 A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine


 _-





VvIuIIIe  ov,  /vu. 10
july I, 1988


        Contents                                                                            July I, 1988                  THE
                                                                                                                    STANDARD
       Meditation  - James D. Slopsema                                                                                  BlL54RER
       MadeFreeByTheSpiritOf Life.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410
       Editorial  -                                                                                                 ISSN  0362-4692
       The Creation Record Literal (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412              Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                                                    and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
       Decency And Order  - Ronald L. Cammenga                                                                      lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
                                                                                                                    at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
       Ministering In Institutions of Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415                  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
       In His Fear  - Arie den Hartog                                                                               Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                                    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
       The Distinctive Traits of True Godliness:                                                                    Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog,
                                                                                                                    Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. Barry Critters, Rev.
          LoveFortheTruthOfGod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .417                 Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev.
       Contribution  -                                                                                              Ronald Hanko, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev.  I.  Korter-
                                                                                                                    ing, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C.
       More About A Minister's Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419               Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.  Cise  J. Van
                                                                                                                    Baren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
       Bible Study Guide -  lason L. Kortering                                                                      EDITORIAL OFFICE
       Joshua - Receiving The Promised Land (4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420                         Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                                    4975  Ivanrest  Ave., S.W.
       Question Box  - Cornelius Hanko                                                                              Crandville,  Michigan 49418
                                                                                                                    CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
       ThePowerOfPrayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..42 2            Mr. Ben Wigger
       All Around Us  - Cise  /. Van  Baren                                                                         6597  - 40th Ave.
                                                                                                                    Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
       Nefarious Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425     EDITORIAL POLICY
                                                                                                                    Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
       Three Cheers for the Creationists! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426                of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
       Walking In The Light  - Herman C. Hanko                                                                      terest from our readers and questions for the
                                                                                                                    Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
       prunkenness (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426      tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
                                                                                                                    and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
  .    Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428    must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
       News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430              the fifteenth of the month. All communications
                                                                                                                    relative to the contents should be sent to the
                                                                                                                    editorial office.
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                                                                 There is therefore now no con-                     articles in our magazine by other publications,
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       lames D. Slopsema                                     Christ Jesus.                                          which such reprint appears is sent to our editorial
                                                                 This is how the holy apostle                       office.
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       j For the law of the Spirit of                                                                               and school events, anniversaries, obituaries, and
                                                             ing to Jesus Christ, he had re-                        svmoathv  resolutions will be  olaced  for a 53.00
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       James D. Slopsema is pastor of Hope                   proof that there is no condemna-                       16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and 105mm
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       f+ot. Ref: Church, Walker, Michigan.                  tion to those in Christ Jesus.                         through University Microfilms International.


       470  /  The  Standard Bearer


Were there any condemnation                There is a certain amount of         revealed through poverty,
for those in Christ, they could          pleasure that the fallen man           famine, and starvation. Perhaps
never be set free from the law of        derives from sin. He finds it          the greatest revelation of God's
sin and death.                           pleasurable to gossip, to profane      wrath upon sin is the strife and
* * * * * *  * * * *                     God's name, to commit adultery,        turmoil God brings to mankind:
                                                                                marital problems, family distur-
  The law of sin and death.              to become drunken. Whenever
                                                                                bances, racial discrimination, riot
  What a cruel bondage!                  man comes under the power of
                                                                                and revolution, war among the
  Law does not refer here to the         sin, he finds his delight in doing
                                                                                nations.
law of God. Law is used rather in        exactly what God forbids in His
                                                                                  What agony the world suffers
the sense of a power or force            holy law. For that reason the
                                         natural man does not consider          at the hand of a vengeful God!
that rules and governs our lives                                                  And it is but a small foretaste
according to a certain predictable       the law of sin to be a bondage.
                                                                                of the greater sufferings yet to
pattern.                                 Gladly and willingly he serves
                                         the power of sin. Blinded by the       come.
  Thus, for example, we speak of         pleasures of sin, he considers           The law of sin is freedom?
the laws of nature. The laws of          the ability to live in sin to be         It is the most cruel bondage.
nature are forces God has created        freedom.                               * * *  *  * * * * * *
in the universe which always               But the truth is that the law of
operate according to a predict-          sin is a most cruel bondage.             The law of the Spirit of life in
able pattern and which govern                                                   Christ Jesus hath made me free
the activities of the creation.            For the law of sin leads to          from the law of sin and death.
There is the law of gravity, the         death.                                   From the viewpoint of man's
law of expansion and  contrac-             The Bible is very clear. The         ability, there is no escape from
tion, the law of magnetism . . . .       wages of sin is death. The soul        the law of sin and death.
  In like manner there are laws          that sinneth, it shall die. This is      When a person finds himself in
in the spiritual realm that              not because sin is some kind of        bondage to a fellow man, there is
govern the lives of men. There           poison that slowly works the           always the possibility of escape.
is the law of sin and death. There       death of man. This is because          He may redeem himself from his
is also the law of the Spirit of life    God punishes sin with death. God       slavery through the payment of a
in Christ Jesus.                         punishes every sin with death.
                                         God also punishes your sin with        price or through faithful service.
  Our concern at this point is                                                  Or he may simply run away.
with the law of sin and death.           death.                                   But there is nothing that man
  Sin is viewed here as a tremen-          Consequently, we read here of
                                         the law of sin and death.              can do to escape from the law of
dous power that has taken hold             The death that results from the      sin and death.
of mankind and that exercises                                                     He can not overthrow the
absolute control over man's              law of sin is the complete
                                         destruction of man.                    power of sin that has taken hold
spiritual life. It all began when in       This death is realized ultimate-     of him. Fact is, so long as he is
Adam mankind sinned against              ly and finally in hell. Hell is the    under the domination of sin, he
the living God. This original sin        place of God's wrath, where God        does not want to. He counts his
brought the whole human race             terrorizes the wicked for their        slavery to be freedom.
under the power and domination           sins. And there is no escape from        Nor can man overcome the im-
of sin. Ever since then sin has          hell. Those who enter the inferno      pending death which God sends
controlled man's thoughts, his           of hell face an eternity of            as punishment for sin. Oh, man
desires, his speech, his actions,                                               tries. He seeks to prolong death
his whole life. It has led man to        hopeless agony and despair at          and, if possible, even conquer
live his whole life contrary to the      the hands of an angry God.             death through advancements in
will of God.                               Of this endless death the sinner
                                         has a foretaste even now.              medicine. He also seeks to make
  Sin has become a law that                For God judges the sin of man        his life more bearable through
rules and regulates the life of          even in this life. Even now the        psychology and scientific ad-
man.                                                                            vancements. But always he fails.
  What a cruel bondage this law          wrath of God is revealed from
                                         heaven against all the ungodli-        A miserable life ending in a
of sin is for man!                       ness and unrighteousness of men.       hopeless death is inevitable. For
  The trouble is that those who                                                 these are the punishments of God
are under the law of sin do not          (Romans 1: 18)
                                           God reveals his wrath against        upon man for his sin.
see it this way.                         the sin of man by sending
                                         sickness and disease. His wrath is


                                                                                                  The Standard Bearer  /  411


   As is evident from the apostle's        When the Spirit of life takes up                 The law of the Spirit of life in
confession, liberation from the         His abode in our hearts and                      Christ Jesus hath made us free
law of sin and death is to be           bestows upon us the new life of                  from the law of sin and death.
found only in the law of the            Jesus Christ, He becomes an ir-                  Now we must walk in this
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.         resistible power to direct the                   freedom.
   The Spirit mentioned here is         whole course of our life. Sin may                   Belonging to Jesus Christ, we
the Holy Spirit, the third person       have taken hold of us from the                   possess this freedom of the Spirit.
of the Godhead.                         beginning, leading us into every                 However, this freedom is not yet
   The Holy Spirit is called the        way of disobedience. But when                    complete and full. For we still
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This    the Spirit accomplishes His great                have a sinful nature. And that
emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is      work, the power of sin is broken.                sinful nature delights in the way
the One through Whom we re-             And the Spirit becomes as a law,                 of sin. In fact, it seeks again and
ceive the life of Jesus Christ.         regulating our lives according to                again to lead us into the bondage
   On the basis of the perfect          the holy will of God.                            from which we have been
work on the cross, Jesus was               The law of the Spirit of life in              delivered.
raised on the third day to a            Christ Jesus hath made us free                      Hence, we must remember
glorious, heavenly life.                from the law of sin and death!                   that we are not debtors to the
  And our Savior Jesus shares              And what a glorious freedom                   flesh to live after the flesh. We
this life with us. In fact, the very    this is!                                         owe the flesh nothing.
purpose of His death was to earn           Many consider life under God's                   Rather, through the power of
this life for us. He was raised         law to be a terrible bondage.                    the Spirit we are to mortify the
again on the third day exactly          And bondage it is, if our hearts                 deeds of the flesh and live in the
that He might both receive this         despise the way of God. But we                   glorious liberty that is ours in
life and give it to us. To this end     are forced to conform our out-                   Jesus Christ.
Jesus also received the gift of the     ward behavior to it.                                In that liberty we also have the
Holy Spirit at His ascension into          However, the Spirit of life so                certainty that in Jesus Christ
heaven. This Spirit the exalted         changes our hearts that we                       there is for us no condemnation.
Jesus poured out upon the               delight in God's law and gladly                     For there is now no condemna-
church. And through the indwell-        keep His ways. And that is free-                 tion to them which are in Christ
ing Spirit, Christ shares with          dom. For in the way of willful                   Jesus, who walk not after the
every member of the church His          service of God there is the joy of               flesh, but after the Spirit. Cl
resurrection life.                      God's friendship, the security of
  Hence, the Spirit is the Spirit of    God's protection, the hope of life
life in Christ Jesus.                   eternal.





