           The
     STAAIDARD
               EARER  `.
            A REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE


       "It is this same abuse and corruption of
     the Word of God which lies behind the cur-
     rent assaults upon God's Word in the Re-
     formed community and behind such issues
     as women in ecclesiastical office . . . . In the
     bending of Scripture, in the distortion of the
     Word of God, in the blatant denial of its
     plain teaching and meaning, there is nothing
     new. It is but a re-introduction of Rome's er-
     ror into the Reformed community, though in
     a new guise.' '
     See "The Reformers' Principles of Scriptural
                                Interpretation' ' - page 42

c                                                Volume  LXII, No. 2, October 15, 1985


26                                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER




                                 CONTENTS                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                         ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
      Meditation  -                                                                             Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                                                                                     Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
         The Good Samaritan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26           Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
      Editorial  -                                                                    Department Editors:  Rev. Ronald  Cammenga,  Rev.  Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                      D. Decker, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko,
         The  Banner Promotes Arminianism . . . . . . . . .:  .29                     Rev. Ronald Hanko, Mr. David Harbach. Rev. John A. Heys, `Rev. J. Kortering,
                                                                                      Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.
                                                                                      Gise J. Van  Baren,  Rev. Herman  Veldman.
      Correspondence and Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30              Editorial Office:  Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
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         Introduction (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31     Church News Editor:  Mr. David Harbach
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M&DITATIQN
James D. Slopsema


                                               The Good Samaritan

                     A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped
                  him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
                     And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed
                  by on the other side.
                     And likewise a Levite . . . .
                     But a certain Samaritan . . . came where he was. . . and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil
                  and wine, and set him on his own beast; and brought him to an inn, and took care of him . . . .
                      Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
                     And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus, Go, and do thou likewise.
                                                                                                                                        Luke 10:30-37


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                27



   "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"       son who should stop and help this man in need on
asked a certain lawyer of Jesus to trap Him.                the Jericho road, it was this priest. For as a priest he
   Those who would trap our Lord with their                 was employed in the office of mercy, showing to
devilish questions always fall into their own traps.        others the mercies of God. And as priest he was
That also happened to this lawyer.                          also an instructor of the law, the heart of which is
                                                            to love God and the neighbor as oneself. Surely
  Jesus responded to the lawyer, "What is written           then this priest, who knew the law and held the of-
in the law? how readest thou?"                              fice of mercy, would stop and help this traveler in
   Here the lawyer's training stood him in good             need, a fellow countryman, one who was partaker
stead. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all           with him of all privileges of the covenant! *
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy            But the priest refused to help. Squeezing as far as
strength, and with all  th!y mind; and thy neighbor         possible to the other side of the road, he guided his
as thyself. ' '                                             donkey past the bleeding, unconscious figure on
   "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou             the road and continued his journey to Jericho. And
shalt live."                                                he no doubt had many good reasons for not stop-
   Now the lawyer had made a fool of himself. How           ping. Why, after all, the thieves who had done this
obvious and simple was the answer to the question           one in might still be nearby. No sense risking
he had put to the Lord to trap Him! One inherits            danger unnecessarily. And besides, this man was so
eternal life by keeping the law of God in love! How         far gone he might not live anyway. And besides,
obvious! The lawyer was embarrassed.                        there were matters in Jericho that were pressing. . . .
   To save face and justify himself the lawyer                Likewise a levite also came upon this traveler in
quickly came with another question, "And who is             need. He too was on his way home to Jericho, hav-
my neighbor?" According to the law we are to love           ing put his time in at the Temple as helper of the
our neighbor as ourselves. But who is my neighbor?          priest. This one was in a better position to help the
                                                            beaten man on the roadside than was the priest. For
   This was not such a simple question. For under           in addition to being involved in the work of mercy
the influence of the Pharisees the Jews made a              in the `Temple, he was also strong and muscular
distinction between one's neighbor and one's                after years of doing the heavy work of the Temple.
enemies. Your neighbors you loved, your enemies             It would have been a small thing for him to toss this
you hated. Who is my neighbor whom I must love?             bleeding, unconscious man on his donkey and take
Now the lawyer had a question with which he                 him to Jericho. Without too much effort he could
could trap Jesus.                                           have carried this traveler in need all the way to
  In response Jesus cited the parable of the Good           Jericho on his own shoulders!
Samaritan.                                                    But after taking time to examine the situation, he
A COLD INDIFFERENCE                                         quickly passed on by, leaving his fellow country-
  The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a                  man and brother to die. And he, too, no doubt, had
treacherous one. Winding through mountainous                all sorts of good reasons for not helping this man.
terrain, it was infested with marauding bands who           What if the man died and he was accused in Jericho
                                                            of beating him? And what if . . . .
often ambushed and molested those brave enough
to travel it.                                                 There are many priests and levites in the church
                                                            today.
   On this road was to be found a traveler going              How often is not the brother of the church in
down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Suddenly he fell            need! There is the brother who is poor and strug-
among thieves who stripped him of his clothes,              gles daily to make ends meet. There is the sister
beat him to within an inch of his life, and left him        who has lost her husband and is all alone. There is
for dead on the side of the road, naked and                 the fellow saint who has fallen into sin and knows
b l e e d i n g .                                           .not how to escape its power. There is the brother
   Eventually there came down this same road a              who is sick, who is infirm, who has suffered the
priest. He evidently had finished his turn serving in       loss of a loved one, who is depressed . . . .
the Temple in Jerusalem and was now heading                   And when God providentially places these dear
home to Jericho, where a large colony of priests and        ones of His on the Jericho path of the members of
levites lived.                                              the church, many prove themselves to be priests
   If there was to be found in all Israel any one per-      and levites. They take one look at their brother and
                                                            sister in need and pass on by. And they have all
James D.  Slopsema  is pastor of the Protestant Reformed    kinds of good and sensible reasons why they ought
Church  of  Randolph, Wisconsin.                            not to stop and help.


28                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



A WONDERFUL CAMPASSION                                     AN IMPORTANT CALLING
      But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to       The lawyer who approached Jesus had tried to
where the fallen traveler was; and when he saw             entrap Him with the question, "And who is my
him, he had compassion on him.                             neighbor?"
      To appreciate the compassion of the Samaritan           The question of the lawyer, however, was not
for this Jew that lay bleeding on the roadside, we         quite proper. The question we ought to ask is not,
must understand that the Jews had an intense               "Who is my neighbor?" but, "To whom am I a
hatred for the Samaritans. Every Sabbath the Jews          neighbor?"
cursed the Samaritans in their Synagogues with the            Hence, Jesus asked the lawyer, "Which now of
prayer that the Samaritans have no part in the             these three (the priest, the levite, or the Samaritan),
resurrection of the dead. Never may a Samaritan be         thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell
accepted as a proselyte to the Jewish faith. To eat        among the thieves?"
the food of the Samaritans was equivalent to eating
swine's flesh. The  -worst  insult one Jew could lay         To which the lawyer responded, "He that
upon another was to call him a Samaritan.                  showed mercy on him."
  Nevertheless, this Samaritan had compassion on             Then said Jesus unto him, "Go, and do thou like-
this Jew, who, were he conscious, would have               wise."
refused all help from him, cursed him, and spit at           Certainly we are taught here with the lawyer that
him.                                                       there is no distinction between our neighbor and
      Compassion is to be so affected by the plight of     our enemy. Our neighbor is anyone God in His
another that your stomach knots. It means that             good providence places upon our path, whether
your heart goes out to another in distress and you         friend or foe.
will do anything in your power to deliver him from           And our calling is to be neighbor to him. When
his woe. Compassion is really love directed to those       he is in need we are to be filled with compassion to
in need.                                                   him. And in compassion we are to do our utmost to
  Such compassion the Samaritan had for the                help him. In helping him we must go the second
bleeding, pathetic figure he found on the Jericho          mile, the third mile, the fourth . . . .
road.                                                        How important this calling is!
  Yes, he could have found all sorts of reasons to           The original question of the lawyer was,
continue his journey, as had the priest and levite.        "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
In fact, he had the best reason of all for passing on        The response of Jesus was that only those who
by: this bleeding mess along the road was a Jew!           show compassion to their neighbor in need will in-
  But never mind. He was filled with compassion.           herit eternal life. For such compassion is the basic
And in compassion he stopped to help. In fact, he          requirement of the law. Love thy neighbor as
did more to help than would be normally expected.          thyself. Love him even in his need and woe. Love
For he poured oil in the man's wounds to soothe            him even if he is your enemy.
them and wine to cleanse them. Then he loaded the            Now this compassion does not earn one eternal
unconscious wretch on his own donkey and                   life. Eternal life is, as the lawyer himself suggested,
brought him to the nearest inn. All night the              an inheritance. And every inheritance is given free-
Samaritan cared for his charge who hovered be-             ly as a gift. Fact is, the inheritance of eternal life has
tween life and death. Come morning he paid the             been earned by God the Father through the death
innkeeper two months room and board, charging              of His own dear Son. But this inheritance is given
him, "Take care of him; and whatsoever thou                only to the true children of the Father who in the
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay."           power of grace are faithful to their Father, who love
  Very few are like this Samaritan.                        Him with all their heart and love their neighbor as
  Very few show compassion to an enemy. Com-               themselves.
passion for a friend is one thing. But compassion            Would you inherit eternal life?
for an enemy is almost unheard of!                           Go, and do thou likewise!
  And there are very few that in compassion will
go the second and third mile to help those in need.                  The Standard Bearer
People soon weary of well-doing when it comes to
helping those in need who can not repay.                        makes a though@1 gift for
  Would to God there were more Samaritans in the                       the sick & shut-in.
church!


