A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine





                    AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

                           Collapsed-wreckage of the Cypress freeway in
                                      Oakland, CA, October 17, 1989
                            "And .great earthquakes shall be in
                              divers places . . . " (Luke 21:ll).
                           See "The Beginning of Birth-Pangs" - page 53

Vol. 66, No. 3
November 7, 7989


  Contents                                                                                            THE
                                                                        November I, 1989         SrANDrn
Meditation  -  Rev.  lason  L. Kortering
     LOOKING AT THE THINGS UNSEEN                                                          51        tE4RER
                                                                                                 ISSN  0362-4692
 Editorial  - Prof. David  /. Engelsma                                                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
    THE BEGINNING OF BIRTH-PANGS                                                           53    and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                                 lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
LETTERS                                                                                    55    at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                                 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The
                                                                                                 Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids, MI
Guest  Article  -  Rev. Steven R.  Houck                                                         49516.
    A REFORMED LOOK AT THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT (2)                                            56    EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                 Editor-in-chief: Prof. David  I. Engelsma
                                                                                                 Manaeina  Editor: Prof. Robert D. Decker
Church   and  State  - Mr. lames  Laming                                                         Editor?  &s&ant:  Mr. Don Doezema
    SUPREME COURT BALKS AT OVERRULING ROE V. WADE                                          58    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                                 Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                                 Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
From  Holy  Writ  - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                       Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman
     EXPOSITION OF PHILIPPIANS  1:27-30 (1)                                                60    Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John  Heys,  Rev.
                                                                                                 Jason Kortering, Rev. George Lubbers, Rev. James
                                                                                                 Slopsema,  Rev. Charles Terpstra, Rev. Gist:
All  Around  Us  -  Prof.  Robert  D.  Decker                                                    VanBaren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
    ORAL ROBERTS IN TROUBLE                                                                62    EDITORIAL OFFICE               CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
    CHRISTIANS IN RUSSIA                                                                   63    The  Standard'Bearer           Mr. Ben Wigger
                                                                                                 4949  lvanrest                 6597  - 40th Ave.
    THOUGHTS WORTH PONDERING                                                               63    Crandville,  MI 49418          Hudsonville,  MI 49426
                                                                                                 EDITORIAL POLICY
When  Thou  Sittest  in  Thine  House  - Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers                                  Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
                                                                                                 of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
    THE REFORMED FAMILY: WIFE (1)                                                          64    terest from our readers and questions for the
                                                                                                 Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
                                                                                                 tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
Day  of  Shadows  -  Rev.  lohn  A. Heys                                                         and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
    THE MAN OF SIN FORESHADOWED (3)                                                        65    must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
                                                                                                 the fifteenth of the month. All communications
                                                                                                 relative to the contents should be sent to the
Search  the  Scriptures  - Rev. Cise  I. VanBaren                                                editorial office.
    PHILIPPIANS: AN INTRODUCTION                                                           68    REPRINT POLICY
                                                                                                 Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
                                                                                                 articles in our magazine by other publications,
BOOK REVIEWS                                                                                     provided: a) that such reprinted articles  arc?  repro-
                                                                                                 duced in full;  b) that proper acknowledgement is
NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  - Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                              71    made;  c) that a copy of the periodical in which
                                                                                                 such reprint appears is sent to our editorial office.
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REPORT OF CLASSIS EAST  - Mr.  Ion 1. Huisken                                              72    The Standard Bearer The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                 Don Doezema                c/o Protestant Reformed
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In This Issue . . e                                                                                4 9 5 1 6                66 Fraser St.
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                                                                                                 SUBSCRIPTION POLICY
    "The family is in crisis today - Reformed families even, families of believers."             Subscription price: $12.00 per year in the  1J.S..
    And, though it perhaps cannot be said that a crisis exists in Protestant Reformed            $15.00 elsewhere. Unless a definite request for
families today, the writer of those lines did not mean to exclude anyone. For the                discontinuance is received, it is assumed that the
truth is that the families which belong to our own small denomination of churches                subscriber wishes the  subsciption  to continue
are by no means immune from the kind of stress in the home which works havoc                     without the formality of a renewal order, and he
                                                                                                 will be billed for renewal. If you have a change
elsewhere. Rebellious children, marital strife, even divorce. Ask any minister whether           of address, please notify the Business Office as
or not problems of this kind, Family problems, do not require more and more of his               early as possible in order to avoid the inconven-
attention, more and more pastoral counseling.                                                    ience of delayed delivery. Include your Zip Code.
    There are scriptural principles which bear on the matter of relationships, of duties         ADVERTISING POLICY
and responsibilities in our homes, We do well to be reminded of them: It was with                The  Standard  Bearer does not accept commercial
                                                                                                 advertising of any kind. Announcements  of church
that in mind that we thought to introduce a new rubric, for this volume year, dealing            and school events, anniversaries, obituaries, and
with the Reformed Family.                                                                        sympathy resolutions will be placed for a  !$3.00
    We've chosen as our title "When Thou Sittest in Thine House . . . ." Not original,           fee. These should be sent to the Business Office
as a title, with us . . . but it serves well. The anticipated content of the department          and should be accompanied by the $3.00 fee.
                                                                                                 Deadline for announcements is the 1st and the
goes beyond the responsibilities of parents in the instruction of their children. But, in        15th of the month, previous to publication on the
light of the context, Deuteronomy 6:7  emphasizes that the spiritual is as it were the           15th or the 1st respectively.
very heart of our life, and that the Lord our God is Lord in our homes. That's basic.            BOUND VOLUMES
    At any rate, the quote above was lifted from Rev. Kenneth Koole's first contribu-            The Business Office will accept standing orders
tion to this rubric, which will appear in the December 1 issue. The current issue car-           for bound copies of the current volume; such
                                                                                                 orders are filled as soon as possible after comple-
ries that of Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers, who will attend mainly to the wife and mother               tion of a volume. A limited number of past
in the home, while Rev. Koole does the same with the husband/father.                             volumes may be obtained through the Business
    It was Mrs. Lubbers' expressed hope that the articles will be "Scriptural,  God-             Office.
                                                                                                 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and 105mm
glorifying, and instructive," and that they will also be found to be "interesting and            microfiche, and article copies are available
compelling to read." Seems to us that they've made a good beginning.                    -D.D.    through University Microfilms International.