                                        The Creation Record
Editorial                               Literal (2)

                                          [In our previous editorial on this sub-        the progressive creationist must try to
                                        ject we stressed that For the Christian the      leave the impression of loyalty to the
                                        truth of creation is strictly a matter of the    Genesis record. But the matter of the
                                        testimony of the infallible Scriptures.          Genesis record, we stressed, is strictly a
                                        Connected with this is the whole subject         matter of exegesis, i.e., of interpreting
                                        of the historic@  of the creation record.        Scripture with Scripture.]
                                        Somehow the theistic evolutionist and/or


412 / The Standard Bearer


   Over the years there have             of mighty catastrophes which,                  tion of the term "day" in
been various theories concerning         destroyed it and left it "without              Genesis 1.
Genesis 1 which have been de-            form and void," (vs. 2), and that                A third concordistic theory is
vised in order to accommodate            out of this desolation was created             called the inter-period theory. It
the Genesis record to various            the present universe. This view                does not tamper with the days of
"scientific" theories which in-          leaves an indefinite time-gap be-              creation-week themselves, but in-
volve millions and billions of           tween verse 1 and verse 3 of                   serts between the days long
years for the origin of things.          Genesis 1. For the theistic evolu-             periods of millions or billions of
They are not really interpreta-          tionist this theory does not leave             years. This theory also allows the
tions of Genesis, but perversions        enough room and especially does                necessary time for a process of
of Scripture. Yet they claim to be       not leave room in the remainder                evolution. However, it is not very
interpretations; and we shall ac-        of creation-week. The latter is                commonly held today.
cept this claim and put them to          essential for the theistic evolu-                Now the question is: are these
the test of Scripture. Please note:      tionist and the progressive crea-              theories Scriptural? Are they tru-
we shall put them to the test of         tionist. It is interesting to note             ly interpretations, or even possi-
Scripture, the test which we de-         that Mr. Leo Peters, who wrote a               ble, plausible  interpretations of
scribed in our June editorial. It        few large articles in The Grand                Genesis l?
may very well be that these              Rapids Press about the Calvin                    Let us put them to the test of
views will meet the test of              College situation, while he cer-               Scripture, the test of Scripture
"science" and of some                    tainly does not promote the                    without anything additional, the
"scientists." That is not the issue.     restitution theory, seems to allow             test of Scripture approached
If they meet the test of "science"       for a long period of time in this              without any prepossession, ex-
and of some "scientists," even           same segment of Genesis 1. In his              cept the prepossession of faith -
thousands of them, but fail to           article on May 7 he wrote con-                 the test of Scripture as any or-
meet the test of Scripture, they         cerning the beginning as follows:              dinary child of God can read
fail and are false and are to be         "beginning" = start of temporal time;          those Scriptures and understand
rejected by the believer.                there is no other kind of time. So, "begin-    them.
  Among the various non-literal          ning" is the original time-ti-ame. Since         Do this with the restitution
interpretations there are some           God did not tell how long "the
                                         beginning" lasted, it could have spanned       theory. Where is there so much
which we may dispose of at               eons of time, or science's billions of         as a hint that there was a former
once. They are not only non-             years.                                         creation which was destroyed in
literal, but they are non-Biblical. I    This is, of course, by definition              order to make room for the pres-
refer to such theories as the            impossible. The beginning is that              ent creation? Where is there so
mythical theory (Genesis is a            indivisible moment which marks                 much as a hint in the text of
myth, Israel's national myth con-        the onset of time, not a period of             Genesis that there was a long
cerning the origin of things), the       possible billions of years.                    period of time between the
allegorical and poetical theories,          Probably the most common of                 beginning of verse 1 and the
and Karl Barth's saga theory.            these concordistic theories is the             creation of light in verse 3? It
These do not have the semblance          period theory. It claims to inter-             cannot be found in the text.
of being interpretations; and we         pret the term "day" in Genesis 1                 Do this with the period theory.
may dispose of them without fur-         as a period of hundreds of                       Genesis 1 speaks of six suc-
ther ado. They are non-Biblical.         millions and even billions of                  cessive days in which God
Faith cannot even consider them.         years. Each of the six successive              created. It speaks of days which
  There are, however, some               days of creation-week was such a               are delineated by evening and
more current theories.                   long period. Thus this theory                  morning. It speaks already in
  First of all, there are three          makes room, as far as the crucial              connection with the first day of a
theories known as the con-               time element is concerned, for                 distinction between the light and
cordistic theories.                      the possibility of a so-called                 the darkness, day-time and night-
  The first of these is known as         theistic evolution, or progressive             time. Here is a simple question:
the  restitution theory.  It teaches     creation. All things came into be-             can those days by any stretch of
that Genesis 1: 1 records the crea-      ing not in six regular days (which             exegesis be changed into periods
tion of the first world, but that        is impossible according to this
following this there was a series        theory), but over the course of
                                         billions of years. The claim is, of
                                         course, that this is an interpreta-


                                                                                                        The Standard  Bearer  / 413


of millions or billions of years? Is    And the evening and the morn-              But the Bible is not absurd!
that truly a matter of interpreta-      ing were the first billion years."      Genesis 1 is Scripture! It is
tion, or even of honest dif-            Or again, in Genesis 1:8: ". . .And     perspicuous Scripture! Any child
ferences of interpretation among        the evening and the morning             of God is able to read it and
exegetes of Scripture who may           were the second billion years."         understand it!
be classified as orthodox? I am         Or try this with the Fourth Com-          But what becomes of
well aware of the fact that appeal      mandment, which makes clear             perspicuous Scripture when it is
can be made to statements by            reference to the creation or-           "interpreted" in this fashion?
many otherwise orthodox                 dinance: "For in six periods of a         The simple fact is that no one
theologians, men of stature, who        billion years the Lord made             in his right mind would ever so
claimed that these days were            heaven and earth, the sea, and          much as guess - that is, when
periods or could be interpreted as      all that in them is, and rested the     he reads Genesis 1 without pre-
periods. That is not the issue.         seventh period of a billion years:      possession and without the great
The question is: what does Scrip-       wherefore the Lord blessed the          learning of the scientist - that
ture teach?                             sabbath period of a billion years,      the Word of God is here referring
   The answer is clear.                 and hallowed it." In fact, the          to long .periods of time. Where
   By definition this alleged inter-    commandment itself, on the prin-        did the theory have its origin
pretation of the days of Genesis 1      ciple that the same word in the         then? In the minds of those who
is impossible.                          same context means the same             concluded that the meaning of
   1. A day, particularly a day         thing, would have to be read as         Scripture had to be adjusted to
delineated by morning and eve-          follows: "Six periods of a billion      the theories of scientists.
ning and consisting of day-time         years shalt thou labor and do all         It is probably because of its ob-
and night-time, simply is not a         thy work, but the seventh period        vious exegetical flaws that men
period of years, of millions or         of a billion years is the sabbath       have largely rejected the period'
billions of years. It is not even       of the Lord thy God . . . ."            theory and sought refuge in other
one year.                                 You object, perhaps, that I am        alleged interpretations. Among
   2. A year, on the other hand,        using the method of reductio  ad        these is the "framework
is itself already a large number of     absurdurn. I freely admit it! But it    hypothesis," a theory appealed to
days; and a period of millions          is, on exegetical grounds, a            also by Howard Van Till in The
(billions) of years obviously can-      legitimate reduction to absurdity.      Fourth Day. This we shall ex-
not properly be described as such                                               amine, the Lord willing, in a later
a day.                                                                          editorial. Cl                     HCH
   This is very clear by definition.
To claim anything else is to play
with words in such a way that
they lose all sense. And the Bible
does not play with words!               For new subscrib ?rs, it is
   You can test this by paraphras-
ing the text of Genesis 1 in terms      available for one year at half
of periods. Read Genesis 1 as
though it spoke of periods of
hundreds of millions of years or        the subscription 1 i c e !
of. billions of years. Men talk
about the universe being 15
billion years old and of the earth
itself as being 4 l/2 billion years
old. Well, let us assign a value of
a billion years for each day of
Genesis 1. Then let us read
Genesis 1, substituting that billion
years for the days. What do you
get? Read Genesis 1:5 this way:
"And God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night.



414  / The Standard  Bearer


 decency  And Ministering In
 Order
Ronald 1. Cammenga                           Institutions Of Mercy

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND                           The Synod of Dordtrecht,                      The present article, however,
   Originally Article 6 read quite           1578, ruled:                                  concerns the call and labor of a
differently from its present form              Those who minister the Word at court        minister outside of an organized
in our Church Order.                         of rulers or in the palaces of other lords    congregation in work that is
  Persons engaged in the ministry of the     shall be fairly and legally called as the     strictly speaking non-ecclesiasti-
Word in the manor of any ruler or baron      others, subscribe to the Church Order         cal.
shall be properly and lawfully called as     and Confession, and appoint the ablest of        In recent years several posi-
the others, subscribe to the Confession      the court personnel to the office of elder    tions have been subsumed under
and the Church Order, and appoint the        and deacon.
ablest of the group they serve to the of-       Although originally only the               the provisions of Article 6. Ex-
fices of elder and of deacon.                service of court preachers was                amples would be: hospital pastor;
   Reference is made in the            *     mentioned in the article, soon                chaplains in the armed forces, or-
original Article 6 to a "manor." A           the article began to be applied               phanages, homes for unwed
manor was a district over which              much more broadly. The Synod                  mothers, mental institutions, and
a feudal lord or baron held                  of Middelburg, 1581, applied the              prisons; instructors in Bible or
authority, the territory that was            article to service in hospitals and           Church History in the Christian
subject to his jurisdiction. In the          orphanages. A Particular Synod                schools; college presidents and
first period of the Reformation,             of 1599 broadened the article to              professors.
feudal lords would select and ap-            include service in a penitentiary.              Some of the specialized posi-
point persons to minister to the                The present article addresses              tions approved by the Synod of
spiritual needs of themselves and            itself to the service of ministers            the Christian Reformed Church
their families, as well as to their          in what are strictly speaking non-            include: Presidents of Calvin,
servants and tenants. William I,             ecclesiastical institutions. What is          Dordt, and Trinity Colleges;
also known as William of Orange              the status of such ministers?                 editors of church periodicals and
or William the Silent, seems to              What rules govern their appoint-              educational committee workers;
have been the first Protestant               ment? To whom are they subject?               officers of denominational boards
ruler to engage the services of              THE SCOPE OF ARTICLE 6                        and committees; radio and televi-
his own court preacher. Many                    The scope of our present Arti-             sion ministries; chaplains; Bible
other nobles and barons soon                 cle 6 is significantly broader than           translators; and Bible teachers in
followed his example.                        the original article. Although the            high schools and colleges.
                                             original article addressed itself to            Serious reservations need to be
                                             an extraordinary field of labor               raised, it seems to me, about the
                                             (the palace of some noble), it did            present application of Article 6.
                                             not concern itself with what is               Not only has there been a rather
                                             strictly speaking a non-ecclesiasti-          drastic departure from the
                                             cal field of labor (an institution of         original intent of the article, but
                                             mercy). The original article even             in many instances the article is
                                             called for the organization of the            wrongly applied. In many cases
                                             individuals who made up the                   Article 6 is used as the ground
                                             royal retinue into a congregation.            for ministers of the gospel to be
                                             The court preacher was to ap-                 engaged in activities that really
Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the          point qualified persons as elders
Prot. Ref. Church of Loveland, Colorado.     and deacons.

