           The
     STANDARD
          BEARER
           A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE




       Let us cling to the doctrine of salvation as
     it is exclusively in Christ Jesus, rooted and
     anchored in God's sovereign and unchange-
     able will and counsel, and let us never at-
     tempt Uo contribute to it one solitary work or
     merit on our part! May we ever remember
     that this salvation is in Christ Jesus and it
     must always remain there. Our works are
     always to be Christ's works (as we read it in
     Rev. 2:26), the fruits of His grace and Spirit.
     See "Preservation and Perseverance"
                                                         - page 496


.                                         Volume LX, No. 21, September  Is, 1984


482                                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER




                                                                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
                                     CONTENTS                                                                                    ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                       Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                        Published b the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
  Meditation  -                                                                                              SeconBClass Postage Paid at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                             Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
       Zion's Founding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .  .  . 482              Department Editors: Rev. Ronald Cammenga,  Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                             D. Decker, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko,. Rev. Ronald Hanko,
  Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485                Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortermg, Rev. George C.
                                                                                             Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. Marinus  Schipper, Rev. James  Slopse-
  Editorial  -                                                                               ma, Rev. Gise J. Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
       Anonymous Slander of the P.R.C. . . . . . . . .  . . . 485                            Editorial  Of/ice: Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                              4975 Ivanrest Ave. S.W.
  Our Rich Heritage (Part II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487                                         Grandville, Michigan 49418
                                                                                             Church News Editor:  Mr. David Harbach
  Guest Article  -                                                                                                4930 Ivanrest Ave., Apt. B
                                                                                                                  Grandville, Michigan 49418
       The King James Version of the Bible (IV) . . . . . 492                                Editorial  Policy: Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of his own
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MEDITATIQN


                                                                Zion's Founding
                                                                                  Rev. H. Veldman


                                                    "His foundation is in the holy mountains." Psalm 87:l


  How wonderful is the Zion of God!                                                             God is glorious and these glorious things are all
  We sing of this Zion of the Lord in number 237 of                                             related to Him: His grace and mercy, His goodness
our Psalter. Psalm 87 is a eulogy, a word of praise                                             and perfection, His forgiveness and to know Him in
concerning this Zion of God. This Zion is the                                                   love and covenant fellowship. All these glorious
church of God, also called the "City of God" as in                                              things are true of this City of God.
verse 3. Glorious things are said of this Zion of God,                                              Psalm 87 is also prophetic. It speaks of the
things that concern God and are therefore glorious.                                             church of God as throughout the ages. The Lord


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              483



knows all His innumerable own by name, as we               showing forth the glory of its heavenly Architect
read in verse 6. They were all born in Zion; that is,      and Designer. As a city, the church is a glorious
they all owe their life to the regenerating power of       commonwealth, a spiritual community living its
the blood and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, which       own life, speaking its own language, gathered out
operates in the church of God. They will come from         of all nations, peoples, lands, and tongues, reveal-
Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon, from Philistia and              ing forever the glory of Him, the living God, Who
Tyre, also from Ethiopia; all nations shall swell this     alone and sovereignly called them out of darkness
City of God, and they were all born through the            into His marvelous light.
almighty and irresistible grace of God, until that           Zion's foundation - this presupposes two things.
day when the new heavens and the new earth shall
burst forth in song and sing forever the song of             First, this foundation presupposes firmness,
Moses and of the Lamb.                                     stability, permanency. We may distinguish what-
                                                           ever rests upon a foundation from a tent or taber-
  This Zion has been founded in the mountains of           nacle. A tent does not rest upon a foundation. A
holiness. Literally we read: "His foundation is in         tent is unfolded in the evening and folded up in the
the mountains of holiness." This "His" refers to           morning. A tent emphasizes the temporary; it is used
the Lord, Jehovah. Concerning this there need be           by a traveler or pilgrim who has no abiding place
no doubt. If the reference were to Zion, then we           and is enroute to his destination. A city or a house
would read in the original: her foundations. That          rests upon a foundation. This emphasizes the idea
this is Jehovah's foundation, that He has laid it is,      of permanency. Scripture speaks of the city that has
of course, also established in other Scriptures, as in     foundations. A city is the goal, the end of one's so-
Isaiah  28:16: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God,         journ or travels. In a city one intends to abide.
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a          There one sets up his permanent home. A founda-
tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure founda-       tion means that it cannot be moved. It renders a
tion: he that believeth shall not make haste." It is to    home or city stable or permanent.
the foundation of God that we now call attention in
this meditation.                                             Secondly, a foundation also determines the
         * * *  *        :i:    B * * * *                  nature and form of a structure or building. One
                                                           does not build a square house upon a round founda-
  The text surely refers to Zion's foundation.             tion. Hence, the foundation also determines the
  Various connotations are given of Zion in Holy           form and shape of the building. This, we under-
Writ. Scripture speaks of Zion as the Body of              stand, applies also to any church in the midst of the
Christ, as in the epistles of Paul to the Ephesians        world. An Arminian foundation implies an  Armi-
and the Colossians, and also in his epistle to the         nian church. If a church rests upon the Arminian
Romans. Then, the Word of God speaks of Zion as a          conception of the universal love of God, universal
building and temple of the Lord, as in Ephesians           atonement (that Christ died for every man, head for
2~20-22:  "Which He wrought in Christ, when He             head), the free will of the sinner and the denial of
raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own           absolute depravity, and the general well-meaning
right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all           offer of salvation, then that church will be  Armi-
principality, and power, and might, and dominion,          nian in all its preaching and teaching. Zion, too,
and every name that is named, not only in this             rests upon a foundation. This foundation of Zion,
world, but also in that which is to come: And hath         we know, is Christ Jesus. And this means that
put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be          Christ does not merely render the church of God
the head over all things to the church." And in this       secure, does not merely establish its firmness and
psalm we read of Zion that it is the City of God, as       permanency, but He also determines the nature
in verse 3: "Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0         and being of this church of God, its spiritual identi-
city of God. Selah."                                       ty, its life of holy fellowship and communion with
  Zion is the church of the living God. As the body        the alone blessed God. Christ does not only deter-
of Christ the church is an organism which is a ful-        mine who the church shall be but also what it shall
ness, and in that fulness a unity, to which not one        be. He suffered and gave His life that we should be
can be added and from which none can be sub-               reconciled to God and be a holy people unto the
tracted, consisting of exactly so many members,            Lord. What He merited for us He also bestows
each member occupying its own place and serving            upon us by His almighty and irresistible grace.
its own purpose, all together serving the wonderful        Christ determines this structure of Zion, the church
and glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a           of God, redeemed by His blood and sanctified by
building, the church is constituted of so many             His Spirit.
bricks or stones, all differing from one another and                * * * * * * * * * *
yet blending together into one marvelous structure,          The realization of this foundation issuggested by


484                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



this word of God. In the first place, we read:  "His       the head of the serpent; He speaks of it by the
foundation is in the holy mountains." This is His          prophets of the Old Day, in all the symbols and
foundation. And the word "His" refers emphatical-          shadows and sacrifices of the Mosaic law in the old
ly to the Lord, Jehovah. Besides, in the second place      dispensation. He laid this foundation in the moun-
we read that His foundation is in the holy moun-           tains of holiness in the city of Jerusalem, spoke of
tains. These holy mountains are the mountains of           the Christ through Him who sat upon the throne of
Jerusalem: Mt. Zion and Mt. Moriah, the palace of          David, symbolic of the mighty Son of David Who
the king resting upon-the former and the temple            was to come, and He also spoke of Him in the tem-
having been built upon the latter. These mountains         ple upon Mt. Moriah.
are called holy, because they were consecrated by            This foundation is laid centrally in Christ Jesus.
God unto Himself, unto the service of the Lord, set        Finally, the Cornerstone makes His appearance in
aside by God for Himself in a peculiar way. Upon           our flesh and blood. God laid this Stone, this Foun-
these mountains were built, according to divine in-        dation, when He caused Him to be born as the Son
struction,, the palace of the king and the temple of       of God, Incarnate, born of a virgin, through the
the Lord. And, if you inquire further, you will            operation of the Holy Spirit. Bethlehem is the key
notice that God's dwelling place with His people,          to Calvary. Calvary is the climax of Bethlehem, but
upon  Mt.jMoriah,  centered in the Holy of  Holies,        without the former the latter would be impossible.
and that  m this Holy of  Holies was the ark of the        Even as we read it in Answer 36 of our Heidelberg
covenant, with its mercy seat (the covering of             Catechism, where, in answer to the question con-
atonement), and that the high priest entered this in-      cerning the profit we receive by Christ's holy con-
ner sanc't`uary  once a year to sprinkle upon the mer-     ception and nativity, we read: "That He is our
cy seat the blood of the sacrifice. Also within this       Mediator; and with His innocence and perfect
ark of the covenant was the moral law, the law of          holiness, covers in the sight of God my sins where-
the ten commandments. Strikingly beautiful was             in I was conceived and brought forth." Christ, the
the symbolism. The law of God within the ark of            eternal Son of God, underneath the burden of all
the covenant speaks of the law of God as it is writ-       our sins and guilt, enables Him to bear the eternal
ten in our hearts, and this because of the blood of        and infinite wrath of God, redeeming us from sin
the covenant sacrificed in behalf of the people of         and death and meriting for us everlasting life and
God. This symbolism, we understand, pointed to             glory, to lay the foundation of the church, the Zion
Him Who was to come, our Lord Jesus Christ, called         of God, in unchangeable righteousness and justice.
in Scripture the Chief Cornerstone and also the           Then, God laid this foundation upon the cross of
foundation of the church of the living God. It is in      Calvary, in the suffering and death of His own
and through Him that the founding of Zion was             beloved Son, enabling Him, through the power of
realized.                                                 the everlasting Spirit, to stand in the bottom of bot-
  Indeed, throughout the ages God lays this cor-          tomless hell, enduring, consciously and obediently,
nerstone or foundation. This, we understand, is           the eternal wrath of God, redeeming Zion and lay-
Jehovah's foundation: His foundation. And He lays          ing the church's foundation in the everlasting and
it throughout the ages, even as we read in Isaiah          unchangeable righteousness of God.
28: 16: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold,          Zion has been established; the church is founded
I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone,    in the righteousness of God; this church can there-
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation." Notice:        fore never be moved, inasmuch as the righteous-
Behold, I lay, I am laying in Zion this foundation or     ness of God is more steadfast than the mountains.
stone. Hence, the Lord is constantly laying this          This Christ rises from the dead, is exalted into
stone. All through the ages  He-is preparing all           glory, receives all power in heaven and on earth; in
things for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That      Him the church of God  .is rooted, and out of Him
this stone or foundation is laid in Zion, according to    that church is gathered and preserved into God's
Isaiah  28:16, means that it is laid in the sphere of     wonderful and heavenly fellowship. Indeed, we
Zion, the church of God, inasmuch as Christ, the          shall sing forever the song of Moses and of the
Chief Cornerstone, is the Head of this church of          Lamb. To God, in Jesus Christ, our Lord, be all the
God. Throughout the ages the Lord is causing all
things to culminate in that moment, known as the          . praise and the glory, now and forevermore.
"fulness of time," the one and only exact moment                 Zion is founded in His holy mountains.
in history for the appearance of our Lord Jesus                  In Christ Jesus, God's Son, our Lord.
Christ, in our flesh and blood. Throughout the ages             May we stand upon and rest solely in Him.
of the Old Dispensation God speaks of this founda-              And the everlasting victory is sure.
tion; He speaks of Him in Genesis  3:15, where we              Read The Standard Bearer
read of the seed of the woman which would crush


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                            485



                                       Editor's Notes

  This is the last issue of the current volume-year,      P.M. Your editor plans to speak at that occasion on
our sixtieth. In this issue, thanks to Mr. Donald         the subject, "One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty. "
Doezema, you will find a complete index of this                     * * * *  * * * * * *
volume. * * *  *c  *  * * * * *                             Church History students may be interested in
                                                          the following information which I received recent-
  In commemoration of our sixtieth anniversary            ly. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church plans to
you will find in this issue Part Two of a special sec-    celebrate its 50th Anniversary in June, 1986. In an-
tion entitled "Our Rich Heritage." This second in-        ticipation of that event the Church has authorized
stallment includes random quotations from various         the preparation of a semicentennial volume de-
articles which appeared in the Standard Bearer dur-       scribing the history of the denomination. According
ing the last 30-plus  years. Perhaps you can identify     to the Rev. Charles Dennison, OPC Historian, "this
some of the writers from their styles. The main           attractive 300-page hard-bound book will chart the
thing we would have you notice is the fact that the       story of the OPC, and will include histories of con-
Sfundurd  Bearer  has continued to sound a con-           gregations, presbyteries, denominational commit-
sistently Reformed note throughout the years of its       tees, the work of women's presbyterials and a bio-
existence.                                                graphical register listing all ministers who have
         *  * *      :b *    :i: * * * *                  served the church." The book, which will cost
                                                          $21.00, is offered now at a  prepublication  price of
  Our readers in the Michigan area are invited to         $16.00 (including shipping and handling). Orders
join us for a commemorative evening in celebration        may be sent to Charles Dennison, 804 7th Avenue,
of our Sixtieth Anniversary at our Hudsonville Pro-       Coraopolis, PA 15108, accompanied with a check
testant Reformed Church on September 27 at 8:00           payable to OPC Anniversary Volume.