5 0   I   T h e   S t a n d a r d   B e a r e r   / November 1, 1989


                                          Looking at the
Meditation
Rev. jason Kortering                      Things Unseen

   `(For which cause we faint             A whirl of activity assaults our      and fly away. Many times, how-
not; but though our outward               senses as we approach the bus-        ever, the brutal forces of disease
man perish, yet the inward                tling city. The heavens are graced    and death make their long fur-
man is renewed day by day.                in beauty as the sun sets in the      rows upon children and youth.
   For our light affliction               evening. There are so many            We have amongst us the
which is but for a moment,                things to "see" if we only take       evidences of "birth defects," of
worketh for us a far more ex-             the time.                             handicapped children and adults,
                                             The text, however, forces us to    the injured and maimed by
ceeding and eternal weight of             limit the things which are seen to    disease or accident. Who can
&KY;                                      afflictions. In verse 16 we read,     understand the soul scarred by
   While we look not at the               "though our outward man               emotional hurt and injury?
things which are seen, but at             perish." In verse 7 Paul mentions,      In addition, Paul also speaks of
the things which are not seen:            "But we have this treasure in         "our light affliction" in verse 17.
for the things which are seen             earthen vessels." That is, the        Here the emphasis falls upon suf-
are temporal; but the things              treasure of the gift to preach the    fering for Jesus' sake. This too
which are not seen are                    gospel is limited by the human        was mentioned in verses 8-12:
eternal" (II Cor. 4:16-18).               body. In the second epistle he        "we are troubled on every side,
                                          gives us some indication what he      yet not distressed . . . persecuted
  Amazing, isn't it, that we can          means by this reference as he ap-     but not forsaken . . . always
actually look at the things un-           plies it to himself. In II Corin-     delivered unto death for Jesus'
seen. What a privilege that is.           thians 12:7ff. he refers to the       sake." More detail of this is given
What a difference that makes in           thorn in the flesh which was          in II Corinthians 11:2 1 - 28 where
our lives.                                given to him, a messenger of          he speaks of his being beaten
   You say that is nonsense? How          Satan to buffet him. We do not        five times, stoned once, three
can a person look at something            know what specifically that thorn     times suffered shipwrecks, and
he cannot see! Listen: "Now faith         was, but it was a great burden to     having encountered perils in
is the substance of things hoped          him, for he prayed three times        waters, robbers, in city and coun-
for, the evidence of things not           that it might be taken away from      try, and endured extreme cold
seen" (Heb. 11:l). The approach           him. He concluded that he could       and nakedness. We also know
we take as we consider this               be a better missionary without        something about suffering evil for
passage is that of faith. By faith        that thorn. The answer from God       doing good. Some of us know the
we can see the things which can-          was, "My grace is sufficient for      pain of a broken marriage, a
not be seen with the natural eye.         t h e e . "                           spouse that left without cause.
   The inspired apostle draws a              The figure of speech used in       Some children turn against
contrast between things seen and          these words graphically depicts       faithful parents. Officebearers
not seen. The things which are            the breakdown of the body, the        have admonished in the love of
seen are obvious to us. We come           outward man perishing. We are         God, yet members turn their
into contact with them every              reminded of the words of God to       backs. Many a Christian mother
day. The sleepy-eyed child greets         Adam, "Dust thou art, and to          has felt the scorn of a stranger
the day with a hesitating yawn.           dust thou shalt return." Always       for having a large family.
                                          this applies to the increase of         All these things are "seen."
`Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Prot-    years. The hand begins to shake,        By contrast, the things that are
estant Reformed Church of Crand-          the eyes grow dim, the heart          not seen are described as "eter-
ville,  Michigan.                         weakens, and soon we are cut off      nal" (vs. 18). These things come

