          The
     STANDARD
         BEARH?
w          A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE                                       .


     . . . When the time of our departure comes,
     our souls enter into the heavenly portals to
     be with the Lord. Our bodies are stowed
     away in the grave, asleep in the Lord. There
     this mortal body awaits the coming of the
     Lord of glory, Who will send forth the
     trumpet call, and the dead shall be raised,
     and we shall be changed. Soul and body will
     once more be united to glorify God in
     heavenly perfection.
       0 death! Where is thy sting? 0 grave,
     where is thy victory?
         See ' `Christ the Firstfruits' ' - page  290

c                                              Vol.  LXII, No. 13, April 1, 1986  J


290                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER




                               CONTENTS                                                                        THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                        ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                              Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
  Meditation  -                                                                            Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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       Christ the Firstfruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . .290       Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
  Editor's Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292     Department Editors:  Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog, Prof. Robert
                                                                                   D. Decker, Rev. Barry Gritters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko,
  Editorial -                                                                      Rev. Ronald Hanko, Mr. David Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. J. Kortering,
                                                                                   Rev. George C.  Ltibbers, Rev. Thomas C. Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.
       Our Urgent Need of Students for the Ministry. .293                          Gise J. Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman.
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          - Abortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295                            4930  Ivanrest Ave., Apt. B
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MEDITATION
Cornelius Hanko




                                             Christ the Firstfruits

                 But now is Christ risen from. the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
                                                                                                                           I Corinthians 15.20



  If not . . . .                                                                     tion  in the last day . . . .
  If there be no resurrection of the dead . . . .                                       Why should anyone be a cross bearer for Christ's
  If false teachers should be right, that there is no                                sake, be cast into prison, beaten, mutilated, killed
hereafter, or that it is scientifically impossible for                              by inches for a faith that proves to be a mere  fan-
the dead to be raised, so that there is no  resurrec-                                tasy?


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                              291



  Imagine living an antithetical life as stranger and         He is chosen eternally to be the Christ, God's
pilgrim in the world, resisting the temptations of          Anointed, the chief Servant in God's house. As
the devil and our own flesh, bearing the scorn and          such He is our eternal Prophet, our devoted
mockery of an evil world, spending large sums of            Highpriest, and our exalted King. Willingly the Son
money to give our children a Christian education            gave Himself to carry out the eternal counsel and
without any assurance that our present affliction           purpose of God.
works an eternal glory!                                       Immediately after the fall He was promised as
  Then, indeed, our faith would be vain.                    the Destroyer of Satan, the Savior  .of His people.
  Then those who preach a resurrection from the             This first promise was enriched by signs and
dead are fanatic deceivers.                                 wonders, types and shadows, visions and dreams,
                                                            and all sorts of revelations. Repeatedly Christ ap-
  Then the Bible itself is not true, for the Bible          peared as the Angel of Jehovah; the coming Savior.
speaks of a resurrection of the righteous unto eter-        Prophets spoke of Him, inspired poets sang of Him,
nal life!                                                   believers placed their trust and hope in Him, and
  Then Christ is not risen from the dead! We are            were not put to shame.
still in our sins! Hopelessly lost! The most miser-           In the fulness of time the promised Messiah
able of all creatures!                                      came, born of a virgin, like us in all things, sin ex-
  Then God Himself is a liar, for He promises               cepted. He willingly bowed Himself under the ter-
throughout the Scriptures that He will raise His            rific burden of God's wrath against our sins. He
saints in the likeness of Christ's glorified body!          became the Man of Sorrows as He entered our
  Then He is not the Resurrection and the Life!             valley of death to overcome the power of death and
Then He is not God!                                         merit for us eternal life.
  Perish the thought!                                         Sin, death, hell: horrible monsters of destruction!
  But now. . . .                                              We enter this world as sinners who add to our
                                                            sins at every breath we take. Sin is transgression of
  Powerful Word of God that defies all opposition!          the divine law that requires of us, "Thou shalt love
  Triumphant cry of victory that banishes all               the Lord thy God with thy whole being!" Breaking
doubts and assures us that we have the victory over         God's law makes us guilty, and guilt deserves
sin and death! Our hope is secure!                          God's just condemnation, "Accursed is every one
  But now Christ is risen from the dead!                    who does not abide in all that is written in the book
                                                            of the law to do it." The soul that sins must die.
  Besides the witness of the vacated tomb and the
appearances of Jesus after His resurrection, we               Death destroys this body, sometimes brought on
have the testimony of many faithful witnesses who           by cancer or some loathsome disease, and accom-
saw Him, touched Him, and heard Him speak to                panied by excruciating pain. The body succumbs to'
them! He was seen by Paul himself!                          the power of the grim reaper. The soul goes to its
  The Old Testament saints had the promise; they            eternal home. The eye sees no more, the ear hears
lived and died in the hope of Christ's resurrection.        no more, the mouth can utter no sound. Nothing re-
Abraham caught a glimpse of it when he sacrificed           mains except a cold, lifeless corpse, decomposing,
his son Isaac. David spoke of it. Elijah and Elisha         rotting, returning to the dust. As soon as possible
were assured of it as they raised people from the           these remains are laid away in a grave, which, apart
grave. Even Isaiah spoke of the victory of the Suf-         from grace, is a portal to hell. Hell with its ceaseless
fering Servant over death and the grave.                    torment defies description. There the rich man of
                                                            the parable begs for a drop of water to cool his
  This is the gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed in       tongue for a passing second, and even this is re-
the New Testament Scriptures, the very essence of           fused him. God in His just judgment banishes the
Paul's preaching. For he preached Christ crucified          guilty sinner from Him with an unending, "Depart
and risen!                                                  from Me, thou worker of iniquity, I know thee
  We have God's own word for it that our hope is            not!" The sinner can only turn away in remorse
not vain!                                                   and despair!
  Christ is risen!                                            He is risen!
  He is the Son of God, the second person of the              Christ entered into our death with all its horror
divine trinity. He.is the Word, the revelation of the       to overcome it from those given to Him by the
fulness of the Godhead.                                     Father.
Cornelius Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant      The Son of God in our flesh took our death upon
Reformed Churches.                                          Himself, and overcame it, as it were, in reverse. So


292                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



to speak, He first entered into our hell and              many years they had served as a type of the risen
destroyed its power. Then He took our physical            Lord, the proof and assurance of the eternal harvest
death upon Himself, demanding of death to take            of the saints with Christ in His glory!
Him, and destroyed that power. He was sur-                  The first Adam has stood as our representative
rendered to the grave, and on the third day He            head in paradise. By him sin came into the world
arose triumphantly as the mighty Conqueror over           and death through sin. Christ came as the last
Satan, sin, hell, death, and the grave!                   Adam, the representative Head of all those given to
   God came, took on our flesh in our likeness, and       Him of the Father. We were in Christ, as chosen in
lived for a time among sinners. How hard that must        Him from eternity. When He died, we died; when
have been for the sinless Jesus. He even bent His         He arose we arose in Him. For as all those who
back under the tremendous burden of divine wrath          were in Adam died in Adam, so all those who are in
against our sins. A close observer must have been         Christ are risen in Him. As our Firstfruits He arose
able to trace the pain lines on His face and              in a new resurrection body, a surety that we will be
recognize the soul struggle in His demeanor.              raised with Him. Our weak mortal body will be
Always He bore these agonies with His eye fixed on        transformed into the likeness of His glorious body,
the glory that would follow. Even in Gethsemane           that we may live and reign with Him forever!
that glory had not faded entirely from His sight,           Our Savior surrendered Himself unto death and
though the anticipation of the cross overwhelmed          the grave. His body lay in the tomb among the
His soul. But on Calvary also that anticipated glory      many millions of dead in this huge cemetery of a
faded from His sights as He descended deeper, ever        passing world. Our Lord broke open His grave,
deeper into black darkness, forsaken, alone, totally      came forth out of the sealed tomb, and had His
isolated from His God, until He cried out, "My            resurrection announced by angels who guarded the
God, My God! Whereto this awesome loneliness?             vacated tomb. He is the Firstfruits, the Captain of
Why hast Thou cast Me off?" The cry itself re-            our salvation, leading many sons into glory!
vealed perfect self-surrender in humble obedience!
God reached down, as it were, and drew His Son,             As newborn creatures in Christ we already ex-
the Christ, out of the depths of hell. For atonement      perience the power of His resurrection. We are
had been made. Life was merited for Himself and           born again, not of corruptible, but of incorruptible
us. Now He could surrender Himself to physical            seed, by the operation of Christ's Spirit in us. We
death to arise victoriously over all death and the        have the beginning of eternal life within us; death is
grave!                                                    swallowed up in victory. When the time of our
                                                          departure comes, our souls enter into the heavenly
  The Son of God in our flesh had the right and the       portals to be with the Lord. Our bodies are stowed
power to raise His weak, earthly body into a              away in the grave, asleep in the Lord. There this
glorious heavenly and spiritual body, fit for immor-      mortal body awaits the coming of the Lord of glory,
tality and glory!                                         Who will send forth the trumpet call, and the dead
  But now Christ is risen from the dead!                  shall be raised, and we shall be changed! Soul and
  And He is become the Firstfruits of them that           body will once more be united to glorify God in
slept!                                                    heavenly perfection!
  It was the Passover Feast, the Feast of Firstfruits,      0 death! Where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is
when the `first sheaves of ripening grain were            thy victory?
brought into the temple to be presented to the Lord         Praise be to God, Who has given us the victory in
in thanksgiving for the harvest. These firstfruits        our Lord Jesus Christ!
were God's assurance of an abundant harvest. For



                                           Editor's Notes

   Mistaken Identity. Just in case you wondered,          after the copy left my office, the gremlins worked
the editorial in the March 1 issue was from the           on it and mischievously promoted Prof. Hanko to
editor's pen, not from Prof. Hanko's. If I believed       the editorship and at the same time made him a
there was such a thing as gremlins, I would say that      plagiarist.


                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                           293



  Scholarship Applications. This note is some-                                Michigan congregation, will be celebrating its first
what complementary to my editorial in this issue.                             anniversary this month. From the management I
Our Young People's Federation and its Federation                              have gleaned a few items of interest. 1) It has been
Board maintain a scholarship fund to assist pro-                              more successful than expected in promoting
spective Protestant Reformed teachers and                                     Reformed literature, including our own RFPA pub-
ministers who are attending or planning to attend                             lications. Some $18,000 worth of business was trans-
college. From the Federation Board I received the                             acted in its first year. Throughout the past year the
following announcement: "The Scholarship Fund                                 personnel (volunteer clerks) have experienced that
Committee is taking applications for future                                   the RBO is a consistent witness to the Reformed
teachers/ministers for the 1986-87 school year. If                            truth. Frequently  custorriers  have remarked that
you are interested, please contact Mike Rau, 4165                             they can depend on finding Biblical and Reformed
Jenison St.,  Grandville,.  MI 49418, for application                         books on RBO's shelves. 2) In March RBO ex-
forms. An essay of 300 or more words is also re-                              panded into mail-order business on a large scale,
quired on the topic, `The Protestant Reformed                                 with a mailing throughout our Protestant Reformed
minister/teacher's calling to set forth the antithesis                        denomination. If any of our readers desires to get
in preaching and teaching." Deadline for applica-                             on the mailing list for RBO's catalogues, write to:
tions to be received is June 1, 1986."                                        Reformed Book Outlet, 3505 Kelly, Hudsonville,
             *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *          MI 49426. 3) From April 15-30 there will be a First
  RBO News.                                                                   Anniversary Sale, with all books at reduced prices
                          The Reformed Book Outlet, the
bookstore project emanating from our Hudsonville,                             and all RFPA books at 35% off.

