 A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine                BBR





v u : .   UJ,   IYU.
April 75, 7 989


Contents                                                                     April 15, 1989
Meditation  - Prof. Robert D. Decker
  THE PARABLE OF THE BUDDING FIG TREE                                                          315

EDITORIALLY SPEAKING..  .  - Prof. David/.  Enge/sma                                           317    /SSN 0362-4692
Editorial  - Prof. David  /.  Engelsma                                                                Semi-monthly, except monthly during June,  July,
                                                                                                      and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
  CONDITIONAL SUBMISSION? (2)                                                                  317    lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
                                                                                                      at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
LETTERS                                                                                        320    EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                      Editor-in-chief: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
The Reader Asks . .                                                                                   Managing Editor: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                                      Editors' Assistant: Mr. Don Doezema
  MAY THE DESERTED BELIEVER REMARRY?                                                           321    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                                      Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
Decency and Order  - Rev. Ronald  L. Cammenga                                                         Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                                      Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman
   LEAVE OF ABSENCE                                                                            322    Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John  Heys,  Rev.
                                                                                                      Jason Kortering, Rev. George Lubbers, Rev. James
From Holy Writ  - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                              Slopsema,  Rev. Charles Terpstra, Rev.  Cise
   EXPOSITION OF JOHN  21:1-14 (3)                                                             324    VanBare",  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
                                                                                                      EDITORIAL OFFICE
                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer
Contribution  -  Rev. Kenneth W. Hanko                                                                4949 lvanrest
   NORRISTOWN PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCH                                                       326    Crandville,  Michigan 49418
                                                                                         -            CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
Day of Shadows  - Rev.  lohn A. Heys                                                                  Mr. Ben Wigger
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  A RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF SIN                                                                   327    Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
                                                                                                      EDITORIAL POLICY
All Around Us  - Rev.  Cise  1.  VanBaren                                                             Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
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  THE HORROR OF ABORTION                                                                       330    terest from our readers and questions for the
  ANOTHER SIGN?                                                                                330    Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
  WHAT IS DEBATABLE?                                                                           331    tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
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Walking in the Light  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                                         the fifteenth of the month. All communications
  CUSTODY FIGHT OVER FERTILIZED OVA                                                            332    relative to the contents should be sent to the
                                                                                                      editorial office.
   SEX-SELECTION ABORTIONS                                                                     332    REPRINT POLICY
  SABBATH DESECRATION                                                                          333    Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
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NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  -  Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                                 334    provided: a) that such reprinted articles are repro-
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374  / The Standard Bearer


                                               The Parable of the
      Meditation
     Prof. Robert Decker                       Budding Fig Tree

        Now learn a parable of the             frightened. Maybe some of you          blossom early in the Spring, the
     fig tree; When his branch is              feel the same.                         fig tree begins to bud and pur
     yet tender, and putteth forth                It is true that Jesus speaks of     forth leaves late in the Spring.
     leaves, ye know that summer               some pretty frightening things in      Thus, when it begins to blossom,
     is nigh: So likewise ye, when             this chapter. The Savior talks         everyone knows that summer is
     ye shall see all these things,            about wars, earthquakes,               near. All danger of frost is past.
     know that it is near, even at             famines, falling away, persecu-        The warm summer has arrived.
     the doors. Verily I say unto              tion, the stars falling, and the          "So likewise ye," says Jesus,
                                               powers of heaven being shaken.
     you, This generation shall not                                                   "when you see all these things,
                                               Those are scary things! Who            know that it is near, even at the
     pass, till all these things be ful-       would want to go hungry or             doors." The point of comparison
     filled. Heaven and earth shall            thirsty? Who would want to see         is obvious. Just as the budding of
     pass away, but my words shall             his children starve?                   the fig tree indicates the nearness
     not pass away.                               But it is unfortunate, even         of summer, so the appearance of
                     -Matthew 24:32-35         tragic, that so many of us are         all these things indicates that the
                                               alarmed and afraid of these            end is near, even at the doors.
       When you think about the                things!                                  What are "all these things"?
     Lord's coming and of the end of              Jesus' intent here is not to        This must refer to the signs of
     the world, how does that make             frighten us, though there are          which Jesus had been speaking.
     you feel?                                 elements of warning and admoni-        In verses 4-8 Jesus speaks of false
       Many Christians do not like to          tion in this chapter. Jesus' pur-      christs  who would come in His
     think about these things. For             pose is to comfort and encourage       name and deceive many. The
     some it is because they are too           us. Our Lord wants us to live          Savior speaks of wars and rumors
     earthly minded and too involved           joyfully and in expectation of His     of wars, nation rising against na-
     in the things of this world. These        coming and of the end of the           tion, famines, pestilences, and
     are weak Christians at best. But          world. Jesus tells us all about        earthquakes in diverse places. All
     for many these things alarm               these signs which indicate the         these are the beginning of sor-
     them and make them afraid. 1              nearness of the world and its          rows.
     remember as a boy hearing ser-            fiery destruction. He tells us           In verses 9-14 Jesus talks about
     mons on the last days and being           these things so that we may look       the persecution of the saints and
     frightened half to death. One of          forward to His coming and the          the abounding lawlessness. He
     my pastors said often from the            end of the world. Jesus' coming        tells us too that the gospel of the
     pulpit that he hoped he would be          and the end of the world means         kingdom will be preached to the
     alive. when Jesus returned. Not I!        that our full redemption to the        nations for a witness and then
     I fervently hoped that that day           glory of God has come!                 the end will come. In verses
     lay in the far distant future! I was        For this reason the Lord tells       15-28 Jesus speaks of the coming
                                               us to learn the parable of the fig     of the antichrist and the Great
                                               tree. The fig tree is a fruit tree     Tribulation. The appearance of
     Prof. Decker is professor of Practical    common in Palestine. It differs        all these things indicates that "it
     Theology in the Protestant Reformed       from the other trees in one im-        is near, even at the doors."
     Seminary.                                 portant respect. While other trees.      What is that "it" which is near?

                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer  /  375



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To answer the question we must          Jesus means by "this generation"           How does this make you feel?
 remember that jesus spoke of all       is the kind of people who see the        Does this make a difference in
these things in answer to the           signs of His coming and who              your life? Does it affect the way
question of His disciples concern-      know that these signs mean that          you go about your everyday af-
ing the signs of His coming and         the Lord's coming is near. There         fairs?
the end of the world. This means        will always be a generation of             Our calling is clear. As we see
that the "it" refers to the destruc-    believers, a remnant in the world        these things we must not be
tion of Jerusalem, the historic ful-    watching for the fulfillment of          troubled or alarmed. Those who
fillment of Jesus' prophetic Word       Jesus word.                              live for the earthly and who seek
and the prefiguration of the final        This is the content of the             the things of the world, let them
destruction of the heavens and          parable of the budding fig tree.         be troubled and alarmed. Their
the earth. And, the "it" refers to      The Lord's coming is near; the           world is about to `be destroyed.
the coming Of our Lord and the          end of the world is near. You            Why should we be alarmed? We
end of the world, the ultimate          know this do you not?!                   seek God's Kingdom and
fulfillment of Jesus' prophetic           This is certain to happen.             righteousness.
Word.                                   Notice how Jesus stresses the cer-         Neither must we be deceived.
    All these things we have seen       tainty of all this. Verily (literally    God sends the ungodly strong
and continue to see in our world        Amen) I say, "this generation            delusion (II Thess. 2) so that they
today! We hear of wars and              shall not pass till all these things     believe a lie. But we who belong
rumors of war, earthquakes and          be fulfilled." Verily! Amen! I tell      to Jesus are not deceived. We
famines, persecution, apostasy.         you the truth! It shall surely be!       know th? end is near and we
The only sign we have not seen            Heaven and earth shall pass            look for Jesus!
is that of the antichrist, but even     away, but my words shall not               Neither must we be afraid! Let
now are there many antichrists.         pass away! What appears more             the ungodly whose hearts are set
    Jesus' command is to learn the      enduring than heaven and earth?          on the things of this earth, let
parable and to know that His            We speak of terra firma! Or of           them fear! The heavens and the
coming and the end of the world         having our feet on solid ground.         earth are about to be destroyed.
are near! So near that it is right      They shall pass away! Heaven             But why should we be afraid?
at the doors.                           and earth shall be utterly               Jesus is coming and it will not be
   This means that the Lord's           destroyed!                               long! This is God's sure Word in
coming, which marks the end of            But not Jesus' words! They             all these signs we see.
the world, is near. It is not a long    shall never pass away! Let the             Let us be full of joy! Jesus who
way off, far in the distant future.     critics say what they will; let the      died for our sins and who was
Nor does this mean that Jesus is        scientists say what they will! Let       raised for our justification and
coming quickly. He is, of course,       man say what he wills about              who was exalted to glory, He is
but Jesus' coming is already near!      <Jesus words! Those words will           coming. And His coming marks
So near that it is right at the         never pass away! Jesus' words            the end of this world. That is the '
doors. It is the next item on           endure forever. They are valid in        end of all this darkness and sin,
God's agenda!                           all of time and for all of eternity!     the end of all our sorrows, the
   So near is Jesus' coming that        This is the word of God's only           end of our sicknesses and pain,
"this generation shall not pass;        begotten Son by whom and for             the end of our dying!
till all these things be fulfilled."    whom the worlds were made.                 And the end of this world
This generation does not refer to       These are the words of the ex-           means the beginnini of the new
the disciples and other con-            alted Christ in whom all things          world. Our bodies are going to
temporaries of Jesus. This simply       consist. These are the words of          be raised and transformed, made
cannot be, because that genera-         the Word which was with God in           like the glorious body of Christ.
tion and many others have               the beginning and which is God!          God is going to create a new
already passed and we have not          We can depend on these words.            heaven and earth in which we
seen the end as yet. The term           They will never pass away. Jesus'        will be united with all the saints
"generation" is used in the New         coming and the end of the world          md with Jesus. And in Jesus we
Testament to refer to "this kind        are near!                                ;hall see God! That will be glory!
of people." In Acts 2:40 it refers        We are seeing the signs. They            Look up! Lift up your heads!
to the kind of people who reject        indicate that the end of the world       Your redemption draws near!
Jesus, unbelievers. In Philippians      is near. We know this just as              Our response? Come Lord
2:15 it refers to people who are        surely as we know summer is              Jesus, yea, come quickly!
crooked and perverse. What              near when the fig tree blossoms!         4men. tl

316  /  The Standard Bearer


Editorially speaking . . .


  We rejoice with the members           joy to all who love Christ's Name.         Welcome, Norristown, to the
of the Protestant Reformed              It ought to be of special interest      fellowship of Protestant Reformed
Church of Norristown, Pennsyl-          to the Protestant Reformed              churches! May the Head of the
vania; with the missionary, the         denomination that a second              church bless you in this fellow-
Rev. K. Hanko (now pastor of the        church is now established in the        ship, enrich us by your presence
congregation); and with the call-       East, this one in the greater           among us, and give you a power-
ing church in Wyckoff, New              metropolitan area of a large city,      ful witness in that area of our
Jersey at the recent organization       Philadelphia, where the Prot-           country.
of the Norristown church. The in-       estant Reformed witness has                Those who might wish to com-
stitution of a church that is           been slight, or non-existent in the     municate with the church can do
founded on the Reformed creeds          past.                                   so by writing its clerk, Mr.
and that proclaims the gospel of          An account of the organization        Richard D. Martin, 1304-4
God's sovereign grace in Christ         of the congregation, with accom-        Cynwyd Apts., Wilmington, DE
Jesus is always the cause of great      panying pictures, appears else-         19808.0                            -DJE
                                        where in this issue.