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                               29



EDITORIAL




            The Banner Promotes Arminianism


  In an editorial entitled, "Are Christians Wretched               Now, in the first place, in the abstract it is true,
Sinners?" (The Banner, Sept. 23, 1985, p. 5) the Rev.            of course, that no one should change his mind
Andrew Kuyvenhoven takes position against the                    about this matter at the mere association of the
so-called "pessimistic" view of the Christian's                  name of Arminius. That would be foolish indeed.
sanctification and in favor of a view which is not               After all, not  everything  that Arminius wrote was
really new but which in recent years has been in-                false even as not  everything  that Calvin said was
creasingly promoted by theologians in Reformed                   true. The mere fact that Arminius said something
churches. The view involves, in part, the interpre-              does not make it heretical.
tation of Romans 7. When Paul repeatedly writes
"I" in Romans 7, is he speaking of himself as a                    In the second place, however, we are not con-
Christian, or not? About this Editor Kuyvenhoven                 sidering Arminius in the abstract when it comes to
writes:                                                          Romans 7. Anyone acquainted with the history of
      Romans 7 has served until today as the chapter that        Arminius and the rise of the heresy named after
    establishes beyond a doubt the continuing wretched-          him knows this, and I strongly suspect that Editor
    ness of Christians. The Heidelberg Catechism, for in-        Kuyvenhoven knew this also when he penned that
    stance, would not have said, "Even the holiest have          rather mischievous last paragraph quoted above.
    only a small beginning of this obedience" (Q.  & A.          The antennae of any Reformed man should begin
    114),  if its writers had not understood Paul to speak of    sending strong signals upon the mere mention of
    his Christian self whenever he said "I" in Romans 7.         the name of Arminius in connection with Romans
  He then goes on to set forth briefly the "new"                 7. Why? Because it was when Arminius was ex-
view and to choose for it, as follows:                           pounding Romans 7 in the church of Amsterdam
      Today some New Testament scholars in the Re-               that he first was suspected and accused of heresy
    formed tradition, such as Herman Ridderbos and An-           by one of his fellow ministers, Petrus Plancius.
    drew Bandstra, say that the "I" in Romans 7 is not the       Why was this? It was not first of all because of er-
    "I" that is set free by the Spirit of Christ. A new look     rant views concerning sanctification, but because
    at Romans and at our traditional pessimism has also          of errant views concerning the natural, unregener-
    been set forth by Anthony Hoeksema in The Christian          ate man. This heresy was suspected already when
   Looks At Himself                                              Arminius preached on Romans 7:14, but it became
      In the last decade of the sixteenth century an until-      especially clear when he applied the language of
   then highly respected Reformed minister in Amster-            verse 18 to the unregenerate sinner.
   dam preached a year's sermons on Romans 7. He
   claimed that the position taken by Calvin and Beza -            In the third place, a Reformed man should be
   that we are still the wretched sinners of Romans 7 -
   was "injurious to grace" and "adverse to good                 ashamed to make use of the argument which Editor
   morals." This pastor exclaimed that "nothing can be           Kuyvenhoven uses in his brief quotation of  Ar-
   imagined more noxious to true morality than to assert         minius. The quotation, by the way, is not from a
   that `it is a property of the regenerate not to do the        sermon of Arminius but from the Fifth Part of a
   good which they would, and to do the evil which they          very lengthy "Dissertation on The True and Gen-
   would not."'                                                  uine Sense of the Seventh Chapter of St. Paul's
      If you are inclined, with me, to agree with this Re-       Epistle to the Romans, Vol. II, pp. 195-452 of  The
   formed pastor from Amsterdam, do not change your              Writings ofJames Arminius. It is the thesis of this
   mind when you hear that his name was Arminius.                Fifth Part (pp. 419, ff.), and reads in full as follows:


30                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



"The opinion which affirms, that this chapter treats       Finally, is not my charge in the title of this
about a man who is regenerate and placed under           editorial too severe? Not at all! Editor Kuyvenhoven
grace; and which also interprets the good which          is writing about the doctrine of sanctification in his
this man would and does not, and the evil which he       editorial; and there is much that could be said also
would not but does, as referring to actual good and      against the view for which he, along with the
evil; is injurious to grace, and inimical to good        theologians whom he mentions, chooses. That view
morals." And if you read a few pages into this sec-      itself is contrary to Scripture and the Confessions.
tion, you discover that the argument of Arminius         However, bear in mind that if you agree with James
here is nothing but a variation of that old,             Arminius's view of Romans 7, you are inevitably
thoroughly rationalistic argument which has been         saying something about  the  natural man, the un-
so often used against the Reformed truth: "This          regenerate sinner. And what are you saying? You are
doctrine makes men careless and profane." I say: a       saying, as Arminianism says: the natural man is not
Reformed man should be ashamed to use this argu-         totally depraved!                               HCH
ment!




                       Correspondence and Reply


Correspondence                                           Reply
  From a reader in  Ripon, California we received          As is my rule, I forwarded this question to Rev.
the following letter under date of August 26:            Kenneth Hanko, whose article is concerned in the
Dear Brother in Christ:                                  question. Here is his reply:
  I have a question in regard to the article on "The       Jeremiah  23:32 probably answers both ques-
Preaching of the Gospel as a Sign of Christ's Com-       tions: "Behold I am against them that prophesy
ing," by Rev. Kenneth Hanko in the Special Issue         false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and
of August 1, 1985.                                       cause my people to err by their lies, and by their
                                                         lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded
  He writes: "God will not rest, and will not let His    them: therefore they shall not profit this people at
church rest, until the word of Jesus has been ful-       all, saith the LORD."
filled."                                                   Yet, from an altogether different point of view
  My question is whether that preaching and              there is much profit to be gained from such false
spreading of the Gospel is the sole obligation of His    prophets. They strengthen the hands of evildoers
church, or is the church of the Devil obligated also.    (Jer. 23:14). They destroy and scatter the sheep (Jer.
  Today by many preachers "Thy will" in the              23:l). They hide the piercing light of the gospel
Lord's prayer is transformed from a noun to a verb;      under a bushel. Because of them God's people
and they say, "We do what He wills." To change           perish for lack of knowledge, and the strong are
the social and political structure of the U.S.A. and     unstable as water.
the world, these preachers flood the world with            We must recognize, of course, that not all with
Bibles and literature. During the Crusades a French      whom we disagree are deliberately deceiving and
monk came up with the same kind of idea; and the         destroying God's people or belong to the false
results were great bloodshed, the Plague, and an         church. Nevertheless there are in the church today
enduring fiasco. As far as I know, the benefits of       many Christian pastors who emphasize Christian
the Crusades were the art of window-pane making          living to the exclusion of doctrine, who take up a
and an increase in commerce.                             cause (abortion, unilateral disarmament, etc.), or
  What are the benefits of our now-a-day                 who are just simply not equipped (because of their
Crusaders?                                               training or their gifts) for the work of the ministry.
                                                         To these I believe the words of Paul in I Cor.  3:15
                             Your brother in Christ,     apply: "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall
                              (w.s.)  Bart Vander Wal    suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as
P.S. I liked the Special Issue.                          by fire."


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               31



WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Herman Hanko





                                      Introduction (1)


   When Jesus discussed with His disciples the             morality. And it is not difficult to see how this can
signs of His coming and of the end of the age (Mt.         come about. Evolutionism teaches that higher
24), He mentioned that one of the signs would be           forms of life have, over vast periods of time,
that iniquity would abound (vs. 12). The Greek             developed from lower forms of life. There is no fun-
word translated "iniquity" in this passage could           damental difference therefore, between the lowly
better be translated "lawlessness," i.e., disregard        amoeba and a rose, between an ant and a horse,
for and contempt of law. The reference is, of              between a worm and a man: the one is simply a
course, finally, to the law of God, for all human          more complex grouping of molecules than the
laws in every sphere of life ought to reflect the law      other. Evolutionism is, therefore, a denial of the
which God Himself gives as His will for the                "spiritual" in man. It is a denial of the fact that man
creature.                                                  has a soul. Man is nothing more than a complex
  No one will deny that this sign has appeared in          conglomeration of atoms and molecules, controlled
our time with startling clarity. There was a time,         by various chemical reactions of one sort or
not all that many years ago, when even the laws of         another.
the land reflected, at least to some extent, the law of      It is obvious that, if this theory is true, one can-
God. Countries and individual states in our own            not have any true and significant ethics or system
country had laws on their books against gambling,          of morality. Right and wrong do not exist in any
swearing, Sabbath desecration, pornography,                true sense for man. Certainly one cannot speak of
homosexuality, etc. This was, it is said, the effect of    right and wrong for an amoeba; one cannot speak
our Judeo-Christian heritage. But one by one these         of right actions for a rose; one cannot speak of
laws have been repealed; and even, in some in-             wrong actions for a worm. And, if man is fun-
stances, that which was once condemned is not on-          damentally and essentially no different from a fish
ly condemned no longer, but officially and legally         or a mosquito, one cannot speak of right or wrong
sanctioned. An example of this is the many laws            for man. That is, there is no objective standard, out-
which condone gambling through state-sponsored             side of man himself, which determines for man
lotteries.                                                 what is right for him to do and what is wrong and
  That such a situation has come about in this land        must be regarded as sin, subject to God's punish-
and other Western countries has in large measure           ment. Right and wrong have to be decided on a dif-
been due to the general acceptance of the theory of        ferent basis than that of the law of God as revealed
evolution. Evolutionism is not merely a scientific         in creation and the Scriptures.
theory which is intended to explain the origin of            And that is precisely what has happened in our
this universe, even though most evolutionists (and         world. Not so many years ago, this sort of notion
even the courts of the land) insist that it is so.         was called "The New Morality," or "Situation
Evolutionism is an entire world-and-life view. It is a     Ethics." One does not hear these terms very much
theory which has implications for the whole of life,       any more, but the ideas have permeated all our
and it has intruded into every area of our life to         lives. Not the law of God determines what is right
wreak havoc and devastation.                               and what is wrong, but individual opinion. What a
  This is especially true in the area of ethics or         man thinks is right, that is right for him. But woe be
                                                           to him if he tries to impose his notions on others.
Herman Hanho is professor in the Church History and New    Just because one man may think that hard pornog-
Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed           raphy is wrong, he has no right to foist his opin-
Seminavy.                                                  ions on others; if they want to look at  pornog-