EDITORIAL
Herman C. Hanko





                               Our Urgent Need of Students
                                                       for the Ministry



  This editorial is occasioned especially by two fac-                            But the basic reason for this editorial lies in the
tors.                                                                          fact that there is indeed an urgent need of students
  In the first place, this is the time of year when                            for the ministry in our churches. I do not know in
our Theological School Committee issues its annual                             how far our churches and our people are aware of
"Call To Aspirants To The Ministry." That call was                             this need and of its urgency. I know that this need
issued already in our March 1 issue. In fact, actual-                         has been called to the attention of our churches
ly the time to respond (March 20) will be past when                           more than once in recent years, of course. But I do
this appears in print, although I have no doubt that                          not know in how far the churches are aware of the
the Theological School Committee would be over-                               need and of its urgency. Hence, I take this means to
joyed to hear from a late applicant. In the second                            try to underscore the need and its urgency.
place, the time of high school graduations is fast ap-                           First of all, it is not my purpose in these lines to
proaching; and this is naturally the time, too, when                          call attention to the urgent need in this regard
young men consider their future as far as higher                              which is always principally present. I refer in this
education is concerned.                                                       connection to our Lord's emphasis that the harvest
                                                                              truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few, and that
Herman C. Hanko is professor in the Church History and                        we should pray the Lord of the harvest that He will
New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed                          send forth laborers into His harvest. My colleague
Seminary.                                                                     at seminary, Prof. Hanko, called attention to this in


294                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



a convocation address some time ago, an address            pointments in store. Only our covenant God, Who
which was also published in The Standard Beaver. In        has always provided for us as churches and Who, I
this editorial I rather proceed from that principal        am sure, will continue to provide for us, knows
truth.                                                     what He has in store for us in the future.
   In the second place, my purpose is practical. It is       From that point of view, we must not and we
my intention to call your attention to the present         may not and we need not worry and be anxious.
actual need in our churches. If you will, I aim to         That would be sinful.
draw your attention to the special urgency in our
churches of this always urgent need.                         This is not to say, however, that we should not be
                                                           concerned.  To be blissfully unconcerned and
  A look at some statistics will demonstrate this          careless is also sinful. For it belongs to our calling as
urgency.                                                   churches to preach the Word. And as surely as that
  Here are the facts:                                      is our calling, so surely it also belongs to our calling
   1. This year, the Lord willing, we will have three      as churches to bring forth and to train preachers of
seminary graduates, sufficient to meet the current         that Word. Those preachers must come forth out of
needs of our three congregations which are without         the bosom of our churches!
a pastor.                                                    What, then, `must we do?
  2. At present we have two pre-seminary                     First of all, we must heed the injunction of our
students, both of whom have three years of  pre-           Lord, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest
seminary training to complete. After this year's           that he will send forth laborers into his harvest."
graduation there will be no seminary students; and,        We must do this as congregations. We must do this
unless something unforeseen arises, there will be          as families and individuals. By this I mean not
no seminary students for at least another three            merely a general prayer for the welfare of our
years.                                                     Theological School. But I mean that this specific
  3. When and if our two current pre-seminary              need and concern in our churches should be ad-
students begin their seminary training, it will be         dressed in our prayers.
another four years before they can graduate. This            In the second place, pastors and elders, but also
brings us seven years down the road, to 1993,              parents and even teacher-counsellors, should bring
before there can be new candidates for the ministry        this need to the attention of our young men, par-
in our denomination. This is the longest period in         ticularly young men who appear to them to have
the history of our seminary and of our denomina-           talents and gifts and abilities to study and learn. I
tion in which there will be no new candidates. In          am well aware that there is a danger of "pushing"
previous years, the longest gap was six years.             someone into preparing for the ministry against his
  4. By that time at least two of our currently active     better knowledge. This must not be done; in fact, it
ministers, if they live and remain healthy, will be        is one of the worst things that can be done. But
past  70 years old and of an age to retire. One of         there is also such a thing as wise and discreet
these is the Rev. G. Lanting; the other is the writer      guidance and encouraging young men to consider
of these lines.                                            whether the Lord is pointing them in the direction
                                                           of such preparation.
  5. It is plain to see, therefore, that, given the
above set of statistics, there is only the potential of      Finally, let me take this opportunity to address
maintaining our current number of active                   young men directly, particularly young men who
ministers. This leaves out of the picture the              are considering the question of further education
possibility of unforeseen attrition in the ranks of        upon graduation from high school, or even some of
our ministers (a possibility which is very real). It       our young men who are perhaps already in college.
                                                           Don't make the mistake of looking at your future
leaves out of the picture the possibility - also very
real  - of an increase in the number of congrega-          simply from a carnal point of view of what you may
tions and in the number of ministerial stations.           or may not like to do. But consider and seek the
                                                           answer to the question, "Lord, what wilt Thou
  It is plain to see, therefore, that the need is very     have me to do?"
concretely urgent.
  Now I am well aware of the fact that this conclu-            The Standard Bearer
sion is based on current statistics and on projec-
tions concerning future years of which we know
nothing yet. Things may change. These projections            makes a lovely gift for
may prove to be altogether wrong. The Lord may
have some pleasant surprises in store for us in                  the sick & shut-in.
future vears. He may also have some keen disap-


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       295



WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Herman C. Hanko





     Moral Aspects of Medical Technology (4)
                                                 - Abortion



  As we noticed in our last article on this subject,               On June 8, 1982, after extensive hearings on S.J.
abortion has become a national crime of unparalleled             Res. 110, (pp. 3-4), the United States Senate Judiciary
proportions. The Supreme Court of our country has                Committee concluded,  `I. . . no significant legal bar-
legalized abortion completely so that it can be per-             riers of any kind whatsoever exist today in the United
formed legally in this country at any time during                States for a woman to obtain an abortion for any
pregnancy. In a recent mailing by a pro-life group,              reason during any stage of her pregnancy."
the following is stated:                                           In effect, so long as a woman can find a physician
                                                                 willing to perform one, she has a constitutional right
     Is abortion legal throughout nine months of                 to obtain an abortion in America at any time
   pregnancy?                                                    throughout the nine months of pregnancy, right up to
     Yes it is.                                                  birth.
     Contrary to popular belief, the 1973 Supreme Court         The result is wholesale murder, condoned and
   decisions, (Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton), ruled that     promoted by the highest court of the land. Already
   any state abortion law in the future would have to         millions of abortions have been carried out in our
   meet the following guidelines.                             land, and the slaughter continues. The land runs
     First Trimester. During the first three months of        red with the blood of countless murdered infants.
   pregnancy, the state must leave the abortion decision      What terrible judgments await a country, osten-
   entirely to a woman and her doctor.                        sibly Christian, when such monstrous crimes are
     Second Trimester. In the second three months, the        committed without a second thought.
   state may only enact laws which regulate abortions in
   ways "reasonably related to maternal health'. This           In this article we want to examine the moral
   simply means that a state may determine who is quali-      aspects of abortion so that the teaching of the Word
   fied to perform the abortion and where such an opera-      of God may be clear on this matter.
   tion may take place. The state may not enact laws
   which safeguard the lives of the unborn.                     The views of those who support abortion differ
                                                              widely. A number of  evangelicals openly support
     Third Trimester. After the woman's sixth or              abortion for limited reasons. Some approve of abor-
   seventh month, the law may forbid her to have an
   abortion that is not determined to be necessary to         tion only  .when clear evidence is present that the
   preserve her life or health. The court went on to          fetus will be, if born, less than human; i.e., that the
   define the word "health" in broad terms:  ". . . the       fetus shows such extensive evidence of brain
   medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all      damage that it cannot live a human life in any signi-
   factors  - physical, emotional, psychological, familial    ficant sense of that term. The trouble with this posi-
   and the woman's age - relevant to the well-being of        tion is that no one is really able to define what is
   the patient. All these factors may be related to           meant by "significant human life." Some are
   health." (Doe v. Bolton, 1973)                             cautious and would limit the term to those fetuses
                                                              who show no kind of response to any stimulus of
Herman C. Hanko is professor in the Church History and        any kind. Others are more broad in their definition,
New Testament departments at the Protestant Reformed          and would include severe mental retardation. The
SeminaT.                                                      logic of this position, however, leads to yet broader


