           The
     STA~NDARD
          BEARER
c          A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





     .  .  . the spiritual reward' and profit of study-

     ing God's Word far outweighs these things.
     It is infinitely more profitable for your soul
     and your spiritual life, for it is more truly re-
     freshing than all the worldly amusements
     and other temptations and activities upon
     which we so often and so readily squander
     our God-given free time.
         See "Guided Into All Truth" - page 231




                                               Vol.  LXII, No. IO, February 15, 1986  J


218                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER




                               CONTENTS                                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                       ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                            Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
  Meditation  -                                                                                   Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
       Keeping the Sabbath of the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . 218                Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                                  Department Editors:  Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
  Editorial  -                                                                    D. Decker, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Cornelils  Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Haqko,
                                                                                  Rev. Ronald Hanko, Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortenng,
       As to "The Mind of Common Grace" . . . . . . . . 221                       Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema,  Rev.
                                                                                  Gise J. Van Baren,  Rev. Herman Veldman.
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MEDITATION
Cornelius Hanko




                      Keeping the Sabbath of the Lord


                  Ques. 103. What doth God require in the fourth commandment?
                 Ans. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained, and that I,
              especially on the sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, diligently frequent the church of God, to
              hear his Word, to use the sacraments, and contribute to the relief of the poor, as becomes a
              Christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to
              the Lord, to work by his Holy Spirit in me: thus to begin in this life the eternal sabbath.
                                                                                                       Heid. Catechism, Lord's Day 38.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                             219



  I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up           from all the work which He had made (Gen.  1:31,
into the house of the Lord!                                 2:1-3).
   How lovely are Thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts!           On this last day of the creation week; the first full
  My soul longs, yea, even faints for the courts of         day of Adam's existence, God shared with him and
the Lord: my heart and my flesh cry out to the liv-         Eve the joy of His accomplished work by taking
ing God!                                                    them with Him into His rest. What a day that must
                                                            have been, standing with God at the tree of life, and
   One day in Thy courts is better than a thousand          from that vantage point admiring the grandeur of
in the company of evil men!                                 paradise, hearing the song of creation, and they
   I would rather fill a lowly place in the house of        themselves mingling their voices in humble adora-
my God than share treasures and pleasures with              tion, "0 our God, how great Thou art!"
evil men!                                                     We were brought into God's sabbath!
  For in the congregation of the righteous we wor-            God gave to Israel in the old dispensation an
ship in intimate communion of life with our cov-            even better sabbath!
enant God! We prayerfully listen to what God will
say to us! Here we experience God's abiding love,             We fell into sin, transgressing God's covenant,
His boundless mercies, and His abundant grace, as           but God is faithful! He promised the Savior! Thus
we pour out our souls in prayer and supplication            He gave to Israel a sabbath under the law, which
with thanksgiving before Him! Here we enjoy the             for them was the schoolmaster to lead them to
communion of saints through the bond of faith that          Christ!
unites us to those who love the Lord!                         On Friday afternoon the believing Israelite
                                                            washed himself, put on his sabbath garments, and
   Here we lay down our pilgrim's staff to rest from        as he did so was reminded that the law required,
our daily toil. Here we escape from the smoke and           "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work."
turmoil of battle, to abide for a little while in the       Thou shalt labor with all thy being, in order to keep
shadow of the Most High, gaining renewed courage            the sabbath of the Lord. In it thou shalt experience
to face the enemy for another week. Here we                 His "well done" only after complete devotion to
whisper to Jehovah, Thou art our Refuge and our             Him. Shamefacedly he had to confess, "I have
Strength, our High Tower, our God in whom we                failed to keep my God's command, for I have not
trust!                                                      labored in single love to Him with all my heart and
   Here we keep sabbath in foretaste of the eternal         soul and strength! Nor have I loved my neighbor as
rest!                                                       I should have! How can such a wretched sinner as I
  The sabbath of the Lord our God!                          am keep the holy sabbath of the Lord?"
   Our weekly sabbath is the oldest institution               Later Jesus demonstrated this very thing by call-
given to us, dating back to the very dawn of crea-          ing attention to an impotent man at the pool of
tion.                                                       Bethesda, to a man with a withered right hand in
                                                            the synagogue, and to others on the sabbath day.
  For Jehovah created the earth and prepared a              These represented fallen man under the curse, who
beautiful home for man, the highest of all the earth-       can never keep the sabbath of the Lord, since he
ly creatures. There in the splendors of paradise God        fails in all that he does. He deserves no sabbath
made His dwelling place with man.                           rest, but only death. Yet Christ made it possible for
   Our sovereign God, who lives His own blessed             these Jews to keep sabbath by showing them His
life of intimate love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,      power to save. Thus believing Israel kept sabbath
takes man into His heart, into His life and fellow-         looking in faith to the promised Savior, in whom
ship to worship Him as the glorious, adorable God.          was all their salvation! No wonder that they prayed
   God saw all that He had made as the resplendent          so fervently, "Rise, help and redeem us; Thy mercy
expression of His divine perfections, centering in          we trust!"
man. And it was all very good, thoroughly fit to              They were saved on the basis of the promise,
serve the purpose for which it was created. Thus            even as God made His home with them in the
the heavens and the earth were finished in six days,        tabernacle and later in the temple on the promise of
even all the host of them. And on the seventh day           better things to come!
God ended the work of creation, and rested from all           Our sabbath rest is far better than anything that
that He had made. And God blessed the seventh               the Jew could enjoy!
day, and sanctified it, because that in it He rested          According to the promise, the Savior did come as
Cornelius Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant    the Man of sorrows, the suffering Servant of God,
Reformed Churches.                                          to surrender Himself in perfect obedience to the


220                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Father, to make atonement for our sins, and to               is the ministry of the Word and the sacraments.
merit for us the eternal sabbath in the heavens. As          Christ is present where His Word is preached in its
the Captain of our salvation He entered into our             purity. For He has made His home within us by His
death, conquered over all the powers of darkness,            Spirit, whereby He also feeds our hungry and
and continued His triumphant march through                   thirsty souls with heavenly food and drink. Besides
death and the grave into heavenly glory with the             hearing Christ speak to us through the Word and
Father. God saw all that Christ had done, and                seeing Him in the sacraments, we join our hearts in
behold, it was very good! Therefore God took Him             song and prayer in the communion of saints. There
into the heavenly Home and into the rest, in order           is no gathering like it in all the world! God's people
that He may prepare us an eternal rest with Him in           sing the songs that express the needs and cares, the
Father's House with its many mansions!                       hopes and joys of all the saints throughout the ages!
                                                                                                  . .
  For us the sabbath of the Lord takes on a new              Together we pray, knowing that our prayers,
meaning. It is the commemoration of the resurrec-            aroused in us by the Spirit of Christ, rise as a pleas-
tion of Jesus Christ. It is an entering in into His rest,    ing sacrifice unto the throne of God, mingling
merited by Him for us,  ,that we may celebrate the           themselves with the prayers of the saints who wor-
blessedness of His rest in Him and through Him!              ship before the throne! In concern for our fellow
He has labored to enter into the rest and to bring us        saints we contribute to the needs of the poor, as an
with Him into that rest! Thus we already in this life        essential part of our worship service. This is so im-
have a foretaste of the eternal Rest with Him in             portant to us, that nothing must interfere with our
glory!                                                       sabbath as a complete day of rest! The sabbath
                                                             brings us close to our eternal Home!
  Our Lord arose on the first day of the week. He
poured out His Spirit upon His church on the first             Thus the pilgrim takes up his staff again on Mon-
day of the week. Quite naturally this first day              day morning. The soldier of Jesus Christ is ready to
became the day for public worship. The early                 meet the enemy with his breastplate a bit more
church needed no special mandate to meet on the              secure, his shield strengthened, his sword of the
first day. This was not a mere duty, but a privilege,        Spirit sharpened. We learn to cease from our evil
in order that they might experience the rest that re-        works, and to yield ourselves more and more to the
mains for the people of God in Christ Jesus! As a            Lord, that He may work in us by His Spirit. Thus
part of our Christian liberty, this became the               we learn to live in closer communion with our God
"Lord's Day," as the apostle John reminds us in the          from day to day.
Book of Revelation. Every Sunday we look away                  Our Catechism speaks of this as the beginning of
from ourselves to fix our eye on the cross, listening        the eternal sabbath in this life.
to the voice of our God as He speaks to us through             In anticipation we see a great multitude standing
the preface of the law, "I am the Lord your God,             before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in
who brought you out of the realm of Satan, out of            white robes, and palm branches of victory in their
the bondage of sin and death!" We hear Him say to            hands.
us, "Love Me! Love Me above all else! And love thy             They have come out of the great tribulation!
neighbor as thyself." To which we respond, "By
Thy grace we do, we will, 0 God of our salvation!"             They have washed their robes and made them
                                                             white in the blood of the Lamb!
  Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy!                    The Lamb feeds them, and leads them unto the
  This day carries with it its blessing for us only in       living Fountains of waters!
as far as we consecrate ourselves to the service of
our God. The important part of the sabbath is the              And God wipes away all tears from their eyes!
worship service. The important part of the service             They have come HOME at last!