32                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



raphy in magazines, movies, and on TV, that is                has led the parade to discard God's Word and
their business, and no one has the right to make              substitute this word of sinful man. How many of
others conform to his private and personal opin-              the evils in the church cannot be traced directly to
ions. (There is a column which appears a few                  this scoffing mockery of God's infallible Word, our
times a week in the Grand Rapids Press, written by            rule for faith and life?
John Douglas, which regularly promotes this kind                The devil always works in subtle ways. He does
of thinking.)                                                 not always attack the church head-on; he comes
      There has to be, of course, some kind of law in         obliquely, under cover of being an angel of light,
the land - even the wicked recognize that if this is          from unexpected directions; he uses "salami tac-
not the case, society would sink into chaos; but              tics," eroding the faith of the church little by little,
such laws ought not to reflect an objective law,              forcing a small compromise here and a seemingly
given by God, but simply ought to be an expression            insignificant concession there  - until, to her utter
of prevailing public opinion, the current thinking of         chagrin, the church discovers she has lost her
the majority, or the views of wooly-headed liberals,          heritage. In this way the church is affected in her
such as are found in the ACLU, who fight for                  life bit by bit, almost without realizing it; adopting
atheism, evolutionism, and fornication in the                 the theories and practices of the world about her
courts of the land.                                           without seeming to know what is going on, without
      Underlying all of this there is of course the rejec-    giving account of herself before God and in the
tion of Scripture as the only rule of faith and life.         light of His Word.
Evolutionism has made the inroads that it has today             But there are other complicating factors. This is
only because Scripture's authority has been re-               especially due to the tremendous advances in our
jected. We ought to be clear on this point. There is a        day in the field of technology. The advances in
great deal of discussion about the inspiration of             technology have been so rapid and extensive that
Scripture, whether this inspiration is infallible and         things done in our day were undreamed of just a
inerrant, and what infallible and  inerrant inspira-          few short years ago. We are not only talking about
tion really means. But this discussion, in itself, is         the whole field of electronics and microcircuitry,
not the real question at issue. It is, in a way, a kind       which has produced amazing scientific wonders -
of "red herring," a camouflage, an attempt to divert          even the computer on which I am writing this arti-
one's attention from the real issue. The real issue is        cle, but also the tremendous advances in the fields
Scripture's authority. Theologians do not call into           of medicine, genetic biology, biomedicine, and the
question the whole subject of inspiration as it has           like. Organs are being transplanted, life is being
been traditionally held in the church in order to try         prolonged, babies are conceived in test tubes, the
to understand this doctrine better; the discussion is         most fundamental elements of life are being manip-
not an effort to come to greater theological clarity          ulated  by- scientists to improve, so it is claimed,
on a certain point of doctrine. The discussion has            the quality of life, and the air is filled with talk of
one purpose: to destroy Scripture's authority in              surrogate mothers, donor parents, artificial in-
matters of faith and life.                                    semination, and the like.
      It is because the church wants to adopt evolu-            Many of these advances in these fields raise dif-
tionism in one form or another that the church has            ficult and agonizing questions for the child of God.
called the truth of inspiration into question. God,           I am not speaking now of the man who openly and
the Creator of heaven and earth, cannot and does              arrogantly rejects God's law as his rule for life; I am
not tell us how He formed His creation; science has           talking about the humble child of God who desires
to do this for us. It is not enough to accept the truth       humbly to bow before His God in obedience to His
that "Through faith we understand that the worlds             will. I am referring to the saint who wants to do
were framed by the word of God, so that things                God's will, but who finds it difficult to find his way
which are seen were not made of things which do               through the maze of today's thinking and the ad-
appear" (Heb. 11:3);  worldly scientists know better          vances of science. This difficulty is, of course, due
than God and must give us this information. It is             to the fact that the Scriptures, to the child of God a
not difficult to see that when Scripture is rejected          lamp unto his feet and a light upon his pathway, do
on such a fundamental matter as this, Scripture is            not speak directly to all the questions which arise
also rejected when it lays down for us fundamental            out of today's discoveries and inventions. The
rules of conduct and gives, objectively, God's will           Scriptures do not say in so many words whether
for our lives.                                                organ transplants are right or wrong; whether  in
      This sort of godless thinking pervades not only         vitro conception is to be condemned out of hand or
society in general, but also the church. In fact, in          received as a gift from God to give children to
some instances, the church, apostate and corrupt,             parents who cannot have children in the normal


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                          33



way. What are we to do? How are we to find our            discuss many of these things.
way through the thicket of questions which crop up          We would like to have reader participation in
out of the field of scientific and technological          this rubric. There is no doubt about it but that
discovery?                                                many of our discussions will stir up in our readers
  For these reasons, the staff has decided to in-         additional questions, debate, disagreements, and
clude in The Standard Bearer a rubric which will          ideas from God's people who have faced some of
deal with these matters. While in our next issue we       these matters in their own life. We hope and pray
hope to include one more introductory article, in         that our readers will write to us and give us their
future issues, the Lord willing, it is our purpose to     views on these things.

THE DAY OF SHADOWS
John A. Heys





                          Eternal Thoughts of Peace


   Mention the name Jonah, and those who hear             Hebrew word for dove is  jonah. And the prophet
you most likely will think of the prophet in Israel       Jonah in a sense served as a messenger of God,
who experienced a violent storm at sea when he            even as that dove did from the hand of God. This
took a ship to Tarshish in his attempt to flee from       we hope to make plain in subsequent contributions
the duty assigned to him, namely, to preach in            to this department.
Nineveh, and who was thrown overboard by the
sailors. His story is well known, and he is men-             These two messengers differ greatly in that Jonah
tioned in other books of the Bible, as well as in the     was a human being belonging to the creatures God
book bearing his name. He is mentioned in II Kings        created in His own image, while the  jonah that
14:25. And there are no fewer than nine references        Noah let go from the ark, and God sent back with a
to him in the New Testament, all nine coming from         message to the church of that day, was a creature
the mouth of Jesus. He was therefore no fictional         brought forth by God on the fifth day of creation
character. It is a true story of which we read in the     week and out of the water, one day before man was
book that bears his name. Jesus refers to what hap-       created out of the dust of the ground. Then too the
pened to him as historical fact. And Jesus spoke the      dove made no attempt to avoid bringing the
truth every time He opened His mouth. We sin              message to Noah, while Jonah did his best to keep
then when we open our mouths to deny the fact             from preaching in Nineveh. The message the dove
that this book deals with a man of real flesh and         brought was in sign language  - an olive leaf  -
blood, and that what is recorded concerning him is        while Jonahs message was spelled out in clear
absolutely true.                                          human language.
  There was however another jonah that sailed on
a very stormy sea, and that in the very first ship           We read at the very beginning of the book that
built by man, when God opened the windows of               "the word of the Lord came unto Jonah." And that
heaven, and broke open the fountains of the deep.         word came in human language. They were not
What is more, even as Jonah the prophet was sent          words in sign language that might or might not be
by God to bring a message to the people of                interpreted correctly. It was a word for the people
Nineveh, this jonah was sent to bring a message to        of Nineveh, and a word that was very clear as to its
Noah and his family in the ark. You see, the              meaning. This becomes evident in the reaction to
                                                          Jonah's preaching. They understood it, and under-
John A. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant     stood it as word coming from no one less than
Reformed Churches.                                        Jehovah.


34                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



      In both instances it was the hand of God that      together with the Jews. Turn then to Revelation
directed these two messengers. His hand led the          21:1-3 and note that the tabernacle, or temple, of
dove to find the olive leaf, to pluck it off, and to     God is with both Jew and Gentile, with all the
bring it to Noah. It was the hand of God that in an      saints, all those who believe from Adam onward.
amazing way brought this disobedient prophet to          We must insist that Jonah was sent to Gentiles who
bring Gods message to the Ninevites. What is             in Gods counsel were from eternity members in
more, both messengers were sent with messages to         the church of Christ, and in time were brought into
God's people. Members of the church of Christ            that church through the work of Jonah.
were there in Nineveh, those whose names were              Part of Jonah's problem stems from this very
eternally written in the Lamb's book of life, even       fact, even though he knew that in Abraham's seed
though they were not of the fleshly seed of              ALL nations would be blessed. As a prophet he
Abraham.                                                 knew that Genesis 18:18 meant that there could be
      And for those who wish to believe that the         Ninevites in the Old Testament church. And as we
church of Christ was born on Pentecost, let it be        shall see, the Lord willing, God showed him that
pointed out that Scripture does NOT speak that way.      these Ninevites shared in the same blessings that
We may qualify the statement and say that the New        the believing seed of Abraham enjoyed. All the
Testament church was born on Pentecost, but we           members of the body of Christ enjoy the same
may not say that the whole church had its birth that     blessings, for as members of ONE body they all
day. It is certainly true that you do not find the       receive from the Head the blessings of His cross.
word church even once in the Old Testament Scrip-
tures. But then from Genesis                               Now to return to what we began to set forth. The
                                 1  through Malachi 4
you do not find the word regeneration either.            jonah or dove that served the church in the ark was
Would anyone dare to say that therefore there was        a symbol of peace and gentleness. It is contrasted
no regeneration during the whole Old Testament           with the raven in the account of the flood. Men to-
dispensation? It would take an unregenerated heart       day contrast it with the hawk, which is used as a
to say that! The word faith appears in the Old Testa-    symbol of war, while the dove symbolizes peace.
ment Scriptures only twice. Shall we say that dur-       And although there are several other characteristics
ing that period of time there was hardly any faith?      of the dove presented in Scripture, here on the fore-
Do we not read of the "heroes of faith" - better         ground the dove, namely Jonah, is, as pointed out, a
called the giants of faith - in Hebrews 1 l? And that    messenger of peace. The  jonah that brought Noah
chapter covers the Old Testament from creation           the olive leaf  - another symbol of peace  - is
through way beyond the days of David.                    presented in Matthew  lo:16 as a creature with a
                                                         gentle, harmless nature, and thus as the very op-
 What is especially striking is that Stephen in Acts     posite of the hawk.
7:38 speaks of the "church in the wilderness."             As suggested above, the dove brought Noah a
Those who want to maintain that the Jews are the         message of peace. God's holy wrath had brought
Kingdom of God, and the Gentiles are the church of       terrible devastation to the earth. He visited the sin-
God, in order to get around what God says here,          ful human race and made war against it, wiping off
translate Stephen's words as, "the congregation in       from the face of the earth all His enemies! In His
the wilderness." The word plainly is church, or, if      holy wrath He brought worldwide calamity and
you will, ecclesia in the Greek. And there is a Greek    disaster. Who can stand before Him? But He used a
word for congregation that is not used here. You         harmless dove to let the church know that His
will find it in Acts  13:43. Why did God not give        thoughts to His people are thoughts of peace, and
Stephen that word, if He wanted us to believe that       that He had a new earth ready for His church to
there was no church yet in the Old Testament             live on and to use in His service. That dove, indeed,
dispensation?                                            brought a message of God's peace upon His church
  And does not Paul speak in Ephesians 2: 14 of the      that had seen His terrible wrath against His
middle wall of partition being broken down be-           enemies.
tween Jews and Gentiles? And that does not mean            And now God is sending another Jonah to
that the Gentiles can  now  come into the kingdom,       Nineveh with a message of peace for His people
and the Jews can come into the church, even              dwelling there. 0, yes, Jonah preaches destruction.
though there is an element of truth in this. But note    But God did that through Noah as well. And, as we
that in verse 19 Paul states that the Gentiles are       hope to point out later in this series, that must be
fellow citizens with the Jews in the kingdom. The        done. That is the way to approach the sinner. Do
Jews are not the only citizens in the Kingdom. And       not argue with God about that. You are sure to lose
the Gentiles alone are not the church. Note that the     and find out your folly. But that must wait for a lat-
Gentiles are in verse 20 called the temple of God        er installment in this series. The point to be made


