     .STANDARD
           BEARER
P           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





       We, who  in. times  pa.st were without
     Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of
     Israel...are now made nigh only by the blood
     of Christ.. . . We confess according to The
     Holy Scriptures as from the depth of our own
     hearts that it is-not of ourselves that we are
     thus, for we were dead, but of God Who by
     His Holy Spirit made us alive. Our boast is in
     God alone.. . .
     From "The Resolution of Membership" of
                                        the ERCS - page 274



                                          Volume  LVIII, No. 12, March  15,1.982 2


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
                            CONTENTS                                                                            ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                       Semi-monthly,  except~monthly  during June, July, and August.
                                                                                       Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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  Meditation-                                                                Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
     Our Lord's Coronation. . . . . . . . . . .  .  .  .  .  . 266           Department Editors: Rev. Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Rev. Arie
                                                                             denHartog,  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J.  Engelsma,  Rev. Richard
  The Institution of the Evangelical                                         Flikkema, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hando,  Rev. John A. Heys,  Mr.
                                                                             Calvin Kalsbeek, Rev. Kenneth  Koole, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George C.
                                                                             Lubbers, Rev. Rodney Miersma, Rev. Marinus Schipper,  Rev. James Slopsema,
     Reformed Church of Singapore . . ...... 269                             Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren,  Rev. Ronald Van Overloop, Rev. Herman  Veldman.
  The Organization of the ERCS. . . . . .                                    EditorialOffice:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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MEDITATION

                                     Our Lord's Coronation
                                                                  Rev. C. Hanho


                Ques. 50. Why is it added; "and sitteth at the right hand of God. "
                Am. Because Christ is ascended into heaven  for  this end, that He might appear as head  of
            His church, by Whom the Father governs all things.
                Ques. 51. What profit is thisglory of Christ, our head, unto us?
               Ans. First, that by His Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly graces upon us His members; and
            then that by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.
                                                                                          Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 19

  "The Lord (Jehovah) said to my Lord (Adonai,                                 until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Psalm
the mighty Conqueror), sit Thou at My right hand,                              11O:l).


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              267



 This prophecy was realized on Christ's corona-             The more we think about this the more stagger-
tion day. When our Lord arose from the dead and           ing it becomes! What a glorious day that was when
ascended to heaven He was accompanied by ten              the angels were sent out to accompany our Lord in
millions of angels, who accompanied Him to the            His triumphal entry in His kingdom! The breach
throne of our eternal God, where He received the          that had been made in the angel world when the
crown, with power and authority to rule over all          devil and his demons rebelled and were cast out
the works of God's hands (Daniel 7: 13, 14).              was now finally healed, as our Lord assumes His
  What a glorious moment that was for our Lord! It        place of authority over the angels who eagerly obey
was the moment He had looked forward to with              His bidding. They are far more involved in the
eager anticipation during all His life and ministry       work of our salvation than we realize. What a bles-
here on earth. Even when He repeatedly referred to        sed day that was for the saints when they saw their
Himself as the Son of man He had in mind this glo-        Redeemer and Savior face to face in His glory. How
rious exaltation. For the Scripture had foretold that     wonderful for them that now they can see God
through the deepest humiliation this Son of Adam          fully revealed to them in all His perfections in Jesus
would be exalted to heavenly glory far above the          Christ, so that they can live and reign with Christ to
angels. He must often have sung in His soul, "What        the glory of the Father! How blessed for us to know
is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of      that our dear departed ones now wear a crown with
man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made           Christ in His kingdom!
him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned        But what a terrible day that was for the devils
him with glory and honor.... 0 Lord, our Lord, how        and demons, along with all the wicked in hell! For
excellent is Thy name in all the earth" (Psalm  8:4,      one of the first duties that Christ carried out in His
5, 9). Often Jesus spoke of His kingdom, reminding        new position of authority was to proclaim His
His disciples that His kingdom is not of this earth,      victory to the inhabitants of hell, whereby their
but is heavenly, spiritual and eternal. He assured        condemnation is sealed forever (I Peter  3:19, 20).
them in His preaching that the Son of man would           Once for all, the Accuser of the brethren, who still
soon enter into His kingdom. When He stood be-            entered heaven in the old dispensation, is banished
fore Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin He boldly testified       from that heavenly realm (Rev. 12:8).  Satan and his
under oath that He was the Christ, the Son of the         host have received their death sentence, so that
living God, and added, "Nevertheless I say unto           they know that they have but a little while before
you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on     they will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone
the right hand of power, and coming with the              (Matthew  8:29). Also the wicked of all the ages
clouds of heaven" [Matthew  26:64). Also after His        must realize now the utter hopelessness of their sit-
resurrection Christ showed His disciples that He          uation. What a cry of anguish arises from the lips of
had to suffer all these things, even to the death of      the wicked as they gnash their teeth and chew their
the cross, in order to enter into His glory /Luke         tongues in a much deeper torment of despair!
24:26).                                                     What a difference the exaltation of Christ has
  This was another step in Christ's exaltation and        made upon the nations of the earth! On the day of
the beginning of His work as the Great Servant of         Christ's coronation the millennium of Revelation
God in heaven, our great Prophet, our exalted             20 was introduced. Scripture informs us that for the
Highpriest, and our eternal King. Literally  all          past "one thousand years," taken symbolically as a
power was entrusted to Christ, over the angels and        full period of time determined by the Almighty, the
saints in heaven, over the devil and demons of hell,      devil had been bound in regard to the nations of the
over the nations of the earth, over sun, moon, and        earth. This does not mean that he had been unable
stars, and over every creature that is upon the earth     to tempt individuals or to attack God's church with
and in the sea. This is a derived power. God still        heresies and other seductions. But it does mean
occupies the throne as sovereign Potentate of po-         that he was not able to establish a world empire
tentates, Lord over all, but He exercises His power       through these nations. This new dispensation in
and carries out His eternal counsel through our           this sense is different from the old, when nations
Lord Jesus Christ. It is at the same time a universal,    like Assyria, Babylon, the Medo-Persian kingdom,
totalitarian control over all things in heaven, on        the Macedonian empire, and the Roman empire
earth, and in hell. Our Catechism stresses the fact       could temporarily rule the known world. Since
that Christ exercises this power as  Head of His          Christ's ascension all the attempts that have been
church,  of which we are members. He builds His           made to establish a world empire, even as recently
church, brings His saints to glory through the judg-      as Napoleon and Hitler, have utterly failed. In the
ments that are brought upon the wicked, and es-           meantime, Christ has carried out the counsel of
tablishes His kingdom in the new creation, that           God as contained in the book with its seven seals
God may be all in all!                                    (Revelation  5:6, 7). Only the exalted Christ, as the


268                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Lamb for sinners slain, was found worthy to break         Zion's holy hill. Therefore Scripture can assure us
the seals of that book and carry out all that is          that "All things are yours"-the world, the crea-
written in it. As a result, the white horse has gone      tures of the earth, tree and plant and flower, `life
forth spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth       and death, things present and things to come; all
and to the islands of the sea, conquering over and        are yours-"and ye are Christ's and Christ is
subduing the hearts of God's elect unto submission        God's." Nations continue to rage and exalt them-
to the gospel of peace. In its trail followed the red     selves against God and His Christ to wipe out His
horse, arousing nations to war against each other as      cause and His people from the earth, but they only
they gave vent to their hatred against God and His        serve the eternal purpose of God's will. The earth is
Anointed, as well as against one another in selfish       the Lord's and the fulness thereof! He has set His
greed. Also the black horse was sent forth to bring       King upon the holy hill of Zion. "Let mount Zion
about economic disorders which resulted in the            rejoice, let her daughters be glad, because of Thy
rich becoming richer and the poor becoming the            judgments!" (Psalm  48:ll). May our prayer con-
more oppressed by the rich. Along with these was          tinually arise before the throne, "Come, Lord Jesus,
sent out also the pale green horse bringing sicknes-      yea, come quickly".
ses, plagues, diseases, and death upon the earth
(Revelation 6). In the normal course of events one          Scripture assures us that "Thy people (Christ's)
fourth of the population of the earth was affected        shall be willing in the day of Thy power" (Psalm
by these judgments of God. At other times a far           110:3). That day of Christ's power is now. He pre-
larger number suffered, as one third of the earth's       pares the hearts of His people so that they live in
population experienced God's visitations. And all         devotion to Him. As our Catechism adds, "By His
of these judgments reach their culmination when           Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly graces upon us
antichrist stands at the height of his power and the      His members." With a people that is less than
vials of God's wrath are poured out upon the wor-         willing God can never be satisfied. Any cold, for-
shippers of the beast (Revelation 16). Only at the        mal worship, any outward homage, any prayer that
end of these "thousand years," when the gospel            arises from our lips out of mere custom or habit is
will have spread to the ends of the earth and the         more abominable to Him than the offering of
entire church of Christ is gathered from every            swine's flesh on His altar (Isaiah  66:3). Never can
nation and tribe and tongue, will Satan once more         we of ourselves fulfill the strict requirements of His
be unleashed to arouse the nations of the earth to        law, in which He requires of us that we love Him
the final battle of Armageddon. In the meantime           while we sleep, when we arise in the morning with
the wickedness of man will be fully manifested, so        our first thoughts directed toward Him, when we
that there is no semblance any more of religion or        eat our meals in thankfulness, when we perform
of repentance, but only a bitter cursing of God for       the duties of the day as His friend-servants, and
all His sovereignty over the earth. That day cannot       when we are engaged in any form of relaxation.
come until the very last saint has been prepared for      Still more, we must love our neighbor as ourselves,
his or her place in Father's mansions, even until the     and put forth every effort to shew him that love in
Bride has been fully adorned through the sufferings       all that we do, at home, in our labors, in the church
of this present time to meet the Bridegroom. Only         and in the midst of the world. God says, "Whether
then will our Lord appear with the clouds in all the      you eat, or whether you drink, or whatever you do,
glory that He now possesses, as that majesty is de-       do it all to the glory of God." How often have not
scribed in Revelation 1, to judge the earth in righ-      you and I complained that we just can never do
teousness and to take His Bride unto Himself in His       that. We forget that we can do all things through
heavenly perfection at the wedding feast of the           Christ Who strengthens us, and therefore must
Lamb.                                                     prayerfully confess, "By Thy grace I will." Always
                                                          foremost in our hearts and on our lips must be the
       "The Lord unto His Christ hath said,
       Sit Thou at My right hand,                         prayer, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy
                                                          Name." The wonder of grace is that Christ makes
       Until I make Thy enemies                           us a willing people that is enabled by His Word and
       Submit to my command.                              Spirit. He creates in us the desire to serve and
       A scepter prospered by the Lord                    glorify our God, to crucify the flesh and to live a
       Thy mighty hand shall wield;                       new, holy life before His face. And when we fail-
       From Zion Thou shalt rule the world,               for who of us does not fail miserably while we are
       And all Thy foes shall yield."                     in this body of sin-and when we sin-for who of us
                            Psalter number 303            does not sin every moment?-God does not turn
  What a glorious day that day of Christ's coro-          His back to us or cast us away in His anger, but He
nation proves to be for the church of Jesus Christ        mercifully draws us back to Him in sorrow and re-
that is still on earth! Christ rules the world from       pentance, to assure us of His forgiving mercies that