                                                                                November 1, 1989  / The Standard Bearer  I51


to us by revelation. God has                     Father. The Bible assures us that        thorn in the flesh, his imprison-
given to us His holy Word, which                 He loves us. The cross is the            ments and whippings, light afflic-
by the gospel is preached unto                   ultimate display. In His love He         tions. How can this be? He places
us. By the work of the Holy                      sends afflictions as chastisement        them on a mental scale, a
Spirit, the truths of His Word are               and correction for sins in our           balance scale, and places on one
written in our hearts. "Except a                 lives, or as a means to polish our       side of the scale our present af-
man be born again, he cannot                     faith and thereby display the            flictions and on the other side the
see the kingdom of heaven"                       glory of God through us. In every        promises of God. By such a men-
(John 3:3). By such a re-birth, we               situation, He assures us that His        tal process, he declares that the
do see the things that cannot be                 grace is sufficient to accomplish        things which are seen are tem-
seen with earthly eyes. We re-                   this purpose.                            poral, they are but for a mo'ment,
joice in the knowledge of God in                    It is important, then, that we        while the things that are not seen
all His adorable glory. We marvel                .look at the things unseen. Most         are eternal. Our afflictions may
at the love of God revealed to us                of us are inclined to spend all our      last an entire life time, but what
at Calvary. The open tomb wit-                   time looking at the things that          is that compared to. an eternity
nesses for us of our living Savior.              are seen. We talk about our hard         with God!
We do not have a possible savior;                life, our physical limitations, our        Second, the afflictions which
we have Jesus, Who saves His                     hurts, and our broken lives.             we experience are useful: thiey
people from their sins. The keep-                Many physicians, psychiatrists,          "work for us a far more exceed-
ing of the law is our thankful                   marriage counselors, and lawyers         ing and eternal weight of gllory."
response for so great a salvation.               capitalize on this and make a for-       This is important for us to under-
Obedience is our chief delight.                  tune. As children of God we              stand. Our afflictions bring great
  With such eyes of faith we                     make use of their skills, but know       pain in our bodies and they bring
look, not at the things that are                 that unless we are right with God        hurt to our souls. If al1 of this
seen, but at the things that are                 in the depth of our hearts, their        misery is for no reason, we
not seen.                                        help is vain. What a great need          despair. Then we rightly cry in
  No, this does not mean that we                 we have for a Christian and,             bitter complaint before God, Why
ignore the reality of our afflic-                even more precisely, a Reformed          me? What have I done to deserve
tions. We seek medical and                       perspective in these areas of            this? When we know that God
psychiatric help when we need it.                help. You may have experienced           has a good purpose in our afflic-
But we realize that our deepest                  the additional blessing when your        tions, then those afflictions have
strength in every trial of life lies             doctor, psychiatrist, marriage           meaning and we bear them quiet-
in our God, in His promises, and                 counselor, or lawyer could also          ly. How do these afflictions .work
in His Spirit.                                   minister to you as a fellow              the eternal weight of glory? They
  The idea of looking is to stare,               believer - when he was one               jerk us loose from our attach-
to gaze so intently that we admit                who could direct you as well to          ment to this world and force us
that what we see is of great                     the things unseen. This also             to get our priorities straight. We
value and will influence us in our               reminds us of the glorious task of       are humbled in our dependency,
life. Such attention is not given to'            the pastor, the elders, and              and we turn to God for direction
the troubles themselves, but to                  deacons of the church. Even this         and strength. The more we are
the way of deliverance. The verb                 is not limited to those in the           pressed down to the earth, the
is to scope. Much like the auto                  special office. It is our great priv-    more our souls long for heaven.
mechanic who hooks up the                        ilege to help one another bear             Thirdly, we are spiritually and
wires to analyze what is wrong                   our burdens by directing our at-         inwardly renewed by this ex-
with a rough engine, we scope                    tention to the things unseen.            perience. No, we do not faint.
our souls to determine our                       How precious for us as husbands          One faints by feeling sorry for
spiritual condition. The "manual"                and wives, parents and children,         himself, by living in the past, by
is the Word of God.                              fellow believers to pick up Gods         having a sickly dependence on
  The spiritual insight which is                 Word and direct our inner being          others. Rather, "the inner m(an is
derived from such careful exami:                 to focus on the promises and             renewed day by day." When we
nation gives us understanding of                 direction of God.                        are drawn close to God, we draw
the true nature of afflictions. We                 When we do this, three things          from Him spiritual energy. We
learn that God has absolute con-                 take place.                              accept our circumstances. We
trol over our lives. Nothing                       First, we can understand why           look at ourselves and realize we
comes by chance, but everything                  the inspired apostle speaks of our       may be weak, but we still have a
by the will of our Heavenly                      afflictions as light. Paul calls his     purpose and, with God's help, we

52  I The Standard Bearer  I November 1, 1989


can do what God wants us to do           other children and grieve over             Change is real. We learn to ac-
with the ability He gives to us.         their loss. Soon, however, they          cept this of the Lord.
Such renewai places us in a rela-        pick up the pieces of their                But, we go on. We look not at
tionship of trust in God. We turn        broken life and direct their             the things which are seen and
from our weakness to His                 energy to the family that needs          which are only too obvious; but
strength.                                them. The same is true for the           we look at the things not seen.
  Proof of this can be seen in the       severely injured patient in the            When we see the unseen, we
parents who lose a child in              hospital. He goes home to face a         see Gods smile upon us.
death. They lose interest in their       different life.                            And we long for home. Cl