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                                35



here is that God sends Jonah to Nineveh because            And God's thoughts of peace toward those whom
He has eternal thoughts of peace for His people in       He chose in Christ are eternal thoughts of peace,
Nineveh. And He sends a dove to let them know            thoughts He always had in His holy heart and
this.                                                    mind, and which will be there eternally. A truth we
  What we must keep in mind while we consider            must remember is that not only is Jehovah God, but
the book of Jonah is the fact that it brings us the      God is Jehovah. His name Jehovah means I AM.
gospel as it is in Christ. We must see that when we      And there are so many false doctrines today that
read in verse one of the book that the word of the       deny this truth. That He is the I AM ought to fill us
Lord came to Jonah. It was the word of the gospel,       with holy awe and prevent us from any tendency to
the good news of salvation, the news of "peace on        present Him at any time as a changeable god,
earth to men of good will." The message was that of      dependent upon man's will as  to what to do next.
eternal thoughts of peace which God has for His          He says, "I Am" and never says "I Was" or "I Will
people in Christ. Jonah was not sent to see whether      be." Always He is the same, unchangeably the
there were any children of God among these Gen-          same. In this name He tells and warns us that He is,
tiles. He was sent because there were people there       and that without our help; that He has in Himself
toward whom God eternally had thoughts of peace.         all that which He needs; and that He does not need
To these He wants Jonah to extend the olive leaf of      our consent, our acceptance of a well-meant offer
the gospel so that they may know the salvation           of salvation, of a free offer, or for us to open our
which God has prepared for them.                         hearts to receive His Son. His glory and the attain-
                                                         ment of His desire does not depend upon what we
  Although in some of his actions Jonah was a            do or are going to do. He is the I AM, and is not the I
hawk, averse to bringing the gospel to these Gen-        hope-to-be, if you will let me and help me.
tiles, and when forced to do so found delight in pro-
nouncing impending destruction upon the wicked,            No, His thoughts of peace toward His people are
God used him to convey His thoughts of peace to          eternal, because He chose every one of them per-
the elect in that Gentile city. God used him as a        sonally before the foundation of the world  (Ephe-
dove. Never mind Jonah's unpeaceful attitude.            sians 1:4); and this choice is with Him eternally and
Never mind the fact that he did not come into            unchangeably. That is why He sent Jonah to
Nineveh acting like a dove. The truth we must see        Nineveh. There were people there that must be
is God's peaceful thoughts and intentions that sent      saved. These will be saved. For He is Jehovah, and
Jonah to be His tool for the salvation of His people     thus is the unchangeable and self-sufficient One.
in Nineveh. Jonah has the name of dove, not                THAT assures us of our salvation as well. And let
because of what he in his sinful nature did, but         it be pointed out that the book of Jonah begins with
because of Him Whose word came to Jonah to be            that truth for our comfort. In the Hebrew we read,
preached in Nineveh. Jonah was the messenger. It         "How the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jonah, the
was God's message. Let us not lose sight of that         son of Amitai." As we consider this book and its
fact. What God does through man counts, not what         truth, let us bear that in mind. Jehovah is at work.
man wants or sets out to do.                             Jehovah speaks to us from the pages of this brief
                                                         book of the Old Testament.
ALL AROhVD  US
Robert D. Decker




                                Pope Tells Moslems:
                    "We believe in the same God." '


  Christian News, a Lutheran magazine edited by          Morocco. The report was written by Vivienne
Herman  Otten, in its September 2, 1985 issue  car-      Heston, a reporter for Religious News Service. Here
ries a report on Pope John Paul II's recent visit to     are some excerpts:


36                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



        Pope John Paul II concluded his pastoral visit to              his bounty," John Paul said. "We believe in the same
      Africa with an historic encounter with Islamic                   God, the only God, the living God, the God who
      students in Casablanca, Morocco.                                 creates worlds and brings its creatures to perfection."
        The pope flew hundreds of miles off the normal                No, the Roman Catholic Church has not
      course from Kenya to Morocco to show his respect to          changed. Rome is not moving closer to evangelical
      Moslem pilgrims on their way towards Mecca. The              Protestantism. The pope sounds no different than a
      altered flight path was symbolic of the Vatican's ef-        host of liberals who preach a social gospel, a father-
      forts to establish a new dialogue with the world of          hood of God and a brotherhood of all men. Let us
      Islam.                                                       not be deceived. The god of the pope may be the
        John Paul's message to the young participants in the       god of Moslems. But it is not the God of Holy Scrip-
      pan-Arab games was one that he had carried                   ture. Only an idol.
      throughout his  Q-day African sojourn: "We cannot
      invoke God as father of all men if we refuse to act like       Herman  Otten editorializes in the same issue of
      brothers among men who were created in the image             Christian News and we heartily agree with his com-
      of God."                                                     ments: "Pope John Paul II concluded his `pastoral
        Some 60,000 Islamic students gathered at the Casa-         visit' of Africa by telling Moslems: `We believe in
      blanca sports arena to hear the papal address. It was        the same God . . .  .' When the pope visited the
      the first time in history that a Roman Catholic pope         Netherlands earlier this year he told the Jews about
      has been received as a moral leader among Moslems.           the same thing. According to the Pope, Jews,
        The invitation for the speech was made by King             Moslems and followers of other non-Christian reli-
      Hassan II of Morocco, a great admirer of John Paul           gions all worship the same God, the God of
      . . . . John Paul decided to accept the king's invitation    Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
      despite the security or doctrinal risk involved. Many          "Vatican II in its declaration on non-Christian
      theologians said the time was not ripe for conciliatory      religions and the Pope's latest Credo left the door
      gestures towards Islam, especially in the light of the       wide open for an anti-scriptural universalism
      latest events in Lebanon. Similarly, King Hassan
      received pressure from his Arab friends to postpone          which maintains that man can get to heaven with-
      the meeting in favor of a private talk. John Paul was        out a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Rome now
      invited to speak to the students as an educator and          teaches that even pious atheists will get to heaven.
      moral leader. He emphasized moral values and their           Most major Protestant denominations, along with
      importance for the future of humankind.                      Rome, now allow their clergymen to maintain that
        "Each person is unique in the eyes of God and ir-          Christ is not the only way to heaven . . . . THE
      replaceable in this work of development," John Paul          ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND MOST MA-
      said. "Everyone must be recognized for what  he/she  is      JOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS TODAY
      and then respected as such. No one should use his            DO NOT INSIST THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE
      fellow man, no one should exploit his equal, no one          ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN AND THAT  NON-
      should scorn his brother."                                   CHRISTIANS ARE LOST IN ANY ETERNAL
        The similarities that join as well as the differences      HELL. (emphasis Otten's)  . . . Contrary to the Pope
      that divide Christians and Moslems were stressed dur-        and liberal Protestant theologians, Moslems and
      ing the pope's speech. He said he had come as a              Jews do not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac,
      believer and that he recognized their common belief          and Jacob. These patriarchs worshipped the only
      in one God.                                                  true God, the Holy Trinity. They trusted in Jesus
        "Abraham is the same model of faith in God for US,         Christ, the coming Messiah, for their eternal salva-
      (a model) of submitting to his will and of confidence in     tion."




                                                     News Briefs


  The following items are all gleaned from the                     General Secretary of that Synod.             -.     -
September 3, 1985 issue of the  R.E.S. NEWS EX-                      "The Reformed General Convention of the Ger-
CHANGE, a publication of the Reformed Ecumen-                      man Democratic Republic and the Board of the Re-
ical Synod, edited by Paul G. Schrotenboer, the                    formed Alliance (Reformierte Bund) in the Federal


                                              ,

                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                            37



Republic of Germany, as well as (West) Berlin,                enrollment has been practiced for years and is seen
have given their support to the call for the forma-           as a deliberate effort to slowly stifle the Reformed
tion of an Ecumenical Peace Council. The call, ad-            church, which is the largest Protestant church in
dressed to the churches of the world, was issued at           Rumania (estimated total Protestants:  1,280,000)."
Dusseldorf Kirchentag.                                          Though we may not always think about it, there
   "In their declaration the representatives of the           is persecution of God's church in various parts of
two churches of both Germanies state as their com-            the world. Persecuted Christians need our prayers.
mon conviction that `Peace is a matter of confes-             This too Jesus said is a sign of His coming and of the
sion and that it means confessing or denying the              end of the world: "Then shall they deliver you up
Gospel,' that `in the face of hunger and social               to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be
misery in the world, the scandal and risk of an               hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matthew
escalating arms race has to be given more impor-              24:9)
tance than its alleged advantages;' and that `the               "(Indianapolis, Indiana) According to an editorial
threat of mutual destruction is contrary to the spirit        in  The Presbyterian Layman  (July/August  1985),  the
of Christ and is an expression of our sin.'                   `liberal agenda of Presbyterian Church continues.'
   "In their declaration they urge that four                  The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (the large,
necessary steps be taken: to stop the manufacture             liberal, mainline Presbyterian Church, R.D.D.)
of atomic armaments, to prohibit the use of outer             recently held its 197th General Assembly. The
space for armed military purposes, to dismantle the           editorial states that those who had hoped for a
atomic missiles already stationed, and to reduce ar-          movement of the church away from its liberal agen-
mament expenditures."                                         da were disappointed. The best example of this con-
   As much as we may deplore and even fear the                tinuing trend, according to the editorial, was the
prospect of nuclear war, what has this "peace" to             debate on the abortion issue. With only slight
do with "the peace of God which passes all under-             modification the assembly reaffirmed the  pro-
standing" which peace keeps our hearts and minds              choice stand. Though some positive things did oc-
in Christ Jesus? (cf. Philippians  4:6, 7)                    cur in Indianapolis, the assembly spent most of its
   "(Burbach, West Germany) Speaking here at a                time on political/social/economic issues, such as the
conference of the Association of Evangelical Mis-             United States involvement in Central America and
sions, Tom Chandler, assistant secretary of the mis-          divestment in South Africa. The editor laments that
sions committee of the World Evangelical Fellow-              things are made more difficult for Presbyterian
ship, told the mission leaders that white Christians          evangelicals by the way things are done. Very rare-
are now in the minority in the world. Chandler                ly in any of the meetings of the General Assembly
pointed out that in 1910 about six percent of all             is there opportunity for examination of viewpoints
Christians lived outside Europe and North                    other than those of the official agencies. The
America. Today that proportion has increased to 54            printed materials presented are biased toward one
percent. The majority of non-Christians also live in          point of view. The great number of issues make it
nations of the Third World."                                  impossible, particularly for elder commissioners, to
                                                              come prepared. The editorial states: `the number of
   This has to be another indication of the imminent          issues considered by the General Assembly each
return of our Lord Jesus Christ who said: "And this           year must be reduced. Issues to be considered
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the            should be those that affect the spiritual and moral
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall          well-being of society and not every political, social
the end come . . . Watch therefore: for ye know not           and economic problem facing the world."'
what hour your Lord doth come." (Matthew 24: 14,
42)                                                             The editor is right. Ecclesiastical assemblies may
   "(Cluj Napoca, Rumania, RPS) Although the                  treat  ,only ecclesiastical matters and that too in an
Reformed bishop had requested the enrollment of               ecclesiastical manner. (cf. Church Order of Dordt,
36 students, the state allowed only ten students to           Article 30) This too is a sign of the end. Many are
enroll at the Reformed Theological Seminary at                the false Christs and false prophets in our time who
Cluj. To make matters worse, the churches are not             say "here is Christ or there" and who deceive
allowed to provide theological instruction to the             many. (cf. Matthew 24)
*youth outside the theological faculties, leaving the
churches without means to make up for the insuffi-                        Read & Study
cient number of theological students. The
repressive state policy of curtailing theological                The Standard Bearer!
Robert D. Decher is professor of Practical Theology and
New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.