296                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER



positions in which any child with any kind of men-                altar of selfishness to the god pleasure. The crime is
tal handicap is said to be capable of only sub-                   as great and the wickedness as horrible.
human life and is a candidate for abortion. It was                  We want to examine a bit more in detail the posi-
Jones' position that abortion is permissible when a               tion of D. Gareth Jones which he sets forth in his
fetus is obviously sub-human which created all the                book, Brave New People, because it really leads us to
stir over his book, Brave New  People.  First pub-                the heart of the issue.
lished by Inter-Varsity Press, it was withdrawn
from the market after loud protests by pro-life peo-                While Jones is at great pains to define his posi-
ple. Subsequently, Wm. B. Eerdmans published the                  tion as being as close as possible to the position
book after some minor revisions, although Jones'                  which various pro-life groups take, even going so
position was not altered in the least. According to               ,far as to disapprove of abortion on the grounds of
the January 26, 1986 issue of  Chrisfian  News, this              rape and incest, nevertheless he approves of it in
book has been approved by Carl F.H. Henry and                     cases of fetal abnormalities. Even here he is very
Lewis Smedes.                                                     cautious: "I am not, therefore, advocating easy
                                                                  abortion and certainly not abortion-on-demand. My
  Sometimes abortions are condoned on the                         argument is based on the premise that the decision
grounds of physical disabilities of one sort or                   to abort is made on profoundly serious grounds and
another in the fetus which have been detected                     not for overtly self-centered reasons, and I would
before birth. Others would permit abortion only in                always prefer an alternative course of action" (p.
cases of rape and incest where conception takes                   178). Nevertheless, circumstances arise, in Jones'
place as a result. Yet others permit abortion when                opinion, where abortion is justified. He writes:
the physical and/or mental well-being of the
mother is endangered by a pregnancy brought to                         A frequently quoted ground for abortion is the men-
term. The feminist movement drives hard for abor-                    tal health of the mother. In the present discussion I
tion under any circumstances whatsoever if a                         am concerned with this as a possible reason for abor-
                                                                     tion when the fetus is known to be seriously de-
woman with child desires to have her fetus                           formed. My contention is that there may be extreme
aborted. These plagues on society argue that a                       instances where this should be seriously considered,
woman's body is her own, and she alone has the                       although such instances will always be exceptions to
right to determine what shall happen to it. The                      the general rule of fetal protection. By their very
result is that the decision to have an abortion is left              nature they are compromises, because what is being
to the pregnant woman alone. In many states she                      done is far from ideal. And yet there may sometimes
need not even secure the permission of her hus-                      be family situations in which a whole host of adverse
band - or of the man responsible for her pregnan-                    social conditions taken together may lead to an inabili-
cy. And if the .pregnant woman be a young girl, still                ty to cope with the birth of a severely deformed or
in the parental home, many states permit her to                      retarded child. An abortion may, under such dire cir-
have an abortion without the consent, or even the                    cumstances, be regarded as the least tragic of a
                                                                     number of tragic options (p. 178).
knowledge of her parents. John Jefferson Davis
writes in his book, Evangelical Ethics:                             When everything else is said and done,
         The vast majority of abortions performed in the          therefore, clearly Jones argues in favor of the abor-
       United States are done not for medical reasons  - to       tion of seriously deformed children. He considers
       preserve the life or health of the mother  - but           the birth of such children and, under certain condi-
       primarily for social reasons: pregnancy outside of         tions, the consequences of such a birth for the fami-
       marriage, contraceptive failure, economic considera-       ly and for society, to be such great evils that the evil
       tions, questions of personal convenience and lifestyle,    of abortion is to be preferred.
       and so forth. Even before the 1973 Supreme Court
       decisions, abortion on strictly medical grounds was          What is particularly interesting is the fact that
       becoming increasingly rare  (p. 136).                      Jones discusses all this in the context of the ques-
  Jefferson is correct. Pregnancies and children in-              tion whether a fetus is in fact a person. The implica-
terfere with one's personal conveniences, one's life              tions of this question are discussed at some length
style, one's pursuit of monetary gain. Children cost              by the author. And he frankly admits that, "The
money. They tie one down. They make the pursuit                   view that the fetus has the status of full personhood
of pleasure and fun  more  difficult. They keep                   from the moment of conception implies absolute
women from working outside the home and adding                    protection for the embryo and fetus at every stage
to the family finances with their weekly paycheck.                of development" (p. 164). So clear is this to Jones
It is by no means an exaggeration to say that the                 that the logic of his position leads him to deny the
situation in our country  is as bad as that which                 fact that the fetus or embryo is indeed a person at
prevailed in Judah when the Israelites offered their              every stage of its development. And  `this is the
children to the god Moloch and burned children in                 crucial point on which the whole argument turns.
his fiery arms. Today children are offered on the                 He writes:


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          297



      The perspective I wish to develop, therefore, is that           equated with a living person . .  ." (p. 174).
    each fetus is a human life, representing a  potential           And that brings us to the heart of the question:
    [here the underscoring is ours, H.H.) for personhood          Does the Bible teach that the fetus, from the mo-
    from very early in its development. From this early           ment of conception, is a person? If the fetus is not a
    stage it is a potential person, and from about eight
    weeks onwards has a recognizable individuality as             person at some (or every) stage of its fetal develop-
    manifested by its circulation and brain activity. It is       ment, then abortion is not wrong: it is only the
    well on the road to full personhood, and for most prac-       severing, from the body of the mother, of a glob of
    tical purposes may be considered to be a person.              tissue. Jones may speak all he wants about a poten-
    Nevertheless, I do not wish to draw a line between            tial person, about "the fetus being built into the im-
    when a fetus  is not a person  and when a fetus  is a per-    age and likeness of God" (p.  174), but the fact re-
    son. Throughout the whole of its development the              mains that it only has certain potentials for person-
    fetus is potentially an actual person, and deserves the       hood, and is not in fact a person at all. But if the
    respect and treatment due to a being with this sort of        fetus is a person from conception on, then abortion
    potential (p. 162).                                           is murder, because murder is the killing of a per-
  After an extremely brief treatment of the Biblical              son.
data on this important question, Jones concludes:                   But further discussion on this will have to wait
      . . . Very important as these principles are, they          till our next issue.
    should not be used to suggest that the fetus is to be

ALL AROUND US                                     '
Robert D. Decker




                                         Feminism and the Bible
                       What's Right With Evangelical Worship
                                       Did Jesus Really Say That?



Feminism and the Bible                                                    So begins a recent hymn written from a feminist
  Feminism has made quite an impact upon the                         perspective. Two lines from a Jewish feminist dox-.
                                                                     ology read:
churches, more perhaps than we of the relatively
small and isolated Protestant Reformed community                            Blessed is She who in the beginning gave birth . . .
are aware. Just how serious this movement is was                            Blessed is She whose womb covers the earth.
made clear in a recent article by James R. Edwards                        For most Christians, the impact of feminism is
in Christianity Today (February 21, 1986). Edwards'                  doubtless less extreme than these two examples . . . .
point is that how we refer to God makes a signifi-                   Inclusive language and feminist theology: What is
cant difference. Here is what he had to say:                         behind it, and where might it lead? Increasingly, our
                                                                     churches will be confronted by the issue. Is it possible
        Who is she,                                                  to think about it and not simply be buffeted between
        neither male nor female,                                     the poles of convention and trend? Perhaps a look at
        maker of all things                                          the wider context of the issue will help . . . . Feminist
        only glimpsed or hinted,                                     theology concerns itself with woman's role in Crea-
        source of life and gender?                                   tion, redemption, and the church. Such questions are
        She is God,                                                  intensified by the fact that, in two millenia of church
        mother, sister, lover:                                       history, women have rarely been allowed to tell their
        in her love we wake,                                         own story. Within the Judeo-Christian tradition, half
        move and grow, are daunted,                                  the human race has been spoken for (or to), but essen-
        triumph and surrender.                                       tially deprived of a voice in behalf of its own image,
                                                                     faith, and community.
Robert D. Decker is professor of Practical Theology and                   Feminist theology, however, has gone beyond its
New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.                   origins in women's suffrage and civil rights. With Pro-


I    2 9 8                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



              methean intimations it is clamoring for a  resymboli-       What's Right With Evangelical Worship
              zation of Christianity, based on categories of
              feminism. Such theology, to quote Elizabeth                   Another movement of no little consequence
         Achtemeier of Union Theological Seminary (Va.), is               among the churches these days is that of "Liturgi-
              "in the process of laying the foundations for a new         cal Renewal." Liturgy refers to the worship of God
              faith and a new church that are, at best, only loosely      by the church. The worship services are "parched
              related to apostolic Christianity." Feminists who           and barren," it is alleged. The church needs to
              desire to change the names of God from Father, King,        change its order of worship. Some churches are
              and Lord, to "Womb of Being," "Immanent Mother,"            moving in the direction of less formal services.
              "Life Force, " "Divine Generatrix," or "Ground of Be-       Usually this means more active participation in the
         ing" are not merely switching labels on a product.               services by the people in the pew. Pastors walk up
         They are advocating a shift from a transcendent God              and down the aisles chatting with the worshipers.
         to a creation-centered deity. God is no longer our               There's more singing and personal testimonies and
         father in heaven, but a "womb covering the earth."               prayer requests, etc. Other churches are moving
                Donald Bloesch tackles the issue of feminist  re-         more in the "high church" direction. The services
              symbolizations in a recent book,  The Battle  for  the      must be more formal. Much emphasis is placed on
              Trinity  (Servant 1985) . . . . Bloesch argues that such    symbolism, good music, choirs, etc. Many chur-
         resymbolizations of God are, intentionally or not,               ches have permanent worship or liturgy  cornmit-
              moving in one of two directions. They lead to making
              God an abstraction (as opposed to a person) and light       tees which plan the services each week so as to
         years removed in transcendence. Or, with their in-               avoid sameness and gain variety. While we do not
              sistence on an androgynous Godhead  ("Godldess,"            agree with his theology, Franklin Arthur Pyles
              "CreatorlCreatrix,"  "Father/Mother"), they augur a         makes a point well taken when he writes: "The in-
         return to fertility worship.                                     carnate Christ is immediately accessible to those of
                To quote Elizabeth Achtemeier again, "I am sure           us who believe through the Spirit and the Word.
         that much of feminist theology is a return to Baalism            And this present accessibility is best realized in the
              . . . . Many women, in their dedication to the feminist     worship service through the sermon. When the ser-
         movement, are being slowly wooed into a new form of              mon is preached, the Word is made available and
         religion, widely at variance with the Christian faith.           understandable so that the Holy Spirit may make
         Most such women have no desire to desert their                   Jesus Christ real to each listener. The care for a
         Christian roots, any more than many German Chris-                wayward child, a concern for someone's health, an
         tians had when they accepted National Socialism's re-            anxiety for a career, and most of all, guilt and
         symbolization of the faith in Nazi Germany . . . . In I..        shame  - all are addressed as the preacher again
         the Bible Sexist? Donald Bloesch asserts, "The debate            specifically proclaims what it means that Jesus
         over sexist language is ultimately a debate concerning
         the nature of God." What Gods nature is in itself, the           Christ has come, has died, and has risen for our
         Bible does not say. Presumably God's nature is                   salvation. While hearing the story and acknowl-
         beyond gender. Nevertheless, according to the biblical           edging its truth again, we are truly worshiping . . . .
         tradition, God chooses to relate to creation in a                Thus, preaching, not the Eucharist, must remain'
         masculine way, as Abba and King.                                 the central act of worship, for while the Cross is in-
                This is supported not only by Jesus' use of "Abba"        deed presented at the table, even that sacred meal
         and "kingdom of God", but especially by the use of               remains ineffective without the Word.
         "Lord' in the Bible, a term of sovereign freedom and               "If our evangelical worship is parched and bar-
         authority that occurs nearly twice as often as a                 ren, it is because we have degraded preaching and
         reference to God than does the word "God" itself. AS             the preacher. Let us call on these shepherds to lead
         Creator, God is sovereign initiator; as Sustainer, king-         us once again beside still waters and to shine a light
         ly ruler; and as Redeemer, he is self-sacrificer in              on the pathway to heaven."  (Christianity   Today,
         Christ - and ultimately Consummator. Paul makes it
         clear there can be no doubt that God's initiative and            February 21, 1986)
         power alone effect salvation (see Rom.  3:23 and
         5:8-10). To shift this emphasis from a sovereign
         theocentrism to creation-centrism - whether feminist             Did Jesus Really Say That? Scholars Decide
         or otherwise - is no longer innovation but error.                  A new hierarchy has arisen in Protestantism, that
        It ought to be obvious that this is serious business              of the professional theologians who stand between
     indeed! We must refer to God and address Him as                      the common man and his Bible. These theologians
     God Himself has revealed Himself to us in His                        are needed to tell us what in the Bible is God's
     Word. (Cf. Exodus  3:13ff.) To do otherwise is to                    Word and what is not. Christian Renewal (February
     commit blasphemy. The god of feminist theology is                    17, 1986) reports an instance of this.
     an idol of its own imagination.                                           More than 15 New Testament scholars have laun-
         Read & Study The Standard Bearer!                                   ched a controversial project to develop a consensus on
                                                                             what the historical Jesus probably said or did not say.