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                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           221



EDITORIAL




         As to "`The Mind of Common Grace"



  It is rather striking, I think, that recently the Re-          mainline Protestant denominations in the US and of
formed Fellowship and its magazine, The OutZooh,                 the World Council of Churches. This fact is evident in
have been paying more attention to the subject of                many areas of the church's life, and so it is also evi-
"common grace" than they sometimes have in the                   dent in the church's use and abuse of the Bible.
past. In the January, 1986 issue of  The Outlook                Incidentally, for those who may be mystified by
there are two references to the subject. One is in           the reference to Dr. Henry Stob, this reference is to
the  REF's evaluation of the Christian Reformed              a long series of articles by Dr. Stob in The Reformed
Church's "Contemporary Testimony," which will                Journal in the late 50's and early 60's. These articles
be up for final adoption at the 1986 CRC Synod.              were later included as essays in his book,  Theolog-
The other is more extensive. It is found in Dr.              icaZ Reflections  (Eerdmans, 1981). Perhaps the
Henry Vander Goot's address to the annual                    designation of Stob's "The Positive Mind" as "The
meeting of the Reformed Fellowship, a transcript of          Mind of Common Grace" is an apt one. Dr. Stob
which is found on pp. 8-10. Dr. Vander Goot is a             also wrote an essay on "The Militant Mind"; this is
professor of Religion and Theology at Calvin Col-            akin to what Dr. Vander Goot later calls "The Mind
lege. This is deserving of a bit of critical analysis.       of the Antithesis."
  Dr. Vander Goot spoke on "The Bible in the                   It is in the last section of his address, however,
C.R.C. Today." In his address he is not merely               that Dr. Vander Goot refers extensively to this
critical, but outlines, first of all, his own position as    "Mind of Common Grace." That section is entitled
to how the Bible ought to be read, a position sum-           "Higher Criticism and the Mind of Common Grace
marized in three terms: "Naively," "Canonically,"            in the CRC Today."
and "Literally." But then he turns "to the
phenomenon of increased sympathy for an histor-                First of all, Dr. Vander Goot ascribes higher
ical critical reading of Scripture in the CRC." After        criticism in the CRC to this "Mind of Common
demonstrating that there is indeed such an in-               Grace," as follows:
creased sympathy for higher criticism in the CRC,                 Why this uncritical use of so-called historical
he seeks to analyze the reason for it. And it is in this        critical methods and assumptions? I fear that, in the
connection that he refers to what he calls the                  area of biblical studies in the CRC tradition, this is the
"Mind of Common Grace."                                         outgrowth of what I earlier called the Mind of Com-
                                                                mon Grace. The Mind of Common Grace sensitizes
  Permit me to quote rather at length on this score.            people only to the so-called moments of truth in con-
  The subject is brought up already in his introduc-            temporary academic and cultural developments. The
tion as follows:                                                first question that occurs to representatives of this
                                                                mind is what "good things" modern historical crit-
     Today the CRC has a strong institution and organ-          icism has brought to light. As immigrants, we con-
   ization at the top. Because that top has been taken          tinue to crave acceptance by and participation in the
   possession of by what I shall today call the Mind of         mainline culture that surrounds us. We need to look
   Common Grace [Dr. Henry Stob gave it the self-con-           for possibilities of cooperation and adaptation. So the
   gratulatory designation of "The Positive Mind"), the         Mind of Common Grace causes the practitioners of
   CRC is being severed from its moorings and increas-          higher criticism to become desensitized to the exact
   ingly accommodated to the dominant mind of the               spiritual and religious meaning of historical criticism


222                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



       in the situation of its origin in western intellectual          reverse, especially now that the CRC has become a
       history. The Mind of Common Grace causes us to lose             strong organization at the top. Every effort to counter
       sight of the dynamic, historical element in the events          the erosion will be foiled by the deadliest means
       that happen around us. We thus acquire an  abstract             available to the establishment, namely institutional
       view of the world and of what is happening in it, in            procedures, which are both more locked-up than they
       ironic contrast to the very historical methods we have          used to be and much more complex than before. To
       now come to advocate.                                           challenge the dominant Mind of Common Grace, we
  After referring to Dr. Harry Boer's defense of                       will need to think in terms of alternative institutions,
historical criticism in his book,  Above the  BattZe?                  and that, I believe, will be the trend of the future in a
The Bible and Its Critics, Dr. Vander Goot goes on to                  church whose organizational structure is becoming in-
analyze the damaging activity of this "Mind of                         creasingly separated from the alien to the people it is
                                                                       supposed to serve and represent.
Clommon Grace" as follows:                                           Now, without necessarily expressing agreement
         The Mind of Common Grace, of accommodation to             with Dr. Vander Goot's analysis or with his posi-
       the existing culture in the academy, out of the             tion, I call attention to the fact that to a certain
       desperate immigrant desire to be accepted, obscures         degree this is a breath of fresh air. For one thing,
   the concrete, dynamic element in the actual
   phenomenon of higher criticism in the modern                    this is one of the few times that any CRC criticism
   period. The Mind of Common Grace blurs the ele-                 has been voiced, if not of common grace itself, then
   ment of conflict with and antithesis in modern                  at least of the "Mind of Common Grace" - what-
       scholarship. In this way it is left with so-called "good    ever that may mean. For another, this is one of the
   points" or "moments of truth" that it now lets stand            few times, if not the only time, that any Christian
   for the whole and the real meaning of the phen-                 Reformed voice has been heard acknowledging a
   omenon in question. How convenient for persons who              connection between common grace and higher crit-
       are eager to flee their narrow Dutch past to embrace        icism, and especially between 1922 (the Jansen
   the academically prestigious in mainstream ec-                  Case) and 1924 (the Three Points of Common
       clesiastical culture!                                       Grace). Meanwhile, the reader should bear in mind
  Finally, Dr. Vander Goot faces the question of                   that the reference is not to the common grace of the
the future and also the question of how to deal with               "general, well-meant offer," but to common grace
this "Mind of Common Grace" as follows:                            in the Kuyperian sense as it is set forth in the Three
                                                                   Points proper.
         Will we see more of this kind of legitimation and ex-       However, there are several aspects of Dr. Vander
   plicit use of criticism in the future? There is, I believe,
   no way to prevent it, since the Mind of Common                  Goot's address which are deserving of a more
       Grace has become the dominant mind of the CRC's             detailed analysis; and this shall have to wait until
       leadership. Though the Mind of the Antithesis won a         our next issue. Meanwhile, I invite the reader to
       battle over higher criticism in the CRC in 1922, it lost    study carefully the rather lengthy quotations of Dr.
   the war in 1924, at least in the higher educational in-         Vander Goot's position which I have reproduced
       stitutions of the CRC. Such massive trends are hard to      here.                                                      HCH

WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Herman C. Hanko





         Moral Aspects of Medical Technology (3)


  In our last article we discussed some general                    follow a sort of chronological order in dealing with
principles of importance for our treatment of the                  various aspects of this issue: i.e., first of all to treat
moral aspects of different forms of medical  tech-                 the moral aspects of medical technology which
nology. With this article, we want to begin our dis-               have affected the conception of a child and its
cussion proper of this subject. It is probably best to             development before birth; and then to treat those


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  223



aspects of recent medical technology which affect           this sin, gradually their consciences become
the life of people after birth.                             hardened and they no longer think of the sin in
  In beginning then with the question of recent             terms of its terrible character. The same thing is
developments in scientific circles and in the ad-           true of any man, including the child of God. If a sin
vancement of medical procedures which affect con-           is committed often enough, gradually it loses its
ception and the development of a child prior to             power to plague the conscience, and gradually it is
birth, we want to turn first of all to what are com-        accepted as right and proper, or if not this, at least
monly called contraception and birth control.               its seriousness is lost. This is true, e.g., of the sin of
                                                            fornication. The first time a person commits the sin
  Although in much modern parlance no distinc-              of fornication, the person may have a terrible time
tion is made between contraception and birth con-           living with the sin, and that person's conscience
trol, it is probably better to recognize that technical-    may be a whip which lacerates all his or-her life.
ly these two terms refer to two different things. The       But the second time it is a bit easier; the third time
term contraception refers to various devices and            easier yet; and finally the sin no longer pains and
techniques which are used for preventing concep-            troubles, but becomes a way of life.
tion, while birth control refers technically to means
to prevent birth of a conceived child. Birth control,          This is not because the sin loses its horrible
in one way or another, therefore, refers to abortion.       character before God, but because, when we live in
The distinction becomes crucial because some                sin, the conscience becomes hardened. Indeed, we
forms of what is commonly called contraception              know from Scripture that God sovereignly hardens
are in fact forms of birth control. I refer to what are     the conscience and heart of man as His just punish-
commonly called intrauterine devices. These                 ment for sin. This is exactly why confession of sin
devices are implanted in the uterus to prevent              is so extremely important. Confession of sin means,
birth. They do not prevent conception, but, after a         as we all know, sorrow before God for the sin
child has been conceived, they result in aborting           which we have committed and a turning away from
the fetus. They are not, therefore, contraception           sin. When one sins, these are the only two alterna-
devices, but birth-control devices.                         tives: become hardened in sin or confess one's sin
                                                            - there is no third possibility.
  In our discussion of contraception and birth con-
trol, we intend to discuss birth control first of all.         Add to this the fact that the highest judicial body
That is, we will devote this article to the general         of our country has now legalized abortion so that it
subject of abortion.                                        is acceptable legally in all parts of the country, and
                                                            one can readily see that a climate is created in
  Some of our readers may perhaps object to an ar-          which some of the horror of abortion disappears
ticle on this subject on the grounds that abortion is       and we begin to accept it and no longer be adverse-
so obviously wrong that there is no need to discuss         ly affected by it. When this happens, and the devil
it in the pages of  The Standard Bearer.  It is to be       would very much like it to happen, we become
hoped that this is indeed true and that none of those       easy targets for the temptation to abort a child
who are regular readers of our periodical would             which is conceived but not particularly wanted.
even for a moment give consideration to what is a
terrible crime. Nevertheless, abortion poses,                  And so it is important that the child of God con-
especially in our day, its own kind of threat. Abor-        tinuously be reminded of the horror of this great sin
tion has become common. Many cities have their              so that his spiritual sensitivity may remain and so
own abortion clinics in which thousands of abor-            that he may continue to protest this great evil as
tions are performed. It has become, through rulings         loudly as he can. It is not without purpose that we
of the Supreme Court, legally acceptable. Abortions         turn to a discussion of this subject.
are done more often than most types of surgery.                Our country has a fairly strong "pro-life" move-
The result of this could very well be that people in        ment which, although it has not succeeded in get-
general and God's people in particular become in-           ting the law changed, has nevertheless kept itself
ured to the evil of it and begin to accept it as a com-     before the consciousness of the public. This pro-life
mon thing.        _                                         movement continuously pours our statistics of one
  This is the way sin operates. And the devil knows         sort or another to show what a great evil has
it. Even the ungodly have a conscience. The first           befallen our land when abortion was legalized.
time some heinous crime is committed by them,               These statistics are of various sorts, but no matter
their consciences plague them. But if they persist in       how you look at them and no matter what statistics
                                                            you read, the impression they leave is devastating.
Herman C. Hanho  is professor in the Church History and     Just a few of these statistics are worth repeating
New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed        here. John Jefferson Davis in his book,  EvangeZicaZ
Seminary.                                                   Ethics  writes:


224                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



         Legal abortions increased from 898,000 in 1974 to            In the September 11, 1985 issue of the Presby-
       1,574,OOO  in 1982, according to researchers at the         terian  ]ournaZ  statistics of another kind appeared.
       Alan Guttmacher Institute. Of those obtaining abor-         These statistics were given to show how widely
       tions in 1981, 66 percent were under age 25, and 77         abortion has been accepted in our country. Only
       percent were unmarried. This last figure shows that         11% considered abortion illegal in all cir-
       abortions in the United States are most frequently
       sought as a "solution" to the problem of pregnancy          cumstances. 87% considered abortion legal in the
       outside of marriage.                                        first three months of pregnancy when the pregnant
                                                                   woman's life was threatened, and 85% considered
         Abortion represents a $700-million-a-year  industry       abortion legal in the first three months of preg-
       in this country. The United States leads the world in
       teenage abortions, with over 500,000 every year.            nancy when a continuing pregnancy might
       Some 150,000 abortions are performed in the second          threaten severely the physical health of a woman.
       trimester of pregnancy, "the most grisly of all," notes     83% considered abortion legal when pregnancy
       Dr. Batthew J.  Buffin, "the ones that some hardened        was the result of rape or incest; 73% considered it
       abortionists refuse to do because the killing is so real    legal when a woman's mental health was en-
       and unmistakable."                                          dangered; 69% considered it legal when there was a
         These figures mean that each day an average of            chance that a baby would be born deformed; 56%
       4,257 unborn human beings are aborted in the United         considered it legal when a family could not afford a
       States. In Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, abor-    child; and 52% considered abortion legal when it
       tions now outnumber live births.                            was a woman's decision for any reason.
  In a recent article in  The Banner  abortions in                   In a recent letter to the editors of U.S. News and
other countries was discussed, particularly in                     World Report, one correspondent expressed what is
Japan. The article says,                                           perhaps a very commonly held view. "It's easy,"
         Since abortion was legally permitted by the               this correspondent wrote, "for lawmakers to push
       Eugenics Law of 1948 for any reason from suspected          `pronatalist' measures, but it is not easy raising a
       defects to economic hardship, at least 60 million abor-     child. I can't blame anyone who chooses a finan-
       tions have been performed. That's over 4,400 per day        cially secure life over one burdened with the costs
       for thirty-seven years. That's over half the present        involved to raise a child." What is striking about
       population of Japan and over five times the present         this letter is its frank admission that underlying the
       population of Tokyo. Research shows that 47 percent         correspondent's approval of abortion is simple
       of Japanese women have had abortions and that two           covetousness. We are not, I think, exaggerating
       abortions will be performed per every adult woman.          when we say that this is often a primary considera-
       Well over half of these abortions have been performed
       under the "economic clause" of the Eugenics Law,            tion. People love money more than children.
       which permits abortion if there is a fear that preg-          And so abortion has become a national epidemic
       nancy or delivery may endanger the safety of the            and the consequences are horrible beyond imagina-
       mother because of economic reasons.                         tion.

ALL AROUND US
Robert D. Decker




                                                More on "Alive `85"
                                                   Faith vs. Unbelief



More  on  "Alive `85"                                              thing like "Alive `85" is somewhat akin to being
                                                                   against "motherhood and apple pie," I expected
  In this column recently (December 15, 1985                       some criticism of that article. This expectation
issue) we published a report and critique of an                    proved correct. A brother from Holland, MI wrote
evangelistic campaign in the Grand Rapids area                     as follows: "Item 2, Page 127,  Alive 85.  I always
called "Alive `85." Because being against  some-                   cringe a little when I hear criticism of the procedures


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        2 2 5



of evangelizers (sic) who while far more active than       Christian Reformed pulpit? We confess that faith is
I may not be doing it in what to me is a theological-      a gift of the Spirit, conveyed by the Word preached
ly correct manner. Reminds me of when Jesus'               (Rom.  10:17),  which should proceed in the chur-
disciples met the independent missionary.                  ches under consistory supervision. In that way the
   "I with you believe the Reformed view is most           elect are brought to saving faith, which is shown to
God glorifying. I, too, find much of Arminian              be real by the works that follow. But such a
theology atrocious; and, yes, I will say almost            (`revival') campaign poses the questions, Are you
blasphemous. But yet I have had these people liv-          sure that this is the only way? Is it doing the job?
ing in our home. They have used our home for Bi-           Should we not add an itinerant evangelist with a
ble study meetings and social affairs. I see their ac-     different accent? - and perhaps some soft music and
tivity in witnessing. They want to serve Christ with       repeated invitations, to produce faith? Isn't this
their whole heart. I do believe Christ is using some       about as far from a Reformed understanding of the
of these people to bring His elect into His kingdom.       church as one could get?'
Prof. Decker finishes his article with some excel-           "The speaker recalled a Sunday School card dis-
lent instruction. However, this instruction is not         tributed long ago in the Zeeland church, portraying
being heeded by many in my denomination, and               Uzzah who held out his hand to steady the ark. He
possibly in yours."                                        only wanted to give the Lord a little help, but was
  The brother does not give a Biblical reference to        struck dead for his improper help. De Koster never
what he calls "the independent missionary" whom            forgot the lesson, and the Biblical reminder of his
Jesus' disciples met. Does he refer to the incident        mother that `to obey is better than sacrifice' (I Sam.
recorded in Mark 9:38-40? If he wishes me to com-          15:22). We may not play lightly with the Lord's
ment on this he may write again and give me the            designated methods of saving souls. Don't say, `A
reference.                                                 little help is OK. "' With these sentiments we heart-
                                                           ily agree.
  For the rest I have this to say in reply:                 4) We appreciate the tone of the brother's letter.
  1) The standard for "a theologically correct man-        We hope the above answers his questions and con-
ner" must be Holy Scripture as interpreted by the          cerns. If this is not the case the brother is welcome
Reformed Confessions Neither I nor any' other              to write again.
man may determine what is a "theologically cor-
rect manner." Arminian theology does not meet the          Faith vs. Unbelief
test of Scripture and the Reformed Confessions.              Syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Har-
Neither do Arminian methods of evangelism: altar           ris had this to say about the Bible:
calls, etc. The Bible, in Romans  10:13-15, tells us
precisely how God's people receive the faith en-                 Over the years, I have learned much, and, I hope,
abling them to call upon God's name and be saved.              understand much, from my reading of the Bible.
They must hear Christ through the means of the                Perhaps the most important thing I have learned is
                                                               how to read the Bible  - that is, with discrimination,
preaching of the Word.                                        with historical perspective, and with some apprecia-
  2) I do not judge the sincerity or the motives of           tion of literary techniques.
Dr. John Guest. Only God can know the hearts of                  My respect for Scripture is too great to permit me to
men. I am saying that both his theology and his                approach this varied collection as if I were reading a
methodology are incorrect according to the stan-               literal transcription direct from the hand of God. To
dard of Holy Scripture. The question is not whether            believe that is to contemptuously ignore everything
Christ uses "some of these people to bring His elect           we have learned in the last century about its contents
into His kingdom." The question is: how, according             and composition.
to Scripture, does Christ bring the elect to repen-              The Bible is a work of art as much as it is anything
tance and faith?                                               else. It is a cloak of many colors and fabrics, not a
                                                               seamless web. There is immense wisdom in it, and
  3) The Rev. Peter De Jong, editor of The Outlook,            some historical truth, mixed with superstition, in-
gives the following report of what Dr. Lester De               accuracy, contradiction, fiction, allegory.
Koster had to say about "Alive `85" in a recent lec-
ture (January 1986 issue): "The speaker (De Koster,              Reinhold Niebuhr, the distinguished Protestant
                                                              theologian of our time, warned that the Bible is the
R.D.D.) saw another example of flunking such tests             most dangerous book in the world to read  - if you
in the fact that many of our local churches saw                bring to it only a naive faith and an ignorance of the
nothing wrong in supporting the recent "Alive `85"            ways in which it grew and changed over a thousand
campaign. Was that campaign not an insult to the              years, under different hands, who may have been `in-
                                                              spired' by God but were only mortal, fallible men,
Robert D. Decker is professor of Practical Theology and       confined and shaped by their own culture, their own
New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.            time and environment.


226                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



          Modern scholarship in Biblical studies  - most of it                Apart from a good deal of bad theology reflected
       by believing Christians - has made enormous strides                  in the statements of Mr. Harris, the issue concern-
       in analyzing and separating those parts of Scripture                 ing one's view of the Bible and how it is to be read
       that refect the authentic text from the many additions,              and understood is not one of knowledge and under-
       revisions, alterations and mistranslations that have                 standing versus "arrogance and ignorance." The
       crept into it. These scholars, creditably enough, have
       not allowed their piety to interfere with their intellec-            issue is faith versus unbelief. Peter tells us that the
       tual honesty.                                                        apostles did not follow cunningly devised fables
                                                                            when they spoke of the power and coming of Jesus.
         I am far from suggesting that there is only one `cor-              They were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Christ.
       rect' way to understand the Bible, or that such special-
       ized studies as `"hermeneutics" and "form-criticism"                 They come to the church, therefore, with a more
       are necessary tools for the general reader. But for fun-             sure word of prophecy to which we do well to take
       damentalists to insist that only their reading is the cor-           heed (II Peter  1:16-19). The reason for this is:
       rect one is not only the height of arrogance but the                 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scrip-
       depth of ignorance as well.                                          ture is of any private interpretation. For the proph-
         Fundamentalism - whether it be Christian, Jewish,                  ecy came not in old time by the will of man: but
       or Moslem - is a willful regression to a primitive form              holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
       of thinking. If man is created in the image of God, as               Holy Ghost" (II Peter  1:20, 21). In II Timothy  3:16
       many believe, then it is his intelligence, his capacity              and 17 we read: "All scripture is given by inspira-
       for reasoning, that most sets him apart from other                   tion of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
       creatures. Not to use this God-given faculty to try to               reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous-
       comprehend the different levels of meaning in the Bi-                ness: That the man of God may be perfect,
       ble is a rejection of His greatest gift to us.                       thoroughly furnished unto all good works." One
         Human knowledge without the Bible is deficient.                    either believes this by God's grace or he rejects this
       The Bible without knowledge is a terrible weapon that                truth in unbelief. The consequences are serious in-
       easily leads to self-righteousness, bigotry and persecu-             deed. (Cf. Revelation  22:18, 19.)
       tion. What the fundamentalists most of all forget is
       that "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."