EDITORIAL



              Anonymous Slander of the P.R.C.
                                              Prof H.C. Hoeksemu



  The  Question &Answer  department of  The Banner        W.D. Buursma is the department editor, and I sup-
is anonymous. This holds, first of all, for those who     pose he will ultimately have to be held responsible
send in questions. Instead of the name of the ques-       for the contents of the department. But I recall that
tioner being printed, he is simply identified by the      when a change was made some time ago in this
place where he lives, such as "Indiana." And while        department of The Banner, it was stated that various
such anonymity for questioners in such a depart-          Christian Reformed men would be furnishing the
ment has its advantage and is not as such wrong, it       answers. Hence, the reader is unable to detect who
also requires prudence and journalistic ethics on         is the author of any given answer; it may be one of
the part of the department editor in placing these        several persons. Perhaps this also has its journalis-
anonymous questions, in case they contain un-             tic advantages; I do not know. Personally, I think
proved and unethical and unverifiable claims about        that when a person takes a stand on a matter in
others. Meanwhile, questioners are encouraged by          print  - especially when what he writes may be
the little statement occurring in this department         open to difference of opinion  - he ought to be
each time it appears: "Confidentiality is assured."       enough of a Christian gentleman to sign his name.
  What is worse, however, is the fact that the              All the more amazing to me it was, therefore,
answers to questions are also anonymous. The Rev.         when the following appeared in The Banner of July


4 8 6                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



30,  1984:                                                              Secondly, the answer seriously misrepresents the
           Q. My Protestant Reformed friends make it clear           facts and is slanderous of our Protestant Reformed
         that they believe they have the purest and truest inter-    Churches. I call attention to the following items:
    pretation of the Scriptures. Although they don't con-             1) It is formally true that both denominations ac-
         demn me as a member of the Christian Reformed               cept the ecumenical and Reformed creeds. But this
         Church, they also don't acknowledge me as a true be-        is not the issue. There are many who accept these
         liever. What are the differences in our beliefs? Why        creeds. The question is: do they  abide  by these
         do they make me feel like I've missed the boat?
                                                         Indiana     creeds in their preaching and teaching, and do they
                                                                     uphold these creeds in their discipline?
           A. The differences lie more in emphasis than in
         actual beliefs. Both denominations accept the ecu-          2) It is totally untrue that "People who founded the
    menical and Reformed creeds. People who founded                  Protestant Reformed churches rebelled against,
    the Protestant Reformed churches rebelled against,               among other things, what they believed to be an
    among other things, what they believed to be an un-              undue emphasis on common grace . . . ." This state-
    due emphasis on common grace within the Christian                ment is slanderous. For no one may separate from a
    Reformed Church. They believed that the implica-                 church merely because of a difference of emphasis.
    tions of that doctrine in the life of Christian Reformed         The truth is that there was fundamental disagree-
    church members justified separate existence.                     ment on the doctrine of common grace. The truth is
           Alas, some members of the Protestant Reformed             that the CRC elevated common grace to the status
    Church do, indeed, make other Christians feel "in-               of binding doctrine in that denomination by the
    ferior." Don't allow this unfortunate attitude to de-            adoption of the Three Points in 1924. The truth is
    prive you of the joy and contentment of fellowship in            that ministers and consistories were deposed and
    your own denomination.                                           cast out because they would not subscribe to the
           I'm glad that many Protestant Reformed people to-         Three Points; and they were cast out with an appeal
    day, though thankful for their denomination, have the            to the Formula of Subscription. The truth is, there-
    grace to realize that not all Christian people will think        fore, that it was the CRC which considered the
    precisely alike on minor points of the faith. We must
    acknowledge that in our own denomination we, too,                Three Points of Common Grace essential. The truth
    have had people who have been elitist and who have               is that in the early 1960's, when the De Wolf group
    conveyed to people in other churches an air of super-            returned to the CRC, the Three Points were still
    iority.                                                          considered essential and that more than one
           As churches mature and as individual Christians           minister was required to declare agreement with
    grow in grace, they are less and less likely to empha-           them in his  coZZoquium  docium  at  classis. The truth
    size "superiority" and more and more apt to confess              is that by this time the differences are so great  -
    that not only individuals but also churches are saved            differences which stem from 1924  - that there is
    by grace alone.                                                  no comparison between the two denominations.
  Now, first of all, as far as the question is con-                  Think of the general atonement case, the reproba-
cerned, it should be noted that the questioner                       tion case, the movie issue, the union issue, the
makes statements about his "Protestant Reformed                      dance issue - all related to the common grace con-
friends." Are these facts, and do they state things                  troversy. These are the things Rev. Anonymous
which his "Protestant Reformed friends" actually                     should have told his questioner.
stated? Or are they  conclusions  which the ques-                      Thirdly, Rev. Anonymous seems to know much
tioner reached, and which he may very well have                      about Protestant Reformed people. He knows that
reached incorrectly? Did they tell him that he isn't                 "some members of the Protestant Reformed
a true believer? Did they tell him that he missed the                Church do, indeed, make other Christians feel `in-
boat? Did  The Banner  consider the possibility that                 ferior.' " He seems to know that "many Protestant
the questioner might be misrepresenting his "Pro-                    Reformed people . . . have the grace to realize that
testant Reformed friends?" Or did it just assume as                  not all Christian people will think precisely alike on
gospel truth that these "Protestant Reformed                         minor points of the faith." Just how many Protes-
friends" were elitist and that they made the ques-                   tant Reformed people does he know and has he
tioner feel inferior by conveying to him "an air of                  surveyed? I dare say I know most of our Protestant
superiority?" I have no idea who these Protestant                    Reformed families. I don't know of those who
Reformed friends are, though I would guess (in the                   make others feel inferior. I don't know of those
light of the fact that the questioner is from Indiana)               who are "elitist," that is, who pride themselves
that they are from our South Holland congregation.                   because they are the "select or choice part . . .
But it sounds highly unlikely to me that they would                  socially superior." I know many Protestant
tell him that he isn't a true believer merely because                Reformed people who believe that our churches,
he is Christian Reformed.                                            judged by the  marks  of the true church, are the


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                              487



purest manifestation of the church on earth and            sad that he does not instruct him concerning the
who believe that it is therefore their duty to belong      CRC's deviation from those marks. And how sad
to the PRC; but they are also humbly thankful for          that he does not instruct his questioner about his
this grace, and acknowledge that what they are and         duty to join himself to the true church! (Art. 28,
have is by the grace of God, while they have               Confession of Faith) If he had done so, and then
nothing to boast in themselves. Indeed, churches           made it crystal clear that the CRC maintains those
are saved by grace alone!                                  marks while the PRC has departed from them, he
  But how sad it is that Rev. Anonymous does not           might have helped his CRC questioner. But this he
instruct his questioner concerning the marks of the        does not do; and he does not do it because he cannot
true church (Art. 29, Confession of Faith), and how        do it.




                       Our Rich Heritage (Part II)
                                   (How The Standard Bearer Has Instructed
                                          And Guided Us For Sixty Years)




[In commemoration of our sixtieth anniversary we           to obtain the promise? Or is faith included in the
have gathered out of our sixty volumes brief quota-        promise, so that God also promises faith?
tions on various subjects and by various writers,             Both cannot be true. It is either . . . or.
left unnamed. These quotations demonstrate that
our magazine has consistently spoken with one                 Now it certainly is Reformed, confessionally Re-
voice and emitted one sound. In this second install-       formed, to say that faith is not a condition unto the
ment you will find quotations from Volume 27 for-          promise, but that God promises faith.
ward.]                                                        And this is certainly traditionally Protestant Re-
  They (the Liberated) say that the promise is con-        formed, ever since 1924. Everyone may know that
ditional. We maintain that it is unconditional. They       we as Protestant Reformed Churches have always
claim that the promise of God is for all that are born     sounded the same note in this respect. The promise
in the historical line of the covenant. We insist that     includes all of salvation, and faith is not a condition
it is for the elect alone and that it is an oath of God    unto that promise. (Vol. 27, p. 226)
that He will infallibly lead all the elect unto salva-               * * * * * * * *  * *
tion and eternal glory through faith.                         Upon the necessity of such Protestant Reformed
  It will be evident that according to the concep-         teacher-training we have touched previously. How-
tion of the Liberated faith is excluded from the           ever, it will do no harm, by way of introduction, to
promise. I am well aware that on the other hand also       call attention to the matter once more. And we may
the Liberated teach that faith is a gift of God, and       do so very succinctly in the following propositions:
that man of himself cannot believe, and that there-           1. We believe, as Protestant Reformed people,
fore really they also teach that faith is included in      that our schools must not merely be separate from
the promise. But on the other hand, they plainly in-       the existing Christian schools and from the public
sist that faith is a condition which we must fulfill in    schools in externals, in name, organization, facili-
order to obtain the promise. And therefore the             ties, etc., but that they must be schools in which
promise, according to them does not include faith.         the instruction from beginning to end is founded
This is really the old double-track theology which         upon and permeated by our Protestant Reformed
we have always rejected. Repeatedly I have asked           principles, which to us is the same as saying
them to explain this contradiction, but thus far they      Reformed principles  - which, in turn, is the same
have never succeeded.                                      as saying the truth of Holy Scripture.
   Let us clearly see this difference.                        2. It follows from this fundamental proposition
   Is faith a condition which we must fulfill in order     that a Protestant Reformed school is a school that is