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            299



     The consensus will be sought by voting - proverb                      The initial balloting, at the St. Meinrad Archabbey
   by parable by pronouncement story - on the likeliest                  and Seminary in southern Indiana, amounted to bad
   authentic sayings. After about six years the group                    news for the beatitudes and other parts of the Sermon
   hopes to have considered 500 sayings attributed to                    on the Mount.
   Jesus in biblical and non-biblical sources. Scholars say                Blackballed with virtually no discussion was one of
   they are guided by the weight of biblical critical                    Christendom's favorite beatitudes, "Blessed are the
   scholarship, plus their own insights into how many                    peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of
   words were put on Jesus' lips by Gospel writers or                    God." Similarly "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
   church tradition.                                                     inherit the earth" got only six pink or red votes out of
     Dr. Funk says New Testament scholars "have                          30 cast.
   hesitated to broadcast the assured results of  historical-              Only three of a dozen "blessings" and "woes" in
   critical scholarship out of fear of public controversy                the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were deemed to
   and political reprisal."                                              have derived from Jesus, and a fourth ("Blessed are
     Colors are being used to symbolize the degree of ac-                you when men hate you") produced an even split
   ceptance or rejection by the scholars. Red stands for                 after some debate.
   yes - a deliberate parallel to the usage in Bibles that              May God give us grace always to bow humbly
   have the words of Jesus printed in red. Pink stands for            before His holy, inspired, and infallible Word. In
   "may be authentic," gray for "probably not," and
   black for "no." Eventually, the Jesus Seminar hopes                spite of what mere, sinful men say, those holy
   to publish a popular "Jesus Bible" with sayings                    Scriptures alone are "able to make us wise unto
   printed in appropriate colors.                                     salvation" (II Timothy 3: 15).





                                     Good Morning, Alice
                                                           Gise J. Van Baren





Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed                picture postcards of every trip she ever took, cheap
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.                                      trinkets, etc. And surely in her present condition,
                                                                      Alice could find no useful purpose for any of these
  It is always difficult to acknowledge one's own                     things anymore. What could she ever do with
mortality. With Alice it was no different. There                      them? Yet she had been saving these sorts of things
were the things she insisted on having done  -                        for most of her life. So we humored her and saved
which seemed to us to be so very trivial, especially                  what she requested.
in light of the fact that she could not live long any-
more. When the many cards and letters came, Alice                     Good Morning Alice:
insisted (almost to the very end) on saving every                       I've been sitting here for about 15 minutes now
canceled stamp. It did not matter that the stamp                      thinking whether or not, and then, how to write my
was of the most common sort - it had to be torn off                   feelings to you on this text. I hope you don't mind if I'm
and saved. Since she could not do it anymore, we                      completely honest with you. When I first heard of your
had to do it for her. She and we knew that she                        disease, I looked into itjust a little and truthfully what
would never be able  .to do anything with those                       hit me the hardest was that eventually one would not be
stamps - but they all had to be saved anyway. The                     able to talk. (Which is probably because I do so much
same was true with other inconsequential things.                      of it.) I don't know to what degree this has affected you,
Alice was always somewhat of a "pack rat" who in-                     but even if and when you can no longer speak to others,
sisted on saving many (to our minds) useless things:                  you will still be able to "sing" praises unto our God.


300                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



Please allow me to be open with my feelings and try to         Ps.  1:6, "For the Lord  knoweth  the way  of  the
understand what I mean. Once in a while I get                  righteous . . . . "
frustrated with this one-sided conversation and want to          He knows us in such a way that He has chosen us to
come to see you. I won't because I believe God is bless-       receive grace.
ing us more this way - but I am afraid you are not get-
ting a very true picture of me either.                           Yes, He knoweth us, and to Him we can flee.
  I'm sure you spend time reading the Bible every day,           When all seems to go wrong, we do have Him to flee
but you know, as comforting as the Psalter numbers             to - our Fortress and our Strength.
are, you might try "singing" to God every morning for                                            With love, Your friend
His lovingkindness and every evening for His faithful-         Please read: Exodus 14:12-13
ness. There is something these songs say to the heart
that can be said in no other way.                                Shopping had always been one of Alice's great
                                                               pleasures. She enjoyed shopping  - and especially
  Please think about this for a while when you lay this        for the annual Christmas toys for nieces and
note down. It should be the desire of each of us to            nephews. But she loved shopping just for its own
become closer and closer to God, and it isn't going to         sake - and she would shrug off our jokes about this
happen if we don't direct our thoughts to Him often.           interest. Several times a week she would be taken
   Will you "`sing" my favorite tonight: 281*, and your        in her wheelchair up and down the aisles of one of
own favorite tomorrow morning? I'm sure you can find           the larger stores. And not infrequently, she would
time alone to do this.                                         insist on buying yet another dish or other knick-
                                   With love, Your friend      knack for which she would have no possible use.
                                                               For her, it passed away some of the long hours and
Nahum 1:7                                                      provided a kind of entertainment she was able to
                                                               enjoy still.
  Alice always enjoyed going out with others to a
restaurant  - even after she herself needed assis-
tance with eating. Several times a week, one or                Good Morning Alice:
more of the relatives would take her to noon lunch               I wonder again this morning as I sit here, how you
or evening dinner. Some of her friends and cousins             are feeling about these notes, Alice. It has been very
did the same with her. It was now her chief diver-             good for me to write them. I have looked into verses
sion and entertainment. However, to move her                   and books I didn't know anything about. It has really
from the van in her wheelchair to the restaurant               given me more of a desire to search all of God's Word. I
and back was very difficult." (We did come to ap-              hope that is your desire too. It was only about 14 or 15
preciate those "handicapped" parking spaces.) In               years ago that I still couldn't keep it straight who lived
the restaurant, Alice had to consider carefully what           before whom: Abraham or Noah. Believe me, that
she could eat: it must be soft and easily swallowed,           wasn't easy when I married into a family who very
or cut in very small pieces, or she would choke on             often discussed God's Word. I have learned a lot since
it. One could see the time coming when this little             then, but you know, it was about two and a half years
pleasure would be taken from her too.                          ago now that God used a very dear friend to be an ex-
Good Morning Alice:                                            ample to me to look inward as I search Scripture, and
                                                               then desire to live by faith close to God.
  Well, "our" rabbits were at the corn again last night.
I was up late and saw three of them and attempted to             I've so often heard Ex. 14:13 explained this way, and
take a picture. The picture I really want is one of the        I'm sure you have too: the children of Israel, just after
cardinals. We shall see . . . .                                the wonderful deliverance on Passover, cried out
                                                               against God. They would rather return to being slaves
  Did you know the book  of  Nahum is about                    in Egypt than to exercise trust in God Who had just
Nineveh? Nineveh for all its show of repentance to             delivered them.
Jonah soon turned away from God.                                 Moses trusted and knew that God would provide the
  I'm not sure if vs. 7 is to elect in Judah to assure them    way; and he told them not to fear but stand still, or look
that God would not destroy them also, or if there were         and trust, and they would see God's way of providing.
elect in Nineveh itself to be reassured.                       This is a beautiful promise to us as children of God.
  But, for sure, this verse comes to elect children of         When we begin to fear and doubt the way God has
God and so it comes to us too. Our God is good, a for-         chosen for us, we must "stand still," trust in God, and
tress,  a place to flee when troubles come. And He             rest assured that He will provide the best way for us.
knoweth them that trust in Him.                                  But today as I read this passage, I wondered if we
  "Knoweth . . . .`I A word with so many meanings,             may be content with that comforting thought. Reading
but I think here, the best that fits is the "knoweth" of       farther, we see that God asked Moses why he was cy-


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           301



ing out for the people. He told Moses to lift up his rod        I may be wrong, but I think Peter's whole problem
and open the way through the sea (Moses here is a type        was selfishness. Peter loved Jesus, or he wouldn't have
of Christ) and tell the children of Israel to go through;     been in the high priest's house. But Peter loved himself
and He would hold back the enemy.                             more. He was afraid for his own life. He couldn't tear
  I think we should apply this to our lives too. Christ       himself away; he wanted to see what was going to hap-
has provided our salvation, and we must trust God to          pen to Jesus, and yet he loved himself more. When it
lead us through our trials but we must go forward too.        came to confessing Jesus with his mouth, Peter failed.
Not physically, of course, but spiritually - living           It's not that Peter just quietly said, "I don't know what
however we can for Him.                                       you're talking about."One of the gospels explains, "He
                                                              began to curse and to swear saying, I know not the
  For the Israelites, it was going through the Red Sea.       man. `I
For me it's being an example to my children; obeying
my husband; striving to control my selfishness and my            Then came the cock crowing.
tongue; and trying always to learn more about God                Then came Jesus' look.
through Bible reading and listening to sermon tapes.            And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
For you, it might be exercising patience; giving a cheer-
ful smile when smiles don't come easily; showing your           So often in our disobedience, we deny Him. We love
love of God; learning more about God's Word by                ourselves more than Him.
reading it and listening to sermon tapes.                       We will never see that look on Jesus' face, but in His
  We can do these things because the Spirit dwells in         grace He gives us, in our hearts, the sorrow for our sins.
our hearts.                                                   Peter had to wait to know forgiveness until Jesus spoke
                                                              to him; while He gives us that knowledge as soon as we
                                  With love, Your friend      repent. That's the wonderful knowledge of mercy and
Please read Luke 22:60-62                                     pardon. And that is the time when the child of God is
  With her ability to move decreasing, the time               the closest to God he will ever be on this earth.
came when it seemed advisable to obtain a hospital                                                       Love, Your friend
bed with electric controls. It was another reminder           Please read: I Pet. 4: 7; I Pet. 1:9
of the inevitable progression of her disease. Alice
could not turn herself anymore in bed, nor could              *Mindful of our human frailty is the God in Whom we trust;
she move herself easily. With adjustable foot and              He Whose years are everlasting, He remembers we are dust.
head sections, Alice could push a button and make
bodily changes in this way. It relaxed muscles and             Man is like the tender flower, and his days are like the grass.
                                                               Withered where it lately flourished, by the blighting winds
reduced cramps to change position periodically  -                that pass.
and she could do it herself. She had thought first
that she did not need this new bed, and rather                 Changeless is Jehovah's mercy unto those who fear His
resented the fact that it had been ordered  - but                Name;
                                                               From eternity abiding, to eternity the same.
soon came to appreciate it greatly.                            All the faithful to His covenant shall behold His righteous-
Good Morning Alice:                                              ness;
  I think I'll stay in the house today - our outside ther-     He will be their strength and refuge, and their children's
                                                                 children bless.
mome ter says 0 O. At least it isn't windy.
  I could always feel for Peter when I read this story.



