           STANDARD
               BEARER
     r           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE
f





            FIRE THREE! The mother needs to work
          to help provide a Christian education for the
          children. This, Satan believes, is his  block-
          buster: the principle and the practical tied
          together. He knows that the moment the
          mother walks out of the door she has given
          her children quite an education.
                  See "Keeping the Fortress" page 496





                                          Volume LVI, No. 21, September 15,198O -


482                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                      ISSN 0362-4692
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                                                                                    Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
  Meditation-
       The Faith of Joseph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .482                DepartmentEditors:   Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev.  Arje   denHart
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MEDITATION


                                              The Faith of Joseph
                                                                      Rev. H. Veldman


                     "By faith Josiph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of
                 Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones."                                                               Heb.  11:22



  How often it happens that when one comes from                                       and plenty, it often happens that that church
nothing to something, he becomes a grief to others.'                                  departs from the truth which it once knew and con-
He once knew misery and poverty and has now                                           fessed and loses itself in the midst of the world.
arisen to riches, fame and greatness. And how true                                    Yes, salvation is all of God and by grace; God will
it is that such often become inflated and conceited.                                  preserve His own, even unto the uttermost. But we
Much worse this is when it happens in the spiritual                                   do well always to bear in mind and heed the word
sphere. When a church begins to bathe in luxury                                       of the Saviour: it is easier for a camel to go through


                                            THE -STANDARD BEARER                                             483


the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the       children were surely settled in Egypt. Besides, why.
kingdom of God and of heaven.,                             return to Canaan? They had left there because of a
  How beautifully this applies to Joseph! Indeed,          famine. That Joseph knew was only because God
`he had once known misery and shame in Canaan              had once promised this and they knew this in the
and also in the land of Egypt. He had risen to a posi-     way of tradition inasmuch  `as yet there was not
tion of honour and greatness. But, he never forgot         written word of God. Notice, too, what Joseph
his own or the cause of God's covenant.                    says to his brethren, Gen. 50:24. He tells them that
                                                           the Lord will surely visit them. He does not use any
  In Hebrews 11 the inspired writer singles out this       "if" clause. He simply tells them that the Lord will
event of Joseph's life, that he gave commandment           surely visit them and return them to Canaan.
concerning his bones. Strange? No reference is             Neither does Joseph say: "Remember what God
made to his life either in Canaan or in Egypt. Why         has told you, how He promised you that you will
is this? The answer is undoubtedly that this event         return to the land of promise; and now it is up to
marks the climax of Joseph's faith, beautifully set        you to do your part and realize this promise of the
before us in this word of our God.                         Lord." This may sound very pious to many people.
                                                           But, this would make God's promise very
                  ITS OBJECT                               conditional. And there is really nothing pious about
                                                           that. Indeed, how different is Joseph's address to
  The promises or Word of God-this, in'general, is         his brethren.
the object of Joseph's faith.                                 Secondly,. `Joseph gives commandment
  The incident recorded in this text is also recorded      concerning his bones.
in Genesis  50:24  - 26.' Two things are' recorded
here: the exodus of the children of Israel out of             We may well ask the question: why? What
Egypt, and Joseph's commandment concerning his             difference does it really make where we are buried?
bones. And, of course, these two matters are related       Joseph is, of course, thinking of his burial and
as cause and effect. Without the one the other             grave; The answer to this question cannot be in
would be impossible. If the children of Israel do not      doubt. Canaan was the land of the promise and
return to Canaan, Joseph's commandment is                  therefore a type and symbol of the heavenly
absurd.                                                    Canaan. With this commandment, therefore,
                                                           Joseph expresses his faith in the resurrection of the
  Faith is never based upon reason. We never               dead. He does not desire to be buried in Egypt,
believe because we understand. We believe. only            because he knew that the children of Israel would
because the object of our faith is in the written          not remain there. He did not want his bones to be
Word of God. Remove this Word of God and all               left behind because he belonged, not in Egypt, but
possibility for believing falls away. To be sure, faith    in Canaan. He would be with the people of God
is never irrational or unreasonable. Faith is never        also in their death because he knew that with them
based upon reason; but neither does it ever violate        he would rise again at the resurrection into the new
our reason. The resurrection of the dead, for              heavens and the new earth.      -
example, is above my understanding, but it is  .not
contrary to my understanding that an almighty God             Does this faith of Joseph also apply to us? 0, we
can raise the dead. But, we believe, not because we        can understand that also the place of our burial can
understand, but only because  .God has revealed it         have significance. We, too, wish to be buried with
in His Word.                                               the people of God because we would rise with
                                                           them. But, fundamentally, the question is: do  owe
  Faith clings purely and unconditionally to. the          believe in God's Word, His promise, that He will
Word of God. How fundamental this is! Yes, the             bring us surely into that land of everlasting and
devil can attack us in so many ways. The only              immortal glory? Then we, too, live in principle in
ground and object of our faith is the promises, the        Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and
Word of God. We must never argue with the devil.           Jacob, the heavenly City of God that has
We must answer him, as Jesus did, with the infal-          f o u n d a t i o n s .
lible scriptures. 0, if we lose the Word of God we
lose all. Then our faith has lost everything.                                 I T S   E X E R C I S E
  This applies particularly to Joseph.                       Joseph, it is claimed, was a great statesman. Now
  First, Joseph believed in the departure of Israel        it is certainly truth that he was gifted by God with
into the land of Canaan. This he knew only through         great gifts, as being able to interpret dreams, and he
the Word or the promise of the Lord. Indeed, at the        must have been a wise and great statesman. Hence,
time of this text all things surely appeared hopeless:     it is claimed, because of his great insight,  hecould
Genesis 50:23 speaks of the third generation. These        visualize Israel's departure out of Egypt. On the


4 8 4                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



one hand, these Hebrew immigrants would really            his life he wasindifferent, but that he kept the true
never become naturalized citizens of Egypt. And,          faith throughout his life, even to the very end. So,
on the other hand, Egypt would not care to keep           we do not have here a "death-bed" conversion.
them indefinitely. This, we understand, is the posi-      Such conversions, of course, are possible and
tion and interpretation of wicked unbelief.               appear in the Scriptures. They are not very
   How impossible this view is!                           frequent, and certainly not desirable, as in prefer-
                                                          ence to regeneration in infancy. Isn't it more desir-
   Let us presuppose that Joseph was truly a great        able to serve God all one's life?
and gifted statesman. Does this warrant the conclu-
sion that Joseph was able to visualize Israel's              How wonderful is this faith of Joseph! Let us
departure out of Egypt? And the answer is an              review Joseph's life, in Canaan and then in Egypt.
emphatic No! We are familiar with the subsequent          Now we understand the wonderful character of
history of this people of Israel in the land of Egypt,    Joseph's faith. Shall he forsake the religion of his
after the death of Joseph. And, I ask you; what else      fathers and select Egypt as his own? His own
could  Joseph  have possible foreseen? He was a           people had treated him shamefully. Egypt had
great statesman? Well, then he certainly could have       treated him wonderfully. Shall he continue to cast
visualized two things. Then he certainly must have        in his lot with this Israel, or shall he choose Egypt,
understood that the people of Israel would surely         be buried there, receive all the honours of a great
resent being subjected to a hard and cruel bondage.       and imposing funeral? Is he not ashamed of Israel;
And, living in Egypt, he surely must have sensed          shall he not hesitate to associate with a crowd of
and diagnosed the character of the Egyptians and          wanderers who have no home, no possessions, no
realized that Israel's position would become in-          land, who have nothing but a promise which more
creasingly dangerous and hazardous.                       and more appears absurd and impossible? Yet,
                                                          Joseph remains faithful. And when his dying lips
   Joseph acted as he did by faith.                       bid farewell to his brethren it is only to speak once
   Notice his address to his brethren. How dark the       more of the promise, once more of that other
horizon must have appeared to him at this time!           country; to express that he, too, as his father,
And what he speaks to his brethren was not merely         be buried there. All his life he had walked by faith.
an expression of faith on his part, personally, an        And the Lord does not desert him now.
expression of anxiety for his bones. Indeed,. he also       And what shall we say? Are we walking in the
meant. to comfort his brethren. He says to them asit      way of the faith of our  .fathers, as parents and as
were: how difficult your position may become in           children and also as young people, so that, when
this land of Egypt, how great your affliction and         dying, we may still  speak of the promises of the
oppression which awaits you. Be not afraid, but           Lord? Is our eye focused upon Canaan, the
rest assured that the Lord will not leave you or          heavenly Canaan, the City that has foundations?
forsake you; He will surely bring you back into the       Or, are we indifferent to these things, carnal and
land of Egypt.                                            worldly minded, lovers of the pleasures and
   And this was possible only by faith. And faith, as     treasures of this world? I know that only the grace
throughout Hebrews 11, is the evidence of things          of God can and will save us to the uttermost.
unseen, the substance of things hoped for. He was         Nevertheless, let us study the faith of our fathers,
not prompted by reason. He spoke as he did                hide it in our hearts, love the truth and walk in it to
because he believed. He took hold of the invisible,       the glory of Him Who alone called us out of dark-
that which the eye cannot see and the ear cannot          ness into His marvelous light.
hear, which was contrary to all human appearances           Apart from this faith all is darkness.
and could never enter into the heart of man.                In this faith we are always more than conquer-
   ITS WONDERFUL CHARACTER                                ors.

   Literally we read: "By faith Joseph, coming to
the end, made mention. . ..`I Jacob did what he did,        THE STANDARD BEARER
according to verse 21, .while dying. He, as it were,
pushed death aside, by faith, to bless the sons of                        M A K E S   A
Joseph. Joseph, however, did what he did, not in
the final agony of death, but simply toward the end               THOUGHTFUL GIFT
of his life. When Joseph approached the hour in
which he was about to leave this world he still                      FOR A SHUT-IN.
reveals his faith. And; therefore, it is not true that
Joseph believed only at his death while throughout


                                                 THE S-TANDARD  BEARER                                                           485


EDITORIAL


              Can a Classis Depose a Consistotiy?
                                                   Revisited
                                                    Prof. H. C. Hoeksema