488                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



staffed by Protestant Reformed teachers, men and          the present time . . . .
women who are equipped to bring Protestant Re-              But contentment is a gift of grace, bestowed by
formed instruction.                                       the God of all grace upon His regenerated child,
  3. It is also self-evident that a Protestant Re-        through Christ Jesus our Lord, and by the power of
formed teacher is not a person who, though he be          His Word in the holy gospel. Only the Christian,
Protestant Reformed in confession and church af-          redeemed from the present world, delivered from
filiation, has had some teacher training in any of a      the power of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
number of different teacher-training institutions  -      mere and sovereign grace, can be content in princi-
Christian Reformed, Reformed, Methodist,                  ple. He can say: I am content in whatsoever state I
Lutheran, Baptist, or even so-called non-religious        am. (Vol. 31, pp. 7, 8)
schools, which are in reality modern or pagan  -                   *  * * * * * * * *  x
but that a Protestant Reformed teacher is a Protes-
tant Reformed man or woman who has been trained             For impersonation is defined as assuming or act-
in Protestant Reformed principles of education,           ing the person or character of another. That is the
positively and completely, so that he enters upon         prominent element in a play. In order to be success-
his teaching career with the equipment necessary          ful, an actor must be able to enter into the thoughts
to bring Protestant  IReformed  instruction. (Under-      and feelings of the person he is portraying. For in
lying this proposition are, of course, two facts          the minds of the audience the actor must be so
which we can all see readily: a) The fact that a          completely associated with the real person that the
teacher must be trained. And, b) The fact that his        audience forgets the actor and lives into the life of
training is not merely formal, but that all his train-    the real person, as if they were going through the
ing has doctrinal and ethical content and is              same experience with him. The actor and his au-
necessarily colored by the spiritual principles of the    dience must be able to put their heart and soul into
particular school by which he is trained. Thus, for       that experience in order really to enjoy it.
example, the modernists' training in the principles         It is, therefore, exactly at this point that dramati-
of discipline is fundamentally different from train-      zation assumes an ethical character, that is, at this
ing in discipline based upon Holy Writ: the one           point it must be judged to be either right or wrong.
bases his instruction upon the lie that man is in-          And it hardly needs proof to show that at this
herently good, while Holy Writ gives us the princi-       point dramatization becomes sin, both for the actor
ple that a man is incapable of doing any good and         and the audience. (Vol. 35, p. 161)
inclined to all evil, unless he is regenerated by the              *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Spirit of God.) (Vol. 28, p. 396)
         * *  * * *  *  * * * *                             God IS interested in covenant seed.
  Yet, the contentment of which we speak in this            God is concerned with the salvation and glory of
chapter is a gift of grace, and the natural man does      the youth of His Church. For that reason He speaks
not know it. Nor is he capable of learning its secret.    to them words of comfort, of wisdom, of admoni-
You may explain it to him. You may exhort him to          tion and exhortation. Jesus would not allow the
be content with whatsoever he may be and whatso-          disciples to send away even the little children, the
ever way he may have to walk. He will not and can-        babes that were brought to Him for Him to bless.
not understand it. In as far as he understands not        For of such is the kingdom of heaven. How much
the blessedness, but the doctrine, of true content-       more plain it ought to be that when these children
ment, he will even despise it. For he is natural, not     come to young manhood and young womanhood,
spiritual. And the natural man is carnal. He has a        are mentally reaching full development as well as
carnal mind, which is enmity against God. It is not       physically, that God is interested in them and is
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.         watching over them as a loving Father, ever seek-
Nor is it subject in any way or in any measure to the     ing their salvation and everlasting good.
eighth commandment. The man of the world does               And although Scripture approaches our covenant
not and cannot have his joy in the Lord. The              youth in the masculine form of  my son  and  young
precepts of the Most High are not his delight. To         man, the young women and little girls are meant as
know Him and taste His grace and enter into the           well. It is not so that girls and women - young or
secret of His fellowship, to serve Him and love Him       old --are more inclined to be faithful and spiritual.
with all his heart and mind and soul and strength,        Nothing is farther from the truth. Young women do
to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness          not commit the same sins as young men. Women
and consider all other things as subservient to this      do not rebel against God in the same way that a
highest purpose, also the material things of this         man shows rebellion. One is more outward and
world - these things are hid from him. He cannot          brutal perhaps; and the other is more "polished"
see them afar off. He has his delight in the things of    and "refined" in the act of sin. But it makes not one


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                              489



particle of difference: both are conceived and born        There are many such generalities proclaimed in
in sin. Both come into this world with a totally         our age, which is largely Arminian and Pelagian.
depraved nature. Neither one has anything over on        Are we sensitive about them? Do we have a good
the other from an ethical, moral point of view.          pair of Reformed antennae, Reformed feelers? Or
Young women often are the temptation for the             are we satisfied with them, and do we easily say,
young man. Young women often "ask for it" even           "That man believes in the atonement and preaches
though the young men get the blame for it. Young         it?" Let me give some examples. "Christ died for
women in the church make themselves attractive           sinners." Or: "Christ died for sin." Or: "Christ
in the same way that the ungodly young women             died for the ungodly. " Or: "Christ died for the sins
and older women of the world do for carnal               of mankind." Or again: "Christ is the propitiation
reasons: and they wonder (?) why young men of the        for the sins of the whole world." Or even: "Christ
church and world alike take liberties, or, if you        died for our sins." Someone might say: "What is
will, expect them to live up to the attractiveness       wrong with these statements? Are they not true?
they have displayed. Young men read the "adver-          Isn't it possible to show that these are Scriptural
tisement" of what is for sale or free for the asking,    statements? And does not such terminology occur
what the covenant young women have to "offer";           in our confessions also?" My answer is, in the first
and young men of the world who see nothing               place, that every one of the above statements, taken
distinct in the covenant young women find them           by itself, could be either Reformed or Arminian.
quite to their fleshly fancy. Many a young women         They are, taken by themselves, general and vague,
in the church has been enticed out of the church         not specific. In the second place, they are all
because she first attracted the world unto herself.      characterized by a very peculiar failure to be
Physical attraction draws young men of the world         specific, a failure that lies not in what they say, but
as well as of the church. Natural beauty is not a        in what they fuiZ to say. They fail to say: which sin-
thing to despise. But let covenant young women be        ners? whose sin? which ungodly? They fail to
sure that spiritual beauty shines through that           define ".mankind" and "our" and "the whole
natural beauty and attractiveness God has given          world." And therefore it makes a world of dif-
them, lest the world find delight in them. And let       ference whether an Arminian or a Reformed man
the natural beauty be used in the service of God         makes statements of this kind. We must listen
and not of the flesh. (Vol. 39, p.  14)                  carefully and discern. And the preacher must take
         * * * * * * * * * *                             care that he speaks specific language, language that
  One cannot refrain from asking, "How is it possi-      is not capable of an Arminian interpretation, and
ble to preach the Scriptures and not preach pre-         language that does not leave the real meaning up to
destination, since this is a fundamental truth that      the choice of the hearer. In the third place, such
pervades all of the Scriptures? Anyone who               language, while it may have a Scriptural sound, is
preaches on the love of God as revealed to us in         not truly Scriptural. It is grossly improper to single
God's Word must surely declare:                          out a text or part of a text and then to say of that
                                                         aphoristic statement that it is the "gospel." Every
  That God loves Himself as the fulness of infinite      statement of Scripture must be understood in the
perfection.                                              context of the whole of Scripture ultimately, and
  That God loves Christ as the perfect revelation of     certainly first of all in its own specific and im-
His glory.                                               mediate context. Only thus may it be proclaimed.
  That God loves His people whom He has chosen           This is also one of the reasons why all sound
unto Himself in Christ as His peculiar people from       preaching is necessarily expository and exegetical.
among all peoples of the world.                          The preacher must not bring a so-called evangelis-
                                                         tic message. He must not even merely preach a cer-
  That God gave His only begotten Son to die for         tain fexf. He must proclaim the Word of God uccor-
those given to Him by the Father, Who had to bear        ding to the Scriptures. (Vol. 43, p. 6)
an infinite suffering of eternal wrath to atone for               * * * * * * * * * *
the sins of His people who sin against the infinite
majesty of the Most High.                                  We  n"ow have computers that work faster and
  That God spreads His love abroad, not promiscu-        more accurately than the human brain.
ously or universally, but in the hearts of His people      We send our voices across the whole expanse of
by His Spirit.                                           the earth, and even to the moon. We not only send
  That we love God only because He first loved us        astronauts to the moon, but we watch them as they
and implants that love in us. We choose Him only         walk on the moon's surface.
because He has chosen us. We come to Him only              We have television that can be seen by millions
because He draws us to Himself. (Vol. 41, p. 377)        at the same time. We have satellites in the sky


490                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



watching the enemy and outsmarting them in their           so when they get older we will concentrate on their
maneuvers. Soon no one will escape the searching           spiritual instruction. What heartache has come
eye of man's uncanny devices. The future world             from such reasoning; for either we bring up our
power will know every move we make and every               children from infancy on, or we will see them
word we speak.                                             depart from the right way. There is no re-doing
  Man has the world at his fingertips. It is as if he      when it comes to instruction.
were present everywhere at any given moment.                 It should be apparent that this also requires of
  Does not all this make man sovereign of the              parents that they do their utmost. The admonition
universe?                                                  comes to fathers not at the exclusion of mothers,
  Is he not self-sufficient? Why should he not             but as the responsible head of the home. As parents
boast: "0 man, how great thou art?"                        we make this promise at the baptism of our
                                                           children. So often we think in terms of schooling
  And does he not have good reason, far better             when we stand before such an injunction of Scrip-
than Nebuchadnezzar had, to make himself an im-            ture. This is important, and parents must do their
age extolling his greatness, sixty cubits high and six     utmost to have the home and the school brought in-
cubits wide? (see Daniel 3: 1; Rev.  13:14, 15; and        to harmony with the instruction received in the
note the number 6)                                         church. God's Word is one and must be brought in
          * * * * * * * * * *                              that way to our children. Yet, the home must
  But He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord          receive the emphasis. No one can take the place of
holds them in derision. Psalm 2.                           the parent in the calling to instruct. Assistance may
                                                           be sought, but not replacement. (Vol. 49, p. 381)
  He has His own name for all this: The Abomina-
tion of Desolation, Matthew 24: 1.                                  * * *  * * * * * * *
  Or if you will: The Man of Sin. The Son of Perdi-          Jesus speaks in John  9:4 concerning Himself, "I
tion, II Thess.  2:3, 4.                                   must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it
  Or: The Beast, Revelation 13.                            is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."
                                                           And we are reminded in Romans 13: 12, "The night
  And his number is 666. (Vol. 46, p. 63)                  is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast
          * * * * * * * *  * *                             off the works of darkness, and let us put on the ar-
  A covenant child is most susceptible to this in-         mor of light."
struction.                                                   One cannot, of course, be "scared" into doing
  There are two reasons for this. First, the ability to    the good and holy by fear of impending death.
learn and receive knowledge is greatest during the         Though the angel of death stood this very moment
days of youth. No one can go back to those days            before a wicked person, that one would not there-
when the mind was keen and the brain like a                fore repent. Repentance and godly walk are the
sponge that could absorb almost anything. So               fruit of the work of the Spirit. There must be
quickly those times are gone forever. How careful          regeneration and conversion. Then one will prin-
we parents have to be in that we don't judge our           cipally seek that which is spiritual.
children's ability to learn and study by our own             But the point we ought to see is that often the
ability. Of course, they can do more than we can:          child of God is deeply affected by the world and his
for this reason the Scripture emphasizes, "Train up        own sinful flesh. Often he puts off till next year
a child in the way he should go." Secondly, a child        what ought to be done today. Often he enjoys the
has the gift of implicit faith. He will believe any-       very things which he knows will have no place in
thing you say because he trusts you. He doesn't            heaven. He seeks to defend and excuse his actions.
have a great deal of why's and wherefore's. That           He considers that he has much time till Jesus'
comes later, as he grows up. As a very small child         return; or much time before Jesus calls him from
he simply accepts anything you say. That's the time        this earth. So he procrastinates. He has forgotten
we must fill up that mind with the knowledge of            that the night is far spent  - the day is at hand.
God's Word.                                                  We know not how many tomorrows we have.
  This requires dedication on the part of the              But we know that God has given us this day to use
parents from the day the child is born. All too often      to His glory. May we be aware of the brevity of our
we imagine we can wait and do a better job of bring-       days, that we may set our hearts on wisdom's way.
ing them up later on. We like to reason we are so          Perhaps we could well ask ourselves before we did,
busy now, but probably sometime in the future it           or failed to do, anything, "Would I do this if I knew
will be more convenient. Sometimes we think that           that today were my last?" (Vol. 52, p. 838)
little children don't understand anything anyway,                   * * * * * * * * * *