                                                                 Gise J. Van Baren





  After the return from Florida, there was to be no                         gradual deterioration; and Alice was  welLa.was
more walking for Alice. Earlier, two persons would                          that this time was coming. But it was disappointing
hold her, each by an arm, as she slowly walked                              nevertheless to have that moment arrive.
from one end of the room to the other. Once or                              Good Morning Alice:
twice a day was enough. This would loosen her
muscles a bit, preventing cramps and pain. But                                It's early and quiet again and yet it's taking me a
now even this short walk had become too difficult.                          long time to write this morning. These verses are so fill
One more activity had to be given up. There would                           that so much is going through my mind, and I don't
be no more walking for Alice. No more walking!                              know what to write.
She had reached this point after many months of                               I'll start by sharing with you the two thoughts that
                                                                            came to my mind first.
Gise J. Van Earen is pastor of the Protestant Reformed                        When a relative of ours died very suddenly about
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                                            four years ago, my husband said, "You know, every day


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 227



we pray, `Thy Kingdom come', thinking of when Christ          describes the joy of Hebrews as that of saving us sin-
returns - and not realizing His kingdom could come            ners. Jesus, for the joy of saving His children, you and
for me at any moment!"                                        me, endured the cross . . . .
  The other statement I thought about is one a woman            And according to Neh., that joy is our strength.
said to her son when he sent his children to a public         After years of neglect and exile, the people had the law
school: "This life is so short and eternity forever. We       read to them and they knew they were guilty and
must do all we can to prepare."                               couldn't keep the law. Nehemiah comforted them with
  How do those thoughts go with this verse? Christ is         these words: "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
able to keep us from stumbling in this life and present         Jesus bore our sins for the joy of redeeming us even
us faultless - perfect unto God with joy. What does           though with great sorrow. And that is our strength to
that do to your heart, Alice, to be presented faultless       be accounted righteousness.
before God and to dwell in His glorious Presence -              Do you see why I thought of those verses when I read
forever?                                                      Jude 24? With exceeding joy, Jesus presents us faultless
  It spoke to me in this way - any time may be His            before the throne of God, only because He counted it
chosen time for me. Am I ready?                               joy to save those whom the Father gave unto Him.
  And I won't be reading magazines or watching tele-            Let us both be strong in that joy and receive daily
vision and I won't hold grudges or be impatient or            strength from the knowledge of it.
jealous in His glorious Presence - so - am I getting                                            With love, Your friend
ready?                                                        Please read Psalm 42:5 and Psalm 43:5
  Am I keeping my mind on Him? Am I forsaking my
pet sins? It's so easy to give in and say I can't help it,      It always amazes one, yet it is so comforting, to
that's just the way I am. Well - then I'd better ex-          behold the "communion of saints" in action. There
amine myself.  Do  I desire a faultless life in His           were by far too many examples of it to mention
Presence forever? Then shouldn't I desire the beginning       them all: not only the cards, but also the visits and
of it now?                                                    gifts. But one instance stands out in our minds. A
                                                              young married lady, Kathy, who had been trained
  May we in this day and those ahead for us, not bat-         as a physical therapist, began visiting for a few
tle against Him Who is able to keep us from stumbling.        hours once a week. She would help with Alice's ex-
  And may it be our desire to see our Lord's glory and        ercises and spend some time just visiting. Ah, how
majesty and dominion and power both  now  and                 Alice looked forward to those visits! The visits con-
forever.                                                      tinued with but a brief interruption when Kathy
  So let it be, Alice, for you and for me.                    had her second child.
                                 In His love, Your friend     Good Morning Alice:
Please read Heb. 12:2 and Nehemiah 8:lOb                        Well, the kids are back in school, but I almost
                                                              wanted to keep them home this morning. With all the
  We sadly noticed too the increasing difficulty              funny weather brewing, I just feel better with everyone
Alice had in speaking. Often she had to repeat her-           off the roads.
self to be understood. The words were slurred and               I don't think there is anything as comforting in
muffled. We would pretend that our hearing was at             God's Word as the Psalms. Any child of God can learn
fault  - but it was painfully obvious to all that her         so much from them. David and the other Psalmists
tongue and throat muscles were now being affected             must have either written their thoughts down or spoken
by the disease. This, too, became a matter of grow-           them, sharing them with others. I think that in itself
ing concern. How does one communicate without                 teaches us something. We should somehow let out of
speech? The thought must have troubled Alice too,             our hearts and minds, our anxieties, our questionings,
though she never made mention of it.                          our doubtings, and even our rebelliousness.
Good Morning Alice:                                             I don't know if these two Psalms were expressed by
  It's early Saturday morning with anoth_er  busy day         the Psalmist at the same time or not, but Ps. 42:ll and
ahead. Hopefully Monday things will get back to "nor-         Ps. 43:5 are the same. What the Psalmist is doing is
mal". It's a good thing there are refreshing Lord's Days      making known his innermost feelings, either to himself
once a week; it's all too easy to make myself too busy.       alone or others also. He is naming his problem; his
                                                              trouble. I think he is saying to himselfi `Zook, this is
  When I was writing you about Jude, these two other          how I feel; this is my complaint; this is why I am
verses came to my mind.                                       depressed; or this is my sorrow." But he doesn't stop
  In a devotional book I have, there is a meditation on       there. After admitting that, he talks back to himself
these two verses. Neh. 8:ZOb and Heb. 12:2. The book          and forces himself to remember God and turn to Him.


228                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



  We can do the same thing by admitting our feelings         enough to make everything clean and white again.
to ourselves - and then talk back to ourselves, using           You should see all the rabbit tracks in our backyard.
the Word of God.                                             The kids leave corn out there and, with the  new'
  Our feelings will differ from one day to another, but      snowfall, we can see rows of tracks all leading to the
God is sure. He is ever the same; our sure Foundation.       corn in the middle. It's like the yard is a square pie and
  These verses differ in one way. Ps. 42:5 says, "I shall    the rabbits cut it into pieces.
yet praise Him for the help of His countenance; His            None of us today is like Paul. God gave him that
countenance - the ever constant Being of God revealed        special wonder of being caught up and taught directly
to us in Scripture is our only hope and our help Who is      by God. And then because God knows human nature,
ever near.                                                   He gave Paul a thorn in the flesh so that Paul would not
  Ps. 43:5 says, "For I shall yet praise Him Who is the      be "exalted beyond measure. " Paul asked three times
health of my countenance." I shall praise Him Who            to have it taken away, but God told him that His grace
makes my spiritual being and expression healthy again        was sufficient for Paul. How did Paul react to that?
- and more - He Who makes my outward expression              How do you and I react to a burden? "Most gladly
healthy so that others may see my hope.                      therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the
                                                             power of Christ may rest upon me. I take pleasure in in-
  I've probably tried to say too much. I hope you've         firmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
understood. Just let's both try today to admit our inner     in distresses  for Christ's sake."
feelings to ourselves, and then give it all over to God
and tell ourselves that He is our hope and our health          Can you feel that way, Alice? Can you gladly glory in
and perhaps others will see in our countenance the joy       your infirmities in order that the power of Christ may
this brings.                                                 rest upon you?
                                  With joy, Your friend        I'm sure that you experience the love of God in a far
                                                             deeper way than before God gave you this disease, and
Please read II Cor. 12:9-10                                  that is the glory of God resting upon you.
  Change, especially when it became necessary                  But remember also that God has used your disease to
because of the degree of deterioration, was always           strengthen so many other children of His also. God has
resisted by Alice. She refused to admit any change           given them the necessity of caring for you. This is prob-
for the worse. The time came when obviously she              ably extremely hard for you to accept, and I'm sure it's
could not be in her "bedroom" anymore. In order              a heavy task for them too.
to help her properly, the bed had to be in the larger
"living room" of the garage. But Alice refused to              But striving together to use this experience for the
hear of it. What should one do? Without telling              purpose God gave it to you - to draw you all closer to
Alice of the plan, some of the family came one               Him - you will experience sufficient grace; you will
evening and simply moved her bed and her                     accept your disease; as difficult as this may seem, as the
"treasures" out of the bedroom into the living room          blessing that it is.
area. Though obviously it was very disappointing to             why?
her, she dared not object  - especially with her               Because when I am weak, then am I strong. When I
minister-brother present. But she soon came to en-           am weak of flesh, then I am strong in spirit. Strong in
joy this change. She could more easily remain in             Christ. And happy. Happy enough to smile through
bed while visiting with those who came to see her.           our tears and rejoice with each other in love and
And it was far more convenient for the family who            thanksgiving to Him.
were there to help her.                                      May you experience this today.
Good Morning Alice:                                                                             In His love, Your friend
  The kids are a little disappointed that we didn't get
all the snow we were supposed to. We did get just            Please read Psalm 92:1-2

                       Take the time to ready and study
                                    the Standard Bearer.
                Give a gift of the Standard Bearer today!


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                          229



BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Jason L. Kortering





  Exodus - God's Dealing with His Nation (1)



   The Torah designates this second book of the            them out of the bondage of Egypt, through the
Pentateuch as  Shamoth,  "names," taken from the           wilderness for some forty years, up to the very edge
opening word of the book itself. The Septuagint,           of Canaan. What a task! No mere human being was
the Greek translation of the Old Testament,                able to endure so severe a trial and accomplish the
changed the name to  Exodos,  which in turn was            task; he had to be divinely empowered. As such,
taken over by the Latin Vulgate as Exodus, meaning         Moses was a type of the Lord Jesus, the Mediator of
"going out."                                               the covenant. Only Jesus can give to us the rest that
AUTHORSHIP                                                 remaineth for the people of God.
   Details of the author of the first five books of the      Secondly, during his activity as leader, Moses
Bible have been presented in former articles and           made a direct recording of the happenings, and this
need not be repeated here. A few additional obser-         formed the basis of the content of this book. Exodus
vations as they apply to the book of Exodus follow.        17:14 mentions this in connection with the defeat
   First, in the book of Exodus we are introduced to       of Amalek: "And the Lord said unto Moses, write
Moses as a person. We get to know what kind of a           this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the
man this Moses was as we read the book itself. His         ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remem-
name must have been given to him by his parents            brance of Amalek from under heaven." The same
and later taken over by the daughter of Pharaoh            thing occurred in connection with the giving of the
(2:10). Literally it means "drawn out," a reference        law: "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord"
to the incident when Moses was hid among the               (Exodus 24:4). Whether the contents of the book of
flags. Under the providence of God, his life was           Exodus were written in sequence, exactly as we
spared, for his parents saw that he was "a proper          presently have them, or if he wrote them in
child" (Heb.  11:23).  His early training within the       segments and then compiled them, the end result is
covenant home furnished him with the spiritual             the same, the Holy Spirit over-ruled the activity to
framework for his subsequent ministry  (2:9).              produce the inspired book.
Though his education in the schools of Egypt and in          Thirdly, the question is raised whether there
the court of Pharaoh qualified him as a leader,            may have been some editorializing at a later date,
Moses had yet to learn humility and dependence             either by Moses himself or another. This is brought
upon God. The killing of the Egyptian served to            up in connection with Exodus  6:26 where Moses
drive him to the quiet of Midian for his training to       and Aaron are identified specifically as those to
be a shepherd of Israel (2:11-15).  God called him at      whom the Lord said, "Bring out the children of
the burning bush and assured him He would be his           Israel from the land of Egypt according to their ar-
strength  (3:12).  The events that-followed reveal to      mies." If Moses was writing this, why would he so
us Moses as a very human being, who literally              identify himself? Did one of the copyists add this? A
wrung out his soul for the good of Israel. He led          similar reference is made in Exodus  16:33-36.
                                                           There mention is made that Israel ate manna forty
Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed    years, until they came to the land inhabited, even
Church of  Grandville,  Michigan.                          unto the borders of Canaan. Moses did not come all