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              269



never fail. Like wandering sheep we are brought           teousness of Christ, protecting our hearts and lives
back within the fold. In the great Day of days Jesus      from defeat and death. He keeps that breastplate in
Christ will sit on the judgment seat to judge us          place by supplying us with the girdle of truth. For
according to the deeds done in the body, whether          our feet He has prepared strong, pliable shoes of
good or evil. All our multitude of sins will be for-      preparedness of the gospel, so that we can always
given on the basis of His meritorious death, and we       stand in the face of the foe. For our left hand He has
will be rewarded according to the works which             made ready a strong, defensive shield that is guar-
Christ by His Spirit carried out in us, a reward, not     anteed to ward off all the fiery darts of the enemy.
of works, but of grace.                                   No modern bullet or shrapnel can penetrate that
  We cannot fail to note that we are still a militant     shield. And for our right hand He assigns a sword of
church and soldiers of the cross. Yet our Catechism       the Spirit, which is none other than the Word of
assures us, that Christ "by His power defends and         God, whereby we can fight offensive warfare,
preserves us against all enemies."                        ready at all times to give account of the hope that is
                                                          within us, even when the enemy seems over-
  In this battle we are not mere puppets who go           whelmingly strong and the battle waxes intensely
through the motions without actually experiencing         fierce. Before the Word of God all the hosts of hell
the horrors of our spiritual warfare. Our enemy is        are put to flight.
very real and our battle from day to day is also very
real. We attain the victory through faith, and              Stand ye! Put on the whole armour of God!
through faith alone. Our Lord defends and pre-              Our response must always be: "By Thy grace we
serves us by equipping us to fight the battle of faith    will."
until our dying breath. He has prepared for us a            Through our exalted Lord in heaven we are al-
shining helmet of salvation, which distinguishes us       ways more than conquerors. He loved us unto
as soldiers of the cross and assures us of victory. He    death, and lives to bless us in His love forever!
gives us a well-furbished breastplate of the righ-        Amen.



               The Institution of the Evangelical
                  Reformed Church of Singapore

  At the occasion of the institution of the Evangeli                The Resolution Of Membership
cal Reformed Church of Singapore on January 24,             We, who in times past were without Christ,
the new congregation published an attractive little       aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and stran-
booklet commemorating that significant and joyful         gers from the covenants of promise, having no hope
event. From our visiting seminarian, Lau Chin             and without God in the world, are now made nigh
Kwee, I obtained a copy of this booklet. In it there      only by the blood of Christ; such that we who were
are especially two documents which I want to share        once not a people are now the people of God; which
with our readers, so that they may gain some in-          had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained
sight into the work of the Lord that has been ac-         mercy. We confess according to the Holy Scriptures
complished in Singapore and so that they may              as from the depth of our own hearts that it is not of
share somewhat in the joy of this wonderful occa-         ourselves that we are thus, for we were dead, but of
sion. The first document is "The Resolution Of            God Who by His Holy Spirit made us alive. Our
Membership," which was read in unison at the              boast is in God alone: for it is by grace that we are
time of the institution of the church there. The          saved, not of works; nor of the power of our own
second is a "History Of The Evangelical Reformed          will, but of God.
Church Of Singapore" under the title  ". . . And             Seeing, therefore, that God Who chose us from
They Shall Be Unto Me A People." We here present          before -the foundation of the world is pleased to
these documents as published in the booklet, with         gather us as a Church, built upon the testimony of
only a few editorial corrections in these composi-        the Apostles and Prophets contained in the Holy
tions.                                                    Scriptures, with Christ as the corner stone, we seek
                                              - H C H     to be joined to the same.


270                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



       Being persuaded that the truth which is com-        of this people and their many struggles, hardships,
monly called the Reformed Faith, which truth is            and joys. This story is, however, not like the many
laid forth in the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic         others where the sole determiner of events is the
Confession of Faith, and the Canons of Dordrecht,          random choice of the human actors. We embark on
does faithfully express the doctrines taught us in         a story of the sovereign leading of God of a people
the Word of God in the Old and New Testaments              who were once not a people, but are now the
which we believe, we thank God that He has                 people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but
caused us to believe and love the same. We there-          now have obtained mercy.
fore heartily and with praise to our God desire to be        We invite you, in the course of this account, to
formed into the institute church of Jesus Christ, the      walk with this band through their pathway, one
Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore, that             with many narrow corridors of strife and purging,
she may be the pillar and ground of the truth in this      and strewn with dangers and hope to the present,
region.                                                    and experience with them the grace of God to His
       We endeavor henceforth, not by our own frail        Church. Many there are who had been numbered
strength but by the grace of God in Christ Jesus our       with them but have left; many with misunderstand-
Lord, as members of this church to confess and live        ings, but it is God Who leads.
according to this doctrine, in daily repentance, not
grudgingly, as though under some harsh yoke, but             The ERCS had its beginnings as a Bible class in a
                                                           public school, the Monk's Hill Secondary School.
willingly, seeing that this heartwarming and devo-         In the year 1962, a teacher in that school, Mr. Goh
tional truth is most gracious and comforting to us
who once slaved under the ruthless tyranny of sin.         Seng Fong, began to witness among the students.
                                                           As the Lord blessed his  labours,  he met with the
We give God our King glory and thanks that He has          young converts every day during recess, before and
given to us in His infinite love and unsearchable          after school. This teacher, then in his twenties, had
wisdom His servants, men qualified by the Holy             a tremendous zeal for God; and with his intense con-
Spirit to minister to us in the office of elders and       cern and friendliness, it is not surprising that many
deacons. We submit cheerfully to" their care,              students flocked to such Bible class gatherings. Of
readily seeking through them God's provision of            the many in the group in those early years, our
the counsel and care of the Great Shepherd of the          brother Lau Chin Kwee, who joined in 1965,
sheep. We count it joy to sit under the doctrine and       remains with us.
rule of the elders by the Word, receiving in godly
obedience the Word preached, and subjecting our-             As the group grew, she was brought under the
selves to their admonition and discipline when we          wing of the `Youth for Christ' and became formally
err from the Word, that we may be restored.                known as the "Monk's Hill YFC." The group had
       We drink heartily with thanksgiving at the wells    by then picked up momentum, and the short daily
of mercy which God has provided in the deacons as          meetings in the school soon proved insufficient; so,
they administer the ministry of mercy and encour-          under the umbrella of the YFC, she began meeting
agement .                                                  on Saturdays at Newton Life Church, a Presbyteri-
                                                           an Church near the school. Under the diligent
       Finally, we seek by grace in our offices and as     labours  of Mr. Goh, who spared nothing in time or
members of the body of Christ to serve our Lord in         wealth to help the young people (he conducted
the church according as He gives us opportunity            extra tuition classes for the weaker students on his
and power; in mutual encouragements, in search-            own time and often brought the group for meals on
ing the Word, in prayer, in tithes and offerings, and      his meagre salary) the group flourished.
in what place  soever  we are, that the church may
grow up into Him in all things, which is the head,           In 1967, some of the older students were exhort-
even Christ. From Whom the whole body fitly                ed by their mentor to attend Sunday Worship Ser-
joined together and compacted by that which every          vices at  Gilstead Life Bible Presbyterian Church,
joint supplieth, according to the effectual working        which he was attending. The group continued her
in the measure of every part, maketh increase of           progress, and then, between 1967 and 1968, she en-
the body unto the edifying of itself in love. AMEN.        countered her first split. At the time when the older
                  Composed by: Brother Francis Quek        members attended  Gilstead  Life, there were close
                  Approved by the Commission               ties between Rev. Timothy Tow of  Gilstead Life
                      *  * * * *  *                        and the minister of a  fundamentalistic Baptist
 I,                                                        Church. Many of these students, then leaders in the
       . . . And They Shall Be Unto Me A People"           Monk's Hill YFC, became very close with the
       This is the story of a company of believers who     Baptist minister, visiting his home often and fre-
are now being formed into a church, the Evangeli-          quently inviting him to preach at the Saturday
cal Reformed Church of Singapore; a brief account          meetings at Newton Life Church. The Baptist mini-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                             271



ster gradually influenced these young leaders with         Secondary School were added, and the attendance
his differences with  Gilstead Life concerning             at the Saturday Club meeting where brother John-
baptism. As a result of this, many of these young          son See spoke every week grew to thirty.
leaders left to join the Baptist minister. By the grace      From 1973, the GLTD continued to grow until in
of God, brother Lau Chin Kwee, sister Shi  Soi Fah         1975 she numbered seventy. During this time an
(the now Mrs. Tan Boon Kwang) and one or two               Executive Committee of GLTD was formed to en-
others remained.                                           sure the smooth running of the work. In 1975,
  All this while, Mr. Goh had been teaching the            some of the leaders realized that the GLTD could
group the proper honour for the Word of God and            not remain perpetually a Christian Organization.
godly separation from the present wicked world.            The idea of moving toward church formation led to
Between 1968 and 1969, these young Christians              sharp dissension in the group: for there were those
began to see the errors of the YFC, which were             who felt that the GLTD should become an indepen-
worldliness and their support for neo-Evangelicals         dent church with Mr. Goh's return as her pastor,
such as Billy Graham. Thus led by the Lord, the            while others felt that she should merge with and
group broke away from the YFC and the use of               become part of the BP (Bible Presbyterian) move-
Newton Life Church. By grace again, the young              ment. A conflict within the leadership led to the
group found favour in the eyes of Rev. Timothy             leaving of some of the leaders as the rest sought
Tow and were given a room in the premises of Gil-          church formation.
stead Life Church; and the group now called                  In that same year, the Lord saw fit to introduce
Monk's Hill Bible Club shifted to Gilstead  Road.          the GLTD to the Reformed Faith they hold today.
  At this time, Mr. Goh developed a close relation         The Reformed Truth, or the eternal truth of the
with the JSM (Jesus Saves Mission) and later be-           Word of God as it was formed again at the Great
came their domestic missionary. The work of the            Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century
Monk's Hill Bible Club was therefore left very             A.D. after many years of spiritual famine under the
much in the hands of her young leaders. As this            corrupt teaching of the Roman Catholic Church,
work slowly evolved, there has been a "Gospel              had been all but forgotten in many churches. In
Letters and Tracts Department" in the Monk's Hill          Singapore, the Reformed faith was scarcely if ever
Bible Club, and the group adopted the name of the          heard of even in churches which are supposedly
department, with the Monk's Hill Bible Club be-            Reformed, like the Presbyterians, Anglicans, etc.,
coming an  butreach of the GLTD. The original              which have Reformed Creeds.
design of this change of name was for the group to           Two ministers, Prof. H. Hoeksema and Rev. C.
merge with and become part of the  Gilstead  Life          Hanko of the Protestant Reformed churches of
Church Sunday School, a plan which never materi-           America, were passing by Singapore; and brother
alized. The GLTD was thus left to fend for herself,        Ong Keng Ho (then not acquainted with the GLTD)
with no ties with any church save the use of the           who had received the truth through the Orthodox
place and the friendly counsel of Rev. Timothy             Presbyterian Church in Christ-church, New
Tow.                                                       Zealand, was trying to arrange for  Gilstead Life
  September 1972 saw the departure of Mr. Goh to           Church to organize a series of lectures by the visit-
the United States of America for ministerial train-        ing ministers. It was suggested to him to ask the
ing. With none to finance him, a young GLTD                GLTD to host the lectures. The three lectures were
pooled all her resources to come up with $800 (a           held (There were only two lectures at the time.
sum collected through the humble five to ten cents         HCH) and in the process, brother Lau Chin Kwee
daily pledges of the members). With this, his en-          came to know brother Ong and was introduced to
tire savings and love gift from JSM, he set out. In        the Reformed Faith.
the States, he found a Baptist College willing to take       In March, 1976, the GLTD rented a unit of its pre-
and finance him.                                           sent premises in a  zinclroofed kampong house at
  Meanwhile, the GLTD attendance dwindled to               356J, River Valley Outreach (R.V.O. a name used
eleven persons. It was at this time that the Lord          even unto today). At first, only the Sunday Fellow-
raised one of the present leaders, brother Johnson         ship, which was set up earlier to cater for the many
See, who led the group with a few brothers and             who had left school and could no longer attend the
sisters. The work had to be supported by  some of          Saturday morning meetings, used the place. For a
the older members, then in their late teens, giving        time, a number of the members of the group
tuition. Brother Johnson See laboured undaunted,           attended the  Gilstead  Life Church Worship Servi-
and slowly but surely the numbers grew. The turn-          ces on Sunday mornings (for though GLTD never
ing point took place when the first annual Bible           became a part of Life Church, many of her mem-
Camp was held in December 1972. After the camp,            bers attended and became individually members of
students from schools other than Monk's Hill               the church whose premises we used) and went to


