   STANDARD
         B.EARER
f- A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE    -                               \

       Not- so is it that God offers you and
    all men- a. place. in -His kingdom and is
    desirous that all men accept His invita-
    tion, and that He waits to. see what men
    will  .do with His gracious offer. Such a
    presentation of God is. totally unworthy
    of Him. . . . If God must wait to  -see
    what man will do, He is not the Al-
    mighty; for man, not God, would then
    determine who shall enter His kingdom.
    What kind of a god is  .that who is de-
    pendent on the will of the creature? You
    must see it  - He is not the God of your
    salvation,!
              See "Walking Worthy of God" -
                                                  page 482
                                 Volume LIV, No. 21, September 15, 1978  A
                                            ISSN-0362-4692


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                   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.
                                                                              Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                              Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J. Engelsma,
                           CONTENTS:                                          Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach,
                                                                              Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Mark H. Hoeksema, Rev. Meindert Joostens,
                                                                              Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Rodney  Mlersma,
                                                                              Rev.  Marinus  Schipper, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.  Gise J. Van  Baren,
Meditation  -                                                                 Rev. Ronald Van Overloop, Rev. Herman  Veldman,  Mr. Kenneth G.
                                                                              Vink.
                                                                              _ .  .
   Walking Worthy of God , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .482               Editorial Office:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                    4975  lvanrest  Ave. S.W.
Editorials  -                                                                                       Grandville,  Michigan 49418
                                                                              Church News Editor:  Mr. Kenneth G. Vin k
   Labor Bill Dead for this Session . . , . . . . . .  .-.  .485                                     -  1 4 2 2   Linwood.   S . E .
                                                                                                         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
   Progress in Contact with the                                               Editorial  folicy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of
                                                                              his own articles. Contributions of general interest from our readers and
                                                                              questions for the Question-Box Department are welcome. Contri-
       E.P.C. of Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .487         butions will be limited to approximately 300  words and must be neatly
                                                                              written or typewritten and must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first
Taking Heed to the Doctrine  -                                                and the fifteenth of the month. All communications relative to the
                                                                              contents should be sent to the editorial office.
   The Triune God . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .488          Reprint  PO/icy:  Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
                                                                              articles in our magazine by other publications, provided: a) that such
From Holy Writ  -                                                             reprinted articles are reproduced in full: b) that proper acknowledge-
                                                                              ment is made;  c) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint
                                                                              appears is sent to our editorial office.
   Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .490            t?usiness  Office:  The  Standard.Bearer
                                                                                                    Mr. H.  Vander  Wal, Bus. Mgr.
Signs of the Times  -                                                                               P.O. Box 6064
                                                                                                    Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
   Signs in Society (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .493          New Zealand Business Office:                The Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                          c/o OPC Bookshop,
Guest Article  -                                                                                                          P.O. Box 2289
                                                                                                                          Christchurch, New Zealand
   Church Growth and Covenant Generations . .  .495                           Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $7.00 per year ($5.00 for
                                                                              Australasia). Unless a definite request for discontinuance is received, it
Triumph Through Trials  -                                                     is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue wrth-
                                                                              out the formality of a renewal order, and he will be billed for renewal.
                                                                              If you have a change of address, please notify the Business Office as
   Visiting the Sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .498       early as possible in order to avoid the inconvenience of delayed deliv-
                                                                              ery. Include your Zip Code.
BookReview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...499          Advertising Policy:  The  Standard Bearer  does not' accept commercial
                                                                              advertising of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...499    anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be placed for a
                                                                              $3.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business Office and should be
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .504                accompanied by the $3.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 1st
                                                                              or the 15th of the month,  previous.to  publication on the  15th or the
                                                                              1st  respectively.
                                                                              Bound  Volumes:  The Business Office will accept standing orders for
                                                                              bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled as soon as
                                                                              possible after completion of a volume. A limited number of past vol-
                                                                              umes may be obtained through the Business Office.

MEDITA TIO N




                                      Walking Worthy of God
                                                                   Rev. M. Schipper



                "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. "
                                                                                                                   I Thessalonians 2: 12.



   Of two things the apostle reminds the Church at                             this he had done with much contention and  consider-
Thessalonica in the preceding context. The first is,                           able suffering. Not only had the congregation there
how he had been entrusted with and how he had                                  been witness as to how he preached, but also as to
preached the gospel unto them. He had been  ap-                                how he lived. Of his conduct in the ministry he was
proved and appointed of God for this ministry. And                             sure not only that the church had been witness, but


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 483


more importantly he was confident that God' Who              putting life into departments. We put the Sabbath
had called him had observed how faithfully he had            into a suit of clothes and the pious conduct of a day,
 served.                                                     while we failed to understand that as we served God
   Secondly, he reminds the church how he had                on the special day, so we are called to serve Him all
 charged them of Thessalonica to walk faithfully             the days of our lives.
 according to the gospel. As a father exhorts his               Let no one conclude from what we have written so
 children how they should conduct themselves, so he          far that we have no respect for the Sabbath Day.
had constantly exhorted them. Reflecting on this             What our parents taught us concerning the day was
 charge to the congregation, the'apostle in verse eleven     quite correct. It is the special day God singled out
 uses three participles: exhorting, comforting, charg-       from all the days of the week in which in a unique
 ing, all of which go with the purpose clause in our         manner we with our children serve the Lord in His
 text, namely, "that ye would walk worthy of                 sanctuary as often as opportunity is given us. And
God. . .  ." So that really the apostle is saying: We        when we are not in the sanctuary on that day we are
 have admonished, encouraged, and testified that you         to use the day in contemplation of the works of God,
walk worthy of God, the One calling you into His             particularly the work of salvation, of recreation  - not
kingdom and glory.                                           in taking naps, watching television, reading the trash
   Walking worthy of God!                                    that so often comes into our homes from the novel
                                                             market. This is the entering into rest for the children
   That is the main thrust in our text.                      of God! What we have been stressing and criticizing is
   One's walk embraces his whole manner of life, with        the wrong conception which would put our religious
 the emphasis here particularly on the outward mani-         life into a suit of clothes, and service only for a day  -
 festation of that life, that is, how we conduct our-        so that one day in seven we live piously, seeking the
 selves in the world in relation to others. Our walk,        things which are above, while the rest of the week we
 therefore, is our manner of living as we appear to God      live rather impiously, seeking the things which are
 and man.                                                    below. God never meant with giving us the Sabbath
   However, we must remember that our outward                that we should live that way. Life is not intended by
manifestation of life is always motivated spiritually        God to be segmental, differentiated into parts, nor is
 from within. Our walk must not only reveal what we          our walk to be segregated into religious and secular
 do, but who we are. And who we are always comes             compartments. What hypocrites would we be if on
 from the heart, from the spiritual qualities within us.     Sunday we worshipped the true and living God, and
As the Scriptures so abundantly testify, as a man            on Monday through Saturday we would serve
 thinketh. in his heart, so is he; and again, out of the     Mammon!  `Our walk must always be the same,
heart are all the issues of life.                            whether momentarily we move in the church, or
                                                             presently in the world.
   Moreover, when the Word of God speaks of the
manner of life, as it also does here in the text, it does      Always our walk is to be worthy of God!
so with respect to life in all its departments. The            God is to be the Judge, not man!
Bible never allows for life to be departmentalized. To
 our shame, this is often what we do. We make                  Man, unless he has grace, makes a very poor judge.
separation between our religious life and our secular        Without grace man always judges wrongly. He honors
life. We even have certain days in which we conduct          an ungodly walk and encourages it; while he con-
ourselves more piously than we do in others. With            demns a godly walk and persecutes those who so
many of us this distinction began very early in life.        walk.
We remember as children how the Sabbath was                    This cannot mean, however, nor would we have
impressed upon us as a very special day. Fact of the         you infer that our walk before men and their judg-
matter was my parents bought me a suit of clothes            ment of us is unimportant. Consider that Jesus said,
which was called a Sunday suit. When the Sabbath             "Let your light so shine before men that they may
was over the suit went into a closet where it remained       see your good works and glorify your Father which is
until the next Sabbath. On that day we were not              in heaven." He evidently wanted us to see that the
allowed to conduct ourselves as we did in the other          purpose of so revealing ourselves to men was that our
days of the week. We still believe that training was         Father in heaven would be glorified when men see
proper, for the Sabbath is indeed a very special day;        and acknowledge that the light in us is of Him.
but it is easy to see how that it was not sufficient, for    Indeed, therefore, our calling with respect to all men
it did not impress on us as it should that the Sabbath       is a very serious one, and extremely important.
`is eternal, and this negative training could and did        However, though our walk is to take us into the midst
lead us to a legalistic and phariseeistic conception of      of the world, and in it we will pass under the
the Sabbath. As the ancient Pharisees, we end up             judgment of men, all kinds of men, good and bad,


484                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



righteous and wicked, the apostle does not say in the       principle, of course, we enter His kingdom when we
text that we are to walk worthy of men, but worthy          are called out of darkness into His marvelous light  -
of God.                                                     that kingdom which is heavenly in nature, and in no
  When the apostle therefore exhorts us to walk             sense to be identified with the present world. It is
worthy of God, this implies, first of all, that God         true that the kingdom of God is being realized in the
judges our walk. And, need we remind you, He                present world, but that realization is nevertheless in
always judges. Not only does He observe and judge           the spiritual operations in the hearts of God's people.
our outward conduct, but He weighs also the motivat-        For Jesus, speaking of the kingdom, declared that it is
ing principles of the heart within. He knows not only       within us, it  cometh not with outward observation. It
what we do, but also why we do it. The apostle              is the kingdom which comes down from heaven and is
therefore stresses the truth that our concern must be       realized in its perfection also in heaven. That this is
with what God thinks and judges of us.                      the viewpoint of the apostle, is plain from the fact
                                                            that he adds: "and glory."
  Secondly, in close connection to the foregoing, the
apostle stresses the point that our walk should con-          The glory belongs with the kingdom. It is the
form to what God expects of us. He is the God Who           kingdom in which the glory of God is the controlling
is calling us into His kingdom and glory.                   principle  - the kingdom in which the glory of God
                                                            shall shine forth in all its aspects. God's glory is the
  That calling is of God and is efficacious!                radiation and sum-total of all His virtues. In God's
  It is not an impotent invitation whereby He               kingdom, particularly in its final perfection, nothing
proffers you a place in His kingdom and glory if you        but the virtues of God will be seen.
will but accept His offer. Not so is it that God offers       Into that'kingdom where God will reveal Himself
you and all men a place in His kingdom and is               in all His glory we are being called when we come
desirous that all men accept His invitation, and that       under the preaching of the gospel, and as we walk
He  waits to see what men will do with His gracious         worthy of God. And, as we stressed earlier, it lies in
offer. Such a presentation of God is totally unworthy       the nature of the heavenly calling that it does not rest
of Him. The god of  the Arminian is an idol  - not the      until we are brought into the perfection of that
Almighty God of the Scriptures. Such a presentation         kingdom and glory. Just as God continues to say:
of God exalts  man to a position higher than God. If        light, as He spoke it in the beginning, or the light
God must wait to see what man will do, He is not the        would not continue to be, so He calls and continues
Almighty; for man, not God, would then determine            to call- until we are forever in the glory of His own
who shall enter His kingdom. What kind of a god is          kingdom.
that who is dependent on the will of the creature?
You must see it  - He is not the God of your                  Since such is the nature of the calling of God that
salvation!                                                  it purposes to bring us into the glory of His heavenly
                                                            kingdom, we  cati now understand why the apostle
  Indeed, the calling wherewith God calls us is an          considered it so urgent to impress upon his readers
effectual calling. It belongs to the order of our           that they walk worthy of God.
salvation. As the apostle so beautifully expresses it in      As we already called to your attention, the apostle
Romans  8:30  - the calling follows predestination,         uses a triad of participles expressing this urgency. The
and precedes our justification, sanctification, and         translation puts them in verse eleven, but the original
glorification. This calling may be distinguished two-       text includes them in verse 12. As we said, they
fold, the initial (inner) calling by the Word of God        belong with  ;he purpose clause in our text. You
which takes place below our consciousness, whereby          know, the apostle means to say, how we were
God translates the elect but in himself dead sinner         exhorting, comforting, and charging everyone of you
from darkness into light; and the outward calling,          as a father doth his children, that ye' would walk
which comes to him through the preaching of the             worthy of  God: The term "exhorting" comes from a
gospel, as that Word is, applied to his heart by the        word which means literally: to call beside one. When
Spirit of Christ. Only thqse so called, inwardly and        the apostle therefore is exhorting his readers, he calls
outwardly, come to Him and enter His kingdom. And           them to stand with him, and to walk as he walked,
we hasten to add, that all this takes place within the      namely, worthy of God. The word "comforting"
kingdom of God, never outside.                              indicates gentle pleading, and it fits with the last part
  That calling is an ever-present reality. The apostle      of verse eleven, "as a father doth his children." Here
says: "walk worthy of God Who is calling you." And          the apostle is cheering his readers on, so that in spite
that means that He-is calling us now as we dwell in         of the fact that they may be required, as he was, to
the sphere of gospel preaching, and that He continues       suffer difficulty which must be endured, they might
to do so. That calling will not cease until we have         walk worthy of God. And the word "charging" or
entered into the final perfection of His kingdom. In        "testifying," as it  m&y also be translated, indicates