236                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



that way. How then could he have said this? Moses          people and they are afflicted as they build the
certainly could have written that as he anticipated        treasure cities of Pithom and Raamases (1: 11). Yet,
the Lord completing His promises. Even if there            the more they are afflicted, the more they multi-
were slight additions by someone making a change           plied and grew (1: 12). The Egyptians added greater
in the original, this would not detract from the           burdens and drove them still harder  (1:13, 14).
authenticity of the book or reliability of its con-        Pharaoh instructed the Hebrew midwives to kill
tents.                                                     the sons which were born to the Hebrews. They
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MESSAGE                            however refused and made excuses that the babies
                                                           were born before they could even come to assist the
  The book of Exodus falls quite naturally into two        new mothers (1: 15-21). Now the order came that all
main parts. The first part covers chapters 1-19 and        the baby boys born to the Hebrews had to be
the second, chapters 20-40. In the first twenty            thrown into the Nile River  (1:22).
chapters, Moses gives us the history that forms the
transition between the period of the patriarchs               3. Moses' childhood  (2:1-10).  His father and
(which ended with Jacob and his family going into          mother were of the tribe of Levi (2:l). After Moses
Egypt, the conclusion of the book of Genesis) and          was born, he was hidden three months  (2:2). Then
the formation of the nation of Israel. In Exodus, we       Miriam, his sister, laid Moses in a small ark in the
learn about the great number of children born and          midst of the flags of the river, awaiting the arrival
the increase in numbers. Israel now presents itself        of the daughter of Pharaoh to bathe (2:2, 3). Having
as a threat to Egypt; hence the setting is given for       discovered the ark, Pharaoh's daughter opened it
the conflict between Egypt and Israel. Finally, the        and Moses wept. She was moved with compassion
nation leaves the house of bondage and is prepared         as she recognized the child as a Hebrew  (2:4-6).
for the wilderness sojourn. In the last twenty             Moses' sister offered the services of a Hebrew
chapters of Exodus, we learn of the laws of God and        nurse, and she called her mother who nursed him
the detail of the tabernacle structure and worship.        (2:7-g). Moses grew up and at the set time was
This is closely related to the first twenty chapters in    brought to the daughter of Pharaoh who took him
that these laws form the basis upon which God will         into the  p.alace and gave him the name Moses,
establish a covenantal relationship with this nation.      "Because I drew him out of the water" (2:lO).
We learn of the nature of the theocracy, that God             4.  Moses' wilderness sojourn and return
will be the Ruler of this people and that He requires      (2:  ll-4:28).  Moses killed an Egyptian who fought
that His people consecrate their lives to Him. He          with an Israelite. On the next day, two Israelites
will tabernacle in the midst of His people as a Holy       were fighting and Moses intervened; but one of
God! The worship of the tabernacle displays this           them challenged him if he was going to kill him as
before the people. Typically, Christ is in their midst     he did the Egyptian the day before. Moses realized
as the Mediator of that covenant. The law was              that it was public knowledge and that Pharaoh
added to the promise to show the necessity of that         would learn of it, so he fled to Midian (2:11-15).  At
Mediator.                                                  the well of  Midian,  he was approached by the
  We might add at this point, that the unfolding of        seven daughters of the priest of  Midian with their
this law of God was not complete at Sinai. As Israel       flocks. The shepherds roughed them up, but Moses
goes forth, God will give them more detail. This           helped them water their flocks. Upon returning
revelation of the law is progressive. The detail           home to their father Reuel, they explained their
given at Sinai is contained in the books of Exodus         early return by the help of the Egyptian. He in turn
and Leviticus. More is added as they sojourn in the        told them to invite Moses to their home. So Moses
wilderness, the book of Numbers. Finally, on the           came to live with them. He married one of the
Plain of Moab, the Lord adds still more, the book of       daughters, Zipporah by name, by whom he had a
Deuteronomy. Taken together, we can see how the            son, Gershom  (2:16-22). A brief reference is made
five books of the Pentateuch fit together.                 to the bondage of Israel in Egypt  (2:23-25). Moses
A BRIEF OUTLINE                                            tended the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, for
                                                           many years. Upon one such occasion he was in the
  1. The introduction ( 1: l-6). The sons of Jacob are     vicinity of Mt. Horeb when the angel of the Lord
listed by name as those who went from Canaan to            appeared to him in the burning bush, engulfed with
Egypt. Their number totaled seventy souls (l:l-6).         fire but not consumed. The Lord called to him out
  2.  The bondage of Israel in Egypt ( 1:7-22). By         of the bush and told him to take off his shoes, for
now the number of Israelites had grown, for the            the place was holy ground. He identified Himself as
land was filled with them  (1:7). The new Pharaoh          the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses hid
knew not Joseph. He was afraid of the number of            his face (3:1-6).  God said He heard the affliction of
Israelites lest they join with the enemy and fight         His people in Egypt and that He had come to
against Egypt (1%10). Task-masters are set over the        deliver them and to bring them to Canaan, the land


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                231



     of milk and honey. To Moses He said, "I will send           thy mouth!" When Moses still fretted, God told
     thee" (3:7-l()). Moses replied that he was not able to      him that Aaron, his brother, would be his spokes-
     do this  - "Who am I that I should command                  man and act as a mouthpiece. God specifically
     Pharaoh to release them?" God assured him it                placed his rod in Moses' hand (4: 10-17). Moses in-
     would take place, and that onthe  very mountain on          formed Jethro of the call of God to go to Egypt.
     which he stood he would worship Jehovah with the            Moses took his wife and sons and Jehovah re-
     congregation. Moses asked how he would identify             minded him that he must do all the things He in-
     God to the people. God replied that he should tell          structed him and that Pharaoh would not cooperate
     them, "I am hath sent thee." God would do mighty            because He would harden his heart. Moses must
     things upon the kingdom of Egypt, so that Israel            tell him that Israel is God's firstborn, to be freed,
     would spoil them (3: 1 l-22). Moses raised another          and if Egypt will not do this they will- lose. their
     problem: What if they will not ,believe  him? To this       firstborn  (4:18-23).  God met Moses to kill him for
     God answered with the signs of the rod changed in-          refusing to circumcise his son. It became evident
     to a serpent, a leprous hand cleansed, and the water        his wife was the one who refused to do it (4:24-26).
     turned into blood (4: l-9). A final plea came from          Aaron met Moses in the wilderness and prepara-
     Moses: "I am not eloquent." Jehovah reproved him            tions are made to confront Pharaoh  (4:27, 28).
     and asked Moses, "Who made the mouth? I will be

     GUIDED INTO ALL TRUTH
     Thomas C. Miersma





                       Scripture Interprets Scripture:
                                              Grammatically



       We are considering in this column the Reformed            meaning. We pointed out certain things which
     principle of Scriptural interpretation, that the Word       could be done in Bible study with the use of an
     of God is its own interpreter. This principle, which        English dictionary, and it is at this point that we
     the reformers have taught us, we are pursuing from          wish to resume our discussion.
     the viewpoint of its application to our own Bible             An English dictionary will give us to some extent
     study, and confining ourselves for practical reasons        the meaning of the word or its various shades of
_ . . -to its application to the study of the English Bible.     meaning and will help to clarify the text we are
     These are the same techniques and approaches                studying. We want, however, to know its particular
     which the reformers themselves used in their own            use and meaning in Scripture and the passage we
     exposition of God's Word and which you will find            are studying. For this we must go to the Scriptures
     reflected in their commentaries.                            themselves, and our concordance. The first thing to
       In preceding articles we made some preliminary            do therefore is locate the word and the reference to
     observations and also discussed certain tools which         the passage we are studying. Concordances are like
     are useful in our study. In the preceding article we        a combination of a dictionary and listings of verse
     began to trace the elements of studying the words           references, somewhat like a phone book. The con-
     of a text or passage of Scripture to understand their       cordances we have mentioned are  Young's  and
                                                                 Strong's, so we will occasionally refer to them.
     Thomas C. Miersma is pastor of First Protestant Reformed      Having found the word and its reference we
     Church of Edmonton,. Alberta, Canada.                       want to know several things. Our concern is first of


232                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



all with the original Greek or Hebrew word that            The purpose of this is to answer certain further
stands behind our English word. This is the word           questions. First, what light do these passages shed 1
which the Holy Spirit gave by verbal inspiration;          upon the meaning of the word and of our text?
we want to learn what we can about it as it stands         Which ones deal with the same subject? (Not every
in our text. The first question we may ask is this,        reference will be helpful.) How does Scripture ex-
how else did our King James translators translate          pound the meaning of this term and the text to us?
this word? This will take us beyond the English dic-         We also want to seek the answer to a specific
tionary to a more precise understanding of the             question. That is this, what is the meaning and idea
meaning of our text. To find these other meanings          of the word and its concept in both the English and
of the word you must either find its number                the original and what are the various elements (like
(Strong's) or its spelling in English letters (Young's)    those given in the English dictionary) of this con-
and locate it in the back of the concordance, using        cept and its meaning. If it is a doctrinal term, it is
also whatever notes our concordance provides. The          the elements of the doctrine we want to determine.
questions we want to answer are these: What. does          If it is a practical matter, such as Christian mar-
this tell us about the basic and original meaning and      riage, what do the Scriptures as a whole say about
idea of the word? If the word draws a certain con-         it? To give a few examples, the word for faith in
crete picture, what is it? The normal word for sin,        Scripture can refer to the activity of faith, trust, and
for example, in the New Testament means to                 confidence. It can also refer, as in Jude 3 where we
"misaim" at a target, or to miss the mark one is           are called to contend for the faith, to the content of
aiming at. This information will be much like the          our faith, that which is believed. The terms used in
different meanings our dictionary gives us, though         Scripture for grace and favor can have a number of
there will be some which are quite different, as we        meanings. They can direct us in the most basic
are working with the word of another language              sense of the word to the truth that God is beautiful
which lies behind our English word. Again the              in Himself in His perfection and therefore gracious.
basic question we want to answer is, what light            They may direct us to the fact that that beauty and
does this shed upon our text or passage and its            perfection as it is revealed to us as sinners is un-
meaning?                                                   merited favor. Grace can also be set before us parti-
  The next thing we want to know is, what other            cularly as the power of God in salvation, or as that
words in the original language of Scripture have           which makes the objects of His grace and favor
this same translation.  (Young's  divides the words up     beautiful before Him. These distinctions are drawn
this way; with Strong's you will have to follow the        from Scripture itself and are found by looking up
numbers.) How are they similar to the word used in         the passages in Scripture where the words and
our text? How are they different? What do these            terms are used, not only the specific one in a
similarities and differences tell us about the idea ex-    passage but also the parallel terms, as well as the
pressed in our text in Scripture? What is the Spirit's     way the English word is used.
meaning and purpose in using this particular word,           The purpose of such study is to let the Scriptures
and what particular emphasis does this give the text       speak and to let them lead us to understand them.
and passage? For example, there are a number of            This type of study will deepen and enrich your un-
words which are translated in our English Bible by         derstanding of the passage you are working with,
the word iniquity. One refers to the perverseness of       and it is both edifying and spiritually rewarding.
sin, another to the guilt of sin, or to the bent and       The objective is to understand the word and its
misshapen character of sin in the light of Gods            meaning first of all; but also, secondly, to develop
law. The other thing our concordance (depending            from Scripture the concepts in the text and passage
on the edition) may tell us is what other words            in the light of Scripture as a whole; and then, to
come from this same root word in the original. The         determine what specific aspect of that concept and
noun for faith and the verb for believing in the New       idea is on the foreground in the text you are study-
Testament come from the same root word, for ex-            ing. If you want some examples of how this is done
ample.                                                     or to check and revise your study, take a look at
  It may be well to emphasize at this point that if        how Rev. H. Hoeksema develops the various Scrip-
you have a good, thorough concordance, and know            ture concepts of the attributes of God or his discus-
how to use it, you can learn many of these things          sion of the various words for sin in his  Reformed
without knowing either of the original languages of        Dogmatics. One of the particular values of Reformed
Scripture. It is simply a matter of work and study.        Dogmatics  is that Rev. Hoeksema sets the fruit of
  The next consideration is the use of the particu-        his work before you, with the various passages of
lar word in the Scriptures and of its related words.       Scripture quoted in full. If you read the commen-
This is the heart of our study and is done by looking      taries of the great reformer John Calvin with atten-
up the various references given in the concordance.        tion, you will also observe that it is this kind of