                                                                                                           The Standard Bearer  /  415


  have very little or nothing to do          Two important corollaries              Secondly, the authority of the
  with preaching the gospel. Minis-       follow from the stipulations of         office of the minister resides, not
  ters are involved in work that          Article 6. First, it is implied that    in himself, but resides in the
  could just as well, and more            if a minister accepts an appoint-       church which has called him. No
  properly, be done by those who          ment to do work in some Chris-          person can hold office apart from
  are not ministers. No justification     tian institution WITHOUT receiv-        appointment by the church, the
  for this can or ought to be found
- .                                       ing a call according to Articles        local, instituted congregation.
  m Article 6.                            3-5 of the Church Order, by that        The local congregation issues the
  STIPULATIONS OF ARTICLE 6               very fact he forfeits his office. If    call, and the minister retains the
       The election and calling of        he does not seek release from his       status of his office only in con-
  ministers to fill positions properly    office according to Article 12 in       nection with the local congrega-
  covered by Article 6 must pro-          order to pursue a secular voca-         tion. Just as one cannot be an
  ceed from a local consistory.           tion, he makes himself guilty, of       elder or deacon without being an
  Ideally, an organization would          desertion of office, which calls        elder or deacon of a particular
 present such a request to the            for suspension and deposition,          congregation, so one cannot be a
  local consistory, indicating the        Articles 79 and 80. Secondly, it is     minister without being called and
 reasons they seek the full-time          implied that no one can lay claim       sent by a local congregation.
 services of an ordained minister.        to the office of the ministry just        Thirdly, even a minister who
 The consistory would then have           because he has been engaged in          labors in an area of special call-
 to judge whether such a request          work in some Christian institu-         ing must be lawfully called ac-
 fits under the stipulations of Arti-     tion. The only way into the             cording to the stipulations of Ar-
 cle 6.                                   ministry is the way of the lawful       ticles 3-5 of the Church Order.
       If convinced by the request,       call, Articles 3-5.                     There are to be no exceptions.
 the consistory would then pro-           FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES                    Finally, also a minister who
 ceed to nomination, election, and        UNDERLYING ARTICLE 6                    labors in an area of special call-
 calling of a man to fill the posi-         In the first place, the church        ing is under the authority and
 tion. Article 6 can be criticized        recognizes only one kind of             supervision of a local congrega-
 for not stating explicitly how a         minister of the gospel. There are       tion. This would mean that his
 minister is to be called to serve        not two kinds of ministers, one of      work is subject to the review of
 in such an institution. This fact        which is lawfully called by the         the calling consistory. This would
 led the Synod of the Christian           church, and another which is ap-        also mean that he would be a
 Reformed Church in 1918 to rule          pointed by some organization or         member of the consistory of the
 that, "Spiritual Advisors for in-        institutional board. There is fund-     calling church. He could take his
 stitutions shall be called by a          amentally one ministerial office        turn by rotation in presiding over
 neighboring church in consulta-          and one way into that office.           the consistory meetings, Article
 tion with the respective board."                                                 37. He could also be delegated to
 However, the procedure for call-                                                 the broader assemblies, Article
 ing is implied when the article                                                  33. 0
 states that they are to be ". . . ad-
 mitted in accordance with the
 preceding articles . . . ." This im-
 plies that the calling of ministers
 to'serve in institutions of mercy         The Standard Bearer makes a
 is to take place according to Arti-
cles 3-5.
       The consequences of the ac-        thoughtful gift for members of your
 ceptance of such a call would be
that the minister's ministerial           family, friends, and neighbors. Give
credentials would be held in the
 congregation issuing the call. At        a gift of the Standard Bearer.
the same time, the man's labor
would be subject to the super-
vision of that consistory.




416  / The Standard Bearer


                                          The Distirwtive Traits of
                                          True Godliness: Love For
 In His Fear
 Arie den Hat-tog                         the Truth Of God

   That love for the truth is and         even if that system is in all points    that revelation of God because he
must be one of the distinctive            based on the Scriptures. There          hates God and forms another God
traits of true godliness is obvious.      are those in the church, sad to         after his own vain imagination,
By love for the truth of God we           say, who have only an abstract          which is an idol. After the fall of
mean first of all love for the truth      and intellectual interest in a          man into sin, God can only be
about God, the truth that                 system of doctrine, but show lit-       known through His self-revelation
declares who and what God is in           tle real love for the God about         in the Bible. Only the child of
Himself. That is basic. Love for          Whom that doctrine speaks. We           God who knows and loves the
the truth of God is more than             must love the truth of God as it        truth of God as found in the Bible
love for a certain system of doc-         reveals Who and what our God            can also see the revelation of
trine about God. We say that not          is. God is a living and personal        God in His creation. The Bible
at all because we wish to                 God. He is the wonderful and            reveals the truth of God in Christ
minimize the importance of doc-           blessed God of salvation. He is         Jesus. We know Him, through
trine. Doctrine, systematic               the covenant God of His people.         His Holy Spirit, by His wonderful
theology, is of utmost impor-             He is known in the person of the        self-revelation in the Bible. The
tance. All Christians should be           Lord Jesus Christ. We must know         Bible is the absolutely perfect
schooled in the doctrines of God.         and love this God in a living and       and infallible revelation of God.
The Bible, it is true, is more than       personal ways as our Lord and           All that can be known of God by
a book of systematic theology             God, and the God of our salva-          man is found in the Bible. The
and doctrine. Nevertheless it is          tion. As Christians, we must love       whole of the Bible reveals the
possible and highly beneficial for        the truth of God as much as we          truth of God. There is no distinc-
our knowledge of God and our              love God Himself. Anyone who            tion of parts in the Bible, some of
faith in Him to derive from the           denies or contradicts that truth        which reveal God and others of
revelation of God in the Bible a          cannot be said to love God.             which reveal only man. God
carefully ordered system of doc-          Anyone who imagines that this           makes Himself known in the Bi-
trine. The Bible reveals the doc-         truth is not so very important to       ble from the beginning in the
trine of God. At the same time it         maintain and defend is not very         great story of creation, where He
must be said that our love for the        serious about love to God, and          reveals Himself as the creator of
truth of God must go further than         lacks true godliness.                   heaven and earth, Who by divine
love for a system of doctrine               Love for the truth begins with        fiat created heaven and earth
                                          a high regard for the Bible as the      and all things which they contain
                                          infallible revelation of God. The       in six days. God reveals Himself
                                          Bible is God's book that declares       in all the record of the history of
                                          the truth about Him. It is the          His dealings with His chosen
                                          chief source of our knowledge of        people and the revelation of His
                                          God. It is true that God reveals        covenant with them. God makes
                                          Himself in the whole of His crea-       Himself known in the history of
Arie den Hartog is pastor of the Prot.
Ret: Church of Randolph, Wisconsin.       tion. The ungodly man rejects           the coming of the Lord Jesus

                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer / 417


Christ, in His wonderful person,          Love for the truth of God im-        will also study the Word of God
in His mighty works, and in His         plies a great interest in the study    privately and personally in his
great teachings as the God of our       of that truth as it is found in the    home and with his family. The
salvation, and especially in the        Bible. The true child of God loves     child of God seeks to know the
cross and resurrection and exalta-      to study the great truths of Gods      great mysteries of Gods
tion of our Lord. God reveals           attributes: His sovereignty, His       predestination and providence,
Himself to us in and through all        almighty power and perfect and         and of His wonderful salvation by
the letters of the apostles and the     glorious holiness, His                 sovereign grace alone in His Son
doctrine which they set forth.          righteousness and faithfulness,        Jesus Christ. There are a great
God reveals Himself in the              His love and amazing grace and         many doctrines in the Bible.
glorious hope and prophesies of         unfailing mercy. Few who call          They all reveal the truth of God.
the coming again of our Lord            themselves Christians today have       They must be searched out by
Jesus Christ that are recorded in       this interest. The vast majority of    the child of God in their length
the last book of the Bible. When        modern day Christendom is              and height and breadth and
the modernist denies the absolute       caught up with man and his con-        depth. After studying all of these
infallibility of the Bible, he loses    cerns. They have made Christian-       things, the child of God stands in
God. He arrogantly sets himself         ity a religion that reaches no         amazement and awe, in fear and
over the Bible, to judge it accord-     higher than the happiness and          trembling before the greatness of
ing to his own reason, and              prosperity of man. Thousands of        the truth of God. He is profound-
reveals his contempt for the truth      books are written every year ad-       ly conscious of the fact that the
of God. The truly godly man             vising man how to deal with this       truth of God is so much greater
stands in fear and awe before the       problem and that problem that          than all of his knowledge of God.
revelation of God in the Bible.         he might face in life. Very few        He desires every day to grow
For him the Bible is as true and        books are written about Who and        and increase in that knowledge.
perfect as God Himself is.              what God is and even fewer             Therefore he reads his Bible
   The godly man believes that          books are being read that con-         every day. Those who today im-
the Bible reveals the objective         cern the great doctrines of the        agine somehow that this is no
truth of God. God is known ab-          truth of God.                          longer necessary have lost this
solutely as He has revealed               If we love the truth of God we       distinctive mark of true godliness.
Himself in the Bible. The self-         will be diligent students of the         Love for the truth of God is
revelation of God in the Bible is       Scriptures. It is true that the        revealed in a readiness and will-
clear and plain, and can be             Scriptures are simple and plain.       ingness to defend the truth of
known by every true child of            They can be understood by the          God. When we as Christians do
God who has the mind and Spirit         common, ordinary child of God.         that, we are not merely defend-
of Christ. Our day is a day of sub-     But that is not the same as saying     ing an abstract system of doc-
jectivism. Men claim to know            that the truth of God can be           trine that really has very little to
God by experience and feeling           understood with little or no effort    do with God Himself. When we
alone. These come to some of            on the part of the child of God.       stand steadfastly for the truth of
the strangest conclusions con-          The truth of God is deep and pro-      God and we refuse in any way to
cerning Who God is. Everyone            found. He is a great God, infinite-    compromise that truth of God,
imagines that he has his own            ly greater than all our under-         we reveal a true love for God
understanding of God which              standing of Him. Even with great       and a genuine godliness. All of
needs not to be judged by the           effort we cannot comprehend the        this is very unpopular today in
truth that is in the Scriptures. Ac-    greatness of God with our small        the church world. Truth and doc-
cording to many modern day              and limited human minds. If we         trine are considered to be very
Christians, God is only what I          are genuinely godly we will            unimportant. It does not matter
think and feel Him to be. How           search the Scriptures daily to         so much what you believe. We
tragically mistaken this notion is.     know the truth of God. The godly       must strive for a vague and
Many who claim to be Christians         man delights to come to the            undefinable and unprincipled uni-
are in fact worshiping an idol-         house of God to hear the               ty of the church in the name of
god, fashioned after their own          preaching of the Word. Accord-         evangelical and social concern.
imagination.                            ing to Gods own ordination, He         It does not matter if the church
                                        is pleased to have the truth about     has in her midst the most damn-
                                        Himself explained and taught           abIe heresies concerning the
                                        through the official preaching of      truth of God. Let us all join
                                        the Word. The truly godly man          hands, for we can all serve God