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           485


solemn appeal. As a faithful witness of the gospel he                Indeed, how significant then is this Word of God
neglected not to tell all  - and all that the gospel tells        for the church, also today. On every side we are
us to be and to do, is  - walk worthy of God!                     tempted to walk worthy of the world. World  con-
  All together the apostle impresses on his readers               formity takes its toll also in the sphere of the church
and us the urgency that we be heavenly-minded in                  today. Apostasy in doctrine and life is in evidence on
our walk, that as redeemed in Christ we be not afraid             every hand. Shall we dwell forever in God's kingdom
to appear in the judgment of God, that we now in                  and glory it is necessary that we heed the apostle's
principle consciously enter His kingdom and glory,                urging: that we walk worthy of God. You and I
and that we live as expecting presently to enter into             expect to bathe eternally in His glory; then it is
the eternal perfection of the glory in Father's                   incumbent now that we walk worthy of God.
kingdom.

EDITQRIALS
ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema





                       Labor Bill Dead for this Session


  .In our April 1, 1978 issue we reported to you                         During the course of  the long battle over this
concerning a threatening labor "reform" bill which                    ill-conceived legislation, messages such as yours were
was before the United States Senate. We urged our                     encouraging and effective.
readers at that time to write to their senators and to                   I wish to thank you. for' your interest and your
express their opposition to the pending bill.                         support in connection with this important matter.
  This is a progress report concerning this labor bill.                  With best wishes, I am
Senator Robert P. Griffin has kept his constituents                                                Sincerely,
who expressed concern about this matter informed.                                                  Robert P. Griffin
Recently I received the following letter:                                                          U.S. Senator
    D e a r   F r i e n d :
       "As far as this session of Congress is concerned,             For the time being, therefore, the  threat of this bill
    labor law reform is dead."                                    becoming law is over. Most likely, however, an at-
       Those were the words on August 7 of AFL-CIO                tempt will be made to revive the bill at a later session
    President George Meany. He referred, of course, to            of Congress.
    the so-called labor "reform" bill (s. 2467) proposed            Along with his letter, Senator Griffin enclosed a
    by President Carter and passed last year by the House         reprint from the  Congressional Record  in which is
    of Representatives.                                           found a transcript, of his address to the Senate on
       I am @ad to report that Mr. Meany's assessment             June 9, 1978. The following excerpt from this
    also reflects the general attittide  now prevailing in the    address serves to show that representatives and
    Senate.                                                       senators do pay attention to mail from their con-
       As you know, after almost five weeks of extensive          stituents:
    debate and six cloture votes (cloture is an attempt to
    cut off debate, HCH), the Senate finally adopted a                   Mr. President, in the past, congressional debates
    motion on June` 22 recommitting S. 2467 to  the                   over labor legislation have been among the most
    Human Resources Committee. Since then, the Senate                 intense, controversial and bitterly fought of all legisla-
    has taken no further action on the bill, and none is              tive battles. The debate and controversy surrounding
    expected.                                                         this bill are no exceptions to that tradition.


486                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



               To illustrate the intense interest in this legislation,                            delicate balance of Federal  labor policy in favor of
        I might report that since this session began in Jan-                                     .union leaders and away from individual workers,
        uary, I have received about 65,000 letters, postcards,                                    small businessmen, and the public. This bill is con-
        and telegrams on the subject of labor law reform. Of                                      cerned solely with promoting the rights and interests
        these, roughly 24,500 have been in support of this                                        of unions as unions - as entities in and of themselves.
        legisla'tion,  and about 40,500 have been opposed to                                         The greatest weakness and the most notable defect
        it;                                                                                       of this bill is not what is in it  - but what is not in it.
       We have  no  illusions, of course, as to the motiva-                                       Ignored  a:pd left out of this bill is recognition that
tions of those opposed to this legislation. The mere                                              &hers besides unions need consideration and protec-
f a c t   o f   s u c h   o p p o s i t i o n   d o e s   n o t   m e a n   t h a t   o p -       tion. In the rush to give unions more organizing
ponents share the motivation of the Christian em-                                                 muscle, this bill brushes aside the rights of individual
p l o y e r   o r   e m p l o y e e   w h o   a r e   o p p o s e d   t o   w o r l d l y         workers and small businessmen, as well as the public.
unions and membership  therein. Nevertheless, as                                                Meanwhile, it ought to be evident, even to the
Christians we may and ought to add our voice to the
opposition and to state our Christian motivation. And                                          world, that this is not at all the time to give a big
if                                                                                             labor more power and more protection under law.
       through such expressions we can stave off  - albeit                                     For the social and economic chaos which result from
only  temporarily  - the tyranny of the worldly labor                                          organized labor's flexing its muscles  ,is reaching into
movement, so much the better!                                                                  the circles of government itself.
       That even from a worldly viewpoint and from the                                           To the child of God, who views things in the light
viewpoint of one who is willing to recognize the labor                                         of God's Word, this is surely evident. For it is
movement and to allow it a legitimate place in our                                             becoming ever more clear not only that covetousness
society and under the law of the land this is a bad                                            motivates the strivings of organized labor, but what is
piece of legislation is made plain by Senator Griffin in                                       worse, the principle of  revolution!  I refer to the fact
the address from which we have already quoted. He                                              that in recent months we have witnessed the spectacle
goes into great detail in his criticism and in his                                             of strikes and threatened strikes against the govern-
suggestions as to reforms which he favors; and we                                              ment itself. There was a time  - not too many years
cannot quote the entire address here. But the follow-                                          ago  - when even the mention of a strike on the part
ing excerpt rather clearly states his evaluation of the                                        of government employees was a thing unheard of. But
sheived legislation:                                                                           today strikes by public school teachers have become
          As one who has been somewhat involved in the                                         common. Wildcat strikes by postal employees have
       development over the years of labor legislation, I have                                 taken place, and it was only under the threat of an
       a strong interest in the bill before us. Shortly after                                  official strike by the postal workers unions that the
       President Carter presented his proposals in this field                                  Post Office went back to the negotiating table. Still
       to Congress last year, I expressed my agreement with
       the professed objectives of his program; namely, to                                     worse, more than one large city this summer has been
       make NLRB procedures fairer, prompter and more                                          caught in the throes of a strike by the very employees
       predictable, and to protect the rights of organized                                     responsible for public safety. Not only have firemen
       labor and management by strengthening NLRB sanc-                                        gone on strike, in defiance of the law; but also
       tions against those who break the law. These are                                        policemen, the very men who are sworn to uphold
       worthy goals  - indeed, I have been pursuing such                                       and to enforce the law, have, contrary to the law,
       objectives since I came to Congress nearly 22 years                                     gone on strike. This is anarchy. It is revolution. In
       a g o .                                                                                 addition, we have witnessed the spectacle of govern-
          Unfortunately, the bill which was introduced to                                      ments, whether local or national, being either un-
       achieve the President's objectives not only falls far                                   willing or unable (or both) to resist such revolution
       short but is a biased and unbalanced piece of legisla-                                  and to punish the perpetrators, but instead kowtow-
       tion that completely ignores workers' rights as well as                                 ing to their demands and agreeing to negotiate.
       the public interest. I cannot support it.                                                 Part of the problem is, of course, that the law of
          President Carter, Secretary Marshall, and other                                      the land has increasingly, over the years, given aid and
       proponents of this bill have attempted to sell the                                      comfort to organized labor. The deepest problem is,
       legislation as merely a "procedural streamlining" of
       our labor relations laws. The implication is left that no                               however, that this country was founded upon the
       basic changes in labor relations policy are really                                      principle of revolution, a principle which increasingly
       intended.                                                                               permeates every facet of life in our times.
          The kindest way in which I could characterize that                                     The Christian should be alert to these things, and
       representation would be: Hogwash!                                                       he must expect that it will become increasingly
          Let us call a spade a spade. The primary purpose                                     difficult for him to live  - whether in the sphere of
       of this bill is to facilitate union organization. Period.                               labor or in any other sphere  - according to his
       The effect of its enactment  would be to tilt the                                       Christian principles. By grace only can we stand!


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                487


                              -ProgreG in Contact  '  `r' .  i.
                         with the E.P.C. of Australia

  Shortly after the conclusion of our Australasian            "For, and on behalf of the Presbytery, I am to
tour in 1975, the Committee for Contact With Other          write you expressing our sincere desire  to. have a
Churches received the gratifying word that the              closer relationship with your church in the terms of
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia                the second part of your article 5, `Churches other
acknowledged our Protestant Reformed Churches in            than sister churches.'
America as a true church. Working on  that basis, we          "We deem it advisable, for a stable relationship, to
have since `that time been in contact with one              clarify our respective areas of difference, not for the
another, striving to reach a mutual understanding as        sake of controversy, but so that we might better
to the shape a relationship between our two denomi-         understand our common areas of belief. Furthermore,
nations should take.                                        that we respect one another's differences, and decline
  Last year the Contact Committee reported to               raising them between us unless by mutual consent.
Synod that the E.P.C. of Australia had adopted and            "We desire to work together in those areas which
sent to us a set of "Guidelines for Correspondence."        we have in common, and when we have principally
A copy of these "Guidelines" may be found in the            clarified the differences that we  labour together to
Acts of Synod, 1977, pp. 10.5, 106. In response to          mutually propagate and encourage one another in our
these "Guidelines," Synod expressed "that the Guide-        mutually held faith."
lines of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the                                                     .
provisions of our Constitution (the constitution of
the Contact Committee) are together a proper work-            We refrain from comment on the substance of this
ing basis on which to pursue a formal relationship of       letter, since this is the domain of our Contact Com-
correspondence." Further, Synod authorized the              mittee. We furnish the above as information to our
Contact Committee "to continue to work toward a             readers, since this is an item of interest and concern
mutually acceptable correspondence relationship." In        to all our churches. We are glad and thankful for this
pursuance of this mandate, the Contact Committee            progress, first of all, because we have discovered that
addressed the International Relations Committee of          with regard to the fundamentals of the Reformed
the E.P.C. "to inquire as to what they consider to be       faith our two denominations, small and far-separated
the implications of a correspondence relationship,"         though they be, stand shoulder to shoulder. Rev.
,and "to inquire as to their reaction to our description    Hanko and I experienced this in a very real sense
of a sister-church relationship, as per our Constitu-       when we visited the various congregations of the
tion."                                                      E.P.C. and had fellowship with them in 1975.
                                                            Secondly, we are of the conviction that it is both
  At this year's Synod there was nothing further to         proper and beneficial for both of our denominations
report, due to the fact that the E.P.C. of Australia for    that we  - again, small and geographically distant
various reasons was not able to reply prior to the          though we be  - should express, and also practice in
meeting of our Synod.                                       as far as possible, our unity in the faith and in the
   Recently, however, the Contact Committee has             bond of the fellowship of Christ's body. It is our
heard from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of           hope, therefore, that real progress may be made in
Australia. In a letter dated August 14, Mr. V.J.            the near future in further defining our relationship as
Connors, Clerk of Presbytery (their Presbytery is           churches, in harmony with the paragraphs quoted
their broadest assembly) wrote as follows:                  above.