   In two recent issues of  The Banner  (Tuly  18  and              period of 2 months in order to build a relationship
July 25) Editor Lester De Koster discusses this                     of trust and respect."
question in connection with a concrete case                         3. This report was sidetracked, and  classis instead
appealed from Classis Huron under the provisions                    appointed a three-member committee "to pursue
of the CRC's Judicial Code and adjudicated by the                   appropriate means to bring about reconciliation in
1980 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church.                        consistory and congregation" and urged "the . . .
Editor De Koster acted as the Consistory's advocate                 consistory to take steps which may lead to the
in this case, under the provisions of the Judicial                  lifting of the censure of the appellants."
Code. But Classis Huron, which has suspended the
Consistory, was upheld in its right to do so both by                4. This classical decision the consistory rejected.
the Appeals Committee, which heard the case, and                    5. Thereupon the  classis not only insisted that the
by the Synod. Mr. De Koster expresses himself as                    consistory obey, but also that it proceed to separate
being disillusioned with respect to the Judicial                    its minister from the congregation under Article 17
Code (which he himself helped to father) and as                     of the Church Order. (Note: The numbers of the
being in disagreement with Synod's upholding the                    articles in the CRC Church Order are not the same
classis in its action of suspending the consistory.                 as those of the Church Order of Dordt.)
   We are not interested in the concrete case                       6. When the consistory refused to obey this deci-
between the consistory of Goderich, Ontario and                     sion of  classis, the  classis proceeded to suspend
Classis Huron. Nor are we interested in the matter                  both the consistory and the pastor.
of the Judicial Code, except to note that it certainly              7. Pastor and consistory appealed their suspension
has not brought about ecclesiastical justice in the                 to Synod under the Judicial Code. But both the
CRC as it was supposed to do. In fact, judging from                 Appeals Committee and Synod upheld the  classis
the editor's report, the very opposite is true.                     and rejected the appeal of the consistory.
   We are, however, interested in the principle of                    It is about this case that Editor De Koster
church polity involved and in the history                           comments at length in the two issues of The Banner
connected with that principle, a history to which                   already mentioned. And in so doing he takes us
Editor De Koster himself alludes in his two editori-                back to the history of 1924-`26, as follows:
als.                                                                     What, then, was. the issue, which still  kan  issue?
   -Without entering into the case itself, we must
outline briefly what took place in order intelligibly                    Well, back in 1926, the late Rev. Gerrit Hoeksema
to discuss the principle of church polity involved.                    wrote a book of 107 pages, published by Eerdmans,
Here is a condensed account, gleaned from the                          and entitled Can A Classis Depose A Consi$to  y?
                                                                         Before reading further, ask and answer that ques-
more detailed account in The Banner:                                   tion for yourself. You will prefer the word "May" for
1. The consistory involved placed four members                         the word, "Can," because "can" implies what one is
under silent censure. When these members did not                       able to get away with, while "may" implies what one
submit to their creature, the consistory appealed to                   has a right to do-and in Church politics, as in all
classis for help.                                                      other politics, there may be quite a gap between them.
                                                                       But ask yourself, now: may a classis depose a consis-
2.  Classis appointed an investigating committee                       tory?
which, in due course, recommended that the                               Rev. Hoeksema wrote his book to give a "Yes"
consistory be sustained and a minister or elder be                     answer to his question, and many of you will know
appointed to         "work     p a s t o r a l l y   i n   t h e       why. The Reverend Gerrit Hoeksema was among
. ..congregation under the authority of, and with the                  those who shared in the Reverend Herman  Hoekse-
cooperation of, the consistory and minister for a                      ma's leaving the CRC and the consistory in view was


..486                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



         that of Eastern Avenue, Grand Rapids.                          position, I suggest that he devote his retirement
           But in the middle of his lengthy argument, Rever-            years to a crusade in the Christian Reformed
         end Hoeksema comes to a startling confession: "But to          Church which would have as its goal the adoption
         return to the question, the Church Order does not spe-         of this Reformed view, that a  classis cannot lord it
         cifically and literally give to a Classis  the right to de-    over a consistory, and, consequently, the righting
         pose a consistory." (Perhaps you should read that              of the wrong done not only in the Goderich/Huron
         again!)                                                        case but also in 1924-1926 in the Hoeksema-
           In a moment of candor, the captain torpedoes his             Danhof-Ophoff history in  Classis  Grand Rapids
         own ship. A classis  may not depose a consistory, if it        East and Classis Grand Rapids West. After all, Mr.
         be obedient to the  Church Order! So  does someone,            De Koster has endorsed the comment of Van Dellen
         who spends 118 other pages in arguing that a classis           and Monsma, "If the Church of Christ ever does
         can  do just that, encounter a moment of truth. But,           lose sight of these all-important principles, she will
         like the seasoned Church politician that he was, Rev-          suffer for it."
         erend Hoeksema had no trouble brushing aside his
         own confession. He quickly goes on to say (speaking,              In the second place, I call attention to the fact
         mind you, of his own Church Order!), "To a Reformed            that the Rev. Gerrit Hoeksema's question in his
         thinker, however, this means just as little as, for in-        little book is, in spite of Dr. De Koster's comment,
         stance, that Scripture does not contain a specific com-        the correct one: "Can (not: May) a classis depose a
         mand to baptize children!' (p. 59). But he needs 118           consistory?" Mr. De Koster chooses to interpret
         pages to rationalize  his,position!                             "can" as implying "what one is able to get away
           I was criticized the other day for seeming to suggest        with." But this was not Gerrit Hoeksema's
         that only the liberal mind winks at the Church Order;          question, nor is'it the fundamental question which
         I've never meant to suggest that, but if I had, here is a      has troubled Reformed churches with respect to
         case that fits the other foot-for Reverend Hoeksema            this issue. "Can" in this connection means: does a
         was no liberal. But given his principle, the  Church           classis have the  inherent ability,  the  ecclesiastical
         Order "can" be twisted to `prove' anything.                    power, to depose a consistory? If so, then, of course,
           The cast of characters has changed, but the  ,issue          when such a  classis presumes to depose  office-
         has not: Synod 1980 faced the same question raised by          bearers, such officebearers are really and truly dis-
         the two Reverends Hoeksema, except that it came in             ciplined and deposed; and, in that case, everyone
         terms of suspension instead of deposition.                     must recognize such deposition as valid. If not,
  In this connection, in his second editorial on this                   then such deposition is not valid, has not truly
 subject Editor De Koster raises several questions                      taken place, and no one is obligated to recognize it.
and then answers them by means of a reference to                        This, you see, was precisely the issue in  1924-`26.
Van  Dellen and Monsma's  Revised Church Order                          The officebearers involved-though now outside of
 Commentary,  as follows:                                               the Christian Reformed communion-continued in
            Any time your consistory imposes silent censure             their respective offices, continued to function, and
         on members who choose not to keep it silent but in-            continued to be recognized by their congregations
         stead go over your head to  classis,  what authority does      as ministers, elders, and deacons.
         classis  have over your consistory? May it become a               In the third place, there are some historical in-
         court, hear both sides, and perhaps require you to lift        accuracies in Editor De Koster's presentation:
         censure? May it require you to separate your pastor
         from the congregation if your consistory does not lift.         1) He writes: "The Reverend Gerrit Hoeksema was
         the censure? And may it suspend pastor and  consis-            among those who shared in the Reverend Herman
         tory together if its orders are not carried out?               Hoeksema's leaving the CRC, and the consistory in
                                                                        view was that of Eastern Avenue, Grand Rapids."
           In their wise and indispensably well informed Re-            Editor De Koster, of course, is in this statement per-
         vised Church Order Commentary, Van Dellen and Mon-
         sma respond to our questions [in discussing Article 27)        petuating the myth that Rev. Herman Hoeksema
         as follows: "A major assembly cannot force a minor             Zeft the Christian Reformed Church. In so doing, he
         assembly to accept and execute its decisions." Their           almost leaves the impression that Gerrit Hoeksema
         grounds for saying this are discussed in an article ap         also left: he "shared" in his leaving. The truth is
         pearing  elsewhere in this BANNER. And after listing           that Herman Hoeksema-and Henry  Danhof-and
         the principles implicit in Article 27, Van  Dellen and         George Ophoff and their consistories-were  ousted.
         Monsma go on to say: "If the Church of Christ ever             And Gerrit Hoeksema shared in hierarchical ouster
         does lose sight of these all-important principles, she         of these officebearers.
         will suffer for it."                                            2) Actually, the Rev. Gerrit Hoeksema was at that
   A few comments are in order.                                          time a minister in  Classis Grand Rapids West; and
   In the first place, I congratulate Editor De Koster                   he had a direct share in the ouster of the Revs.
 on his stand in favor of the correct view of Re-                        Henry Danhof and George M. Ophoff and their
 formed church polity. If he is in earnest about his                     consistories.


                                             THE  STANDARD BEARER                                              487


 3) Technically  Classis  Grand Rapids East did not       its commanding voice is heard, the consistories and
depose the Consistory of Eastern-Avenue, but de-          ministers. had better hasten to obey!
clared that the consistory by its own act of "insub-        "And its vengeance is swift as lightning!" (The
ordination to the proper ecclesiastical authorities"      Protestant Reformed Churches In America, pp. 246-
had "for the time being severed its connection with       247)
the Christian Reformed Church" and was "for the
time being and until final determination in the case        In the fourth place, I call attentiorrto the fact that
was made by the synod.. .denied  all rights and privi-    Dr. De Koster is not only fighting the old position of r
leges connected with the ecclesiastical connection        the Rev. Gerrit Hoeksema. But arrayed against him
of a consistory with the Christian Reformed               are such venerable Christian Reformed authorities
Church." The  classis did, however, suspend and           as Prof. Heyns, Dr. Volbeda, Dr. Beets, yes, and
depose Rev. Herman Hoeksema. What happened                even the Rev. Idzerd Van Dellen, who caved in and
in  Classis Grand Rapids East was that the  classis       conceded the right of classis to depose officebearers
was confused and tried to combine the  Collegialis-       when he was on the witness stand and under oath
tic and the Reformed conception of church polity,         in the Eastern Avenue court case. The chief
partly because the  classis was advised and               argument in those days was the argument of  peri-
somewhat influenced by Dr. J. Van Lonkhuyzen,             culum'in  mora, "danger in delay."
who long had fought- in favor of the view that a            Finally, it should be noted that Dr. De Koster is
classis cannot lord it over a consistory.                 fighting the official position of his own denomina-
4) It was in Classis Grand Rapids West that the view      tion's broadest assembly. For in 1926 the Synod of
of the Rev. Gerrit Hoeksema prevailed completely.         the CRC put. its  imptimatuu,  its official stamp of
In that classis they proceeded directly to depose the     approval, on the actions of Classes Grand Rapids
Revs. H. Danhof and G.M. Ophoff and the  consis-          East and West. In the Netherlands the same thing
tories of Kalamazoo First and Hope-Riverbend. As          happened, beginning with the Geelkerken Case in
the Rev. Herman Hoeksema later wrote concerning           1926 and continuing with Schilder, Greijdanus, and
Classis  Grand Rapids West: "It attributes to itself      hundreds of others at the Synod of Sneek-Utrecht
the right at any time to pick up a quarrel with a         in the 1940s.
local consistory or .pastor or both, though there be        Who knows? Perhaps De Koster will succeed
no  acdusation  against either of them; and in the        where so many others have failed. I hope so. For I
course of that quarrel to depose the office-bearers,      certainly agree with Monsma and Van  Dellen, "If
-if they presume to disagree with its authority!          the Church of Christ ever does lose sight of these
   "It brooks no opposition or contradiction! When        all-important principles, she willsuffer for it."

MYSHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                   Letter to Timothy

                                  September 15, 1980
Dear Timothy,
   In a number of our letters we have been discus-        nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience
sing the whole question of the conscience. There          is defiled."
are a few ends which we ought to tie up before we           I think, if I understand your question properly,
turn our discussion to other matters.                     that you have reference to some statements I made
   In your last letter to me you made mention of the      in connection with the conscience. In one instance
words of the apostle Paul which he wrote to Titus         I wrote that even the ungodly have a conscience
in  1:15, and you asked the question of how this          which functions and which is the voice of God,
related to the whole matter of conscience. The text       through His revealed Word to be sure, which
itself reads: "Unto the pure all things are pure: but     passes judgment upon their acts. Even the wicked
unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is             know the difference between the rightness and


488                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



wrongness of their deeds. In connection with this         power to direct him in the ways of God's holy law
idea, I spoke also of the fact that the wicked can        even though that same conscience condemns him
(and do) sear their consciences with a hot iron so        for his sin.
that these consciences speak no longer. Your                And this leads us to a discussion of the role of the
question refers to the apostle's statement that the       conscience in relation to mental health.
wicked have a defiled conscience to function
properly-unless a defiled conscience is the same            It is a very dangerous and serious matter for a
as a conscience seared with a hot iron.                   person to do something against his own conscience.
                                                          There is a motto that was, some years ago, rather
  The context of this passage in Titus 1 contains a       common: "Let your conscience be your guide."                _
warning to Titus to be on his guard against Jewish        There is, I think, nothing wrong with this motto as
teachers who were attempting to bring the Church          long as we understand that the conscience must be
of Christ back to the bondage of the Old Testament        enlightened by the Word of God. You will recall
law. Calvin, in his commentary, suggests that             that we emphasized in a former letter that the
Paul's main concern was to warn against those             conscience is never the voice of God which speaks
Jewish teachers who wanted to impose upon the             to us independently of His Word. This is an
Christians the law which distinguished between            important point to remember. There are always
clean and unclean animals. Whether this is true or        people who speak of a course of action which they
not is not immediately clear from the text. But           are determined to follow which is clearly wrong.
whatever may be the immediate reference, it is            But they justify this by an appeal to their
clear that these Jewish teachers were robbing the         conscience. And they, very piously, claim that they
believers of their Christian liberty and leading them     must do this because to fail to do it would be to act
back to bondage. Calvin writes that, among the            contrary to their conscience. But this is so much
dangers of this, was that "a snare of bondage was         nonsense and is very dangerous as well. Never does
laid upon the conscience." Calvin is correct when         the conscience speak apart from the Word of God,
he points out that this attempt to foist a legal          and -never does the conscience tell us to do
bondage on the Christians was foolish on the face         something which is contrary to the Word of God. In
of it because the people of God are pure, sanctified      this sense of the word, the Word of God is alone our
through the blood of Christ. And to the pure all          guide in life. After all, God's Word is a lamp unto
things are pure. There is no need to lay any restric-     our feet and a light upon our path. It is the  onZy
tions upon these people of God. Everything is pure        lamp and light which we have. We must not look
for them because they are themselves pure. But at         for another.
the same time, it is-equally foolish to attempt to lay
restrictions upon unbelievers because they are              The  consciende of the child of God, therefore,
polluted, and, because of their pollution, all things     speaks always in connection with the Word of God.                .,
are polluted to them. What good do restrictions of        You must understand, however, that this does not
any kind do in that case?                                 always mean that every man's conscience tells him           '
                                                          the identical thing. There is, in t,he life of the
  To show the extent and completeness of that             Christian, the whole area of Christian liberty. And
defilement of the ungodly, Paul mentions their            the conscience stands closely connected to that.
minds and their consciences as being defiled. By          Paul writes extensively of this in I Corinthians 10.
"mind" Paul means here, not only that one faculty         It is worth our while to quote the whole passage
of the understanding in man, but man's entire             (vss. 23-33): "All things are lawful for me, but all
psychological life including his mind, will, and          things are not expedient: all things are lawful for
emotions. All is polluted. The mind is corrupted so       me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his
that it can know and believe only the lie, for it is      own, but every man another's wealth. Whatsoever
filled with darkness. The will is corrupted so that       is sold in the shambles, (i.e., in the market place
it can only choose for sin. The emotions are              where meat that had been sacrificed to idols was
corrupted so that they are all sinful affections. In      sold), that eat, asking no question for conscience
fact, Calvin makes the remark in a sermon on this         sake. For the earth is the Lord's, and the  fulness
passage (quoted in part in the commentary) that           thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a
this pollution is so extensive that man even pollutes     feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set
absolutely everything in God's world which he             before you, eat, asking no question for conscience
t o u c h e s .                                           sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in
   In this way also his conscience is polluted. His       sacrifice to idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it,
conscience still functions properly (until such a         and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's,
time as it is hardened); but regardless of what his       and the fulness thereof: conscience, I say, not thine
conscience says, he goes his own wicked and evil          own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged
way. His conscience is so polluted that it lacks the      of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                             489


partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which     consciousness of guilt. There can be,-for a man, no
I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,       peace and joy, no happiness and contentment as he
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.         lives in violation of his conscience. As this sense of
Give none  offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the      guilt and this deep-seated dread continue to plague
Gentiles, nor to the church of God: even as I please     him he will be affected by it in all areas of his life.
all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit,      He  ,will not be able to function in his calling any-
but the profit of many, that they may be saved."         more as he ought before the fade of God. He will, if
  Paul is saying here that there are many things,        I may use an illustration or two, begin to snap at his
within the limits of Christian liberty, which it is      children and his wife; he will become dissatisfied
wrong for,one believer to do and right for another-      with his lot; he will not work as he ought in his
all depending on the conscience. We have a very          daily calling. His whole life will-be affected. And,
clear case of this, e.g., in the sin of alcoholism. A    when someone points out to him that he is not
person who has been delivered from the slavery of        being faithful before God in his daily calling, if he
this sin by God's grace knows that he cannot touch       refuses to confess the wrong that plagues his
any kind of alcoholic drink again. His conscience        conscience,  he. will strike out in anger, blame
too will forbid this. For him, nevertheless, to go       others for his problems, try to shift the responsi-
against his conscience and drink a can of beer           bility for his wrong to other people or to
would be a terrible sin. But for another saint, a dan    circumstances in his life, and thus  ,aggravate his
of beer on occasion would not be wrong. He does          conscience more than ever.
not violate his conscience in this regard.                 It is clear to see that this can become a very
  It is in this way that we understand that the voice    complicated matter. One sin leads to another and
of God within our consciousness which comes in           one wrong brings other wrongs in its wake. And the
connection with the Word, comes also in                  conscience is violated in more ways and aggravated
connection with all the circumstances of our life.       by this all until the problems increase beyond a
God passes judgment upon every one of our deeds          person's ability to cope. with them. The man who
within our consciousness, but His judgment is            snaps at his wife and his children knows he ought
perfect; and it is perfect because it is expressed in    not to do this, but seems incapable of stopping. He
perfect harmony with all our life, with all its          will often tell his pastor: "I know that it is wrong,
circumstances, in the place and, calling in life in      but I cannot help myself. Tell me how to stop doing
which the Lord has set, us.                              it." There is no easy answer. It does not help
                                                         merely to tell him to quit. For his anger against
  It is in this sense of the word that our conscience    others is the result of another sin, more deeply
can certainly be our guide.                              imbedded in his soul. And nothing will help until
  And it is in this sense of the word that it is so      the distress of his conscience is healed through
important that we never violate our conscience. If       confession and the healing power of the blood of
one persists in violating his conscience, one of two     Christ.
things is going to happen. It may be that, through         It is exactly because of the complexity of it all
continuously committing the same sin, his                that, if a person persists for a long time to walk with
conscience is finally stilled. As we mentioned           an evil conscience before God, he loses track of the
before, this is dreadful and is tantamount to the        tangled threads that go to make up his problem.
hardening of the heart. In the believer this can         When he comes to his pastor for help, he is literally
happen for a time (although never completely) until      unable to tell his pastor what the trouble is. He acts
God in His mercy breaks through our wall of              in strange and un-Scriptural ways, but does  .not
resistance and brings us to our knees in sorrow and      understand the reason for it.
confession. The other consequence of violating our
conscience is that we live with an evil conscience.        All can often be traced back to the conscience.
This remains, more or less, in our consciousness all       But we must terminate the letter. Farewell.
the time and results in deep inner distress, anxiety,                                     Fraternally in Christ,
fear, worry, turmoil of soul and the terrible                                             H. Hanko


4 9 0                                       THE STANDARD  BEARER



FROM HOLY WRIT


                                Exposition of Galatians
                                                  Rev. G. Lubbers


   PAUL IS JESUS' BWDED  SLAVE-SERVANT                      Jesus is the hated name by Jewish unbelief. He is
continued, (Galatians 6: 17)                                the chief cornerstone, this hated Jesus, Who is
   Do not overlook the great truth, the well-estab-         become the chief of the corner; He is elect, precious
lished fact, that I, Paul, bear such singularly distin-     in the sight of God, a very chosen cornerstone on
guishing marks-"  sfigmafe." None of the enemies            which the entire -church is built as a spiritual
of the Cross bear such marks, do they? It was Paul's        temple (Acts 4:ll; Psalm 11822; Isaiah 28:16; Matt.
peculiar relationship to "Jesus" which caused Paul          21:42)..
to receive these marks, these welts in his body,              The marks of  Jesus  Paul bears! He is unmistak-
which never would be removed on this side of his            ably a slave-servant of this Jesus. Behold his
death of martyrdom outside of the city of Rome.             stigmate! Jesus claims him as his own (Gal. 1: 15).
The KJV followed the reading which has "Lord                Paul was a chosen vessel of Christ to suffer many
Jesus." However, the best attested readings have            things for Jesus' sake. It was all given him out of
simply  "Jesus.`f And that is in this case very             grace, wondrous grace (Acts  9:15, 16; Phil.  1:29; I
meaningful.                                                 Cor. 15:1, 10; Eph. 3:8, 9).
   Let us try to see this.                                  G R E A T   BLl$XING  T O   T H E   G A L A T I A N
   When Paul tries to show the real, historical             BRETHREN  (Galatians 6: 18)
identity of the Crucified One, he speaks of Jesus,            When we compare this final farewell-blessing
the One Who came to save His people from their              with the blessing in Galatians  l:l-5 we notice that
sins. This is the Name JESUS which was on the title         this is a very mellow, touching, and warm farewell
of accusation on the Cross at Calvary. Several texts        from this great apostle, who loves this church so
will indicate Paul's usage of the name "Jesus."             very dearly. The last term of this farewell is
Writes Paul,  ". ..for if he that cometh to thee preach     "`brethren." We have called attention to this term
another  Jesus, whom we have not preached                   at length when we explained Gal. 6: 1. We shall not
(heralded), . ..ye might well bear with him." Here is       repeat in any detail.
the point of identity, historical identity. Of particu-       To these brethren Paul speaks of "the grace of
lar interest I find what Paul. writes repeatedly            our  Lord Jesus Christ. " This Christ is now viewed
concerning the name "Jesus" in II Cor.  4:5ff. "For         as the exalted Christ, Lord over all. Of him Peter
we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus, and               spoke on Pentecost, saying, "Let all the house of
ourselves servants for Jesus' sake." That is the exact      Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that
point that Paul underscores here in Gal.  6:17. In II       same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Cor. 4: 10 he speaks about "bearing about the dying         Christ" (Acts  2:36). This is the One, Who, because
of the Lord  Jesus  in the (his) body." Does this not       of the suffering of death, is crowned with glory and
include the  "Stigmata" of being a slave for  Jesus'        honor (Heb.  2:9). He is the Lord of lords and the
sake and the gospel's sake? In this connection Paul         King of kings (Phil 2: 11; Rev. 19: 16). And He is our
speaks four times of the name "Jesus" in the verse          Lord, Who has bought us with His own blood from
10, 11, 14 in II Cor. 4. This is well worth our special     our sins, and has washed and cleansed us by His
notice.                                                     Spirit. Yes, He is as the exalted Lord the very
   This name of Jesusis  the precious name of God's         effulgence of the glory of God, the very expressed
holy Child, the only name given under heaven. It is         image of God's being, Who has inherited a name far
the name given to the Son of God in the flesh,              above that of the greatest of angels about the great
Jehovah  ,our righteousness. He is the Jesus of             white throne (Heb. l:l-4; Col.  1:17; Eph.  1:2O).`He
Nazareth, whom the enemies' wicked hands nailed             is  OUT Lord, Who has purchased and redeemed us
to the Cross. But God raised him from the dead              with His own blood. He is the Lord of the entire
(Acts 3:13; 4:13, 17, 18); Those who hate the Christ        church. And Paul included himself in this "bene-
say "Jesus accursed" (I Cor.  121-3).  The.name of          diction." .He does not say, the "grace of your Lord