478  / The Standard Bearer


together, and ignore our dif-           life for fighting for the truth and      man desires to stand together
ferences, and do great things for       reveals a passionate hatred for          with those of like precious faith
God. Let the truly godly man            the lie and false doctrine that          in promoting and defending the
know that this whole spirit and         contradicts the truth, that man is       truth of God to the glory of the
attitude is not of God; it in fact      a truly godly man. And there are         name of God.
reveals a disregard and contempt        few, very few, of those today.              The godly man who loves the
for the true God of the Scrip-          The return of the Lord is near.          truth of God is finally also one
tures. The truly godly man loves        Wickedness and false doctrine            who earnestly strives to live ac-
the truth of God to such an ex-         abounds in the church today              cording to the truth of God. That
tent that he is by. the grace and       because few today love the truth         is in a sense the acid-test of true
Spirit of God ready to stand for        of God.                                  godly love for the truth. The
His truth and to bear the                     Love for the truth of God im-      truth of God is also the law of
reproach and mockery from the           plies a zealousness on the part of       God for the child of God. It
world, also and especially from         the Christian to speak of the            governs the whole of His life.
the world of modern day                 truth of God to others. He desires       The truth of God is exalted and
Christendom. The godly man              to do this chiefly that God may          glorified in our lives above all
knows that he is involved in a          be glorified. He desires to do this      when we seriously strive every
great spiritual battle for the truth    also because he knows and                day and in every sphere of our
of God. He is ready, should the         believes in his heart that the           endeavor to put it into practice.
honor and glory of his God re-          truth of God, the gospel of salva-       That is the mark of true godli-
quire it, to die in that battle. Let    tion, is the power of God unto           ness. Do you possess this mark,
him be called a bigot or sectarian      salvation to all that believe. He        dear Christian? Cl
or whatever name the world may          desires to see God's elect saved
think up. The man who gives his         in the truth of God. The godly





                                        More About A
Contribution                            Minister's Title

                                         I

                                                               March 18, 1988    shepherd has a one-sided con-
                                        Dear Editor of Standard Bearer:          notation; but what a beautiful
                                              I couldn't resist responding to    side!! The picture of a shepherd
                                        The Rev. Gise Van Baren's                is certainly rich in Biblical
                                        challenging last sentence in the         history. Jesus himself was the
                                        Feb. 1, 1988 issue of S.B., and          Good Shepherd. A shepherd is a
                                        compliment him for interjecting          humble occupation and one that
                                        some long overdue humor into             requires the utmost dedication. A
                                        the magazine, via Carl Tuyl's arti-      shepherd is a servant to the
                                        cle: "The Reverend's Last Stand."        sheep, not an important mighty
                                              Well, here's what I think. The     leader. It is also a lonely job. (We
                                        idea of a Pastor, and what the           would do well to consider this as
                                        term means to me, should NOT             we remember our own pastors in
                                        be "an illegal alien in the Re-          prayer.) A Shepherd says to the
                                        formed vernacular". Rev. C. Tuyl         sheep, "Follow me in the green
                                        says that the term pastor or             pastures of God's Word." This

                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  /  479


     doesn't imply passivity on the               couldn't find anywhere in scrip-           We don't have to go overboard
     part of the sheep, as Rev. Tuyl              ture where the words                    on this attitude, and go around
     implied. They do have to put one             "Reverends" are mentioned.              attaching a first name to Pastor,
     foot in front of the other!                    Jesus, in fact, warns against be-     as in `Pastor Bill'. Of course,
        Scripture speaks of pastors and           ing like the Gentiles in their use      ministers don't have to call us
     shepherds in regards to the                  of authority in Matt. 20:28 -           (older) women by our first names
     people of God. In Jeremiah 3:12-             "Just as the Son of Man did not         either.
     19 we read: "And I will give you             come to be served but to serve             To sum it all up, I have respect
     pastors according to mine heart,             and to give his life as a ransom        for the Reverends, but I have
     which shall feed you with knowl-             for many." Doesn't the term             even more respect for those
     edge and understanding." This                "pastor" typify this attitude better    humble enough to desire the ti-
     implies teaching. See also Jer.              than "The Reverend'?                    tle "Pastor".
     2:8,  lo:21 and Eph. 4:ll. I                                                                    Sincerely yours,
                                                                                                     Nancy A. Kuiper 0





       Bible Study                                J OShua - Receiving The
       Guide
      /ason L. Kortering                          Promised Land (4)

        We are about to the end of                conquer the kings which had             2. The division of the land of
     outlining the first main division            confederated under the leader-          Canaan, including the cities of
     of the book of Joshua, which                 ship of Jabin, king of Hazor.           refuge and Levitical towns
     covers chapters 1-12. This gives             They came out as the sand upon
     the details of Israel entering into          the sea shore with horses and           (13: l-22:34).
     and possessing the land of Ca-               chariots and joined battle at the          This begins with the Lord ap-
     naan. We pick up our outline at              waters of Merom. The Lord               pearing unto Joshua, who by
     chapter  10:28. After the death of           assured Joshua of the victory,          now is old, and pointing out to
     the five kings, Joshua took in               and the next day they houghed           him, what land has yet to be con-
     succession the following cities              their horses and burnt their            quered (13:1-6). He is instructed
     with their kings, Makkedah,                  chariots. Then Joshua captured          to divide the land to the west of
     Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron,               their cities and killed all that        Jordan among the nine and a
     and Debir (10:28-39).  He                    breathed, and kept the spoil. This      half tribes (13:7). Detailed ac-
     destroyed all their kings and all            covered the area from Goshen  to        count is given on the territory
     that breathed, from Kadesh                   the area near Mt. Hermon. All           covered to the east of Jordan
     Barnea to Gaza even to Gibeon                were destroyed, even the                (13:8-14), specifically what was
     and returned to Gilgal (10:40-43).           Anakims. None made peace save           given to Reuben (13:15-23),  Gad
     Joshua next turned northward to              the inhabitants of Gibeon, for the      (13:24-28),  half tribe of Manasseh
                                                  Lord hardened their hearts that         (13:29-31).  Twice it is mentioned
                                                  they might be destroyed                 in the summary of the land
                                                  (11: l-23). We have a completed         distributed east of Jordan that
                                                  list of the kings which were            Levi did not receive a portion.
                                                  destroyed, those east of Jordan         Their portion is the tabernacle
                                                  and within Palestine itself             and temple service (13:14 and 32,
     Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Prot.    (12:1-24).                              33).
~    Ret: Church of Grandville, Michigan.

     420  I The Standard Bearer


  An account now follows as to          ing of three men from each tribe,       Manasseh east of Jordan (21:6,
how the land of Canaan west of          which writes in a book a descrip-       27-33). Those for the Merarites
Jordan was to be divided. We are        tion of the land and proposed           are found in the tribes of Reuben,
told that determination was made        seven sections (18:2-10). By the        Gad, and Zebulun (21:7, 34-40).
by the casting of lots (14:1-5).        casting of lot, Benjamin now            This comes to a total of 48 cities
Caleb approached Joshua, r-e            receives his portion (18: 1 l-28),      scattered throughout the tribes
minding him of the promise              Simeon is next (19: l-9), Zebulun's     east and west of the Jordan,
Moses made that for his faithful        portion is laid out (19:10-16),         (21:8, 41, 42). A summary state-
activity of spying the land when        Issachar's (19: 17-23),  Asher's        ment is made of the goodness of
he was 40 years old, he was to          (19:24-31),  and Naphtali's             God in realizing all the promises
receive the land which he walked        (19:32-39). Dan received a por-         he swore to their fathers. And
upon. Now he was 85 years old           tion too small so they conquered        they had rest and peace: "they
and still healthy and strong. He        Leshem in addition (19:40-48).          failed not ought any good thing
desired to receive the inheritance      Joshua received from the                which the Lord had spoken unto
around Hebron as promised to            children of Israel a portion, the       the house of Israel, all came to
him. Joshua gladly consented            city of Timnathserah, for which         pass" (2 1:43-45).
(14:6-15). The portion given to         he had asked. The inheritances            Joshua then proceeded to tell
Judah is described, including           are then completed as the last lot      Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe
Caleb's portion of Hebron. It is        was cast before the temple in           of Manasseh that they might now
indicated that he defeated the          Shiloh (19:49-5 1).                     return to their homeland east of
three sons of Anak, during which          The people are instructed to          the Jordan. As he dismissed
he offered his daughter as wife to      appoint cities of refuge among          them, he urged them to keep the
the one who would defeat                the tribes. On the western side of      law of God to love God and walk
Kirjathsepher. Othniel, the             Jordan they are Kadesh in mount         in His ways. They returned
brother of Caleb took it and he         Naphtali, Shechem in mount              loaded down with much of the
married his daughter. She re-           Ephraim, and Hebron in the              booty of war which they were to
ceived a special portion (15:1-20).     mountain of Judah. On the               share with their brethren at
A complete listing of the cities in-    eastern side they are Bezer,            home (22:1-g). At the border of
cluded in Judah's portion is            Ramoth-Gilead, and Golan. They          Jordan, they built an altar unto
given. This excluded Jerusalem,         are also reminded what the pur-         Jehovah, but when the children
for the Jebusites were there and        pose of these cities is: that the       of Israel under the leadership of
Judah could not drive them out          slayer of a person unawares and         Phinehas, son of Eleazar the
(15:21-63).  We next have the por-      unwittingly may flee there for          priest, heard that they did this,
tion given to Joseph described.         safety and remain there in safety       they called ten princes of each
The general borders are de-             until he stands in judgment             major house to go after them to
scribed (16:1-4) the portion given      before the congregation and the         confront them. They interpreted
to his son Ephraim is mentioned         high priest of that place dies.         this as an act of rejection of
(16:5-lo),  and this is followed by     Then he may return to his home          Jehovah God at Shiloh (22:10-20).
that for the other half of the tribe    in safety (20:1-g).                     They quickly answered them that
of Manasseh (17:1-13). Ephraim            The fathers of the Levites ap-        they did not intend this to be re-
and Manasseh complained that            proach Joshua and the heads of          jection. They were not going to
their portion is not large enough       the tribes to remind them of the        offer burnt offerings upon this
for their families. Joshua in-          command that Moses gave for             altar. Rather they wanted this
structed them to conquer the hill       them to receive cities among the        altar to be a memorial for their
country and cut down the wood           people (21: 1, 2). By the casting of    future generations, that they
and there would be plenty               lots, the portion of the Kohathites     might not forget their God
(17:14-18).  Interspersed between       is found among the tribes of            (22:21-29).  When Phinehas and
these accounts is mention of the        Judah and Simeon and for the            the princes heard this, they glad-
tabernacle being set up at Shiloh       children of Aaron among Ben-            ly accepted the explanation and
(18:l). Then the details of the         jamin. The rest of the Kohathites       blessed God. As a result they
land inheritance for the remain-        are found among Ephraim, Dan,           named the altar ED, a witness
ing seven tribes is given. A            and Manasseh (21:3-5, 9-19,             between us (22:30-34).
survey crew is sent out, consist-       20-26). The cities of the Ger-
                                        shonites are found among the
                                        tribes of Issachar, Asher,
                                        Naphtali, and the half tribe of