272                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



the Fellowship at R.V.O. in the afternoon. At that        Kwee, being untrained, managed to hold his
time they were so weak of means that the 120              ground. As the conflict mounted, Rev. Goh left
dollars-rent for the place was a sum they had to call     GLTD, and a few members left with him. Still
a general meeting to approve and to stretch our           others, confused and discouraged about the intense
funds to accommodate. It was at this small place,         conflict and instability of the group, also departed.
twenty feet square inclusive of a hall and two            This took place in mid-1977, a-nd it was a time of
rooms, that the seed of the ERCS Sunday Worship           grief.
was sown. It was decided that in line with their de-        All this while, the Reformed Truth was brewing
sire to set up an autonomous church, the GLTD             in the hearts of some members of the GLTD; but
should have her own services at the completely un-        even after the departure of Rev. Goh, they faced
furnished R.V.O. The wall separating one of the           much opposition from the rest of the leaders.
rooms from the hall was torn down (by the mem-            Among the dissenters against particularly the
bers themselves wielding crowbars and hammers)            doctrine of limited atonement, the strongest was
to make way for the increase in numbers. Since            brother Johnson See; but by God's all-wise grace,
then, the group has broken down the wall of the           he was led away for further studies. In Scotland,
other room, acquired two more adjacent units of           brother Johnson, away from his heavy responsibili-
the kampong house, and graduated from  floor-             ty to lead the brethren in what he was then con-
sitting to chairs.                                        victed of, came also to embrace and cherish the
  The spark of truth kindled in the heart of brother      Reformed Truth. In Singapore, brother Lau Chin
Lau Chin Kwee in 1975 was soon a raging fire              Kwee, knowing the allegiance of the group for the
within his breast as he studied the Reformed Truth        Word of God, continued with those who loved the
on his own, and he could not help but pour it forth       same truth to show the rest that the Reformed Faith
to the rest of the group. About the middle of 1976,       and Scriptural Christianity were one and the same.
brother Lau Chin Kwee began to teach the Heidel-          It was a time of trial for these brethren, but they
berg Catechism (a Reformed Confession now a               laboured on amidst much opposition and discour-
creed of the ERCS) at the Saturday meeting, incur-        agement from other factions of the group.
ring the opposition of some leaders; but like a living      In January 1978, brother Lau Chin Kwee, having
shoot striving incessantly against the huge rocks in      this view to propagate the Reformed Truth in this
its quest to rise above the ground, the truth then        part of the world, left his job as a school teacher for
firmly rooted in our brother's heart was not              the full-time ministry. This made him the second
shaken. At times he felt that none stood with him,        person to do so, joining brother Tan Boon Kwang,
and it was not until the end of that year that some       who felt the call in 1976 and was already studying
of the brethren began to hold the same truth of           in the Far Eastern Bible College of the Bible Pres-
Sovereign Grace which he loved.                           byterians.
  In the twelfth month of that same year, Mr. Goh,          Already in 1977, brother Johnson See had made
the Christian teacher who started the group in 1962       contact with Professor Hoeksema of the Protestant
having then completed his theological training, re-       Reformed  Church(es)  of America for advice and
turned and began immediately to work in the               help in the issues confronting the GLTD. This
GLTD. He became the group's `missionary pastor,'          dialogue went on until in 1978, when the GLTD
sent from his church in the United States, and            asked the PRC for help, they sent the group two
being anabaptistic by persuasion, he tried to bring       emissaries, Rev. J. Slopsema and Elder Dewey
his teachings to the group. The respect of the group      Engelsma, to investigate how they can best help.
being very much with him, he taught them the              (Note: My correspondence with Brother Johnson
Congregational form of church government, with a'         See began in mid-1977. Already in his first or
one-pastor (elder) rule, opposed the doctrine of the      second letter to me, which was primarily con-
universal catholic church, and tried to propagate         cerned with questions concerning baptism, Brother
his teachings on the mode of baptism. He advoca-          Johnson See began to inquire about the possibility
ted baptism by immersion and considered all               of our churches sending a missionary to help the
persons baptized in other modes (i.e., sprinkling or      GLTD. I purposely ignored this inquiry for a time,
pouring)     unbaptized    and    therefore proper        because I thought it was premature. When,
candidates for re-baptism. The members of the             however, the inquiry persisted, I forwarded all the
GLTD, having learnt the honour for the Word of            correspondence to the Foreign Mission Committee,
God, searched the Scriptures; and many were               along with my suggestion to them that they investi-
thrown into perplexity. Forums were held on the           gate this matter, if necessary by sending emissaries
mode of baptism, where brother Lau Chin Kwee              to investigate on the spot. This resulted eventually
did battle with Rev. Goh before the entire congre-        in the sending of Rev. Slopsema and Elder  Engel-
gation. It was surely by grace that brother Lau Chin      sma. HCH) Being the first Reformed delegation


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                               273



here, they bore the brunt of the attack on the faith.     church, of which the group had none.
Those holding the Arminian position then assailed           In February 1980, a missionary from the PRC,
them at the public meetings. Neither did those be-        Rev. Arie den Hartog, arrived in Singapore with his
lieving the Reformed faith support them at these          family. A man of great zeal and compassion, the
meetings: for they saw in the emissaries an invalu-       group grew quickly to love and respect him; and in
able avenue to answer the many questions heaped           a matter of months the American of Dutch origin
on them. There was also the majority who desired          became accepted in a very real sense as. the mis-
to know the truth of the Word, who sat silently           sionary pastor of the predominantly' Chinese
considering what was said. It must have appeared          congregation. From him the leaders learned to a
at those meetings that the GLTD was entirely rank         considerable extent what a meek and warm pas-
Arminian.                                                 toral heart is.
  After the departure of the emissaries, a tape pro-        In June of that year, the GLTS, then united
gramme  was set up in which the PRC sent tapes to         firmly under the Reformed Faith, requested that
Singapore explaining the truth held. A commission         the PRC grant Rev. Arie den Hartog permission to
of ten GLTD members was set up to study the               organize her into a church. This request was
doctrines the PRC brought to them. The Lord               granted on condition that the leaders of the GLTS
worked in the hearts of the members of the GLTD,          first subscribe to the Three Forms Of Unity. The
and soon there was a clear dividing line between          leaders were unable at that time to subscribe to the
the Reformed Truth and the error of Arminianism.          three Reformed Creeds, being unfamiliar with
Those who believed in the truth were strength-            them. They found it impossible, furthermore, to
ened; many who were seeking the truth came to             have the entire congregation choose the creeds
love the Reformed Faith. It was also a period of          under which the church will be organized. The
extreme contradiction, and many members left the          church will always contain new members and
group as the Lord prepared the GLTS to be a vessel        young Christians; and if the GLTS had to wait until
of His truth. The pain of seeing many bosom               all members had studied the creeds to a degree suf-
friends leave was somewhat alleviated as God              ficient for adoption, it would mean that the ERCS
added others to the group, but it was a period            would never be. How could a people be taught to
fraught with discouragements.                             decide what it is they want to be taught, not know-
  While this was going on, the GLTD had prepared          ing it? It was at this time that "Congregational
a Constitution which was submitted to the authori-        Church Government" was exposed clearly for
ties: for hitherto they were not officially recognized    what it is: a church's self-rule instead of the rule of
as a Society by the government. With registration         Christ through His office bearers. It was again by
with the civil authorities, the name of the Gospel        grace that even before Rev. Arie den Hartog ar-
Letters and Tracts Department was changed to the          rived, the GLTS was exposed to the Biblical con-
Gospel Literature and Tract Society in January            cept of Presbyterian or Reformed Church Polity,
1979.                                                     where Christ rules His Church through His Elders
                                                          and Deacons. After the departure of Rev. Goh the
  That same year, a second PRC delegation of              GLTD received a series of taped sermons on the
emissaries was sent to Singapore. The work of the         subject from the OPC New Zealand and some notes
first delegation, who came a year before, was not         on it from the United States. Wonder of wonders,
without fruit; and by the time Rev. M. Kamps and          when the GLTD studied the material, they found
Elder Dewey Engelsma came, much of the wrang-             the notes from America were in fact the sermon
ling concerning Limited or Particular Atonement           notes of the tapes from New Zealand. It was not,
and Irresistible Grace was dispelled. It was through      however, until the time when the matter of adopt-
the hands of the second delegation that the PRC           ing creeds was faced that the GLTD saw the full
received the unanimous request of all the members         picture of the practicality of this truth under the
of the GLTS, at the unanimous recommendation of           teaching of their missionary Pastor.
the study commission, to send them a missionary.            Although the GLTS felt that they ought already
  After the departure of the emissaries, the leaders      be organized at that time, so that they could study
of the group discussed at length the advice of the        and adopt the creeds as a church, they had to wait a
PRC men to stop the administration of the Lord's          considerable period again for institution. A
Supper until the church was organized. After much         Commission of four would-be Elders, brothers bng
study of the Word, the sacrament which had been           Keng Ho, Tan Boon Kwang, Tang Kok Leong, and
administered by the BP minister on the invitation         Francis Quek, and two Deacons-elect, brothers
of the GLTS was discontinued on the ground that           Johnson See and Teo Hwee Meng, were elected.
the Word of God gives the observing of the sacra-         They were to study the Creeds and decide whether
ment only as it is supervised by elders of the            the GLTS could be organized upon them and hold


