story of Two Families, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 133              R e v e r a n c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A d   H   6 1
Submit - or Else!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 58         Worthwhile Project, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 294
Supporting the National Right to Work                                               Writing a Minister-elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 20
   Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 230
Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches,                                                                                   -Y-
   1981...................................HC  H 413
Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches,                                          Yielding Ourselves Up to Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . CH 453
   1981 (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 439
                                    -T-                                                            NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING!!!
                                                                                       The annual meeting of the R.F.P.A. will be held on Thursday
Thanks, Mr. Treasurer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 150              evening, at 8 P.M., September 17, 1981, at the Hope Protestant
                                                                                    Reformed Church. Nominees for the board, (three to be chosen) are
That Third Opinion for Women Deacons . . . . . GVB 351                              A. Dykstra, C. Kamps, W. Corson, G.E. Bylsma, C. Schimmel and H.
Theology of Discussion, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB 374                Velthouse.
Those Who Fall Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 190               Our speaker for the evening will be Rev. William Bruinsma.
Though He Fall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 449                                PLAN NOW TO ATTEND!!!
True Thanksgiving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 74
Two Kinds of Churches Active in China Today . RD 404                                                                                           The Board of the R.F.P.A.
                                                                                                                                               P. Koole, Sec'y.


                                   News From Our Churches

Rev. Joostens has declined the calls extended to                                    Since school is now fresh in our minds, maybe this
him from Redlands, California and Lynden, Wash-                                     would be a good time to relay some information
ington. You may remember that Lynden's call was                                     concerning school-related activities that have come
for a missionary to the Monroe - Mt. Vernon area of                                 into my possession via bulletins, newsletters, and
Washington state. From a Loveland bulletin we                                       personal contact. The building projects of Hope
have learned that Isabel, South Dakota has extend-                                  School in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the South
ed a call to the pastor of our Edmonton, Alberta,                                   Holland, Illinois school are still in the planning
Canada congregation, Rev. Moore.                                                    stages. A South Holland newsletter expresses the
    By the time our readers receive this issue of the                               hope that their planned addition can begin
Standard Bearer, all twelve (see if you can name                                    following a fall financial drive. The Hope School
them all) of our schools will again be in operation.                                building project involves the building of a whole


  THE STANDARD BEARER
       P.O. Box 6064                                                                        SECOND CLASS
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                               POSTAGE PAID AT
                                                                                        GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.





504                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


new plant of ten classrooms in the Hudsonville,            Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) Church of
Michigan area. The actual erection of this facility,       Ireland for reformed, parent-controlled education
however, is to be done in three phases. At this time,      for their covenant children. The Testimony of that
Hope is looking for a September, 1982 opening for          Church commits the denomination to the idea of
the first phase. A different kind of expansion pro-        such schools, but none exist at the,present  time. At
ject has taken place in Lynden, Washington: they           the request of some members, the 1978 Synod of
have added a grade, the eleventh, to their educa-          the Church set up a Sub-Committee on Christian
tional program.                                            Education to investigate the matter. After discus-
  Often, school-related activities involve volunteer       sions lasting one year, the Sub-Committee recom-
help from their constituents. Way back in January          mended that the church itself not set up schools,
our Hope Christian School of  Redlands  requested          but provide a framework in which such schools
"...a11 available men to come to school Saturday,          would become reality. After another year of work
January 31, at 9 A.M. for general maintenance              by a reconstituted Sub-Committee, the Association
work. The work includes planting of oleander               for Christian Education in Ireland was formed in
bushes and painting." Adams Street Christian in            Belfast in April, 1980, with eight charter members.
Grand Rapids held an August 15 "fence painting             It has since grown to 32 members, most of them
day." And Hope Christian in Grand Rapids                   found in the greater Belfast area, but others in
solicited volunteer help to work on a new ball             northern County  Antrim,  Londonderry, and the
diamond.                                                   Irish Republic. The Association holds public meet-
                                                           ings throughout the north of the island, and finds
  In the school recreational sphere we are in-             gradually increasing interest stretching across
formed by a Hull bulletin that, "The annual 4th of         denominational divides but generally involving
July picnic will be held this year in Edgerton  at the     people of evangelical and reformed theology."
Free Christian School. There will be games and             (Subscribers to Perspectives in Covenant Education
activities for all ages. A canteen service will be pro-    are asked to excuse the above duplication of effort.
vided. Proceeds from the canteen as well as a              Non-subscribers to that periodical might want to
special offering will be divided equally among the         subscribe in order to find out what of Rev. Reid's
Hull, Doon, and Edgerton  schools."                        letter was not included in this column. To sub-
  The teachers of our Grand Rapids area schools            scribe send to:  Perspectives,  Protestant Reformed
had the opportunity to attend a summer seminar             Teachers' Institute, c/o Covenant Christian High
sponsored by the Federation of Protestant Re-              School, 1401.  Ferndale Ave., S.W., Grand Rapids,
formed School Societies. Under the able leadership         Michigan 49504.) We extend our thanks to Rev.
of Prof. H. Hanko the teachers received instruction        Reid for sending us this information. Whether our
at eight evening sessions on the general topic `of         schools are  realized  educational institutions or those
"Biblical Psychology."                                     only of anticipation, the words of Rev. Reid's final
                                                           paragraph can be appreciated, I believe, by every-
  Last but certainly not least concerning  OUY             one concerned with Christian education: "The
schools: Prof. H. Hanko gave the address at the            members of the Association have had to bear the
Convocation Services for our Seminary on Septem-           reproach of many who believe they are  funda-
ber 2 at Southeast Church in Grand Rapids.                 mentalistic or impractical or both. Yet their hope is
  From across the Atlantic we have some addition-          not in men but in the Lord of the covenant, who has
al school news of interest. Back in April we wrote         entrusted them with the precious children of that
about the Association for Christian Education in           covenant to nurture and instruct. Can they do any-
Ireland and asked for more information concerning          thing less than provide a school where the instruc-
that organization. In response to our request Rev.         tion of church and family will be reinforced, and
Tom Reid, treasurer of A.C.E.T. writes, in part:           indeed, developed?" With what better commitment
"The Association for Christian Education in Ireland        could we begin another school year?
grew out of the concern of several members of the                                                              CK