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 233



study which lies behind his comments and exposi-           that we are taught of God. It is first of all a matter of
tion.                                                      prayer and the work of the Spirit.
  A few other remarks about this kind of word                Such study of God's Word may be difficult to
study are in order. Sometimes it is not a single           take up after a long day of work or physical activi-
word, but a Scriptural phrase or expression which          ty. It is time-consuming. It is part of the reason why
we must study. For example, the expression                 your minister needs to spend his time in his study if
"workers of iniquity" must be taken as a whole.            he is to have two good sermons each week. Looking
Remember also, with parallel passages and refer-           up reference after reference can become rather
ences, that they also are to be read in context if         tedious. The temptation to abandon this kind of
looking them up is to be of real value. Keep in mind       study can be very strong at times. And it is also con-
that this has to be done with the spiritual willing-       trary to our sinful flesh which does not want to
ness to let the text of Scripture explain itself.          hear the Word of God. But the spiritual reward and
  This kind of study is not easy; it is something you      profit of studying God's Word far outweighs these
learn to do by doing it. But it also becomes easier        things. It is infinitely and eternally more profitable
the more you pursue it, and as you grow in the             for your soul and your spiritual life, for it is more
knowledge of God's Word and build upon previous            truly refreshing than all the worldly amusements
study. There is no reason why the average child of         and other temptations and activities upon which
God cannot learn to do this kind of study, accord-         we so often and so readily squander our God-given
ing to the measure of the gifts and talents God has        free time.
given him. Remember the fundamental principle is

STRENGTH OF YOUTH
Ronald L. Cammenga





                                 Criticism - Giving It



  None of us is above criticism. All of us need            against brother, can destroy fellowship. Improper,
honest, constructive criticism. We ought to be will-       unloving, harsh criticism can create civil war in the
ing to receive criticism. From time to time it will be     church, sap the church of its strength, and ruin its
necessary for us to give criticism to others.              worship of God and its witness to those outside.
  Criticism is healthy. Criticism can be of great            Scripture has much to say about this matter of
benefit to us. We can all profit from criticism.           criticism. Solomon writes in Proverbs  27:5, 6,
Criticism can be the surgeon's knife to cut away           "Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful
some serious, life-threatening infection in us, and        are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an
be the means to restore us to spiritual and                enemy are deceitful.`" In Proverbs  9:8 we read,
psychological health. We need to learn how to give         "Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." We
and how to take this kind of criticism.                    are told in Ecclesiastes 7:5, "It is better to hear the
  Criticism can also be destructive. Criticism             rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song
wrongly given can seriously injure the one to              of fools." Passages like Romans 15: 14, Colossians
whom the criticism is directed, can turn brother           3:16, and Hebrews  3:13 call the people of God to
                                                           admonish one another.
Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed      Criticism is judgment. A critic acts the part of a
Church of Loveland, Colorado.                              judge. He reviews evidence, makes evaluations,


234                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



and draws conclusions. He attempts to discern               First of all, our negative criticisms ought to con-
problems and offer solutions. There are basically         cern significant matters in the life of the one we feel
two types of criticism: positive and negative.            it necessary to criticize. A significant matter would
  Positive criticism identifies strengths and             be a matter of sin, a serious weakness, or derelic-
acknowledges achievements. It offers congratula-          tion of duty. What we must all avoid is the very real
tions and encouragement.                                  danger that our criticism degenerates into a per-
                                                          sonal diatribe. Our criticism then concerns insigni-
  We all need positive criticism. Positive criticism      ficant, trivial matters. Every little difference of
in the form of commendation, praise, expressions          character, viewpoint, way of doing things becomes
of appreciation and thanks serve the purpose of           an occasion for our criticism. Our criticisms con-
building us up. Positive criticism spurs us on to         cern matters that are either indifferent or of little
perseverance and continuation. A good parent,             importance.
teacher, employer, officebearer knows the value of
positive criticism.                                         We have much to learn in this respect, I fear. We
                                                          have much to learn about being longsuffering
  Too often when we think of criticism we think in        towards one another, bearing with one another's
terms of negative criticism. Many of us are woeful-       weaknesses. We have much to learn about tolera-
ly weak in the area of positive criticism. There          ting different emphases, distinct viewpoints, and
ought to be much more positive criticism among us         differences of personality. We have much to learn
than there is. Many of us are quick to offer negative     about living peaceably with one another, and not
criticism, but never have a good word to say to our       making an issue about every little thing that arises.
wife or husband, our children, the Christian school       We ought to have a concern here for the unity of
teacher, the minister, or the elders. Hardly ever is a    the church and preserving the unity of the church.
word of appreciation or encouragement found in            One of the quickest ways to tear down the church's
our mouth. This is wrong. If all we ever do is give       unity is our living with each other in such a way
negative criticism, find fault, and identify the          that we are always ready to criticize and condemn
weaknesses of others, there is something radically        each other. What would happen if we lived this
wrong with us. In Proverbs  12:25  we read,               way in our marriages or in our homes? What would
"Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop:         happen if all we ever did was criticize each other
but a good word maketh it glad."                          for every little thing? In no time our marriages
  Although positive criticism is needed, we must          would be ruined and the fellowship of our homes
beware of extremes. Too little encouragement leads        destroyed.
to despair. But we must also beware of too much or          In the second place, negative criticism must be
undeserved commendation. This is flattery, and the        given in love, and the one who is giving the
Bible everywhere condemns flattery. "It is not            negative criticism is responsible to make plain to
good to eat much honey: so for men to search their        the one to whom he is offering the criticism that his
own glory is not glory" (Prov. 25:27). And in Prov-       criticism is motivated by love. What is condemned
erbs  29:5 we read, "A man that flattereth his            is harsh, unfeeling criticism that cuts, wounds, and
neighbour speadeth a net for his feet."                   kills. Proverbs  27:6 says that "Faithful are the
  There is also a place for negative criticism in the     wounds of a friend . . . ." In offering negative criti-
life of the child of God. Negative criticism points       cism, Ephesians  4:15 also applies, that we must
out weaknesses and mistakes and calls for correc-         speak the truth IN LOVE.
tion.                                                       How many Christians have not suffered from
  Negative criticism can be useful, and there are         negative criticism that was not given in love, but
times in our lives when we all need the negative          which amounted to a vicious attack? How many
criticism of a loving friend. There will be times         parents, ministers, Christian school teachers,
when it will be necessary for us ourselves to give        employees have spent sleepless nights after such at-
negative criticism. Although we might naturally           tacks? How much pain of soul have not such at-
draw back from this and although we would rather          tacks caused?
not offer the criticism because we are afraid of how        Our criticism will be loving criticism, in the third
it might be received, our love for the one who            place, if it is criticism that aims at the upbuilding of
needs the criticism and our concern for the correc-       one another. This is the question we ought to ask
tion of some wrong or the strengthening of some           ourselves before we ever offer negative criticism:
weakness in his life must motivate us to carry            "Why am I giving this criticism? Am I aiming at his
through with it.                                          (or her) spiritual and physical well-being? Am I
  Certain basic, Biblical principles ought to             motivated by his (or her) upbuilding?" If the
regulate the negative criticism that we give.             answer to these questions, in all honesty, is "No,"


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                              235



don't give the criticism, even if the criticism itself is     confront someone with negative criticism, but to
valid.                                                        point out no alternative is wrong. There are many
   One measure of our concern for the upbuilding              negative critics who can go on at great lengths
of the one whom we criticize is whether or not we             describing weaknesses and mistakes, but who have
pray for them. It's easy to criticize them, but do we         not a word to say as far as a suitable alternative is
pray for them? It's easy to criticize our wife or hus-        concerned.
band, but do we pray for them? It's easy to criticize           This kind of wrong negative criticism abounds in
the Christian school teachers, but do we pray for             the world today. This is the character of our society
them? It's easy to criticize the elders, but do we            that gives itself over to gossip, ridicule, poking fun
pray for them? It's easy to criticize the minister, but       of the weaknesses and mistakes of others. Our
do we pray for him?                                           country is filled with critics who point out what's
                                                              wrong with our nation and our nation's leaders, but
   In the fourth place, in offering negative criticism        who never suggest a viable alternative.
we should be objective and specific. Our criticism
should be based on concrete evidence, and not just              It has been said that it is easier to give criticism
on subjective opinion and feeling. This will also             than to take it. This is hardly true. To give proper
assure that our criticism is specific. Criticism that is      criticism, out of the right motive, in the right way,
vague and general does little good. Be able to sub-           and with the proper goal in view is one of the
stantiate your criticism, to point out the evidence           hardest things for the Christian to do. Yet, criticism
that supports the validity of the criticism that you          given following the Biblical principles we have
are making.                                                   cited, will be blessed by God. It is criticism that will
                                                              be received. It is criticism that will serve the good
  In the fifth place, accompany your criticism with           of the one to whom it is given. It is criticism that
suggestions for correction and improvement. To                will prove to be constructive criticism.