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 491



  Jesus Christ be with your spirit.`" Nor does he say,          women did not jubliate in the Lord (Luke  1;46; I
  the Grace of the Churches Lord Jesus Christ be                Sam. 2:1-10). But when the grace of our Lord Jesus
  with you. Paul is here an ambassador, but he                  Christ is with our spirit, then the content of the soul
  remains a member  with the other members of the               which would magnify the. Lord, our God, speaks
  church, when he expresses this final benediction. I           out in glad and joyful confession! Such a church the
  do not  `doubt that the deep and throbbing                    Galatians must be! Only thus shall they be when
  consciousness that a minister of the Gospel, too, is          the grace  .of our Lord Jesus Christ is with their
  such a member of the church, and receives the very            spirit! And this Spirit of Christ must constantly give
  blessing which he "lays upon the congregation"                our spirit that grace. By grace are ye saved from
  causes him instinctively to close his eyes, as being          moment till moment; it is the constant flow of the
  at once a grateful recipient with the church of this          gift of God! It is particularly noted in Scripture that
  blessing. This is a very spiritually delicate matter,         John the Baptist grew and waxed in spirit. He grew
  where the minister takes the shoes from off his feet!         in spirit in the preparation of his calling as the fore-
  How delicately and lovingly Paul speaks of  "`our             runner of the Lord. And in this strength of his
  Lord Jesus Christ" in all of his epistles to the              spirit, wrought by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he
  churches. This is particularly true in all the                can speak in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke
  benedictions which Paul utters (Rom  16:24; I Cor.            1:17).
  1:2;  16:23; II Cor. 1:2, 3; Gal. 1:3; 6:14, 18; Eph. 1:3;      Now this fervency of spirit (Rom. 12: 11) must
  5:20, 6:24; Phil. 4:23; I Thess. 5:9,28;  Philemon 25).       also be the portion of these Galatians. They must in
    From this "our" Lord comes "grace" which can                no sense of the term halt between two opinions. All.
  only come from Him because it belongs to Him,                 is of Christ or nothing is of Him. They must not be
. . merited for us the church, the freeborn  -sons of           as those who mumble and peep. They must fear-
  Sarah. This is all that the Galatians need. They need         lessly and gladly confess that salvation is by grace
  grace for grace from-the fulness of Christ. The law           alone, without works of law which we perform.
  was given through, Moses, but grace and truth                 They must come together and gladly confess in
  became through Jesus Christ (John 1: 16, 17). All the         their spirit that salvation is of God alone, the Lord
  grace which Paul has so highly extolled and so ably           our righteousness. And thus glory in the cross of
  defended in this letter must -come upon the                   Jesus Christ, by which they are crucified to the
  Galatian believers!                                           world and the world is crucified to them! This is
    It must be particularly with their "spirit." It was         what Paul would impress on their souls and minds
  the great emphasis which Paul placed on ~the work             in this bold  ,and rugged handwriting, "with mine
  of the Spirit of Christ in this entire letter, which          own hand"!
  seems to be the background of Paul's nomenclature               These words of Paul shall stand. They have stood
  here. It was the Spirit of Christ which testifies with        throughout the ages. They are fresh as the dew of
  "our spirit" (Rom.  8:15, 16). In this Spirit we cry,         the morning, causing the bruised reed to revive and
  Abba, Father. Paul is not speaking of "spirit" in             ,the dormant faith to respond. They are as the balm
  general, but he is speaking-of those whose "spirit"           of Gilead in the stricken conscience of the
  is quickened by the Spirit of regeneration, so that in        believers. They are precious words, than which
  their spirit they consciously know God and have               there are none more worth keeping. Keep them;
  fellowship with Him as reborn sons and daughters,             they are your life. Believe them and you shall stand
  so that they bring forth spiritual sacrifices to God (I       unashamed in the day when Christ shall judge the
  Peter 2:5). This grace is the grace of Christ through         living and the dead. Here is the fountain opened to
  the Holy Spirit with the Galatians. In this bounty of         the house of David and we drink from the wells of
  the Spirit Paul shares in his "spirit" with the               salvation  (Zech.  13:l; Is.  12:3).
  "spirit" of these Galatians. Thus the church serves             And now Paul ends with the solemn and
  God in an acceptable way. God is a Spirit and they            meaningful "Amen." All that Paul has written
  who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and                bears the stamp of the "Amen of God, the true and
  in truth (John  4:24). Paul ends with this same               faithful witness." Who is the beginning  ,of the
  emphasis on the "spirit" in Phil. 4:23; II Tim. 4:22;         creation of God (Rev.  3:14). For the term  I'Arnen"
 Philemon 25.                                                   means, it shall surely be, it is certain to come to
    When our "spirit" is touched by grace we sing               pass. It is the eternal Word and oath of God, Who
  and jubilate in the Lord our righteousness. Mary              cannot and Who does not lie. Paul is so certain that
  sings, being filled with the Spirit,  !`My  spirit  shall     all he writes is yea in Christ, and in him Amen, to
  rejoice in God my Savior." And thus "in her spirit"           the glory of God the Father, that he dares to call
  she sings-she sings prophetically the glad strains            down the anathema of God upon anyone who
  of the Prophetess, Hannah. She sang in a time when            would preach anything else than what he here
  the word of God was scarce in Israel. Men and                 writes, preaches, and defends in this letter (II Cor.


492                                        THE STANDARD BEARER'



1:18-21 (Gal.  1:7, 8). This Amen is the seal of God     preting this great letter: It is a work which entailed
upon this writing!                                       much  joysome labor over a few years. These years
  And so this letter is closed as solemnly as it was     did not seem long to me for the love of writing on
begun, full of indignation against false preachers,      this great gospel story which never grows old. It
and tender as a father to his children, now              tells of God's great love for us His freeborn
reproving, then exhorting, or pleading;. it was with     children, born from above, Jerusalem the golden.
birthpangs that the apostle writes here. Would that      May these our feeble and imperfect efforts be
he could change his voice! He will labor till Christ     blessed by the Lord, our God. I commend this work
be formed in these believers once more.                  to Him, and lay it upon His altar of consecration,
                                                         and look humbly for the reward of a weak, but
  That is also our aim in these labors of inter-         faithful servant. Amen.





                              Report from Singapore


BELOVED IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST:                        almost every day that they were here. It was with
  Greetings in the name of the Lord and King of          much sorrow and the shedding of many tears that
the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ in whose name          the G.L.T.S. bade farewell to the Engelsmas.
we labor on your behalf. Many many things have             By the time that you read this report one of the
happened since our last report to you. All the things    young couples from here will be with you in the
that have taken place in the last few months are         U.S.A., the Lord willing. Mr. and Mrs. Lau Chin
evidences of how busy we are being kept in               Kwee were just married. They will be in the U.S.A.
Singapore. Also we rejoice to see the young people       for a period of about two years while Mr. Lau takes
of the G.L.T.S. so actively and zealously involved in    up studies at our seminary. We all give thanks unto
so many different areas of labors in the church of       the Lord that He has opened the way for their going
Jesus Christ. Our own young people in America            to the U.S.A. There is a very great need for the
could learn much from their example. It is indeed        training of young. men for the ministry. The fields
amazing how much of the work and activity of the         are ripe for harvest and the laborers are few. I have
church in Singapore is carried on by young people.       been giving seminary instruction to Mr.  .Lau Chin
So. many of the things that happen are particularly      Kwee and Mr. Tan Boon Kwang for the past couple
exciting because they are things which we would          of months. I have been giving' instruction in
probably never experience in America. I can only         homiletics and hermeneutics. These classes will
                                                                             _---.
give you a very brief account of some of the major       continue even after Mr.  L%goesto  the U.S.A.
events of the last months.                               Another class of instruction in Greek grammar will
  We rejoiced to have Mr. and Mrs. Dewey                 be given to Mr. Francis Quek. As we see the work
Engelsma with us for an extended period of time.         expanding here and the great potential for the work
Since the Engelsmas had been here on two previous        it is not at all unrealistic to think of three or more
occasions they were well known and well loved by         ministers for the work.
the G.L.T.S. They performed many labors in the             In the middle of June the G.L.T.S. had its annual
midst of the G.L.T.S. and greatly helped and             June camp retreat. This retreat was held in Penang,
encouraged your missionary and his family.               Malaysia which, if you look on your maps, you will
Especially appreciated was the much wise counsel         find is in upper Malaysia. We traveled to Penang
that they gave on  almost  countless matters to the      with a group of members of the G.L.T.S. on a
young people here. Really to appreciate the value        chartered bus. This is a trip of about 16 hours. I
and significance of this counsel you must                could easily .write  this whole article just .telling  you
remember that the majority of members of the             about this retreat. We had some really memorable
G.L.T.S. do not have Christian mothers and fathers       experiences travelling through Malaysia. The
from whom to ask counsel. The home of the                retreat itself was a most blessed experience. I was
Engelsmas was visited by members of the G.L.T.S.         asked` to speak four different times during this