                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  I 421


3. The third and final divi-               this day to serve Jehovah. He           2. Does the uncertainty of
sion of this book covers                   delivers those stirring words, "as    Joshua as being the author shake
Joshua's farewell address and . for me and my house, we will                     your faith in the inspired Bible?
                                           serve the Lord," (24:1-15). The       Why or why not?
the account of his death                   people freely resolve to serve          3. The events associated with
(23: l-24:33).                             Jehovah. Joshua calls them to         entering and receiving the land
   Joshua calls for the elders of          witness that they have chosen         of Canaan is rich in gospel
Israel and all the leaders in Israel       Jehovah. This means they are to       typology. Reflect upon the major
to stand before him as he                  put away the strange gods which       events recorded in the book and
rehearses how the Lord pros-               are among them. Joshua made a         make a list of them and show
pered their way by giving them             covenant and wrote these words        how they convey the message of
the land and driving out their             in the book of the law. He also       salvation in Jesus Christ.
enemies. He warns them to have             set up a great stone under the          4. Connected with the success
nothing to do with the nations             oak as a witness (24:16-28).  The     of taking the land (1: l-9) and re-
that remain among them, but                closing words refer to Joshua's       taining the land (23:8-16) is the
give wholehearted worship to               death at 110 years of age. He         specific warning not to forsake
Jehovah their God. If they should          was buried in his inheritance in      Jehovah for other gods, or He
in any wise cleave to the rem-             Timnath-serah. Israel served the      will give them over to the
nant of these nations or inter-            Lord during the days of Joshua        enemies. Is this a conditional
marry with them, God will no               and during the days of the elders     promise, dependent upon Israel's
longer drive them out from                 that outlived him (24:29-31).  The    obedience? Explain.
before them. He is about to die,           bones of Joseph which'were              5. Consider whether the three
and unless they continue to obey           taken out of Egypt were buried        and half tribes' desire to stay east
God, evil will come upon them.             in Shechem in the parcel of           of Jordan was wrong (see l:lO-18
They are urged to be faithful to           ground Jacob brought from             and chapter 22).
God (23:1-16). In a second ad-             Hamor (24:32). Eleazar, son of          6. Did Israel neglect in any
dress, he calls the leaders of             Aaron, died and was buried in         way completely to destroy the
Israel to come before him at               mount Ephraim (24:33).                nations that were in the land of
Shechem. He reviews their                  QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION              Canaan? Explain your answer.
history from the call given to               1. Having studied the book of         7. Discuss the significance of
Abraham, the deliverance from              Joshua, is there any indication       the standing still of the sun,
Egypt, the dwelling in the wilder-         within the book itself why it is      chapter 10.
ness, the crossing of Jordan, and          placed in the group of "former          8. Demonstrate that God was
finally the receiving of the land          prophets?" Consider the               completely faithful to His promise
of Canaan. He urges them to put            significance of entering the land     which he made to Moses and
away all strange gods and choose           of promise in this connection.        Joshua in giving them the
                                                                                 land. Cl





Question Box
Cornelius Hanko                            The Power Of Prayer                                                           ~

                                             A reader writes:                    change circumstances, and help
                                             There is power in prayer.           others? Is it wrong for a group of
                                           Prayer is a tool which God gave       saints to get together in prayer
                                           us, through which He blesses us.      for a family in need, or when
Cornelius Hanko is an emeritus minister    Does not prayer change us,            tragedy strikes, or when drought
in the Protestant Reformed Churches.

422 / The Standard Bearer


or sorrow hits us? Is it not better    Thus in verse 13 James says:, "Is      mean the confidence that what-
to present our cares to the Lord       any among you afflicted? Let him       ever we persistently ask will also
than to wring our hands in             pray!" When the burden of afflic-      surely be granted us? Obviously
frustration for things we cannot       tion weighs heavily upon us we         not. A prayer of faith is a prayer
change? Reference is made to           are encouraged to seek our             that arises out of the true, saving
James 5:13-18,  Ephesians 6:18,        strength in prayer. This, no           faith of the child of God. This
and I Peter 3:12, 5:7.                 doubt, can well include the idea       faith embraces God as the God of
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *          of physical suffering, pain, infir-    our salvation in Jesus Christ, who
   "Prayer changes things" is a        mities, loss of dear ones, or other    loves us, cares for us, provides
familiar adage. This is taken to       trials that become afflictions         for all of our needs as a father
mean that prayer can heal the          which are difficult to bear. In        for his children, and withholds no
sick, avert a tragedy, bring an        that case we must certainly seek       good thing from those who fear
end to drought, or even prevent        our refuge in prayer.                  Him. "He is able to do exceeding-
or deliver from the tragedies of         James adds to that: "Is any          ly abundantly above all that we
war. This is understood to repre-      sick among you?" The word for          ask or think," Eph. 3:20. A
sent the real power of prayer,         sick means literally "to be weak'.     prayer of faith is the same as
for, if this were not the case our     The same word is used in Rom.          praying in Jesus Name, on the
prayers would be useless. With         4:19, "And being not weak in the basis of His atoning death, in the
that in mind prayer chains and         faith'. Also in II Corinthians         confidence that He even now in-
prayer groups are organized in         12:10, "Therefore I take pleasure      tercedes for us before the throne.
order to stress before the Lord        in infirmities, in reproaches, in         Summing up, we can say that
our needs or the needs of others.      necessities, in persecutions, in       James teaches us that, whatever
How this all fits in with the          distresses for Christ's sake (the      the cause may be, there are
sovereign, unchangeable will of        very opposite situation of that        times in our lives when the trials
God who governs all of our lives       referred to by James), for when I      become very severe. In times like
is often a question. Also the          am weak, than am I strong." See        that we must seek our refuge in
passages of Scripture referred to      also II Corinthians 13:4, 9. In        prayer. But those trials may
are often misunderstood.               none of those passages does the        become so severe that we
  A superficial reading of the         word refer to physical ailments.       become troubled, despondent,
well-known passage in James            The idea that James brings out is      even depressed, weak in the
5:14-17  would seem to substan-        rather that the person is so           faith. In that case we must have
tiate the idea that prayer will        burdened with his afflictions          others, particularly the elders of
heal the sick, at least in some        that he is spiritually weak. He        the church, pray for us. Often
cases. James teaches us: "Is any       can no longer properly pray for        sinful desires, evil thoughts arise
sick among you? let him call the       himself. In that case, let him call    within us. We may speak foolish-
elders of the church; and let          the elders to pray for him in the      ly in our distresses. Those sins
them pray over him, anointing          name of the Lord. It is true that      must be confessed, and will also
him with oil in the name of the        there are times in our lives when      surely be forgiven. A prayer of
Lord: and the prayer of faith          we are physically ill or in such       faith will restore to a strong and
shall save the sick, and the Lord      mental distress that prayer            sturdy faith, and will give
shall raise him up; and if he have     becomes difficult, but the fact re-    assurance of God's forgiving mer-
committed sins, they shall be for-     mains that James is concerned          cies.
given him. Confess your faults         about the spiritual welfare of the        Thus James adds that the
one to another, and pray one for       individual.                            prayer of a righteous man
another, that ye may be healed.          James goes on to say in verse        availeth much. Notice that this
The effectual fervent prayer of a      15 that more than likely sin           refers to a prayer of a righteous
righteous man availeth much."          enters into such a situation. "And     man, one who is righteous in
  We should notice that the en-        if he have committed sins, it shall    Christ, who loves God's law and
tire context deals with the sub-       (upon prayer) be forgiven him."        precepts and humbly walks with
ject of affliction, so that the        Thus again in verse 16: "Confess       God, committing his way to the
believers are urged to be patient      your faults one to another, and        Lord. His prayer is, therefore,
as they endure the sufferings          pray for one another that ye may       also a righteous prayer, which is
brought on them by the world.          be healed (forgiven)."                 in harmony with the will of God.
                                         It is in that context that James     Such a prayer availeth much.
                                       speaks of a "prayer of faith,"         The example is given of the
                                       verse 15. Does a prayer of faith       prophet Elijah, who knew from

                                                                                              The Standard Bearer  I423


the law of Moses that when Israel      will is flexible enough to fit our      One more instance from the
departed from the Lord, God            desires into His eternal plan. It     New Testament. Peter was in
would visit them with drought          would be arrogance on our part        prison, awaiting his execution by
`and famine. That time had come        to impose our will upon God, just     the cruel hand of Herod. "But
in the days of Ahab. Therefore in      as it is arrogance for a small        prayer was made without ceasing
his zeal for Gods Name and             child to demand favors of its         of the church unto God for him."
honor Elijah prayed that these         parents. We pray in submission        Now it is very well possible that
judgments might come upon              to God's will, that His will may      the church had poured out its
Israel, to bring them back to the      become evident to us and we           soul to God, asking that Peter's
Lord. His prayer was heard, be-        may have the grace to surrender       life might be spared, since he
ing fully in harmony with God's        ourselves into Gods hands. This       seemed so sorely needed by the
will, created in his heart by the      means that sometimes our              church. But as the time of his ex-
Spirit. Under the instruction of       prayers are answered as soon as       ecution drew near, and Peter was
the Lord, when Israel confessed,       we have finished praying. The         still in prison, the church no
"Jehovah He is the God", the           Lord hears at once. Sometimes         longer pleaded for his
man of God prayed again, and           He waits to impress upon us our       deliverance, but rather that he
the Lord sent rain. There is a         need. Sometimes we must learn         receive grace to be faithful unto
close and intimate communion of        to pray, as the Lord did in           death in submission to Gods will.
life between God and His people        Gethsemane, "Not my will, but         Their prayer was heard, for Peter
in Christ, wherein our wills are       Thine be done". Paul had to           was sound asleep at the eve of
completely surrendered to His          learn that he was to keep the         his expected execution, and the
will.                                  thorn (whatever that may have         church could not believe their
   This is the teaching of our         been), but God would supply him       ears when they heard that Peter
Lord in the model prayer He            with the necessary grace to bear      stood at the gate.
gives us. Addressing our Father        it in patience.                         Surely the prayer of the
Who is in heaven, we express             The question may still be           righteous availeth much, is very
our foremost desire by saying:         raised: Is there then no room for     powerful. For God uses the chan-
"Hallowed be Thy Name." Unto           prayer groups in times of             nel of prayer to bless His people.
that end we ask for the coming         tragedy, drought, or sorrow? We       True prayer is aroused in us by
of His kingdom and make all the        read of something of that nature      the Spirit, is communion with
requests that follow. His will         in Malachi 3:16. These were the       God, self surrender to His will,
must be carried out in us, round       dark days preceding the birth of      and child-like trust that He is the
about us and by us. We commit          Christ, comparable to the last        Potter and we are the clay which
our physical needs to His care,        days before the Lord returns.         He is preparing through suffering
knowing that in His wisdom and         "Then they that feared the Lord       for eternity. In that confidence
mercy He will bestow on us, His        spake often one to another; and       we have peace with God and the
children, the necessities, the         the Lord hearkened, and heard         assurance that we are always
bread for each day. We trust in        it, and a book of remembrance         heard by our heavenly Father
His providence, that almighty          was written before him for them       through our Lord Jesus Christ. I3
everywhere present power               that feared the Lord, and that
whereby He upholds and governs         thought upon his name."
all things, so that all things come
to us, not by chance, but from
His fatherly hand, (Heidelberg
Catechism, Lords Day 10).              Take the time to read and study
   The question may still be
asked: but is there no room for        the Standard Bearer. It is an
bringing our daily needs before
God in prayer? The answer is: of
course. We must'make all our           excellent source of devotional
needs known in prayer and sup-
plication. We must seek the Lord       reading material for your
diligently, praying, seeking,
knocking. But the purpose never        daily use.
is to impose our will upon God in
the hope that somehow Gods