38                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER





                                 "Good Morning, Alice"
                                                       Gise J. Van Buren





      This first stay in the hospital was not very pleas-         joyed the owners, dear friends, downstairs. But we
ant for Alice. One thing she could never endure                   watched with growing concern as Alice ever more
was needles  - and she saw needles in abundance                   slowly dragged herself up and down those steep
both here and during the remaining time of her life.              stairs. And how discouraging it must have been for
One of the tests for diagnosing ALS involved plac-                Alice! She had always been so independent, doing
ing of needles under the skin to determine the reac-              everything for herself. Now she needed help just to
tion of the muscles to electrical charges. It was a               carry a small bag of groceries up those steps. And
most unpleasant kind of test  - and Alice insisted                she surely did not want to admit that soon she
that she'd never go through that again. After about               might not be able to climb those stairs herself.
a week, Alice came h'ome  to her apartment without                Dear Alice:
having heard any definite diagnosis.                                Good morning! You know, it has been a week now
      After a later hospital stay, Alice's "friend" wrote:        since I began writing you, and I am enjoying it more all
Good morning, Alice:                                              the time. There may come a time when I will not `feel"
      I'm glad you're back home from the hospital!                like writing, but so far I look forward to my time with
                                                                  you in the morning.
      It's going to be a busy day, so I'm writing early - it's
still dark out. Morning is my favorite time though. It's            I shouldn't have chosen such a small card for such a
so quiet (before the family gets up, that is).                    tremendous chapter. It is so true that to really benefit
                                                                  from Scripture, you should read a passage three times.
      You can't help but think when you read Gen. 39:1-3
that Joseph kind of had it made. In everything he did,              You can't do that with this chapter without feeling
he prospered. But reading the rest of the chapter shows           the intense joy that Isaiah had, and by the third time
how he had to fight his battle of faith, too. `And yet            you read it, that intense joy fills your own heart and
through all the trials the rest of the chapter mentions,          soul. I really am going to memorize verse 2. If I can
the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord made him to                 remember it and bring it to mind in times of distress, it
prosper. The chapter says that four times. I think this is        will fill my need.
such a great example God gives us.                                  And I guess verse 3 explains what you and I are do-
  For me, even when the trials of raising children in             ing together, Alice; with joy we are drawing water out
the fear of the Lord seem so impossible; for you, even on         of the wells of salvation.
your bed of affliction,       WE ARE PROSPERING -                   I am enjoying sharing those waters with you Alice -
because the Lord is with us.                                      thanks!
  Cause for comfort - and more: cause for JOY.                                                          Love, Your friend
                                          Love, Your friend       Please read Joshua 3:13
Please read Isaiah 12                                               Then came the official diagnosis: ALS. Alice
  As the weeks passed, we could notice her limp                   didn't immediately know what was involved in  '
become worse. Alice lived in an upstairs apartment                ALS. In fact, she never did want to know all the
with outside stairs. She had always been very com-                details - though she.shortly after learned about the
fortable in this small apartment, and especially en-              general progress of the disease.'
Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed              For the family, however, it was different. A
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                                  disease we had seldom heard of, and had known


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  39



nothing about, became quickly very familiar. At                 relatives. This year was to be no exception. She
the local library, details were found in medical                spent the fourth of July there and later a week in
works. It was "Lou Gehrig's disease" - named for                August with the family. Eagerly Alice made use for
a ball player in his prime who died within two                  the first time of her recently purchased used
years after diagnosis of this illness. One could read:          camper. But how quickly she tired and needed
"Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis causes a pro-                    much rest! Still, she found the relaxation, the camp-
gressive paralysis. The first symptom is often                  fires, and visits most enjoyable. Her limping,
muscular weakness, followed by wasting or                       however, was becoming more pronounced. A
atrophy of the arms and legs . . . . Unfortunately,             special step was made so that she could enter the
there is no known treatment for ALS, just as there is           camper more easily. We remarked to each other
none for multiple sclerosis . . . . The disease may             that this was not only the first but likely also the
prove fatal in a few months and some patients have              last time she would be able to use her camper.
survived for ten years, but few patients live more              Good morning, Alice:
than five years after the disorder first makes itself
known." Another article, one read by Alice herself,               I think winter is finally coming. The heavy clouds
stated an average life-span for a patient diagnosed             seem to be just pushing through the sky, ready to drop
as having ALS was two years. Two years! "The end                snow. We're "supposed" to get some today, too. I like
is frequently brought on by paralysis of the                    to watch the sky in the winter - it never looks the
respiratory system, or Toy pneumonia, to which the              same.
patient, in his weakened condition, is highly                     Ps. 25:4-5 almost seems to ask something opposite of
susceptible." Further study indicated that usually              Josh. 3:13 - that we want to know ahead, our path
one's mind remained clear to the end; and bladder               and way. It really doesn't though; the "showing" and
and bowel functions were normally not affected by               teaching and leading are a constant thing - and not a
this disease. Otherwise, one quickly became help-               look ahead. The last phrase shows that so well.
less - even losing the ability to speak. Said one arti-           On Thee do I wait all the day. What a confession!
cle: "Unquestionably the most devastating of the                What a difficult thing to do.
neuromuscular disorders affecting adults . . .  ."
Two years! Devastating! Utterly helpless! The                     If we could just live - constantly aware of the Holy
various statements sunk in slowly but  emphatical-              Spirit dwelling in us and leading us. If we could just
                                                                consciously do and think and desire with Him leading
lY*                                                             us, and not seek our own desires - how much more full
Good Morning, Alice:                                            ofjoy our lives would be - even (and maybe especially)
       Well, it's not sunny this morning, and things did not    in disciplining my children and in obeying with love my
go very easy at the breakfast table with my "tribe" this        husband.
morning, but really now that I'm finding a passage to             On Thee do I wait all the day! If I could just keep
share with you tomorrow, I do feel better.                      that before my mind all day . . . .
  Are you wondering why Joshua 3:13 means some-                                                  With love, Your friend
thing special to me? It wouldn't be, but someone ex-
plained it so beautifully to me! You see, the overflowing       Please read Col. 3:11-15
waters were rushing down the Jordan and God prom-                 Climbing the apartment steps became increas-
ised that as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests       ingly difficult. Alice would try to pull herself up
that bear the ark would rest in the waters of the Jordan,       while struggling to lift her left leg to the next step.
that the Jordan would stop and stand on a heap. The             Now even with the kind assistance of cousins and
crossing was such a big thing - on the other side lay           friends who helped carry up laundry and groceries,
the PROMISED LAND; but by faith the priests had to              it was increasingly evident that an upstairs apart-
take that first step. The waters didn't stop until the          ment was no longer feasible. Even Alice was ready
priests had stepped in.                                         to admit it. Still, she was intent on living by herself.
       God provides the way when we need it and not             Though it was almost impossible for her to button
before.                                                         anything, she insisted she could still take care of
                                                                herself. Alice obtained a new apartment on August
       We can believe that when we go through our own           1, ground level without any steps. She kept this
deep waters, God will show the way as we go. What a             apartment for about four months  - but was not
beautiful way to face trials!                                   even able to stay there the entire time.
                                     With love, Your friend     Good Morning, Alice:
Please read Psalm 25:4 and 5                                      I surely shouldn't have chosen so many verses -
       One of the pleasures Alice always enjoyed was            there's just so much these verses make me think about!
her week of camping at Gun Lake in Michigan with                Col. 3:15 tells me about the peace of God in my heart,


40                                               THE STANDARD BEARER



and I looked to the preceding verses to see just how I          must love - and then be thankful!
must be to "let" that peace rule.                                 Now if I can just remember that the next time I think
   I learned quite a lesson. So often it is easy to judge or    critically . . . .
look down on another person because she or he is dif-                                        Til tomorrow, Your friend
ferent as far as spiritual sensitivity goes. The passage
has taught me again that we are all one body - that I           Please read Ps. 103:19-22

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Jason L. Kortering





                      Genesis - The Beginnings (2)



      We continue with the outline of the book of               Sarai  for wife and Nahor took  Milcah.  Sarai  was
Genesis.                                                        barren  (11:29, 30). Terah took Abram,  Sarai, and
      5. The generations of the sons of Noah                    Lot and went from Ur to Canaan, dwelling in
(10:1-l  1:9). Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and              Haran.  He died there at the age of 205 years (11:31,
Japheth (10: 1). The generations of Japheth are listed          32). God called Abram to leave  Haran and prom-
(102-5). This is followed by the generations of                 ised to make of him a great nation and bless him
Ham, including Nimrod, a mighty hunter before                   (12:1-3).  Abram departed and Lot went with him.
the Lord  (10:6-ZO),  and the generations of Shem               He was 75 years old when he left. He passed
(10:21-32). The whole earth was one language and                through Shechem and there, on the edge of Canaan,
dwelt in the plain of Shinar ( 11: 1, 2). They began to         God promised to give him the land. He settled near
build a tower of brick which would keep them from               Bethel  (12:4-g).  When a famine was in the land, he
scattering throughout the earth (11:3, 4). God came             went to Egypt. As they approached, he cautioned
down and confused their language, which resulted                his wife Sarai to tell the men that she was his sister.
in an interruption of the building and a scattering of          She was taken into the house of Pharaoh. The Lord
the people abroad  (11:5-8).  The name of the tower             plagued the house of Pharaoh and he learned of her
was Babel, for the Lord confounded their language               real identity. He admonished Abram and sent him
and scattered them (R 1:9).                                     away (12: 10-20). Abraham and his household, in-
                                                                cluding Lot, return from Egypt. They have troub-
   6. The generations of Shem (11: 10-26). Mention              le over land use. Abraham offers Lot a choice. Lot
is made of Shem's son Arphaxad, born two years                  chooses Sodom while Abraham takes the plains of
after the flood. He had a son, Salah, etc. The signifi-         Canaan. God once again promises all the land to
cant point is that the age of man was shortened                 him and to make his seed great. He settles in
after the flood: Shem lived 600 years, Arphaxad 438             Mamre  (13:1-18). The battle of the four kings
years, and Nahor (father of Terah, father of                    against the five kings follows. Abraham is involved
Abraham) only 148 years (11: 10-26).                            because Lot is taken captive (14: 1-12). Word came
   7. The generations of Terah  (11:27-25:ll).  Terah           to Abraham that Lot was captured. He took his
begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran (father of Lot). The              trained servants and slaughtered Chedorlaomer
subsequent history focuses on Abram.  Haran  died               and the kings with him and brought back Lot and
in Ur of the Chaldees  (11:27, 28). Abraham took                the others who were captured. The king of Sodom
                                                                went to greet him and offered him all the booty, but
Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed         Abraham refused, lest they claim to have made
Church of  Grandville,  Michigan.                               Abraham rich. Melchizedek, King of Salem, also