                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                          491



   The Lord is coming!                                                        with the false doctrine of man's salvation of himself
   And this time He comes, not as the lowly Babe in                           by his free will. Basic to this error was the teaching
the manger of Bethlehem, but as the Lord of glory.                            that the preaching of the gospel is God's gracious
He is coming as the righteous Judge, Who will set                             effort to save every man. The Reformed fathers
the crooked straight, and Who will reward every                               viewed this error as a perversion of the gospel, the
man according as his work shall be.                                           destruction of the Reformed churches, and the rob-
                                                                              bery of the glory of God in His greatest work, the
   In respect to His coming two things must be                                work of salvation.
borne in mind. In the first place, not at any time
will He come, as so many in our day would have us                                The vehemence of their opposition to the  Armi-
believe; but at a set time which He only knows.                               nian heresy might have led the fathers to react by
Evidently this coming is at the end of the world,                             slighting the importance of the preaching of the
when all God's counsel shall have been realized,                              gospel and by denying the serious call of God to
when all of the church which is to be gathered out                            everyone to whom the gospel comes. But such was
of every nation shall have been saved, when all of                            not at all the case. The presence and power of the
the precursory signs of His coming shall have been                            Holy Spirit at that "most holy Synod," leading the
fulfilled. And in the second place, it must also be                           Church into all the truth, are evident, in no small
remembered that He is coming throughout the                                   way, in its firm emphasis on the unique importance
ages. From the moment Christ ascended to the right                            of the preaching of the gospel as the means of grace
hand of the Father He also begins to return. It is                            and in its unwavering insistence on the serious call
therefore for this reason that the apostles could                             by God and His Church to every person to whom
write nearly two thousand years ago that His com-                             God sends the gospel. (Vol. 53, p. 32)
ing is near, that it is at hand. This is also the view-                                * *  8 * *  *  * * * *
point of James when he says in the latter part of the                           It is God in Christ, therefore, according to Scrip-
text, "for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."                              ture and the Reformed Confessions, Who ac-
And this implies that He stands as it were at the                             complishes the work of missions. Even though God
door which is ajar, and is about to be opened, allow-                         gathers His Church by the Spirit and Word of Jesus
ing Him to appear. (Vol. 52, p. 891)                                          Christ, and even though that Word through which
             *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *          God gathers His Church must be preached, and
   Hyper-Calvinism is not the predominant evil of                             even though that preaching must be done by men,
our time. The man who has an eye for the over-                                it is God Himself Who gathers His Church.
throw of the doctrine of God's sovereign, particular                            That missions is the work of God is obvious also
grace in the Reformed sphere today is inclined to                             from the fact that it is God Who saves His Church,
regard the hue-and-cry raised against hyper-calvin-                           not man. God sovereignly loved Jacob and hated
ism as a display of ignorance at best, or a subterfuge                        Esau. Before those children were even born God
at worst. As the Reformed house goes up in flames,                            said to their mother: "The elder shall serve the
the watchers alert us to the peril of flooding, call for                      younger." This was so that the "purpose of God ac-
lifeboats, and give swimming lessons. The same fol-                           cording to election might stand, not of works, but of
ly occurs in society. As society goes under in law-                           him that calleth." God elected Israel to be His
lessness and immorality, the supposed guardians of                            peculiar people, and raised up Pharaoh according
society decry the evils of a strait-laced, "Puritan"                          to His decree of reprobation to show His power and
morality. In view of the advance of Arminianism in                            declare His name throughout the earth. The fact is,
the past fifty years, especially in the area of                               God ". . . has mercy on whom He will have mercy,
"evangelism" and the call of the gospel, one is                               y.1-3;-rom  He will He hardeneth" (Romans
tempted to propose fiity years of hyper-Calvinism                                      . . . . (Vol. 56, p. 323)
as a radical measure to check the wildfire spread of                                   * *  * * * * *  * * *
the free-will cancer.                                                           The Arminian claims to have a richer gospel than
  This temptation, of course, must be decisively re-                          do those who preach a Christ only for a few. Does
jected. Error cannot be fought with error, but only                           he not speak of a Christ for all? Really, however, he
with the truth. The Reformed faith has always been                            impoverishes the gospel. Really, he has a Christ for
characterized by a refusal to become reactionary. It                          nobody. A Christ that died for all really died for
has never allowed heresy to drive it into the op-                             none, because a universal Christ never paid for sin.
posite error. It will not engage in theology, or                              Had He really paid for the sins of all, none could
preach, out of fear. Steadfastly, it insists on being                         possibly perish. Hence, a universal Christ did not
Biblical.                                                                     pay for the sins of any.
  The outstanding example of this is the Synod of                               How impossible is this view also, thanks be to
Dordt. The Reformed churches were confronted                                  God, according to the text. Are we not saved by


     4 9 2                                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



     grace through faith? Always we must remember                                    in Christ is different in Genesis from what it is in
     that we are saved by grace. We must never separate                              Isaiah), and the fulfillment of the promise in our
     grace and faith, as if grace proceeds from God and                              Lord Jesus Christ. An organism needs differences to
     faith proceeds from us. Faith belongs to grace, is                              be truly an organism. But there is, in Scripture, one
     part of it; faith is grace in operation in the heart of                         principle of unity  - as every organism must be a
     the elect sinner. Besides, we read in the text: not of                          unity of diverse parts held together by one fun-
     ourselves; it is the gift of God. And then we read in                           damental principle; and that principle of unity is
     verse 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.                               our Lord Jesus Christ.
     Hence, it is all a gift of God, from the beginning to                             Everywhere in Scripture Christ is talked about -
     the very end. Nothing proceeds from us. The whole                               nothing else. Those who want to emphasize some
     work of salvation is a gift of God. (Vol. 59, p. 52)                            kind of disjunction between Scripture itself and the
               *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *               divine message of Scripture (a ploy used to attack
        The Scriptures are an organic unity. As an                                   Scripture's inerrancy) find a great deal in Scripture
     organism, they are composed of diverse parts.                                   which is not a part of the divine message of salva-
     There are differences of testaments, and of books;                              tion. But they do not understand Scripture.
     differences of kinds of writings (poetry, history,                              Whether Scripture is talking about the creation of
     prophecy, e.g.), and contents; differences in the                               the world in Genesis 1, the flood in Genesis 7, the
     styles of the different men God used, and the way                               chronologies in I Chronicles, the plight of Jonah in
     these men expressed themselves; differences in                                  the whale's belly in Jonah 1  & 2, the problems in
     language (Hebrew and Greek), and literary form;                                 the Galatian Churches, or the  footsore  and weary
I    differences which are rooted in the organic                                     apostle Paul in his trek across Asia Minor, the
     development of the promises (the revelation of God                              Scriptures are talking about Christ. (Vol. 59, p. 180)

     GUEST ARTICLE



              The Ming James Version of the Bible (IV)
                                                                          Rev. Steven Houck



        Note: Articles IV and V of Rev. Houck's series on                            of the Greek New Testament was very influential
     the King James Version were inadvertently placed                                in the translation of the King James Version, was a
     in the wrong order. Number IV, which follows,                                   strong adherent of the Reformed faith. Forsaking
     should have preceded the article which appeared in                              Rome and embracing the faith of the Reformation,
     the last issue. We apologize for this error.                                    he gave up his position as royal printer in order that
                                                                                     he might publish Reformed literature. He fled from
     A BIBLE OF THE REFORMATION                                                      Paris to Geneva, that great Reformation city, where
        If we carefully consider these sources of our Bi-                            he printed his 4th edition of the Greek New Testa-
     ble, then it becomes clear that there is something                              ment. He also published several of the writings of
     very special about it. Of all the English versions                              John Calvin.
     available today, the King James Version is the only                                The Reformer, Theodore Beza, was even more
     one which can be called a "Reformation Bible."                                  influential than Stephanus.  Scrivener, in his
     This Bible in a very real way came out of the Refor-                            Parallel Greek-English edition of the New Testa-
     mation of the 16th century.                                                     ment, demonstrates that the King James Version
        This is true first of all from the point of view of                          translators primarily used Theodore Beza's fifth
     the Greek text. The Greek text which underlies this                             edition (1598) of the Greek New Testament. He in-
     Bible is the text which was recognized and used by                              dicates that out of the thousands and thousands of
     the Reformers. In fact, it was even edited by them.                             words in the New Testament, they deviated from
     Robert Stephanus (Estienne), whose fourth edition                               Beza only about one hundred and ninety times.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                493



Moreover, they not only used his Greek text but             "that he cast off the heavy yoke of popery, perceiv-
relied heavily upon his Latin translation of it.            ing it to be impure and filthy idolatry and joined
Therefore Theodore Beza, the successor of Calvin            himself with them two (Tyndale and Coverdale) in
at Geneva, a great Reformer himself, was a leading          that painful and most profitable  labour  of translating
influence upon our King James Version.                      the Bible into the English tongue." Rogers moved to
  It must be noted on the other hand that with but          Wittenberg and there he associated with the
two exceptions there is not another version avail-          Lutheran divines, particularly Melancthon. He
able today which is based upon the text of                  even translated four of Melancthon's books into
Stephanus and Beza, commonly called the "Re-                English. In harmony with his convictions, he added
ceived Text." All others, except the New King               to the Bible prefaces and notes out of Martin
James Version and the King James II, are based on           Luther's works. These notes were "strongly  anti-
the critical text of Westcott and Hort, which omits         papal.' '
and changes thousands of words. For instance, in              Myles Coverdale, who influenced the King James
all other versions you will find the following              Version through his own Bible  (1535),  the "Mat-
passages either omitted or questioned: 1) The de-           thew's Bible" to which he contributed one third,
scent of the angel into thepool  of Bethesda (John 5);      and the "Great Bible" which is a revision of his
2) the conclusion of the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6); 3)        own work and that of Tyndale, was a strong sup-
the woman taken in adultery (John 7); 4) the last 12        porter of the faith of the Reformation. He moved
verses of Mark 16; and many others. But the text of         from England to Germany where'he was for a while
the King James Version is the text used by Martin           the minister of  a  Lutheran congregation. He cor-
Luther, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and our                 responded with John Calvin and later moved to
fathers of the Synod of Dort.                               Geneva where he was elder in the English Church
  It is not true either that these Reformers did not        there.
know of the existence of this rival text. We are told         Both Thomas Cranmer and Cromwell, who sup-
that they used the "Received Text" because it was           ported Coverdale in his work, turned to the true
all they had. That is not true. While they did not          faith. Cranmer especially supported the efforts of
have the thousands of manuscripts that we have to-          the Reformers. He was strengthened by the council
day, they did know of this corrupt text as it was           of such Reformers as Peter Martyr,  Bernard0
represented in some of the manuscripts that were            Ochino, Martin  Bucer, and Melancthon.
available to them. They, however, rejected that text          The "Geneva Bible," which influenced the King
for the "Received Text"  - the text which is sup-           James Version more than any of the others, was
ported by 80 to 90 percent of all the manuscripts we        produced in the Reformation city of Calvin and
have today. That is the text of the King James Ver-         Beza. Its translators were all exiles who had fled
sion. For that reason alone, we must reject all             England and Scotland because of persecution for
modern versions.                                            their Reformation doctrines. Associated with this
  The King James Version is a Bible of the Refor-           version are such men as John Knox (the Scottish
mation also from the point of view of the English           Reformer), Myles Coverdale, Thomas Cole, Chris-
versions of which it is a revision. William Tyndale,        topher Goodman, John Pullain, William  Whitting-
whose translation is reflected in nine tenths of the        ham, Thomas Samson, Anthony  Gilby, Lawrence
King James Version, was a child of the Reforma-             Tomson, and others. Thomas Samson, after his own
tion. He had embraced the faith of the Reformation          conversion in London, was used of the Lord to lead
and had even been with Luther and Melancthon at             John Bradford (the English Reformer) to the
Wittenberg. In fact, Tyndale also made use of               Reformed faith. Anthony  Gilby is the translator of
Luther's German New Testament (1522) in his                 the commentaries of Calvin and Beza. He made
translation work. Thus Martin Luther influenced             these great men accessible to thousands of English
him greatly. It is no wonder that he could reply to a       readers. Christopher Goodman was the life-long
Roman Catholic priest, "I defy the pope and all his         friend` of John Knox. He was also co-pastor with
laws . . . . if God spare my life, ere many years I will    him of the English congregation at Geneva. William
cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more            Whittingham succeeded Knox as the pastor of the
of the Scriptures than you do!" Tyndale's own en-           English congregation in 1559. He was also a contri-
lightenment had come from the Word of God and,              butor to the metrical version of the Psalms which
therefore, he desired others to see that same light of      accompanied many editions of the Bible.
the Gospel.                                                   Even the translators of the King James Version
  John Rogers, who is responsible for the "Mat-             itself had rejected popery. They were influenced
thew's Bible," is another who embraced the doc-             greatly by the Reformation both on the continent
trines of the Reformation. We read concerning him,          and in England. In fact, these men considered