                                         The Beginning of
Editorial                                Birth-Pangs

  You will not learn the truth           know not God, and that obey not          beginning of sorrows" (Matt.
about the San Francisco earth-           the gospel of our Lord Jesus             24:3ff.). That the earthquakes
quake of October 17, 1989 from           Christ, and when the world of            with the other calamities are
the news media, from the scien-          ungodly men and women are                judgment upon a wicked world,
tists, or from most of the               calling for the mountains to fall        the parallel passage in Luke 21
religious press.                         on them, to hide them from the           makes plain: "upon the earth
  The news media will inform             wrath of the Lamb, the religious         distress of nations, with perplexi-
you about the destruction and            press (including much of the             ty; the sea and the waves roar-
death. The scientists will indicate      evangelical press) will be saying,       ing; men's hearts failing them for
the strength of the temblor and          "We do not believe that this             fear, and for looking after those
discuss its location on a fault in       represents any wrath of God              things which are coming on the
the earth's crust. The religious         upon you."                               earth . . ." (vss. 25, 26).
press, if it notices the disaster at       God visited the San Francisco            This makes the earthquake far
all, will call you to contribute to      area of the United States in His         more awful than will be allowed
relief-funds and will extol the          wrath. The earthquake was a              by even the grimmest of reports
church-groups that extend a help-        judgment of the Holy God upon a          by the media, It was the voice of
ing hand to the devastated com-          world that is fast filling up its cup    the angry God, punishing sinners
munities.                                of iniquity. It was a "pre-shock"        in revolt against Him and cursing
  But none of them will tell the         of the great earthquake that is          the earth on man's account -
truth about the catastrophe. You         coming, by which God will shake          the realm of the apostate
may be especially sure that most         the heaven and the earth, so that        kingdom. God has a lovely voice
of the religious press, including        the cities of the nations fall and       in the gospel of the death and
the, evangelical press, will not tell    the present creation is removed          resurrection of His Son, Jesus the
the truth about the earthquake. A        (Heb. 12:27; Rev. 16:18ff.).             Messiah. He has another voice
press that falls al1 over itself to        This is the truth about the San        for those who refuse to hear Him!
assure the world that it does not        Francisco earthquake.                    in the gospel and law of Holy
regard AIDS as divine punish-              The Word of God, Holy Scrip-           Scripture. This other voice is ter-
ment of homosexuality will not           ture, tells the truth about the          rible and terrifying.
witness to the truth of the earth-       earthquake. When they asked                They will hear this other voice
quake as expressing any disfavor         Him, "what shail be the sign of          again.
of God. When Jesus Christ is             Thy coming, and of the end of              It was specially fitting that this
revealed from heaven with His            the world?," Jesus answered,             judgment fell on San Francisco.
mighty angels, in flaming fire tak-      ". . . there shall be . . . earth-         It would have had the same
ing vengeance on them that               quakes . . . . Al1 these are the         meaning no matter what city it

                                                                                  November 1, 1989  / The Standard Bearer  I53


struck. But San Francisco is a                     The world will not listen. If        Jesus Christ. Of this coming does
"Sodom" in the United States -                   they did, they would repent, to        the earthquake speak to her, ac-
an especially bold and shameless                 give God glory. If they listened,      cording to Jesus' own interpreta-
Sodom. Not only is the perver-                   truly listened to the voice of God     tion. "There shall be . . . earth-
sion of homosexuality rampant                    in the earthquake, they would          quakes," Jesus told the disciples,
among the citizens of that city,                 not only spend millions to             in premonition of His coming, as
but also the civil authorities ap-               discover sure warnings of im-          "the beginning of sorrows." "Sor-
prove this unseemly behavior                     pending earthquakes, but they          rows" is literally "birth-pangs."
and exert themselves to make                     would also take to heart the cer-      As the expectant mother travails
this gross lawlessness legitimate.               tain promise of a final, fearful       to give birth, the earth groaned
On November 7, 1989 voters in                    earthquake that will shake every-      and heaved in a mighty birth-
San Francisco will vote on a pro-                one of them into judgment before       pang, to bring forth the coming
posed law that will allow homo-                  God: "Yet once more I shake not        of Jesus and a new world.
sexual "couples" to register their               the earth only, but also heaven"         In that world, righteousness
relationship with the county                     (Heb. 12:26). They would then          will dwell.
clerk. Thus, these "couples" will                not only take precautions against        What was for the world t.he
get civil sanction of their vile                 the physical damages of the small      cause of dismay, perplexity, and
relationship, as well as the                     earthquakes, but they would also       the failing of their hearts for fear
various social, health, and finan-               prepare for the great earthquake       is for us a hopeful sign, The
cial benefits enjoyed heretofore                 that is coming by taking refuge        Triune God is coming, is on the
by married couples. The referen-                 through faith in the blood of          way, in Jesus Christ, to judge the
dum is likely to approve the law.                Jesus, the only real "earthquake-      world with righteousness.
   These legal actions of San                    shelter." Oh, the foolish world!         Believer, and child of believer,
Francisco are rebellion against                  They refuse Him that speaks!           look up! Lift up your heads!
the will of God as revealed both                   Only the church hears. Hear-           Your Bridegroom comes!
in creation and in Scripture.                    ing the lovely voice of the              Your redemption draws near!
Nature itself makes plain that the               gospel, the church also hears the        Your God has spoken! 17 -DJE
marriage relationship is exclu-                  awesome voice in the earth-
sively a male and a female.                      quake. And she trembles! She is
Romans 1:18ff. condemns homo-                    moved by the rippling of the               Wait On The Lord
sexuality as uncleanness; a dis-                 earth at the approach of the judg-                    (Ps. 27: 14)
honoring of the bodies of the                    ing God. She musf tremble!
homosexuals; vile affections; un-                Although her trembling is not          "Wait on the Lord,"
natural; working that which is                   terror, for Jesus has delivered her    Don't try to run ahead;
unseemiy; and, in the practice,                  from the coming wrath (I Thess.        Thy God is ever near Thee,
the product of a reprobate mind.                 1: 10 - where "the wrath to            By Him thou shalt be led.
San Francisco's proposed Iaw is                  come" is not future wrath, but         "Wait on the Lord,"
an open, advanced, and ominous                   wrath already being poured out         Thy prayer will answered be -
attack on Gods ordinances of                     on the world), it is awe before        But in the Lord's own time,
marriage, the family, and the                    the great and holy God. Who of         And how `tis best for thee.
fundamental differentiation of                   us cannot but fear Him in this His
humanity as male and female.                     work?                                  "Wait on the Lord,"
   By making unnatural perver-                     The church is shaken up to ex-       His promises are true;
sion law, the world steps up the                 amine her own life in the world,       The One who feeds the sparrows
tempo of its revolution. By the                  that it be not only eating, drink-     Will also care for you.
earthquake, their Sovereign steps                ing, building houses, and marry-       "Wait on the Lord,"
up the tempo of His judgments.                   ing, much less drunkenness, un-        This is our God's command;
   San Francisco will not listen to              chastity, and oppression. She          And He will guide us onward
the lovely voice of God in the                   trembles with renewed zeal to be       With His Almighty Hand.
gospel and law of the Bible. San                 holy as her God is holy, keeping
Francisco must hear the terrify-                 His law. What manner of persons                          Annetta Jansen
ing voice of God in pestilence                   ought we to be in all holy                               Dorr, Michiga.n q
(which includes AIDS) and earth-                 behavior and godliness?
quake.                                             Above al1 she trembles in anti-
                                                 cipation of the coming of her
                                                 Savior, her Lord, her Husband,