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  41



 greeted him and gave him tithes, revealing himself                 that he has another man's wife and that he must
to be a worshiper of Jehovah (14: 13-24). Jehovah                   return her. He calls Abraham and explains God's
assures Abraham He is His great reward. Abraham                     dealing with him. He returns Sarah and much gifts.
 complains that he is childless, that he has only                   Abraham prays for his healing and God answers
Eliezer his servant. God assures him he will have a                 (20:1-18). Sarah now conceives and Isaac is born.
 son, and as many offspring as the stars  (15:1-6).                 She laughs with delight and he is circumcised on
Jehovah seals His covenant with Abraham: the fire-                  the 8th day  (21:1-8).  At the feast of weaning,
brand passes through the divided pieces of animals.                 Ishmael mocks Isaac. This angers Sarah and she
He assures Abraham that he will become a great na-                  demands that Abraham cast out the bondwoman
tion, especially after his generations will have been               and her son. He does this, and they almost die by
taken captive and released after the fourth genera-                 the heat of the desert. God provides water and they
tion. He promises him that he will possess the land                 are restored  (21:9-21).  Abraham and Abimelech
from the Nile to the Euphrates Rivers  (15:7-21).                   covenant at Beersheba to live in peace  (21:22-34).
Sarah tries to resolve the problem of having no son                 God now tries Abraham's faith by commanding
by offering Abraham her handmaid, Hagar. He con-                    him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. In
 sents and a child is conceived  (16:1-6).  Sarah is                obedience, Abraham arose early and took his son
jealous and drives Hagar away. The angel tells                      and two servants and went to Mt. Moriah. As they
 Hagar to return, and that Ishmael is to be the                     approached alone, Isaac asked his father, "Where
name of her son and he will be a wild man.                          is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham
Abraham is 86 years old when Ishmael is born                        answered, "God will provide." At the right place,
 (16:7-16).  At 99 years of age the Lord appeared to                Abraham built an altar and placed Isaac upon the
Abraham and renewed the covenant with him and                       wood on the altar. When Abraham stretched forth
his seed (17: l-8). He gives him instruction concern-               his hand to slay his son, God stopped him and
ing circumcision as a sign of the covenant (17:9-14).               acknowledged the power of his faith. A ram was of-
Jehovah promises that Sarah will have a son and                     fered as substitute  (22:1-14). The angel of Jehovah
that his name will be Isaac. He will be the covenant                renewed the covenant that God would make with
son, not Ishmael (17: 15-22). All the males of                      Abraham a great nation as the sand of the seashore
Abraham's house are then circumcised  (17:23-27).                   (22:15-19). Some of the generations of Nahor,
Three angels appearing as men, come to Abraham                      Abraham's brother are listed (22:20-24). Sarah died
and he prepares a meal for them. While eating, they                 at 127 years of age. Abraham mourned for her and
announce that Sarah will have a son. She laughs                     purchased the cave of Machpelah for 400 pieces of
and is reprimanded (18: 1-15). Before leaving, they                 silver from the children of Heth and buried her in it
reveal to Abraham that God is going to destroy                      (23:1-20). Abraham recognized his duty to seek a
Sodom. Abraham pleads for Sodom on behalf of                        wife for his son Isaac. He sent his trusted servant to
Lot. Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wick-                 Haran to the house'of his brother, Nahor, for a wife
ed if 50 righteous are there, or 45, or 40, or 30, 20,              for Isaac. The Lord led him to Rebekah, daughter of
even  lo?  (18:16-33). There are not 10 righteous in                Bethuel, son of Nahor. He knew she was the one,
Sodom, so God sent two angels to Sodom to rescue                    for she filled the pre-determined sign when she
Lot. Before they reach Lot's house, they are ap-                    said, "Drink, and I will give to thy camels also."
proached; and after the angels enter his house the                  The servant blessed God for His care. Having the
men of the city try to break down the door. Lot of-                 consent of her parents, he returned with Rebekah
fers them his two daughters, but they refuse. The                   and her maids. Isaac was in the field awaiting their
angels strike them blind (19:1-11). During the night                return. They were married and Isaac was com-
Lot urges his relatives to leave with them in the                   forted after the death of his mother  (24:1-67).
morning, since God will destroy the place, but none                 Reference is made to Keturah, wife of Abraham
heed. The angel takes Lot, his wife, and their two                  and the children born to her (25: 1-6). Abraham died
daughters by the hand and pulls them out. Fire and                  and Isaac and Ishmael came and buried him in the
brimstone destroys Sodom and the cities about                       cave of Machpelah  (25:7-11).
(19: 12-28). God remembers Abraham by rescuing
Lot (19:29).  Lot's wife lingers and becomes a pillar                 8. The generations of Ishmael  (25:12-18). Hagar
of salt. His daughters commit fornication with their                bore him by Abraham. The names of his sons are
drunk father. Each bear a son, Moab and Ammon                       given, twelve princes according to their nations, liv-
b y   n a m e   (19:30-38).  O n c e   a g a i n   A b r a h a m    ing from Havilah (Shur) near Egypt toward Assyria
journeyed southward into Gerar. He told Sarah to                    (25:12-18).
identify herself as his sister, not wife. This time                   -9. The generations of Isaac  (25:19-35:29).  Isaac
Abimelech took Sarah into his house and God af-                     was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. She
flicted them with disease. God warns Abimelech                      too was barren at first. Isaac prayed for her and she


 42                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                            1
 conceived twins. As they struggled within her, she        (26:34, 35). When Isaac was old and about blind, he
inquired of Jehovah who explained that two na-             decided to give the birthright blessing to Esau. He
tions were within  .her, and that the older would          called him and asked him to get venison and bring
serve the younger. A.t delivery, the first, Esau, was      it to him and he would bless him. Rebekah heard it
born red and hairy, the second, Jacob, was  fair-          and instructed Jacob to kill a goat, put on the
skinned. Isaac was 60 years old when they were             clothing of Esau, and bring the meat to his father.
born  (25:19-26). It soon became evident that they         At first he feared, but he went ahead. Isaac was
were quite different boys: Esau was an  outdoors-          suspicious by his early presence. He smelled his
type, Jacob a home-body. Once when Esau re-                clothing, questioned his voice, and asked him
turned from the field he smelled the pottage               directly if he was his firstborn Esau. Jacob said, "I
prepared by Jacob. He begged a meal, being at the          am." Isaac then pronounced the blessing, giving to
point of death. Jacob seized the opportunity to            Jacob all the material aspect of the birthright
claim the birthright: "Sell me thy birthright!" Esau       (27:1-29). Esau returned and Isaac realized that he
did (25:27-34). Due to the famine, Isaac traveled to       had been deceived. Esau was in a rage against
Abimelech at Gerar of the Philistines. God warned          Jacob. He begged a blessing. Isaac told him he had
him not to go to Egypt (26: l-5). Here once again, the     blessed Jacob, and he shall be blessed. All he gave
men took interest in Rebekah, his wife, whom he            to Esau was that his place would be away from the
called his sister. Abimelech saw otherwise and in-         fatness of the earth, he would be a servant to his
quired of Isaac why this deceit. He warned his peo-        brother and live by the sword  (27:30-40). Esau
.ple not to touch Rebekah  (26:6-16). To avoid con-        hated Jacob for this. Rebekah saw this and coun-
flict with the servants of Abimelech, Isaac dug            seled her son to flee away to Haran  to get away from
wells toward Beersheba. Here the Lord appeared to          the wrath of his brother and seek a wife from the
him and renewed the covenant of Abraham                    household of his mother  (27:41-46). Before Jacob
(26: 17-25). Abimelech came to Isaac and they made         left, Isaac pronounced the spiritual birthright bless-
a covenant with each other not to harm the other in        ing upon him  (28:1-5). Esau in turn married the
the future  (26:26-33). Esau at 40 years of age mar-       daughters of Canaan, those of the children of
ried wicked women and was a grief to his parents           Ishmael  (28:6-g).

GUIDED  INTO ALL TRUTH
Thomas C. Miersma





                      The Reformers Principles of
        Scriptural Interpretation: Introduction


   In the past several articles we have been con-          fallible and  inerrant word of truth and have seen
sidering the reformers'doctrine of Scripture as they       also that this was in fact never an issue between
developed and defended the Word of God over                them and Rome. The issue between the reformers
against the errors of Rome and led the church back         and Rome always centered in Scripture's authority
to the solid foundation of God's Word. We have             and clarity. The reformers maintained that Scrip-
seen that from the very beginning the reformers            ture was complete in itself without the need for a
took their stand upon the Word of God as the  in-          second source of revelation in a supposed apostolic
                                                           tradition. Being the complete Word of God it was
Thomas C. Miersma is pastor of  the First Protestant       both all-sufficient for faith and life and the sole
Reformed Church  of  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.            standard of authority, having its authority in itself