                                     Subscribe Now to
                         THE STANDARD BEARER


488                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE





                                       The Triune God

                                                   Rev. David Engelsma




  There is only one God. He is the Gdd Who made               The true God is not worshiped. Of this, the
and governs the world, the God Who revealed Himself           widespread desecration of the Sabbath is living
in Jesus, and the God made known in Holy Scripture.           evidence. The services of the worship of God on the
There are no other gods besides Him. This was God's           Lord's Day are neglected. Instead of God, the idols
Word to His Old Testament people, Israel, in Deuter-          are worshiped: Success; Power; Fame; Money; A
onomy  6:4: "Hear, 0 Israel: the Lord our God is one          Good Time; Sex; and more. Men seek these things as
Lord." Because God is God alone, idolatry is both             ultimate goals of life and devote themselves to these
foolish and wicked. Idolatry is the sin of worshiping         things with slavish service.
other gods  be'sides the God revealed in the Bible. The          There is even a revival of the open worship of the
first commandment that God gives in His law forbids           Devil. In reality, every form of idolatry is a worship
idolatry: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"           of devils, ultimately a worship of  the  Devil. Behind
(Exodus  20:3).                                               every fictitious idol stands  a,very real demon; every
 Idolatry is  .foolish, for the other gods that men           idol is a mask of Satan. Referring to the heathen's
worship are non-existent,; they are mere figments of          sacrificing to their idols, the apostle says, "the things
man's imagination. The Old Testament prophets                 which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils,
ridiculed the worship of other gods. Those other gods         and not to God" (1 Corinthians  10:20).  But some
cannot see; they cannot hear; they cannot speak; they         openly profess and practice a cult of Satan. There is a
cannot save those who pray to them and trust in               real Devil. There is a crafty, powerful spiritual being
them. They are mere nothings-vanities: "his molten            with a mind and a will who works in the world in
image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.           opposition to God, God's Christ, and God's Church.
They are vanity, and the work of errors" (Jeremiah            Revelation 12, 13 represents him as a great, red
10:14,15).                                                    dragon and forewarns us that in the future all the
  But idolatry is also horrible wickedness. For the           world will worship the Devil, except those whose
one, true God requires man's worship. As God, He is           names are written in the book of life of the Lamb
worthy of praise and honor. He alone must be                  slain from the foundation of the world. But the Devil
worshiped.- After Deuteronomy 6 has said that "the            is not God (although this is his ambition), nor is he a
Lord our God is one Lord," it goes on to admonish             god alongside God. He is a mere creature of God,
God's people: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God           dependent for. his very existence upon God and
with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all     subject to God's Almighty power. Therefore, also the
thy might." The following verses then call us to obey         cult of Satan is both ridiculous foolishness and
the law of this true God. Idolatry robs God of the            abominable wickedness.
honor which He deserves and gives His honor to gods             The truth that' God is God alone greatly comforts
that do not even exist. Idols are abominations.               the believer. It delivers him from all fear of all the
  It is not the case that idolatry is limited to pagan        idols, their forces, and their apparatus  - Satan in-
nations who still worship the sun or bow down to              cluded: "Be not afraid  of, them; for they cannot do
animals or images of wood and stone. Idolatry                 evil, neither also is it  in'them to do good" (Jeremiah.
abounds in our own educated, "civilized" America.             10:5). He cannot help but laugh a little at them:


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                              489


"They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not:          God, she hates and condemns all idols. This does not
they must needs be borne, because they cannot go"           mean that, she tries to get the civil authorities to
(Jeremiah 10: 5).                                           imprison or to kill those who hold  .erroneous views.
   There is yet another, subtler form of idolatry. This     But it does mean that she both confesses the truth
consists of changing the truth about God, as that           and condemns the lie. It also means that she puts
truth is set forth in the Scriptures. God has revealed      those who teach false doctrine and who will not
Himself in the Bible. When someone changes what the         repent when warned outside of her fellowship. Christ
Bible teaches, he is actually changing God, making          has given the Church a spiritual power called the Keys
God over into something that that man prefers, and          of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16: 19). By this
producing an idol. (Of course, no one can really            power, the Church purges herself, God's Kingdom,
change God, but this is what a person who corrupts          from the idolatry of false doctrine.
the truth of Scripture is trying to do.) An example of         Reformed and Presbyterian Churches have, his-
this form of idolatry is the popular conception of          torically, displayed their love for the truth by a holy
God as only a loving God  ,and not a God of                 intolerance of teachings that oppose the truth. This is
righteousness Who punished the sins of His people in        simple obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus:
the cross of His Son and Who punishes the sins of His       "A man that is an heretic after the first and second
enemies in an everlasting hell. One of the perfections      admonition reject" (Titus 3 : 10).
of the true God (love) is played off against another           One of the essential truths that we Reformed
(righteousness). The result is an idol-god as grotesque     people confess and defend, in agreement with the
as any Dagon or Baal  - a god who allows his son to         Christian Church down through the ages, is the truth
be crucified for no good reason; a god who disdains to      of the Trinity. God is three in Persons. In the one,
vindicate his goodness against the attacks made on it       undivided Being of God, there are three, distinct
by sin; a god who receives into his heaven men and          individuals Who say, "I": the Father, the Son, and
women whose unworthiness has not been removed               the Holy Spirit. They are distinguished from each
and for whom no worthiness has been obtained by             other, in the Being of God, by their personal
the payment of their debt and the satisfying of his         properties: the Father is the eternal source of the Son
claims; a god who can be marshaled against the              and the Holy Spirit, begetting the Son and causing
punishment of the worst criminal ("The loving God
does not approve of capital punishment"); and a god         the Spirit to proceed from Himself; the Son is the
who not only does not condemn but even approves             eternal image and revelation of the Father, being
the vilest behavior. The practical effects of this          begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit is the
idolatry are disastrous  - as we see on  every hand:        eternal power of the Father and the Son, proceeding
absent in the god of the world, righteousness               from the Father and the Son. This is not some
promptly disappears from the world.                         strange, abstract doctrine to the believer; every
                                                            believer has experiential knowledge' of the three
  The oneness of God includes that all of His perfec-       Persons of God  - he feels the distinct operations of
tions are one in Him. God's Being cannot be divided         the three distinct Persons  in  himseZJ:   He knows his
by playing off one perfection against another. They         creation and election by the Father; he knows his
all stand in beautiful harmony. Theology calls this         redemption by the Son; he knows his sanctification
God's simplicity. The Belgic Confession of Faith            by the Holy Spirit.
begins, in Article I, with the confession "that there is      This "threeness" of God does not contradict His
one only  simple  and spiritual Being, which we call        oneness. On the contrary, denial of the three Persons,
God." Tampering with God's simplicity is idolatrous.        i.e., denial. of the Trinity, necessarily leads to the
  It is plain then that idolatry confronts us on every      compromising of God's oneness. For Scripture plainly
side. For good reason, the apostle John ended his first     teaches that Jesus is God (cf. John 1: l-14 and John
epistle with the warning: "Little children, keep            20:28). If Jesus is not one of the three Persons of
yourselves from idols" (I John  5:2 1).                     the Godhead, the one God Himself, He must be
                                                            another god alongside of God; and then there are two
  The Church of Jesus Christ is not tolerant of             gods. One of the antichristian cults which deny the
idolatry. Because the corruption of the truth amounts       Trinity, recognizing that John 1:  1 destroys their
to the making of another, idol god, the Church is not       doctrine, have sought to break the Word of God by
tolerant of false doctrine. Today, tolerance of every       translating the text this way in their private version
kind of religious teaching is glorified as the supreme      (perversion) of the Bible: "and the Word was a god."
virtue of a -church. If a church is intolerant of           Thus do they blunder into idolatry; their religion has
teachings which are contrary to the Word of God, it is      at least two gods. God's threeness does not conflict
regarded as bigoted. But the true Church cannot be          with His oneness, because He is three  in Persons,
tolerant. As she loves and confesses the one, true          whereas He is one  in Being.  The Father, the Son, and


 490                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


the Holy Spirit are not three Beings (Gods), but one            The doctrine of the Trinity is essential to the Chris-
Being (God).                                                  tian religion. Loss of the doctrine of the Trinity would
   We do not confess this truth because we under-             be the destruction of Christianity. A person who de-
 stand it fully. We understand it, but we do not              nies the Trinity is not a Christian; he is lost.
 comprehend it. We confess it  by faith; we believe             The significance of the truth of the Trinity is that
.`lthe doctrine of the Trinity. Nor is it at all strange      God is not a lonely God, existing in cold isolation.
 that, as regards God, we believe something that we do        God does not merely exist, but He lives; and His life
 not completely understand. "Behold, God is great,            is a warm, rich, and joyful life of fellowship. The only
 and we know him not" (Job  36:26).                           begotten Son is eternally towards the bosom of the
   We believe the Trinity because God has revealed            Father (John 1: 1  S), and the Father eternally delights
 Himself as Triune in His Word. The very first chapter        in His beloved Son in the Holy Spirit. God did not
 of the Bible indicates the plurality of Persons in the'      create and redeem His people-because He needed
 one God. According to verse 26 of Genesis 1, just            friends to alleviate His loneliness, but because He
before He made man, God said: "Let us make man in             graciously willed to share His friendship with us. This
 our image"  - "let us" and  "OUY image." How many            friendship with God  - the covenant  - is salvation.
 Persons there are and Who they are becomes plain in          All of the fellowship that makes our existence life  -
 the New Testament. In Matthew 28: 19, Jesus told His         the fellowship of marriage, the fellowship of the
 disciples: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations,           family, and the fellowship of the saints  - is grounded
 baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the         in the Trinity of God.
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost." There are three,                  The significance, secondly, is that only if the
 distinct divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost         doctrine of the Trinity is true can the Savior, Jesus,
(Spirit). But they are not three Gods. Rather, they           be true God. If there are not three Persons in the
 are one God, for there is but one name into which            Godhead, Jesus was only a man, This was the great
believers and their children are to be baptized.              issue at stake in those early days when the Church
   From the earliest days of her history, the Church          fought for the doctrine: Is Jesus the Christ, God?
 confessed the truth of the Trinity and defended it           Then the Church listened carefully to Isaiah  9:6:
 against the attacks of the enemies. She gave expres-         "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
 sion to her faith in several great creeds: the Apostles      and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and
Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.            His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
In these creeds, the Church condemned the denial of           mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
 the Trinity as heresy.                                       Peace." Understanding that God alone could save her,
                                                              she confessed with Thomas: "My Lord and my God"
   This raises the question, whether the truth of the         (John  20:28). Thus she honored the Son: "That all
Trinity is of real importance and whether denial of           men should honor the Son, even as they honor the
the Trinity is a serious error. Many church people are        Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not
 asking again today: Is the Trinity worth knowing,            the Father which hath sent Him" (John  5:23).
 worth preaching, worth defending?