4 9 4                                        THE STANDARD BEARER



Theodore Beza to be the chief authority in religious        A BIBLE FOR WHICH MEN DIED
matters. They relied upon his judgment in matters             It is not strange, therefore, that this Bible comes
of exposition as well as the Greek text. Many of the        down to us today stained with the blood of the mar-
translators were themselves very Calvinistic. Miles         tyrs. For the men behind the English Bible were of
Smith, who was a member of the third translation            such strong conviction, by the grace of God, that
company, one of the revisors of the whole, the final        they would suffer imprisonment and death rather
editor with Bishop Bilson, and the author of the            than renounce their faith in the Bible as God's in-
preface to the reader, was a "severe Calvinist."            fallible Word and as their sole authority for life and
Surely his influence upon the King James Version            doctrine. Indeed, the persecution was very great. It
was great. Besides Smith, Lawrence Chaderton,               is not strange that the Roman church should seek to
John Reynolds, Thomas Holland, Daniel  Fair-                do all in its power to stop the translation of the
clough, George Abbot, John Harmar, and Samuel               Scriptures. She recognized that one of the leading
Ward were all Calvinists. If we knew more about             causes of the Reformation was the translation of the
the other translators we would, no doubt, find even         Bible into the language of the people. Therefore she
more Calvinists.                                            persecuted the editors, translators, and promoters
   It is clear, therefore, that the King James Version      of the King James Version and its predecessors.
both as a revision of previous translations and as a          We see this antagonism already in connection
new translation, is the product of the Reformation.         with the original languages. An ignorant and illiter-
One is amazed by the fact that the translators of           ate monk is reported to have said, "There was now
this Bible and its predecessors were almost all in-         a new language discovered called Greek, of which
volved in the Reformation of the church. The King           people should beware, since it was that which pro-
James Version, therefore, is the product of the             duced all the heresies; that in this language was
mighty power of God's grace. For surely it was              come forth a book called the New Testament,
God's grace alone that stood behind the Reforma-            which was now in everybody's hands, and was full
tion. God, in reforming His church, put within the          of thorns and briers; that there was also another
hearts of these men a longing to have the Holy              language now started up which they call Hebrew,
Scriptures in the native tongue. Thus the transla-          and that they who learned it were turned
tors of the King James Version exclaim, "Transla-           Hebrews." This monk was by no means alone in
tion it is that openeth the window, to let in the light;    his convictions. At this time, the monks and priests
that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernal;        were so ignorant that they could read no Greek,
that putteth aside the curtain, that we may look in-        Hebrew, or even Latin. Yet they considered the
to the most Holy place; that removeth the cover of          Latin Vulgate to be the only true Bible.
the well, that we may come by the water." Indeed,
the King James Version is the product of a  God-              The Roman Catholics did not look kindly upon
given desire to see God's Word, in all of its reform-       the editions of the Greek New Testament which
ing power, in the hands of the people, that they            began to come off the presses. In 1514 Erasmus, the
might know and experience the glorious light of the         first editor of the Greek New Testament, was told
gospel. Of all the English versions available today,        not to publish his Greek text. Some in the Roman
the King James Version alone has claim to the name          church considered it an open condemnation of the
"Reformation Bible."                                        Latin Vulgate. Robert Stephanus, who gave us four
                                                            editions of the Greek New Testament, had to flee
                                                            Paris and settle in Geneva because of persecution.

THE STRENGTH OF YOUTH


                                             Catechism
                                                Rev. Ron Cammenga



   By the time this article appears in print the new        been given. As the new season gets under way, it's
catechism season will have begun. Books will have           worthwhile to consider this important aspect of the
been handed out and initial assignments will have           ministry of the church. It's worthwhile that as


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              495



ministers, elders, parents, children, and young peo-        other aspects of the life of the church, languished in
ple we remind ourselves of the necessity of sound,          the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages, the
thorough catechetical instruction.                          Reformation restored catechetical instruction. The
  We need to remind ourselves of the importance             Reformers emphasized the need for catechism, and
of catechism especially today when there is a  de-          both Luther and Calvin, as well as other of the
emphasis on catechism instruction. Many churches            Reformers, prepared catechisms for the instruction
today have eliminated catechism altogether, or              of the children of believers. One of the outstanding
have made some unsatisfactory substitution for              reasons for the preparation of our own Heidelberg
catechism. In many churches the catechism season            Catechism was that there might be a course of
has been so whittled down that the children spend           catechetical instruction for the youth of the Re-
more weeks out of than in catechism. The age at             formed churches. The original introduction to the
which the children begin catechism becomes older            Heidelberg Catechism states: ". . . we have secured
and older, and the age at which they are finished           the preparation of a summary course of instruction
becomes younger and younger. The catechism in-              or catechism of our Christian Religion, according to
struction itself in many churches is no longer              the Word of God, in the German and Latin
assumed by the minister, or at least by the elders,         languages, in order . . . that the youth in churches
but is passed off to other members of the congrega-         and schools may be piously instructed in such
tion, often times even women.                               Christian doctrine . . .  ."
  This is a lamentable situation. It's a situation that       For many years catechetical instruction flour-
can only have adverse effects on the church, espe-          ished among the Reformed churches. Undoubtedly
cially the church of tomorrow. It is only another           this is in no small measure due to the unique impor-
aspect of the rejection of instruction in the truth,        tance attached by the Reformed churches to the
knowledge, and doctrine which so characterizes              Scriptural doctrine of the covenant of grace. Under-
these last days in which we live. It is a situation that    standing the position in the covenant of the
is calculated to produce a generation that knows            children of believers, and emphasizing the calling
not the Lord, nor His mighty works (Judges 1: 10).          of believing parents and the church alike to instruct
                                                            the children of the covenant, the importance of
  From the very beginning of the New Testament              catechetical instruction necessarily followed. It's
church, catechetical instruction was given a large          really no surprise today that with the neglect and
and important place in the official ministry of the         corruption of the doctrine of God's covenant there
church. Catechism is as old as the Christian church         is a corresponding neglect of good catechetical in-
herself. It's already plain from the Book of Acts and       struction.
the New Testament that instruction preceded ad-
mission into the membership of the church, bap-               At the beginning of a new catechism season we
tism, and admission to the Lord's Supper. You have          do well to remind ourselves that catechetical in-
only to think of the instruction of the multitude on        struction belongs to our rich heritage as Reformed
the Day of Pentecost prior to their baptism (Acts 2);       churches. We do well to thank God for what He
the instruction of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip           gives us in this important aspect of the gospel
prior to his baptism (Acts  8:26 f.f.); the instruction     ministry. And we do well to recommit ourselves to
of Cornelius and his household prior to their bap-          the preservation of sound catechetical instruction
tism by Peter (Acts 10); and of Paul's instruction of       in our midst.
Lydia and her household and the Philippian  jailor            The children and young people especially must
and his household before their baptism (Acts 16).           be impressed with the importance of catechism. As
                                                            you begin your work in catechism for a new year,
  From the beginning, therefore, the church em-             resolve to do your work diligently. Take an interest
phasized the need of instruction of those who               in your instruction in catechism. Give to catechism
sought membership in the church. Those who were             the importance that it deserves. Don't let it happen
candidates for baptism were given thorough in-              that your involvement in school activities, athletics,
tellectual and spiritual preparation for membership         work, or anything else stands in the way of your do-
in the church. In earliest times, this instruction          ing well in catechism. Don't wait until the last
concentrated on converts from heathenism. But               minute or the evening before class to learn your
also the children of believers were made the object         questions and do your written work. This is a
of the catechetical instruction of the church. This         shame and something with which you can be sure
instruction was at first left to the parents, and in        the Lord is not pleased. In class, be attentive and
some cases to the schools. But, gradually, organized        take an interest in the instruction that's given. Par-
classes of instruction under the supervision of the         ticipate in the discussions and ask the questions
church were instituted.                                     that come to mind. Your time in catechism will be
  Although catechetical instruction, as so many             what you make it. If you're disinterested and


496                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



would rather be doing other things, then catechism         make every effort to make our classroom instruc-
is going to be a bore. But if you take an interest in      tion fresh and lively, and not simply rely on the
catechism, learn your questions, do your work, par-        same material that we used the last time through
ticipate in the discussions, you will probably be          the book. Let's be concerned to ground the children
surprised how much you actually do enjoy                   of the church in the Reformed faith, and be at pains
catechism.                                                 to demonstrate to them that the Reformed faith is
  Parents must be involved in the catechetical in-         the faith of the Scriptures. And let's demand good
struction of their children. They must not only see        work of the students, making catechism not only
to it that they are receiving the instruction, that the    intellectual but spiritual preparation for active
instruction is Biblical, but they must see to it that      membership in the church.
their children are doing their work faithfully.              The responsibility and supervision of the  con-
Especially with the younger children, Mother or            sistory in regard to catechetical instruction cannot
Dad should teach the children their memory ques-           be stressed enough. An excellent series of articles
tions. But they mustn't leave it at this. they ought to    on this specific subject, written by Prof. H.C.
teach them the Bible story that each week's lesson         Hoeksema, can be found in Volume 44 of the Stun-
is centered in. Start early in the week, going over        dard  Beaver. It would be worth the while of our
the lesson four or five times each night, and by the       elders to read these articles. Let officebearers have
end of the week the children will know the lesson.         the high regard for catechetical instruction that the
See to it that the older children do their written         Reformed have always held, that catechism is the
work. Help them with the written work if they              official ministry of the Word. As much as they are
need help.                                                 responsible for and are called to supervise the
  Parents ought to keep up this involvement in             preaching of the Word on the Sabbath, so are they
their children's catechism instruction even when           called to oversee the catechism classes. In large
they are out of the younger classes and in the             measure the quality of catechetical instruction
classes on the Heidelberg Catechism and Essentials         depends on how faithful the elders are to oversee
of Reformed Doctrine. Too often I find it the case         the instruction. Periodic visits ought to be made to
that parents simply assume that their young people         the various classes. The instruction, both from the
are learning their questions and doing their               point of view of its content and its effectiveness,
preparation. Don't simply assume this. Young peo-          ought to be discussed by the consistory. And
ple are notorious for learning their questions at the      parents and young people who are negligent with
last minute. Continue to see to it that your children      regard to catechism ought to be visited.
are prepared for catechism even after they graduate          May God's blessing rest upon the new season of
from the younger classes. Don't assume that they           instruction in catechism. May we all show a zeal for
know their questions; ask them the questions.              this important work. Especially may the instruction
  We ministers too ought to remind ourselves of            given be blessed to the hearts of the children and
the importance of catechism. Let's not give our            young people. By means of the instruction received
preparation for catechism the once-over-lightly.           may they be established in the faith and led to
But let's give catechism the time that it deserves.        assume their place at the Lord's Table and make
Let our preparation be careful and thorough. Let's         public confession of their faith.