                                        Conditional
                                        Submission? (2)

   In answer to a request from a        ever the state becomes unjust           state, is God. The origin is not
reader in Northern Ireland, we          and tyrannical the Christian may        the people, by means of a con-
are analyzing the views of the          revolt. This was the position of        tract, as Rutherford held. Since
Scottish Presbyterian theologian        Rutherford in his book, Lex, Rex,       government is ordained of God,
of the 17th century, Samuel             or the Law and the Prince,  as it is    as the apostle writes in Romans
Rutherford, on the duty of the          the position of many Presbyte-          13:1, it has its authority - its
Reformed Christian towards the          rian, Reformed, and evangelical         right to rule - from God, not
civil state. (Cf. the April 1, 1989     Christians in our day.     -            from the people; and, therefore,
issue of The SB for a summary of          In the previous editorial, we         the people do not possess the
Rutherford's doctrine and for the       judged Rutherford's doctrine of a       right to strip the government of
first installment of the critique of    conditional submission to               its authority by means of civil
this doctrine.) Particularly, the       magistrates erroneous inasmuch          disobedience, threats, and up-
question is whether the Chris-          as it denied the Biblical teaching      rising.
tian's calling to submit to the         that the origin of whatever state          It is a second error of Ruther-
state is conditional, so that when-     exists, and of the offices of the       ford that he misinterprets the


                                                                                                The  Standard  Bearer  I317


crucial passage of Scripture on          so far as to mistranslate verse 6:     who are righteous, they will sub-
this question: Romans 13:1-7. At         CL . . . for when the authorities      mit to no government at all and
bottom, the issue is one of the          faithfully devote themselves to        to precious few government of-
authority of the Word of God; but.       th.is end, they are Gods               ficials.
then the Word must be rightly            ministers." The text, of course,          In explaining I Peter 2:13
divided. Rutherford explains             does not contain the word,             ("Submit yourselves . . . to the
Romans 13 as teaching that the           "when," reading simply, "for they      king") and Titus 3:l ("Put them in
Christian citizen must submit to         are God's ministers . . . ."           mind to be subject to principali-
the government only if the.                This classic passage on the          ties and powers, to obey magis-
government on its part is carry-         Christian's calling towards the        trates . . . . "), Rutherford tries to
ing out its duty, namely,                state does indeed lay down the         evade the force of the apostolic
punishing evildoers and praising         state's duty towards the people,       admonition by distinguishing be-
welldoers. The submission en-            as well as the Christian citizen's     tween the office and the man oc-
joined in Romans 13 is a condi-          duty towards the state. But the        cupying the office, as though one
tional submission. This fits his         duty of the Christian is not condi-    might reverence kingship while
theory as to the origin of govern-       tioned by the faithfulness of the      revolting against the current
ment in a contract between the           state. Paul does not write, "Let       king:
people of a nation and its rulers.       every soul be subject to the           Also, it is true, subjection to Nero
They have made a bargain. As             higher authorities, if they show       (the New Testament requires submis-
soon as the rulers fail to keep          themselves just and good." The         sion to the moral monster, Nero!
their part of the bargain, the           gospel-precept of submission is        -DJE) . . . is commanded here, but to
people are freed from their obli-        unconditional. It is based solely      Nero as such a one as he is obliged,.
gations. Verses 3 and 4, then, are       on the government's being or-          de jure (by right -DJE) to be . . . but
the condition for the calling of         dained of God. Peter expressly         that Paul commandeth subjection to
                                                                                Nero, and that principally and solely,
the Christian in verses 1, 2, and        says that submission must be           as he was such a man, de facto (in
51 .                                     given to the "froward" authority,      actual fact  -DJE),  I shall then believe,
        This has become a popular in-    as well as to the good and gentle      when antichristian prelates turn
terpretation of the passage              authority (I Pet. 2:18). The           Paul's bishops . . . . (Lex, Rex, Ques-
among Reformed and evangelical           Roman government of Paul's day         tions XXXIII).
theologians. It is the interpreta-       was certainly not a good, just,           This evasion is not unfamiliar
tion of Francis A. Schaeffer in his      Christian state. It was corrupt. It    even among us. It is used by the
A Christian Manifesto, in which          was the fulfillment of the proph-      wife who professes to honor the
(with express appeal to Ruther-          ecy of the fourth beast of             headship of the husband as a
ford's Lex, Rex) this influential        Daniel 7, which blasphemes the         general principle, but who rebels
.evangelical  thinker legitimizes        Most High, opposes the Kingdom         against her own particular hus-
the use of civil disobedience and        of God, and oppresses the saints.      band. It is the tactic of the very
the resort to force by Christians        Every Christian to whom Paul           pious church member who is
against the government. This is          wrote knew this well; for this         loud in his protestations that he
also the interpretation of Romans        state had condemned and cruci-         has the greatest respect for the
13:1-7 of so conservative a Bible        fied Jesus. But it was still the       office of pastor and the office of
expositor as William Hendriksen.         "higher power." The Christian          elder, but who treats his own
Hendriksen does not think that           had still to submit to it. Indeed,     particular pastor and his own
Romans 13: l-7 explicitly answers        most governments and most of-          particular elders shamefully. It is
the question, "Does the moment           ficials of government are ungod-       the clever distinction that teen-
ever arrive when, because of             ly, unjust, and unfaithful to their    agers know how to make: "Oh,
continued governmental oppres-           calling as servants of God.            yes, I believe that the parental of-
sion and corruption, the citizens        Rutherford was correct in his          fice is authoritative; but I rebel
have the right, and perhaps the          response from his deathbed to          against my own particular
duty, to overthrow such a                the officials of Charles II who        parents because they are un-
government and to establish              served him with a summons to           worthy of my respect." But the
another in its place?" In fact, he       appear for trial, that the heaven      distinction is unbiblical. Scripture
supposes that the passage implies        to which he hoped shortly to go        calls us to submit to the flesh-
that the answer to this question         was a place "where few kings           and-blood men and women in
is yes. For Paul is thinking only        and great folks come." If Chris-       their offices on account of the of-
of the ruler who does his duty,          tians must submit only to Chris-       fice they occupy. Specifically,
i.e., rules justly. Hendriksen goes      tian governments or to rulers          Romans 13:1-7 and I Peter 2:13,

318  I The Standard Bearer


14 call us to submit to President          A fourth error in Rutherford is     Christianity. It is not. It is revolu-
Bush, Prime Minister Thatcher,          the sad misunderstanding of the        tion and anarchy. It does not
my own parents, and the                 calling of the Presbyterian Chris-     come from the Spirit of Him Who
policeman who patrols the               tian and of the Presbyterian           submitted to unjust authority. It
highway.                                church under a government that         arises from the king that sits in
   A third error of the Ruther-         oppresses the saints because of        the breast of each of us. The
ford-position is that is confuses       their confession of the truth. This    result is divorce, strife in the
the theocracy of the Old Testa-         calling is not that the saints de-     home, schism in the church, and
ment with the nation to which           fend themselves and the purity of      shame heaped on the name of
those who maintain this position        their worship with force, much         Jesus Christ.
belong. Rutherford viewed Pres-         less that they take the offensive        Rutherford himself recognized
byterian Scotland as the kingdom        to overthrow the persecuting           that the practical consequence of
of God. It ought, therefore, to         government. But our calling is to      his position was the chaos of the
resist the heathen king and his         suffer for Christ's sake. Suffering    mob. To the question, who finally
Arminian, Roman Catholic-               for Christ's sake is not the           determines whether the rulers
leaning bishops with force, just as     ultimate evil, to be avoided at all    are tyrants, his answer was,
Israel warred against her godless       costs, but a privilege and a bless-    "There is a court of necessity no
foes in ancient times. And the          ing: "Blessed are they which are       less than a court of justice and
Presbyterians ought in this way         persecuted for righteousness'          the fundamental laws must then
to restore the kingdom of God in        sake: for theirs is the kingdom of     speak; and it is with the people
Scotland. This explains his use of      heaven" (Matt. 5:lO). That was         in this extremity as if they had
theQld Testament to justify             the true glory of the Covenanters      no ruler." This is to dissolve all
resistance. But Scotland never          in the "killing time." It was not      order in the nation, and to bap-
was the kingdom of God! Nor is          the marching of some of them to        tize the disorder as Presbyterian.
Northern Ireland Gods kingdom,          do battle with the king's dragons,     The dreadful evils to which
or South Africa, or the United          though they were singing Psalm         Rutherford's position leads were
States of America. The kingdom          68 as they came on. But it was         starkly illustrated in the cold-
of God is the true church in these      their patient endurance of cruel       blooded murder of Archbishop
nations. It is entirely and radical-    suffering for the sake of the          James Sharp by a band of Pres-
ly different and distinct from the      "crown rights of King Jesus."          byterians in the course of their
state. It is not, and may not be,       Even when the state becomes the        resistance to the higher powers
identified and entangled with the       persecuting beast, the believer        in the 17th century. The deed
government of the nation. It is         may not resist.                        was dreadful, not only because it
spiritual, not earthly. Its power is      The submission that has such         was murder, but because it was
spiritual, not physical. Its weapon     an important place in the Chris-       murder done in the name of
is the,Word of God, never gun           tian life is unconditional. Uncon-     Jesus Christ as confessed by the
and sword. The confusion of             ditionally, we submit to God. Un-      Reformed religion. Of it, even
church and state that began with        conditionally, we submit to those      Alexander Smellie, sympathetic
Constantine in the 4th century          whom God puts over us (which           though he was to the "men of
has been disastrous. Luther and         does not, I repeat, imply uncon-       the covenant," had to say, "The
Calvin began to straighten things       ditional obedience). Conditionality    deeds were fouhy done." But the
out again, so that the church           is the bane of the Christian life      deed was born of the notion that
would be the church and the             and the ruin of the vital institu-     submission to the state is condi-
state would be the state, each          tions in which this life is to be      tional. Whenever Christians take
with its own sphere of authority,       lived (as it is the spoiling of the    up the sword to defend Jesus
each with its own kind of               gospel of grace). Wives now sub-       Christ, or to promote His gospel,
authority, each with its own call-      mit to their husbands, condition-      against a hostile state, similar
ing. For Presbyterians to engage        ally - if their husbands please        atrocities will stain His banner.
in political resistance against         them. Children submit to their         Indeed, the very act of taking up
ungodly rulers in the name of           parents, conditionally - if they       the sword is a blot on His
establishing, or restoring, a Chris-    approve their parents' rule.           glorious standard.
tian nation in the United States        Church members submit to their           This is no mere academic
or God's kingdom in Ulster is ig-       elders, conditionally - if they        study of a slice of history.
norance of the fundamental reali-       like the particular elders and if        The question, conditional or
ty of the kingdom of God.               the elders' decisions suit them.       unconditional submission to the
                                        This is supposed to be Protestant      higher powers, is a living issue