424  / The Standard Bearer


                                                 Nefarious letters
                                                 Three Cheers for the
     All Around Us                                          Creationists!
1    Cise /. Van Baren


     Nefarious Letters                           Paul the Apostle                                you've probably alienated the Judaizers
        The following letter was                 c/o Aquila the Tentmaker                        to the point that they will no longer
                                                 Corinth, Greece                                 listen to you.
     printed in Journey Magazine,                Dear Paul:                                        By your outspokenness, you have also
     Jan.-Feb. 1988. It was presented                   We recently received a copy of your      diminished your opportunities for future
     as "Special to Journey . . .                letter to the Galatians. The committee          influence throughout the church as a
     (anonymous source)" on the                  has directed me to inform you of a              whole. Rather, if you had worked more
     letter-head of the "Presbyterian            number of things which deeply concern           quietly, you might have been asked to
                                                 us.                                             serve on a presbytery committee ap-
     Church in Asia Minor, Committee               First, we find your language to be            pointed to study the issue. You could
     on Missions". The letter does               somewhat intemperate. In your letter,           then have contributed your insights by
     serve as a two-fold reminder.               after a brief greeting to the Galatians,        helping to draft a good committee paper
     First, there is often criticism of          you immediately attack your opponents           on the theological position of the
     that which condemns the false               by claiming they "want to pervert the           Judaizers, without having to drag per-
                                                 gospel of Christ". You then say that such       sonalities into the dispute.
     doctrine and evil walk of others.           men should be regarded as "accursed':             Besides, Paul, we need to maintain
     If it often forgotten, however,             and, in another place, you make                 unity among those who profess a belief
     that Scripture itself does this very        reference to `false brethren ". Wouldn P it     in Christ. The Judaizers at least stand
     thing. Secondly, we have a                  be more charitable to give them the             with us as we confront the surrounding
     reminder that criticism can easily          benefit of the doubt - at least until the       paganism and humanism which prevail
                                                 General Assembly has investigated and           within the culture of the contemporary
     become a criticism of the Word              adjudicated the matter? To make the             Roman Empire. The Judaizers are our
     itself. While many dare not                 situation worse, you later say, "`I could       allies in our struggles against abortion,
     criticize the Word, there are               wish those who trouble you would even           homosexuality, government tyranny, etc.
     those who rather freely will con-           cut themselves oft?" Is such a statement        We cannot afford to allow differences
     demn servants of that Word who              really fitting for a Christian minister? The    over doctrinal minutia to obscure this im-
                                                 remark seems quite harsh and unloving.          portant fact.
     follow the example of Scripture               Paul, we really feel the need to caution        I also must mention that questions
     in setting forth the antithesis.            you about the tone of your epistles. You        have been raised about the contents of
                                                 come across in an abrasive manner to            your letter, as well as your style. The
                                                 many people. In some of your letters            committee questions the propriety of the
                                                 you've even mentioned names; and this           doctrinaire structure of your letter. Is it
                                                 practice has, no doubt, upset the friends       wise to plague young Christians, like the
                                                 of Hymenaeus, Alexander, and others.            Galatians, with such heavy theological
                                                 After all, many persons were first in-          issues? For example, in a couple of
                                                 troduced to the Christian faith'under the       places, you allude to the doctrine of elec-
                                                 ministries of these men. Although some          tion. You also enter into a lengthy discus-
                                                 of our missionaries have manifest regret-       sion of the law, Perhaps you could have
                                                 table shortcomings, nevertheless, it can        proved your case in some other ways,
                                                 only stir up bad feelings when you speak        without mentioning these complex and
                                                 of these men in a derogatory manner.            controverted points of Christianity. Your
                                                   In other words, Paul, I believe you           letter is so doctrinaire, it will probably
                                                 should strive for a more moderate
                                                 posture in your ministry, Shouldn't you
     Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Prot.    try to win those who are in error by
     Ref. Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.       displaying a sweeter spirit? By now,

                                                                                                                     The Standard Bearer / 425


serve only to polarize the differing fac-      to a better understanding. In the mean-       .  .  . The compromising creationists are
tions within the churches. Again, we           time, rejoice that we all share a common    attacked as viciously as the strict
need to stress unity, instead of broaching     profession of faith in Christ, since we     creationists, by those with whom they are
issues which will accent divisions among       have all been baptized in his name.         trying to compromise. And in the pro-
us.                                                   Sincerely,                           cess, they are rejecting the plain teaching
  In one place, you wrote, "indeed I,                 Charles Phinney                      of the Word of God. Even the secular
Paul, say to you that if you become cir-              Coordinator, Committee on            evolutionists can see this.
cumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.`:                Missions q                         `<Cheer Number One goes to the crea-
Paul, you have a tendency to describe                                                      tionists for serving rational religion by
things strictly in black and white terms,      Three Cheers for the                        demonstrating beautifully that we must
as if there are no gray areas. You need                                                    take the creation stories of Genesis at
to temper your expressions, lest you           Creationists!                               face value . . . . Many Christians have
become too exclusive. Otherwise, your             The Christian News, March 14,            taken the dishonest way of lengthening
outlook will drive away many people,           1988, quotes from a secular                 the days into millions of years, but the
and make visitors unwelcome. Church                                                        creationists make it clear that such an
growth is not promoted by taking such a        evolutionist (A.J. Mattell, Jr.,            approach is nothing but makeshift that is
hard line and remaining inflexible.            "Three Cheers for the Creation-             unacceptable Biblically and scientifically
  Remember, Paul, there is no such             ists," Free Inquiry, Vol. 2, Spring         . . . . Creationists deserve Cheer Number
thing as a perfect church. We have to          1982), showing his attitude                 Two for serving rational religion by effec-
tolerate many imperfections in the             towards "theistic" evolutionists.           tively eliminating `theistic evolution. '
church, since we cannot expect to have         He does not value such highly at            . . . Creationists rightly insist that evolu-
everything at once. If you will simply                                                     tion is inconsistent with a God of love
think back over your own experience,           all. On the contrary, he regards            . . . . Three cheers, then, for the creation-
you will recall how you formerly               the Christian "creationist" to be           ists, for they have cleared the air of all
harassed the church in your times of ig-       honest and consistent. It is one            dodges, escapes, and evasions made by
norance. By reflecting on your own past,       instance in which we can be in              Christians who adopt non-literal inter-
you might acquire a more sympathetic                                                       pretations of Genesis and who hold that
attitude toward the Judaizers. Be patient,     hearty agreement with an evolu-             evolution is God's method of creation." 0
and give them some time to come around         tionist!





 Walking In
 The Light
Herman C. Hanko                                Drunkenness (3)

                                                  We have proved from Scrip-               worldliness with drunkenness (I
                                               ture that God's Word considers              Thessalonians  5:6-g).
                                               drunkenness a sin and not a                    Whatever the world, therefore,
                                               disease. Scripture pronounces               may say about drunkenness be-
                                               woes upon those who follow                  ing a disease, Scripture does not
                                               strong drink (Isaiah 5: 11). It             look at the problem from that
                                               warns against drunkenness and               point of view. Scripture says that
                                               includes this sin in the works of           it is sin, sin which is so serious
                                               the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-2 1). It         that the one who commits it and
                                               tells the saints not to have                does not repent goes to hell. The
                                               anything to do with those who               kingdom of heaven is closed to
                                               are guilty of the sin of drunken-           him, for the sin is great in the
                                               ness (I Corinthians 5: 11). It con-         sight of God and will surely bring
                                               siders the sin so great that the            God's great punishment upon
                                               drunkard cannot inherit the                 him.
Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church         kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
History and New Testament in. the Protes-      It compares spiritual lethargy and
tant Reformed Seminary.