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


302                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



FAITH OF OUR FATHERS
James D. Slopsema





                                           The Baptism Form



  After setting forth Uhe three principal parts of the             through baptism. This, of course, leaves no room
doctrine of holy baptism, the Baptism form pro-                    for the baptism of infants.
ceeds to establish the basis for infant baptism.  It                 This same position was held, even at the time of
does so in the following paragraphs.                               the Reformation, by the Anabaptists. The  Ana-
         And although our young children do not under-             baptists denied the validity of their baptism as in-
       stand these things, we may not therefore exclude            fants and thus were baptized again as adults. For
       them from baptism, for as they are without their            that reason they were called Anabaptists  ("ana"
       knowledge, partakers of the condemnation in Adam,           meaning "again"). It was in response to these Ana-
       so are they again received unto grace in Christ; as God     baptists that the Baptism form at this point not only
       speaketh unto Abraham, the father of all the faithful,      defends the practice of baptizing infants of
       and therefore unto us and our children (Gen.  17:7),        believers, but also insists upon it.
       saying, "I will establish my covenant between me and
       thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for      To demonstrate the validity of infant baptism the
       an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to      baptism form first of all shows that even as our
       thy seed after thee." This also the Apostle Peter           children are without their knowledge partakers of
       testifieth, with these words (Acts 2:39), "For the prom-    the condemnation in Adam, so are they again with-
       ise is unto you and your children, and to all that          out their knowledge received unto grace in Christ.
       are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
       call." Therefore God formerly commanded them to be            According to this part of the form, our children
       circumcised, which was a seal of the covenant, and of       are without their knowledge partakers of the con-
       the righteousness of faith; and therefore Christ also       demnation in Adam. And this is certainly the case.
       embraced them, laid his hands upon them and blessed         Adam stood in the garden of Eden as the repre-
       them (Mark 10).                                             sentative head of the whole human race. When
         Since then baptism is come in the place of circum-        therefore Adam sinned by eating of the forbidden
       cision, therefore infants are to be baptized as heirs of    fruit, all mankind sinned. The whole human race
       the kingdom of God, and of his covenant. And parents        that would eventually develop from the loins of
       are in duty bound, further to instruct their children       Adam sinned in and through Adam and became
       herein, when they shall arrive to years of discretion.      guilty before God in Adam. Consequently, they all
  This section of the baptism form is obviously an                 share in the condemnation of that original sin. This
answer to those who oppose the baptism of infants.                 certainly is the teaching of the Word of God in
  Infant baptism is opposed in our day by the Bap-                 Romans 5: 12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin
tists. It is the position of the Baptist that only those           entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
who have come to a conscious, active faith in`Jesus                death passed upon all men, for that all have
Christ may receive the sacrament of baptism. First                 sinned." All this also includes our children. They
one must come to the enjoyment of the washing                      are all partakers of the condemnation in Adam long
away of his sins in Christ by faith; then, and only                before they were ever born, and therefore long
then, may he receive the sign and seal of that reality             before they can ever come to know these things.
                                                                     But now the baptism form goes on to say that in
James D. Slopsema is pastor of the Protestant Reformed             like manner our children are also without their
Church  of  Randolph, Wisconsin.                                   knowledge received unto grace in Christ.


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 303



  We ought to notice that there is a twofold asser-       that expression it expresses the truth that all those
tion made here. First, the form is saying  that-          who believe in Jesus Christ are the true seed of
children can be received unto grace in Jesus Christ       Abraham with whom God has established His eter-
without their knowledge. In other words, children         nal covenant of grace.
can be the objects and recipients of God's saving            Secondly, we learn from the promise of God to
grace in Christ without their even knowing it.            Abraham in Genesis  17:7 that also the children of
Secondly, however, the form is also saying here           believers are included in God's covenant. For God
that this is the case with children of believing          promises to establish His covenant with Abraham
parents.                                                  and his seed in their generations. This means that
  According to the baptism form, these truths are         not only was Abraham included in this covenant
evident from especially two passages  - Genesis           but also his seed, his children. And, according to
17:7 and Acts 239.                                        the promise of God, this would continue from
  In Genesis  17:7 God says to Abraham, "I will           generation to generation. God's covenant of grace
establish my covenant between me and thee, and            would continue throughout the generations of
thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an         Abraham. From this we certainly may conclude
everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to       that God's covenant is with believers and their
thy seed after thee."                                     seed. For when one comes to faith in Jesus Christ
                                                          he manifests himself to be a true seed of Abraham.
  As we discuss this particular passage we must           And as a true seed of Abraham he has this promise
bear in mind that the covenant God promises to            of God, that God will continue His covenant in his
establish with Abraham and his seed embraces all          generations. The covenant of grace is not only with
peoples. It is not true, as the Baptist of our day        him as a believer but also with his children.
claims, that this covenant with Abraham is limited
to the natural descendants of Abraham, the Jews. It          Now this does not mean that all children of
is certainly true that this was by and large the case     believers are true members of the covenant and
in the old dispensation, God's covenant was limited       therefore recipients of Gods grace in Jesus Christ.
to the nation of Israel. However, in the new dispen-      The Word of God makes this very clear in Romans
sation this covenant has been broadened to em-            9:6b-8, "For they are not all Israel, which are of
brace all nations. Belonging to this covenant are all     Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of
those who believe in Jesus Christ, whether they be        Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall
Jew or Gentile.                                           thy seed be called. That is, They which are the
  The baptism form suggests this when it calls            children of the flesh, these are not the children of
Abraham "the father of all the faithful." This ex-        God: but the children of the promise are counted
pression is no doubt based on Romans 4: 11 where          for the seed." On the basis of this and other like
we read that Abraham "received the sign of                passages we are able to distinguish a twofold seed
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith    born into the sphere of the covenant. Born to
which he had being uncircumcised: that he might           believing parents is first an elect, spiritual seed.
be the father of all them that believe, though they       These are truly members of the covenant of grace,
be not circumcised." In verse 16 of this same             and even as children are the objects and recipients
chapter we read that Abraham is the "father of us         of God's saving grace. However, also born to be-
all." This certainly indicates, does it not, that all     lieving parents is a carnal, reprobate seed. These
those who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, have           are members of the covenant only in an outward
Abraham as their father. And if Abraham is their          and formal sense. They are not as children, nor will
father, then they in turn are the seed of Abraham,        they ever be, recipients of God's grace in Jesus
with whom God has established His eternal cove-           Christ. Truly, they are not all Israel that are of
nant of grace. This same truth is beautifully set         Israel.
forth in Galatians 3:7-9: "`Know ye therefore that          It's in this sense that we understand the baptism
they which are of faith, the same are the children of     form when it says that our children even without
Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God           their knowledge are received unto grace in Christ.
would justify the heathen through faith, preached         This is not true of all our children. It certainly is not
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee           true of the carnal seed which we as believing
shall nations be blessed. So then they which be of        parents bring forth. However, God does give to us a
faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." In addi-        spiritual seed with whom He also establishes His
tion to this we read in verse 29 of this same chapter,    eternal covenant of grace. Even as children they are
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed        recipients of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ,
and heirs according to the promise." Certainly,           long before they have any knowledge of these
therefore, the baptism form properly identifies           things.
Abraham as the father of all the faithful. And by           In harmony with all this is the second passage


304                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER



cited by the baptism form: Acts  239, This passage                 promise given by God in His covenant, the promise
places us in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when                sealed in baptism. This promise is first to those who
the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church. This                 responded positively to the gospel and thereby
becomes the occasion for Peter to preach a most                    showed the beginning of God's work of grace in
wonderful sermon. He informs the crowds that                       their hearts. But that promise is also to their
have gathered in amazement that what they have                     children. Here again we have the `principle that
seen and heard is all the work of Jesus Christ of                  God's grace and salvation is for believers and their
Nazareth Whom they had just crucified but Whom                     seed.
God had raised from the dead and exalted into                        Certainly, therefore, we as believing parents may
glory. And when those who are pricked in their                     say without any hesitation that whereas our
hearts ask what they must do, Peter responds that                  children are without their knowledge partakers of
they must repent and believe, "for the promise is                  the condemnation in Adam, so are they again
unto you, and to your children, and to all that are                without their knowledge received unto grace in
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall                   Christ.
call."                                                               In our next article we will see from the baptism
  Notice that Peter speaks here of the promise.                    form how this requires the baptism of our children.
This is the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ, the
GUIDED HIV-TO ALL TRUTH
Thomas C. Miersma





                              Meaningful Translation (1)

  In this article it is my intention to depart from                   tually says. There is no good reason for this, and it
the line of thought we have been following to take                    makes Bible study in English more difficult, not
the time to respond to the correspondence of one of                   easier.
our readers, Mr. Harv Nyhof. The issues raised by                           To use but one example drawn from the current
his letter are important and worthy of an extended                    and popular New International Version. The opening
reply, as they deal with the question of what con-                    words of Colossians 3:12 in that version read: "There-
stitutes a meaningful translation. The letter ad-                     fore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
dresses itself to some remarks in my column in the                    yourselves with compassion, . . . " while our Ring James
December 15 issue of the Standard Bearer. To see                      translation reads, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
these remarks in their proper setting and to                          holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, . . . " Notice two dii-
                                                                      ferences here. First, our  King James Version  uses such
simplify the discussion for the reader I will quote                   historic Reformed doctrinal terminology as  "elect.  "
the paragraphs dealing with this subject in full. I                   The KJV has itself helped to shape our theological
wrote,                                                                vocabulary in English and this is one of the advan-
                                                                      tages of using it in Bible study. But secondly, notice
          The place to begin our answer to this question is           the difference between "bowels of mercies" and "com-
       first of all to look at our Bibles for a moment and say        passion. " The text says "bowels of mercies" in the
       something about the many Bible translations                    original. If the text of Scripture is verbally inspired, as
       available. Many of these modern translations slide             we maintain it is, then in our study we want to know
       over difficulties in the text or attempt to simplify           as much as is possible what the Holy Spirit actually
       them. They are so often not so much translations as            said and how He said it. Bowels draws a vivid picture
       paraphrases, in which the translator, so-called, at-           before our minds which the mere word compassion
       tempts to put into his own words what he thinks or             does not, though that may be the meaning of the
       feels the text means rather than translating what it ac-       figure here. Fundamentally such paraphrasing is a
                                                                      departure from the Reformed doctrine of verbal in-
                                                                      spiration.
Thomas C. Miersma is pastor of the Protestant Reformed
Church of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.                               It is in this connection that Mr. Nyhof responds,


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                           3 0 5