274                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



office in the church upon institution.                        parents want him to have.
  In September of 1980, Brother Lau Chin Kwee,                  At this time of institution, too, the ERCS is final-
on whose shoulders had fallen the awesome re-                 izing the purchase of a building at 29 1 River Valley,
sponsibility of leading the saints in the GLTS                not far from her present premises. The work of re-
through many difficult years, bade a tearful fare-            settling the Church had been on the mind of the
well to the church and went, with his wife, to fur-           GLTS members all along; and a Building Fund was
ther his ministerial training in the Theological              initiated as early as 1976, when the Lord began
School of the Protestant Reformed Churches in the             leading them toward institution. The group is not
United States of America.                                     one of much wealth, and the majority of the mem-
  The Commission set out immediately to work on               bers are not beyond their twenties, but God had
the Constitution of the ERCS, upon completion of              taught them to give. The place after renovation
which they proceeded to study the Creeds. It                  would cost close to $300,000, but they trust the
proved to be a very busy time for the office bearers,         Lord to teach them to give sacrificially and supply
on whose shoulders rested not only the work of the            them all their needs. God will surely bless.
Constitution and the Creeds but also the work of                When one views the history of the ERCS until
oversight of all the work of the GLTS, which was              her institution, one cannot but confess that it is all
considerable, and the pastoral care of all the mem-           of Sovereign Grace. From the beginning, God
bers. For this reason, elections were held again and          planted the seed which initially appeared as an ugly
God provided three men, brothers James Tay, Siew              shoot. Trials and toil, hope and joy were the portion
Chee Seng, and Leong Fai Chong, to be  Deacons-               of this young band as they trod the pilgrim way
elect; and brothers Johnson See and Teo Hwee                  together. As the tree began to take shape, God in-
Meng were elected Elders to fill the need. Even               troduced the Reformed Faith at first in a trickle and
after the increase in number in the Commission,               then in its soul-overwhelming torrents. God had
there was still a lot of work to be done, especially          prepared a vessel of unworthy clay to bear the
when the frequency of the Commission meetings                 treasures of His truth.
for the study of the Creeds was increased from                  On the.day  of institution, 24th January, 1982, the
weekly to thrice weekly. The study of the Creeds              members of the ERCS will read the Resolution of
was completed in November 1981, and with that                 Membership together from their hearts, a unified
the ERCS was ready for the final push toward  in-             confession of their calling to be formed into the
stituion. All the members and regular worshippers             Church of Jesus Christ. All that they declare they
were visited by the leaders to prepare them to be in          shall endeavor to do, not by their own frail
a real sense spiritually involved in the spiritual            strength, but by the grace of God. God has led them
work of building the church of Christ, as well as             thus far. Who can doubt that God will lead them on
physically. Of the office bearers elect, only brother         until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ? Even so,
Francis Quek will not presently be ordained, as he            come Lord Jesus. Amen.
had to leave Singapore for the further studies his



                    The Organization of the ERCS
                                                 Rev. Arie den Hartog



  The most blessed and wonderful event of the his-            they are organized as a church  and can enjoy the
tory of our labors in Singapore has taken place. On           full blessings of the church of Jesus Christ includ-
January 24, 1982 the Evangelical Reformed Church              ing among other things the celebration of the Lord's
of Singapore was organized. For this goal we have             Supper in their midst and the benefits of the spiritu-
all labored long and hard and have long been in               al care of the special offices in the church. It would
earnest prayer to God. We thank the Lord and                  be hard to describe in words the joy and excitement
praise His name for His wonderful goodness and                among the saints here'on  acount of this. Secondly,
faithfulness. From several points of view the orga-           this event marks the establishment of the first Re-
nization of the church here was a momentous event.            formed Church in Singapore that stands as a testi-
First of all, of course, it is a most blessed and signifi-    mony to the wonderful sovereign grace of God in
cant event for the youthful saints of God here. Now           Christ Jesus. There is a real vision and zeal in the


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                275



midst of the church to publish the Reformed Faith            babies are expected during. the coming year, the
in this area to the glory of the name of God and the         Lord willing. At the organization service eight of-
further gathering of His church in this part of the          fice bearers were ordained, five elders and three
world. Thirdly this is certainly a gi-eat event for our      deacons. Perhaps by comparison with our churches
Protestant Reformed Churches. We can give thanks             in the U.S.A. of similar size this may seem to be a
and praise unto our God that He has been pleased             large number of office bearers. However, in view of
to use us in the work of the establishment of His            the situation here, the great amount of work that
church. The Lord has certainly blessed the labors of         needs to be done in the midst of this young congre-
our churches. He has answered many prayers and               gation, and also the great potential for the work out-
rewarded all those who have faithfully given to the          side of the congregation itself, this is by no means
cause of missions in Singapore. Finally, and certain-        too many office bearers.
ly not the least of all of the?e,  this event was an oc-
casion of great joy and gladness and thanksgiving
for your missionary and his family.





                                                                                The Session (Consistory)
                                                             Front, 1 to r: [Rev. A. den Hartog), Deacons Chan Chee
                                                             Seng, James Tay Thuan Liat, Leong Fai Chong.
                                                             Back, 1 to r: Elders Johnson See Choon Hock, Joshua Teo
A view of a large part of the new and happy congregation.
Behind them is the kampong where they currently meet.        Hwee Meng, Ong Keng Ho, Nelson Tan Boon Kwang,
                                                             Tang Kok Leong.

  Let me tell you first of all a little about the organi-      The worship service at which the organization of
zation itself. The church was organized with 102             the church took place was certainly a very moving
founder members under the name Evangelical Re-               experience. Let me just relate a few of the parts of
formed Church of Singapore-Evangelical because               this worship service. During the service the names
of the earnest desire of the church to continue. the         of all those joining the organization of the church
great and wonderful work of evangelism, the                  were read. (This was not done by your American
preaching of the glorious and blessed gospel of sal-         missionary, for that would have been quite a diffi-
vation in Christ Jesus; Reformed because this                cult task, but rather by the native born chairman of
church is founded on the historic Reformed Faith             the meeting. Imagine reading more than  100  long
expressed in the Reformed creeds and known es-               Chinese names.) When all the members of the
pecially for its emphasis on the glory of God and            church were standing they read together in unison
salvation by grace alone. The Evangelical Reformed           a beautiful resolution of membership which had
Church has learned to know and love this faith as            been prepared for the occasion by one of the mem-
the truth of the Word of God and desires to pro-             bers of the G.L.T.S. I would like to quote the entire
claim and defend this faith by the grace of God here         resolution for you but space does not permit this.
in Singapore. The  member,ship of the new church             Two things were particularly moving about this
includes six married couples. All the rest are indivi-       resolution. First, there was the rich meaning of the
duals, most of whom are between twenty and thirty            portions of Scripture quoted from Ephesians 2,
years old. This is therefore a very young church;            especially in the context of a church that for the
both because it is made up preclominantly  of young          most part has been very recently called out of
people and also because almost all of these young            heathendom by the wonderful sovereign grace of
people have been recently called by God out of               God. In this situation such passages of Scripture
heathendom. We rejoice to see that there are many            certainly take on new and richer meaning.
dating couples in our midst and we look forward to           Secondly, we w&-e greatly moved by the expression
many marriages in the very near future. The first            of agreement with our Reformed Creeds that the
infant child of one of the married couples will be           resolution included. To appreciate fully why this
baptized this coming Lord's Day. Three more                  meant so much to us you would have had to have


276                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



been with us in the last months as' we labored to-
gether to study carefully the creeds.
It was certainly a great joy and blessing to have
present at the organization representatives from
our Protestant Reformed Churches in America.
Rev. James Slopsema and Elder Edwin Van Ginkel
were present as official representatives of the
Foreign Mission Committee and of our calling
church, the  Doon Protestant Reformed Church of
Doon,  Iowa. Rev. Slopsema read the form for the
ordination of elders and deacons that we use in our
Protestant Reformed Churches. This was followed
by a ceremony of laying on of hands. It is the con-
viction of the brethren here that this ceremony ac-
cording to Scripture belongs to the ordination of all       Elder Van Ginkel reading the greetings from  Doon
the offices. Your missionary, Rev. Slopsema, and            Church. Thix-e  were many greetings from individuals,
Elder Van `Ginkel took part in this ceremony. After         churches, and our Seminary.
this I had the privilege of preaching a sermon based
on I Corinthians 3 under the theme; "The Church               Since the organization of the church we continue
Founded and Built upon Christ Jesus."                       to experience more exciting events. On Friday
                                                            evening, January 29, we had our first session
                                                            meeting (or consistory meeting as we call it in the
                                                            U.S.). On the Lord's Day of January 31 we had our
                                                            first celebration of the Lord's Supper. What an un-
                                                            speakable joy this was. One of the greatest longings
                                                            for the organization of the church was fulfilled in
                                                            this. For many in the congregation this was the very
                                                            first time ever in their lives they had come to the
                                                            Lord's Supper. Next Lord's Day there will be yet
                                                            one more special event. We shall, the Lord willing,
                                                            experience the first infant baptism of a member of
                                                            the E.R.C.S. With this and with the other babies ex-
                                                            pected in the  churdh we have wonderful evidence
                                                            of God's faithfulness and His promise to continue
                                                            His church in the line of generations.
The ordination of the new elders and deacons.                 After all of this has taken place the church stands
                                                            before the great calling it has for the future. Well
  Two more things about the organization services           does the church know that organization is not an
which I must tell you: It was a great joy to have in        end in itself. There is great need to carry on the
our midst not only the two emissaries from our              work of the church. The organization of the church
churches in the U.S.A. but also Mr. and Mrs.                will by the grace of God help the church to carry on
Dewey Engelsma and Mr. John Kalsbeek, who had               that work more effectively and in a more orderly
come to Singapore especially in order to witness            way according to the Word of God and for His
and experience the organization of the church. To           glory. There are many areas of work that stand be-
appreciate thoroughly the significance of this you          fore this young church. There is of course a very
must remember that the Engelsmas have been here             great need to grow in the faith and become strong.
to labor in the midst of the G.L.T.S. on several pre-       There is great need for the church to learn more
vious occasions, and it would be hard to tell in            perfectly the doctrines of the Reformed Faith and
words of the great  love- that the members of the           to study her creeds more carefully. The E.R.C.S. is
G.L.T.S. have towards them. At the conclusion of            alone as a Reformed Church in this part of the
the worship service more than half an hour was              world., It is young and small in comparison to the
spent publicly reading greetings received from              world around. She has the calling to defend the Re-
many of our churches in the U.S.A., from the                formed Faith. As far as the church situation here is
O.P.C. of Christ-church New Zealand, from our               concerned it is not much different from that in the
seminary in the U.S.A., and from a number of                U.S.A. There is great apostasy in the churches;
individuals. What a wonderful evidence of the               errors abound, such as the errors of liberalism, Ar-
communion of the saints and the catholicity of the          minianism, and Pentecostalism. The E.R.C.S. will
church of Jesus Christ was sensed in this.                  surely be called upon to defend the faith on which,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      277