54  I The Standard Bearer  I November  1,1989


                                                                                     The Contact Committee
                                                                                  EVANGELICAL REFORMED
                                                                                  CHURCHES OF SINGAPORE

                                                                                                          August 7,1989
Letters                                                                          Committee  for Contact with
                                                                                   Other Churches
                                                                                 Z/O Prof. Herman Hanko,
                                                                                   Secretary
More on                                  legun (388.553, Sec. 3, 1921).          2665 Juleon Dr. S.W.
                                                                                 brand Rapids, MI 49504
Home-Schooling                           3ur schools for years used non-
                                         certified teachers. Reading             J.S.A.
  I have some thoughts to ex-            nistories of these schools, I notice    3eloved Brethren,
press and questions to ask re-           :hat our fathers are not called           It was a sad moment for us
garding your editorial in the            awbreakers, but they are  ap-           when we heard the news about
September 15 Standard Bearer.            Ilauded as stepping forward in          `ref. Hoeksema's death. On
The third question parents are           `aith. Finally, the fact that there     lehalf of the churches here, we
asked at baptism is whether they         ire thousands of homeschoolers          Nould like to express our deepes,t
promise to instruct and bring up         n Michigan, and only one cur-           Christian sympathy to you and
their child in the aforesaid doc-        .ent court case, indicates that the     ,rour churches in the death of
trine or help or cause them to be        certification law is vague, and the     Prof. Hoeksema. We remember
instructed therein. If parents           problem is not decisively re-           his dedication and faithfulness in
choose the first option in fulfilling    solved. As Mr. J. Lanting con-          training our two ministers,
their baptism vows, should they          tends (June 1, 1989 S.B.), "Re-         Pastors Lau and Mahtani. We
be made to feel guilty about             formed Christians should aggres-        share your loss with you.
"turning their backs" on the P.R.        sively assert all the rights and          Our human nature causes us to
schools? Perhaps instead, parents        liberties we still enjoy as             mourn the loss of a good man,
should prayerfully consider              citizens." The Constitution, the        but we know that this child of
whether they are able and are            highest law of this country,            God has gone to dwell in the
called to teach their children           allows the free exercise of             house of our Lord forever, where
themselves,  before  considering         religion. The court system is           it is far better.
the second option of delegating          there to insure free exercise of          May our Lord comfort you in
this responsibility in part to           religion. The court system is           this time.
others. Just because they may            there to insure that individual         In Christian love,
use help, does not mean they             rights are maintained, and it has       W.S. Lim Kok Eng, Secretary
must.                                    invalidated laws it found to be         Pastor Lau, Advisor
  You have leveled a very                unlawful. Is it not honorable to        Pastor Mahtani, Advisor
serious charge of "lawbreaker"           use existing legal channels to          Deacon Jimmy Teo,
against Michigan parents who do          defeat unscriptural laws? In addi-         Chairman
not have their children taught by        tion, the state legislature is          Bro. Stephen Tan, Treasurer
certified teachers. You based this       deliberating on homeschooling           Bro. Ho Soo Hyim,
charge on this summer's Court of         bills; so, at best, your judgment is       Member El
Appeals ruling. There are at least       premature and should be with-
three facts you failed to                drawn.
recognize. 1) This case has been                   Ruth Nobel                    Yes keep me, keep me - for
appealed and, since it is still in                 Dorr, MI 0                          myself
legal process, should not be con-                                                   I cannot, cannot keep;
sidered settled and binding. 2) In                                               Keep me by day, keep me by night
1979, a Michigan court (govern-                                                     0 Thou who does not sleep.
ment authority) found non-                                                                            -S.B. Oct. 1, 1927
certified teaching parents not
guilty of breaking the law (State
of Michigan vs. Nobels, 1979). 3)
There were Michigan certification
requirements on the books long
before our P.R. schools were