                             Report From Singapore
                                                    Arie den Hartog





  Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ              pendent upon your prayers, support, and encour-
who gathers His church through the preaching of               agement. In that connection we would like again to
the Holy Gospel from every tribe and tongue and               express our appreciation to all who sent us greeting
nation. It has been qui-te some time since we have            cards and letters in the past Christmas and New
written a report on our work in Singapore for  The            Year season. We are much encouraged in our work
Standard Bearer. Some of our readers will have read           by all of these.
the regular form letters sent to a number of our                The Lord continues to bless us as His church in
churches. They will have to excuse us if some of              many ways. We have had our struggles and dif-
the news in this report has been told them before.            ficulties and discouragements in the last year.
We thought it would be good once again to report to           These are common to every church as long as she is
all of our people. We are conscious of the fact that          here on this earth. The Lord has preserved and
we are sent out and supported by you all. The work            blessed us through them all. Especially in the last
we do here is also your work. We are always  de-              couple of months we have seen again many won-
                                                              derful ways in which the Lord is blessing us. The
Arie den Hartog, a missionary of the Protestant Reformed      attendance at the worship services has recently in-
Churches, is currently laboring in Singapore.                 creased significantly. This has been the result large-


236                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



ly of a group of new young people who have joined         the doctrines of the Reformed Faith. This
us. Most of those are from a Presbyterian High            catechism class meets every Lord's Day in the after-
School in Singapore. This is one of the so-called         noon at our home at Blair Road.
mission schools in Singapore. Historically these            In the past year we again had a number of wed-
schools were started by missions of various               dings and a number of new babies born. The
denominations. Today however there is, sadly,             character of the church has really changed over the
very little distinctively Christian about these           years. A few years ago most of the members were
schools. They are academically superior to the            single and students in various levels of their educa-
government schools and therefore attract many             tion. Now most of our members are seeking to
students. But most of the students are from  non-         establish themselves in their careers. We have
Christian homes and even many of the teachers are         many married couples. More and more children are
non-Christian. Two of our church members are              being born. All of this does present some problems
teaching at this school. Through their efforts some       as our members struggle to adjust to new respon-
of the students have been led to the Lord and en-         sibilities and situations in their life. There is a great
couraged in their Christian faith. Pastor Lau and I       need for family orientated ministry in our midst.
have on occasion given messages for a Bible Study         We are planning to start a fellowship group
group at this school led by the two sisters of our        especially for young married couples. There is great
church. The Lord has greatly blessed all of this so       need for instruction and encouragement in the area
that a number of these students are now regularly         of raising a Christian family. The physical circum-
attending the Youth Fellowship Meetings at our            stances of life in Singapore make this all rather dif-
church and also the worship services on the Lord's        ficult. Transportation is a problem. Many live at op-
Day. There are several other new people attending         posite ends of the Island from each other. Though
the worship services regularly. Our meeting place         Singapore is small it can take quite a long time to
at the kampong is therefore once again filled to          travel by bus from one end to the other. At our ses-
capacity for our worship services.                        sion meeting last Friday we spent quite a long time
  In December we had a four-day camp for                  talking about the future of the church. Among
students and children. There were altogether about        other things we discussed the need of starting
sixty in attendance at this camp. Most of the young       catechism instruction for the children of the church
people mentioned above from the Presbyterian              in about a year's time. We also decided to in-
High School also attended. I had the privilege of be-     vestigate the feasibility of trying to start a kinder-
ing the camp speaker. I was asked to give four            garten.
messages on the theme "The Christian's Firm                 The Lord willing there are some exciting things
Foundation." It was a busy time but a real joy for        in the future. One of the most significant of these
us.                                                       will be the return of brother Jaikishin and his fami-
  According to the tradition of ERCS we had a             ly from the U.S.A. We are looking forward to the
special "Gospel Meeting" on Christmas Eve. Once           day when, in the providence of the Lord, Jaiki will
again I had the privilege of being the speaker at this    become the second pastor of the ERCS. In that con-
meeting. The message was translated into the              nection there is a revival of talk about the idea of
Chinese by one of our elders. The Lord blessed us         starting a second congregation. The church has
with a large attendance. There were more visitors         been exhorted to pray about this matter. Personally
at this meeting than we have ever had for any             we have long believed this to be a good idea. There
"Gospel Meeting." A number of the parents of our          would be many advantages to having more than
members were also present.                                one congregation even if both of these were some-
  The Sunday School which meets before the wor-           what smaller than our present congregation. We
ship service on the Lord's Day is also really pros-       especially hope and pray that such a move would
pering. We have a goodly number of children at-           expand the witness of our church in Singapore and
tending who are relatives of members of our               the proclamation of the Reformed Faith. The
church. It is especially a joy to see the youngest        greatest obstacle that we always face however is
class of the Sunday School. This class is made up         the problem of finding a proper meeting place.
largely of children from the congregation. The               Our family is now living in the house that the
eldest of these children are now between four and         church owns on Blair Road. Plans are to try to sell
five years old.                                           this property and purchase another. We are
  There is another group of young people who will         definitely going to be chased out of the kampong
soon be ready for confession of faith and member-         soon. The landlord has already received notice that
ship in our church. We have spent many months             this kampong will be demolished and he has to tell
instructing them from the Heidelberg Catechism in         his tenants to re-locate. The building committee has


                                           THE STANDARD BEARER                                             237



looked at a number of different places in the past       lived in for five years. It is larger and has more
year. But none of these proved to be suitable to pur-    room for the children to stretch their legs. The
chase. In most cases we could not obtain approval        design of this place is pretty uniquely Chinese and
from the authorities to use the places for a church.     quite different from Western homes. It has a large
Presently another property is being considered. It is    air well that is open to the sky. One of the halls on
a very large bungalow house with a large hall. The       the ground floor is used for various church meet-
committee is investigating the various legal mat-        ings. On the first of January we had a special prayer
ters. As we have told you before, this problem of        meeting for the new year. There were more than
meeting places is facing many small churches in          eighty people present for this meeting. That really
Singapore. Because the government is predom-             filled the place up. There are many other church
inately pagan we cannot look for any relief from all     meetings here. We have a regular Bible study group
the strict regulations governing building control in     that meets here every Thursday evening. This Bible
Singapore. So this remains a very great need for the     study has been pretty well attended. In the past we
ERCS. We ask for your prayers.                           have had some nurses from the hospital across the
  We continue to face quite a number of pastoral         street joining us. We have regular pre-marriage
problems in the church. It would not of course be        counseling classes here for couples intending to get
appropriate for me to detail any of these. Some of       married. I have been giving a class in Greek gram-
our members continue to wrestle with personal            mar to two students most of last year. The elders
spiritual problems. Often these problems involve         and session meetings are also held here. The area
relationships with non-Christian boy friends and         we live in is very traditionally Chinese so we as
girl friends. These things keep the pastors and          Westerners really stand out. The road on a number
elders of the church very busy. We have also lost a      of occasions has been used for Buddhist religious
few of our members through these problems. It is         festivals. It was quite a thing to experience this
sad when this happens. But the church through            right in front of our house. It reminded us of the
history has experienced these trials. Satan works        paganism we live in here and the urgency of
the hardest in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ       preaching the gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus
by various devices to deceive and discourage the         Christ.
members and lead them astray.                              We hope that this report has brought our work
  We enjoy living in the house at Blair Road. It has     closer to you again. We covet your continued
a number of advantages over the apartment we             prayer and support.





                                      Book Reviews



REASON WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF RELI-                        which Scripture plays in all true knowledge and ac-
GION,  by Nicholas Wolterstorff; Wm. B.  Eerd-           cused Wolterstorff of developing an epistemology
mans Publishing Co., 1984; 161 pp., $4.95 (paper).       which was basically a denial of the infallible Scrip-
(Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)                             tures and which leads inevitably to  scepticism.
  This is the second edition of a book originally        After re-reading the book, I can only maintain that
published in 1976. At the time of the original           original assessment.
publication I reviewed this book, which review can         This new edition, however, has some material
be found in the  Standard Bearer,  Vol. LIII, pp.        appended to it in which the author enlarges on the
497-499. In that rather lengthy review I criticized      basic theme of the original volume in a couple of
the book severely for denying the decisive role          areas where questions were raised. The additions,


238                                                     THE STANDAkD  BEARER



therefore, in no way modify his original position.                  when one considers that the author worked closely
  His purpose in the addendum is to discuss what                    for a number of years with Dwight L. Moody in the
God's goal for mankind is in order that he may                      evangelistic campaigns in London in 1875 and
show what our calling is to attain that goal. This is               1883-1884.
briefly stated on pp. 113, 114:
          . . . . I shall try to say what, in my judgment, the      STRUCTURES FOR MISSION,  Marvin D. Hoff,
       goal is . . . .                                              Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,
         The goal of human existence is that man should             243 pp. (paper) $11.95. (Reviewed by Prof. R.D.
       dwell at peace in all his relationships: with God, with      Decker)
       himself, with his fellows, with nature, a peace which
       is not merely the absence of hostility, though certainly       This book, written by the recently appointed
   it is that, but a peace which at its highest is  enjoyment.      President of Western Theological Seminary in
   To dwell in shalom is to enjoy living before God, to             Holland, Michigan, is part of the Historical Series
       enjoy living in nature, to enjoy living with one's           Of The Reformed Church in America. As such it is
   fellows, to enjoy life with oneself. A condition of              obviously of interest primarily to members of that
       shalom is justice, and a component in justice is libera-     denomination. The book traces the history of mis-
   tion from oppression. Never can there be shalom                  sion work done by the Reformed Church in
   without justice. Yet shalom is more than justice.                America (R.C.A.). What structures and methods did
   Justice can be grim. In shalom there is delight.                 the R.C.A. create and use to carry out its calling in
  If this quote leaves you with the impression that                 both foreign and domestic missions? From this
the author is advocating some sort of "social                       point of view the book is of interest for anyone in-
gospel," your impression is correct. Wolterstorff                   volved in missions.
looks for the kingdom here upon earth, a kingdom                      ,History buffs will also like the book. The R.C.A.
universal in scope, a kingdom embracing all men, a                  is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the
kingdom in which true peace is present in this sin-                 U.S.A. In 1628 the first church was established. It
ful world.                                                          was part of the Classis  of Amsterdam, the Nether-
  When all the verbiage, jargon, and technical                      lands, until 1792, a period of 164 years. This fact,
language is stripped away, it becomes evident that                  among others, the reader will learn from the
the whole gist of Wolterstorff's problem is whether                 fascinating first chapter, "The Reformed Church in
this universal kingdom of peace shall be achieved                  America From 1628 through 1945."
through theoretical thought or through action. Or,
to put it a bit differently, is this kingdom a place in
which there is room for knowledge for its own                       CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY,  by Keith
sake? or must we simply engage in action? The                       E. Yandell; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984;
rather anti-climactic answer is that both are                      289 pp., $10.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H.
necessary.                                                         Hanko)
  There is really nothing positive to say about the                   The question of a genuinely Biblical Christian
book. The only advantage to reading it is to learn of              philosophy is always an intriguing one; and it was,
current thinking in one branch of the church to                    therefore, with considerable interest, that I turned
which Wolterstorff belongs.                                        to this book. This was the more true because this
                                                                   book is the second in a series of books under the
OUR LORD PRAYS FOR HIS OWN,  Thoughts                              general theme: "Studies in a Christian World
on John 17, by Marcus Rainsford; Kregel Publica-                   View" edited by Carl F.H. Henry.
tions, 1985; 476 pp., $14.95 (paper). (Reviewed by                    While it has many interesting features about it, it
Prof. H. Hanko)                                                    does not succeed in presenting a Christian
  Rainsford was an Irish pastor, educated in Trini-                philosophy however, mainly because it proceeds
ty College (Dublin), who did his work in the last                  from a rationalistic viewpoint, while it is our con-
part of the 19th century. This book, meditations on                tention that any Christian philosophy must proceed
our Lord's high priestly prayer, is called "the great-             on the basis of faith in the Scriptures.
est classic ever written on Christ's high priestly                    The book is addressed to "those who already
prayer for His people." It is particularly devotional              have some acquaintance with philosophy - to col-
writing, but must be read carefully, for the author                lege juniors and seniors with some background in
not only does not emphasize the distinctives of                    philosophy on up (if that is the right direction), and
sovereign and particular grace, with which this                    to those who are interested enough in the topics
prayer of the Lord is filled, but is, in many in-                  discussed to be willing to work to follow an attempt
stances, openly Arminian. This is not surprising                   to deal with them."