                                                                                                The Standard Bearer  /  319


for every Reformed Christian in             tichrist. Pressure will be exerted     ment; faithfulness in the godly
every nation. Without exception,            upon the confessing church. Her        rearing of the covenant children.
Christians are living under                 calling will be what it has always     There may be no compromise!
governments that are not Chris-             been, namely, faithfulness to her      Jesus Christ is Lord, not the state.
tian and under governmental of-             Lord Jesus Christ - faithfulness       We are ready to seal this confes-
ficials who are unjust. Increasing-         in pure worship; faithfulness in       sion with our blood.
ly, the state exalts itself as the          orthodox confession and preach-           Btit exactly this faithfulness to
ultimate reality in human life,             ing; faithfulness in a Biblical        King Jesus forbids resistance, un-
taking on the features of the An-           liturgy and right church govern-       conditionally.  0                -DJE
                                       -





Letters

   We like what we read in The              deacons in his church prior to           What would I suggest? I would
Standard Bearer. It's instructional         sending his children to a public       suggest that every school set up
in the Scriptures, it's edifying,           school system.                         an endowment fund and actively
and it sets forth the Reformed in-            Furthermore, it is stated that if    seek donations from every
terpretations of the Word of God            parents with two or more               church member, because, as part
as we have received it from the             children could no longer keep          of God's covenant family, we all
fathers of the faith.                       these children in school because       have a stake in the development
   How interesting to note that             they were not able to pay the full     of our children. This method
the magazine is being distributed           tuition, that income would be lost     enables those who are blessed
and read in Ireland, New                    to the school and the parents          financially to help the poorer of
Zealand, Australia, England, and            with one child in school would         the congregation. There is no
wherever the Lord in His good               pay even more tuition to make          reason to dump the burden of
providence may want it read and             up the deficit. This is not            paying for our covenant children
reread.                                     necessarily true, because much of      on the families with only one
   It is our hope and wish that             the cost involved in staffing and      child. The "sliding scale" is ar-
more readers would get involved             maintaining a school is propor-        chaic and unfair, and should. be
in airing their views and con-              tional to the number of students.      done away with.
cerns about the contents, as well           For example, if you had fewer            Our schools should be put on
as their likes and dislikes of your         students, less staff would be pro-     firm financial ground, instead of
magazine. Apathy seems to be                portionally reducing your costs.       running from behind with huge
the spirit of the day.                        The article goes on to state         deficits in our budgets. We
   May the "voice of the Stan-              that "of great concern to the          should start to build for the
dard  Bearer ever be heard round            whole church is that Christian         future with endowment funds,
the world.                                  education be affordable.:' If it is    while there is prosperity, so that
                Henry Doorn                 indeed of concern to the whole         our children and grandchildren
                Kentwood, MI                church, then maybe we should           have less of a burden to bear and
                                            get the whole church involved in       3ur teachers don't have to live at
   In the article, "The Cost of             the process through the'office of      the poverty level.
Christian Education" (February              the deacons instead of Iktting the                 Robert Van Baren
15, 1989), it is stated that the            parents of one child foot the bill                 Crete, IL 0
sliding scale in our Christian              for the rest of the congregation.
School system is a good practice            It would be possible for the
because it allows all parents to            deacons to set up a tuition help
keep their children in school.              fund for a person who is truly
Surely a God-fearing parent                 needy and cannot afford the cost
would seek help from the                    of a quality Christian education.

320  I The Standard Bearer


                                       May the Deserted
 The Reader
Asks . . .                             Believer Remarry?

   My question is this: In I Corin-    phrase as though it were, "is not        right to remarry, but the spiritual
thians 7:15 the apostle Paul in-       (any longer) bound (namely, to           state of a believer who lives in
structs us, "Yet if the unbelieving    the deserting mate) in such              the enjoyment of God's favor,
departeth, let him depart: the         cases." To be "under bondage"            regardless of the most miserable
brother or the sister is not under     and to be "bound" are two dif-           circumstances of earthly life.
bondage in such cases: But God         ferent thoughts and two different          If Paul taught in verse 15 that
hath called us in peace" (ASV).        words, both in English and in the        desertion is the dissolution of
Do we understand this passage to       Greek of the New Testament; and          marriage and the granting of the
teach that a believing spouse          it is inexcusable that interpreters      right to remarry, he would have
who is divorced by an unbeliev-        of Scripture confuse them. Paul          flagrantly contradicted what he
ing spouse, because of the Chris-      does not say that the deserted           would write a few verses later.
tian profession of the believing       believer is not "bound" to his           For in verse 39 he stated in
spouse, is no longer under             former mate in such cases, as            clearest and sharpest language
marital obligation to the              though God had now dissolved             that married people are "bound"
unbelieving spouse and is hence        the bond that He made when He            (not: "under bondage") to each
free to remarry?                       joined the two in marriage. But          other for life, and that death, and
  A second question which              the apostle says that the deserted       death only, gives a married
follows this one is, have the Prot-    believer is not "under bondage."         woman the liberty to marry
estant Reformed Churches ever          This refers to the spiritual state of    another.
addressed this matter on               the believer who has been aban-            The teaching of the West-
synodical level, or is there mere-     doned by his wife. He need feel          minster Confession of Faith in
ly a "general sense" in the            no guilt or shame over his               Chapter XXIV, VI, that `nothing
churches, what their view on this      marital condition, such as might         but adultery, or such wilful deser-
question would be?                     cause him to live in constant fear       tion as can no way be remedied
  I thank you in advance for tak-      of God's condemnation of him             by the church or civil magistrate,
ing the time to answer this ques-      because he is not living with his        is cause sufficient of dissolving
tion.                                  wife, or such as might even              the bond of marriage . . . ," is
            Mark L. Brooks             cause him to try to get the              corruption of the Biblical truth of
            Valencia, PA               woman back at the expense of             marriage, with deadly serious
                                       his confession of Christ. Not be-        consequences for those who
Answer:                                ing under bondage in the text is         carry it out in their practice.
  I Corinthians 7:15 does not          not a ground for remarrying, but           Marriage is a life-long bond.
teach that the desertion of a          a ground for letting the unbe-           The deserted believer, although
believer by his unbelieving mate       liever depart.                           not under bondage, is very
dissolves the marriage and frees         That not being under bondage           definitely still bound to the
the believer to marry another.         describes one's spiritual state          woman who has deserted him (as
The notion that such is the mean-      before God is borne out by the           verse 39 establishes beyond any
ing of the passage rests upon a        words in the text that express the       doubt). He is not at liberty to
misunderstanding of the words,         opposite of being under bondage:         marry another.
"is not under bondage in such          "but God hath called us in                 Our young people must reckon
cases" (which is also the transla-     peace." Peace is not, by any             with this solemn fact when they
tion of the KJV). Men read the         stretch of the imagination, the          date and marry. It is possible to

                                                                                                  The Standard Bearer  I321


marry an unbeliever in haste, on-            grounds for divorce and re-               aspect of marriage and divorce. It
ly to repent in the leisure of a             marriage.                                 is historically true, however, that
long, lonely life, because the un-             As for synodical decision by            the Reformed churches, at least
believer departs. But it is also             the PRC on the explanation of             those whose roots are in the
possible that a believer is                  the passage or on desertion's be-         Netherlands, have not regarded I
deserted by one who gave every               ing a ground for divorce and              Corinthians 7:15 as affording a
evidence before marriage of be-              remarriage, there is none, except         ground for divorce and remar-
ing a believer, but who proves               insofar as the declaration that           riage. In this, they differed from
herself an unbeliever by desert-             marriage is a life-long bond (not         Presbyterian churches, which
ing. The comfort of this believer            only between two believers, but           supposed that they found in the
is the Holy Spirit's purpose in the          also between a believer and an            text the "Pauline privilege." U
text. It simply has nothing what-            unbeliever) may have been made                                            -DJE
ever to do with the subject of the           in connection with another




 Decency and
 Order                            leave of Absenc
Rev. Ronald Cammenga                                                                              e

   "lf any minister, for the aforesaid          What is the nature of the leave        spelled out in the minute book of
 or any other reason, is compelled to        of absence provided for in Article        the consistory.
 discontinue his service for a time,          14:' The minister who has been              Historically the background of
 which shall not take place without          granted a leave of absence is             this article is the persecution of
 the advice of the consistory, he shall      temporarily excused from his              the Reformed churches. Leaves
 nevertheless at all times be and re-        ministerial duties. However, dur-         of absence were granted because
 main subject to the call of the con-        ing the leave of absence, the             persecution often separated a
 gregation.  " Church Order,  Article 14.     minister's official relationship to      minister from his congregation.
    Article 14 is closely connected          the consistory and congregation           Because of the persecution
 to the preceding articles of the             remains in force.                        threatening his life, a minister
 Church Order.  Article 10 deals              REASONS FOR LEAVE OF                     was often forced to flee. This
 with dismission from a congrega-            ABSENCE                                   warranted a temporary interrup-
 tion by a minister who has ac-                 The article lays down no clear-        tion in his ministerial labors in
 cepted a call elsewhere. Article             cut guidelines with respect to            his congregation. At the same
 11 deals with permanent dismis-             specific reasons for a leave of           time, this did not break the bond
 sion from service of a minister by           absence. The article is deliberate-      between the minister and his
 his consistory. Article 12 deals             ly vague and flexible: ". . . for        congregation. He remained the
 with a minister's leaving the                the aforesaid or any other                pastor of that congregation. But
 ministry for a secular vocation.             reason, is compelled to discon-           he was granted a temporary
 Article 13 deals with dismission             tinue his service for a time . . . ."     leave from his labors in the con-
 from service through emeritation.              Nevertheless, the article does          gregation until the persecution
 Article 14, now, deals with tem-             speak of a minister being "com-           subsided and it was possible for
 porary dismission from service,              pelled" to take such a leave of           him to resume his work.
 what is commonly referred to as              absence. That certainly indicates           Even though persecution was a
 leave of absence.                            that there must be a significant          valid reason for a minister tem-
                                              reason to justify a leave of              porarily to discontinue his work
                                              absence. This reason is to be             in his congregation, he remained
 Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the               judged by the consistory and the          bound to that congregation. He
 Protestant Reformed Church of                reason for the leave definitely           remained at all times subject to
 Loveland, Colorado.