     I am tempted to say, "Come on, Pastor Miersma,           version has the advantage of being more accurate.
   you can't be serious." If the spoken or written word is    Moreover, while inserting words is sometimes
   not understood, be it ever so beautiful or descriptive,    necessary for the sake of translation, our KJV prints
   it has no value. To me the KJV is a beautiful transla-     these insertions in italics and thereby tells us it is
   tion with majestic language. Most younger  English-        doing so. The NIV does this without indicating that
   speaking people, however, will receive no enlighten-       it is doing so and does it not merely for translation,
   ment from the phrase "bowels of mercy." They will          but as commentary on the text. This is adding to the
   easily understand the word "compassion." I too
   believe in careful and accurate translation. Is it not     Word of God what God has not said.
   the aim of accurate translation to reproduce in mean-        Moreover, to use one other example, the NIV in
   ingful language for the reader what has been written       addition to adding to and subtracting from the
   in a tongue foreign to him? To read in Zeph. 1: 12 that    Word of God also paraphrases and changes the
   men are "settled in their lees" will not be compre-        meaning of the text. This is done for example in I
   hensible to the majority of English speaking people.       Corinthians  2:9 where the word "heart" of the
   To read that men are "complacent" can be easily            original is replaced by the word "mind." Moreover,
   grasped.                                                   these changes are made arbitrarily, as is evident
Reply to Mr. Nyhof                                            from the fact that in other places the word "heart"
  Thank you for your response and the comments                is used in the  NIV  in contexts similar to that of I
in your letter. In the first place I would point out          Corinthians 2:9. The fact is that the Holy Spirit said
the context of the remarks which I made as it is              "heart," and the text should be translated "heart"
rather important. The subject under consideration             and not "mind." The NIV is paraphrasing the text,
was that of Bible study. While some of your obser-            using what are called dynamic equivalents and giv-
vations have some merit, it is nevertheless true that         ing us what is perceived by someone on a
for serious or faithful Bible study the simplified            translating committee as the meaning of the text
translations, "compassion" for "bowels of mercy"              and not what the text says. It belongs in a commen-
and "complacent" for "settled on their lees" are a            tary.
hindrance and not a help. They are a hindrance                  The difference between a commentary and a
because one must first go behind the word "com-               translation is crucial. A translation renders into
passion" to the expression "bowels of mercies" to             another language as carefully and faithfully as
know what the Holy Spirit  actuaZZy  said, and to             possible what was written and what was said. Com-
understand  exactZy  what the Word of God was in              mentaries upon the Word of God are the result of a
the passage. This must be done before any actual              study of the meaning of the text, and while com-
study of the Word of God can begin.                           mentaries are useful they are not. the text itself.
  The fact is that in both the examples you cite              Calvin's Commentaries, for example, are extremely
neither of the alternate renderings are proper                valuable, but they are not the Bible. We must keep
transbtions  of the text. They are simplifications or         in mind that such condensing, commenting, and
paraphrases. The Holy Spirit did not simply say               paraphrasing are after all nothing more than a
"compassion." The word mercies, meaning basical-              shorthand form of writing a commentary. They
ly pity or mercy, can be and sometimes is                     may be useful tools in Bible study but they cannot
translated by the word compassion, though there               replace the text itself nor our own study. If such
are other words as well which are translated com-             paraphrases would present themselves for what
passion. Whether we translate it mercies or com-              they are, commentaries, and not translations or ver-
passion however, in the NIV a word of the inspired            sions of the Bible, I would have no complaint with
Scriptures, "bowels," is completely eliminated and            them as such. If for example the  New InternutionaZ
dropped by the translation "compassion," and not              Version were entitled The New InternationuZ SimpZi-
because it could not be translated into English.              fied Whole BibZe Commentary and Paraphrase, and if
While compassion may be an accurate statement of              it were used as such instead of replacing the Bible
what is the idea of this expression or part of the            in the pew and in Bible study, I would, have less
idea, it is not the Word God gave us, but an inter-           trouble with it. This is the same problem with the
pretation of it, a condensed commentary.                      popular Arminian paraphrase written by K. Taylor
  The opposite occurs in the passage you cite from            called  The Living Bible (Paraphrased)  which was and
Zephaniah 1:12. The NIV actually inserts the word             may still be in vogue in many churches and which
"complacent" into the text, although it is not found          was also substituted for real translations of the
in the original. It does so as a commentary and only          Word of God in many churches.
then adds its actual rendering of the text, "who are            As there are a number of other matters which
like wine  left  on  its dregs." Unless one is familiar       were raised and which deserve further considera-
with the wine-making process, neither of the actual           tion, I will return to this subject, D.V. and continue
translations is easily understood. The King James             my response in the next article.


306                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



IN HIS FEAR
Barrett L. Gritters





          Understanding Church Discipline (41




   Love is the ingredient required in all church               Judging from the context (see verse  2), the text
discipline. Church discipline must be loving church          from Matthew 7 means that men ought not judge
discipline. Whether it be discipline of sins that are        hypocriticaZZy.  A man with a beam in his eye cannot
public, sins known only by the consistory, or sins           "see through" or see clearly to perform the delicate
dealt with on a private basis, all discipline must be        act of removing a sliver from a brother's eye. The
done out of true love for the sinner. And that love          significant point, then, is that not  aZ1  judgment is
must be shown to the sinner. Parents who discipline          condemned, merely the wrong kind of judgment.
children without a generous portion of love both as          Christ clearly tells the church to judge sinners, and
their motive and in their administration are in              He condemns the church which does not (I Cor.
serious error. So the church. Discipline that is not         5:1, 2; Rev.  2:20). But required is a "righteous"
loving church discipline, done with a sincere desire         judgment (John  7:24).
to see the sinner made right with God, is not wor-             Second question: "If judgment must be made on
thy of the name discipline.                                  sinners, then how is it possible for men who are sinful
   When it is understood that discipline is done out         to make that judgment?"
of love for the sinner, most objections that are               There is no doubt that all the men in the church
raised against the Reformed and Biblical practice of         are sinful, no less the consistory members. They
church censures will be answered. But because                must be and are painfully aware of that. Christ calls
there always are sincere questions and objections,           sinful men to exercise His authority in the church.
we will try to answer some here.                             Thus it cannot be avoided that sinful men carry out
  First Question: "Doesn't the Bible teach us that we        what Christ calls the church to perform.
are not supposed to judge others? (Matthew 7:1-5:              Since all officebearers are sinful, the possibility
lJudge not that ye be not judged . . . . `) It seems that    of partiality is real. Thus there are a number of safe-
discipline is judging."                                      guards that the church uses to protect against hypo-
  The passage quoted is very important for us to             critical or unfair judgment. 1) First, and foremost,
understand. It condemns severely those who                   much prayer is raised to the Lord for wisdom in
disobey. The kind of judging is important though.            dealing with sin. Without this the Lord does not
Does Jesus mean that no opinions about anyone                bless the work of the consistory. 2) After this the
may be formed? Is it the case that we may never              church carefully follows the Biblical and ec-
form a judgment about someone's actions? From                clesiastical (Church Order) guidelines to insure that
the context in verse  6, John  7:24, and many other          they proceed properly. 3) Another most useful
passages, it is clear this is not the case. If that were     precaution is that not only the consistory involved,
the case, parents would not even be able to teach            but all the consistories in the classis, must give ap-
their children how to judge which persons they               proval to proceed with the step of discipline in
ought to have as close, personal friends.                    which the name is announced. Careful analysis of
                                                             the consistory's work is made at this classical
Barrett L. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed     meeting to make sure the consistory has remained
Church of Byron Center, Michigan.                            objective in its work. (See previous article on the sec-


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                307



ond announcement). 4) If one of the consistory              reputation. The very purpose of publication of his
members disagrees with the process taken, he can            name is to remove that mark. If nothing is done, the
protest the decision and postpone action until              mark would become worse. An announcement is to
classis meets or until further advice can be sought.        clear the name of the repentant sinner, proclaiming
5) Also honored in the process of discipline is the         that he stands right before God and men.
prophetic office of all the believers. If a confessing        If we understand the other reasons forthe publi-
church member sees that the consistory has used             cation of the name in discipline (see last article),
wrong judgment in a particular case, he has oppor-          there can be no question about whether or not it
tunity to present it and possibly convince the  con-        should be announced. For the glory of God's name,
sistory to change its course. If not, and the member.       for the good of the church, for the silencing of talk,
still feels the consistory should reconsider, the           and the reconciliation of the sinner to the rest of the
classis can help adjudicate the matter. Understand-         church  - all this demands that the name be an-
ing the danger of "sinners teaching sinners," the           nounced.
Lord provides many ways to prevent partiality.                Fifth question: "Would it be more loving to work
  Third question: "Why are only a select few people         patiently with sinners instead of placing them under
ever disciplined? Should not all the members of the         discipline? Discipline seems to fail to show the love of
church be disciplined?"                                     God in Christ."
  All God's people are disciplined. God disciplines           There are really two questions involved here.
all His children by convicting them in their hearts.        First, discipline and patient working are not
No child has ever gone through the tempestuous              mutually exclusive. That is, one can both discipline
years of youth without knowing what the rod feels           and  deal patiently, as has been shown in the last
like. So no child of God has gone through the               articles. If there is any evidence whatsoever that
stormy years fighting his own sinful flesh without          the sinner desires to turn, much patience and con-
knowing Gods "rod and staff," which "comfort"               tinued longsuffering is used. The Form for Excom-
him.                                                        munication speaks of "the least token of repen-
  But more important, and at the heart of this ques-        tance . . .  ." But second, the question also implies
tion, is this truth that must never be forgotten: The       that discipline fails to show the love of Christ,
only sins that are ever disciplined in the church are       which is a more serious matter. It is ironic that
unrepentant sins. Why isn't every sin disciplined?          nowadays discipline is rejected in the name of love.
Because they are confessed. In my closet I confess          "We must love one another." John, the apostle of
my sins to the Lord. A-t an early age children must         love, wrote that to love God is to walk after His
learn to confess their sins to God. When my                 commandments. And as we have seen, the exercise
neighbor confronts me with my sins, to him I con-           of discipline is one of God's commandments to the
fess them. But if one refuses to repent of his sin -        church. Thus, whether discipline is seen as a
no matter how small  - he must be an object of              display of love or not, it shows our love to God
discipline and eventually excommunicated. On the            because Christ commands it.
other hand, the most heinous sins (if they are con-           But we can go further than that. When discipline
fessed to God) are never the object of discipline. In       is used properly it is a profound display of the love
other words, the boundary that divides disciplined          of Christ. The love of Christ to me confronts me in
sins and non-disciplined sins is the clear line be-         my sin every day. To say that leaving a sinner to
tween impenitence and repentance. The determina-            continue unhindered is more loving than confront-
tion of discipline or no discipline is made by one          ing him with church discipline is to say that leaving
judgment  - repentance.                                     a child to walk freely into disaster is more loving
  Fourth question: "With public sins, it seems that         than bringing an urgent warning. To discipline sin-
the sinner should be able to have a say in the publicity    ners is the only way to show the love of God in
of his own name. Would it be possible for the sinner        Christ.
himself to decide whether or not his name would be            Sixth question: "I don't know if I understand how
made public if the sin has already ,been confessed?"        excommunication is a remedy, as was said earlier.
  Solomon said that a good name is to be desired            Can you explain that further.?"
above great riches and more than precious oint-               A remedy is given with the hope of healing an ill.
ment (Proverbs  22:l; Ecclesiastes  7:l). The desire        Excommunication is another measure performed in
for preserving the honor of one's name is not only          the hope that the sinner will be ashamed of his sin,
real, but proper. A good name is to be treasured.           see the eternal consequences of his sins, and turn
Thus the question is a good one.                            from them. In that way a spiritual wound in the
  When one commits a public sin, he mars his own            soul of the sinner, as well as in the church body,
name. By his sin he has made a mark on his own              will be healed. Sometimes, according to God's will,