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                           4 9 3



 retreat. I gave a series of messages on "Our             continue very often to see new faces at the worship
 Christian Pilgrimage." The fourth message was on         services.
 the subject of "God's Purpose in Marriage." There          The organization and institution of the church
 was much opportunity for personal counselling and        here has been considerably slowed down. This is
 a good opportunity to get better acquainted with         due especially to the decision of our last synod that
 some of the members of the G.L.T.S. We received a        the church could not be organized here before the
 very good impression of the godliness of the young       young people are ready to subscribe to our Three
 people of the G.L.T.S.                                   Forms of Unity. This decision came as quite a large
   During the time since our last report we had two       disappointment to the G.L.T.S. and also to your
 marriages in the G.L.T.S. These were the first in the    missionary. The heart and center of our work,.
 G.L.T.S. and therefore they were very special.           almost  from the time of our coming here, has been
 Since I am not a Singaporean citizen I was not able      to work zealously toward organization. Now we see
 to do the actual marrying- in either of these            this organization postponed for at least a year. The
 weddings. However, I did in each case preach the         reason for disappointment over this decision is not
 wedding sermon. The unique thing about this              because we do not see the need of the adoption of
experience was that in both cases the sermon was          creeds for the newly organized church here. In fact
 translated into the Chinese language because a           there is much encouraging evidence that there is a
 large part of the audience could not understand          very great concern about a  creedal basis for the
 English. It is very encouraging to see these             church. However, it is strongly felt that creeds
 marriages and to look for the ones that are coming       cannot be adopted before they are carefully
 in the future. The G.L.T.S. will be greatly streng-      studied. Such careful study will take quite, some
 thened by the establishment of Christian homes.          time. Presently there is no final decision on this
 The new homes are already very much the centers          matter in the G.L.T.S. The decision of our synod
 of Christian fellowship.,                                seems to be at least somewhat accepted and there is
   No doubt the greatest highlight in all of our          an attempt to work in its framework. It is our
 ministry here so far came on the Lord's Day on July      earnest prayer that the G.L.T.S. can be led through
 13. On this Lord's Day the sacrament of Holy             a careful study of our creeds and to an eventual
 Baptism was administered to six young people and         adoption of them. This will take quite some time
 we heard the confession of faith of another one. It      and a lot of instruction and learning. We must
 is a very rare experience for any of our ministers to    remember  that.the G.L.T.S. has never before had
 baptize an adult believer and especially rare to         the opportunity to study the Reformed Creeds.
 baptize six at once,. For this baptism service our         Because of the growing numbers, we are
 Reformed liturgy was used. Each of the candidates        impressed with the urgent need for a new place~of
 were asked one by one to give answer to the five         worship. Added to the fact of our growing numbers
 questions of the form and then each came forward         is the fact that word is out that the Kampong in
 to be baptized. Several of the young people that         which we are worshipping will be demolished in
 attended the pre-baptism class received very strong      the next few years to make room for urban re-
 opposition from their pagan homes to their being         development. To purchase a building suitable for
 baptized. Some were even completely prevented            worship would be astronomical in cost and most
 from being baptized. We stand amazed at the'             likely far beyond the means of the G.L.TS.  Suitable
 persecution these young people have to face in           places to rent are virtually unavailable. The search
 their own homes because they are Christians.             for a new place is actively being pursued.
 Baptism is considered, and rightly so, the official        At the end of July we had the privilege of having
 mark of being a Christian. While some parents            the Hoeksemas here with us in Singapore for nine
' would permit their young people to attend the           days. As some of you have probably heard from
 worship services of the G.L.T.S. they have very          them personally or otherwise, they too were kept
 strong opposition to baptism. We are greatly             very busy when they were here. Prof. Hoeksema
 encouraged by the faith of the young people in face      was asked to give a series of lectures on the general
 of persecution and opposition. Only a couple of          theme of "The History of the Reformation and the
 weeks ago we began a new pre-baptism class at the        Five Points of Calvinism." The members of the
 request of several young people. This class now has      G.L.T.S. did a lot of work publicizing these
 eight members who desire to be baptized.                 lectures. They were held in a local Presbyterian
   The official membership of the G.L.T.S. is now         Church. The response was very good. For three
 78. We continue to have good attendance at the           nights in a row  :we saw- audiences of about 200
 worship services, especially in the last few weeks.      people. We look for continuing and lasting effects
 Our attendance lately is over 110. The Lord              of these lectures. We were impressed by several
 continues therefore to add numbers to us. We             things. First, there seems to be a goodly number of


4 9 4                                        THE  .STANDARD   BEARER



people in Singapore interested in the Reformed             for the G.L.T.S. On a broader scene we see very
Faith. Secondl?, -we were heartened by the evident         much that Singapore is becoming a center in the
appreciation for the ministry of our churches and          Far East. Many of the countries of the Far East have
for the truth that we hold dear. Furthermore, it           closed their doors to any Western missionaries or
reminds us again of the potential of the work in           even any missionaries at all. Other denominations
S i n g a p o r e .                                        see Singapore as the main center for the training
   Speaking of the potential of the work, we see this      and sending out of missionaries.
in several areas. One area of potential is for               I have told you in the past something of the
expanding the work. into Malaysia. Already the             pagan culture in which we live. We see so many
G.L.T.S. has contact with a-group of young people          striking incidents of this all around us. This month
in Terengganu, Malaysia who are very interested in         is known in Singapore as the month of the Ghosts.
-the Reformed' Faith. This group has in the past           This is a time when the spirits of the departed dead
contacted some of our churches in the U.S.A. for           are released for a time from hell to roam the earth.
our Protestant Reformed literature.. Presently the         Many rituals are performed on account of this,
G.L.T.S. has been asked to send large packets of           some of which are intended to entertain these
tape recordings to them. The present need is to.           invisible spirits. Near our apartment there is a large
concentrate on the work in Singapore to establish          tent which serves as a  -Chinese  theater where
the church here. Also we do not have the man               performances are put on to entertain the spirits. For
power to be able to. help the group in Malaysia            quite a few successive evenings we have, heard the
extensively. There is further a great need to begin a      loud drum beatings and symbol clashings of these
Chinese ministry in the G.L.T.S. Even with present         rituals until very late into the night.
contact which we have with the older  Chinese-               How wonderful that the Lord has His people
speaking community, if we had the resources we             here and that we have the great privilege to labor in
could begin this work immediately. Mr.  .Boon.             their midst. What a joy it is to see the effect and
Kwang, one of the students for the ministry, is            progress of the preaching of the gospel of the Lord
concentrating his efforts in learning the Chinese          Jesus Christ in this place.
and becoming equipped to be a Chinese minister                                                Rev. Arie.den Hartog

GUESTARTICLE


                                    ; Northern Light .
                                                Mr. M.A. Straayer



   This letter comes to you from our most northerly        families (one from inside and one from outside), 3
congregation; greetings in the name of our Lord.           births, and 2% professions of faith per year.
   It is more than a year ago that we informed you           We now count 16 families and 7 confessing  ~
through these pages of our wel en wee, and today we        individuals. We have five older families, three
can start off by mentioning. that we are still the only    middle group families, and eight young families.
congregation in our denomination situated in               Since our church was instituted, 12 babies were
Canada, a country larger than the United States. In        baptized and there have been 11 confessions of
the middle of the prairie, our -congregation has           faith, for a total presently of 39 confessing
enjoyed continual growth also in the past year;            members and 42 baptized members.
from 64 we now count  81  members, and three                 Figures can be boring; but they also in a real
expectant mothers.                                         sense show us our blessings, blessings we don't
   The Lord willing, by the end of our fifth year of       realize so much in the hustle and bustle of everyday
existence we should have grown from 34 at institu-         life, also in the everyday life of our congregation
tion to 84 members. We have, therefore, seen an            and denomination. How richly the Lord is blessing
almost exact yearly growth -of 10 members,- 2              us!


                                                 THE STANDARD- BEARER                                          4 9 5



  Not all was happiness. Our congregation also             Today these members travel every Sunday a 160
experienced sadness when four souls (one family)           mile round trip to church. And at present our
which did become members in 1978 left us at the            minister goes every other Wednesday to Lacombe
beginning of 1979. It is sad to hear the word of the       to study the Belgic Confession with our members
Lord, "They went out because they were not of              and visitors. May the Lord bless this endeavour.
us." There was further sorrow when a baptized                 We often wonder about our  labour of church
teenager was erased; that is painful, and then there       extension; much of our mission effort does not
is nothing left but prayer. Also then we may exper-        seem to bear fruit.  And yet....  Last year Rev.
ience that in these things God's grace is sufficient       Harbach expressed some of that feeling to me when
for us, and that God's children experience also then       I was on business in Victoria. Here was a field, and
that the worrying and the sadness is completely            here he laboured faithfully; and there did not seem
taken away and w,e can leave it all in the hands of        to be any growth.  And yet  our first member from
our God, who becomes all in all.                           Lacombe heard the first Protestant Reformed
  We still are worshipping in the same place,              preaching from Rev. Harbach in Victoria while
although it had been sold and now again is being           visiting his sister during his winter holidays. When
sold. Actually, we should buy it, but there is just        he became a member of our church, he did not
not enough money to swing the deal. It would also          have much hope for more members in the Lacombe
add an additional  $24,000.00 per year to our              area, not even his brothers; but today they are
budget; and that is just too much at this time. We         members, and then  ,another  family and one other
do realize that in the future we will never be able to     individual from Lacombe joined; Since Rev. Moore
buy a property such as this at the present asking          started teaching in Lacombe, another family has
price. We are thankful when also in these things we        joined, and their infant daughter has just been
did and do experience the communion, the love,             baptized. in our church. The brother said  .he was
the care and compassion from our sister churches           never going `to travle 80 miles to go to church, but
in financial help.                                         the Lord's call is irresistible.
  As our congregation grows older, we are again               We marvel at the Lord's doing; His ways are not
growing back into  ,that old faith and knowledge            our ways., He gives the increase as He pleases and
which we once had, but which we had lost. We do             where He -pleases. Our thoughts and our planning
experience a spiritual growth as well as growth in          are brought to naught, and it makes one realize he
numbers. As `years go by, we feel also that we              must sit still and listen to the call from Macedonia.
become more part of the total denomination, and in          Oh, the apostles also never considered Macedonia.
a direct sense feel more attuned to its life.               And when we hear the call, let us not expect.large
                                                            numbers and/or fast growth. No, we must expect to
  Among the new families this year is one family (5         come to  Philippi and find no Sabbath services or
souls) from Calgary. This family moved 190 miles            observance; only a few women (no men) gathered
to become members of our church; and I know that            by the river (no worhip place) that were still trying
there, was joy not only in Edmonton and Lynden              to understand the Word. And out of that small
and Prospect ,Park-and now Singapore-but also in            beginning God started the march of His church in
heaven.                                                     Europe.
   Our outreach in Calgary has at present come to a           May the Lord use us, even us; and may we hear
stop. Sometimes one thinks this is the place to start,      the call from Macedonia. May we be faithful to the
for surely God still must have a remnant here; this         faith once delivered to the fathers; and may we be
is a big city, here must be prospects to start a            found willing to go to Philippi, yea, even to the
church, to do church extension work. And one                uttermost ends of the earth. Then, in faithful
wonders if not in so doing he passes by the place           obedience, we may expect blessings, even great
where the Lord calls us to labour.  Something of this       things. Then our times may be dark, and the
is our experience. While traveling to Calgary (190          revelation of the Antichrist at hand, but we may
miles south of us), we bypassed Lacombe (80 miles           still obey God's command and enlarge the tent.
south of us). We didn't consider Lacombe, never             Then future generations may still say of us, "By
looked at Lacombe. But today 12 of our members              faith...."
live in Lacombe (2 families and 4 individuals).

                              Know the standard and.follow it.
                              Read The Standard Bearer.