                                                                                  November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  / 55


                                               A Reformed Look at the
Guest Article
Rev. Steven R. Houck                           New Age .Movement (2)
                                                                                        `T _._ _Y

   In our last article we noted the              Another practice of the New          most widespread practices of this
basic beliefs of the New Age                   Age Movement is called, "Imag-         movement is something called
Movement. In this article we will              ing." One must imagine the reali-      "channeling." This is nothing
consider their practices and also              ty he wants, and by that imagina-      more than the old-fashioned
begin an evaluation both of their              tion he will actually create that      seance in a new and "more ac-
beliefs and of their practices.                reality. For instance, if a person     ceptable" form. They believe that
   All the practices of the New                has cancer he can cure himself         there are a host of spirit beings
Age Movement are based upon                    by means of imaging. First he          - the spirits of the dead, evolved
their fundamental beliefs. Since               must imagine himself full of           animal spirits, beings from outer
man is really God and therefore                cancer cells. Then he must pic-        space - who inhabit a spiritual
has infinite potential, he has only            ture his immune system attacking       realm. These beings have either
to look within himself for the                 and destroying those cells. He         reached the point of enlighten-
answers to all of his problems.                must see his white blood cells         ment or are very close to it and
Therefore many of the practices                eating up the cancer cells until       they share information concern-
of the New Age Movement em-                    they are all gone. That image of       ing enlightenment with those
phasize mystical experiences,                  no cancer will then become the         seeking enlightenment. For this
particularly various forms of                  reality and he will be free of         they use a channel who gives
Eastern meditation. One must put               cancer.                                himself over to the spirit so that
out of his consciousness the nor-                The New Age Movement em-             the spirit controls his mind and
mal things of life that distract               phasizes the power of positive         mouth and thus speaks through
him from seeing his true reality.              thinking and the power of the          him. This is so popular among
He must bring about a state of                 mind over matter. They practice        New Age people that there (are a
consciousness that is identified               what is called "psychokinesis:'        host of known channelers who
with "the One."                                which is the moving or influenc-       are making millions of dollars do-
  Shirley MacLaine describes a                 ing of matter through the power        ing this. There are over a thiou-
mystical experience she had in a               of the mind. This is a popular ac-     sand channelers in Los Angeles
hot tub this way, "My whole                    tivity at their parties. They claim    alone. Even the spirits they chan-
body seemed to float. Slowly,                  that they are able to bend silver-     nel are popular. They have
slowly I became the water . . . I              ware merely by thinking it. They       names like: Lazarus, Mafu, Seth,
felt the inner connection of my                also claim that they can walk on       Saint Germain, Ramtha. Some
breathing with the pulse of the                hot coals without burning their        even claim to channel Jesus.
energy around me. In fact, I was               feet. They profess to practice         Many of the books which are
the air, the water, the darkness,              such things as telepathy (the          used by the New Age Movement
the walls, the bubbles, the                    transfer of thoughts from one          and which promote the
candle, the wet rocks under the                mind to another) and clair-            philosophy of the movement are
water, and even the sound of the               voyance (the seeing of objects or      said to be written by these chan-
rushing river outside."                        events at a distance).                 neled spirits.
                                                 Besides looking to one's own           The New Age Movement
                                               mind and consciousness for the         resorts to other forms of spiritism
                                               answer to man's basic problem,         too. Many of them go to the
                                               the New Age Movement looks             native American Indian medicine
Rev. Houck is a home-missionary of             outside to others. One of the          man or participate in Indian
the Protestant Reformed Churches.