322  I The Standard  Bearer


her call. When the persecution        STIPULATIONS OF                         entitled to classical appointments.
abated, he was obligated to           ARTICLE 14                              The consistory would have to
return as her pastor. During the         The first stipulation of Article     secure its own pulpit supply. The
leave, the consistory who had         14 is that a minister must receive      consistory would also have to
granted him the leave continued       the approval of his consistory in       make arrangements for the other
to have the jurisdiction over him.    order to take a leave of absence.       pastoral labors in the congrega-
  Many other reasons have been        The article speaks of the "advice       tion: Catechism instruction, sick
used for granting leaves of           of the consistory." Advice here         visiting, etc.
absence. Leaves have been given       does not mean friendly counsel            Often today leaves of absence
for illness. Article 14 speaks of     or suggestion. But advice means         are granted for a stipulated time
the "aforesaid" reason, referring     approval, consent, agreement,           with the understanding that the
back to Article 13. It may be the     permission. This stands to reason,      minister will not return to labor
case that illness will not likely     since the minister exercises his        again in that same congregation.
permanently incapacitate the          office under the supervision           This is usually the case with
minister, requiring emeritation,      always of the consistory.              -leaves given for further study.
but only temporarily hinder his          The second stipulation of Arti-      The church granting the leave
work. In that case a leave of         cle 14 is that, at all times during     then proceeds to call another
absence according to Article 14       the leaves of absence, the              minister. The minister on leave
would be in order.                    minister remains subject to the         remains officially a minister of
  Repeatedly ministers have           I-e-call of the congregation. At        that congregation, even though
received leaves of absence in         any time during the leave, the          another minister has also been
order to pursue post-graduate         consistory may deem it necessary        called. When the time of his
work at some theological school.      to terminate the leave and Ye-call      leave is expired, the consistory
Leaves have been granted to           the minister. This remains the          makes an appropriate announce-
ministers in order to carry out       prerogative of the consistory and       ment to the churches concerning
some commission of the broader        a condition on which a leave is         his eligibility to receive a call. 0
assemblies, perhaps serving on        always granted.
an important study committee.           The third stipulation of Article
Leaves have been granted              14 is that the leave of absence be               Perfect Peace
because of mental or physical ex-     "for a time." A leave of absence        When 1 am bowed with grief,
haustion due to overwork or ex-       is only "for a time," that is, tem-     When troubles round me throng,
cessive strain. Leaves have been      porary. A definite length of time       When there seems no relief,
granted so that a minister might      is referred to. This may be a           When 1 can find no song,
assist in missionary work. Leaves     stipulated time which is noted          He sends His perfect peace,
have been granted so that a           when the leave of absence is            From sorrow gives release,
minister might assist another con-    granted. Or it may be the length        Through all my journey here,
gregation for a time as a             of time required as long as the         Peace, perfect peace.
minister-on-loan. The Revs.           reason exists for which the leave       When I have doubts within,
Baudartium, Bogerman, and             was granted. In any case, the           When faith `is far from strong,
Bucerus were given leaves of          length of the leave ought to be a       When I behold my sin
absence from their consistories in    matter definitely understood be-        And for His grace I long,
order to work on the new Bible        tween the minister and his con-         His cross He shows to me;
translation authorized by the         sistory.                                In love He gives to me,
Synod of Dordt. According to Dr.        Article 14 does not allow for         Now and eternally,
H. Bouwman, a certain Rev. Lion       indefinite leaves of absence. A         Peace, perfect peace.
Cachet obtained a leave of            leave of absence should cover a
absence in 1891 from the church       specific period of time. The Chris-     When all my life is done,
in Rotterdam in order to in-          tian Reformed Church Synod of           I near death's swelling tide,
vestigate. the possibility of mis-    1928 ruled against the taking by        Faith's battle fought and won,
sion work in India, and the Rev.      ministers of indefinite leaves of       Gods armor laid aside,
Vonkenberg received a leave of        absence.                                Peace, perfect peace He'll give;
absence in 1920 from the church       CALLING ANOTHER                        Through death with Him I'll live
in Zwijndrecht in order to serve      MINISTER                               Through all eternity;
for a time as director of the           A congregation which has              Peace, perfect peace.
Reformed Youth Alliance.              granted its minister a leave of                                   James Jonker
                                      absence would not necessarily be          (from Beacon Lights, by permission)

                                                                                                The Standard Bearer  I323


                                       Exposition of
From  Ho/y Writ
Rev. George lubbers                    John 21:1-14 (3)

That Awesome Breakfast At the          ministering to His honored             peared unto Abraham (Acts 7:2).
Galilean Seashore (vss. 9-12)          guests. This was the foretold            Even when Jesus says "come
   We may confidently affirm that      fulfilment of the word "I will         and breakfast" He still is some-
this was in really no sense of the     meet you there," or "there shall       how at a great distance from
word a sacramental meal, though        ye see him." This too had been         them. Here there is a "manifesta-
it was a very special heaven-sent      announced by the angels at the         tion" of Him whose glory John
breakfast on earth. Surely, it was     tomb, where death had truly            had seen, full of grace and truth.
different in nature from any com-      been swallowed up in victory!          Here we see the Christ, whose
mon breaking of the fast. Literal-       This breakfast is given as a         shoe-latchet John the Baptist was
ly the Greek text reads "come          manifestation of Him who has           not even worthy to tie. John was
and break your fast" (de&e             truly conquered death  #and hell,      not worthy to be a lowly boot-
haristeesate). The Greek term          merited life eternal and eternal       black. Somehow these seven
ha&on  properly is: the first          glory. Small wonder that these         disciples felt the truth of the gen-
meal. It is a meal in the early        obedient disciples dared not in-       tle rebuke to Mary Magdalene:
morning before the work of day.        quisitively pry into the deep and      "touch me not for I have not yet
The term for supper is quite dif-      secret things of God. Yes, a           ascended unto my Father." All
ferent in the Greek. This refers to    wicked and cruel Herod cunning-        former familiarity which might
a more formal meal, usually held       ly searched out every detail con-      breed contempt is gone.
at eventide (John 13:2, 4; Luke        cerning the exact time when the          There is not a word uttered by
14: 17-24; John 2 1:20).               Star which the Wisemen had             Jesus concerning Himself in this
   There is here at this breakfast     seen in the East had first ap-         remarkable and historic self-
a rather strange and bewildering       peared unto them, but these god-       manifestation. From beginning to
relationship. Although no par-         ly men put off their shoes from        end, as Lenski so aptly remarks
ticulars are given to us in the        their feet; they felt that they        in his exposition, "everything is
sacred passage, it seems as if         stood on holy ground as much as        action here, omitting to add even
there reigned a certain silence of     Moses did at the burning bush!         the slightest reason for, or ex-
hushed and subdued awe and             At this bush the prophetic word        planation for the action," as He
reverence in the presense of the       affords vistas of the New              did so very clearly in the upper
"Lord." The breakfast consisted        Testamental resurrection glory of      chamber when He told them ex-
of bread and roasted fish.             the risen Christ, as the revelation    plicitly that He had given them
However, the overtones here in         of the God of Abraham, Isaac,          an example for their Christian,
this blessed account of Christ's       and Jacob. Jesus had shut the          humble conduct (John 13:12, 13).
third manifestation speak              mouth of the unbelieving deniers       Here we have nothing of that
volumes. Here was the glory of         of the resurrection-faith. These       sort. The meal is ready, prepared
the Lord manifested in every           deniers were the petrified priest-     by a higher hand, as part and
detail of this breakfast at which      hood of Aaron as represented by        parcel of the manifestation of the
the Lord is the heavenly host,         such men as Caiaphas and his en-       living Christ before their very
                                       tire evil generation. But there is     eyes! There were no questions
                                       here a greater than that "burning      asked, and there evidently was
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus    bush." He is the God of glory          no "small talk" either on the part
in the Protestant Reformed
Churches.                              Himself, in Jesus Christ, who ap-

324  I The Standard Bearer


of these fishermen. All sat in         selected as "good" fish in con-        of perdition, that the Scripture
silent expectation.                    trast with the "bad' fish, accord-     might be fulfilled. It was the
   The question may have arisen        ing to the analogy of the parable      night in which the cock crowed;
in Peter's heart: is this the man-     in Matthew 13:47-50. The difficul-     yes, it was then that the earth
ner of the foretold rendezvous in      ty that I have with this explana-      trembled for Peter. Peter did not
Galilee? He must have felt that        tion is that the text does not say     need any cross-examination here.
the half had not been foretold         "one hundred fifty-three good          He had gone out and wept bitter-
him, or that he had not listened       fish." Is it less wonderful that       ly, and the angels of God had
very well to the specific instruc-     Christ could bring forth these fish    seen it before the face of their
tions of his Lord. Meanwhile the       than that God prepared a great         Father and had exalted!
thoughts of Peter and of the rest      fish to swallow up Jonah in the           Peter says, in effect, "Here I
were on the strange nature of the      stormy sea? These fish were in a       stand, so help me, Lord!" Peter
events which had befallen them         very special sense also a part of      will not "think of himself more
during the past night and morn-        Christ's self-manifestation in His     highly than he ought to think";
ing. AI1 these simply were not         glorious resurrection power, and       but he thinks of himself soberly,
such that they could have their        of His very special providence         "according as God hath dealt to
source in the heart of man, but        over the witnesses of the resur-       every man the measure of faith"
were the mysteries of godliness        rection in all the world. And was      (Rom. 12:3). Here we see a Peter
which is great!                        this not to be an incontrovertible     in action, who has learned deep-
  This was the third manifesta-        proof of Christ's resurrection         ly the lesson of which he writes
tion of the Lord unique in nature      glory?                                 in I Peter 5: l-4. He `places himself
and in pedagogical purpose.               They were in a very special         as to his relationship to the
The Threefold Simon, Simon,            sense a gift from heaven!              church on the same level with
Son of Jonas (John 2 1: 15-19)           And, as we have observed             the other elders. He is a fellow-
  The first matter that calls for      earlier, they added to the             elder! And the admonition which
our careful reflection is the role     breakfast of fish which lay on the     he gives to the elders to "tend to
of Peter in this breakfast appoint-    coals on the shore. Where did          the flock of God which is among
ment. Peter is still the leader, as    Jesus obtain those fish and that       you (exercising the oversight
we have seen earlier in these          bread? The entire meal was as          (episkopountes)),  not of con-
essays. When Jesus tells all seven     much a wonder as was the bread         straint, but willingly, according to
disciples to bring of the fish         from heaven for forty years in         the will of God, nor yet for filthy
which they have caught, Peter          nourishing Israel through the          lucre, but of a ready mind,
went into action.                      desert to Canaan.                      neither as lording it over the
  There are two interpretations          Yes, they were all wonder-fish.      charge, but making yourselves
of this word of Jesus. In passing,       The bread was wonder-bread.          ensamples to the flock . . . ."
I would call attention to the fact     It was a special gift from heaven.       Here stands Peter now in the
that Jesus does not direct this          Once more, I feel that we            strength of the Lord, lifted up in
word of command merely to              stand here in holy awe, and that       due time by God's mighty, saving
Peter. It is quite clear from the      it behooves us to take the shoes       hand (I Peter 56).
Greek verb that this was directed      from off our feet!                       Such a Peter is ready for ser-
to all the seven disciples who           Such is the awesome setting in       vice in the love of God shed
were to share in this breakfast.       which Peter is questioned by           abroad in his heart. Lord thou
Peter evidently was the first to       Jesus, who is the chief Shepherd       knowest all things, thou knowest
go into action with the assistance     of Israel.                             that I love thee, and that in this
of all the others. All shared in         A threefold question and a           love I can do all things, yea,
the task of strenuous effort of        threefold answer. I do not believe     even suffer and die for thy sake!
pulling this large amount of fish      that this was what might be            Feed My Flock, Peter!
to the shore, and all ascertained      called "cross-examination," in           Peter is not instructed to go
the correct count of these fish,       order to determine whether Peter       out and to win the world for
that it was one hundred and fifty-     was speaking the truth. However,       Christ and to lay it as a votive of-
three large fish. Even that they       it was a threefold question which      fering at His feet! God forbid!
were all large is noteworthy, it       accorded with the threefold              Nor will Peter henceforth at-
seems to me.                           denial of Jesus by Peter in            tempt futilely to bring down the
  However, Lenski in his Com-          Caiaphas' court. Yes, that was in      enemies with the edge of the
mentary feels that these large         the fearful night in which Christ      sword; he will no longer try to
fish were those who had been           was betrayed by Judas, the son         shield Jesus, but will adore and