4 9 6                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



INHIS FEAR


                               Keeping the Fortre.ss
                                              Rev. Wayne Bekkering




   The pressure on the Christian home in our day is       fortress. Satan and his liberators have a whole
tremendous. That the institution of the Christian         arsenal full of ploys to get the keepers to leave their
home still stands is a wonder of God's grace. Satan       post of duty.
has raged and wooed, and yet the Christian home             FIRE ONE! Women need to get away.
still stands and will stand until Christ comes again.       Satan has strategically placed a child care center
Yet the pressure mounts.                                  just around the corner and has it staffed with
   Satan has organized and mobilized an army of           liberated "sisters" who just adore children (but
female soldiers ready to batter the fortress of the       have none of their own).
Christian home.  The- beauty of Satan's military is         The wary keeper does not venture far, so as to be
that it is "all volunteer" and that you can stay at       there if needed. A strange courage bolsters the
home and fight. In Satan's army there are both            keeper the more she goes out and the longer she
active and reserve troops. The active liberators plan     stays away.
the strategy and mount the offensive, while the
reserve troops carefully study the battle plan,             Now, where to  go?. That is a problem especially
implement it. to the extent that they are able, and       in enemy territory. There is coffee with "girls." But
gain new recruits. What Satan's valiant  liberty-         the keeper returns wounded by gossip, slander, and
seekers have in view is to free their poor                backbiting. There is shopping. Again the keeper
unliberated sisters from the smelly holds of the          returns, wounded this time by covetousness,
.home .                                                   discontent, and financial folly.
   The irony of the situation is that Christian wives       FIRE, TWO! We need extra income. Inflation
and women are not "poor unliberated sisters," but         makes it necessary: If there is going to be a fortress
are unspeakably rich and free in Christ Jesus. In         to keep, the keeper has to work out of the home.
fact, to be "liberated" by Satan's freedom fighters       That logic sounds a bit strange. What is the
is unbelievable bondage. Neither are the would-be         criterion of "need of extra income"? Lord's Day 50
liberators "sisters," but evil foes. The "smelly          of the Heidelberg Catechism asks: "Which is the
holds of the home" though not without toil and            fourth petition (of the Lord's Prayer)?" The answer:
trouble is the place where our covenant God               "Give us this day our daily bread; that is, be
commands His richest blessing.                            pleased to provide us with all things necessary for
                                                          the body, that we may thereby acknowledge thee to
   The battle line is clear cut. With respect to the      be the only fountain of all good, and that neither
home the Scripture speaks much. Women are                 our care nor industry, nor even thy gifts, can profit
called to be keepers at home (Titus2:5). The idea of      us without thy blessing; and therefore that we may
the "keeper" in the text is not a military term, but      withdraw our trust from all creatures, and place it
keeping the home certainly involves a battle. To          alone in thee."
keep the home is to wage mighty battle against
Satan and his army.                                         FIRE THREE! The mother needs to work to help
                                                          provide a Christian education for the children.
   The Christian home we view as the fortress to be       This, Satan believes, is his blockbuster: the
kept. The keepers are faithful obedient wives. The        principle and the practical tied together. He knows
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty         that the moment the mother walks out of the door
through God to the pulling down of strongholds (II        she has given her children quite an education. She
Cor.  10:4). The sword of the Spirit, which is the        has taught them that what God says in His Word is
Word of God, gives all that is needed to stand fast       either, not true or it is unimportant. Christian
unto victory.                                             education is required in the Word of God, but
   The keepers' first line of defense is to occupy the    never, never  -at. the mortal expense of the


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              497



home-the loss of the keeper. There must be other          does that mean?" Quickly the- answer is given,
ways. The keeper had better spend her time in the         "2.3."  "How did you make that determination?"
home laboring from morning until night (Prov. 31),        The answer, "Reason." "Human reason."
helping to provide a Christian education for her          "Sanctified human reason."
children. There God will bless and prosper her              Soon the 2.3 children are in school and the poor
labors. If and when the day comes when honestly           keeper is bored, and unfulfilled with nothing to do.
one cannot provide Christian education without            What is the solution to her problem? Satan's long
the mother working out, then we must keep the             range missile finds its target.
home intact and the keeper in the home; That is
order of the Word of God.                                   Is there comfort and promise of victory for the
                                                          weary keeper in her daily battle? The enemies'
  FIRE  FOUR!. This is one of Satan's most                arguments seem to have weight-the pressing
frequently used and effective shots. This one Satan       weight of popular opinion. Besides, the daily
launches right into the fortress. The keeper remains      requirement of motherhood sometimes makes the
in the fortress, but is rendered unable to function       keeper ask, "Is it worth it?" In her weary vigil she
because she is glued for hours to a certain               looks to God for help. Will God bless her? Will He
electronic device. This device is programmed              defend her against many foes?
almost entirely by Satan's armed forces. This
device is aimed most directly at the keeper and is          God graciously puts into the hand of the
calculated to inflict a wound upon her. The strange       prayerful keeper the shield of faith wherewith. she
thing about the wound that Satan inflicts with this       is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
device is that it feels so good that the keeper keeps     one. He gives  -her the helmet of salvation and the
going back to be wounded again.                           sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
  FIRE FIVE! This is one of Satan's long range              Faith, God assures her in I John 5:4, is the victory
missiles designed ultimately to lure the keeper out       that overcomes the world. "Now faith is the
of the fortress, thereby to destroy it.                   substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
                                                          things not seen" (Heb.  11:l). This shows her that
  Titus  2:4 says that the young women should be          faith forms a solid confidence that undergirds her.
taught by the older women to love their husbands,
and to love their children.                                 Faith is not some vague, subjective something,
                                                          but for the child of God it gives -an objective
  The thrust of Satan's missile is to emphasize that      comfort out of the Word. Scripture always directs
children need a lot of time and attention, and that it    us to God, and God is the object of our faith.
costs a lot of money to insure the quality of life and
education that they~deserve.                                We believe, don't we, that God by His eternal
                                                          counsel and providence so governs and directs that
  Family planning is heralded to be the program of        all things come not by chance, but by His fatherly
health and safety that keeps the keeper from              hand. In Scripture God reveals Himself to us as our
experiencing the agony and embarrassment of not           God and Father for Jesus' sake. He assures us that
being able to insure the "accepted standard" of life      we can rely so entirely on Him that we have no
quality.                                                  doubt but that He will provide us with all things
  The keeper may take the position of faith that          necessary for soul and body. Whatever trials and
God is the One Who will plan her family. She is           difficulties He sends upon us in this valley of tears
quickly assured by friend and foe that such is folly      He turns to our advantage. (See Heidelberg
and not faith. After all God gave us a mind to use.       Catechism, Lord's Day> & 10.)
Besides, if everyone thought like that, soon there          The keeper has the assurance that she shall be
would be no standing room on this planet. And             saved in (literally: through) childbearing if she
think of the quality of life!                             continues in faith and charity and holiness with
                                                          sobriety (I Tim.  2:15). Rev. Engelsma, in his
  The keeper persists, "Will God give me more             excellent book on  Marriage,  writes concerning this
children than are good for me? Do not all things          text on page 78. "Motherhood is hard. But the
work together for good to them that love God, to          answer for women who profess godliness is not to
them who are called according to his purpose?"            escape it, as is possible today. For she is  saved  by
"That really does not apply; besides, that would be       childbearing. The apostle certainly means the
tempting God," is the answer. "How does one               spiritual salvation of Christ crucified and risen.
then make such a determination?" asks the keeper.         Ordinarily, the eternal salvation of the believing
The answer: "Reason." "Human reason." "Sancti-            woman is tied up with childbearing. It is not the
fied human reason."                                       case that the woman enjoys salvation for the first
  The confused keeper points to the text and shows        time when she bears a child. Neither is it so, that
that the word "children" is plural. "How many             childbearing itself saves in any sense. The text


4 9 8                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



shows this when it- adds: `if they continue in faith      fruit of the womb is his reward" (Psalm i27:3). God
and charity and holiness with sobriety.' Rather,          thus yields His blessing on the faithful keeper.
childbearing is ordinarily the way, the earthly way       Though many seek to draw her out of the fortress
of life, in which God saves.believing women in the        of the Christian home, and to shame her position,
sense of maintaining their salvation and enriching        yet God defends her. And if God be for her, who
it."                                                      can be against her?
   "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the



                                             Book  R e v i e w s


COMMENTARY  ON JOHN'S GOSPEL,  by                           Nevertheless, while the commentary is indeed
Frederick Louis  God&; Kregel  Publicatons,' 1978;        ' `evangelical, ' ' it is not Reformed. There is no
1112 pages, $19.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)         strong emphasis on predestination (which doctrine
   Frederick Godet is probably not too well known         appears again and again in John; Custance, in his
to many of our readers, although in the field of New      book, The Sovereignty of Grace, tells us that it was
Testament scholarship he has earned for himself an        his study of John more than any other book which
important name. A word of introduction, therefore,        persuaded him of the truth of predestination and
is probably in order. The publishers tell us that he      sovereign grace.) and on the doctrines of sovereign
lived from 1812-1900 and "was one of the most in-         grace. This becomes especially evident in passages
fluential Swiss Protestant Reformed scholars of his       like John 3:16 where the author suggests'a doctrine
day. He was born at Neufchatel. . . , educated at         of universal love and universal atonement; John
the University of Neufchatel and studied Theology         6:37, 64, 65, John lo:26 - "the moral disposition is
at Bonn and Berlin under Neander and was                  wanting to them that they may recognize in Him
ordained to the ministry in 1836. From 1850 to            the divine Shepherd. . .  ." and such like passages
1873 he was professor of Biblical Exegesis and            where such truths are clearly taught.
Critical Theology in Neufchatel at the Theological          The book is full of many additional, interesting,
School of the National Swiss Church of- the canton.       and valuable notes  eon various subjects related to
In 1873, he became one of the founders of the Free        the gospel narrative as, e.g., the question of the date
Evangelical Church of Neufchatel and professor of         of the celebration of the last Passover and Jesus'
New Testament Exegesis in  the. Free Evangelical          crucifixion.
Theological School. Godet was known for his firm
defense of the Orthodox Christian position. He
stood against the growing liberalism in Protestant        TULIP, THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM
theology and schools of his.day. . . ..`I                 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE,  by Duane
   This commentary is one of Godet's most impor-          Edward Spencer; Baker Book House, 1979; 75 pp.,
tant works and, as is evident from its length, is an      $1.45 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)
exhaustive study of the fourth gospel. It is,               In many circles there is a return to a study of the
however, a very technical work. In an introduction        truths of Calvinism by those. who have been
of  239 pages, the author treats all the critical pro-    brought up in Arminian and theologically liberal
blems which arise in connection with the gospel; in       circles. From this renewed study has emerged a
the text proper there are many references to critical     number of books of which this book is an illustra-
and textual studies; and there is a great deal of         tion. The author was himself brought up within a
Greek in the body of the commentary. All this             liberal Methodist Church where he was ordained a
makes it somewhat difficult for anyone but a              minister. After having studied the Scriptures and
trained student to use. We would not, therefore,          the writings of various Calvinistic authors, Rev.
recommend it primarily for personal Bible study or        Spencer came to the conclusion that Calvinism was
for Society preparation. We do recommend it               the truth of Scripture. He resigned his  ~ministry in
highly to ministers and those who are trained in the      the Methodist Church and has, this past summer,
Greek and in textual studies. For these `latter it is     become a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian
almost a must in the study of John.                       Church.