56 /The Standard Bearer  I November  I,1989


rituals and ceremonies in. order          Perhaps you have heard of            apostle refers to in Romans 123,
to get information from the spirit      "holistic health." This too is an      25: ,,; . . (They) changed the
world. Some of them are in-             extension of the basic philosophy      glory of the uncorruptible God in
volved in nature-based religion in      of the New Age Movement.               to an image made like to corrupt-
which there is the worship of the       Because all is one, the body too       ible man, and to birds, and four-
earth and female gods. They             must be in tune with the energy        footed beasts, and creeping
speak of mother earth and of            of nature and with God. This tun-      things . . . and worshipped and
mother goddesses such as Diana,         ing can be accomplished by using       served the creature more than
Isis, Demeter, and others. Some         the natural powers of the body         the Creator . . . ."
are involved in Wicca or witch-         itself. While the name holistic is        They have taken the incor-
craft with its emphasis upon the        supposed to emphasize the con-         ruptible God and made him man,
female. It is estimated that there      cept of dealing with the whole         birds, beasts, and creeping things.
are fifty thousand witches in the       person, the real emphasis is on        They have made the creation,
United States.                          the spiritual energy in the body       God. Instead of-worshiping the
   If you were to go into the           and the use of that energy to          true God, they worship creation.
home. of a New Age practitioner         heal. It is another form of            At bottom, the New Age Move-
you would discover that there           spiritism. Thus medical practices      ment is nothing but idolatry.
are two objects which are               are used which have their origin          First of all, God is not an im-
especially important to them. The       in witches, witch doctors,             personal force, energy, or con-
first of these is the crystal. You      medicine men, sorcerers,               sciousness. God is a personal
will find crystal jewelry around        wizards, and magicians. Besides        God. This can be very easily
their necks and on their arms           using such accepted methods as         demonstrated by going to the
and fingers. They put crystals in       diet and life style and attitude       name of God. His name is
their purses, in their toilet tanks,    changes, they use acupuncture,         Jehovah, which means, "I Am."
and even tie them to the car-           biofeedback, chiropractic              God told His name to Moses at
buretors of their cars. They            therapy, reflexology, iridology        the burning bush: "And God said
display them on coffee tables and       (diagnosis by looking at the iris),    unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:
they grind them up and make             relaxation, meditation, trance         and he said, thus shalt thou say
from them an energizing elixir          channeling, psychic surgery, hyp-      unto the children of Israel, I AM
which they drink. To understand         nosis, and more.                       hath sent me unto you" (Ex.
this you must remember that               This brief look at the beliefs       3: 14).
they believe that God is a force        and practices of the New Age              Notice that in this verse God is
or energy. They want to be in           Movement already makes it clear        said to talk to Moses. In fact, at
harmony with that world force.          that there is something very           the very beginning of the Bible
They want to vibrate in tune            wrong with this movement. Let          God is said to speak. He said,
with the universe. Since they           us therefore examine these             "Let there be light." That in itself
believe that rock crystal has the       beliefs and practices in the light     demonstrates that God is a per-
same energy pattern as God, they        of the Holy Scriptures.                sonal God. Only a person can
believe that by surrounding               Even though some try to har-         speak. But, even beyond that,
themselves with these crystals          monize aspects of the New Age          Gods name, Jehovah, is a per-
their energy will be in harmony         Movement with Christianity, the        sonal name. He is the great "I
with God. Thus they use crystals        basic beliefs and practices of the     Am." God is the "I" who eternal-
for psychic healing, contact with       movement are contrary to the           ly is. Only a person can say "I."
spirits, and the development of a       Faith of the Holy Scriptures. The      Every time the Bible calls God by
higher consciousness of the             god of the New Age Movement is         the name, Jehovah, it declares
"One."                                  not the God of Christianity. The       that He is personal.
  The other object which is             Christ of the New Age Movement            We ought to be horrified that
found among the New Age                 is not the Christ of the Bible. The    anyone would even suggest that
people is the pyramid. They be-         mankind of the New Age Move-           God is not a personal God. We
lieve that the pyramid, like the _      ment is not the mankind de-            have fellowship with God, wor-
crystal, has super-powerful para-       scribed in the Scriptures. The         ship and serve Him, love and en-
normal properties. It is an age-old     salvation of the New Age Move-         joy Him, only because He is a
belief that the specific angles of      ment is not the salvation of the       personal God. That is what
the pyramid emit magnetic               true God.                              makes God the beautiful, glorious,
energy that can be harnessed to           The fundamental error of the         God that He is.
control events.                         New Age Movement is what the

                                                                               November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I57


   In the second place, all is not                  That God is immanent means           by the fact that God's name is
one. Certainly all is not God. This              that He is not far away from His        "Most High" (Ps. 47:2). The
world, even though it is an                      creation, but very near. He is          Psalmist says, "The Lord is high
organic unity, is made up of                     everywhere in creation. He is in-       above all nations, and his gllory
many distinct and separate                       timately involved in all the affairs    above the heavens" (Ps. 1134).
creatures, and those creatures                   of this world. He providentially          God is immanent in this world.
are distinct and separate from                   upholds and governs all things -        But He is immanent as the
God. This is implied in the first                even the small and seemingly in-        transcendent God. He is near to
verse of the Bible. In Genesis 1:l               significant. The apostle says,          every one of us. But He is near
we read, "In the beginning God                   ". . . He giveth to a11 life, and       as the infinite God. He is Creator,
                                                                                                     - - .
created the heaven and the                       breath, and all things; . . . For in    Governor, and Redeemer. But He
earth." In the beginning - before                him we live, and move, and have         is Creator, Governor, and
the creation of the world - there                our being . . ." (Acts 17:25, 28).      Redeemer as the Holy God.
was only God. That makes Him                     We read, ". . . Who worketh all         These are fundamentals of the
distinct from all His creatures.                 things after the counsel of his         Reformed Faith.
Then God made two things - the                   own will" (Eph. 1:ll). In this            The Lord willing, in the final
heaven and the earth - which                     sense God is not far from               article of this series we will con-
are distinct and separate. He also               anyone.                                 tinue to evaluate the New A.ge
made many different creatures to                   Yet God is not the world. That        Movement in the light of the
inhabit both heaven and earth, as                God is transcendent means that          Scriptures and also suggest ways
is indicated by the six days of                  He is in Himself infinitely exalted     in which we can avoid the
creation.                                        above the world. He is absolutely       wicked errors of this move-
  If we are to understand proper-                different from the world. He is so      ment. 0
ly the relationship of God and His               high above this world that
creation we must take note of                    nothing can even be compared to
two things: God is both tran-                    Him. He is the infinite God. All
scendent and immanent.                           else is finite. This is demonstrated