                                                                                              The Standard Bearer  /  32k


worship Him as the LORD of              This is a twofold aspect of the      protect what was builded  with
lords and as the KING of kings!       work of a shepherd:  Feed and          the trowel of the positive
Jesus will care for Peter, protect    protect,  the under-shepherd is        preaching of the Gospel of the
him. This is expressed in the         duty-bound to do. And thus he          Cross and resurrection.
great promise of Matthew 28:20b:      walks in the footsteps of the            And so Peter has his work cut
"and lo, I am with you always,        chief-Shepherd. He feeds that          out for him. However, this same
even unto the end (consumma-          flock and carries the shepherds        injunction also holds for John and
tion) of the world (ages)."           staff to correct and to protect the    for all the others at this breakfast
  But Peter has a task to perform     sheep from the wolves and false        rendezvous. Fact is, that this is
in Christ's name, who is the          prophets who come in sheep's           the pattern for all the elders in
Shepherd of the sheep.                clothing but who are inwardly          the church. It held for Peter as
  Feed my sheep. Tend my              destructive animals! The               an elder and for John, and so it
sheep. Feed my sheep.                 shepherd even works with trowel        obtained down the ages for all
                                      and sword. The sword serves to         faithful shepherds of the flock. Cl





                                      Norristowfi Protestant
Con trih tion
Rev.                                  Reformed Church
         Kenneth tianko



   In early October of 1983 the       and his wife came from Australia
Mission Committee of the Protes-      for the organizational meeting.
tant Reformed Churches sent Ken       Prof. Hoeksema preached on
Hanko, who had just graduated         Philippians 4: 1, "Therefore, my
from seminary and was a can-          brethren dearly beloved and
didate for the ministry, to the       longed for, my joy and crown, so
Norristown, PA area to work           stand fast in the Lord, my dearly
with a group of eight people who      beloved."
were interested in establishing a       The congregation is very
Protestant Reformed Church.           diverse, a manifestation in min-
Pastor Hanko was ordained home        iature of the catholicity of the
missionary in September, 1984,        Church. The people come
and has worked since that time        together on the Sabbath from           Norristown Council: 1 to r, Mr.
                                                                             Tony VanBrakel, Rev. Ken
with the group in Norristown.         three states: Pennsylvania,            Hanko, Mr. Melvin Williams, Mr.
Though five of the original eight     Delaware, and New Jersey, and          Richard Martin.
left, the group grew, and was         all directions. Because well over
organized in January of this year     half of the congregation drives at     family, friends, and fellow-
with six families and four in-        least 45 minutes to church, the        workers. Some are first genera-
dividuals. Because Prof.              worship services are at 10:00          tion immigrants; the families of
Hoeksema was instrumental in          a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and the            others have been in this country
getting the work $arted and con-      people eat lunch together at their     for generations. They have
tinued to be closely associated       meeting-place. They come from          Italian, English, African, Polish,
with the works afterwards, he         Roman Catholic, Fundamentalist,        Dutch, Spanish, and German
                                      Presbyterian, Reformed, and            blood. There are seven children
                                      charismatic backgrounds. Some
Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Prot-                                            ranging in age from a few weeks
                                      in fact endure mockery, misun-
estant Reformed Church in  Norris-                                           to eight years, and adults from
                                      derstanding, and disdain from
town, Pennsylvania.                                                          late teens to mid-fifties. There are

326  / The Standard Bearer


single people and married,             community center in a nearby            Recently the congregation
families with children and             town. They have met there for         called Pastor K. Hanko to be its
families without. And these have       about three years.                    first pastor.
come together in the Protestant           God has richly blessed this          The members rejoice in being
Reformed Church in Norristown          congregation in many ways. Not        organized as a Protestant Re-
because they believe and confess       the least of these blessings has      formed Church, and take this op-
one faith.                             been that, though small, it has       portunity to thank the denomina-
  The members first met in the         been able to be self-supporting       tion and its people for the
kitchen in one of the homes, and       since early 1984. Though synod        prayers and help given over the
Pastor Hanko used the kitchen          oversaw the financial affairs of      last five years.
counter for his podium. They           the group during all these years,       Any of you who read this and
then moved for a little while to a     it did not even have to pay the       have opportunity to be in our
historic building owned by the         salary of the missionary. Further-    area are cordially invited to visit
township. When the township            more God has brought together         with us. For the time being any-
received objections to a religious     there people who are thoroughly       way you may contact Pastor
group meeting in a public              instructed in the Reformed Faith,     Hanko at 215-630-0491. q
building, they rented a classroom      and committed to living by the
in a Christian school. About a         Word of God in spite of great
year later they moved to the           loss.





                                       A Rapid Development
Day of Shadows
Rev. john Heys                         of Sin

  In the mother promise of             dous difference in what happens       bring them where they will have
Genesis 3:15 the word translated       to these two seeds. The crushing      nothing but everlasting pain and
as bruise is more correctly            of the heel will bring great pain,    suffering. The believer is crippled
translated as crushed. The seed        and will limit the person's walk      in this life, severely limited, and
of the serpent's head is going to      severely. But the crushing of the     he may have his life taken from
be crushed and not merely              head of the serpent's seed will       him by the seed of the serpent.
bruised. The heel of the seed of       bring death. One whose heel is        But this will not keep him from
the woman is going to be               crushed will still dwell on this      living everlastingly in the new
crushed and not merely suffer a        earth. He whose head is crushed       Jerusalem, when Christ, The Seed
bruise. Therefore take note of the     is removed from this earth.           of the Woman, returns. The
fact that there is an amazing dif-     this earth.                           mother promise teaches a limited
ference as to what happens to            Although the cross of Christ,       and temporary suffering for the
the seed of the serpent, and what      and His death through it, is what     seed of the woman. It predicts an
happens to the seed of the             the seed of the serpent brought       endless woe and misery for the
woman. The head of one and the         upon Christ, Satan did not make       seed of the serpent.
heel of the other are crushed.         it impossible for Him to reign          Therefore when Cain killed
  Now although we must take            upon this earth as the King in the    Abel, this seed of the woman was
that word crush figuratively and       kingdom of heaven. Rather it          cut off from this present earth
not literally, there is a tremen-      served God's decree and was a         and its pleasures. But his soul
                                       work that served our good.            went to heavenly glory. It was
                                       Satan's death, and the death of       limited then in that it did not
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in    the seed of the serpent, however,     have the body wherein it was
the Protestant Reformed Churches.

                                                                                                 The Standard  Bearer  / 327


 born. But when Cain died, his                not commit sin; for his seed re-          For a time Adam and Eve
 soul went into an everlasting tor-           maineth~in  him; and he cannot         could not commit some of the
 ment from which there is no                  sin, because he is born of God."       sins mentioned in the second
 escape. Abel's wound will be                   Abel's revealing that holy           table of Gods law. They could
 healed when Christ returns.                  spiritual life before Cain is what     wound and kill each other or a
 Cain's misery will be intensified.           brought upon him the works of          son or daughter. Eve could dis-
 Abel will walk once again on this            the corrupt spiritual life of Cain.    honor her husband and lie to
 earth when it is changed and                 That enmity, of which the              him. In a measure they could
 glorified. Cain will never take              mother promise speaks, brought         steal from each other items such
 one small step in that blessed               violence upon Abel's body by           as food, which was very scarce at
 realm where Christ will be king,             Cain who hated Abel, because he        that time. They could covet what
    What is more, after Cain killed           saw the spiritual difference. He       the other human being had. But
 Abel, God presents to us a rapid             saw God in Abel, the God Who           adultery was impossible until
 and inevitable spiritual difference          had spoken to him and called his       another male or female was born
 between the seed of the woman                attention to his sin. We are not       and developed to the point when
 and the seed of the serpent. The             told what Abel said to Cain. We        they could be taken into sin.
 seed of the serpent, having its              simply read that they talked           Nevertheless all this was not
 head crushed, is spiritually dead!           together. But we can be sure that      simply there, but could be ex-
 And out of that death it will                it was the spiritual enmity of         pected to grow, as it did. The
 never come. The seed of the            _.    which the mother promise speaks        very first child born to them
 woman has flesh which has                    that moved Cain to strike and kill     committed that murder that the
 spiritual death in it; and they all          Abel. It was not because Abel          human race fears more than
 cripple through this life. They              broke one of the commandments          theft, adultery, and falsehood, as
 stumble and fall into sin; and               in the second table of the law. It     well as rebellion against
 they will cry out with Paul: "0              was because Abel revealed him-         authorities.
 wretched man that I am! who                  self as one who was walking in           Lamech, Cain's grandson, in-
 shall deliver me from the body of            the way of the first table of the      troduced openly the sin of
 this death?" (Romans 7:24). But              law. And because Cain was not          adultery and boldly committed
 that new spiritual life that caused          keeping the first table of the law,    Cain's sin of murder. Then in the
 the seed of the woman to be                  he also broke the second table         next generation appeared three
 born again can never be taken                when he killed Abel.                   males who opened the door to
 from them. That promise we                     What our covenant God                more sins, and to more ways in
 have from God. The seed of the               presents to us, after Cain brought     which hatred toward God could
 serpent can never get spiritual              murder into the history of the         be and would be boldly dis-
 life. The reborn seed of the                 human race, is the rapid and in-       played. Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-
 woman can never have it taken                evitable spiritual difference be-      cain came as seed of the serpents
 from them.                                   tween the two seeds that dwelt         and did not invent and explore
    Yes, the seed of the woman                on the earth. Out of Cain comes        God's marvelous creation in
 are going to suffer. They will               the seed of the serpent that           order to walk in love to Him and
 know all the aches and pains that            brings a rapid and awesome             serve Him with it. They opened
 the seed of the serpent know.                growth of sin. Adam and Eve            the door for more sins and for
' They will die as surely, and often          broke the first table of God's law.    more manifestations of hatred
 as violently, as the seed of the             They wanted another god, and in        against God to be practiced. They
 serpent. Satan, and that seed of             their sin they revealed a hatred       got the human race ready for the
 the serpent will also affect their           against the God Who made them,         punishment of the flood. About
 spiritual walk. We will fall into            and Who is God alone. That             one thousand six hundred and
 temptation. We will sin, even                hatred of God always produces          fifty-seven years of sin had so
 though our heads have the                    hatred toward man who is made          threatened the life of the seed of
 knowledge of-God and our hearts              in His image. He who breaks the        the woman, that God came with
 have love for God. But that new              first table of the law will always     the flood, crushing the head of
 man in Christ in us, which makes             break the second table as well.        the seed of the serpent.
 us the seed of the woman, will               Hating God he will not want to           Now, dwelling in tents and
 not walk in even one sin after by            serve and honor God. And he            raising cattle, as Jabal did; han-
 the rebirth we have ,been given              surely will hate anyone who            dling harp and organ as Jubal did;
 that life. In I John 3:9 we read:            manifests love and faith in God.       and being artificers in brass and
 "Whosoever is born of God doth                                                      iron, as Tubal-Cain was, are not