                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                               4 9 9



    The book is an excellent summary of the truth of                                    rate discussion of these truths so precious to the
the five points. It sets these five cardinal doctrines                                  hearts of the people of God.
forth in a clear, concise, and interesting way. It
i n c l u d e s   p e r t i n e n t   q u o t a t i o n s   f r o m   t h e             THE AUTHENTIC WITNESS,  by C. Norman
Westminster Confession of Faith, a brief (and  note                                     Kraus; Wm. B.  Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979; 199
wholly accurate) historical survey of the Arminian                                      pp., $1.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.)
Controversy of the 17th Century, and a comparison                                           This book adds yet another volume to the pleth-.
of Calvinism and Arminianism with a host of help-                                       ora of books on the mission calling of the Church.
ful proof texts.                                                                        But, while another volume is added, nothing new is
    All the five points of Calvinism are treated,                                       contributed to the body of knowledge which the
although the doctrine of reprobation is given no                                        Church ought to have to perform her mission
specific place in the book. Nevertheless, from scat-                                    calling. Written from a liberal'viewpoint, the .book,
tered quotes it is evident that the author also ac-                                     in a rather masterful way, pours new and liberal
cepts this part of historic Calvinism. We recom-                                        meanings into old, orthodox theological terms. It
mend the book to our readers as a brief and accu-                                       can be, for this reason, deceptive.





                                                                            Index


                           TEXTUAL INDEX                                                I Peter 3:15, 16.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MS 26
                                                                                        II Peter 3:10-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 146
Esther......................................J  K 36
Psalm 119:152 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RCH 229                                      BOOK REVIEWS
Jeremiah  33:19-21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 170
Luke  1:41-45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MS 98         Authentic Witness, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CK 499
Luke  2:15-16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 122      Biblical and Near Eastern Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 286
John  19:30b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 266     Christian Soldier, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 239
John  20:~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 290    Commentary on Galatians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 358
John  21:15-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MS 316        Commentary on John's Gospel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FG 498
I Corinthians 2:9, 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 386           Concerning Scandals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 22
I Corinthians  16:13, 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 458              Consummation of Histo  y, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 46
Galatians  5:16, 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 12          Deeper Faith, an Exposition of the Canons of the
Galatians  5:18-21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 63              the Synod of Dart,  The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 46
Galatians  5:19-21a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 104           Elders' Handbook, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 406
Galatians  5:19-21a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 138           Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters, The. . . . . . HH 358
Galatians  5:21-24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 179          Final Curtain, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 237
Galatians  5:22-24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 224          God's Eternal Good Pleasure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 334
Galatians  5:23-26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 254          God'sMan................................HC  H 237
Galatians 6:1-5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 281       God's Ultimate Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 190
Galatians 6:1-5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 308         He Gathers the Lambs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 224
Galatians 6:4-10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 346          Het Scharlaken Koord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 167
Galatians  6:10-16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 393          Holy Spirit, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 95
Galatians  6:14-17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 465          I Believe in the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 405
Galatians  6:17-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 490         Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 478
I Timothy 4:1-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 183          Jesus As They Saw Him. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 239
Hebrews ll:ll-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 50             Jesus  of  Nazareth in Word and Deed. . . . . . . . . . . . HH 286
Hebrews 11:17-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 194             Maker and Craftsman, the Story of Dorothy
Hebrews  11:20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338         L.  Sayers.............+.;.................H H 22
Hebrews  11:21.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HV 410            Nurturing Children in the Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 118
Hebrews11:22.............................H  V 482                                       On Your Way Rejoicing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 431
Hebrews 12:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 242         Perspectives on Pentecost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214


500                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



 Piety of John Calvin, The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH -71                Calling in Today's Ecclesiastical World, Our. . . HH 53
 Safe in ihe Harbor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH  405         Calvary's Victory Cry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 266
 Schilder Trilogy, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 71                Can a Classis Depose a Ccnsistory?
 Sermons on Job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH  310            -Revisited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485
 Sovereignty of Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 454              Canons and Reprobation Reinterpreted, The. . HCH 391
 Stories Children Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 214             Canons and Reprobation Reinterpreted,
 Story Bible For Young Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 143                         The(2).................................HC  H 414
 Story Bible for Older Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 191                    Christian News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 358
 Studies in Exodus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 286              Christian Reformed Reactions to the Study
 Studies in Genesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 238               Report on the Boer Gravamen. . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 417
 Theological Dictionary of the O.T. . III. . . . . . . HCH 22                              Christian Rock Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 232
 Time Is Fulfilled, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 238              Christians and Muslim Mosques. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 383
 ToBeNearUntoGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 238                  Church in New Zealand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 65
 Tulip, The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light                                          Churches in Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 67
     of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DS 498     Concerning Christ's Contradiction. . . . . . . . . . . . MS 242
                                                                                           "Conservative's" Answer for Discipline, A. . . GVB 113
                                                                                           Continuing in the Fear of the Lord in
                                      -A-                                                     Our Homes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 158
                                                                                           Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 351
AELC and the Trinity, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 43                        Covenant of the Day and Night, The. . . . . . . . . . . MS 170
About Registration for Military Service. . . . . . HCH 245                                Creation and Biology. . . . . .t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 23 1
About the Covenant of Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 253
About the Fifth Commandment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 233                                                                      -D-
AbouttheImageofGodinMan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 444
About the Keys of the Kingdom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 234                          Daane the Scholastic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 127
About the Origin of the Soul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 425                     Decretal Theology-Dead Wrong,
Advantageous providence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 74                           James Daane on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 125
Annual Secretary's Report RFPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 93                            Discipline, A "Conservative's" Answer for . . . GVB 113
Another "Victory" Like This. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 471                        Dr. Daane Recalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 472
Antichrist, In Praise of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 77
Apostasy: Its Sinister Nature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 183                                                                -E-
Are You Troubled by Current Events. . . . . . . . GVB 356
As to Change in the Student Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 293                          Eating and Drinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 180
Assault on the Christian Home and Family:                                                 Ecumenism to the "nth" degree. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 328
   The International Year of the Child. . . . . . . . . WB 208                            Ecumenism With a Vengeance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 319
Assault on the Christian Home-Marriage. . . . . WB 348                                    Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 197
                                                                                          Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 317
                                     -B-                                                  Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 341
                                                                                          Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 413
Bear One Another's Burdens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM 156                           Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461
Beginning Our Homes in the Fear of God . . . . . AdH 88                                   Educate Our Children?, Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 207
Believer's Calling in Missions, The. . . . . . . . . . RDD 203                            Election and Reprobation Inseparable
Believing While Dying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 410                      i n C a l v i n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H C   H   3 1 8
Bible Reading and Bible Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . GVB 381                              Environmental Pollution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK 429
Binding of the Strong Man, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . WB 446                        Esther-God's Providential Care (concluded). . . . J K 36
Biology, Creation and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 231                  Evils of Gambling Multiply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 153
"Blue-penciling" the Psalms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 42                         Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 12
Boer Gravamen, CRC Decision on the. . . . . . . HCH 440                                   Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 63
Boer Gravamen, Christian Reformed Reactions                                               Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 104
   to the Study Report on the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 417                      Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 138
Boer Gravamen, Reactions of the CRC                                                       Exposition of Galatians . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 178
   Decision on the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 462               Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 224
Boer Gravamen, The Study Report on the. . . . HCH 365                                     Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 254
Boer Gravamen, and Scripture,                                                             Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 281
   The Study Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 366                  Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 308
"Burns Plays God". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 152                  Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 346
                                                                                          Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 393
                                     -C-                                                  Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 465
                                                                                          Exposition of Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL 490
CRC Decisions on the Boer Gravamen. . . . . . . HCH 440
CRC or CCC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 382                                                       -F-
Call to Separation, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 188
Called a Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 434            Faith of Joseph, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 482


                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                             501



FearofGodintheHome,The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AdH 19                                    Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . RF 235
FearofGodintheHome,The  ..+. . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 158                                  Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . RF 275
Fear of the Lord, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM 401                     Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . RF 301
Fearful Jacob Meets Fearsome Esau. . . . . . . . . . . . JH 426                               Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . RF 396
Final Orders to a Militant Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 458                            Letter from Covenant Protestant Reformed Church .355
(Fornication), "Porneia" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 205                        Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 39
"Freedom" of Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 41                         Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 83
Further Grief of Mind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 61                    Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 111
Further Threats for Christian Schools . . . . . . . . GVB 473                                 Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 165
                                                                                              Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 201
                                        -G-                                                   Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 248
                                                                                              Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 272
GKN and the Homosexual, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 423                                 Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 296
Gambling Multiply, Evils of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 153                           Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 332
God's Eternally Founded Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH 229                                Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 373
                                                                                              Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 403
                                        -H-                                                   Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 448
                                                                                              Letter to Timothy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 487
HansKung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..GV B 357                 Looking Upon Jehovah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM 86
HarryBoerisRight! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HCH.lOl                        Love at First Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 135
Harry Boer is Wrong! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 102
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day X Q. 27. . . . . CH                                    2                                        -M-
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day X Q. 28. . . . . CH 74
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XI Q. 29,30.  CH 218                                         Minister: Specialist or Shepherd, The. . . . . . . . WGB 324
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XII Q. 31 . , . CH 362                                       Minister, To Be a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 231
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XII Q. 32 . . . CH 434                                       Mission Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 32
Homeward Bound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 256                    Missionary Report From Singapore . . . . . . . . . . AdH 492
Homosexual, The GKN and the . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 423                                 Missions and Preaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 344
Homosexuals, Ordination of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 115                            Missions and the Local Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 369
Homosexuals in the Reformed Churches                                                          Missions by the Word of the Risen Lord. . . . . . RDD 68
   of the Netherlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 263                    Missions: God's Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 322
                                                                                              Missions in the Book of Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 106
                                        -I-                                                   More of the "Unchurched" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 66
                                                                                              More on Benevolence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 470
In Praise of Antichrist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 77                     Mother of My Lord, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 98
In Pursuit of Excellence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 423
Incarnation, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 279                                                   -Ni
Incarnation (conclusion), The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 306
International Year of the Child, Assault on the                                               New Chapter in the Westminster
   Christian Home and Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB 208                                Confession?, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 29
Is the OPC Next?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 271                   New Zealand, The Church in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 65
Isaac's Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 338           News from Birmingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 131
                                                                                              News From China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 81
                                        -J-                                                   News from Lansing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SH 277
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 24
Jacob Meets Esau. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 162              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 72
Jacob Refuses Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 476                     News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 95
James Daane on Decretal Theology                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 120
   - D e a d W r o n g ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H C   H   1 2 5    News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 144
Jesus is the Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 362               News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 168
Joy of Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 328              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . KGV 192
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 216
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 264
                                       -K-                                                    News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 288
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 312
Keeping the Fortress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB 496                 News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 359
Klooster on Hoeksema's Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 128                                News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . i . . . . . . . . KGV 383
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 407
                                       -L-                                                    News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 432
                                                                                              News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 456
Ladder of Grace, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 115                 News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 479
Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . RF 129                                News From Our Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KGV 503
Last Time: How Are We Living, The . . . . . . . . . . . . RF 160                              Northern Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAS 494