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                               43



and not derived from the church. As to its clarity,       Testament type, a miracle, or a parable. We prefer
we have seen that the reformers maintained that           to speak therefore of principles of interpretation,
the Scriptures were clear and understandable in           rather than a method of interpretation.
themselves, objectively so, as Gods Word to man             The fundamental principle of the reformers' in-
and that the darkness of man's understanding must         terpretation of Scripture is that Scripture interprets
be laid at the door of man himself as a sinner. More-     Scripture, that God explains His Own Word. This
over, in the study and understanding of that Word         principle will guard us against all false methods of
of God the reformers opposed the attempt of Rome          interpretation or man-made systems. For then we
to withdraw the Word of God from the believer and         will indeed be taught of God. We will also embrace
limit its understanding and interpretation to the         the true literal meaning of the Scriptures, not the
hierarchy of the church. The reformers maintained         artificial literalism of so-called fundamentalism
that even as it was Gods Word and revelation,             with its strange distortions of prophecy, but that
God's truth, so also God Himself taught His people        which is literally the mind of the Spirit.
by His Word through His Spirit, given to every
believer, that all might know, understand, and              This will also lead us to a right understanding of
discern for themselves the truth of God's Word.           the spiritual meaning and significance of the Word
This is the subjective principle of the truth that we     of God without falling into a false spiritualizing of
are taught of God.                                        Scripture, which is more properly called allegory.
                                                          This false twisting of Scripture, of explaining away
  It is with this in mind that we now turn our at-        the plain meaning of Scripture, was the heritage of
tention to the reformers' principles of Scriptural in-    Rome in the days of the reformers. Rome sought to
terpretation, to the reformers' hermeneutics. One         use the Scriptures for its own end, to bend the
might be inclined to call this the reformers' method      Scriptures this way and that so that what did not fit
of Bible study. While there would be some truth to        the Roman system was made to fit. Texts were
this idea, the idea of a Idmethod of Bible study" has     wrenched out of their context and made to teach
certain dangers to it. Scripture is one Word of God,      what they did not teach. Interpretations were im-
one revelation of God in Jesus Christ, but God has        posed on Scripture from above, worldly philosophy
given His Word to us in a rich and diverse way.           was joined to Scripture, married to it, and made the
While there are principles which apply to the study       standard. What did not fit the system of Rome was
of the Word of God as a whole, yet it is ultimately       explained away or obscured by absurd questions or
the Word of God itself which must determine how           distortions. Scripture was set at war with itself, its
they are to be applied and how that Word must be          unity broken, and the Word of God lost.
understood. Also here we must beware of imposing
upon Scripture some man-made system of interpre-            It is this same abuse and corruption of the Word
tation. This had happened in the middle ages with         of God which lies behind the current assaults upon
the various and false allegorical methods. This hap-      God's Word in the Reformed community and
pens in our day also, even among so-called funda-         behind such issues as women in ecclesiastical of-
mentalist circles which insist upon a literal method      fice. The Scriptures are now made to serve the
of interpreting Scripture. While it is certain that we    philosophy of so-called women's liberation. In the
are indeed to take Scripture literally according to       bending of Scripture, in the distortion of the Word
the plain meaning of the Word of God, yet also this       of God, in the blatant denial of its plain teaching
so-called literal method has inherent in it the           and meaning, there is nothing new. It is but a re-
elements of a man-made system imposed upon                introduction of Rome's error into the Reformed
Scripture. For what is meant by it too often is this,     community, though in a new guise.
that all Scripture is to be treated as if it were the        Over against this stands the legacy of the re-
historical books of the Bible such as Kings or            formers who would have God explain His Own
Samuel. Thus books which are the revelation of            Word, who approached that Word with a child-like
God's Word by signs and symbols, visions and              trust that God might teach them and that they
dreams, such as much of Ezekiel, Revelation, or           might believe. This is the position of faith which
Isaiah, are treated as if they were merely history        stands under the Word of God and which presumes
written beforehand or in the same manner as the           to know nothing but what God will teach us of
book of Chronicles.                                       Himself. This He will do by His Word and Spirit.
  Thus, while there are certain all-comprehensive         We will know and understand His Word, for He
principles upon which a sound method of Scrip-            Himself will teach us, comparing spiritual things
tural interpretation is based, yet their application      with spiritual. As Scripture is the sole authority for
will change and be supplemented, depending upon           faith and life, sufficient and clear, understood by
whether we are studying an epistle or the psalms or       the working of God's Spirit within us, so also Scrip-
the gospels, and whether we are studying an Old           ture must explain Scripture. God must expound His


44                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Own Word. That which is clear and easy to under-           Faith, Article II)
stand will explain that which is more difficult and           Such a hermeneutic can rest only upon faith, a
hard to be understood.                                     faith moreover which is rooted in the sovereignty
      In taking this stand upon the fundamental princi-    of God, also over the Scriptures. Thus we see them
ple of interpretation that Scripture interprets Scrip-     not merely as a collection of various ancient
ture, the reformers were being entirely consistent         writings or human documents, but as the one
with the doctrine of Scripture which they had              unified Word of God, given to us according to
learned from Scripture itself. There must be the           God's counsel and purpose, brought into being by
starting point of all study of God's Word. Each text       God's sovereign providence and working through
must be seen in its context in the place and chapter       divine inspiration. Only then do we hold in our
and book in which it stands. To understand the             hands, not the accidental product of men, but that
meaning of a word, its usage in Scripture must be          one Word of God which He intended to give unto
traced and its particular significance sought in the       us, designed from all eternity and brought into be-
Word of God itself. A doctrine or a concept must be        ing through men who spake as they were moved by
determined by the whole of what the Scriptures             the Holy Ghost. Ultimately the principle of Scrip-
have to say about it, and one passage must explain         ture alone and the interpretative principle, Scrip-
another. All must be seen in its various relation-         ture interprets Scripture, must rest upon belief in
ships and unity as the one Word of God. The uni-           the sovereignty of God. Only thus can we under-
queness of each given passage must be sought in            stand that the history of the Old Testament church
the Scriptures and its place be determined. As God         is not the mere record of an ancient people whose
gave His Word as His revelation of Himself to us in        accuracy may be in doubt, but that it is the revela-
Jesus Christ, so also there is no portion or passage       tion of God to us, so that the very things which hap-
of Scripture which is without intent, purpose, and         pened to them happened unto them, as we read in I
design, nor any meaningless repetition, but each           Corinthians  lO:ll,  ". . . for ensamples: and they are
passage contributes something without which the            written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
whole of the Scriptures would be incomplete. Such          the world are come." Then indeed we must say
an approach to Scripture, out of faith, requires that      Scripture interprets Scripture, for it has but one
Scripture alone be its own expositor, that God             author and one design, and is one Word of God to
might teach us. This is the foundation of the re-          us through the Spirit which may be known by faith
formers' exegesis and interpretation, that even as         through the same sovereign grace given to us
their doctrine of the Word of God was guided by            through the Spirit. Lying behind all that the re-
the principle, "Scripture alone," so also their inter-     formers have to teach us concerning the Word of
pretation of Scripture was guided by its application,      God and its interpretation lies this fundamental
"Scripture interprets Scripture." Undergirding             confession of the sovereignty of God. When it is
both is the fundamental article of faith, that the Bi-     lost, then Scripture is also lost. It is for this very
ble is God's Word and revelation to us, by which           reason that Arminianism and Modernism can never
"He makes Himself more clearly and fully known             retain the Scriptures as the Word of God, but must
to us by His holy and divine word, that is to say, as      needs overthrow both God's sovereignty and His
far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his    Word. For where one is lost the other will be lost
glory and our salvation." (Belgic Confession of            also.
IN HIS FEAR
Arie den Hartog




                    The Christian Family: Children


      The Lord has wonderfully designed the home as        which can replace the home to-fulfill this task. The
the ideal place where children should be born and          Lord does not give children to every Christian
raised. There is no other institution among men            home. There are some homes where in the  prov-


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 45



idence of God there are no children. Marriages                manner. Nevertheless the command stands. There
without children can fulfill the purpose of God. For          is a new commandment to bring forth children to
most Christian couples childlessness is a difficult           God's people after the fall. By His grace they must
burden to bear. These however must be assured                 bring forth the children of the covenant. The words
that the Lord has another purpose for them. Those             of the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah  29:5 and 6
who do not have the burden and responsibility of              surely have relevance for the New Testament
raising children can often devote themselves to               Christian family as it has the hope of inheriting the
areas of service in the church and kingdom of the             eternal Canaan that is above. "Build ye houses, and
Lord which those who are mothers and fathers are              dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit
unable to do. Through the history of the church               of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and
there have been many shining examples of this.                daughters; and take wives for your sons and give
Usually, however, the Lord does bless the homes of            your daughters to husbands, that they may bear
Christians with children. The Christian man and               sons, and daughters; that ye may be increased there
woman who marry in the Lord ought to make the                 and not diminished." Concerning the young Chris-
bringing forth and raising of children one of the             tian woman the apostle writes to Timothy, "I will
chief purposes of their marriage.                             therefore that the younger women marry, bear
   How important it is that we understand properly            children, guide the house, give none occasion to the
the place of children in the Christian home. The              adversary to speak reproachfully" (I Timothy 5:14).
world is growing increasingly corrupt in its                    According to the Word of God children are a
philosophy and attitude in regards to children in             blessing from the Lord. When God first gave the
the home. There is a clamor to limit the size of              mandate to be fruitful and multiply, He did this in
families because of the threat of over population.            the context of pronouncing a blessing upon Adam
There are in the world many governments which                 and Eve. Psalm 127 and 128 sing of the blessedness
have official policies to limit family size. There is         of children. "Lo children are an heritage of the
strong social pressure for family planning. Some              Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward"
even consider it almost immoral to have large                 (Psalm  127:3). Describing the great blessedness of
families. The world looks with dismay and con-                the God-fearing man the Psalmist states, "Thy wife
demnation at large families and wonders if perhaps            shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine
the father and mother were not enlightened enough             house: thy children like olive plants round about
to know about birth control or whether they were              thy table" (Psalm 128:3). From this passage we can
simply so careless that they did not plan their               learn first of all that it is God who gives us children.
families. There are couples who decide even before            For the Christian, children are a wonderful gift of
they are married not to have any children at all.             His grace that must be joyfully and thankfully re-
Many today consider children too burdensome, a                ceived. It is of the Lord to open and close the
great hindrance and limitation of the freedom of a            womb. How often this is taught us in scripture.
couple to pursue their selfish pleasure and ambi-             Think of Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and
tion. We as Christians must be very careful not to            others. He gives children. The newborn child is
allow this evil and worldly philosophy to affect us.          wonderfully formed by Him in its mother's womb.
It must not creep into our church. We must be bold              Children have great significance in the gracious
and courageous and willing to follow the teaching             covenant purpose of God. One of the central
of the Word of God and not of the world.                      aspects of the covenant promise to the Patriarchs of
  The bringing forth of children is first of all a com-       old was that their children would be as the sand of
mand of the Lord our God. It is not merely a matter           the sea and the stars of the heavens, innumerable.
of a couple's choice, so that they may freely choose          Scripture from beginning to end teaches us that
not to have children. It is part of God's creation            God is pleased to continue His covenant promise
mandate to man given to man before the fall. After            from generation to generation with the children of
that God had created man He commanded man,                    believers. The whole of scripture is a mighty
"Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth,           testimony of God's faithfulness to raise up new
and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of             generations of His covenant from His faithful
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every         saints. On the day of Pentecost, the day of the birth
living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis             of the New Testament church, it was declared by
129). The whole of this mandate remains in force              the apostle Peter in  .one of the most beautiful ser-
today and unto the end of the world. Because of sin           mons of the Bible: "For the promise is unto you,
man is not able to fulfill this mandate in a godly            and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
                                                              even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts
Arie den Hartog is a missionary of the Protestant Reformed    2:39). From this passage it is clear that God has not
Churches, working currently in the counfry  of Singapore.     changed His covenant purpose in the New  Testa-