 328  / The Standard Bearer


necessarily and automatically          the flood, and destroy His first       Adam, man would die spiritually
evidences of walking in sin. Did       creation, because of what Satan        if he ate of that forbidden fruit.
the seed of the woman not need         succeeded in doing. No, all this is    Adam did; and all his descen-
cattle for the sacrifices that God     written for our instruction and        dants, except Christ,.Who is the
commanded? Is it to be branded         comfort. When He told Satan that       second Person of the Holy Trini-
as sin that David used the harp,       HE would put enmity between            ty, and was born of a virgin,
and that others used the organ to      the unbelievers and the believers,     come into this world with every
sing God's praises? Did Moses not      and that the unbelievers were go-      imagination of the thoughts of
need tools of brass or iron to         ing to have their heads crushed,       the heart being evil only and
build the ark God commanded            while the believers would only         continually.
him to build? What about the           have their heels crushed; and             It is absolutely impossible then
building of the temple? What           when He said this before fallen        that any one who has Adam as
about the amazing means of             Adam and Eve, we have a most           his father can do anything that is
transportation and of communica-       comforting truth that will en-         pleasing in Gods sight, until and
tion, the ships, trains, planes and    courage us in the coming days of       unless God causes him to be born
automobiles we may use for mis-        increased sins with their violence     again, and in that way becomes
sionary work? What about the           and pain.                              the seed of the woman. Living as
radio and tape recordings, the           We do well to consider that          we do in such a world, we too
printed page and' the instruments      here we have a shadow of what          must expect sin to grow, and the
used to write and print our Bible?     will come in the days of the anti-     world to become more wicked,
All this is here because of what       christ, days which are not far         trying to crush our heel. In the
Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain           away. All this ought to open our       day of shadows already it
wrought way back a few genera-         eyes today when we see the             became very clear that we need
tions after the fall of man.           violence and wickedness that are       Christ, Who is The Seed of The
  Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain         becoming greater and more              Woman, to pay for our sins not
were seeking the things of this        widespread.                            only, but to give us a new
world in order to satisfy the lust       Satan was defeated by the            spiritual life. There surely is no
of their flesh. And the awesome        flood, and for a time there was        room for the seed of the woman
truth is that Satan was working        only the seed of the woman on          to boast. But there is abundant
in and through them to bring           this earth: Noah's family. Of          reason for them to praise and
forth the antichrist, who would        course, because we are all con-        thank God for His wonder-work
seek to replace Christ. He was us-     ceived and born in sin, there          of sending His Son, yea, of com-
ing the seed of the serpent in         soon appeared the seed of the          ing Himself to deliver us com-
order to crush the head of the         serpent again, and the sinful          pletely from Satan and the cruel-
seed of the woman. No, he would        nature of the seed of the woman        ty of the seed of the serpent. 0
never crush that head. He would        revealed itself. Noah became
be used so that the heel would         drunk, and Ham delighted in that
be crushed; but his attempt and        sin. It was not long after the                         Peace
intention was to crush the head.       flood that God said, "Cursed be        The sounding surf so surgingly
And were it not for what Tubal-        Canaan; a servant of servants          Pounds the sandy shore;
cain discovered and produced,          shall he be to his brethren." The      The wrathful waves break cease-
there would have been no iron          spiritual contrast was there again       lessly
nails to affix Christ to His cross     on this earth.                         And ragingly they roar.
for our salvation. Never mind            In fact, Genesis 6:5 presents to     The howling, whistling, whipping
Satan's plans. Gods plans are          us the true but sad picture that,        wind
what count; and we have com-           "God saw that the wickedness of        Blasts a salty sandy spray.
fort, and are assured that His         man was very great in the earth,       Nature has no peace nor rest
plan will always be executed, ex-      and that every imagination of the      As I look up to pray.
actly as He eternally decreed it       thoughts of his heart was only
would take place.                      evil continually." Get those three     And then I see His star-lit heavens;
  This information about these         words: euery, on/y and con-            The soft moon shines above.
three grandsons of Cain is             tinually! As far as the seed of the    In my heart and nature there is
presented for our comfort, and         serpent is concerned, that is an         peace;
not simply for our information.        accurate and undeniable truth          For He looks down in love.
Things did not slip out of Gods        concerning them. There is no                                    James Jonker
hands. He did not have to send         good in them. For, as God told           (from Beacon Lights, by permission)

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  I329


                                        The  Horror  of  Abortion

All Around Us ~~~~~~ i!b:iab,e2
Rev. Cise VanBaren                                                              *


                                                                                       .
The Horror of Abortion                     What can one do? Merely to                Another Sign?
                                        wring one's hands in despair
   This past January we com-                                                                A short article in the Grand
                                        seems inadequate. However, to
memorated the 16th anniversary                                                       Rapids 
                                        join with many others who may                            Press, January 23, 1989,
of the decision of the Supreme                                                       caught my attention. Its title was:
                                        for various reasons (not
Court of the United States to                                                        "Grain experts worried about
                                         necessarily Scriptural) oppose
legalize abortion. Much has been                                                     drought." The article stated:
                                        abortion can be a union of light
made of this. The presidential          and darkness with one common                   The drought of 1988 has now
candidates in the last campaign                                                      reached into 1989.
                                         objective. Scripture has some-
took opposing sides on the issue.                                                      And now it has expanded into the
                                        thing to say about that (II Cor.
The new president has made it a                                                      country's most important  wheat-
                                        6:14ff.). Such union also presup-
point to show his own abhor-                                                         growing regions, where it has begun
                                        poses an unscriptural position               to ravage sections of this year's crop.
rence of the practice. We hear          that in numbers there is strength.             Grain specialists say they are
the' claim that the present                                                          especially worried by the spread of
Supreme Court will likely reverse          What can one do? Prayer has               the drought into areas that produce
the earlier decision. We await the       ever been the chief means of ac-            most of the country's hard red
outcome.                                 cess to the throne of our heaven-           winter wheat, the principal bread
   In the meantime, the killings         ly Father. Pray that the day of
                                        judgment quickly come. Pray for              wheat. . . .
continue. One reader recently                                                          The situation is also causing fresh
                                         the return of our Lord Jesus
sent in statistics that are truly                                                    concerns among food experts who
                                         Christ. Pray that though iniquity
sobering. In all of the wars in                                                      were already uneasy about a dwin-
                                         abounds, the church may be
which this country was engaged,                                                      dling supply of grain in the world.
1,160,581  soldiers were killed.         preserved and its members                   The U.S. wheat reserve is the lowest
                                                                                     since crop shortfalls led to the World
Abortion kills about 1,600,OOO           gathered. Rejoice too that while
                                         the unregenerate will kill its off-         Food Conference of 1974. And for
annually! Since 1973 (when the           spring, Gods people continue to             the second year in a row the world
Supreme Court legalized abor-                                                        has used more grain than it has pro-
tion), an estimated 22,500,OOO           bring forth, thankfully, children
                                         of whom God gathers also His                duced.
abortions were performed. It is                                                        Wheat is the food crop in tightest
claimed that one out of every            children.
                                           The Christian also has the op-            supply now. World reserves, in
three pregnancies ends in abor-                                                      percentages of normal use, have
                                         portunity to contact representa-
tion. All of this is nothing else                                                    dropped to the lowest levels since
                                         tives in government to inform
than transgression of the sixth                                                      1973. With the world using more
                                         them why abortion is sin and
command, "Thou shalt not kill."                                                      than it produced last year, the wheat
                                         must cease.
   All of this is another sign of                                                    reserve has dropped 30 million tons,
                                           And when one considers the                to 115 million tons. In 1987, it
the end of the age, when iniquity        terrible bloodbath which is taking          dropped by the same amount. . . .
abounds and the love of many             place under the name of popula-               The threat from drought to the
waxes cold.  -                           tion control, he can only pray              winter wheat crop also comes at a
                                         more earnestly, "Even so come,              time when several other major pro-
                                         quickly, Lord Jesus!"                       ducers, including the Soviet Union,
                                                                                     Australia and Argentina, are suffer-
Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Prot-                                                 ing drought problems.
estant Reformed Church in  Hudson-
ville,  Michigan.

330  I  The Standard Bearer


   Though throughout history one           is the disciple who testifies to these      God" (Art. v). In other words,
hears of famines and shortages,            things and who wrote them down..            besides the testimony of the Spirit,
surely the words of Revelation             We know that his testimony is true,"        we know the Bible to be the Word of
6:6 come to mind: "And I heard             says the gospel of John (21:24).            God through the testimony of the
a voice in the midst of the four              Testimony can bear truth even            church and the testimony of Scrip-
beasts say, A measure of wheat             though it is not the Word of                ture itself
for a penny, and three measures            God. . . .                                     The writer then presents in
of barley for a penny; and see                The affirmative position is pre-         brief and summary form the
thou hurt not the oil and the              sented by Lyle D. Bierma who                evidences from Scripture that it is
wine." It was the word to the              points out that it is both Scrip-           the very Word of God. He con-
black horse with its rider who             tural and confessional to main-             cludes:
had in hand a pair of balances.            tain that Scripture is the Word of            On the basis of this threefold
The common, ordinary food                  God:                                        testimony, then - by the church, by
(wheat and barley) would be very             . . . But how do we know that the         Scripture itself and by the Spirit  -
                                                                                       we believe that the Bible is the writ-
limited, while the wine and oil            Scriptures are the true and authorita-
                                           tive Word of God? Again, the Belgic         ten Word of God. In an age in which
(luxuries of this world) would be          Confession: "We believe without a           so much of Protestantism no longer
unaffected. Is this taking place           doubt all things contained in [Scrip-       holds to the divine inspiration, in-
even in our own day?                       ture] not so much because the               fallibility, and authority of Scripture,
                                           church receives and approves them           let us in the Christian Reformed
What is debatable?                         as such but above all because the           Church continue to confidently con-
   One can still be startled at            Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that    fess, "We believe without a doubt
what is being debated in the               they are from God, and also because         [that/ all things contained in [Scrip-
                                           they prove themselves to be from            ture] . . . are from God" (Belgic Con-
pages of the Banner. In the issue                                                      fession, Art. v).
of February 6, 1989, two articles                                                         One can express a hearty
appear in print, one seeking to                 Alpha And Omega                        "Amen" to the brief summary
prove that the Bible is not the                                                        presented by the second writer
Word of God and another sup-               In the beginning, the eternal               concerning this vital truth. What
porting the proposition that it is.           Word,                                    is, however, particularly astound-
The editor gives a weak rejection          By might unmeasured and un-                 ing is that a member in good
of the arguments of the first                 known to man,                            standing in the church, of
writer in a brief editorial. The           Spoke, and the depths of nothing-           theological background and
first writer is Herman Bouma, an              ness were stirred;                       evidently a learned individual,
attorney in Washington, D.C. and           And in that great beginning time            can publicly and in the official
member of the CRC there. He is                began.                                   church periodical present views
also a graduate of Calvin                  And in time's fulness, man by sin           contrary to our confessions about
Theological Seminary. He makes                fast held,                               what ought to be (in the church)
the following claim:                       That Word was flesh, time met               an undebatable subject. All know
  I do not believe that the Bible is          eternity;                                that many deny Scripture as the
the Word of God.                           The finite and the Infinite were            inspired, infallible, Word of God.
  My reason is fairly simple: I do not        weld,                                    One must indeed keep up with
know of any evidence that it is the        And God and man was hanged                  the arguments presented. But can
Word of God; in fact, there is strong         upon a tree,
evidence that it is not the Word of        But in time's glass will drop the           a member of good standing in
God. . . .                                    final sand,                              the church publicly repudiate
  But my conclusion that the Bible         The cloud-clothed angel with a              what the confessions teach, and
is not the Word of God does not               lion's roar                              can the church give such a one a
make it meaningless to me. The Bi-         Shall set his fiery feet on sea and         "pulpit" for his views? Does this
ble is the history of redemption. It          land,                                    not mislead simple souls in spite
sets forth what God has done in                                                        of disclaimers made by the editor
history, particularly in the person        God's end be reached, and time              of the magazine? One can only
and work of Jesus Christ, to redeem           shall be no more.                        express sorrow that this subject
mankind.                                   Lord, strengthen Thou our failing           should be open for debate within
  Although the Bible sets forth the           sight, we pray,                          the reformed churches in light of
Word of God, it is itself not the Word     Till with the eye of faith we see
of God. It is testimony to what God           that day.                                the Confessions to which we
has said and done. Yet it is still, for                                                hold. Cl
                                                                     James Jonker
the most part, true and valid. "This         (from  Beacon Lights,  by permission)