FROM HOLY WRIT


                             Exposition of Galatians
                                                    Rev. G. Lubbers





 PAUL HAS GREAT FEAR FOR THE GALATIANS                        not been easy, but it was fraught with severe  dif-
 (Galatians 4: 11)                                            ticulties for both mind and body. It was, at its best, a
                                                              constant, toilsome effort for this man of God. It was
   Paul often speaks of his work as an apostle of Jesus       a sowing in tears. He was but an earthen vessel. And
Christ as being "labor!" This work of an apostle had          so he speaks  -of his work as being toiling and laboring,


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                491


a constant struggle. When all this labor appears to         tion. (Gal. 2: 15-17) He had left the position of the
have been `in vain, this is rather heart-rending for a      Jewish law of "do this and thou shalt live" and had
faithful servant of Christ. And this it seemed in the       -become just like the Gentiles who were "sinners."
case of these Galatians.                                    And he urges these Galatians to become like himself,
  Paul indeed feared the worst. He writes in a tense        free in Christ, justified by faith alone. This is power-
which indicates that the labors are now completed.          ful appeal. Paul's entire life is a sermon. It speaks
No more work will avail unless there comes a radical        volumes. Paul is the great example of the poor sinner
change. And this change is that these Galatians be          saved by grace. In him is manifested the work, which
liberated out of the clutches of these evil men who         is true and worthy of all acceptation: Jesus Christ
corrupt the Gospel of Christ. It was pure toil and          came into this world to save sinners, of which I am
labor, and that in vain. Paul will not have the joy, he     chief. (I Tim. 1: 11-17; Matthew  1:21)
fears, of rejoicing with the joy of these saints in the       Paul adds: "brethren, I beseech you." What a
day of Christ. Are they not now very minutely               tender appeal and full of love. It is the spasm of
keeping days, months, times, and seasons. They, to all      spiritual birthpangs of a true preacher. It is the love
appearances, desire and will to be under law and not        of Christ that constrains Paul (II Cor. 5: 14) Here is
under grace. In their teaching they have moved to           the perfect blending of example and word. Well may
beggarly principles where Christ avails them nothing!       every preacher emulate this example of the great
  These are not ungrounded fears on the part of             servant of God, steward of the mysteries of God.
Paul. And the expression of these fears is to move            Paul hastens to assure the Galatians that his writing
these Galatians to come to their spiritual senses. Only     concerning the false teachers is not that he feels hurt
if the Holy Spirit opens their hearts and causes them       and slighted by the Galatians personally. Writes he,
to heed, is there hope. Therefore Paul says in Gal.  5:9    "ye have done me no wrong." He does not have any
that he "has confidence in you through the Lord,            reason to complain for personal. injury and injustice.
that ye will be none otherwise minded." He knows            That~ is the farthest from his mind. His love is like a
that the Lord Jesus can do all things, and that His         mother's love to her children. He has birthpangs over
power can be fulfilled in Paul's weakness. But that is      them to have Christ formed in them once more. And
then the only light which Paul sees in this dark            to woo them back to Christ he relates the very
prospect with these Galatians.                              conduct of these Galatians to them; he rehearses here
                                                            briefly how he and the gospel of grace which he
PAUL'S BIRTHPANGS FOR THE  GALATIANS                        preached was received by them at that time of their
(Galatians 4: 12-20)                                        first meeting. Paul had preached the gospel there
  Paul compares the concern which he has for these          "because of illness." He must have tarried there
Galatians to the agony and fear which a woman has in        because he could not push on. And, while amongst
child-birth. He truly agonizes over them as his dear        the Galatians, he must have presented himself a
children' in Christ, his "brethren." He reminds them        pitiable sight. There was nothing of the "appeal" of a
of former and better times together. Paul's mind goes       good-looking preacher. Paul's very appearance would
back to the very first meeting with these Galatians,        rather cause them to abhor him, and turn away from
when he  first preached Christ to them. He had set          the gospel. They should have, as it were, spit out their
forth Christ before them as crucified. He had               disgust at his sight. But this they did not do. They
preached the saving power and the glory of the Cross        rather were very thankful for the message which he
of Christ. He will stir up their memory to bring them       brought. Paul's feet were beautiful upon the moun-
to their senses.                                            tains of Sion, as he preached: behold your God in
                                                            Jesus' blood and righteousness, and receive in Him
  First of all Paul appeals to his own conduct. His         the forgiveness of your sins. What a message! What a
own life and walk was a sermon. He so walked that           Messenger! These were the Words of eternal life. Yes,
others might be gained to Christ. (Ques. 86. Heidel-        they received Paul as if he were Gabriel out of
berg Catechism) What Paul now lived he lived by the         heaven. They must have stood in awe when they
faith of the Son of God, Who loved him and gave             heard the apostle of the Gentiles.
Himself for him. (Gal.  2:20) Paul had ceased to be a
Jew. He had become a Christian, a poor sinner who             When they heard this Word they were, 0, so
was saved by Christ's blood of the Cross. Paul appeals      inwardly blessed! For the first time in their, life they
to these Galatians "become as I," that is, become a         experienced the peace of God which passes all under-
.poor sinner saved by grace, through faith, instead of      standing. They were justified by faith, and received
going to the weak and beggarly principles of law,           the Spirit by faith, and they said with David in Psalm
which law cannot give life and willingness to the dead      32:  1, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
and stubborn sinner. The reason is that Paul had            whose sin is covered." That was the "blessedness"
become really as the heathen, a sinner needing  salva-      then. Do these Galatians still enjoy that blessedness


492                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


now that they are seeking to observe with greatest            great apostle to the Gentiles!
scrupulosity days, months, times and years? Where is             Birthpangs til Christ is formed in them!
that blessedness which you tasted then? It is gone!
You are no longer under a nurture that brings you to
freedom in Christ, but under a yoke of bondage,               THE VOICE OF THE SCRIPTUFtES EXPOUNDED
which is not Christ's because it is neither light nor         (Galatians 4:21-3  1)
easy! (Matt.  11:28)  So great had been the blessed-             Now the apostle will apply once more the touch-
ness, this pearl of great price for these Galatians, that    stone of the holy Scriptures. He will turn to the book
the best they had to offer was not good enough in            of Genesis and to the great instruction of the
their thankfulness. They would have given the very           `prophecy of Isaiah, which both speak of the  liberty
apple of their eye. They would sell their all that they      which the sons of God shall have in Christ, both Jew
might obtain this gift of grace in Christ.                   and Greek. He will lay bare from the Scriptures that
  Thus Paul speaks then tenderly, then reproach-             we have been set free unto freedom from sin, guilt,
fully, then in fatherly earnestness that he may              death, and hell in Christ!
"form" Christ in them. He would have them shew the               We will learn some great principles of interpreta-
true nature of Christ. This is evident from the Greek        tion from this instructive passage from the pen of the
v e r b   h e r e : "morphoothee.  " This refers to the      inspired Paul. We shall see how the Spirit of truth
essential, spiritual form of Christ in his grace of          leads him into all truth. (John 16: 12-15) The deep
justification and adoption unto  sonship. Such is the        meaning of the happenings, the experiences and the
holy zeal of Paul, the true preacher of the Gospel and       lives, and the mighty dealings of God are here
the shepherd of the sheep, whom he loves most                interpreted by Paul for us in their profound and wide
tenderly and earnestly. He has a holy jealousy over          implications. When we "hear" these Scriptures we
them !                                                       shall never again "will to be under law," that is, we
  This zeal of Paul cannot and is' not matched by            shall never again seek justification by works  ~of law
these would-be preachers of the Gospel, who came in          which we perform, but will see it all in the full, sure,
sheep's clothing, but who were inwardly wolves, who          sovereign promise of our Almighty and Faithful
came to destroy the sheep and to fleece them. Yes,           covenant  God:We will then cling solely and always to
they zealously affection the Galatians; but they have        the promises of God.
very evil motives. It is that the Galatians may be               But to bind these matters upon our hearts the
separated from the body of Christ, and separated             Apostle proceeds to interpret the Scriptures and call
from God in Christ, and may thus be followers of             attention to their  allegorical  implication. This allegor-
man, mere men. They were pure demagogues! The                ical implication must not be equated with the  well-
preacher-world is ever full of such charlatans. They         known allegorical  method  of interpretation which
know nothing about that which they so confidently            wildly allegorizes  all  the Scriptures according to their
affirm. (I Tim.  1:7) These ignoramuses would have           own choosing! The apostle limits this allegorical
these Galatians follow them so that they would not           meaning to "such things which are of that nature"
be under the shame of the Cross of Christ!                   (hatina)   as are mentioned in the Scriptures referred to
  0, it is a good thing to be zealously affected!            by Paul, namely, the things concerning Abraham, his
                                                             two wives, his twofold sons in relationship to the
  But not by such who have only personal gain, the           covenant promises in Christ Jesus! These things, and
honor and glory of men in mind, and not the glory of         these only, are selected by the Holy Spirit, to show us
God, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to Whom          the deep meaning which goes beyond the literal facts
be honor and glory forever!                                  of this history of Abraham. Here in this written
  Paul would like to be present with these Galatians         history lies a deep prophetic implication and perspec-
this very moment, while he is writing from far away          tive which we must "hear," we must understand!
Rome. If only he needed not to use the written word,
to which he must add the appendage,  "Ye. see with
how large a letter I have written unto you with mine
own hand!" (Gal. 6: 11) He desires to be in their
midst to speak with them personally and change the                                      IN  MEMORIAM
tone of his voice so as that they might hear the living         On the evening of August 20, 1978, it pleased our heavenly
message from the Word.                                       Father to call my beloved mother, MRS. JOHN RUST to her heavenly
                                                             home at the age of 85 years.
  Must such an apostle of Christ be. made out to be             "For we know that if our  earttily  house of this tabernacle were
the enemy of the church at Galatia, who did nothing          dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
but preach the truth which makes us free? (Gal. 4: 16;       eternal in the heavens." (I I Cor. 5:l).
John  8:3 1, 32) Such is the bleeding heart of that                                               Berdena Rust
                                                                                                  Kalamazoo, Michigan


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                               493


SIGNS  OF THE TIMES



                                    Signs in Society (1)
                                                Rev. Mark Hoeksema