by God's grace, she has chosen to stand. Further-               We are looking forward to the return of Mr. and
more, different from the U.S.A., this church stands          Mrs. Lau Chin Kwee from the U.S.A. It will be
in what is predominantly a heathen nation. Chris-            another great event in the history of the E.R.C.S.
tians are by far in the minority in Singapore. The           when Mr. Lau is ordained as their Pastor.
truth of the Christian Faith must be preached                   As far as the future for the work of our Protestant
against the rising tide of heathendom. There is              Reformed Churches is concerned, we see that there
Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Islam. All of                is much work to do. We rejoice and give thanks
these are predominant in Singapore, and these                unto the Lord that the E.R.C.S. desires that we con-
heathen religions are by no means passing away. As           tinue our labors here. We as your missionary and
in every large city in the world, so also in  Singa-
pdre, there is the presence of the wickedness and            family continue to enjoy greatly the work of the
immorality of the world. As we look at the situation         church of Christ Jesus and to count it a great honor
we see the tremendous'need for the preaching of              and privilege of the Lord to be able to labor in His
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.                         Church for His glorious name. There seems to be
                                                             no end to the work to do, and the work remains
  There appears great potential for the growth of            tremendously exciting. Even when Mr. Lau be-
the church in Singapore. Presently we have a  pre-           comes the Pastor of the E.R.C.S. there will be
baptism class that has twelve people in regular              plenty of work for two full-time pastors. There is
attendance. Six of these have not yet been baptized          great need for the training of young men from here
and are desiring to be baptized. As a result of the          for the ministry of the Word. We in Singapore will
many pastoral visits made before the organization            continue to be involved in this work. Our Seminary
of the church we found that a large number of our            in the U.S.A in the years to come will continue to
regular worshippers who are not presently                    serve a very important role for the development of
members of the church desire to join our next pre-           the church in Singapore. Presently we have plans to
baptism and membership class. We regularly have              send another brother from here to our Seminary in
from 25 to 30 people worshipping with us on the              1983.
Lord's Day who are not members of the church,
most of whom have not yet been baptized. There                  We could tell you much more about all the above
are always at least a few new visitors at our wor-           matters but we must end in order not to make this
ship services on the Lord's Day. Plans are to try to         article too long. We continue to covet your prayers
start a second center of worship in another location         and support for the wonderful work of the church
in Singapore with the goal of another congregation           of Jesus Christ in Singapore. We want to thank all
some day, the Lord willing. There is also great need         of you who have in the past months sent us greet-
in our midst for a Chinese ministry. We have con-            ings. We are deeply conscious of our need for the
tact with a number of Chinese-speaking people                support of our churches in all our labors and thank
with whom we could work if only we had a mini-               you all for your prayers, letters, and monetary
ster who could preach and teach in the Chinese lan-          support.
guage.





The congregation in their crowded meetingplace. Their        sible to get a single shot of the whole congregation.
present meetingplace is so constructed that it is  impos-


278                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


                A Reformed Church in Singapore
                                                  Mr. Dewey Engelsma



  It was an event of significant importance to my              It was a beautiful Sabbath morning 
                                                                                                  Y     (stili
                                                                                                        I          Saturday
wife and me. Having lived and worked among the                                                                           1
                                                             evening in Grand Rapids). As we rode to the meet-
GLTS on three previous visits, we wanted to share            ing place we considered that the Lord had also
with them their joy in being instituted as a church.         provided a pleasant day  weatherwise. In this
This church was not to be like the other churches in         beautiful, always-summer land, we could hardly
Singapore. But, by the mercy of God, this church             bring to mind the snow and ice we had left just a
would be Reformed, having its foundation on the              few days ago. When we arrived at the church a
Three Forms of Unity, namely, the Heidelberg                 little after 8:00 A.M. many of the members were
Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons             already present.  Atid as the building rapidly filled
of Dordrecht. Therefore we, with elder John  Kals-           to overflowing, the joy and eager anticipation of
beek, decided to travel once more to the island to           this very special occasion could be seen on every
witness and participate in their organization. And it        face. Oh, how glad and thankful we were to be here
must be emphasized, we were looking forward to a             with them!
joyous reunion of Christian fellowship with our                Reverend (missionary) den Hartog preached a fit-
adopted Chinese, Malay, and Indian children.                 ting sermon based on Ephesians  2:20. The congre-
  As was expected, we were met in the Changi air             gation was instructed that the only sound founda-
terminal by Rev. den Hartog with a goodly number             tion of the Church is that of the apostles and pro-
of young people. Here, too, we first became ac-              phets; Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-
quainted with Mr. and Mrs. Ed Van Ginkel from                stone. At the conclusion of the sermon Rev. James
Doon, Iowa. Mr. Van Ginkel and Rev. Slopsema,                Slopsema, one of the official delegates, read the
who had preceded us to Singapore the week prior,             form for the ordination of elders and deacons.
were the official delegates from our Do& church              These elders and deacons, with the exception of the
and the Foreign Mission Committee. There were                two who were chosen later, were elected about a
happy greetings all around and we experienced a              year and a half ago in order to study the  confes-
joyful home-coming. Our previous relationship had            sions. Under the leadership of Rev. den Hartog
established ties which united us in Christ's love.           they also instructed and prepared the GLTS for
When we had left these dearly beloved children in            their membership. These young men, if I am not
July of 1980 we thought we were saying our final
       .~                                                    mistaken, are all between the ages of twenty-two
farewells. We were, happily, wrong, and are grate-           and twenty-eight, and they have been spiritual
ful to God that He, in providential care, gave us the        leaders in the GLTS for several years. They have
privilege to see them face to face once again.               truly given their youth for the work of ministering
                                                             to the continually-growing group. Brother Chin
  After Scripture reading and prayer, our baggage            Kwee, who is presently studying in our Protestant
was carried by willing hands (since I'm an old man,          Reformed Seminary, is not to be excluded. For
they say, and must not do such heavy work) to the            seventeen arduous, yet profitable years he stood at
transportation provided. We visited first at the Rev.        the forefront of all their endeavors. Surely God has
den Hartog's apartment. Arid later, after getting our        worked through him in the gathering of His
flying feet on the ground, we rode to the home of a          Church.
fellow member where for the duration of our stay
(10 days) we were the guests of the Evangelical Re-            In the ordination, the ritual of the laying on of
formed Church and our congenial host, dear Seet              hands was performed. These five elders and three
Chaun Hoo.                                                   deacons knelt before us to receive the laying on of
  Sunday, January 24, was the day for which all of           hands, which symbolizes receiving the Spirit of
the GLTS had been waiting. During the past few               Jesus Christ. We looked at these young men with a
years they had several times been disappointed in            measure of concern. On these youthful servants
their efforts for organization. We too, knowing per-         God has laid the great calling to serve the congre-
sonally of their longing to be established as a Re-          gation, to rule over her, to protect, from the on-
formed Church, shared their sadness in this re-              slaughts of  Satan;  to lead her in the truth of His
spect. The time, the day, has finally come for their         Word. This was a unique setting, considering the
institution as a Church of  JesusChrist. All of the          extreme youth of the office bearers and congrega-
delay is past and forgotten now. God knows what is           tion. The 102 charter members of this flock include
best for His Church.                                         only six married couples. Through our previous


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              279



stays in their midst we had gotten to know them          had to leave for a while to escape their anger.
very well. So we never doubted that Christ is              On qute a few occasions in the past, these young
accomplishing His mighty work  .of gathering His         people have shared with us their heartfelt desire
Church in Singapore.  When,-once the Reformed            and prayer to establish Christian homes patterned
Truth was disseminated by means of Reformed              after that of Rev. and Mrs. den Hartog or Ong Keng
literature and preaching, God caused His Truth to        Ho and  Cecelia. At present, there are also four
take root and flourish. So our concern for them is       more recently married couples in whose homes
not such that we fear for their being able to endure.    they are always welcome. Do you Protestant Re-
We surely believe that God will protect and pre-         formed young people remember to thank your
serve them as He promises. But we and they can ex-       heavenly Father for the homes Christian parents
pect, as all of God's true Church experiences, that      have provided you?
they will be the object of Satan's attention. The
office bearers especially, and congregation too, will      The Sabbath following the organization of the
suffer affliction. We have knowledge of persecu-         E.R.C.S., the Lord's Supper was commemorated.
tions they have already endured, and our hearts go       We requested of the consistory (session) permission
out to them. Let us remember them in our prayers         to partake of this sacrament, and our request was
even as they pray for our churches.                      granted. It was for them and us a blessed com-
                                                         munion, as together we realized again, that
  Rev. den Hartog has labored joyfully in the midst      whether Jew or Greek, Chinese or Dutch, we are
of what is now the Evangelical Reformed Church of        made one in Christ.
Singapore, and the members speak of him with
loving respect. Sherry (so she is most frequently          Normally on Sunday evenings there are five
addressed), as a faithful  helpmeet and a gracious       separate tape services which meet in different loca-
hostess, befriends many young people who are able        tions in Singapore. These five services were com-
to find in this family the Christian love and care       bined on Communion Sunday and we united in the
which they need and cherish. To say that Rev. den        spacious home of Johnson See and his wife Ta Chu
Hartog labors joyfully is not enough. He is deeply       for fellowship. We had'taken along the taped ser-
committed to the work of a missionary, and we            mon based on I Peter  2:9 that Mr. Lau Chin Kwee
have often observed that for him and Sherry too, it      preached in our own Hope Church. The group
is a life of self denial. They have given themselves     evinced great pleasure and emotions in hearing the
wholly and completely to the cause of the gospel.        message and voice of their beloved brother
Beside the weekly routine meetings which include         expound the Word.
"Session" now, consistory meeting, catechism
class, pre-baptism, Sunday School, Reformed
doctrine, prayer meeting, Bible study, student
Greek class, and preaching, the pastor also
counsels many of the young saints on a personal
basis. Then, too, there are those numerous extra ac-
tivities, such as speeches for the vacation  camp-
meetings and the Evangelical Outreach. And we
don't want to forget the many written articles
which somehow must be produced. Truly a/"work-
man who needeth not to be  ashamed".(II Tim.
2:15).
  The Chinese New Year, which is celebrated as a
national holiday, was observed the week of January
26. This gave us the opportunity, with several of
the young folks, to visit in the homes of about a
dozen or more families. In addition, at every place
we were treated to Chinese snacks and sweets, and,
of course, we had the customary photos taken with        The Session, with Missionary den Hartog and the
the family. And even though at times our conversa-       American visitors.
tion was somewhat restricted because of the                 Afterward we celebrated  then birthday of three
language barrier, yet we did manage to convey our        fellow-members. Along with the delicious birthday
greetings, and we certainly enjoyed these "visita-       cakes, there was another cake, decorated especially
tions." Somewhat later we did learn that one young       to bid us farewell. Our flight home was scheduled
man's parents berated him severely for bringing the      for the next day, so now we had to bring to a close
members of the church into their home. He even           our visit and begin the heartache of goodbyes.