502                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



                                          -o-  .c                                                  Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 470
                                                                                                   Questions Concerning Rachel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 351
OPC Next?, Is the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 271
Of Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 283                                                             -R-
O f G o d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R V   0   1 8 5
Of God's Eternal Decree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 210                              Reactions to the CRC Decision on                                           '
Of Holy Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 90                            the Boer Gravamen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 462
Of Holy Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 140                      Reactions to the Merger Proposed . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 439
Of Providence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 378                    Reformation cf the Church, Pamphlet on the
Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the                                                                by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 14
    Punishment Thereof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . RVO 467                          Reformation of the Church, Pamphlet on the
Of Writing and Publishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                           5        by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 59
Old Argument in New Garb, An. . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 174                                      Reformation of the Church, Pamphlet on the
Omitted Text, An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 389                            by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 133
On Situation Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 65                         Reformation of the Church, Pamphlet on the
Oops! A Nine-Billion Year Mistake . . . . . . . . . . GVB 153                                         by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 320
Ordination of Homosexuals. . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 115                                 Reformation of the Church,.Pamphlet  on the
Orthodox Christian Reformed Church, The . . . GVB 262                                                 by  Dr; A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 371
"Ounce of Mother," An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 421                          Reformation of the Church, Pamphlet on the
Our Calling in Today's Ecclesiastical World. . . . HH 53                                              by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 418
                                                                                                   Reformation of the Church, Pamphleton the
                                          -P-                                                         by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 474
                                                                                                   Reformed Doctrine of Reprobation, The . . . . . . . DE 34
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Reformed Doctrine of Reprobation, The . . . . . . . DE 258
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 14                                  Reformed or Baptist-Either...Or. . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 341
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Reformed Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 390
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 59                                  Replete With Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 173
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Report from Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `: . AdH 329
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 133                                 Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 72
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 240
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . : HH 320                                 Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 432
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Report of Classis West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 48
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 371                                 Report of Classis West. . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 336
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Reprobation, The Reformed Doctrine of . . . . . . . DE 34
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 418                                 Reprobation, The Reformed Doctrine of . . . . . . . DE 258
Pamphlet on the Reformation of the Church                                                          Reprobation Inseparable in Calvin,
   by Dr. A. Kuyper (Translation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 474                                    E l e c t i o n a n d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H C   H   3 1 8
Pass the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                   7      Reprobation Reinterpreted, The Canons and. . HCH 371
Peter's Restoration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS' 314                     Reprobation Reinterpreted,
Pillar of Witness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 298                     The Canons and (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 414
"Porneia" (Fornication) . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . GVB 205                             Revealed By the Spirit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MS 386
"Porneia" Again,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 261
Prayerful and Proper Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 398                                                                           -s-
Praying For Politicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WGB 108
Presbyterian Amalgam?, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269                                 Sarah's Faith to Conceive Seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 50
Prebyterian Amalgam?, A (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 436                                  Seminary Convocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                             7
Pre-Seminary Graduation Address . . . . . . . . . . RDD 423                                        Seminary Convocation Address . . . ; . . . . . . . . . HCH                                    7
Pre-Seminary Graduation-Class of 1980. . . . . HCH 413                                             Shepherd's Visit to Bethlehem, The . . . . . . . . . . . HV 122
Prevailing by the Power of Prayer . . . . . . .' . . . . . . JH 375                                Sin of Sodom, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 207
Principles of Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 176                          Singapore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 451
Principles of Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 250                          Situation Ethics, On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 65
Providence of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH                  2      SonofGodOurSavior,The.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 218
Pseudo-Westminster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : HCH 221                             "State-Owned Children" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 422
Pursuit of Excellence, In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 423                            Student Aid, As to Changes in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 293
                                                                                                   Study Report on the Boer Gravamen . . . . . . . . . HCH 365
                                         -Q-                                                       Study Report, Boer Gravamen and Scripture. . HCH 366
                                                                                                   Supplanter is Sent Away, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JH 43
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 57                    Synodof1980.............................GV  B 441
QuestionBox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 154
Question Box. . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 233                                                             -T-
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 252
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 425                   Teaching Our Children the Fear of the Lord. . . AdH 303
Question Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 444                   Test-tube Babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 199


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                        503


That Troublesome and Sinful Triangle . . . . . . . . . JH 226                      Westminster Confession?,
To Be a Minister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 231        A New Chapter in the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 29
To Be a Minister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 357    .Westminster Confession of Faith, The. . . . . . . . RVO 16'
Toorak's Church "Marriage" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 473                   Westminster Confession of Faith, The
Trial of Abraham's Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 194              Chapter I, Articles l-5. . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . RVO 90
Trinity, The AELC and the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 43                Westminster Confession of Faith, The
Two Magazines Unite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 113               Chapter I, Articles 6-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 140
                                                                                   Westminster Confession of Faith, The
                                   -u-                                                Chapter II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 185
                                                                                   Westminster Confession of Faith,
"Unchurched,`,' More of the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . 66               Westminster Confession of Faith, The
Urgent Suggestion, An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461               Chapter III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 210
                                                                                   Westminster Confession of Faith, The
                                   -v-                                                Chapter IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 283
                                                                                   Westminster Confession of Faith, The.
Verhey Case Appealed (Again) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 327                      C h a p t e r V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R V   0   3 7 8
                                                                                   Westminster Confession of Faith, The
                                                                                      Chapter VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO 467
                                                                                   What of the Hostages?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 421
What Gospel?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 149      Why?..................;..................HC  H 197
WhatIsYourHope?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;.;.,MS           26      Why Educate Our Children? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 207
WhatOughtWetoBe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:. . ..C H 146                   Wonder pf the Resurrection, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 290


                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On September 18, 1980, our beloved parents, MR.  & MRS.                            On September- 18, 1980, the Lord willing, our parents; MR.  &
ARTHUR DEJONG will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.                       MRS. BERT  MARING, will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.
We, their grateful children and grandchildren thank the Lord for                   We are grateful to God for their covenant instruction end guidance.
sparing them these many years and for the training and instruction                    We confess. with them that our heavenly Father has been. ever
received from their hand.                                                          faithful in the midst of the trials they have experienced in their years
   Our prayer is that our Covenant God may continue to bless them                  together. Our prayer is that our heavenly Father will continue to keep
and keep them in every way.                                                        them in His abiding care.
                                      Frank and Joyce Antczak                               their children &grandchildren,
                                      Art and Sarah DeJong                                      Eugene & Ruth Ann DeBoer
                                      Harold and Carol Brands                                   Monica, Michael &Michelle
                                      Ken and Marilyn DeJong                                2 children have passed on to glory
                                      Wayne and Vicki DeJong                                    Sheryl  Lynn
                                     Jim and Becky Hanemaayer                                   Robert Alan
                                      George and Denise DeJong
                                      Homer DeJong
                                      Don and Cindi DeJong
                                      Bill and Pat DeJong                                                       ANNOUNCEMENT
                                      Anita DeJona
                                      Lewis and J&et DeJong                           The League of Eastern Men's and Ladies' Societies will meet at
                                      Esther DeJong                                Hope Church on October 1. Rev. Michael De Vries will speak on "The
                                      John DeJong                                  Implications of Our Personal Confession `I Believe'." Everyone is
                                      A n n   D e J o n g                          welcome.
                                      Henry DeJong
                                      and 29 grandchildren





                                   News From Our Churches

   Rev. James Slopsema has declined the call he                                    from Holland. Rev. Herman Veldman preached in
received from our Holland, Michigan congregation.                                  Redlands during the month of August. Another of
Holland has now extended  a. call to Rev. Marvin                                   our retired ministers; Rev. John Heys, plans to
K a m p s .                                                                        preach in Redlands,during the month of September
    Rev. Kamps had just declined a call  .from                                     and the first week of October.
Redlands, California when he received the call                                        Professor Homer C. Hoeksema has declined the

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

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504                                        THE STANDARD BEARER


call extended to him by our Hope, Walker,                       Mr. and Mrs. Lau Chin Kwee arrived in Grand
Michigan congregation.                                        Rapids from Singapore in mid-August. Mr. Lau will
   Rev. Heys conducted services at our home                   take a special two-year course in our Seminary. The
mission station in Birmingham, Alabama while                  Laus are members of the G.L.T.S. in Singapore, the
Rev. Van  Overloop  and his family took their                 group with whom Rev, Arie den Hartog is working.
vacation. Rev. Van  Overloop  has begun a radio               The Foreign Mission Committee of our churches
broadcast over a station in Birmingham. This  one-            has asked the council of our Southwest Church to
hour broadcast on Sunday morning features the                 make travel and living arrangements for their stay
morning sermon preached by Rev. Van  Overloop                 in Grand Rapids.
the previous Sunday.                                            Rev. Lubbers spent a few weeks this summer
   A report to the South Holland congregation by           preaching in Maine at the request of a church group
the South Holland Council concerning the work of           there.
Rev. Van  Overloop  as missionary in Birmingham                 Rev. Michael De Vries, a son of the Pella, Iowa
included the following: "We are pleased with the              congreagtion, preached in Pella while Pella's
apparent results of Rev. Van Overloop's work thus          pastor, Rev. Miersma, was on vacation.
far but we can see that missionary work, by its very
nature, is very hard and slow with all kinds of                 The reader response to our request for help in
disappointments and setbacks. We believe we must           translating a Spanish letter in the August 1 issue
be patient and realize that missionary work is            was overwhelming. Written translations arrived
heeding the command of Christ to `Preach the              from California, Colorado, Michigan, and
Gospel,' and we cannot evaluate the work by man's          Pennsylvania. Quite a number of phone calls were
standard of success. We are                               also received. The business manager was gratified
                                successful  when we
obey God's command to go and preach-anything              that all of the translations agreed! Thanks for your
more is the Lord's blessing of the work and a bonus       help. More on this in a later issue.
to us mere creatures if He `saves such as should be             This column is the 105th by the  undersigned-
saved'. . . . We strongly recommend, any who can, to      and the last. After five years it is time for some
go and see the work and the people. They love to              "new blood." The new Church News Editor is:
see you come and you are treated royally."                           Mr. Calvin Kalsbeek
   Rev. and Mrs. George Lubbers celebrated their                     13 13 Wilson SW
50th wedding anniversary with an open house,                         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504
(very well attended).on  August 15.                       Please forward your news items to Mr. Kalsbeek.
   By August 10, -aluminum siding was on the new          Those of you who have read the "Monday Notes"
church building being erected in Wyckoff, New             authored by Mr. Kalsbeek in his position as admin-
Jersey. The church steeple is the next project being      istrator of our Adams St. Christian School will agree
worked on. Rev. Hanko writes, "Indeed, we have a          that,he is well qualified for-his new position.
beautiful `church in the wildwood.' We long for the             I would like to thank the pastors, clerks of
day when we shall, D.V., worship our God there.."         classis, bulletin clerks, clerks, and "special corres-
   Our congregation in Loveland, Colorado recently        pondents" whb were so faithful in sending
undertook a special project to place new Bibles and       bulletins. and other items without which this
Psalters in the church. These new books were              column would be quite empty.
purchased with the proceeds of special collections              I would like to close with a phrase borrowed
and some special projects undertaken by various           from my predecessor's' predecessor on this page:
groups within  the church, such as the Choral             "See you in Church!"
Society.                                                                                                     K.G.V.