46                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



ment, as some suggest, but He continues to be the           children in the home. There will be sorrows, trials,
God of His  people and their children. This is a            and hardships. Many in the world today refuse to
tremendous truth and the great reason for  God-             give what is required and refuse to make the
fearing parents to bring forth children. The cove-          sacrifice. Therefore some decide not to have
nant of God is realized by grace. We bring forth our        children so that they can continue to pursue their
children only in sin and corruption. We have no             selfish purposes in life. The Christian, by the grace
strength and no ability to bring forth a godly seed.        of God and with courage and faith in God, decides
The Lord by His grace and according to His pur-             to make the necessary sacrifice. The Christian mar-
pose of election takes of our children, works in            ried couple is convinced that the Lord has called
their hearts through His Spirit, and transforms and         them unto this.
renews them to be His own holy people. We bring                Bringing forth and raising children involves a
forth our children in the hope and assurance of             tremendous responsibility. When God gives us
God's covenant promises.                                    children He entrusts them to our care and keeping.
      Bringing forth children is a matter of true Chris-    They come into this world totally helpless and com-
tian love between the Christian husband and wife.           pletely dependent upon their parents. They need
God has united together the beautiful expression of         physical nourishment from their parents. They
sexual love in marriage and the bringing forth of           need a shelter and protection. They need a warm
children. The conception of children comes                  and loving home. Above all they need spiritual
naturally from this love between husband and                guidance and nurture for many years of their life.
wife. W.G. de Vries in his excellent book on mar-           Their future, physically, psychologically, and
riage entitled MARRIAGE IN HONOR says it very               spiritually, is dependent upon parents. The respon-
nicely.                                                     sibility of bringing forth and raising children is so
         God ties the blessing of children to the           staggering and awesome that with fear and trem-
       mutual love between husband and wife. A              bling we need to pray for grace and trust in the Lord
       married couple that decides not to have              for wisdom and strength. The burden of this
       children has murdered its marriage from              responsibility must be born by both father and'
       the beginning. Such a marriage comes to a            mother.
       sterile standstill; it perishes from egoism.*          In the purpose of the Lord children need to be
                                                            raised and nurtured in the fear and admonition of
It is natural for the married couple to desire              the Lord. The truth of the covenant does not mean
earnestly to have children. It is a rich and blessed        that all our children will automatically be God's
fruit of their love for one another to receive a child      children. One of the sad consequences of the fall is
that is made by God out of the union of their two           that we bring forth our children in sin and corrup-
natures. It is even more true that the godly couple         tion. There will be many times as our children grow
who knows the blessed truth of God's covenant               up that they  .will fall into sin. They will often im-
will desire earnestly to be used of the Lord to bring       itate the very sins and weaknesses of their
forth covenant children. How the saints of old              parents. To raise children we need to have the
longed to have children. Think again of Abraham             courage and determination to admonish and
and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Hannah, of              rebuke sin in them. There will be times when we
Zacharias and Elizabeth, and so many more. We               have grief and sorrow because of the sins of our
ought to follow their example and earnestly pray            children. That sorrow will be deep because of the
for children in our marriage.                               strong and close flesh-and-blood ties between us
  To bring forth and raise children requires a              and our children. It is impossible however that
tremendous amount of sacrificial love on the part of        these hardships and trials will annul the blessings
the Christian couple. It is not easy. For the woman         of God upon His faithful saints. The covenant prom-
after the fall childbirth involves much pain and suf-       ises of God will never fail. The Christian couple
fering. Raising children involves lots of sacrifice.        acts in faith when they decide to bring forth
Children from infancy on demand very much from              children. Their confidence is in the Lord and their
their parents. It is true that children in the home         joy is in fulfilling His calling and purpose for their
will greatly limit our freedom to do things together        marriage. By His grace they desire to be used of
alone as husband and wife. Mother will not be able          Him to bring forth the generations of His people.
to have a career outside the home. Raising children         They desire to see their children's children, and
costs a lot of money, money that we might other-            peace upon Israel.
wise spend on material things we desire. The
physical sacrifice in terms of the amount of time           *MARRIAGE IN HONOR by W.G. de Vries,
and energy required will often leave parents ex-            Paideia Press, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.
hausted, especially  tiF there are a number of              Page 180.


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               47



                                         Book Review



ISAIAH  40-55: SERVANT THEOLOGY,  by                          My suspicions were confirmed. The book
George A.F. Knight; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co.,              assumes the viewpoint of higher criticism with
Grand Rapids, MI, ISBN 0-8028-1039-X, 204 pp.,              respect to the authorship of Isaiah. Isaiah 40-55, ac-
paper $9.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema)              cording to the book, was not written by Isaiah at
  This is one of a series, the International                all, but by someone who is called Deutero-Isaiah.
Theological Commentary, currently being pub-                And the date of this alleged Deutero-Isaiah is post-
lished by Eerdmans. The author, a New Zealander,            captivity, so that the book denies the  prophetic-
is also co-editor of the entire series. The claim of the    predictive character of this section of the prophecy.
series is that it "moves beyond a  descriptive-             It is not prophecy at all, for example, when in this
historical approach to offer a relevant exegesis of         section Cyrus is mentioned by name and described
the Old Testament text as Holy Scripture. The               in detail.
series aims, first, to develop the theological signifi-       My suspicions turned to complete dismay and
cance of the Old Testament, and second, to empha-           anger, however, when I discovered that the classic
size the relevance of each book for the life of the         53rd chapter is explained in this commentary with-
Church."                                                    out so much as mentioning the name of our Lord
  Naturally, I examined this book to discover               Jesus Christ.
whether it lives up to this claim.                            My judgment? This commentary is worthless to
  I must confess my suspicions were aroused when            any Bible-believing child of God, except as an ex-
I saw the title, which made me fear that the ap-            ample of the horrible ends to which higher
proach was that of higher criticism.                        criticism carries one.



                              Report of Classis East
                                                September 11, 1985
                                      Hope Protestant Reformed Church




  Classis  East met in regular session on Wednes-           Woudenberg, November 10 - Van Baren, Novem-
day, September 11, 1985 at the Hope Protestant Re-          ber 17  - Kortering, November 24  - Miersma,
formed Church, Grand Rapids. Devotions were                 December 1  - Haak, December 8  - Bekkering,
conducted by Rev. B. Gritters, chairman of the May          December 15  - Flikkema, December 22  -  Grit-
classis. Rev. C. Haak was the chairman of this ses-         ters, December 29  - Woudenberg, January 5  -
sion. Each church was represented by two dele-              Van  Baren, January 12  - Kortering.
gates. Special welcome was given to Revs.                     Covenant requested relief from synodical assess-
Bruinsma and  Houck who were in the city for a              ments because of the loss of families.  Classis
conference with the Mission Committee.                      granted this request and will forward the matter to
  The business of this session was routine for the          synod for its final approval.
most part. Southwest requested and was granted                Expenses amounted to $329.00.  Classis  ad-
classical appointments. The following schedule was          journed at approximately  lo:45 a.m. The next
adopted: September 22  - Miersma, September 29              meeting of  classis will be on January 8, 1986 at
- Haak, October 6  - Bekkering, October 13  -               Hudsonville.
Flikkema, October 20  - Gritters, November 3  -                                       Jon Huisken, Stated Clerk

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


                                                                        .-  -    :  _  .;,-  .  ..


  4 8                                                THE  STANDARD BEARER





                                News From Our Churches
                                                           September 30, 1985





         The Northwest Chicago mission field is sponsor-                Michigan will soon begin building a parsonage.
  ing a conference on marriage, November 22 and 23                      Daryle Kuiper, a  member of the Grandville con-
  in the meeting rooms of the Holiday Inn. There will                   gregation, will be the general contractor and looks
  be two speeches Friday night and Saturday morn-                       forward to a lot of volunteer effort. What do you do
  ing, with a panel and final speech Saturday after-                    with 10,000 bricks? First Church, Grand Rapids,
  noon. Rev. Engelsma, Rev. Kortering, and Prof.                        has decided to save the bricks for a future par-
  Decker will be speaking. They will focus their at-                    sonage. Hope Church in Walker, Michigan is
  tention on the implications of the marriage institu-                  spending $3,600 to provide better drainage in the
  tion, realities of marriage difficulties and failures,                lower parking lot, realign the gravel drive, extend
  the Biblical solutions to these problems, and the                     the ramp, and install an additional set of steps.
  joys of marriage.                                                         Three new board members were chosen to the
    Rev. C. Hanko is preaching the evening sermon                       Reformed Free Publishing Association: John Cleve-
  at First Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the                     land, Peter Faber, and Jim Van Overloop.
  next several weeks while Rev. Joostens is in                              The thirty-first Protestant Reformed Schools
  Jamaica. If all goes well, Rev. Joostens and his fami-                Teachers' Convention will be held in Hull and
  ly will return for the Christmas and New Years                        Doon, Iowa, October 17 & 18. Rev. Kamps' keynote
  holidays. This will give Rev. Joostens the oppor-                     address will be, "How Do We Raise the Level of
  tunity to officiate at the installation of office                     Our Spirituality?' '
  bearers and at the dedication of the new church.
  Rev. and Mrs. Veldman are in Lynden, Washington                           For those of us in the Grand Rapids area,
  for the next couple of months.                                        remember to attend Rev. Kortering's speech on
                                                                        "Psalm Singing, a Reformed Heritage," at Seventh
     The latest news in church buildings is that the                    Reformed Church, 950 Leonard, N.W., Oct. 29,
  existing parsonage of Doon Church in Iowa will be                     at 8 p.m.
  sold by their consistory. Grandville Church in                                                                                              DH
  David Harbach is a teacher at Adams St. Prot. Ref.                                        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                 On the 13th of September, 1985, past, our beloved parents, MR.
                                                                        AND MRS. BARTEL ZANDSTRA, SR., commemorated their 35th
                            NOTICE!!!                                   wedding anniversary together. We, their children, and grandchildren
                                                                        are thankful to God for them and for the covenant instruction we
    Plan now to attend the Lecture sponsored by The Protestant Re-      have been privileged to receive at their hands. Our prayer for them is
  formed Lecture Committee.                                             that they may continue to dwell together under the blessed Hand of
    THE SUBJECT: "PSALM SINGING - A REFORMED HERITAGE"                  God Who gave them to each other and to us.
    THE SPEAKER: REV. JASON L. KORTERING                                Their children 
    THE DATE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1985                                                    and  grandchildren:
                                                                           John R. and Claire Zandstra            Joanne Zandstra
    THE TIME: 8 P.M.                                                                                              Bartel Jr. 
    THE PLACE: SEVENTH REFORMED CHURCH                                      Peter J. and Julie Zandstra                          and Jan Zandstra
                                                                                                                  Betty Zandstra
                   950 LEONARD ST., N.W.                                    David and  Karla Zandstra
                                                                                                                  Mark Zandstra
                   GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                   Charles and  Karla Zandstra
                                                                           Wilbur and Mary Bruinsma               Roseanne  Zandstra
                               Protestant Reformed Lecture Committee        Daniel Zandstra                          and 15 grandchildren