280                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



These dearly beloved may not be our flesh-born              island are indications that we have a calling, a duty,
sons and daughters, but they have become our                to work in this white field. The Evangelical  Re-
Christ-loved kindred.                                       formed Church of Singapore would welcome our
  What now is the future concerning the work of             presence in propagating the truth of Scripture.
our churches in Singapore? It is my own personal              Truly, it was for the three of us an inspiring and
opinion that the vast volume of labor with its  far-        heartwarming trip.
reaching potentials projected on and beyond this

THE LORD GAVE THE WORD

                           Missionary Methods (10)
                                              Prof. Robert D. Decker


  The reader will recall that we are involved in an         with all the forces of its environment; not as a
analysis of the significant little book,  The  PZanting     feeble exotic which can only live when nursed and
And Development of Missiona y Churches, written by          sheltered. All unfecessary  nursing will do it harm.
the seasoned Presbyterian missionary of nearly a            A pine may be tramed  into a beautiful and fantastic
century ago, Dr. John L. Nevius. Nevius contended           shape so as to be an object of interest and curiosity,
that the new converts should not be employed and            and it may flourish in a way; but it will not tower
paid by the mission for the work of preaching and           heavenward as the king of the. forest, unless from
evangelism. They should rather be left in their sta-        first to last it is subjected to the various and seem-
tions in life and encouraged to leave a witness to          ingly adverse influences of scorching sun, biting
the Gospel by word and deed. This, Nevius argued,           frost and raging tempest. A certain amount of care,
is much more conducive to the spread of the Gos-            and especially the right kind, is necessary; too
pel than using paid helpers from among the native           much or injudicious care is injurious and may be
Christians. It cannot be denied that in places where        fatal to the life which it is intended to promote" (p.
his methods have been followed, China and Korea             26). That which we know from Scripture concern-
especially, there has been amazing growth in the            ing the preaching and teaching of the Apostles and
mission churches.                                           their co-laborers and the churches which were or-
  The question naturally arises, how shall the mis-         ganized as a fruit of that preaching certainly sup-
sionaries deal with the new converts? This question         ports Nevius' position. The Apostles as a rule did
becomes especially acute with the passage of time           not stay very long in one place. After preaching a-
and the growth of the mission churches. After all,          while they moved on. As soon as possible, in some
there comes a time when the missionaries must               instances within only a few months after the initial
leave, in order that the mission churches may stand         contact with the Gospel, elders were ordained. The
on their own. There comes a time when those                 Apostles were not able to give, and as a matter of
"young" churches must have their own native pas-            historical record did not give, to the newly organized
tors and teachers. How must all this be accom-              churches much personal attention. Even those
plished? In response to this question Nevius had            churches which experienced severe problems and
this to say: "We may get help in learning how to            troubles (notably Corinth!) were allowed to devel-
deal with new converts and stations (he means               op. To be sure, the Apostles did write letters which
mission preaching stations, potential but as yet un-        were often addressed to the problems and weak-
organized churches, R.D.D.) by considering the              nesses, but they themselves either refrained from
nature of the Church and the law of its develop-            visiting the churches or were restrained from doing
ment. Christianity, whether embodied in the indi-           so. The point of all this is that the new church, the
vidual or in a Church, is the outgrowth of a vital          mission church, must grow and develop naturally,
principle. In the spiritual as well as vegetable king-      indigenously in its own country. The new church
dom every vital germ has its own law of life and de-        must develop, using its own spiritual and material
velopment, and it is only in following that law that        resources. That new church must fight the battle of
the highest development can be secured. Christian-          faith,. evangelize, preach, and teach the Gospel in
ity has been introduced into the world as a plant           its own land. That Church must have its own
which will thrive best confronting and contending           officebearers. It must express its unity and faith


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                281



creedally overagainst the enemies of the cause of           should be such as will fit a man to endure hardness
God and the heresies and false religions peculiar to        as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (p. 27). What he
its own land. To be specific, the Evangelical Re-           meant by this Nevius explained: "A man may be
formed Church of Singapore, organized as a fruit of         carried through a course of theological training,
Protestant Reformed mission work must be a Re-              freed from the struggle of ordinary life by having all
formed Church in Singapore. It must have its own            his wants provided for, and yet get very little of this
pastor and elders and deacons. Pastor den Hartog            disciplinary training which is so important. We
must not stay there indefinitely. Mission churches          may think we are helping a man by relieving him of
ought not to be dependent upon the sending church           burdens when in fact we are injuring him by inter-
indefinitely.                                               fering with this training" (pp. 27,28).
  This means, obviously, that the new church                  In this connection Nevius notes that taking the
needs its own officebearers. It is of utmost impor-         proper time to do this is a necessity. Missionaries
tance that these "first be proved" before being or-         and their sending churches are often far too hasty
dained as pastors, elders, and deacons (cf. I Timo-         in selecting suitable candidates for the ministry and
thy  3:lO). In the zeal and enthusiasm of new con-          giving them a two or three year "crash course" in
verts they can often, unwittingly, deceive not only         doctrine, sermon making, exegesis, etc. It is feared
the missionaries but also themselves. Scripture             that the cause of Christ will suffer unless these
after all lays down certain basic qualifications a          native pastors are quickly prepared for the work.
man must have before he can be called to office in          This certainly is not the Biblical pattern. Nevius
God's church. The bishop must be blameless, a               correctly points to the example of the Apostle Paul
good husband, one who rules well his own house,             From the time the Apostle was struck down by
one who has ability to teach; he must not be a              Christ on the Damascus road until the hands of or-
drunkard, he must not be covetous, he must be               dination were laid on his head at Antioch was
given to hospitality (cf. I Timothy 3:1-5). What is         nearly ten years! We know from the history of
particularly applicable to the mission field is taught      Paul's ministry that the Apostle needed that
in verses six and seven of I Timothy 3 "Not a               lengthy preparation for a life of arduous work and
novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into        persecution. The Aposlte Paul's spiritual son, Timo-
the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must             thy, obtained a good report among the Christians at
have a good report of them which are without; lest          Lystra and Derbe only after several years of work
he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." A        there. Only after this did he accompany the Apostle
"novice" is one only very recently converted. He            Paul as one of his companions and helpers. And
lacks experience in the Christian life. He is just be-      only after several years of this which no doubt
ginning to fight the battle of faith. Often it can          included instruction from the Apostle did Timothy
happen that the joy of salvation which floods his           become a co-laborer with the Apostle in the
soul leads him to believe mistakenly that God calls         Church. The taking of proper time to train men for
him to the ministry. Later, in the heat of the battle,      the office is necessary from the point of view of
he stumbles and falls. Such candidates for church           their being proved. In the normal course of events,
office must be tested before they are rushed off to         that a man is qualified for the ministry is confirmed
the Seminary or hurried into the office of elder or         by his training. It can also happen that the training
deacon. They must encounter the trials and diffi-           indicates that a man lacks the qualifications for the
culties which must be faced in the ministry. Above          ministry and that he can better serve the Lord in
all it must be evident to the church that these men         some other capacity.
display those qualifications the minister must pos-           Even during the training period Nevius advo-
sess according to the Word of God. Still more, they         cates that the converts be left in their place in life.
must have a good reputation on the part of those            "Nothing can supply the place of God's providen-
"that are without," i.e. outside of the church. This        tial training in the school of ordinary life and practi-
is necessary for obvious reasons. A man who is              cal experience.. . .Meanwhile we should give these
known as a liar or cheater or a scoundrel in some           young converts all the instruction, advice, and help
other way is certain to be of little or no effect either    which Christian sympathy and prudence suggest"
in the church or in the work of evangelism and mis-
sions.                                                      (PO 28).
                                                              Whether one agrees with this methodology in all
  Those converts who, in the course of time, mani-          its particulars or not, one thing is clear, viz., the
fest the qualifications for church office according to      main theses are correct. They are Scriptural and for
the Scriptures must be instructed and trained for           that very reason they are effective on the mission
that office before they are ordained. Nevius strong-        fields. In the main, they ought to be followed,
ly believed that this training "includes not only           though not slavishly in every detail. Time and cir-
study, but work, trial, and perhaps suffering. It           cumstances of the various fields in which the


282                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



church is preaching may very well dictate some            the Lord on Whom they believed."' The  mission-
modification of these methods. However that may           aries ought not to stay indefinitely. They must
be, two things must be done: the young church             leave the young church to grow and develop. They
must be allowed to develop naturally and without          must seek other fields of labor in order that the
an unhealthy dependence on the sending church;            work of the gathering of the church out of the
and there comes a time when the sending church            nations may continue until Jesus returns.
and its missionaries must commit the converts "to

THEDAYOFSHADOWS


                                  A Necessary Move
                                               Rev. John A. Heys


  Once again our attention is focused more empha-         One is in prison. The youngest, on whom his heart
tically upon Jacob. His son Joseph had been on the        was so firmly fixed, has gone down to Egypt; and
foreground in Scripture for many chapters. In these       he sat alone at home with not one son-though God
chapters Jacob did appear on the scene briefly. He        had given him twelve of them-there at home with
ordered his sons to go down into Egypt to get food.       him. Could he be sure that any of them would be
He objested strenuously when his sons insisted that       able to come back? There was that money in their
his youngest son, Benjamin, go along the second           sacks. Would this stern ruler in Egypt accuse them
time to insure getting another supply of much             now of theft as well as of being spies? Would he
needed food for the family. He had also rebuked his       make slaves of all of them? Years before this, he
sons for telling this ruler in Egypt so much about        had said to his brother Esau, "these are the children
the family; and then, because of the need, he con-        which God hath graciously given thy servant"
sented to have Benjamin go along. But now he ap-          (Genesis  33:5). Now he feared that they were all
pears more fully on the scene; and even that which        taken away from him. And he was trying to adjust
we read of Joseph is on the behalf of Jacob his           himself to such an eventuality. There were days
father. He sent wagons for his father to ride in and      when for Jacob it seemed as though the bottom had
move from Canaan to Egypt.                                fallen out of his life, days when the sun seemed to
  He was after all the spiritual leader of the Old        be going down very fast. Of late only fears, threat-
Testament Church. Joseph was not. As aged as he           enings of loss and the destruction of all his hopes
was, Jacob was still the patriarch, the church father     for his children crowded in upon him.
of the day. And the covenant line ran from Adam              In the midst of all this, during that dark period of
and Seth through Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac and           his life, he is greatly confused by the turn of events
Jacob, and then not through Joseph but through            which, though they brought him some joy, still con-
Judah to David and Christ.                                tained that which upset and disturbed his mind. It
  The picture given us of Jacob in Genesis  45  is        is true that the eleven sons returned home safely-
that of an aged and confused man. For more than           and how his spirits must have soared when he
ten years he had carried in his soul the grief of be-     counted them as they appeared in the distance and
lieving that his most beloved son, Joseph, was dead.      learned that Benjamin was with them!-from their
Very recently he had lost another son, Simeon, as         quest for food in Egypt. He counted eleven men
a prisoner in Egypt. And what now is his most be-         riding towards him; and that meant that Simeon
loved son, Benjamin, had been taken from his side         was out of prison and Benjamin was allowed to
to go down into Egypt, to face not only the dangers       come back with the ten brothers. But what dis-
of the way, but this stern ruler in Egypt who had         turbed him was the report which these sons gave
imprisoned Simeon and had spoken so roughly to            that Joseph was yet alive and exalted over all Egypt.
his sons. Troubles had come thick and fast in his            It is interesting to note that these sons said
life, especially of late. And he, whose life had          nothing about their deceit years before. They gladly
slowed down considerably by reason of his age,            relate that Joseph is alive; but they are not ready to
finds it hard to cope with the fast moving events.        tell Jacob what they did to Joseph and to his
  This is his darkest moment. One son is "dead."          princely coat to make him believe that a wild beast