426 / The Standard Bearer


   We ought to pay attention to          the line drawn between proper          and they lay'restrictions on Chris-
these things, for they are serious       drinking and drunkenness? 3) If        tian liberty which cannot be en-
and involve our soul's salvation.        drunkenness is a sin, ought not        dured by the child of God. This is
We do not often consider these           repentance and confession of sin       not the direction to go..
things as seriously as we ought.         be sufficient to deliver a man           But if it is true that also
What happens in the world also           from this sin? I ask this question     alcohol is a good gift of God
happens in the church. Already           in connection with a rather            which can be used by the child
at a young age children start to         lengthy quotation in an earlier        of God, where ought the line to
drink. They do it because they           article in which a Christian doc-      be drawn between the good and
think it is "smart" and because          tor who worked with people guil-       bad use of this gift? I.e., when
their peers do it. They have their       ty of the sin of drunkenness said      does the use of this gift become a
"Friday night parties" and their         that although he testified to them     sin? When does an obedient child
"beach parties" in the summer,           of the truth of Scripture, and         of God become a drunk? What is
when beer flows freely and               even was used by God to bring          the difference between one who
drinking is really the only reason       some to repentance and faith, he       uses this gift of God in the right
for getting together. They grow          was unsuccessful in any single in-     way and one who so misuses it
up in an environment in which            stance in helping these people         that he cannot enter the kingdom
drinking is common and con-              escape from the sin.                   of God?
sidered the thing to do. And               That Scripture nowhere speaks          This is not such an easy ques-
when they grow older, Saturday           of the calling of God's people to      tion to answer. It is clear, of
night finds them at bars until all       abstain from drinking altogether       course, that the line can be
hours of the morning, and the            certainly emphasizes that drink-       drawn easily between those who
Lord's Day is desecrated because         ing is not, in itself, wrong. In       only very occasionally drink
of sin on Saturday night. No             fact, God speaks of the fact that      alcoholic beverages and those
evening meal, whether at home            wine is His gift which `can also be    who drink so much that they
or in a restaurant, is complete          used with enjoyment and for            literally become drunk. The
without liquor. No visiting takes        profit. Jesus changed water into       former is proper; the latter is flat-
place without drinks being mixed         wine at the wedding feast at           ly condemned. But the question
or beer served. TV watching dur-         Cana of Galilee, something which       is not quite so easy as that. Be-
ing the evening while several            He would never have done if            tween these two extremes are
"six-packs" are consumed is com-         drinking itself was a sin. Paul        many others: some who only
mon. And what is worse, people           urges Timothy to take a little         periodically get drunk - say
often make a joke of it all, laugh       wine for his stomach's sake and        once a month or so; some who
about drinking, poke fun of              his often infirmities (I Timothy       really never are drunk, but who
drunks, consider the whole thing         5:23). The Scriptures speak of         drink to the point where they are
as hilarious, and reflect in their       wine as a symbol of spiritual pros-    nevertheless affected in their
speech the amusement which               perity, and that the gladness of       thinking and activity; some who
they have in their hearts about          heart which wine brings is a pic-      really never get drunk, but who
this dreadful sin. All this meets        ture of the joy of salvation (Psalm    nevertheless always have their
with God's strong disapproval,           104:15, Proverbs 31:6, Song of         drinks close at hand: every night
and those who do such things             Solomon 5:l). Those who argue          they drink several cans of beer.
slam the door to the kingdom of          that these texts do not refer to       Every meal in the evening is ac-
heaven in their own faces.               fermented grape juice and are          companied by a drink or two.
  In considering this problem,           not references to alcoholic            Every visit to friends and
we are faced with several ques-          beverages are mistaken and im-         relatives begins with drinks.
tions which we propose to                pose their own ideas on the text.      Every party or wedding has li-
discuss in this article. 1) Is drink-    While their motive may be pure         quor as a part of it. If one would
ing liquor always wrong? Must            [they fear greatly the evils of        accuse them of drunkenness,
we assume the position of the            over-drinking and the sin of           they would solemnly assure you
temperance movements in this             drunkenness), their zeal is            that they have never been drunk.
country and be tee-totalers? 2) If       misguided and their efforts to         But liquor is such a great part of
the answer to these questions is         condemn all drinking are wrong.        their life that they cannot seem
no, then the question is: Where is       They fall into the opposite error      to be able to get along without it.
                                         of condemning a good gift of           Where `does one draw the line?
                                         God, something of great                  In a certain sense, one cannot
                                         seriousness (See I Timothy 4:1-6),     draw a line, simply because


                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  I427


Scripture makes clear that this is      possibly can, while hoping some-        tion, if we may for the moment
a matter of Christian liberty. Just     how that he will escape the ac-         use that word. It appears to me
as one cannot legislate how             tual sin itself. To such a man the      to be true that, though drunken-
much a person ought to eat              battle is lost. Whether he gets         ness is indeed a great sin against
before he becomes guilty of glut-       drunk or not, the battle is lost.       God, repentance and confession
tony, and just as one cannot            God condemns him already, for           do not necessarily free one from
legislate by rules and precepts         he comes at the problem from            the sin. This is not to say that
what constitutes modest dress, so       the wrong point of view. He does        repentance and confession are
one cannot ever say: this exact         not live, in his heart, a life of       not necessary. Without question
amount of liquor is all right to        thankful obedience which begins         they are. No one who is guilty of
consume, but if you step beyond         with the question: "Lord, what          the sin of drunkenness can
that limitation you are guilty of       wilt Thou have me do?" God              escape from the sin and find
the sin of drunkenness. Christian       looks at the heart. God judges an       peace with God and forgiveness
liberty is never a system of do's       act in connection with the              without confessing his sin and
and don't's. If a child of God truly    motive. God sees not as man             repenting of it. Scripture is clear
walks in liberty, the liberty           sees, and God knows, even better        on this, for Scripture always leads
wherewith Christ has made him           than we, what is in harmony             us to the cross of Christ in Whose
free, then his life is controlled by    with the great principle of the         perfect sacrifice alone can be
the principle: what must I do to        law: Love God and thy neighbor.         found forgiveness. And the only
please the God Who has saved              Christian liberty is profoundly       way to the cross is the way of
me? If he comes to his calling as       a matter of the heart. It all begins    heartfelt confession. The way to
a Christian in this way, the            in the heart, and man is judged         Calvary is a way drenched with
answers to all his problems are         by God according to what his            the tears of sorrow for sin. There
solved. He will never have any          heart desires. Does he desire to        is no other way than this. And
trouble with the question of how        get as close to sin as he can? He       salvation is only in that one great
much he ought to drink.                 is condemned. Does he desire to         sacrifice which Christ offered of
   But the opposite is true, too. If    stay as far away from sin as he         Himself for the sins of His
one is not motivated by this fun-       can? He is blessed.                     people. Cl
damental principle of loving and          But this is not completely an
thankful obedience, then he will        answer to the question. And it is
always attempt to get as close to       not the answer to the question,
the sin of drunkenness as he            because drunkenness is an addic-





                                        Book Reviews

                                        STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF                  ministry he has been an es-
                                        GENESIS, by Robert C. Harbach;          teemed colleague and it is with a
                                        Privately published by Grandville       sense of grief that I see his active
                                        Protestant Reformed Church,             ministry brought to a close by
                                        1987; 934 pp., $21.00. (Reviewed        retirement. In a certain sense,
                                        by Prof. H. Hanko)                      this commentary by Rev. Har-
                                          In my Seminary days I studied         bath is a continuation of his
                                        with Rev. Harbach under the in-         ministry in our churches and his
                                        struction of Revs. Hoeksema and         labors of love to believers
                                        Ophoff. Over the years in the           throughout the world who love

428  / The Standard Bearer


the Reformed faith. We are             Sometimes the author includes, a        fore, ought to have a copy in
thankful that it has been pub-         long list of questions at the end       their libraries, not only to sup-
lished and wish to commend the         of his discussion of a chapter;         port the work of Grandville
congregation of Grandville for         other times he does not.                Church, but also to enrich their
undertaking this work. It will be      Sometimes a chapter begins with         own understanding of this impor-
of abiding value for all those who     the author's own translation of         tant book of the Bible.
love the Scriptures and who            the passage; other times it does          Note: Books may be ordered
know that the Reformed faith is        not. Perhaps these inconsistencies      from Grandville Protestant Re-
the truth of Scripture.                in format are the result of a long      formed Church, c/o Mr. Dennis
  It is impossible, of course, to      period of labor, but they ought to      Dykstra, 3228 Chestnut S.W.,
review the book in detail. But         be changed in future printings.         Grandville, MI 49418; or Protes-
Rev. Harbach has made the study          The book is scholarly,                tant Reformed Seminary, 4949
of the book of Genesis a project       thorough, and very interesting          Ivanrest Ave. S.W., Grandville,
which spanned many years. His          reading. It gives evidence of a         MI 49418; or Reformed Book
commentary on this book is not,        wide range of learning in many          Outlet, 3505 Kelly, Hudsonville,
therefore, hastily thrown              fields and demonstrates clearly         MI 49426. Cl
together, but is the culmination       the terrible error of vicious
of many years of thoughtful            higher and destructive criticism,       FAITH AND FORM: A UNITY
study and prayer, and has under-       something sorely needed in our          OF THEOLOGY & POLITY IN
gone the testing of societies and      day. It is written by a man who         THE UNITED METHODIST
Bible classes which Rev. Harbach       is not only deeply committed to         TRADITION, by Robert L.
has led. It is a book which gives      the Reformed faith, but who is          Wilson & Steve Harper; Zonder-
evidence of much thoughtful con-       not averse to setting forth the         van Publishing House, 1988; 214
templation of the divine text.         Reformed faith over against those       pp., (no price), (paper). (Reviewed
  As far as the format is con-         who deny it. It is, in a good           by Prof. H. Hanko)
cerned, a few things may be said.      sense, polemical.                         While the book is an enlighten-
It is a detailed (though never           Rev. Harbach comes from a             ing picture of Methodism since
tedious) and faithful exposition of    different ecclesiastical tradition      the time of Wesley, its main pur-
the text itself and shows the          than that of the Dutch Reformed         pose is to demonstrate that the
author's commitment to the truth       faith. To me this is one of the         genius of Methodism has always
of inerrant inspiration. It is in-     strengths of the book. Because of       been a close relationship between
terspersed with graphs, charts,        our upbringing, we are some-            theology and polity. The authors
quotations from other writers and      times not as aware of ecclesias-        are convinced that the last cen-
from various poets. It has several     tical currents outside our Chur-        tury has demonstrated a break-
notes on various doctrinal ques-       ches as we would like to be. Rev.       down in Methodism between
tions which arise out of the text      Harbach, speaking from a dif-           these two aspects of the life of
which are, in themselves, impor-       ferent background, has                  the church. The authors hope
tant and interesting. At the end it    something to say to us which we         that the book will lead to a
contains an appendix which deals       ought to hear. And he has not           return to a strengthening of the
with the unbelief of higher            lost his ability to speak to others     more traditional position of
criticism, especially applied to       outside our own tradition in a          Methodism, while not failing to
this book.                             way which we cannot. I find this        meet the needs of our modern
  When the book is reprinted, I        refreshing and enriching.               world.
would suggest a couple of                While the commentary goes in-         If one is interested in learning
changes in format which would, I       to various technical questions of       about Methodism, this is a good
think, enhance the value of it.        Hebrew grammar and syntax, as           book to read. It is enlightening
There is a certain lack of unifor-     well as various scientific ques-        and instructive, and gives a sure
mity in format which, if cor-          tions which arise out of the at-        sense of what Methodism is all
rected, would make the book bet-       tacks on the historicity of Genesis     about and the role the Methodist
ter. For example, the first part of    l-l 1, it is never written in such a    Church envisions for itself in our
the book deals with the text           way that it lies beyond the             present world. It gives a brief
verse by verse; the second part is     understanding of all God's              sketch of the doctrinal position of
written in more essay-type form.       people. Rev. Harbach had the            Methodism and clearly shows its
                                       believer, not learned doctors of        anti-Calvinistic position. It
                                       theology, in mind when he wrote         demonstrates how Methodism has
                                       the book. All our readers, there-       always been and is now basically


                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  I 429


Arminian, holding to such doc-                   One of the big problems of                  ficulties accepting what might be inter-
trines as prevenient grace, per-              Methodists is to define the limits             preted as inflexible rules. The affirmation
fectionism, resistible grace, etc.            of what a Methodist may believe.               of pluralism as a principle makes it diffi-
                                                                                             cult to define what is appropriate belief
(See pp. 52-55). The book spends              The authors write:                             and practice.
a great deal of time on church                  It is increasingly evident that pluralism       While the book is written by
polity and describes its hierar-              really means a range of acceptable             Methodists, for Methodists, it
chical system of church govern-               beliefs and practices that must, in fact,      gives an outsider a glimpse into
ment and its vast and powerful                have limits. There are some things that a
                                              United Methodist cannot believe or do          the tensions which now trouble
bureaucracy.                                  and still remain a member in good stand-       this large denomination. 0
   The historical section of the              ing. The range may be broad, but there
book is brief, sketchy, and vague,            are limits. The problem the church now
and has as its intended and stated            faces is how to define the limits of ac-
purpose to promote ecumenism. I               ceptable belief and action. There is a
                                              core of beliefs that has traditionally been
found a great deal of ec-                     part of the Methodist heritage. However,
clesiastical jargon in the book, a            the contemporary church has serious dif-
characteristic of ecclesiastical
bureaucrats, but a heavy burden
for an interested reader.