308                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



that does not happen. But the hope and prayers            (See also the Form for Readmitting Excommuni-
always must be that the remedy will bring healing.        cated Persons). "N. is excommunicated . . . from
  Seventh question: "If the church does excommuni-        the church of God, and from fellowship with Christ
cate a member, is there then any hope for him? I would    . . . so long as he obstinately and impenitently persists
like to keep working with him. `I                         in his sins. . . . "And in the prayer: "since the bosom
                                                          of the church  is always open  for those who turn
  Thankfully, there is hope. The Lord can soften          away from their wickedness; we therefore humbly
the hardest of stubborn hearts  - and has. In the         beseech thee to kindle in our hearts a pious zeal,
early history of the church there was debate about        that we may labor with good Christian admonitions
whether or not to let back into the church those          and examples, to bring again this excommunicated
who had been excommunicated. (Although the                person on the right way . . ." (emphasis mine, BG).
question was not quite that simple.) And at times
there was no return possible. But in the back of our             And that brings up the last part of the question.
Psalter  we have a form drawn up specifically for         You not only might like to continue working with
that purpose. (Here again, this form would make a         the excommunicated sinner; you must. It is our du-
profitable study in an after-recess program of a          ty - for the glory of God's name and the salvation
society.)                                                 of the sinner.
                                                                       * * *  * * * * * * *
  Excommunication by the church simply declares
that if the sinner continues to walk in his sins                 Discipline never will be easy to receive or to ex-
without confession and repentance, he is bound to         ercise. Objections will always be raised. But until
die in those sins unforgiven. But if he confesses, he     the Lord takes us to perfection where no vice will
can and will be lovingly restored to church               hold us, we will always be in the flesh, needing the
membership. A repentant sinner is granted re-             nurture and admonition of the Lord. May God give
entrance into the "communion of the church" no            the church the grace to continue faithful in its call-
less than the contrite prodigal son was mercifully        ing, and to us sinners the grace to submit, in case
taken into his father's home. The Form emphasizes         we should become delinquent (which may God
this first in the language of the excommunication.        graciously forbid), to church discipline. God grant
                                                          it.
CONTRIBUTION
Peter Koole




                             "The Root of All Evil"


  Instant cash! Instant riches! Buy a ticket for only     be penny-ante stuff, such as check, baseball, or
a dollar - rub the surface with a coin - match up         football pool, nickel and dime poker, etc.? Con-
the same symbols and/or numbers - and you, too,           sistency, thou art a jewel! And on the basis of the
can be on your way to becoming independently              principle, they also have to be condemned and
wealthy; in fact, a millionaire.                          labeled as. gambling.
  Sounds very inviting, doesn't it? Have you ever                Allow me to quote in part Lord's Day 42, (2. and
fantasized what you would or could do with a              A.  110:  "What doth God forbid in the eighth com-
million dollars won with a lottery ticket?                mandment? God forbids not only those thefts, and
                                                          robberies . . . but he comprehends under the name
  The lottery and its likes are surely to be con-         of thefts all wicked tricks and devices whereby we
demned. The same is to be said of Las Vegas with          design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which
its possible high winnings by playing the slot            belong to our neighbor . . . as by unjust weights,
machines, blackjack, and various card and dice            ells, measures, fraudulent merchandise, false coins,
games that are offered.                                   usury or by any other way forbidden by God, as
  But what about what we sometimes consider to            also all covetousness, all abuse and waste of his


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                309



gifts." It is not for naught that we read in I Timothy        For some 25 years we made organs and pianos; but
6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil:         at the present time, because of a seriously de-
which while some coveted after, they have erred               pressed market in the musical instrument field, the
from the faith, and pierced themselves through                manufacturing of such items is almost nothing.
with many sorrows."                                           Why? Because people are spectators and no longer
   As is plain to see in this quotation from Scripture,       participants. They don't care to apply themselves
the root of all evil is the love of money: the strong         and to learn to play. They want to watch and spend
all-compelling desire and drive to be rich, to be             money for sporting events, TV, video, etc. People's
totally immersed in material goods. Thus, the love            sense of values and priorities has changed; and, sad
of money not merely signifies the sinful lust for             to say, we have been swept along, instead of com-
gaining money in all possible ways, but also the              batting the trend of the age. And as for giving, our
deepest desire and intent of keeping it all for one's         human nature prefers to keep what we have and to
self and/or his immediate family. Whoever thirsts             part with as little as possible.
after money and sets -that up as his or her god,                 But we are faced with a divine law and Scriptural
departs from the faith and pierces him- or herself            principles which disturb us, because they have a
through with many sorrows. For if one gains the               different scale of values. Yet still we insist on ask-
whole world and loses his own soul, what doth it              ing ourselves not, "How much can I give?" but,
profit him? A man cannot serve two masters - God              "How much may I keep without violating the law
and Mammon. Mammon is money. We can become                    and principle of giving liberally and cheerfully?"
a slave to money, and that in turn can become our               The life to which Christ calls us is a life of whole-
master, controlling our desires and lusts.                    heartedness; and wholeheartedness is incompatible
  We know from Psalm 73 that the Lord sets the                with the constant calculation of the extent of our
wicked in slippery places; and He often does that             obligation. In practice, our natural man calculates
through his prosperity and much possessions. But,             only when it is a question of giving. When it is a
much to our shame, we also have the strong in-                question of adding to what we have, we fall to
clination at times to use the same sliding board.             every form of covetousness. Consequently, for all
   Today the chief topic of discussion by the                 of us the question is not, "How much ought I to
government through the media is inflation. What               give?" but, "Am I giving enough?" Most of us, in-
can be done to stop it? Really not a whole lot . . . ex-      cluding myself, give from our surplus. If the truth
cept maybe some short-term stopgap measures. But              would be told, and bank books exposed, a lot of
in the long run and because of the sinful, greedy             Christian causes would have a surplus instead of a
nature of man on all levels and in every depart-              deficit.
ment, greed and lust will devour and destroy his so-             In the language of theology, love of money is a
called self-planned economy system. Some day                  serious sin, because it separates the mind and heart
sooner than we think, one world-power will sit on             from God.
the throne to usher in  .the Antichrist.                        For the first time in history a comfortable
  The average man views worldly goods in terms                standard of living is within reach of all. In former
of money, which is the means to obtain other                  days luxury was enjoyed by the privileged few. The
goods. Money is a symbol, and its importance has a            means of raising the general standard of living were
universal attachment.                                         limited in the extreme. Today life has been made
                                                              pleasant and easier by the means of mass produc-
  We live surrounded by our possessions. We glow              tion.
in the enjoyment thereof, and boast in the satisfac-
tion they provide. We become so materialistically               Comforts have an irresistible attraction for all of
minded and pleasure-mad that we seemingly lose                us, and sometimes we are obsessed to procure
our sense of direction as laid down in Scripture.             them. Maybe that's one reason so many wives and
                                                              mothers are out working when they should be at
  Today more than ever before it is necessary for             home. That last remark is only an observation, not
us as Christians to learn to detach ourselves from            an accusation.
the worship of things for their own sake. The
tendency of the age is to instill the idea that happi-          A Christian who cares for spiritual values and is
ness consists in material goods, pleasure, and                concerned to be of use in the home, church, and
recreation.                                                   school will make use of monies and time not only
                                                              for him- or herself, but also for the promotion and
   On a personal note, I just retired from a factory          well-being of others.
after working there 36 years, 2 months, and 8 days.             Christ was accused both of worldliness and un-
Peter Koole is an elder in Hope Prot. Ref. Church, Walker,    worldliness. He loved the poor, and did not refuse
Michigan.                                                     the hospitality of the rich. In the Gospels we meet


310                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



rich men who are also good men, whose wealth is           and read about Him, was not a social reformer. He
not made a subject of reproach. At the very outset,       passes no judgment on the distribution of wealth -
we meet the  wisemen, persons of rank and birth,          only that the poor widow gave more than they all
who brought their costly gifts as an offering to the      who gave of their abundance. He does not criticize
infant Jesus. Among other rich men, we might men-         the establishment; He is not interested in condemn-
tion Zaccheus and Joseph of Arimathea. Indeed, in         ing or reforming the structure of society. He speaks
everyday life Christ seems to take little interest in     to the heart and soul of men. He takes society as it
the question of riches, although at times He sharply      is, and requires His disciples to serve God and
rebukes those who put their trust in them. He             separate themselves from the world.
mingles equally with the rich and poor, and His             But He believed and taught that riches can be a
feelings in each case are governed by the spirituali-     hindrance to a godly life. For He said that where
ty of the individual. Christ, as we know about Him        your treasure-house is, there your heart is also.
QUESTION BOX
Cornelius Hanko

                                          No Retiedv4.