TAKING HE-ED TO THE DOCTRINE


              Preservation and Perseverance (4)
                                                 Rev. H. Veldman



  We concluded our preceding article with the              especially in our present day and age when so
remark that, to persevere, we must hold fast that          many cults and other departures from the truth
which we have, and this means that.we must hold            make it increasingly difficult to maintain our  call-
fast to life and doctrine. How important this is,          ing in the midst of the world. May our churches


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          497



and especially our homes continue to be true and            of man is elevated to that position of promi-
faithful in this only way to persevere even unto the        nence whereby he controls and determines his
end, that no man may take our crown. How urgent             own salvation. This is also true of all the cults that
it is that we remain faithful to this, in all our           abound today. As a certain writer wrote concerning
preaching and also in all our catechetical instruc-         these cults, it is helpful for a Christian to have a
tion!                                                       series of questions by which he might examine and
  Let us cling to the doctrine of salvation as it is ex-    test the teachings of those groups with which he
clusively in Christ Jesus, rooted and anchored in           comes into contact. Among these questions is also
God's sovereign and unchangeable will and                   this question: is their approach to God and salva-
counsel, and let us never attempt to contribute to it       tion on the basis of works or grace? "Saved by
one solitary work or merit on our part! May we              works" is the slogan of every religion which is not
ever remember that this salvation is in Christ Jesus        anchored in the unchangeable sovereignty of the
and it must always remain there. Our works are              alone living God. After all, the truth of the Word of                ,
always to be Christ's works (as we read it in Rev.          God can be summed up in three words: God is
2:26), the fruits of His grace and Spirit. May we           God. And this does not imply that one can write the
ever cling to the doctrine that God is God, that He         truth upon a thumbnail. The implication of the
is God alone, and that, from the beginning even un-         truth that God is God is, after all, all-embracing and
til the end, no flesh may ever boast, may ever point        all-comprehensive. Salvation is either conditional
to a single work which we have done toward the              or unconditional and sovereign. A third possibility
salvation of God in Christ Jesus. Into all eternity         is inconceivable. It is either-or. Salvation is of God
Christ must stand in the center. Let us ever cling to       and determined alone by God, or it is of man and
this truth. This we must do individually, as the peo-       determined by man.
ple of God in Christ Jesus, in all our activities,            The position of the Arminian is clearly set forth
especially in our homes. And we must cling to it as         in the Fifth Point of the Remonstrance. Let us again
churches, never permitting any deviation from it.           quote this point.
  But we must also hold fast to the Word of God in               That those who are incorporated. into Christ by a
all our walk of life which seals that doctrine. We             true faith, and have thereby become partakers of His
must not depart out of the line of the grace of God            life-giving Spirit, have thereby full power to strive
and of His covenant. We must not permit our                    against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and
garments to become soiled or spotted. We must do               to win the victory; it being well understood that it is
nothing which would cast a reproach upon the                   ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost;
Name of God in Christ Jesus. We must practice and              and that Jesus Christ assists them through His Spirit
live what we preach and teach. We must persevere               in all temptations, extends to them His hand, and if
                                                               only they are ready for the conflict, and desire His
even unto the end, ever having our eye of hope                 help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling,
upon the crown of victory, the city of our God that            so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be
has foundations.                                               misled nor plucked out of Christ's hands, according to
         * * * * * * * *  *  *                                 the Word of Christ, John 10%: "Neither shall any
  The question, how the truths of Preservation and             man pluck them out of My hand." But whether they
                                                               are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again
Perseverance are related, is, of course; of the ut-            the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again
most importance. We know that both are taught in               returning to this present evil world, of turning away
the Word of God. To this we have already called at-            from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of
tention. However, how are they related? Are we                 losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace,
preserved because we persevere; or, is it true that            that must be more particularly determined out of the
we persevere because we are preserved? It is, of               Holy Scriptures before we ourselves can teach it with
course, either-or.                                             the full persuasion of our minds.
  There is, on the one hand, the conception of the            It is true that the Arminians say in this article
Arminians or Remonstrants. We always seem to                that they are not ready as yet to declare whether
run into this Arminian conception. This, however,           the people of God are capable of forsaking again the
is not strange. Fact is, fundamentally there are only       first beginning of their life in Christ and of again
two possible conceptions. We are either preserved           returning to this present evil world. In other words,
because we persevere, or we persevere because we            they say they are not ready as yet to declare in favor
are preserved. Salvation is either of God or of man;        of a falling away of saints. This, however, is only
it is either dependent upon God and determined by           camouflage! As we have called attention to this fifth
God or it is dependent upon man and determined              article of the Remonstrance in preceding articles,
by man. Arminianism, Pelagianism, Roman Cathol-             notice that this article speaks of the assisting grace
icism, Paganism all have this in common: the work           of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ  assists  them


498                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



through His Spirit in all temptations, extends to         from whence it had fallen, and to repent and to do
them His hand, and if only they are ready for the         the first works, lest He come to them quickly and
conflict, desire His help, and are not inactive, keeps    remove the candlestick out of its place? And do we
them from falling. And then this article also             not read in Revelation 2:lO that we will receive the
declares that the question whether anybody can fall       crown of life if only we are faithful unto death?
out of grace must yet be determined out of the Holy       These Scriptures speak for themselves, do they not?
Scriptures. This, however, they had already con-          Is not everlasting life dependent upon our
cluded.                                                   perseverance even until the end?
   Arminianism causes everything to turn upon,               Secondly, does not the Arminian conception of
revolve about the axis of the free will of man. God       preservation because of perseverance follow from
foresaw from before the foundations of the world          these Scriptural admonitions? Why should someone
who would believe, and He elected them unto               be admonished to fight when the victory is assured,
salvation. Hence, man's free will is first and deter-     to struggle unto the end when the crown is guaran-
mined this election. However, the Lord not only           teed? Incidentally, did this Arminian ever hear of
foresaw faith, but He also foresaw a struggle, a bit-     anyone receiving the crown of victory without
ter struggle even unto the end; and so He predes-         fighting for it, of receiving the victor's crown with-
tined unto everlasting glory those who would              out running the race? When the Lord admonishes
persevere and survive. Salvation is dependent, not        us, we are responsible, are we not? And when He
only upon the initial act of faith, but also upon         admonishes us to fight even unto the end that no
one's continuance in the faith. He must not only          man take our crown, this makes us responsible for
believe but he must also continue to believe. The         the crown, does it not? And the crown is therefore
divinely foreseen believer is preserved unto glory        dependent upon us. Besides, to guarantee a runner
because he perseveres. One may well ask: how can          the prize before he begins the race leads to careless-
a Christian possibly prefer this interpretation to the    ness and licentiousness; why run and fight and
view that we are saved must assuredly by God's ir-        persevere and struggle if the end is assured any-
resistible and sovereign grace? And to this there is      way? However, where does Scripture assure us of
only one answer: the sinner will always resent giv-       the everlasting crown of life and glory regardless
ing God all the praise and honour and glory. That         whether we run or not? Besides, we have already
sinner always wishes to maintain himself.                 asked the question: can the Arminian conceive of
  Upon what does the Arminian base his concep-            anyone obtaining the crown of victory without a
tion? Of course, he too quotes from Scripture. He         struggle and of obtaining the prize without running
does this to lead the people of God astray. First,        a race even unto the end?
does not the Word of God emphasize repeatedly               Thirdly, does not the Word of God teach a falling
that the crown of life everlasting and glory is           of saints? In 1 Timothy  1:19, 20 and in 2 Timothy
dependent upon my perseverance? Is it not exactly         2:17-X3  we read of Hymeneus and Alexander and
he who endures unto the end that shall be saved,          Philetus; in 2 Timothy 4:lO we read of Demas; and
according to Matthew  24:13?  Do we not read in           in 2 Peter 2:l we read of false teachers and proph-
Romans 2:6-7 that the Lord will render to every           ets who denied the Lord that brought them. The
man according to his deeds, and reward them who           last passage, 2 Peter  2:1, reads: "But there were
by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory       false prophets also among the people, even as there
and honour and immortality? Are we not com-               shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
manded in John 15:1-4 to abide in Christ, and told        bring in destruction." And in John  151-4 we read
that every branch that beareth not fruit will be          of branches, once in Christ, that are cut off and
taken away and purged? Does not this passage              purged because of their failure to bear fruit; and in
teach a falling away of saints, inasmuch as we read       Hebrews 6:4-8 we read of them that they tasted the
of branches in Christ that do not bear fruit and are      good word of God . . . , and that later it became im-
taken away and burned? Of course, these branches          possible to renew them again unto repentance.
who were in Christ and are taken away and burned,           We need not quote any more. As we shall see in
destroyed, never were in Christ personally but            our following article, these arguments of the Armi-
only in their generations. Do we not read in              nians are not difficult to refute. However, is it not
Hebrews 2: 1 that we ought to give the more earnest       somewhat strange for these remonstrants to quote
heed to the things we have heard lest at any time         such passages from Holy Writ, and then say in their
we should let them slip? And are we not exhorted,         Fifth Point of the Remonstrance that it must still be
in Hebrews 4: 11, to  labour to enter into that rest,     determined from Scripture whether one who once
lest we fall after the same example of unbelief?          had life in Christ can fall.away into sin and destruc-
Besides, does not the Saviour, in Revelation 2:5, ad-     tion? One thing is sure: how uncertain they may be
monish the church of God at Ephesus to remember           concerning the perseverance of the saints, they


                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                    499



     surely reject the position of the Word of God that                rooted in the unchangeable and sovereign counsel
     nothing can ever separate us from the love of God                 of the Lord, and as based upon the particular atone-
     in Jesus Christ, our Lord. They may not know what                 ment of the cross of Calvary. They want nothing to
     they want, according to what they say in that Fifth               do with the sovereignly particular character of the
     Point, but they surely know what they do not want.                love and grace of God.
     They reject the certain perseverance of the saints as
                Book Keview                                            of the wealthy, palaces of sheiks, and leper colo-
                                                                       nies, one of which was established within the medi-
                                                                       cal compound of the missionaries. The book reads
     SHARIFA,  by Cornelia Dalenberg; Wm. B.  Eerd-                    well and can be enjoyed by adults and young
I    mans Publishing Company, 1983; 233 pp., $11.95                    p e o p l e .   I t   w i l l   p r o d u c e   i n   t h e   r e a d e r   a n
     (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                             appreciation for the difficulties of missionary work
       This interesting book is part of "The Historical                in a foreign land, and of the great difficulty of mis-
     Series of the Reformed Churches in America." The                  sion work among Muslims.
     name, "Sharifa," is the Arabic name of the author,                   It was a bit disappointing not to find in the book
     a name which she received while serving as a mis-                 more discussion of the missionary labors
     sionary-nurse in the Middle East. In the book she                 themselves. The book deals almost exclusively with
     tells of her experiences while laboring in Bahrain,               the medical aspect of the work, and is mostly silent
     Qatar, and Iraq over a period of more than forty                  concerning such questions as : How was
     years. She went to Bahrain as a young girl and                    missionary work among Muslims carried out?
     labored in that field until her retirement. At present            What were the particular problems which the mis-
     she is living in South Holland, Illinois, her original            sionaries faced? What methods did they use to
     home town.                                                        bring the gospel to these followers of Mohammed?
       She began her work before the first World War                   What success did they have in the work? How did
     and writes of her experiences in these lands of the               mission work among the Muslims differ from mis-
     Middle East as these countries themselves were de-                sion work in other foreign lands?
     veloping from backward and feudal countries to                       There is not much theology in the book, but such
     modern nations which hold the world in their                      as there is, is a far cry from what is truly Reformed.
     economic grasp because of the vast oil reserves
     found beneath their soil. It was an unusually inter-                  The books I have read in this series are interest-
     esting time to be busy in this area.                              ing and worthwhile books. The whole series is at
                                                                       the beginning described with these words:
       The author tells in vivid detail about her experi-
     ences in the heat and discomfort of Arab countries,                        This series has been inaugurated by the
     and explains the difficulties of the work in lands of                  General Synod of the Reformed Church in
     Moslem religion where Christians were considered                       America, acting through its Committee on
     infidels, were often spit upon, and were daily con-                    History, for the purpose of encouraging
     signed to the hottest fires of hell. She tells too of the              historical research and providing a medium
     work of nursing in a land which had diseases of                        wherein this knowledge may be shared with
     which we are unaware, of a people with no access                       the academic community and with the
     to modern medical technology, of superstitions                         members of the denomination in order that
     born out of the Koran, which sometimes resemble                        a knowledge of the past may contribute to
     pagan healing rites, of working in almost unbear-                      right action in the present.
     able heat with few modern means of treating                           We recommend this book and the other books in
     illnesses. She tells about visiting the poor, harems              this series to our readers.