                                              News From
                                              Our Churches
Ben Wigger



                              July 1, 1988    Critters, pastor of the Byron                  an investigatory visit with
   Rev. M. Joostens has declined              Center P.R.C. in Byron Center,                 numerous contacts that the
the call he was considering from              Michigan received the call to                  church extension committee of
the First P.R.C. of Holland,                  serve as our churches' second                  the Loveland P.R.C. in Loveland,
Michigan.                                     missionary to Jamaica. This call               Colo. has made in the Denver
   Rev. B. Woudenberg has also                was extended from the First                    area. Various meetings and per-
declined the call he received                 P.R.C. in Grand Rapids, Mich.                  sonal visits were planned. One
from the Hope P.R.C. of Isabel,               And along with Rev. Gritters on                public meeting was planned for
S.D.                                          the trio were the Revs. C. Haak                May 19, with Rev. Houck speak-
   At a special congregational                and K. Koole.                                  ing on "Salvation by Grace."
meeting held May 22, Rev. Barry                  On May 17 Rev. G. Van Baren,                  First P.R.C. in Grand Rapids,
                                              pastor of the Hudsonville P.R.C.               Mich. has donated the dishes
                                              in Hudsonville, Mich. underwent                used for catering, which have
                                              surgery on his right (blind) eye.              been replaced with a new set by
                                              Due to increased pressure in this              the Priscilla Society, to the Cove-
                                              eye it was decided that removal                nant P.R.C. in New Jersey. And
                                              was necessary. Since surgery                   perhaps it won't be to long
                                              Rev. Van Baren has worn a patch                before they can use them. In a
                                              over that eye, and six weeks                   recent note from New Jersey I
                                              from surgery he expects to be fit-             learned that the hardwood floor
                                              ted with a prosthesis.                         is about to be sanded and
                                                 Also on Tuesday, May 17, the                stained, interior walls painted,
Ben Wigger is an elder in the Prot. Ret:      Revs. Steve Houck and Ron Van                  and benches and pulpit furnish-
Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.              Overloop arrived in Denver for                 ings installed. They hope to be in

430  / The Standard Bearer


the new sanctuary by the end of             congregation who are in the            day. May 13. This was an eve-
this year.                                  fourth, fifth or sixth grades. It      ning of special instrumental
  The Pella P.R.C. in Pella, Iowa           sounds like a good idea: pen pals      numbers, readings, and singing
is 60 years old this year. She was          from all our churches and              by various members. Ice cream
originally organized in April of            schools.                               was served afterwards. A collec-
1928. The consistory decided to               It looks to me as if some            tion was taken to help cover the
appoint a committee to prepare a            students in the Hope P.R. Chris-       cost for the newly-ordered Bibles
program to be held late this sum-           tian School had a good assign-         and Psalters.
mer.                                        ment recently. They were in-              To follow up on another news
  Dr. Dwight Monsma, his wife,              volved in a soft drink testing         item from our last issue, the con-
and his two nurses, did some                project. How come things like          gregation of the Randolph P.R.C.
volunteer dental work for the               that never happened to you or          in Randolph, Wise. has decided
people of the churches in                   me when we were in school?             to purchase a new church organ.
Jamaica. Dr. Monsma and family                May 20 and 21 the mission in           The members of the Loveland
are from the First P.R.C. in Grand          Norristown, PA held their annual       P.R.C. in Loveland, Colo. held
Rapids. Four solid days were                spring lectures. The topics for        their annual Spring Auction and
spent cleaning, repairing, and ex-          this year's lectures revolved          Family Fun Day Saturday, May 7.
tracting teeth. In these four days,         around The Marks of the True           Everyone was encouraged to
Dr. Monsma treated approximate-             Church. Rev. A. den Hartog,            come and join in a day of fun
ly 110 people.                              Prof. H. Hanko and Prof. H.C.          and fellowship.
  There was an interesting note             Hoeksema were the scheduled              The Ladies' Guild of the Hull
in a recent bulletin from the               speakers.                              P.R.C. in Hull, Iowa sponsored a
Trinity P.R.C. in Houston, TX. It             The Young People's Society of        congregational request program
seems there was a letter from               the Lynden P.R.C. in Lynden,           in June, Church members were
some of the fifth graders of South          Washington invited their con-          asked to give their requests for
Holland P.R. Christian School in            gregation to a "Talent Night" Fri-     their favorite Psalter numbers,
South Holland, 111. asking for let-                                                hymns, or special numbers to the
ters from children in Trinity's        I                                          1 committee in charge.


                                               "Public Worship and the Reformed Faith"
                                             A 28 page pamphlet based on the text of a Reformation Day lec-
                                       ture held October 29, 1987, delivered by Rev. Barry Critters, Pastor
                                       of Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church. The large and
                                       positive response to the lecture, as well as the message presented,
                                       we believe, warrants the publication of this pamphlet.
                                             In this pamphlet, Pastor Critters explains the principles of Holy
                                       Scripture regarding public, or corporate, worship. Because God has
                                       placed us here on earth-to praise and worship God, it is vital that
                                       we answer these three questions:
                                                  1) What is worship?
                                                  2) How does God's Word regulate our worship?
                                                  3) What characterizes true Reformed (Biblical) worship?
                                            This pamphlet sets forth the biblical and historical answers to
                                       these important questions.
                                            This.is a very high quality pamphlet which can be used for
                                       distribution or in libraries. It is also excellent for each individual to
                                       order and read for himself.
                                             Cost of the pamphlet is  $.75 cents per copy plus postage.

                                                               THE EVANGELISM SOCIETY
                                                         Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                 1945 84th St. (P.O. Box 71)
                                                               Byron Center, Michigan 49315
                                                             Phone: (616) 878-3255 or 878-1811


                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer  I431


  THE
STANDARD                                                                                           SECOND CLASS
 E4RER                                                                                             Postage Paid at
                                                                                                   Grand Rapids, Michigan

`I?O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



   The congregation in Holland's             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
First P.R.C. in Holland, Mich. ap-              On July 30, our dear parents,        The Consistory of the First
proved a motion to spend up to               DEWEY AND  DENA  ENCELS-             Protestant Reformed Church of
$3500 to reroof the church                   MA, will celebrate their fiftieth    Holland, Michigan, hereby ex-
auditorium.                                  wedding anniversary. We, their       presses its Christian sympathy to
   The choir of the First P.R.C. of          children, grandchildren, and         its fellow office-bearer, Elder
Edmonton, Alberta was invited to             great-grandchildren rejoice with     Gordon  Wassink  and his family
present their program in                     them on this happy occasion.         in the recent passing of his
Lacombe, Alberta at the Im-                  May Jehovah continue to bless        father, MR. HENRY  WASSINK,
manuel P.R.C. The children of                them as He has so graciously         on May  12,1988, at the age of
the congregation were also asked             cared for them in the past.          94 years.
to come and sing their numbers                  "The Lord thy Cod in the             May they find their comfort
as well.                                     midst of thee is mighty; He will     in the Word of God, knowing
   One last thought from the                 save, He will rejoice over thee      also that it was his confession:
Southeast P.R.C. in Grand Rapids,            with joy; He will rest in His        "As for me, I will behold thy
Mich.: "Funny how people scram-              love, He will joy over thee with     face in righteousness: I shall be
ble to get a front seat at the ball-         singing." (Zephaniah  3:17)          satisfied, when I awake, with
game, but scramble to get a back             Rev. David and Ruth Engelsma         thy likeness." (Psalm 17:15)
seat at church services." 0                  Lammert and Mary Beth Lubbers        Erv Kortering, Clerk
                                             Donald and  Lenore Cook
                                             Michael and Brenda  Engeisma         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                             Timothy and Lois Pipe
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                          John and  Ruthanne  Flikkema            The Adult Bible Study of
   On July  21,1988,  the Lord               Jonathan and Floretta Engelsma       Byron Center Protestant Re-
willing, our parents, MR. AND                Mark and Deb Engelsma                formed Church expresses their
                                             Edward and Elizabeth Ophoff
MRS. C.M. DOEZEMA will                                                            Christian sympathy to Mr. and
                                             Kenneth and Pam Engelsma
celebrate their 35th wedding an-                                                  Mrs. Tony Talsma in the death
                                             Mark and Sara Looyenga
niversary.                                   Jordan Engelsma                      of his mother, MRS. GERTRUDE
   We, their children and grand-               52 grandchildren                   TALSMA.
children give thanks to our                     2 great-grandchildren                "As for me, I will behold thy
Heavenly Father for preserving                                                    face in righteousness: I shall be
                                             NOTICE!!!
them for us through these years                                                   satisfied, when I awake, with
                                               Classis West of the Protestant
and pray He will continue to                                                      thy likeness." (Psalm  17:15)
                                             Reformed Churches will meet in
strengthen them.                             Loveland, Colorado on Wednes-
   "We will show forth Thy                                                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                             day, September 7, 1988, at  8:30
praise to all generations."                                                         The Ladies Aid Society of the
                                             a.m., the Lord willing. All
(Psalm  79:13b).                                                                  First Prot. Ref. Church of Grand
                                             material for the Agenda is to
Steve and Neva Feenstra                                                           Rapids, Mich. extends its sincere
                                             be in the hands of the Stated
  Joshua, Travis, Jeremy,  Brandon                                                sympathy to our fellow
Robert and Deborah Doezema                   Clerk,  30 days before  Classis      member, Mrs. Dorothy Decker,
   Kathy, Brenda, Kimberly, Keith,  Jared    convenes. All delegates in need      in the death of her mother,
Roger and Anne Veldman                       of lodging or transportation
  Ruth Ann, Geoffrey, Randall, David                                              MRS.  TINA JANSEN.
                                             from the airport should notify
Dorothy                                                                              "Precious in the sight of the
                                             the Clerk of Loveland's  Con-
Glenn and Beth Feenstra                                                           Lord is the death of his saints."
  Rebecca                                    sistory.                             Ps. 116:15
Charles                                      Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk          Mrs. C. De Vries, Pres.
Joan                                                                              Mrs. R.P. Ezinga, Sec'y.



432 / The Standard Bearer