  We received the following question:                        God had not silently ignored these evils, but "the
  "Please explain to us the meaning of the last part      Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his
of the Scripture passage which is recorded in II          messengers, rising up  betimes, and sending;
Chronicles 36, verse 16, which states: `until the         because he had compassion upon his people and
wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there    his dwelling place" (Jer.  265;  29:19).
was no remedy.'                                              This statement, "because he had compassion
  "Are we correct in believing that God's `remedy'        upon his people and his dwelling place," is often
is His everlasting grace and goodness and mercy           taken to mean that God had compassion upon the
toward His covenantal people as found in the work         entire nation of Judah. In that case, God insistently
of His Son, Jesus our Savior? Surely there must           and repeatedly sent His servants to plead with and
have been, even very small, a remnant among the           beg rebellious Judah to repent and return to the
people during the days of Zedekiah; what  hap-            Lord. Only when God failed to bring them to repen-
pened here? No `remedy'?                                  tance, when every remedy failed, was He forced to
  "Or has the Lord come to a point where there            surrender them to the Chaldees. Anyone can see
was no way out but to send the `king of the               that this interpretation is an outright denial of the
Chaldees' upon them? No remedy, all destroyed!"           sovereignty of God, Whose counsel stands and
  The term "remedy" should not be regarded as             Who does all His good pleasure. It also makes our
being synonymous with God's "everlasting grace            salvation dependent on us. Who, then, can be
and goodness and mercy toward His covenantal              saved?
people." As is evident from the marginal reference          What may seem a bit strange to us is the fact that
in some Bibles, the word for "remedy" in the              the expression "his people" is used in a twofold
original Hebrew is "healing." There was no heal-          sense here. In verse 15 we read that God sent
ing; Judah's ailment was unto death! This does not        messengers f'because  he had compassion on  his
refer to individuals in Judah, but to Judah organ-        people,  and on his dwelling place." In verse 16 we
ically, as a nation.                                      read that "the wrath of the Lord arose against  his
  We read of the kings who reigned over Judah at          people,  till there was no remedy." Seemingly "his
that time, that they did evil in the sight of the Lord    people" refers in both instances to the same people.
and committed abominations before Him, making             Yet in the light of all of Scripture this is impossible.
themselves abhorrent in God's sight. King                 God's compassion is eternal, unchangeable, even as
Zedekiah in particular did not humble himself             God is eternal! God's compassion is based on the
before the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke in God's           atoning death of His dear Son on the cross. God will
name. Also the priesthood was corrupted and               never ignore that! Yet this creates no real difficulty,
became a powerful influence in corrupting the peo-        since the expression "his people" is used in a two-
ple. We read that they "transgressed very much            fold manner in the Old Testament. Israel as a na-
after all the abominations of the heathen; and            tion was the typical people of God. But Israel as a
polluted the house of the Lord, which he had              nation was not the same as God's elect in Christ
hallowed in Jerusalem."                                   Jesus, who belong to Him on the basis of the aton-


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                               311



ing death of the cross, resting on sovereign election!     know also that there were others who hung their
In verse 15 God's elect people are referred to, as is      harps on the willows, in longing for Jerusalem, who
evident from the fact that they are mentioned in           could not sing the songs of Zion in a strange land.
one breath with God's dwelling place. God                  God's faithful remnant was sustained by the power
remembered His covenant with Abraham, which                of His Word, as a savor of life unto life. On the
included the promise, "I will be your God and the          other hand, that same Word, through the same
God of your seed," as became evident through               preaching, was a savor of death unto death for
God's dwelling place in Jerusalem. But in verse 16         those who rebelliously opposed it, mocked with it,
God is speaking of Israel as a nation which, with its      and rejected it. They were only hardened by the
kings and its priests, had mocked God's                    preaching. They were corrupt, rebellious; their sins
messengers, despised His words, and misused His            were like filthy, festering, ulcerous sores that were
prophets.                                                  eating away at their souls.
  Thus the preaching of Gods Word had a twofold              Thus they filled their cup of iniquity. God
effect also in the kingdom of Judah in the time of its     proved Himself just in their condemnation. This
apostasy. This Word came to God's elect in His             was the case with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, of Ahab,
compassion with the purpose of saving them out of          king of Israel, of those who crucified the Christ,
the midst of an apostate nation. Although their faith      and will again become evident at the end of the
was not evidenced at the moment, we know that              ages when, according to the Book of Revelation, the
there were men like Daniel and his three friends           wicked will reveal their true rebellious nature, for
who remained faithful to God even in Babylon. We           "they repented not"!


                         Report of  Classis West

  Classis West of the Protestant Reformed                  "30% of the interest accumulated on the principle
Churches met in South Holland, Illinois on March           be added each year to the established perpetual
5, 6, 1986. Classis  met all day on Wednesday, until       fund and 70% of the annual earnings be used ex-
11:OO PM, and on Thursday morning, until noon.             clusively to subsidize the denominational Emeritus
Ten ministers and fourteen elders, representing the        Fund." Classis  West will offer this gift to our Synod
churches in the West, made up this Classis.  Rev. K.       of 1986. The other overture, concerning  synodical
Koole led in opening devotions, addressing Classis         provision for the social security taxes of our
from I Peter  5:1-4: "The elders which are among           ministers from the emeritus fund, was declared to
you I exhort . . . . Feed the flock of God which is        be illegally before Classis on the ground that the re-
among you . . . . " Rev. D. Kuiper was president of        quirement of Article 46 of the Church Order was
this assembly. Elders P. Boer (South Holland) and          not complied with.
M. Yonkman (Lynden) and Rev. R. Hanko                        Classis  renewed the mandate of a special com-
(Houston) were present at  Classis  as delegates for       mittee of Classis,  appointed by  Classis,  September,
the first time, and signed the Formula of Subscrip-        1985, to recommend rules limiting the length of ap-
tion.  Classis  gave the right of the floor to Rev. W.     peals brought to Classis.
Bekkering, Rev. G. Lubbers, and Rev. R. Van Over-
loop.  Classis  seated Rev. G. Hutton and Deacon J.          A brother appealed to  Classis  against his  Con-
Clarke, delegated to Classis  by the Session of the Bi-    sistory's censure of him for  his.refusal to comply
ble Presbyterian Church of Larne, Northern                 with the income tax laws of our Government, by
Ireland, as delegates from a sister-church, with ad-       filing a properly filled out tax form and by paying
visory vote.                                               income taxes. The Consistory charges him with
                                                           transgression of the 5th Commandment, in rebell-
  Classis  approved the "Ministerial Certificate of        ing against the authority of the State, with appeal,
Dismissal and Testimonial" of Rev. C. Haak, who            among other passages, to Romans 13:1-7, as well as
had recently accepted the call to Lynden, Washing-         to the Reformed Creeds. The member maintains
ton, and authorized the counselor of the Lynden            that the income tax laws are unconstitutional and
Church to proceed to the installation.                     that, therefore, he is not required to obey them.
  Two Consistories had overtures at  Classis.              Classis' judgment was the rejection of the
Classis  adopted the overture that asked  Classis  to      member's appeal and the sustaining of the decision
modify its decision concerning the gift of the, be-        of the Consistory to discipline the member, so that
quest of Mr. C. Van Der Molen to the Protestant            he may be brought to repentance.  Classis  ad-
Reformed Churches in America, by stipulating that          monished the appellant to submit to the loving

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


                                                                                                                               .,       -
                                                                                         __,  __-..-- .  .-



312                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

discipline exercised upon him by his Consistory for                             ches," and that "the work of the office-bearers is
his salvation.                                                                  being blessed in the upbuilding of the congrega-
   In closed session, Classis  considered the requests                          tions and the youth. Where, in the recent past, dif-
of two Consistories for the advice of  Classis  con-                            ficulties did exist, there appears to be a marked im-
cerning the second step of censure in the cases of                              provement in the unity, peace, and love among the
three individuals.                                                              members."
 Edgerton, Edmonton, Isabel, Pella, and Houston                                      The results of the voting were the following:
presented requests for subsidy in 1987 in the                                           -Classical Committee: Rev. R. Moore (89) and
amount of $79,156. Classis  approved these requests                                       Rev. M. De Vries (87).
and forwarded them to Synod. Trinity, Houston                                           -Primus  Delegate Ad Examina: Rev. J. Slopsema
also gave in a special request for immediate finan-                                        (89).
cial help in the amount of $7,000. Classis  approved                                    -Secundus  Delegate  Ad Examina:  Rev. M. De
this request and forwarded it to Synod.                                                   Vries (89).
                                                                                        -Church Visitors: Rev. D. Engelsma and Rev. G.
   In response to her request,  Doon received                                             Lanting.
classical appointments: June 1, 8 - Rev. D. Kuiper;                                    -Delegates to Synod, 1986:
June 15, 22  - Rev. G. Lanting. For the rest,  Doon                                        Primi  Minister Delegates: R. Cammenga, D.
has made her own arrangements and will seek                                                   Engelsma, K. Koole, J. Slopsema.
pulpit supply during the summer months from the                                            Secundi  Minister Delegates: M. De Vries, G.
seminary.                                                                                     Lanting, T. Miersma, R. Moore.
   The Church Visitors reported on their visit of the                                      Primi Elder Delegates: P. Brummel (Edgerton),
churches in the West in the past year. This report                                            R. Brunsting (Hull), H. Meulenberg (Hous-
informed  Classis  that "the office-bearers are faith-                                        ton), E. Stouwie (South Holland).
fully performing the duties of their offices, and                                          Secundi  Elder Delegates: E. Bruinsma (Love-
observe in all things the adopted order of the chur-                                          land), H. Hoekstra (Hull), J. Sugg (Houston),
                                                                                              G. Tolsma (Edmonton).
                                                                                       At the invitation of Trinity, Houston,  Classis
                            NOTICE!!!                                           West will meet next in Houston, Texas, on
   Classis East will meet in regular session on Wednesday, May 14,
at the Holland Protestant Reformed Church. Material to be treated in            September 3, 1986, the Lord willing. This will be a
this session must be in the hands of the Stated Clerk at least three            "first" for  Classis   - and for Trinity.
weeks prior to the convening of this session.                                                                  Rev. David Engelsma, Stated Clerk
                                                             Jon Huisken
                                                             Stated Clerk                                                                    Classis  West

                            NOTICE!!!                                                               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School is in need of a
teacher-administrator for Grades 7 and 8 and for a teacher for the                     The Ladies Aid Society of Hope Protestant Reformed Church
Kindergarten and the 1st Grade for the 1986-87 School Year.                     (Walker,  MI) expresses its Christian Sympathy to Mrs. Sadie
Teachers interested in applying for these positions please write to the         Kooienga in the death of her brother, MR. HAROLD WINDEMULLER.
Hull Protestant Reformed Christian School, 218 2nd Street, Hull, IA             May she and her family be comforted by the words of Psalm 34:19 -
51239, or phone Ron Koole, (712) 439-l 060 or Glenn Kooiker,                    "Many see the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him
(712) 324-2973.                                                                 from them all."
                                                                                                                                      Prof. H. Hanko, Pres.
                                                                                                                                      Eilene Terpstra, Sec'y.
              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
  The Ladies and Men Societies of the South Holland Protestant
Reformed Church expresses their Christian sympathy to Mr. and Mrs.                                   LEAGUE MEETING NOTICE
Arthur H. De Jong and family in the recent death of their mother and                   The Spring Meeting of the League of Eastern Men's and Ladies'
grandmother, MRS. ANNETTA CARTER.                                                    Societies will be held, the Lord willing, on Tuesday, April 22, 1986 at
  May God comfort the bereaved with the promises of the Gospel.                      8:00 p.m. at the Hope Protestant Reformed Church.
  "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that                        Rev. John Heys will speak on "The Signs of the Coming of An-
hope in His mercy." (Psalm 147:l 1)                                             tichrist in our Present World." All members and others interested in
                                                                                this topic are urged to attend.
                                                 Sharon Maatman, Sec'y.
                                                 Garret Flikkema, Sec'y.                                                              Elsie Kuiper, Secretary