                                                                    Index

                         TEXTUAL INDEX                                 Hosea 2:21-23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 242
     Psalm20:7  . . . . . .  .  . ............ . . . . . . . HV 146    Habakkuk 3:  17,18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV        74
     Psalm23:l  . . . . . . . . ............ . . . . . . . HV 26       Matthew 2:1,2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 122
     Psalm23:3a  . . . . .  .  . ............ . . . . . . . HV 194     Luke 23:53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 314
     Psalm23:6  . . . . . .  .  . ............ . . . . . . . HV 266    John  14:16,17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CH 386
     Psalm 87:l  . . . . . .  .  . ............ . . . . . . . HV       Romans 3:24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HV 410
     Psalm 135:4 . . . . .  . . ............ . . . . . . . HV 362      Romans 8:35-39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH       98


500                                                                          THE STANDARD  BEARER



II Corinthians 2: 15-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 434                            Annua1ReportoftheR.F.P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..J K                  43
Hebrews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK                 67      Anonymous Slander of the P.R.C. . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485
Hebrews (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 133                             Applicatory Aspect of Preaching, The. . . . . . . . . RC 441
Hebrews 6:4-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 133                         Apostolic Fathers and the Word, The. . . . . . . . . TM 162
~~~~e~&3~G.~o~  1: 1: 1: : 1: 1: 1: 1: 1: : : 1.......... ..JLK 154
                                                                              .g  ;g               Assurance of Dwelling in God's House . . . . . . . HV 266
            .......... .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .                                                                                  -B-
I Peter (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 348
II Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 396                 Banner Blasts Official Church Position . . . . . . GVB 278
I J o h n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J L   K   4 2 5      Baptism, A Sign of God's Covenant . . . . . . . . . . CH 170
I John (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 471                        Baptism, The Necessity of Infant . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 218
                                                                                                   Baptism Divinely Instituted, Holy . . . . . . . . . . . CH                 50
                               BOOK REVIEWS                                                        Belated but Necessary Reply, A . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 366
                                                                                                   Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures (IX) . . . . . GL                   91
Authoritative Word, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH                         47      Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures (X) . . . . . GL 164
Calvin's Doctrine of the Atonement . . . . . . . . . . HCH 335                                     Believing All the Prophetic Scriptures (XI) . . . . . GL 297
Child's Story Bible, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 214                          Believing AI1 the Prophetic Scriptures (XII) . . . . GL 346
Christian England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214                         Believing AI1 the Prophetic Scriptures (XIII) . . . GL 418
Christian News Encyclopedia, The . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                                 30      Birth of Christ, The Unique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 151
Conversions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 167                      Breaking of the Unbreakable Covenant, The . HCH 249
Creator in the Courtroom "Scopes II, " The . . . . . . NH 142                                      Breaking of the Unbreakable Covenant,
Daniel, Signs and Wonders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 334                                    The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HCH 269
Drenthe in Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 407                             Bright and Morning Star, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 122
Exploring Church Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 166
Gifts of the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 215                                                        -c-
Gospel  ofJohn,  The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 430
Learn to Read the Greeh  New Testament . . . . . . . HH                                    23      CRC Split?, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 365
My Head Is Bloody But Unbowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 308                                     Calling and Election, Our (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV           59
New Century Bible Commentary, The . . . . . . . . . . HH                                   22      Calling and Election, Our (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV           79
Perspectives on the Christian Reformed Church . HCH 238                                            Calling and Election, Our (3) . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . HV 135
Practical Truths From Elisha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 431                                 Calling of Our PR Churches to be Specific . . . HCH                       29
Practical Truths From Jonah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 431                                 Calling of Our PR Churches to be Specific . . . HCH 173
Practical Truths from the Pastoral Epistles . . . . . . HH                                 46      Calvinism, The Fifth Point of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 102
Primer on Justification, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 308                            Carnal Security and Doubt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 118
Princeton Theology, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 166                             Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 494
Problem of Pleasure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 143                          Catechism Preaching, Proper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 448
Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation . . HH 141                                          Children, The Covenant Training of . . . . . . . . . JLK 256
Ruler of the Kings on the Earth, The . . . . . . . . . . . HH 167                                  Christian and Dancing, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC            39
S h a r i f a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C   D   4 9 9    Christian and Dancing, The (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 131
Sojourner's File, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 214                         Christian and Gambling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 301
Typos: The  Typological  Interpretation  of  the                                                   Christian Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 254
   Old Testament in the New. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 308                                 Christ's Presence in the Lord's Supper. . . . . . . . CH 338
Your Wealth in God's World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 430                                 Church Discipline, State Limits to . . . . . . . . . . GVB 321
                                                                                                   Comforter, The Gift of the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 386
                                          -A-                                                      Congratulations to a New Sister. . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 125
                                                                                                   Congratulations to Another New Sister! . . . . . HCH 317
Abortion Drug? Do-It-Yourself. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 280                                     Contending for the Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH         56
AIDS: A Revelation of the Righteous                                                                Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
   Wrath of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 207                         Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          271
About Advertising and Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                                 53       Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          319
About Organizing Small Churches. . . . . . . . . . HCH 271                                         Correspondence and Reply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          366
About "Our Enemies" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 319                                  Covenant, Keeping God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 423
About This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HCH 101                            Covenant, Realization of the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 245
Abortion on Demand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 225                                Covenant, The Breaking of the Unbreakable . HCH 249
"Act of Secession or Return" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 221                                   Covenant, The Breaking of the
Address of the Gospel, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 445                                    Unbreakable (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269
Administration of the Sacraments, The . . . . . . . CH                                      2      Covenant, The Organic Character of
Adoption, The Wonder of (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH                              10         Preaching in the Sphere of the . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 439
Adoption, The Wonder of (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH                             41       Covenant, The Truth of God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .           241
Afscheiding, The Sesquicentennial of the . . . . HCH 196                                           Covenant, a Family Covenant, God's . . . . . . . . . RH 252
All-Controlling Interest, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 323                                Covenant Bliss, Everlasting and Perfect . . . . . HCH 242
Allegory and Philosophy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 283                                Covenant Breakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 129


                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                          501



Covenant Home: What Is It Like?, A . . . . . . . . . HH 259                       God's Providence and Sin (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV              20
Covenant Training of Children, The . . . . . . . . . JLK 256                      God's Revelation in His Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH              81
Creation: A World-View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 394                God's Sure Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD              5
                                                                                  Gospel, The Address of the. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 445
                                   -D-                                            Graduation Speech - Great Is the Lord, A. . . . . RC 428
                                                                                  Grand Rapids Baptist Academy Update . . . . . GVB 321
Dancing, The Christian and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC             39
Dancing, The Christian and (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 131                                                    -H-
Development of Tradition and the Word, The . TM 175
Disobedience Defended. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 343                Has the Leopard (WCC) Changed Its Spots? . . HCH 126
Do-It-Yourself Abortion Drug?. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 280                    He Restoreth My Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 194
Doctrine of Scripture: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . TM                 87     Hebrews  - Christ, the Author of a
Doubt, Carnal Security and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 118                    Better Covenant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK      67
                                                                                  Hebrews  - Christ, the Author of a
                                   -E-                                               Better Covenant (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 133
                                                                                  Heidelberg Catechism, Question 66-68 . . . . . . . CH                       2
ERA Again? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 141        Heidelberg Catechism, Question 69,70 . . . . . . . CH                      50
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH      5     Heidelberg Catechism, Question 72,73 . . . . . . . CH 170
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 149        Heidelberg Catechism, Question 74 . . . . . . . . . . CH 218
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 245        Heidelberg Catechism, Question 75-77 . . . . . . . CH 290
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 269        Heidelberg Catechism, Question 78, 79 . . . . . . . CH 338
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 293        Heritage, Our Rich (1). ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 463
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 317        Heritage, Our Rich (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 487
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 341        Heritage of the Truth, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM           63
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 461        Holiness, God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RCH      61
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 485        Holy Baptism Divinely Instituted . . . . . . . . . . . . CH               50
Election, Our Calling and (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV           59     HowCanIBeSure? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 107
Election, Our Calling and (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV           79     Hypocrisy of a Heresy Declaration . . . . . . . . . HCH 461
Election, Our Calling and (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 135
Everlasting and Perfect Covenant Bliss . . . . . . HCH 242                                                           -I-

                                  -F-                                             Immutability, God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH         33
                                                                                  Infant Baptism, the Necessity of. . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 218
Farm Programs, Etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 403            Institution of the Lord's Supper, The . . . . . . . . .c. CH 290
Fellowship With God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 247               Is This Christ's Suffering? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 370
Fifth Point of Calvinism, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 102
I Peter  - Christian Hope in the Midst of                                                                            -J-
   Suffering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 276
I Peter  - Christian Hope in the Midst of                                         James, Evidence of a Living Faith (1) . . . . . . . . . JLK 156
   Suffering (conclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK 348           James, Evidence of a Living Faith (conclusion) . JLK 212
I John - True Fellowship in Love (1) . . . . . . . . . JLK 425                    Jehovah, My All-Sufficient Shepherd . . . . . . . . . . HV                26
I John - True Fellowship in Love (conclusion) . JLK 471                           Jesus' Burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 314
Foundation, God's Sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD              5     JoyintheGodofOurSalvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV                    74
Free Offer, Limited Atonement and the . . . . . HCH 293                           Justified Freely by Christ Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 410

                                  -G-                                                                                -K-

Gambling, Christian and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 301              Keeping God's Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 423
Gift of the Comforter, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 386              King James Version of the Bible, The (1) . . . . . . . SH 332
GodIsaSpirit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 209         King James Version of the Bible, The (2) . . . . . . . SH 355
God Is a Spirit (continuecl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 236           King James Version of the Bible, The (3) . . . . . . . SH 404
God Is Holy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 303      King James Version of the Bible, The (4) . . . . . . . SH 492
God Is Holy (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 353              King James Version of the Bible, The (5) . . . . . . . SH 469
GodIsOne.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 137
God Is One (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH 176                                                -L-
God our Father?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB      15
God's Covenant, a Family Covenant . . . . . . . . . RH 252                        Latin Fathers and the Word of God, The . . . . . . TM 330
God's House, Our Assurance of Dwelling in . . . HV 266                            Letter from New Zealand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BVH 422
God's Holiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH     61      Letter from the Theological School . . . . . . . . . HCH 391
God's Immutability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH        33      Limited Atonement and the Free Offer . . . . . . HCH 293
God's Name, Remembering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 146                    Lord's Chosen Possession, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 362
God's Patience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH     89      Lord's Supper, Christ's Presence in the . . . . . . . CH 338


502                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



Lord's Supper, The Institution of the . . . . . . . . . CH 290                  Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 392
LovedasanEnemyofGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 229                     Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 466
                                                                                Organic Character of Preaching in the
                                  -M-                                              Sphere of the Covenant, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 439
                                                                                Organizing Small Churches, About . . . . . . . . . HCH 271
Marriage, Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 254          Origen and His Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 306