                                                                                                            The Standard Bearer  I331


Walking in                             Custody  Fight  Over  Fertilized  Ova
the Light                              Sex-selection  Abortions
Prof. Herman Hanko                     Sabbath                 Desecration


  While we have, in previous ar-       apparently decided to have seven          abortion as a means of sex selec-
ticles in the Standard Bearer, dis-    fertilized ova stored at the Fort         tion. No one knows how wide- '
cussed the major issues which          Sanders Regional Medical Center           spread this practice is, but it
arise in the field of Christian        for future use. In the meantime,          seems to be more widely done
ethics, there are many subjects        the couple are in the process of          than has been admitted in the
which could be treated in these .      gaining a divorce and now a               past. Christianity Today refers to
articles, some of which are            custody fight has come to the             an article in  The New York Times
related to subjects we have            courts over these fertilized ova.         in which doctors who perform
already discussed and most of          The mother in this case wants to          abortions admitted that they
which do not warrant an entire         be impregnated with these frozen          were "all routinely asked by pa-
article. We have decided, there-       embryos; but the father has con-          tients to test fetuses for gender."
fore, to write an article or two       tested the matter, claiming that,         Almost always female fetuses are
concerning various less important      if this were done, it would "have         the ones aborted. So abortion has
issues and concerning develop-         an impact on his life." The judge         now become a means of sex
ments in various areas which we        apparently agreed and a restrain-         selection among many.
have already discussed;                ing order has been placed on the            The irony of it all is that the
                                       mother's request until further            feminist movement, which stood
Custody Fight Over                     hearings can be held. The point           in the forefront of the pro-
Fertilized Ova                         is that the custody fight over            abortion battle, does not like
                                       jointly held property now in-             what it is hearing. Militant
  In an earlier article we dis-        cludes these stored fetuses.              feminists now are increasingly of
cussed at some length the in-            Many of the advances in the             the opinion that abortions on de-
creasingly common practice of          field of medical technology have          mand have become a method of
artificial fertilization of a          raised legal as well as moral             "femicide" - the wholesale
mother's ova, and we made some         problems. To some of these legal          destruction of the female popula-
passing reference to the current       problems we have called atten-            tion. Already in India, where
practice of preserving these ova       tion in earlier articles. Here is         such kind of sex selection has
by freezing and storing them for       one that clearly shows the                been commonly practiced,
use at some future time. This          stupidity of tampering with God-          feminists have succeeded in get-
abominable practice has led to         ordained processes for who                ting laws passed which ban abor-
some problems, not the least of        knows what reasons, Violations            tions on the grounds of sexual
which is court fights over such        of God's law always lead men to           preference. Feminists in this
stored ova.                            increasingly more serious prob-           country are likely to begin press-
  In a recent issue of the Grand       lems, most of which have no               ing for the same laws in this
Rapids Press  an article appeared      solution, if for no other reason          land.
in which we were told of a court       than that the problems arise out            Abortion is a great evil
fight that was presently going on      of great evils.                           wherever it is practiced. Those
in Maryville, Tennessee. A couple                                                who promote and practice it
                                       Sex-selection Abortions                   stand under the fierce wrath of a
                                         In the March 17 issue of                holy God. It is murder of the first
Prof. Hanko is  profesior of Church                                    Chris-    degree. It is unbelievably shock-
History and New Testament in the       tianity Today, editorial comment          ing that it can be done in this
Protestant Reformed Seminary.          was made on the subject of using

332  /  The Standard Bearer


          country with the protection of         much as possible on Saturday           eternal values. It offers a respite
          the law. Not only-upon individ-        night, when all the parents and        from chronic materialism. It of-
          uals, but also upon countries          children had had their baths, and      fers a chance to regain our bear-
          God's judgment comes with              when only the very necessary           ings as we gather as a body of
          ferocity when His holy law is          work was done on the Lord's            believers and witness to the truth
          openly flaunted.                       Day.                                   of the resurrection."
             But here we have an illustra-         I can appreciate the distress           In other words, one ought to
          tion of how one sin leads to           which many feel at this desecra-       keep the Sabbath because the
          another. God is never mocked. In       tion of the Lord's Day. It was bet-    keeping of the Sabbath has
          fact, God punishes sin with sin, as    ter when Sabbaths were quiet ex-       physical and emotional as well as
          Romans 1:18ff. clearly teach. As       cept for the ringing of church         spiritual benefits. It does one
          the country sinks deeper into the      bells; when the beaches were           good to take a day off. It is
          abyss of moral corruption, sin         empty; when the streets were un-       physically and emotionally
          grows greater and the night of         crowded; when the rattle and           healthy to refrain from normal
          evil grows darker. But the holy.       clatter of lawn mowers was             and ordinary activities on one
          God of Israel maintains His            never heard. What I cannot             day of the week.
          righteousness through it all.          always appreciate is the line of         I can't buy that argument. I
                                                 argumentation Mihich is used in        have no quarrel with the argu-
          Sabbath Desecration                    support of keeping public places       ment that the keeping of the law
            One of the great evils of our        closed on the Sabbath.                 of God is always good for a man.
          times is the desecration of the          Recently I read an article in        Of course. Just as a violation of
I         Sabbath by shopping on the             which a "Christian" who worked         God's law brings grief and sor-
          Lord's Day. There was a time in        on the Lord's Day as a meat cut-       row, troubIe and pain, so the
          the history of our country when        ter complained about the fact          keeping of God's law is good.
          so-called "blue laws" were on the      that he had to work, even though       This is no less true of Sabbath
          books in every state of the union.     he preferred not to do so,             observance than it is of idolatry
          These laws made it a civil offense     because other Christians used the      or adultery. But it seems to me
          to buy or sell on the Lord's Day.      Lord's Day to shop. "It's a shame      that this line of reasoning misses
          One by one these laws have been        when Christians have to work on        the point altogether. It reduces
          struck from the books by deci-         Sunday," he said; "if Christians       the keeping of the law to selfish
          sions of the courts. The result is     wouldn't shop on Sunday, Chris-        motives. One ought to keep the
          that, especially in our cities,        tians wouldn't have to work on         law because it is good for him to
          many, if not most, stores and          Sunday." This line of defense          do that. Avoid what is bad for
          restaurants are open. In fact,         reminds one of the many excuses        one's self and do what is healthy.
          retailers claim that the Lord's        vYhich Christians make to defend       Seek yourself and your best in-
          Day are some of the biggest            their sinful conduct - a line of       terests, but do so by taking the
          shopping days of the week. One         reasoning which began when             long-range view of things; i.e.,
          finds, even in travelling to           Adam blamed Eve for his sin of         deny yourself immediate pleasure
          church, that the parking lots of       eating of the forbidden tree.          in the interests of a long-range
          malls are jammed with cars, the          ,But the main line of reasoning      health. If this becomes the
          parking lots of restaurants are        in defense of the closing of public    motive of keeping the law, what
          filled, and the roads are crowded      places on the Lord's Day follows       happens to the great command- "
          with vehicles carrying families        a somewhat different track. It is      ment of the law: Love God with
          and individuals to stores and          often argued that the Sabbath is       all your heart and mind and soul
     I    restaurants.                           good for man for various reasons.      and strength? We substitute self-
            Periodically, a cry is raised        One writer puts it this way:           love for love of God as a motive
          against this practice in evangel-      `God's creation of the Sabbath         for keeping the law.
          ical and fundamentalist circles.       established more than just a pat-        When all else is said and done,
          Various writers long for the good      tern of work and rest; it              the sole motive for keeping the
          old days when everything was           established the values of com-         law, including the keeping of the
          closed on the Sabbath, when on-        munity, freedom, and redemp-           Sabbath, is this: God says we
          ly the churches were open, and         tion. The Sabbath ministered to        must do so; disobedience is a
          when the shopping was done             basic human needs - physical,          form of hatred of God; we keep
          during the week. The good days         emotional,  and spiritual. The         His law because we love Him. If
          were those days when the Sun-          Lord's Day is designed to meet         God is so gracious that He sends
          day dinner was prepared as             !hose same needs. It embodies          His blessings upon us in the way