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 239





                        CONFERENCE ON PRESBYTERIANISM
         Monday, March 3, 1986, 8:00 P.M.
            Topic: "The History Of Scotch-Irish Presbyterianism."
            Speaker: Rev. George G. Hutton, pastor of The Bible Presbyterian Church,
                       Larne, North Ireland.
         Tuesday, March 4, 1986, 9:00 A.M.
            Topic: "A Comparison Of The Westminster Standards And The Three Forms Of Unity."
            Discussion introduced by: Prof. H. Hanko, Prof. in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.
         Tuesday, March 4, 1986,  I:30 P.M.
            Topic: "Presbyterian Principles Of Worship."
         Discussion introduced by: Rev. George G. Hutton.
            All meetings will be held in the South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, 1651 1
        South Park Ave., South Holland, IL.
            This conference is arranged by the Committee On Conferences of  Classis West, in con-
        junction with the Evangelism Committee of the South Holland Protestant Reformed
         Church.
                                      THE PUBLIC IS CORDIALLY INVITED!!!


                         News From Our Churches
                                                       January  30,1986

  From First Church's Jamaica Mission Committee                     Rev. Bruinsma reports that they are still waiting
we received the following report:                                 on the government of Jamaica for incorporation.
  "Rev. Joostens and his family were the victims of               They have obtained a title to the Cave Mt. property
an armed burglary at their home in Jamaica on                     and expect future titles to their Belmont and
January 15. By the grace of God no one was                        Beeston Spring properties. They continue to seek
physically hurt, but the family was psychologically              titles for Lacovia and Dias properties. He also
shaken up. A delegation was sent to assist them and              reports that electricity has been installed in all the
the Bruinsmas during this difficult time. We have                 churches. The Belmont Church will be getting
felt God's faithfulness through this trial, as the                doors and windows soon. Cave Mt. and  Beeston
commitment to the field is very deep in both                      Spring Churches will also be starting their building
families. Though we would not choose to walk this                projects soon.
way, we are persuaded that also these things are                    There are many changes taking place in our
meant for good and the furtherance of His work on                church buildings. A very important building proj-
the island of Jamaica. The Joostens and Bruinsma                 ect (the most important one to our Loveland
families continue to covet our prayers and letters as            readers) is the new Loveland Church, Colorado,
they labor on our behalf." (Letters to both families             which is a 54 x 100 foot structure attached to the
can be addressed to: Ferris Heights, Cave P.O.,                  old church, capable of seating 350 people. The
Westmoreland, Jamaica.)                                          sheetrock and brick are being put up. The $115,000
  Our missionary, Rev. Bruinsma, writes that the                 air conditioned church will be completed in March.
policy for missions in Jamaica which speaks of the                  Other changes include the following. South
missionary focusing his labors in a certain area for a           Holland Church, Illinois, is buying new carpet for
time is a good one. He feels that the spiritual fruits           the church auditorium. Southeast Church, Grand
of such labors are showing themselves in the two                 Rapids, Michigan, is purchasing additional and im-
congregations with which he works.. Everyone has                 proved recording equipment at a cost of $2,650 to
warmed up to the Bruinsmas and the people are not                improve the recording of their sermons and the
afraid to speak with them about their problems.,                 clarity of their Sunday broadcast. First Church,
                                                                 Holland, Michigan, will seal and stripe their park-
David Harbach is a teacher at Adams St.  Prot. Ref.              ing lot in the Spring. First Church, Grand Rapids,
Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan.                        has approved the completion of the lower level of


         THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                                                     SECOND CLASS
                P.O. Box 6064                                                                                                   POSTAGE PAID AT
      Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516             _-.- ~- .~~~-  ~.  -  ~~
F$                                                                                       .        i,        :._     _        GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.





      240                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER


      their church.                                                                       NOTICE  - SYNODICAL COMMITTEES!!!
         The consistory of Hudsonville Church decided in                            All standing and special committees of Synod are hereby notified
                                                                                that all the material for the 1986 Synod of the Protestant Reformed
      November to have some of their Psalters rebound                           Churches should be in the hands of the Stated Clerk no later than
      at $4.50 per book, which is a good price since the                        April 15, 1986. Please send material to the undersigned.
      Psalter is presently out-of-print.                                        Rev. M. Joostens
                                                                                2016 Tekonsha  SE.
         Rev. Harbach's commentary on Genesis is com-                           Grand Rapids, Ml 49506
      pleted and will go to the printers soon. Contribu-
      tions can be made out to the Grandville Church                                                                     NOTICE!!!
      Publishing Committee and sent to Mr. Dennis                                   The Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School is in need of a
      Dykstra, 3228 Chestnut, Grandville, MI 49418.                             Kindergarten and 1 st Grade teacher for the 1986-l 987 school year.
                                                                                Teachers interested in applying for this position please write to the
         Our schools have now passed the half-way point                         Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School, 218  - 2nd Street, Hull, IA
      for this school year, and the support they have                           51239, or phone Ron Koole, (712) 439-1060 or Glenn Kooiker,
                                                                                ( 7 1 2 )   3 2 4 - 2 9 7 3 .
      received from the household of faith has been en-
      couraging. They still need that support and more if                                                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
      they are going to meet their needs for the re-                                On the 3rd of February, 1986, our parents, MR. AND MRS.
      mainder of the school year.                                               CHARLES E. VAN MEETEREN, commemorated their 30th wedding
                                                                                anniversary together. We, their children and grandchildren are
                                                                                thankful to God for them and for the covenant instruction we have
                          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                   been privileged to receive at their hands. Our prayer for them is that
                                                                                they may continue to dwell together under the blessed Hand of God
         On February 15, 1986, our parents and grandparents, MR. AND            Who gave them to each other and to us.
      MRS. ALLEN  HENDRIKS  celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
      We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for them and their covenant        their children:
      instruction. May God guide and keep them in the years He may give.            Charles A. and Beth Van Meeteren                  Gary and Mary Gaastra
                                                                                    Randy and Nancy Hendriks                          Beth Van Meeteren
      their children:                                                               Don and  Shelly  De Vries                           and 7 grandchildren
         Mr. and Mrs. Larry Nelson           Mr. and Mrs. Randy Hendriks
         Mr. and Mrs. Bob Figert             Mr. and Mrs. Brad Hendriks
         Mr. and Mrs. Joe Meaney                 and 10 grandchildren                                               ATTENTION!!!
         Mr. and Mrs. Roger  Jacobsma
                                                                                        Reformed Free Publishing Association has a limited number of
                                    NOTICE!!!                                      cloth-bound copies of  Behold, He Cometh!  in stock. You may
                                                                                   order a copy, pre-paid, for $12.95 plus $1.50 postage. Book
         Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will meet in             club members receive a 30% discount. Write to:
      South Holland, Ill., on Wednesday, March 5, 1986, at  8:30 AM, the                                   Reformed Free Publishing Association
      Lord willing. Delegates in need of lodging should notify the Clerk of                                P.O. Box 2006
      the South Holland Council.                                                                           Grand Rapids, Ml 49501
                                                                                   or call Eunice Kuiper at (616) 534-l 927.
      Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
      Classis West                                                                      Note: After the current, very limited supply of hard-cover
                                                                                   copies is exhausted, this book will be available only in a paper-
                                                                                   back edition.
                         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
         The Adult Bible Class of the Loveland Protestant Reformed Church
      expresses its sympathy to one of its members, Mrs. Esther Griess,                                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
      and her family in the death of her husband, MR. ALVIN GRIESS.                 On January 5 our dear friends, MR.  & MRS. CHESTER E. HUNTER,
         May she and her bereaved family be comforted in the certainty          SR., celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. We take this oppor-
      that in life or death we are not our own, but belong unto our faithful    tunity to express our love and appreciation for their special care for
      Savior, Jesus Christ.                                                     us, for all of our shared experiences, and for their beautiful example
      Rev. Ron Cammenga, Leader                                                 to us of a godly marriage and home. We marvel at the strange way
                                                                                the Lord directed all our paths to meet.

                                    NOTICE!!!                                       Our prayer is that they may have many more years together and
                                                                                that we may continue to enjoy their fellowship for many years to
         All students enrolled in the Protestant Reformed Seminary, who         come.
      will be in need of financial assistance for the 1986-l 987 school
      year, are asked to contact the Student Aid Committee's secretary:             "The friendship of the Lord Is ever with his own;
      Mr. Larry Meulenberg, 342 Begole S.W., Grand Rapids, Ml 49504,                  And unto those that fear His name His faithfulness is shown."
      Phone (616) 453-8466. This contact should be made before the              Their "adopted" children,
      next meeting of the committee on March 13, 1986.                          Mr.  & Mrs. lgnacio Quenga
      Larry Meulenberg                                                          Dwight Felix