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                            283



had slain him. And the lack of this important ele-       shown to Joseph.
ment in their message caused Jacob's heart to faint,       Note too that his spirit revived when he had the
as we read. And it explains the statement that his       wagons which Joseph had sent explained to him as
heart fainted because he did not believe them. We        being sent by Joseph. When he saw them as wagons
read that after they told Jacob that Joseph is yet       which Joseph sent his spirit revived. Then he be-
alive and is governor of all the land of Egypt,          lieved the words of his sons that Joseph was yet
"Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not"        alive. Those wagons  were  Egyptian wagons; and
(Genesis 45:26).                                         the sons had taken money along for food but not to
  Plainly Jacob did not trust these sons. That is        buy such regal wagons. For they were no ordinary
what it means that he believed them not. And note        wagons. Joseph, with all the resources of the king's
that we do not read that he did not believe it, when     house in Egypt at his command, sent special
they told him that Joseph was alive and such an          wagons that spoke of his lofty position in Egypt. We
exalted ruler.  .No, we read that he believed  them      find it difficult to believe that Jacob's thoughts did
not. No doubt he had good reason for not believing       not go back to those dreams of Joseph which Jacob
them. There is first of all the fact that he had been    at first rejected, and for which he rebuked Joseph
active in so much deception himself; and the apple       but later on "observed the saying." It all-these
does not fall far from the tree. Then too we must        words of his sons that Joseph was governor over all
remember that these are the same sons who had de-        the land of Egypt, and those wagons that plainly
ceived their father with that blood-stained coat. At     came from the king's house-convinced him that
that time, it is true, he believed them-that is, be-     the sons were speaking the truth. All would bow
lieved what they wanted him to believe about             down before Joseph was the tenor of those dreams.
Joseph. And yet it cannot be denied that he had          Well, it fitted in with these words of the sons. He is
some misgivings about the whole thing, and mis-          highly exalted. It is therefore God's word that con-
givings about the part these sons might have had in      vinces Jacob that his sons are to be trusted this
that death. he believed Joseph to be dead. But the       time.
behaviour of these brothers was strange when they          One can only wonder, because Jacob was a child
brought that coat that was stained with blood. They      of God, whether at once his conscience did not
might have shown some mock sorrow. But Jacob             smite him for having uttered those words of un-
knew how they despised Joseph. And what was              belief and fatalism just a few months before: "All
missing in their report was that they offered no sug-    these things are against me" and "If I am bereaved
gestion as to what else could have happened to           of my children, I am bereaved." But we can be sure
their brother. Quite plainly they wanted their           that he confessed his sin and offered up praise and
father to believe the worst. That already made           thanksgiving to God because of the truth that
Jacob uneasy. And it explains his outburst under         Joseph was yet alive, and that the other eleven had
the strain of being asked to let Benjamin go with        all returned home safely from Egypt. It is not re-
them to Egypt: "Me have ye bereaved of my                corded of him that he did so, but so a child of God
children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and will     behaves.
ye take Benjamin away?" (Genesis  42:36). He re-           Being convinced that Joseph was alive Jacob
veals what he had kept secret in his heart all these     made plans to go and see him before he died. The
years, namely, that somehow these brothers were          wagons revealed Joseph's desire to see his aged
involved in Joseph's death. He had no proof and          father; and the desire was mutual. After all that
could not press the matter any further. But why          grieving for a son whom he thought to be dead,
was that coat torn? If Joseph was in it when the         Jacob is more than eager to see this son who has
wild beast struck, there would be signs. If he was       been proven to be alive. And so he gathers all that
not in it, how did that blood get on it?                 he has to go to Egypt in order to survive the five
  What must he now think when these same sons            years of famine which are still ahead of them.
come with such a contradictory claim? Joseph yet           This was Joseph's idea and suggestion. And Jacob
alive? Joseph governor of the whole land of Egypt?       seizes it, moved by an awareness that the situation
0, he wanted those words to be true. But his heart       in the land of Canaan was critical, especially since
fainted because of past experiences which made           they were strangers in it, owned no land in it, and
him wonder not only what all this would lead to,         were not in favour with the Canaanites on whose
but to fear that more trouble was ahead. These sons      land they had been feeding their cattle all these
seemed very happy to report that Joseph is yet           years. From the Canaanites, who were struggling
alive, but even that did not seem to ring true. Jacob    for their own existence, they could not expect any
knows nothing of the conversion of these sons            help and charity. But Jacob and Joseph were also
through the ordeal before Joseph. He knows not           moved by a natural, fleshly love that compelled
how strong their love for him is and that it was         them to seek to see each other face to face.


284                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



  Without consulting God as to His will in the            that all men should come to repentance. In a text as
matter, Jacob gathered all that he had and went as        particular as this one, speaking of God being  long-
far as Beer-sheba which was about 20 miles to the         suffering to us, we may not deny this truth by
southwest. After that one-day journey Jacob's faith       making the rest of the text say that He is longsuffer-
asserted itself, and belatedly he sought God and          ing to all men.
sacrificed unto Him. And in covenant mercy God               Here, too, God is longsuffering so that the large
answered Jacob in a dream that night. In that             family consisting of 66 souls, and which in Egypt
dream He promised Jacob a safe journey, protec-           becomes a nation of some three millions of people-
tion in Egypt, and a sure return to the promised          600,000 men, each with a wife and two or three
land.                                                     child-ren to a family-must have room to grow. This
  This return was not to be, we know, until four          God provides in Egypt. And for that reason He sent
hundred years later, so that it does seem as though       Joseph ahead.
He is slack concerning His promise as some  men              The promise stands, and, rather than being
count slackness. That promise was first given to          forgotten or delayed in its fulfillment, it is being ful-
Abraham. Now his grandson is assured that this            filled by this sojourn in Egypt. The Almighty makes
promise will be fulfilled. yet it was not fulfilled in    no mistakes but is arranging it so that the abundant
his life, nor in the lives of his sons who now moved      seed He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
down into Egypt with him.                                 might come into being as a great nation, and as such
  He is not slack concerning His promises,                might in due time enter the land and possess it. And
however, but fulfills them on time, and, as Peter         Judah must live and get seed so that the Lion of
writes, being "longsuffering to  usward, not willing      Judah's Tribe, might come and by His cross make it
that any (of us) should perish, but that all (of us)      possible that we perish not but come to repentance.
should be brought to repentance" (II Peter 3:9). The      Although we may not be able to explain it fully and
parentheses are ours because that word usward  de-        show it in detail, that sojourn in Egypt was neces-
mands it, and denies us the right to add what is not      sary and served the coming of Christ and the salva-
in the text, namely, that any man should perish and       tion we have through His cross.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

                                      Christ's Return
                                              Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma


  Are there ever times in your life when you have          desires from our homeland. I say again, it is only
imagined what that very day of Christ's return             natural that many times in our life we find our
would bring? How often a child of God finds                thoughts drifting to that day when all our hopes
himself contemplating the events which will sur-          will be fulfilled-the wonderful day of the Lord!
round Christ's second appearance! And is not that          The glory and the joy God's children will experi-
but natural? We are those who confess with Abra-           ence in that day cannot be expressed with words!
ham and the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11 that          Paul writes to the Corinthian church in his first
we are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." We           epistle to them, chapter  2:9, "But as it is written,
have no abiding place on this earth for we desire a        Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have en-
"better country, that is, an heavenly." It is only         tered into the heart of man, the thing which God
natural, then, that if our affections are upon our         hath prepared for them that love Him."
heavenly home we find ourselves thinking of that
day when our Lord and Savior will usher in that              Have you ever imagined what will transpire on
glorious heavenly kingdom in all its perfection. In        that very day of Christ's return? Although Jesus
fact we not only think of that day, we long for that       does not offer us all the details of this event, surely
day. We are those who are sober and who watch              He describes that day for us. He spoke these words
and prepare for that day. We are those who persis-         to His disciples in Matthew 24:29-31,  "Immediately
tently pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come                  after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
quickly." We are those who struggle to remain free         darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
from evil pleasures which would tear our eyes and          and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                285


of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall             thew 24 which we quoted speaks of the last of these
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and           signs taking place "immediately after the tribula-
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and          tion of those days." Although the sequence of
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds         events will take place so rapidly that each sign will
of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall         fall one on top of the other, we are able to discern
send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet,           just exactly how things will transpire. After the
and they shall gather together His elect from the          great persecution of Christ's Church by the Anti-
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."          christ there will be a falling out of the nations. Gog
Just reading these few words of Jesus should leave         and Magag will arise in opposition to the Antichrist
us standing in awe before God! That day of our Lord        to do battle with him. Then, while the attention of
will be one filled with the greatest of all wonders!       all the world is focused upon this battle, will begin
Who could imagine that this vast universe will col-        what to the world is the greatest of calamities-the
lapse: the sun will give up its rays after having          overturning of the universe. Isaiah describes this
shone steadily for thousands of years; the moon            sign with these words in Isaiah  34:4: "And all the
and the stars, so set in their courses, shall fall from    host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens
the sky! Who could imagine that Christ will appear         shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host
in such a way that not one eye will avoid seeing           shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine,
Him! Who could imagine the gathering together of           and as a falling fig from the fig tree." The vast and
all the elect from the four corners of this world! All     wide expanse of this universe-a universe whose
indescribably wonders of grace! But such will be           limits puny man can never plumb-by God's
the day of Christ's return.                                power, shall be rolled together as a scroll. The sun,
  Yet there are many who explain the prediction of         moon, and stars shall fall from the sky, the earth
all these wonders as merely a picturesque                  will sail from its orbit, and the galaxies shall be
description of man's Utopia on earth. They claim           shaken.
that the Scriptures refer to all this as Christ's            It is exactly at this time that the final sign of
coming merely because at that time man will have           Christ's coming shall take place. We are told in
established peace and prosperity on earth and              Matthew  24:30, "And then shall appear the sign of
Christ's teachings will then become reality. Still         the Son of man in heaven." We are not told by
others, who think along the same lines, would posit        Jesus what that sign is. All we are told is that it too
that all these wonders speak merely of the glorious        is a sign in the heavens. Perhaps it will be the bril-
triumph of the gospel. There is, therefore, no literal     liancy of God's glory now shining forth through
return of Christ; and all these glorious wonders will      that veil of the universe. Certainly Scripture seems
never be witnessed. Surely this view of the post-          to support this. Jesus says in Matthew  24:27, "For
millennialist shatters completely the hopes and            as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth
longings of God's children. There is nothing they          even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the
want more than to see their Lord return to and             Son of man be."
gather them together into their heavenly home                Immediately after the fulfillment of this sign
wherein they will dwell in the very bosom of their         Christ shall appear. We notice once again just how
heavenly Father. To live in an earthly world, even         rapidly all of this must take place. The rending of
if it be perfect, is not enough for the child of God,      the universe, the sign of the Son of man, and the
for even a perfect world of peace and prosperity           final coming of Christ certainly do not extend over
could never equal the glory of heaven. The child of        a period of months or even weeks. It is even a ques-
God understands the purpose of God in creation             tion of whether it takes longer than a day for all this
and the fall. He knows that God loves His people so        to take place. But Christ now appears-not, mind
much that an earthly Paradise is not good enough           you, in weakness and humiliation as He did the
for them. That is why Adam had to sin. Christ must         first time, but on the contrary, He appears with
come and give to us something far more beautiful           power and great glory! And what a great wonder!
and glorious than that earthly Paradise. He must           Every eye shall behold that power and glory, no
give to us heaven. And that heavenly glory is given        matter on which side of the globe they may stand!
us when Christ returns-literally returns. To say           Then shall be fulfilled what Jesus testified to the
that we receive anything less shatters our hopes           Sanhedrin just prior to His death, "Hereafter shall
and prayers. Christ will return. And His appear-           ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of
ance will be surrounded with all these wonders of          power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." How
grace.                                                     the wicked had fought and disputed with Jesus in
  We are told that just prior to this return of Christ     His first coming! How they had denied Him,
there will be signs which reveal to God's children         mocked Him, and crucified Him! But now on
that His return is imminent. The passage in Mat-           Christ's return eve y knee shall bow and  every