  There are according to the Scriptures many                 manifestation, almost to the point of being imper-
precursory signs which point to the return of Christ         ceptible. But these signs are present, and they are
to judgment, and which at the same time serve to             important. The events which take place in our society
bring about the kingdom of Christ. They are there-           are important not just because we must know what is
fore important to the people of God, not only                happening in the world around us, so as to be able to
because they provide an indication of the approach of        speak and live antithetically in faithfulness to the
Christ's kingdom and its connected events, but also          Scriptures. This is reason enough to be aware of the
because they help to point out our calling as pilgrims       various social phenomena which transpire in our
and strangers in a world that is bound for destruction.      ever-changing world. But an awareness of these signs
  These signs of the end, often called signs of the          is necessary also because these signs are indicators of
times because they indicate the nature of the times in       the coming of the kingdom of antichrist and the
which we live, are sometimes divided into four differ-       kingdom of Christ. They also in themselves serve as
ent though connected categories. There are signs in the      .means to bring about the antichristian kingdom and
realm of nature, the physical creation, such as famine,      the kingdom of Christ. Especially these signs in their
earthquakes, pestilence, signs in the heavens, and           second significance spelled out above are important
judgments upon the earth, all of which increase in           for us. We therefore intend to concentrate upon some
frequency and intensity as the end approaches; there         of the signs which are presently taking place in
are signs among the nations, especially as they relate       society from the viewpoint of the development of the
to each other, such as wars and rumors of wars, a            kingdom of antichrist.
gradual movement towards world unity, a short time             There have been many significant events, move-
of peace under the rule of the antichristian kingdom,        ments, and trends in society recently. There is the
and finally'the battle of Armageddon; there are signs        movement towards equality of the sexes, manifested
in the church, notably a great apostasy from the faith       in the women's rights movement and today in the
leading to the domination of the false church under          controversy over the Equal Rights Amendment to the
the power of antichrist, the great persecution of the        United States Constitution. There is the push
true church or the great tribulation, and the gathering      for equal rights for homosexuals and the cur-
of the elect from all nations; and there are signs in        rent backlash against this trend. This issue of
society, including gradual increase in prosperity,           racial  distirmtions  and discrimination is still very
many signs and wonders among men, the universal              much with us, and will be for some time, as
allegiance of all to antichrist, and the impossibility of    evidenced by the recent decision of the Supreme
buying or selling without the mark of the beast.             Court in the. Bakke Case. The problem of inequality
  Of most of these signs we are perhaps conscious, or        among classes of people in society is brought home in
at least we should be if we are discerning people of         the present ferment over inflation and the tax revolt
God. Some of these signs, such as earthquakes,               phenomenon, which began in California with Proposi-
famines, wars, and apostasy are especially prominent         tion 13, and which is now spreading across the
in our minds because of their unusual and outstand-          country. What do all these phenomena mean? The
ing character. But there are other signs which,              answer, on the basis of Scripture, is that they signify
because they are less obvious, are sometimes ne-             a movement toward social uniformity. What do these
glected in our consideration of the signs of the times.      movements tell us? That the kingdom of antichrist is
I refer to those signs which take place in society.          indeed coming, and growing in power and nearness all
They are for the most part somewhat obscure in their         the time; but at the same time that his kingdom is not


494                                              THE'STANDARD  BEARER



yet, for much more development needs to take place.             and goals of society, philosophy, science, religion,
                                                                home life, economic life, and eventually political life.
   The Scriptural basis of all of this we must see first,
in order that it may be clearly established that these             The question is, then, What does this description of
social phenomena are genuine signs of the times.                the second beast of Revelation 13 have to do with the
Revelation 13 is perhaps the clearest passage of                various social phenomena mentioned earlier? There is
Scripture that speaks about the rise and character of           a most close connection, for vital to the cause and
the antichristian kingdom, and to this passage we               success of antichrist is not just unity among the
must first turn our attention. In this chapter two              nations of the world in their relations with each
beasts are symbolically depicted; one arises out of the         other, but internal social unity within these nations as
sea and one out of the earth, and together they give a          well. The key idea in Revelation 13 is unity, an idea
picture of the antichrist in his fulness. The first beast,      that recurs several times. Diversity and division work
described in verses l-l 0, represents the political and         against the cause of antichrist, whereas unity is
authoritarian power of antichrist. Even his symbolical          indispensable. And central to unity is a measure of
appearance is frightening, and the power divinely               equality; without some sort of equality, even if it
given him is awesome, for with seeming impunity he              may be imperfect, unity is impossible. Now all the
blasphemes God, and at the same time in making war              social phenomena described earlier have in common
with the saints he is able to overcome them. Beyond             the fact that they are attempts to achieve equality
this, he has power over all the nations of the earth,           among men. Their success or failure says much about
and all will serve and worship him, with the exception          the achievement of unity which is the prerequisite of
of the elect. The picture in brief is one of total              the antichristian kingdom. As does the kingdom of
authority and control, of one totalitarian world                antichrist itself, the social factors that bring about
government, of absolute power of life and death and             this unity develop slowly, but in a very definite
all aspects of life. This is  presented.as a fact that shall    direction. At some of these social factors we intend
come to pass: The universal dominion of antichrist              to look in future articles. Especially the factors of
will happen.                                                    equality among the various social groups, economic
                                                                equality, and equality between the sexes will be the
   But. if the description of the first beast has a             focus of concern, perhaps with some added observa-
factual emphasis, then the description of the second            tions about the state of the family in our society
(verses 1 l-18) indicates how the power of antichrist           which has contributed to some of the social factors
shall be realized. We are not to think that the                 observable today.
universal rule spoken of in this chapter shall be ac-
complished by sheer force. Indeed, this has been the              Having laid a Scriptural foundation for this brief
weakness of all the world empires of history, for they          study, it is also necessary to limit its scope just a bit.
have sought and failed to achieve world unity by                Not all factors which operate in society  canbe taken
virtue of superior force. But with antichrist this is not       into account, for society is simply too complex to
the case, for the deadly wound of Babel is healed in            allow this; rather, certain important  or, outstanding
him (verse  3), so that the-unity of the world under his        factors must be reckoned with. Further, the observa-
rule is not forced, but spontaneous. The question of            tions made will be limited to American society for
how this will be achieved is answered in the descrip-           the most part, for more than one reason. American
tion of the second beast, which arises out of' the              society is among the more advanced in the world, and
earth. This beast is pictured as being in the service of        should therefore provide a clear picture of the
the first beast, as possessing and exercising his power,        advance of the process of social unity. Besides, it is
as speaking for him as his prophet, of being able to do         the only society which I am at all qualified to
lying signs and wonders, and of being able to make              evaluate. But the conclusions drawn should be gener-
the image of the first beast, come to life. The idea is         ally applicable to most Western societies, for they do
that the purpose of this beast, principally united with         not differ radically from one another. Besides, since it
the first, is to make a reality this universal rule of          is the presentation of Scripture that the antichrist will
antichrist. He does not make laws, give commands, or            arise from a nominally Christian nation (such as our
authoritatively enforce his power, for his function is          own), such a study should be directly pertinent.
not primarily political or governmental, but social, so           If we bear in mind this principle of unity and
that-he deceives, charms, influences the minds and              equalitarianism in society which is one of the signs of
lives of mankind to serve the antichristian kingdom             the times necessary for the rise and rule of the
willingly. To this end he is able to utilize all the            antichrist, and in that light evaluate these signs, then
forces of modem man's technology to accomplish                  we will also be able to discern the approach of the
a.mazin.g feats. He will be able to put to use all the          kingdom of Christ, and at the same time be instructed
aspects of and forces in society: Social forces them-           and comforted concerning our place in the world as
selves, the opinions of men which shape the norms               citizens of the heavenly kingdom.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               495


GUEST ARTICLE




                                      Church Growth
                                                     and
                              Covenant Generations

                                               Rev. Arie den Hartog



  There has been much discussion in recent times of        preach. Scripture tells us that in the last days men
the subject of church growth. Church growth semi-          shall not endure sound doctrine and many shall be
nars are being held, sensational methods for bringing      deceived to follow after false doctrines that are
about increases in membership are being devised, and       pleasing to men. This we know is the explanation of
mass evangelism programs are engaged in that have as       many of the large churches of our land. Scripture tells
their objectives nation-wide and worldwide re-             us that in the last days those who are faithful shall be
awakening and revival. We are seeing the establish-        few in number. The strength of the true church of
ment of  super churches with memberships in the            Jesus Christ is not numbers and the strength of men
thousands. Large churches are said to be successful        but the strength of her Almighty God. The Lord
churches and churches which are in a particularly          accomplishes His purpose and realizes His counsel in
wonderful way fulfilling the great commission. These       the midst of weakness and smallness of men. Further-
large churches are looked at with envy by many, and        more, the strength of the church is to be found in her
many seek to imitate them.                                 adherence unto God and her faithfulness unto His
  As is to be expected, much of this emphasis on           word and dependence upon His grace. Whether the
church growth is completely unscriptural. Men love         church of Christ Jesus is fulfilling her calling in the
to glory in the strength and greatness of men; there-      world has nothing to do with her size. Very often the
fore large churches tend to generate' excitement and       small church can be doing this much more faithfully
enthusiasm. Churches are often interested in numbers       than the large church.
merely for numbers' sake. The objective of the               Having said all of this we do not mean to say that
ecumenical movement is to create one large church,         the church must not seek to grow. Always in. a proper
that the cause of the church might be advanced by          way the church must seek to grow to the glory of the
might and by power. Nowhere in scripture can we            name of God. When the Lord in His grace adds unto
fmd support for the notion that large numbers as           the church those who must be saved there is great
such must be the objective of the church. The              rejoicing in the true church of Christ Jesus. Growing
emphasis on church growth most often ignores the           congregations are often exciting congregations, and
truth of scripture that the true church of Christ Jesus    that rightly so when the matter of church growth is
is often very small and insignificant in the world as      kept in proper perspective. The church has been given
far as numbers and strength is concerned. The history      the glorious task in the world to preach the gospel
of the church, with only few exceptions, finds the         through which the Lord is pleased to gather His
church very small in the world. The large church is        church. This the church must do diligently by every
not necessarily the successful church and the one          means and opportunity afforded her. This work
most faithful to its calling. Very often large churches    involves more than merely the regular preaching in
are those which are popular among men because of           her own midst. Every church must preach to the
the man-centered modernistic gospels which they            world in which God has placed her that all those who