                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer  f  333


of observance of His law, we             It is for this reason too that the      In obedience to Christ he
have not earned that either, and       argumentation of "Christians"           keeps the Sabbath holy. That
that too is of grace alone.            who open their places of business       must be his motive. c]
   Such reasoning as mentioned         is specious. One Christian store
above misses the point. The Sab-       manager said: "If Sunday isn't               In God's Country
bath in the old dispensation was       available to us, we can spend
on the seventh day. The rule, in       another day with the Lord." This        The rolling fields of brown and
keeping with the nature of the         is current thinking even among            green
law, was: work for seven days to       some very conservative Chris-           Embraced the purple mountains
earn that one day in which you         tians. The choice of the first day        high;
can have fellowship with your          of the week as the Lord's Day is        The rugged peaks with snowy lips
covenant God. That proved              arbitrary, not required by God,         Reached bravely up and kissed
forever impossible. Man cannot         and done only for reasons of ex-          the sky.
earn his salvation, nor work in        pediency. Such argumentation is         The azure blue stretched out its
such a way that he merits God's        fallacious and to be condemned.           hands,
blessing. Christ arose on the first    The Lords will is that the first        Pulled up the eastern shining
day of the week and instituted         day of the week, as part of the           sphere;
the new dispensation Sabbath.          creation ordinances, is the Lords       The sun with kindly smiling face
Christ earned all our salvation for    Day. The believer, by frequenting       Gave light and life and warmth
us. The great abiding truth of the     the house of God on the first day         and cheer.
Sabbath is: Christ gives us the        of the week, confesses that his
rest of Gods covenant; in the          strength and power to walk in           The great Creator, moved by love,
strength of that great grace, go       this world obedient to God              Looked down on hill and plain and
forth into your life and work. No      depends upon his Christ. To labor         wood
longer, work to rest, but rest in      six days in the service of his          And saw His handiwork divine
order to work. No longer merit         King, he needs that first day to        Tell forth His praise and said,
- forever impossible; but grace,       be with Christ in church to hear          "Tis good."
grace through Christ to do the         Christ speak and to be fed with                                James Jonker
Lords work.                            the bread of life.                        (from Beacon Lights, by permission)





                                       News From
Mr.-blenjamin Wigger                   Qur Churches

                                                              April 1, 1989    churches crowded, but there
                                          It has been quite a few weeks        were many new families,
                                       since I included a church profile,      especially young growing
                                       and I have only two left. There         families, moving into the area.
                                       doesn't seem to be much news,             On February 22, 1973, Faith
                                       so now would be a good time to          P.R.C. was organized by nineteen
                                       slip one in.                            families. Worship services were
                                          For several years, in the early      held in the Jenison Jr. High Gym-
                                       1970's, there had been talk of the      nasium. That same fall, Candidate
                                       need for a new Protestant Re-           Meindert Joostens became their
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Prot-    formed church in the Grandville-        first pastor. They also purchased
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-     Jenison area of West Michigan.          five acres of land on 20th Ave. in
ville,  Michigan.                      Not only were nearby P.R.

334  /  The Standard Bearer


Jenison. In the summer if 1974,         There have been many severe               The Hull P.R. Christian School
Rev. Joostens and his family           sicknesses and deaths, and there         Society has decided to go ahead
moved into the new parsonage            have been many trials. Faith            with plans to build two additional
on the church property.                 presently is vacant, Rev. Bekker-       classrooms onto their present
   In 1978 Rev. Joostens accepted       ing and the congregation                school building this summer.
a call to First Church in Grand         deciding last year to end their           The Covenant Christian High
Rapids, and Faith was vacant un-        pastor-congregation relationship.       School Band in Walker, MI held a
til Candidate Wilbur Bruinsma ac-       This has made all the members           fund-raising playathon on March
cepted their call in October of         keenly aware how important the          14. Supporters were invited to
that year. On December 10, 1978         blessedness of the communion of         come at any time that evening
Faith held their first worship ser-     the saints is.                          and watch and/or participate by
vice in their new sanctuary.            MISSION ACTIVITIES                      either playing their instruments
What a thrill for the congregation        Classis West in its meeting on        or by actually conducting the
to worship once more in a sanc-         March 1 approved of the organi-         band themselves. Band members                .
tuary and sing to the beautiful         zation of the mission station at       were busy getting pledges to help
strains of an organ!                    Northwest Chicago. This group           make the event a successful one.
   In 1984, Faith again had a           consists of 13 families and has           On February 24, the Loveland
change of pastors when Rev.             taken the name Bethel P.R.C.            P.R. Christian School held a
Bruinsma accepted the call to be        Organization is tentatively set for    special chapel service in which
missionary to Jamaica and Rev.          March 29.                              parents, grandparents, and
Wayne Bekkering accepted                  The new address and phone             friends were invited. After the
Faith's call later in the year.         number of Rev, & Mrs. Steven           chapel, these friends were invited
   From a small group of mainly         Houck is 3428 31st St., Grand-         to visit the classrooms. Hot lunch
very young families Faith has           ville, MI 49418. Phone 616-            was also served that day by the
grown into a large congregation         531-4999.                              Ladies Circle, so that those there
of some 82 families with 416 bap-       CONGREGATIONAL CALLS                   could stay and eat dinner with
tized members. Beginning with             The Faith P.R.C. in Jenison, MI      the teachers and students.
only fourteen children in               formed a new trio consisting of        CONGREGATIONAL
catechism classes, there are now        Revs. Russell Dykstra, Steven          HIGHLIGHTS
162. From two young people              Key, and Ronald VanOverloop.              The consistory of our Loveland
who attended another church's           From that group of three, they         P.R.C. in Loveland, CO thanked
Young People's Society, there are       extended the call to Rev. Key.         the same Ladies Circle mentioned
now 55 in the Jr. and Sr. Y.P.          From a trio which included also        above for the purchase of stoves
Societies at Faith. All age groups      Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev.          for the new church kitchen, and
are represented and are a vital         Richard Moore, Pella extended a        24 new Bibles for the auditorium
part of the church life.                call to Rev. Ronald VanOverloop.       and Fellowship Hall.
  One interesting fact is that          First Church called Rev. Carl             The Young People of our Im-
Faith has been blessed with             Haak to serve as missionary in         manuel P.R.C. in Lacombe,
many children, and presently in-        Jamaica. And, from a duo of Rev.       Alberta invited the members of
cludes not only triplets but also       Russell Dykstra and Rev. Barrett       the Edmonton congregation to an
four sets of twins! A wide variety      Critters, Peace Church called          evening of bowling at the River-
of occupations can be found             Rev. Dykstra.                          side Bowl in Red Deer.
among its members: from con-              Rev. Kenneth Hanko, home                The Young People's Societies
struction to farmers; from busi-        missionary to the group in Norris-     of the Hudsonville P.R.C. in Hud-
nessmen to teachers and accoun-         town, PA, has accepted the call        sonville, MI sponsored an ex-
tants.                                  he received to become the first        citing night of racquetball and
  When the original plans for           pastor of the newly organized          walleyball at Racquetville in
Faith were drawn up, it was             congregation that grew out of          Grandville, MI on March 10. All
decided to build in three phases,       that mission station.                  ages were welcomed. Proceeds
the sanctuary being the first.          SCHOOL ACTIVITIES                      were going toward the 1989 Con-
Thought is now being given to             The Hope P.R. Christian School       vention being sponsored by Hope
the second phase, which will be a       Circle in Walker, MI met in the        P.R.C. in Walker, MI. q
wing-unit addition.                     middle of February. Mr. John
  Through the years Faith has           Buiter, administrator at Hope,
grown physically, but more im-          spoke on "The Use of Computers
portantly spiritually as well.          in the Home."

                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / 335

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

l?O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



W E D D I N G   A N N I V E R S A R Y    NOTICE!!!                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   On April 20, 1989, the Lord                  The Northwest Iowa Prot-          The Adult Bible Study Society
willing, MR. AND MRS. ROGER              estant Reformed Christian              of the Southeast Protestant Re-
KEY will celebrate their 35th            School is seeking applications         formed Church expresses its
wedding anniversary. We, their           for a teaching position at the         Christian sympathy  to Mr.  and
children and grandchildren, re-          lower elementary grade level           Mrs. Bernie Kamminga in the
joice with them in God's faith-          beginning the  1989/90 school          death of her brother, MR.
fulness to us. We also wish to           year. Direct all inquiries to:         BERNIE DEN  BESTEN.
thank them publicly for the              Chester Hunter, Jr.                      "Precious in the sight of the
years of Christian instruction             Administrator                        Lord is the death of His saints."
and counsel they have given us           106 Fifth Ave.                              Rev. Steven Key, `Pres.
and for their efforts to bring us        Doon, IA 51235                              Miss Audrey Reitsma,  Secy.
up in the nurture and admoni-            (712) 726-3381
tion of the Lord.                                   or to:                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   "But the mercy of the LORD            John Mantel, Board President             The Mens and Ladies Society
is from everlasting to everlast-         R.R. 2, Box 247                        of Southwest Protestant Re-
ing upon them that fear him,             Rock Valley, IA 51247                  formed Church mourns the loss
and his righteousness unto               (712) 476-5609                         of two of its faithful members,
children's children; to such as                                                 MISS ELSIE  KUIPER and MR.
                                         NOTICE!!!
keep his covenant, and to those                                                 BASIL HAFER, whom the Lord
                                           The South Holland Protestant
that remember his command-                                                      took home to glory recently.
                                         Reformed School is seeking ap-
ments to do them." (Psalm                                                         The society expresses its
                                         plications for a teaching posi-
103:17, 18)                                                                     Christian sympathy to their
                                         tion at the elementary grade           families. May the sorrows of
   Pastor Steven and Nancy Key           level beginning the  1989/90           death be swallowed up in the
      Stephanie, Michelle,               school year. Direct all inquiries      victory which is ours through
      Elisabeth, Mary Anne               to:                                    Jesus Christ our Lord. (I Cor.
   Daniel and Judy Key                   Lamm Lubbers, Administrator            15:57)
      Jonathan, Deborah,                 16511 South Park Avenue
      Timothy                            South Holland, IL 60473                     Mr.  Phillip Lotterman, Pres.
   Thomas Key                            (312) 339-6585                              Mrs. Ruth De Kraker,
                                                    or to                                 Vice  Secy.
ATTENTION TEACHERS!!!                    James Lanting, Board Sec'y.
   Hope Christian School of                                                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                         16230 Louis Avenue
Redlands, CA is seeking to add                                                    The Adult Bible Class of
                                         South Holland, IL 60473
a teacher to its staff beginning                                                Peace Protestant Reformed
                                         (312) 596-5093
the 1989-90 school year. Teach-                                                 Church, express their heartfelt
ing assignment would be either           NOTICE!!!                              Christian sympathy to their
grades K and 1, or 2nd - 4th.                   Covenant Christian School of    members, Ken and Marilyn De
                                                                                Jong and family, in the death of
Those interested may call Ed             Lynden, WA, is in need of a            their infant daughter, RUTH
Karsemeyer (Principal) at school         teacher in the elementary              JOHANNA, on March  1,1989.
(714-793-1504)  or at home (714-         grades. Anyone interested,
793-7166), or Mike Critters              please contact Mr. John Meyer,         May they be comforted in
                                                                                knowing that  ". . . He shall
(Secretary of School Board), at          Board President, 1255 Van  Dyck
                                                                                gather the lambs with His arm
(714) 739-4439. Applications or          Road, Lynden, WA, 98264, tele-         and carry them in His bosom
resumes should be sent to Hope           phone (206) 354-3354; or Mr.
                                                                                and shall gently lead those that
Christian School, 1309 E.  Brock-        Ben  VanderVeen,  Board                are with you." (Isaiah  4O:ll)
ton, Redlands, CA 92374.                 Secretary, 9503 Northwood
                                         Road, Lynden, WA, 98264,                   Don Terpstra, Vice-Pres.
                                         telephone (206) 354-3188.                  Deb Poortinga, Sec'y.

336  I  The  Standard  Bearer