Martin Luther Addresses Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 280
Middle Ages and the Word of God, The. . . . . . . TM 357                                                            -P-
Missionary Methods (18) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD             70
Missionary Methods (19) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD             83    PCA Invites the OPC, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 371
Missionary Methods (20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 154,              Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the
Missionary Methods (21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 183                  Church, A by Dr. A. Kuyper (translated) . . . . HH                         93
Missionary Methods (22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 234               Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the
Missionary Methods (23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 375                  Church, A by Dr. A. Kuyper (translated) . . . . HH 189
Missionary Methods (24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 420               Pamphlet Concerning the Reformation of the
Montanism and the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 199                  Church, A by Dr. A. Kuyper (translated) . . . . HH 381
                                                                                Patience, God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RCH         89
                                  -N-                                           Perseverance and Hebrews 6:4-8 . : . . . . . . . . . . CH 113
                                                                                Perseverance and the Sin Unto Death . . . . . . . . HV 111
Necessity of Infant Baptism, The . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 218                 Perseverance and the Sins of the Saints . . . . . . . RH 109
New Constitution for the R.E.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 395                 Perseverance and the Face of Temptation . . . . . . JS 116
New Zealand, Letter from. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BVH 422               Perseverance of the Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            97
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH               24    Philosophy, Allegory and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 283
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH               72    Prayer for Youth at Year's Beginning, A. . . . . . . RC 160
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH               96    Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 144                 Preaching, The Applicator-y Aspects of. . . . . . . . RC 441
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 168                 Preaching?, What Happens in the
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 192                    "Moment" of the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 437
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 216                 Preaching and Our Children, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 452
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 288                 Preaching and Pastoral Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD 450
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 310                 Preaching as a Key of the Kingdom . . . . . . . . . GVB 443
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 325                 Preaching in the Sphere of the Covenant,
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 360                    The Organic Character of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 439
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 384                 Preservation and Perseverance . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 103
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 408                 Preservation and Perseverance (1) . . . . . . . . . . . HV 205
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 43 1                Preservation and Perseverance (2) . . . . . . . . . . . HV 285
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 455                 Preservation and Perseverance (3) . . . . . . . . . . . HV 372
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . + - . . . DH 480                 Preservation and Perseverance (4) . . . . . . . . . . . HV 496
News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 503                 Proper Catechism Preaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 448
Nicene Creed (Art. 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS    37    Providence and Sin, God's (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV               20
Nicene Creed (Art. 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS    85
Nicene Creed (Art. 3 continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 158                                                  -Q-
Nicene Creed (Art. 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 181
Nicene Creed (Art. 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 232      QuestionBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Nicene Creed (Art. 5 continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 299              Question Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Nicene Creed (Art. 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 325      QuestionBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Nicene Creed (Art. 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 350      QuestionBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
Nicene Creed (Art. 8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JS 377
Now: 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 185                                         -R-

                                  -o-                                           RES and the World Council -
                                                                                   No,No,No...Yes?,Th e.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH                      77
On Synod's Agenda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 389            Realization of the Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 245
Opportunity to Help, An . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 222               Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Con-
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH          44       cerning the, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH                        93
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH          54    Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Con-
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 149               cerning the, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH 189
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 187            Reformation of the Church, A Pamphlet Con-
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 201               cerning the, by Dr. A. Kuyper (translation) . . HH 381
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 227            Reformation Reviewed, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB                   65
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 295            "Reformed" Thinking?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB                67
Order of Worship, Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 341            Remembering God's Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 146
Order of Worship; Our . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH 368            Reply Relative to "Untalented Singers," A . . . RCH 128


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                503



Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH        72      Troubles in Canada Too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 187
Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 240            Tuition Tax Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB          66
Report of Classis East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JJH 432          "Turn of the Screw," The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB                14
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE         48
Report of Classis West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DE 336                                                -u-
Report from Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AdH              12
Report from Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 274                 Unique Birth of Christ, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 151
Return to Scripture: Preparing the Way, The . . TM 401                              Union Membership, When to Support  -
Revelation in His Law, God's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH               81         and When to Oppose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 372
Rev. Marchiene Rienstra, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 322                      Unity in the Trinity, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 226

                                  -s-                                                                                  -v-

Sacraments, The Administration of the . . . . . . . CH                       2      Various Questions and Comments . . . . . . . . . HCH 273
Scripture: Introduction, The Doctrine of . . . . . . TM                     87      Vicious Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 415
II Peter - True Knowledge in Christ . . . . . . . . . JLK 396
Security and Doubt, Carnal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TM 118                                                      -w- -
Self-Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 458
Seminary Convocation Address . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD                     5      What Are We Listening To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 395
Servants of the Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 328             What Happens in the "Moment" of the
Servants of the Lord in His Church . . . . . . . . . AdH 379                           Preaching? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 437
Servants of the Lord in Our Daily Occupation. AdH 475                               When to Support - and When to Oppose -
Servants of the Lord in the Home . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 398                         Union Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 372
Sesquicentennial of the Afscheiding, The . . . . HCH 196                            Who Shall Separate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH           98
Significant Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH       35      Why Are You Different? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GH 261
Signs of the Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GVB         31      Why Go Twice? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 179
Singapore, Report of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AdH           12      Women in Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 224
Singapore, Report of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AdH 274              Women in Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 473
Slander of the P.R.C., Anonymous . . . . . . . . . HCH 485                          Wonder of Adoption, The (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RH                  10
Specific, Calling of Our Churches to be. . . . . . HCH                      29      Wonder of Adoption, The (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RH                41
Specific, Calling of Our Churches to be. . . . . . HCH 173                          World Council  - No, No, No . . . Yes?,
State Limits to Church Discipline. . . . . . . . . . . GVB 321                         TheRESandthe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH              77
Sweet Savour of Christ, A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 434                  World Council of Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB                  31
Synod of the PR Churches - 1984 . . . . . . . . . . HCH 413                         Writing the "non-sexist" Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB 139
Synod's Agenda, On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH 389
                                                                                                                       -Y-
                                  -T-
                                                                                    Young People, Ten Rules for Producing
Ten Rules for Producing Unspiritual                                                    Unspiritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC     18
   Young People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RC      18      Youth, Martin Luther Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . RC 280
Too Much Comtempt and Wrath. . . . . . . . . . . . JAH                       7      Youth at the Year's Beginning, A Prayer for. . . . RC 160
Total Depravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB       32
Tradition and the Word, The Development of . TM 175                                                                    -z-
Tragically Worthless Success, A . . . . . . . . . . . . JAH 203
Trinity, The Unity in the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH 226              Zion's Founding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HV 482





                                 News From Our Churches
                                                                          August  30,1984




   Faith Protestant Reformed Church has formed a                                    a comprehensive list of current and past sermons
trio of Rev. C. Haak, Rev. J. Slopsema, and Rev. W.                                 preached at Faith Church. This list is available to
Bekkering.                                                                          anyone who is interested. The Evangelism  Comrnit-
    Faith Church's Evangelism Committee has made                                    tee also encouraged members of the congregation to


   THE STANDARD BEARER
         P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





5 0 4                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER



take stamped pamphlets with them on their vaca-                             The consistory of Hudsonville Church has decid-
tion travels. The pamphlets placed in strategic                          ed that those who are not members of the congrega-
places provide an excellent means of drawing atten-                      tion can reserve the building no earlier than five
tion to the truth of God's Word and the Biblical                         months before a wedding. This gives Hudsonville's
positions our churches take on important issues.                         own members opportunity to reserve the building
  `By the time you read this news, Rev. Lubbers,                         prior to the five-month period without competition
`D.V., will have celebrated fifty years of faithful                      with those outside of Hudsonville's congregation.
labor in the ministry of the gospel, September 7. An                        Remember the Standard Bearer Annual Society
Open House was planned for them on Saturday,                             Meeting, September 20, 8 P.M. in Southwest
September  15, from 2 to 5 P.M. in the basement of                       Church. Prof. Decker will be the speaker. Also plan
First Church. We thank God that He has provided                          to attend a program commemorating sixty years of
Rev. and Mrs. Lubbers to work in our Protestant                          Standard  Bearer, September 27, 8 P.M. in  Hudson-
Reformed Churches.                                                       ville Church. Prof. H. Hoeksema will speak on the
   In harmony with the advice of Synod and accord-                       topic, "One Hundred Fifty Years and Sixty."
ing to Article  39  of the Church Order, the follow-                        In regards to education, the Teachers' Institute
ing persons from Blue Bell were received as                              will hold its 30th Convention in October. They are
members of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church                           planning Wednesday, October 24 as the special
in Wyckoff, New jersey after being allowed to                            night when you can meet former classmates, and
make public profession of their faith: Mr. Charles                       reminisce over former school days. Send pictures,
C. Brown, Jr., Mrs. Virginia K. Hudnut, Mr. and                          annuals, articles, or interesting memorabilia to
Mrs. Marvin Thompson, and Mr. and Mrs. Tony                              Miss H.J. Kuiper, 7363  Westwood Drive, Jenison,
Van Brakel. Mr. and Mrs. Philip Veitch were                              MI' 49428.
unable to come and will be received as members by                           Randolph Protestant Reformed School Society
transfer from Blue Bell Orthodox Presbyterian                            newsletter No. 10 reads in part, ". . . It is the calling
Church.                                                                  of a Christian school teacher not just to teach bare
   In order for Rev. Joostens to assist Rev. Bruinsma                    facts . . . but to teach everything from the viewpoint
and Prof. Decker in the preparation of materials to                      of the Scriptures . . . . Now if the purpose of the in-
be used by Rev. Bruinsma in Jamaica, the  Con-                           struction in the Christian school is to orientate the
sistory of First Church has decided to have Rev.                         students to a life in Jesus Christ, the teacher's view
Bruinsma preach in the evening worship service.                          of Christ must necessarily come through loud and
   The designing of a church's sanctuary is impor-                       clear in all the instruction. Whether the teacher is
tant for many reasons. A firm is being consulted to                      solidly Reformed or tainted with Arminianism will
ensure adequate acoustical control in First                              definitely come across as he seeks in all his work to
Church's new church building. The firm will ad-                          orient the students to a life in Christ.
vise First Church as to the best materials for a live                       "Are we satisfied with a Christ that is tainted
auditorium, which  is, important for our churches                        with the Arminianism of common grace? Our very
where the emphasis is on the preaching of the                            existence as Protestant Reformed Churches de-
Word and congregational singing. The plans will                          clares very clearly and forcefully that we are not!
probably be complete by the beginning of                                 To be consistent we must be no less satisfied with
September.                                                               the same error in the school to which we send our
                                                                         children. "                                                     DH
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  The council of the Southwest Protestant Reformed Church of
Grand Rapids, wishes to extend its sincere sympathy to one of its                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
members, Mr. Gerrit Boverhof in the passing of his father-in-law, MR.      The Mens Society of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church, ex-
STEWART PEPPER.                                                          presses sincere Christian sympathy to fellow-member, Mr. Gerrit
  May our Heavenly Father comfort the bereaved with the assur-           Boverhof in the death of his father-in-law, MR. S. PEPPER.
ance that He doeth all things well.                                         "Cast thy burdon upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He
Rev. M. De Vries, Pres.                                                  shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)
G. Feenstra, Clerk                                                       William De Kraker, Sec'y.