496                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



are ordained unto eternal life might believe and be         Refortied church has placed great emphasis on in-
brought into the fold of the church. This is the work       structing their own members. Therefore we have
of the church as a whole and every individual member        Christian schools and catechism classes. In these
of the church, not only of the minister.                    catechism classes the children of the covenant receive
  In all of the discussion about church growth one          intensive doctrinal instruction.
sees more and more one very precious Reformed                 One of the reasons for the present day discussions
truth about  the church being ignored and even              on church growth is the fact that many so-called
scoffed at. That is the truth that the church of Jesus      mainline churches of our land are losing members
Christ is a continuing church. It is a continuing           faster than they are gaining them. This is true in spite
church because the covenant of God is with believers        of all the effort toward mass evangelism. This is true
and their children. God is pleased to gather His            in most of the large Reformed churches of our
church along the line of continued generations. This        country. While many of these Reformed churches are
the Lord has done from the  beg$ming of time. Only a        busy trying to gain members through sensational
very superficial consideration of the Old Testament         evangelism programs, they are losing their own
will reveal that the Old Testament church of God was        covenant generations out of the back door so to
gathered from the generations of God's people. The          speak. This is due in great measure to the inundation
Lord gathered His church from the sons and                  of Arminian and Fundamentalistic ideas of evange-
daughters of believing parents. Parents were again and      lism and church growth into these churches. I see
again exhorted to instruct their children in the            Reformed churches around me that no longer have
wonderful works of the Lord,  and,God was pleased in        catechism classes. These have usually been replaced
that way to raise up these children as His continuing       by Sunday school classes which are at best very
church. When God's people were unfaithful in in-            superficial and often outright Arminian. These classes
structing their children they were cut off in their         are chiefly oriented toward getting outsiders into the
generations from the church. The covenant and               church rather than the instruction of covenant
church of God remained the same in the New Testa-           generations. I see Reformed churches where there is
ment. Therefore Peter declared on the day of Pente-         no longer in existence such institutions as young
cost, "For the promise is unto you, and to your             people's societies where there is regular and intensive
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as     study of the Word of God by the young people of the
the Lord our God, shall call." Always the Lord grafts       church. Where these still exist they are shamefully
new generations into the church, but centrally that         poorly attended. One hears very little about the need
church continues with the generations of believers.         of diligent and regular Bible study by the members of
This truth of the word of God must always be taken          the church, both young and old. The generations that
into account when considering how the church grows.         are growing up are woefully ignorant of the truth of
This truth has many implications as far as determin-        the Word of God  and the doctrines of the Reformed
ing  wher'e the emphasis of the work of the church          Faith. Yet there is talk about missions and more
must always be. This has historically been one of the       missions. All kinds of mission programs are being
major differences between Reformed and Arminian             tried so that virtually  everyone can be a missionary.
and fundamentilistic churches.  Arminianism has a           The people of the church need nothing more than a
thoroughly individualistic doctrine of salvation and        very superficial knowledge of the Word of God and
therefore has no conception of a continuing church.         then they have arrived, and the attention of the
Therefore the Arminian church is concerned with             church is again turned to missions. I have attended
little more than bringing about conversion of indi-         enough meetings outside of our  owfi denomination in
viduals from outside of their church, or according to       order to notice at all of these the characteristic
their terminology, getting people to accept Christ.         absence of young people. Many churches are more
The Work of the church is only missions. Every              and more becoming churches only for the elderly. Is
worship service must be so oriented that it has as its      it any wonder that these churches are losing mem-
chief purpose to bring the  uficonverted in the             bers?  A.re they not losing the most precious  of. their
audience to accept Christ Jesus.                            membership that will never be regained, no matter
  Historically the Reformed faith, because of its           how much work is done on evangelism.
maintenance of the truth of the covenant, has seen            I have heard even in circles of Reformed ministers
that its first and primary calling is to the generations    the notion of covenant generations scoffed at. Even
of the covenant. Before the church engages in mission       in many Reformed churches the success of the church
work outside of her own midst she must diligently see       is determined by how many people from the  outsi,de
to it that her own covenant generations are in-             they have brought to accept Christ. On the other
structed, built up in the faith, and taught all of the      hand, a church where children grow up to continue in
doctrines of the Reformed faith. For this reason the        the church of their parents is considered to be a dead


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                497


church where there is no true zeal for the preaching        regard to the size of our families. The church of Jesus
of the gospel.                                              Christ grows as the generations of God's people grow.
  We as Protestant Reformed churches profess to             Shduld it be the case that there is a noticeable decline
love, the truth of God's covenant. This truth we must       in the numbers of the church because of the influence
always seek to keep in proper focus as we strive            of the godless philosophy of birth control? Today
toward growing as churches to the glory of the name         even Reformed Churches in analyzing membership
of God. We can rejoice how in recent years the Lord         statistics admit to decline because of the influence of
has caused our churches to grow. The Lord has given         birth control. I wonder, if such statistics were com-
us much work to do outside of our denomination. In          piled of our churches, whether there would be a
recent years the Lord has brought in many from the          noticeable effect of this philosophy on our numbers.
outside to swell our numbers. Those who have been           Godly parents have the blessed privilege of bringing
brought in have come to love the heritage of the            forth the church. This must remain a high calling with
Reformed  faith which the Lord has given us. We are         us as we seek to labor toward the growth of the
being shown new open doors for mission work. Yet            church in the proper way.
our first calling, even before missions, must ever            We as parents must see to it that we fulfill our
remain the ministry to the covenant generations             calling to instruct our children with all diligence in
which the Lord gives to us. A truly faithful and            the Word of God and to nurture them in the fear and
strong church is the church where children grow up          love of the Lord. Along with that goes that we teach
to love the Word of God and the doctrines of the            them to love the true church of Christ Jesus and the
faith which  they have been diligently taught by their      importance of continuing as members in that true
parents and their church from their youth up. A             church. We take our children to church because we
strong and continuing church is one where young             believe that they belong to that church. We urge them
people grow up to take their place as full members in       as they get older to take a living and active part in all
the church where by God's grace they were born. A           of the life of the church.
strong church is where young people seek their
marriage partners in the church.  1~ the truly Re-            We as young people must understand the blessed
formed church children grow up to love the church  .of      privilege that we are born in the line of the covenant
their parents not because of tradition or because of        and in the sphere of the church. We must understand
adherence to an earthly institution but because that        our obligation to remain in that church and to be
church possesses the true marks of the church; in that      zealous members of that church.
church is maintained the pure preaching of the                Our churches have blessings from God that perhaps
gospel.                                                     no other church has. We have intensive catechetical
  We believe that it is God Who gives us children and       instruction from a very early age to young adulthood.
that these children are His covenant heritage from          We have opportunity to receive hours and hours of
which He will raise up His church. This is a wonderful      instruction in the Reformed faith. These catechism
and exceedingly precious truth for godly parents.           classes teach doctrine. They are not merely superficial
This truth is an encouragement to have children and         Sunday School classes as those that have replaced
even to have many children that the church of Jesus         catechetical instruction in so many churches.
Christ might grow. One of the beautiful aspects of the        All of these things we must maintain. By faithful
covenant promise to the Patriarchs and to all the           and diligent instruction of its members our churches
saints of God is that the seed of the covenant shall        will remain strong and we will grow along the line of
finally be innumerable, as numerous as the sand of          generations as God has promised in His covenant
the sea shore and the stars -of the heavens. God will       promise. Surely we must have zeal for mission work
glorify Himself  ifi the great company of saints that He    to those outside of our churches but only after we
will raise up from the generations of His people. In        have fulfilled  odr calling with our own members and
this connection we might well consider our calling in       covenant generations.



           The STANDARD BEARER
           makes a thoughtful gift
           for a shut-in.


498                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


TRIUMPH THROUGH TRIALS




                                        Visiting the Sick

                                                   Rev. J. Kortering





  All the sick are not in hospitals.                            This applies especially to "the least of these." Who
  Many, if not most of them, are in their homes.              are they? Not the leaders of the church. Not the
                                                              businessmen and successful. Not the rich who easily
  It's important for us to remember this when we              gather friends about them. Rather, the little people
think of visiting the sick. A person may be sick at           that do not seem to count. They are the children of
home, whether by reason of old age or some per-               God who have to struggle to make a living. They
sistent disease, and hardly anyone will come to visit         don't seem to possess many talents. They are the
him. Yet, if he is hospitalized for a time, the minister      lonely and easily neglected. They, of all Christians,
comes to visit, the elders, members of the church,            need visits. When they are afflicted Christ suffers in
friends, and relatives all flock down to see him. The         them as well and loves them as well. When we visit
sick must be visited wherever they are.                       them, we remember Christ in them.
  This brings up two important considerations                   Do we do this?
related to visiting the sick. First, they must be visited.
Secondly, they must be visited properly.                        Once we decide to visit the sick, lonely, or
                                                              sorrowing, the next thing we must remember is to
  Jesus laid great stress upon visiting the sick. In fact,    visit them properly. Some people mean well with
in the well known passage, Matt.  25:31-46, in which          their visits,, but they are miserable comforters. They
He speaks of Himself as Judge dividing the nations as         seem to make the sick person worse off with their
one who separates the sheep from the goats, Jesus             presence. Shame on us, if that should be said  of us.
points out that one of the considerations that He will
make is whether we have visited the sick.                       How should we visit the sick?
  The sheep will be placed at His right hand, and He            If we keep in mind that Christ is in His people
will say to them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father,             when we visit them, this will influence our visit. This
inherit the kingdom prepared for you." "I was sick,           will help us avoid simply making a social visit; we will
and ye visited me." The goats will complain and ask,          also come with the Word of God.
"Lord, when saw we thee sick and did not minister               Job had some visitors. They spoke a great deal
unto thee? To this Jesus' reply is clear, "Inasmuch as        about God and His dealing with Job. They, however,
ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not     came with partial and distorted words. They pointed
to me."                                                       to Job's sickness and said, "See, God is afflicting you
  Do you understand what Jesus is saying?                     because you have done something terrible." The
  Jesus identifies Himself with His people. The bond          Pharisees came with that kind of approach; you are
that unites Christ and His own is love! The Father            bad, and God is getting even with you. Sad to say,
gave them to Him in love, Eph.  1:4. Christ died for          but some would-be people of God try the same thing
them in love, John 15: 13. In love, Christ sends the          today. They visit the sick and spend all their time
gospel to them and calls them unto Himself, Matt.             trying to find some sin so that they can point an
11:28.  That bond is so close that Christ lives His life      accusing finger and say, "Ha, there you have it; you
in His own. Whatever happens to His people actually           are in this wretched condition because of such a sin."
happens to Christ. Hence, I was sick and ye visited             True, we must not overlook sin. Just as evil is the
me.                                                           other extreme by the  "positiire thinkers" of our days.


                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                  499


Their syrupy "Smile, God loves you" approach is just                                     m e   t o   b e   afflictred."
                                                                                               .ic        ".                          1               j
as deceitful. No, we must recognize sin. As children                                         Still more, nothhg speaks more loftily of love and
of God we admit that our sins are the deepest cause                                     joy than to show kindness to the sick and needy. Be
of all our misery. Sometimes we have to deal                                             sure you seal your expression of love by deeds of
honestly with certain sins upon our sick-beds. God                                       kindness. If a mother is sick, bring a meal to the
speaks to us this way. Yet, sick visiting is not a time                                  family. If father is out of work, lend a helping hand.
of castigation; but it is a time of healing in God's
mercy. Christ would have us visit His own, in whom                                           Jesus also said, "I was hungry and ye gave me
He dwells in love, by showing to them the depths of                                      meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a
His forgiving love at Calvary.                                                           stranger, and ye visited me; naked, and ye clothed
                                                                                         me; I was in prison and ye came  nmto me."
    For&veness  must be the theme of our visits.                                             By such visiting, we show in word and deed that
    In forgiveness, we do not feel the heavy  .weight of                                 we love one another.
God's wrath, but we experience the strengthening of
faith in the school of affliction. Then, and only then                                       This we do unto Christ, who first loved us.
can we assure our sick friends that "It was good for

                                                                Book Review
Commentary on First Corinthians,  Frederic Louis                                        Swiss Church of the canton. In  1873, he became one
Godet; Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids,  Mich.; 920                                   of the founders of the Free Evangelical Church of
pp., $14.95 (hard cover). (Reviewed by Prof. H. C.                                      Neufchatel and professor of New Testament Exegesis
Hoeksema)                                                                               in the Free Evangelical Theological School."
    This is a reprint of a commentary formerly pub-                                         This is a rather thorough and worthwhile com-
lished in two volumes by T  & T. Clark. That it is now                                  mentary on a book which presents the exegete with
published in one large volume is an advantage.                                          many knotty problems. Anyone who is making a
    Who was  F:L. Godet? The back flap of the dust                                      study of I Corinthians could do worse than to turn to
j a c k e t   i n f o r m s   u s : " F r e d e r i c   L o u i s   G o d e t           Godet for some assistance.
(1812-1900) was one of the most influential Swiss                                           Sorry to say, this volume does not always furnish
Protestant Reformed scholars of his day. He was born                                    an English translation when the Greek is used. This
at Neufchatel on October 25, 1812. He was educated                                      might present a problem for laymen interested in
at the University of Neufchatel and studied Theology                                    using this book. I advise that before you purchase it,
at Bonn and Berlin (under Neander) and was ordained                                     you check up just how great an obstacle this would
to the ministry in 1836. From 1850 to 1873, he was                                      be to you. For the rest, I recommend this volume as a
professor of Biblical Exegesis and Critical Theology in                                 good addition to a minister's or seminary student's
Neufchatel at the Theological School of the National                                    library.