286                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the      comes! We rejoice in that!
glory of God the Father! Every eye shall see `Him            The wicked, on the other hand, will mourn; their
descending in the clouds of heaven, adorned with           hearts' shall fail for fear. Revelation  6:15-17
the authority of Go ! He shall be accompanied by           describes their actions when Christ returns, "And
                    :
His angels who shal 'shout of His coming and blow          the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
the trumpets of His praise! No one will dare stand         rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty
in opposition to Him, much less speak against Him!         men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid
He comes as the exalted Lord of all glory!                 themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
  Oh yes, we look forward to that day. It is this          mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks,
very coming of our Lord that brings about the end          Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that
of the world and which ushers in for us eternal            sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
glory. God's people rejoice when they hear that the        Loam: for the great day of His wrath is come; and
day of our Lord approaches. The reason they                who shall be able to stand?" Great reason is there
rejoice is rooted in what takes place in that day.         for them to speak this way too, for in that day
Jesus tells us that God's angels shall gather together     Christ will consume them with the breath of His
the elect from the four winds. That too is why Luke        mouth and the brightness of His coming. The
records for us in his gospel these words of Jesus in       ungodly will perish in that day.
Luke 21:28, "And when these things begin to come             We will never find the ungodly pondering the
to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for         second coming of Christ. Only we who wait for our
your redemption draweth nigh." When Christ                 salvation love to hear of the events of that day. We
returns in power and all glory He returns to give us       stand in awe at the works of God's hands, and in all
final redemption. We will be removed from this             confidence we rejoice that in that day we will be
world of sin and given a life wherein it will be im-       numbered among the assembly of the elect in life
possible to sin. We will be removed from this world        eternal. So we wait patiently for the coming of the
of pain and sorrow and given a life where there will       Captain of our salvation.
be no more shedding of tears. All that when Christ

QUESTIONBOX


                                     Women Smoking
                                                  Rev. C. Hanko



  We received the following question: "May                   But times have changed. Today many men have
women smoke?"                                              given up smoking, while many women have taken
  What immediately comes to mind when we read              over. The pipe and the cigar have been replaced in
this question is that this kind of question would          many instances by the far more convenient
never have been raised fifty years ago. In those           cigarette. This was the case in the Netherlands and
days only men smoked. They smoked their cigars             among the church people there long before it
and pipes and no questions were asked. In fact, it         became a practice here. The argument is raised that
was considered manly to smoke. Consistory rooms            if men have the right to smoke, the women do also.
were hazy with smoke and the stench of the smoke           That can hardly be denied. Some will remind us
hung in the air for a long time afterward. Part of the     that smoking has been a common practice in the
enjoyment of a social evening together was the             church, particularly among men, for many years,
smoking of a good cigar or the aroma of a good pipe        and these men often reached a ripe old age. Others
tobacco. One wonders at the endurance of the               will argue that smoking belongs to our Christian
women of those days who spent their evenings in a          liberty, or to the adiaphora in our lives, that is, to
smoke-filled atmosphere, "enjoying" the stench of          the things of which Paul speaks that must be left to
second-hand smoke of the male persons present.             one's own conscience.
One even marvels that the housewife did not com-             The ultimate question is, as our reader suggests,
plain about the brown film on her windows, her             Is it right, ethically right, for the Christian to
new drapes, and on her furniture.                          smoke?


                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                       287



   In this connection, one thing must be borne in                          mere question of smoking, whether we are actually
mind, and that is that smoking, particularly cigar-                        putting first things first in our lives. Do we seek
ette smoking, because the smoke is readily inhaled,                        first the kingdom of heaven, so that we are more
has been declared detrimental to the health by the                         than willing to give up our luxuries for the king-
medical profession.             Therefore we face the                      dom? This will obviously become a most serious
question, Is it right for a Christian to blacken his                       question for all of us as we approach the end of the
lungs, to endanger his health, and to expose himself                       ages. "The Lord is at hand."
to the threat of emphysema, by smoking? When we
bear in mind that smoking is a habit from which                              The Standard Bearer
one is not readily freed, and that excessive smoking
is considered to be detrimental to the health, is it
right for the Christian to indulge in smoking and to                            makes an excellent
subject others to the pollution of the atmosphere
that he creates? In any case, we may never ignore                                          gift for the sick
the admonition of Scripture, "Let your moderation
be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand"                                                    o r   s h u t - i n .
(Philippians  45).
   In this connection we should also be reminded of
our Christian stewardship. Smoking cigarettes is an                                            Take time to read
expensive habit. One hears repeated complaints
about high church budgets, the high cost of mission                                        The Standard Bearer
work, the high tuition bills. I do not doubt that this
is a real problem for couples with children. But
then we must also confront ourselves with the
question that has a much broader scope than the


                LEAGUE MEETING NOTICE
   The Spring League Meeting of the Eastern  ,League of Men's and
Ladies' Societies will be held, the Lord willing, at First Protestant
Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, April 13,
1982, at 8:00 p.m.

   Rev. Carl Haak will speak on "Faith Healing." Don't miss it.

                                                   Elsie Kuiper, Sec'y.
                                                                                  CALL TO ASPIRANTS TO THE MINISTRY
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                          All young men desiring to begin studies for the  1982-83 academic
   The relatives of Agnes Van Drunen, member of the Hudsonville            year in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches
Protestant Reformed Church, express their sincere sympathy in the          should make application at the March 18, 1982 meeting of the
passing of her husband, MR. JOE B. VAN DRUNEN, whom the Lord               Theological School Committee.
took unto Himself on February 4, 1982.                                     Pre-Seminary Students:

   "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and He will             A transcript of  grades  from high school and college  (if any), a letter
show them His covenant." (Psalm  25:14).                                   of testimony from the student's pastor or consistory, and a certifi-
                                             Her nieces and nephews.       cate of health from a reputable physician must accompany the
                                                                           application.

                          IN MEMORIAM                                      Seminary Students:
  The Junior Mr. and Mrs. Society of Hope Protestant Reformed                 A testimonial from the student's consistory that he is a member in
Church (Walker, MI) wishes to express their sincere sympathy to Mr.        full communion, sound in faith and upright in walk, a certificate of
and Mrs. Douglas Kooienga and family in the death of their infant son,     health from a reputable physician, and high school and college
DAVID JAMES.                                                               transcripts must accompany the application. All applicants to the
                                                                           seminary department must have completed the equivalent of a  four-
   "But Jesus called unto Him, and said, `Suffer little children to        year college education (125 semester hours) and must meet the
come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of           course requirements for entrance to the seminary department. These
God.' " (Luke 18: 16).                                                     entrance requirements are listed in the seminary catalog available
                                            Rev. R. Flikkema, Pres.        from the school.
                                            Mrs. Dan Huizinga, Sec'y.         All seminary department applicants must appear before the
                                                                           Theological School Committee for interview before admission is
                            NOTICE!!!                                      granted. In the event that a student can not appear at the March 18th
                                                                           meeting, notification of this fact along with a suggested interview
   The undersigned hereby reminds individuals  and  synodical  com-        date must be given to the secretary of the Theological School Com-
mittees, that all material destined for the agenda of the 1983 Synod       mittee before this meeting.
of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America, is due in his hands
on or before April 15, 1982.                                                  All correspondence should be directed to the Theological School
                                                                           Committee, 4949 lvanrest Ave. S.W., Grandville, Michigan 4941 8.
                                                Rev. M. Joostens
                                                Stated Clerk of Synod                                                        Jon  Huisken,  Secretary


.               THE STANDARD BEARER
-                                                                                                      `SECOND-CLASS.
: ;                  P.O. Box 6064                                                                  POSTAGE PAID AT
2  .;;:       Grand.Rapids,  Michigan 49506                                                         GRAND
4;..?-:<;;
     ir
id


              288                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


                                        News From Our Churches
                Now that Rev. Moore has accepted the call to            knit together a study class of Christians scattered
              Isabel, South Dakota, our Edmonton, Alberta,              literally through all parts of the world. Each tape
              Canada congregation joins  Redlands as a calling          has a short but interesting introduction in which
              church. Edmonton has formed a trio consisting  df         communications are read from various members of
              Reverends Bruinsma, Bekkering, and Koole.                 the class. After this a more detailed exposition is
                              * * * * * * * * * *                       given of the doctrine treated in the current study
                                                                        sheet, again with.emphasis upon the source of this
                The church extension work in Bradenton,                 doctrine in Scripture. All told it provides an inter-
              Florida continues, as is evident from this February       esting and profitable means for us to study the
              28 bulletin announcement of First Church (Grand           word of God together with Christians in all parts of
              Rapids) : "Rev. Hanko will be returning from              the world; and we would like to have you join us.
              Bradenton this week. Rev. Joostens will be leaving          "And finally, if you know of any others who
              early Wednesday morning.. Our prayers go with             might like to receive these studies; we certainly
              him as he labors there for the next four Sundays."        would appreciate receiving their names and
                In a November communication to their congre-            addresses from you. It is our desire to use our
              gation the Church Extension Committee of Love-            efforts in this way to spread the word of God as
              land, Colorado reported a number of activities in         broadly as we can."
              which the committee had been involved in the past           If you, dear reader, would like to respond to that
              year. These activities included: the sponsoring of        last paragraph, send your correspondence to:
              the lecture "On the Glory of Jerusalem in the Light       Studies in Bible Doctrine, 427 North Fletcher,
              of Prophecy" given by Rev. Lubbers, the printing          Kalamazoo, MI 49007.
              of 10,000 pamphlets, the mailing of- about 4,000                          **********
              pamphlets, their advertising in an area paper "with
              an explanation of our church and beliefs," and the          A folding mailer I received from our Birming-
              committee's "looking into the possibility of a radio      ham, Alabama mission station was one of many
              station with a large broadcasting area,in  Denver."       that were sent out to advertise the February 22 and
                The Reformed Witness Committee of Redlands,             23 "expositions of God's Word concerning the
              California tells of "a number of very concerned           Final and Great Judgment Day" that were held at
              individuals on our permanent mailing list living in       the Baptist Deaf Church in the Birmingham area.
              the  Ripon,  California area...." Those of our reader-    Our missionary pastor, Rev. R. Van Overloop,
              ship who are interested in geography might like to        spoke on both occasions.
              know that Ripon is about 50 miles east of Oakland.                        **********
                Rev. B. Woudenberg, pastor of our Kalamazoo,              Back in our December 15, 1981 news column I
              Michigan congregation, has long been active in a          wrote concerning the school, The Christian Tutor,
              Bible study program called "Studies in Bible              in Houston, Texas: "According to Mr. Sugg one
              Doctrine." In a letter to recipients of this cor-         feature of their new school is a built-in - or should
              respondence course Rev. Woudenberg wrote:                 we say, live-in  - school entrance test: all students
              "These studies are designed to develop Christian          must be able to get past the cow to attend school."
              doctrine by going directly to the Scriptures in           Since that time Rev. Bekkering, pastor of our
              which they are taught. It is our conviction that this     church in Houston, has sent this correction  - or
              is necessary if we are to have true conviction of         should we say, expansion: "There are 2 cows and 2
              faith and live out of the word of God as the Scrip-       heifers  and  1 horse to get by in the pasture, not
              tures say we should."                                     counting the chickens and roosters." Could we
                Skipping down a few paragraphs he continues:            propose a new name for the school? How about
              "...if you are not acquainted with our tape studies,      Animal Farm?
              we would like to have you try them. These tapes                                                            CK