                                                  Index'to Volume 54

                             TEXTUAL INDEX                                              Matthew  11:29,30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:. .M.S. 170
Psalm91:1,2.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 386        Matthew  27:37. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.V. 266
Isaiah6:6-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H.    64      Luke 2:14a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.V. 122
Isaiah6:9-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H.     79      Acts 212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H:V. 338
Isaiah7:1-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 132      Galatians 3:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L.    19
Isaiah 7:10-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 180       Galatians 3:7-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 110
Isaiah7.14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 225     Galatians 3:14-16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 152
Isaiah7:15-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 319          Galatians 3:17-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 188
Isaiah8:1-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 473        Galatians 3:19-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 231
Isaiah  14:32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 146    Galatians 3:21-23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 258
Matthew 7:24-27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R.M. 374           Galatians 3:23-29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 299


500                                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER



Galatians 4: 1-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 352                                                -B-
Galatians 4:6 & 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 395
Galatians 4:8-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 468       Babylon (Dancing), Pleasure of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 443
Galatians4:11-20 . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 490         Babylon in Jerusalem, Pleasures of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 434
Ephesians 6:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.V.     50     Bastards Or Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 105
Ephesians 6: 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H..V. 194     Belgic Confession, Article 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D.                        7
Ephesians  6:17a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :H.V. 410        Belgic Confession, Article 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D.                      88
Philippians 3:18, 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 242       Belgic Confession, Article 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 108
Colossians  4:5-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS.    26     Belgic Confession, Article 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 156
I Thessalonians 2: 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 482         Belgic Confession, Article 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 178
I Thessalonians 5:6-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S.       98     Belgic Confession, Article 27 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 199
I Thessalonians 5:9-l 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 3 14         Belgic Confession, Article 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 251
                                                                                        Belgic Confession, Article 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 297
                                                                                        Belgic Confession, Article 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 3 17
                                                                                        Belgic Confession, Article 3  1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 344
                              BOOK REVIEWS                                              Belgic Confession, Article 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 397
                                                                                        Belgic Confession, Article 32 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 428
Above the Battle? The Bible and its Critics . . . . . . . H.H. 332                      Bible, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 277
C.H. Dodd, Interpreter of the New Testament . . . . . H.H. 166                          Bible, The Interpreting of the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.G.M.                       66
Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 404                    Blindly Confident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J. 209
Case for Creationism,                                                                   Book Club, The New R.F.P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 151
   Fallacies of Evolution, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 2 13            Book Club Break-through! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 369
Christian Warfare, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 167           Book Club: Last Chance to Join. . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 414
Commentary on  Remans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 499
Doctrineof God, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 287
Eerdman's  Handbook to the                                                                                                         -c-
   History of Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 191           Calling, Time and Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R.M.                      15
Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament . . . . . H.H; 334                           Calvary's Superscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.V., 266
Halfa  Century of Theology, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 46                   Careful For Nothing, But Pray With
I Believe in the Historical Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 405                 Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.G.M. 355
IBelieve  in the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 45            Changes for the New Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                             5
Mind of theMaster,  The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 215            Children's "Rights" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 165
Music in the Christian Community . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 95                      Christian Liberty  -
Necessity ofFaith,  The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 381                 Its Place in Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 184
Our Reasonable Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 287             Christian Liberty  -
Promise and Deliverance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 454                 Its,Place  in Our Churches (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 203
Studies in II Timothy, Studies in Colossians                   s                        Christian Schools Under Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 358
   and Philemon, Studies in Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 213                    `Christian" Social Dancing Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 3 58
Studies in Philippians, Studies in Ephesians,                                           Christmas Praise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.V. 122
   Studies in Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 334           Church - A Political Machine, The . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 2 12
Suffer Little Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.D. 405         Church Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Symposium on Creation, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 430                 Church Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 397
Union Strike, Ungodly and `Unchristian . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 19 1                    Church Discipline (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 428
Who's Who in Church History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 334                    Church Growth and Covenant Generations . . . . . A.d.H. 495
                                                                                        Church Synods, Reports from Other . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                                 10
                                                                                        Command to Isaiah, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H.                         79
                                                                                        Common Grace, The Organic Conception,
                                                                                           the Antithesis and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 389
                                     -A-                                                Computer Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.S. 471
About Covenant Breakers in the New Dispensati0nH.C.H. 463                               Concerning "Life After Life" Some Questions . . . .E.C.C.                                   56
About Infra- and Supralapsarianism . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 393.                    Conduct, Rules for Outward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S.                         26
About the Legitimacy of Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A.M.                57     Convocation Address (Seminary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D.                           34
Acts of the Synod of Dordrecht (translation). . . . H.C.H.                       17     Coral Ridge Leaves the
All Things Work For Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 202                  Presbyterian Church U.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 260
And Now: An Attack on Election? . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 402                      Corporate Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 261
Anniversary, Lest We Forget: A Silver . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 246                      Corporate Responsibility in the Church. . . . . . . . . A.d.H.  205
Annual Secretary's Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.D.K.             21,    Correspondence Concerning
Another Bright Idea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 236               "Life After Life" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.C.C., M.H.                      56
Anithesis, and Common Grace, The Organic                                                Correspondence Concerning the
   Conception, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 389'              Legitimacy of Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.M., W.B.                         57
Assuming Christ's Yoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 170             Covenant Breakers in the New Dispensation,
Attacking Election Via Reprobation . . . . . 1 . . . . H.C.H.                    29        A b o u t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H . C . H .   4 6 3


                                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                  501


Creation, A Scientist on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 262             First Tango at Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 187
                                                                                        Found: A Wife That Loves God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 113
                                     -D-
Dancing, Pleasures of Babylon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 443                                                        -G-
Dancing - Again, "Christian" Social . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 358                      Gathered to His People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 162
Dancing at Calvin, Reactions to Social . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                  69     God's Just Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 362
Dancing - Full Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 124            God's Just Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 458
Dancing - Full Circle (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 149              Gospel Razzmatazz, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 378
Dancing - Full Circle (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 173              Government of the Church, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 317
Dancing - Full Circle (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 196              Graduation, 1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 413
Death More Hopeful, Life Less Painful . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                    9     Growing Reality of the
Diapers to Diplomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' . . ; . . . G.V.B. 236            Antichristian Kingdom, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.H.. 372
Dr. Daane's Distortions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 365              GuiltofSin,The           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 290
Dr. Daane's Madness Against Election . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 34 1
Dr. Tientjen Ousted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 212                                                  -H-
Doctors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 477
Does God Love Everyone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.               11     Hairs Numbered, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K.           62
Dooyeweerd's Passing - An Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . B.P. 284                       "Happy Halloween" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 140
Dooyeweerd's Passing - An Evaluation (2) . . . . . . . B.P. 304                         Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day III, Q. 6 . . . . . . . C.H.                        2
Dordrecht, Acts of the Synod (translation) . . . . . H.C.H.                      17     Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day III, Q. 7 . . . . . . . C.H.                      74
Drama, About the Legitimacy of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.M.                57     Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day III, Q. 8 . . . . . . . C.H. 218
Dwelling in the Secret Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 386             Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day IV, Q. 9 . . . . . . . C.H. 290
                                                                                        Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day IV, Q. 10 . . . . . . C.H. 362
                                     -E-                                                Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day IV, Q. 11 . . . . . . C.H. 458
                                                                                        Helmet of Salvation, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.V. 410
E.P.C. of Australia,                                                                    History, Fast-Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M.H. 182
   Progress in Contact With the .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 487                 Holding Our Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . t . . . . . . . . . R.D. 414
Earthen Vessels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 303       Homiletic Decay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 142
Ecumenicity  - R.E.S. Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 102                Homosexual Battle, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 308
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.      29     Huisgemeenten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.         69
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 221
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 245                                                -I-
Editor's Notes . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 268
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 317         IWillGo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 138
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 461         Impossibility of an Unfruitful Faith, The . . . . . . . . . R.D.                   88
Election?, And Now: An Attack on . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 402                       Inerrancy: Right or Wrong?, Limited . . . . . . . . . . . .M.K. 327
Election, Dr. Daane's Madness Against . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 341                      Inerrancy: Right or Wrong?, Limited (2) . . . . . . . . .M.K. 347
Election Via Reprobation, Attacking . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                   29     Infra- and Supralapsarianism, About . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 393
EndCome,ThenShallthe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..J.S. 229                 Interpreting of the Bible, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.G.M.          66
Enemies of the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 242           Isaiah's Cleansing and Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H.                   64
Episcopalians and Roman Catholics . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 26 1
Evangelism Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 310                                               -J-
Everyone's Duty to Join the True Church . . . . . . . . R.D: 251                        Jesus Christ Our Merciful High Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 156
Exhorted to Spiritual Vigilance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S.             98     Justification Without Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D.             17
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L.                 19
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . T . G.L. 110                                                          -L-
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 152                    Labor Bill Dead for this Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 485
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 188                    Labor's New Muscle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 357
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 23 1                   Land (Ours?) Forsaken, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 279
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 258                    Law Fulfilled in Christ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 108
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 299                    Led Prosperously While Walking Faithfully . . . . . . . J.H.                       81
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 352                    Lest We Forget: A Silver Anniversary . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 246
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 395                    Letter From Christchurch, New Zealand . . . . . . . R.V.O. 301
Exposition of the Book of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . G.L. 468                    Letter From Christchurch, New Zealand . . . . . . . R.V.O. 424
                                                                                        Letter From Christchurch, New Zealand . . . . . . . . R.V.O. 452
                                     -F-                                                Letter From the Theological School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                33
Faith, The Impossibility of an Unfruitful . . . . . . . . . R.D.                 88     Letter From the Theological School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
FallinParadise,Our.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H.      74     Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H.         37
Fast-Moving History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.H. 182          Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H.         83
Father and our Dads, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.V.O. 154               Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.H. 115
Fifth General Assembly, Presbyterian Church                                             LettertoTimothy . . . . . . . . . . ;:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 134
   in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.C.C.    39     Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.H.  158


502                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.H. 207             Our Song of Hope - A Critique (6). . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                   52
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 248          Our Song of Hope - A Critique (Conclusion). . . . H.C.H. 101
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 275            Ourselves, What About? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 198
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 306            Outpouring of the Sovereign Spirit, The. . . . . . . . . . H.V. 338
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 321
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 350                                                   -P-
Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 400
Letter to Timothy                                                                         Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 382
                         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 425
Life Less Painful, Death More Hopeful . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                      9     Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
Life Without Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 331                   A (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H.       60
Limited Inerrancy: Right or Wrong? . . . . . . . . . . . .M.K. 327                        Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
Limited Inerrancy: Right or Wrong? (2). . . . . . . . . .M.K. 347                            A (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 104
Liturgical Prizes or Surprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 141                 Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
Living God, The                                                                              A (translation)
                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 370                              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 128
Love Everyone, Does God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                11      Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
                                                                                             A (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 176
                                     -M-                                                  Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
                                                                                             A (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 223
Marks of the True Church, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 297                    Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
Membership Decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . G.V.B. 44                   A (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 272
Ministry?, A Surplus of Students for the . . . . . . . H.C.H. 461                         Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the Church,
More About Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.S. 419                A(translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . .H.H. 323
More From Outlook . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 237              Parochiaid Revived - In Disguise . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 269
                                                                                          Parochiaid Revived - In Disguise . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 293
                                     -N-                                                  Pentecostalism, A Reformed Look At . . . . . . . . . . . D.E.                       31
New R.F.P.A. Book Club, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 151                      Pentecostalism, A Reformed Look At . . . . . . . . . . . D.E.                       92
New Zealand, To My Friend in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 126                     Pentecostalism, A Reformed Look At . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 136
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V.                 24      Perceptive Analysis, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 43
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V.                 48      Physical Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 165
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V.                 72      Pilgrim and Politics, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.B. 475
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V.                 96      Pity the Poor Criminal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 378
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 120                     Plagued All the Day Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K.  ,160
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 143                     Pleasures of Babylon (Dancing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 443
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 168                     Pleasures of Babylon in Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 434
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 192                     Politics, The Pilgrim and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.B. 475
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 216                     Praying for the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J. 254
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 238                   Prenatal Perplexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 256
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 264                     Presbyterian Charismatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 235
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 288                     Presbyterian Church in America:
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 335                        Fifth General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.C.C.               39
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 360                     Presbyterian Church in America, Report of
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 384                        the Sixth General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; .E.C.C. 464
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 408                     Progress in Contact with the E.P.C.
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 432                        ofAustralia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 487
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 455                   "Protestants," The Origin of the Name . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                        77
News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 480                    Publication News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.           78
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K.G.V. 504
Not a Pandora's Box, But An Evil Root . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 369
                                                                                                                                 -R-
                                     -o-                                                  Radio, X-Rating Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 211
OfficesintheChurchofChrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 344                   Reactions to "Social Dancing" at Calvin . . . . . . . G.V.B.                        69
One, Holy, Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 178                 Reformation Day, Thoughts for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                    55
One, Holy, Catholic Church (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 199                   Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning
One Out ofTen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 211                 the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H.     60
Organic Conception, the Antithesis,                                                       Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning
   and Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 389                     the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.H. 104
Origin of the Name "Protestants," The . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                      77      Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning
Our AU-Sufficient Savior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 250                  the (translation), . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.H. 128
Our Appointment to Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 314                   Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning
Our Father and Our Dads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.V.O. 154                     the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 176
Our Hairs Numbered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K.           62      Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning
OurSongofHope-ACritique.. . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                            5        the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 223


                                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                         503


Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning                                               Synod of 1978 - AReport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.d.H. 450
   the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 272
Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Concerning                                                                                       -T-
   the (translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.H. 323
Reformed Look at Pentecostalism, A                                                             Tango at Calvin, First
                                                      . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                 D.E.    31                                                                                  G.V.B. 187
                                                                                               Television Addiction
Reformed Look at Pentecostalism, A.                                                                                           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                        . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                                G.V.B. 164
                                                                                 D.E. 136.
Reformed Truth?, Why Not Come Gut With                                                         Television, Life Without . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 33 1
   a n d f o r t h e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 221        Temple of God, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 346
Report of  Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.J.H.             96    Thanksgiving, Careful for Nothing,
Report of  Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.J.H. 240                  But Pray With . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R.G.M. 355
Report of  Classis East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . J.J.H. 407                That We May Be Healed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 325
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E.                71    Then Shall the End Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.S. 229
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 192                  Thoughts for Reformation Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                          55
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 312                  Threatening Labor Law -
Report of the Sixth General Assembly: Presbyterian                                                U.S. Senate Bill 1883, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 295
   Church in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E.C.C. 464                   Tietjen Ousted, Dr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 212
Reports from Other Church Synods . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B.                                  TimeandourCalling
                                                                                         10                                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.M.      15
Reprobation, Attacking Election Via                                                            To My Friend in New Zealand
                                                      . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                                                            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                         29                                                                                  H.C.H. 126
Response to a "United Reformed Church" . . . . .                                               Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                          G.V.B.         70                                                                                  .R.M. 233
Revolt Grows, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                              Totally Depraved
                                                                          G.V.B. 330                                    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 218
Rich Get Richer, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M.H.                       Towards a Secular Solution
                                                                                         41                                            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.H. 282
Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and                                                             Treachery, Aggression and Immanuel's Comfort . R.C.H. 132
                                                      . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 261           Triune God, The
Rules for Outward Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : D.E. 488
                                                                                 M.S.    26    Triumph Through Trials
Ruthless Lawlessness of the                                                                                                      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K.       14
                                                                                               Truth, Buying the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
   Strike Weapon, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                                                               R.D.      34
                                                                          H.C.H. 245           Two Builders, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .R.M. 374
                                        -s-
Salvation, Our Appointment to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 314                                                                -u-
School's Responsibility to the
   Slow Learner, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           Unashamed of the Gospel.
                                                                                 M.J.    90                                          . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.E. 227
School's Responsibility to the                                                                 United Reformed Church, The . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . H.C.H. 367
   Slow Learner, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J. 106                    "United Reformed Church," Response to a . . . . . G.V.B.                                 70
Scientist on Creation, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 262
Seeking the Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.M. 117                                                          -v-
Seminary Graduation Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 414                         Vigilance, Exhorted to Spiritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S.                      98
Shield of Faith, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H.V. 194                 Virgin-Born Immanuel, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 225
SignofIsaiah'sSon,The                . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 473          Visiting the Sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 498
Sign of the Virgin, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.C.H. 180
Signs in Society (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M.H. 493                                                        -Wl-
Sin, The Guilt of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H. 290               Walking Faithfully, Led Prosperously While . . . . . . . . J.H.                          81
Singapore, More About . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .J.S. 419                    Walking Worthy of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.S. 482
Sixth General Assembly: Presbyterian Church in                                                 Wanted: A Covenant Wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
   America, Report of the                                                                                                                                                      J.H.     11
                                       . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E.C.C. 464          We Shall Overcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 379
Slow Learner, The School's Responsibility                                                      What About Ourselves? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 198
   to the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J.       90    What Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 44
Slow-Learner, The School's Responsibility                                                      What's Up at the C.R.C. Synod?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 421
   to the (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J. 106           WhoWantstoBeWise? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.V.O.`85
Soli  Deo Gloria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.D. 466             Why Not Come Out With and For The
Song of Hope - A Critique, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                           5       Reformed Truth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 221
Song of Hope - A Critique, Our (6) . . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H.                          52    Wicked Nation Warned of Invasion, The. . . . . . . . R.C.H. 319
Song of Hope - A Critique, Our (Conclusion) . . . H.C.H. 101                                   Wiersinga Controversy in the Netherlands, The . . G.V.B. 33 1
Sons, Bastards Or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 105               Wife That Loves God, Found: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H. 113
Southern Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 4.02                  Wife, Wanted: A Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.H.                    11
Sown in Weakness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.K. 274                  Wise, Who Wants to Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R.V.O.                   85
Sportianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 377             Without Natural Affection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.S. 130
Strange Editorializing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 186                  Wonderfully Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.H.                 2
Strike Weapon, The Ruthless Lawlessness
   ofthe.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..H.C.H. 242                                                       - x -
Summer Months . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.J. 399
Supralapsarianism, About Infra:.  and . . . . . . . . . . H.C.H. 393                           X-Rating Rock Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 211
Surplus of Students for the Ministry?, A . . . . . . . H.C.H. 46 1
Synod?, What's Up at the C.R.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.V.B. 421                                                                  -z-
Synod.of 1978 -A Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.d.H. 417                         Zion,  ASafe Refuge.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C.H. 146


THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                           SECOND CLASS
       P-0.  Box 6064                                                                                        POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                                             GRAND. RAPIDS,  MICH.





504                                               THE  STAND;PRD  BEARER
                                News From  Qur Churches

  A major item of church news continues to be that                   The Ladies Society of our Hudsonville Church
of calls extended by our vacant congregations in                  invited the `Senior Citizens' of the congregation to a
order that they may receive a pastor. From a trio of              -picnic at noon on Tuesday, June 27, at Hagar  Hard:
Candidate Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. R. Van Overloop,                  wood Park. The bulletin announcement included the
and Professor H. Hanko, our Southeast congregation                following untranslated sentence, "In geval dat het
has extended a call to Candidate Bruinsma. From a                 weer ongeschikt is, komen we  samen in de'kerk."
trio of Candidate Bruinsma, Rev. Arie den Hartog,                    The Hudsonville consistory is considering changing
and Professor Hanko, Faith Church also extended a                 the celebration of the Lord's Supper to the morning
call to Candidate Bruinsma.                                       service of each second Sunday of. March, June,
  Our church in Isabel, South Dakota, has also been               September, and December. Apparently Hudsonville
without a pastor since Rev. Miersma accepted a call               has been one of the few- to serve communion during
to Pella, Iowa. Isabel extended a call to Candidate               both the morning and evening services on communion
Richard Flikkema, who has spent the summer months                 Sunday,
in Isabel on summer assignment,. Isabel's trio also                  Our congregation in Edgerton, Minnesota, sched-
included Rev. Richard Moore and Rev. David                        uled a special congregational meeting in mid-July to
Engelsma. Candidates may consider their calls for a               consider a proposal to paint the parsonage. With the
period of up to six weeks.                                        help of many members of the congregation, a new
  Rev. Herman Veldman's new address is 4601                       kitchen was installed in the church, the church roof
Joliette Drive, Wyoming, Michigan 49509. The                      was re-shingled, and some trees were removed from
Veldman's-new phone is 616-532-5988.                              behind the parsonage. It must have been a busy
  Rev. David Engelsma has declined the call from our              summer in Edgerton.
Southwest Church.                                                    The church roof in Pella, Iowa, was also in need of
  Rev. Ronald Van  Overloop  returned with his                    some attention. The church Building Committee
family from Christchurch, New Zealand on August                   asked that the men of the congregation turn out on
19. A reception sponsored by the Junior Mr.  & Mrs.               August 12 to put a new coat of sealer on the roof.
Society was planned to welcome the pastor and his                    The Redlands, California, Hope Church bulletin
family back to his congregation after an absence `of              contained some news on the activities  pf church
nine months.                                                      extension work being carried on in the  Redlands area.
  Rev. and Mrs. George Lubbers planned to spend                   Copies of a pamphlet called "The Reformed Witness"
about six weeks in Skowhegan, Maine, preaching and                are sent out on a regular basis. The topic in the
teaching among a small group there with whom our                  current issue is entitled "The Death of Christ." These
churches have also labored in the past.                           were sent to 998 new addressesin  Redlands and 133
                                                                  on a permanent mailing list. The committee recently
  September 6 marks the opening day of our                        t e r m i n a t e d   s e n d i n g   m a t e r i a l   t o   9 8 1   Redlands
seminary. A n   o p e n i n g   conv'ocation'  h a s   b e e n    addresses with the request that if they desire to
scheduled for that evening in Hope Church to ask                  continue receiving them they return the postage free
God's blessing upon the coming year and to set the                card. Four such cards were received from the mailing.
tone for the instruction to be given. Prof. H. Hanko              The committee also sends tapes of the `Sunday wor-
was the scheduled speaker.                                        ship services to three readers on a regular basis.
  An Office Bearers' Conference was scheduled at                     A Quiet Thought from the Southeast bulletin:
Hope Church on September 12. Rev. B. Woudenberg                   "The truest end of life is to know the life that never
was to speak on the topic: "The Status of the Elder               ends."
on the Mission Field."                                                                                                               K.G.V.