Church and                                       Supreme Court Balks at
State                                            Overruling Roe V. Wade
Mr. lames Lanting


   `irt thus appears that the man-                  Contrary to the theological            A Nation Divided. This past
sion of constitutionalized abor-                 "`finding" of the Missouri Legisla-     summer the Supreme Court re-
tion law, constructed overnight in               ture [that life begins at concep-       leased its long awaited opirrion in
Roe v. Wade, must be dis-                        tion], a woman's constitutionally       Webster v. Reproductive Health
assembled door-jam by door-jam,                  protected liberty encompasses the       Services,  perhaps the most con-
and never entirely brought down,                 right to act on her own belief that     troversial case confronting the
no matter how wrong it might                     - to paraphrase St. Thomas              Court in recent decades. At issue
be." Justice Scalia, Webster v.                  Aquinas - until a seed has ac-          was the constitutionality of cer-
Reproductive Health Services                     quired the powers of sensation          tain abortion restrictions adopted
(concerning opinion).                            and movement, the life of a             by the Missouri State legislature.
                                                 human being has not yet begun.            The July ruling followed
                                                 Justice Stevens, Webster v. Re-         months of intense speculation
Mr. Lanting, a member of South                   productive Health Services (dis-        whether the Court might jettison
Holland Protestant Reformed                      sent).                                  its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision
Church, is a practicing attorney.                                                        which had fashioned a novel con-

58  I The Standard Bearer  I November 1, 1989


stitutional right to unrestricted      ducking this foundational ques-          remains as to what is left of Roe
abortions during the first 24          tion.                                    `after its essential framework has
weeks (first two trimesters) of a        Tax-supported abortion. The            been eviscerated. The plurality o,f
woman's pregnancy. Although a          Court also ruled on Missouri's           the Court insisted that Roe is still
bitterly divided Court (5-4) upheld    prohibition of tax-supported abor-       law, albeit "modified and nar-
the Missouri abortion restrictions,    tions. The lower Court of Appeals        rowed."
the plurality refused to overrule      had struck down Missouri's ban              The conservative Justice Scalia
Roe v. Wade, choosing instead to       on the use of public facilities and      and the liberal dissenting Justices
"modify and narrow" its 1973 rul-      public employees for nonthera-           vehemently disagreed claiming
ing.                                   peutic abortions. The  Webster           that the plurality opinion
  Although pro-life advocates are      Court disagreed, holding that a          "finessed" Roe in a "deceptive"
ecstatic about the  Webster deci-      state need not commit any                manner. In his bitter dissent, pro-
sion, a careful analysis of the        resources to performing abor-            abortion Justice Blackmun wrote:
decision shows that the practical      tions. The Court discounted the             `Never in my memory has a
effects are extremely limited.         lower court's ruling that prevent-       plurality gone about its business in
Moreover, the Webster ruling is        ing access to a public facility nar-     such a deceptive fashion. With
perhaps notable only for what it       rows or forecloses the availability      feigned restraint, the plurality an-
does not say about the core            of abortion to indigent women.           nounces that its analysis leaves Roe
issues in the raucous abortion         Missouri's decision, the Court           "undisturbed, " albeit "modified and
debate.                                held, to use public facilities to en-    narrowed. " But this disclaimer is
                                                                                totally meaningless. The plurality
  When life begins. The pre-           courage childbirth over abortion,        opinion is filled with winks, and
amble to the Missouri abortion         places no governmental obstacle          nods, and knowing glances to those
restrictions contained a "finding"     in the path of a woman who               who would do away with Roe ex-
that "the life of each human           chooses to terminate her preg-           plicitly . . . . "
being begins at conception." The       nancy elsewhere.                            The future of Roe v. Wade.
lower Court of Appeals had               Second-trimester abortion              Whether Roe has been only "nar-
determined that this declaration       restrictions.  Finally, the              rowed" or implicitly overruled by
"was ,simply an impermissible          Missouri statute provided that           Webster is an issue that will be
state adoption of a theory of          before a physician aborted an un-        debated for some time. What is
when life begins to justify its        born child of 20 weeks or more,          clear, however, is that the
abortion regulations." The             he must perform certain tests to         Webster plurality refused to con-
Supreme Court disagreed and            determine whether the fetus was          front the two great issues posed
held that this "finding" was only      "viable." This patently conflicted       by Roe: (1) when does human life
a preamble or introduction to the      with Roe v. Wade, since Roe v.           begin, and (2) does the Constitu-
Missouri abortion regulations, an      Wade  limited state involvements         tion contain an "unenumerated"
"abstract proposition" merely ex-      in second-trimester abortions.           woman's right to an abortion-on-
pressing a value judgment favor-         The Supreme Court found that           demand.
ing childbirth over abortion. And      Missouri's viability test require-           But if Roe is still intact, its
because this abstract principle did    ment were reasonably designed            future is bleak. The Supreme
not. restrict abortions in any con-    to insure that abortions are not         Court has recently selected three
crete, specific way, the plurality     performed where the fetus is             more abortion cases for consider-
of the Court held that "we there-      "viable." Moreover, the Court            ation later this term. The new
fore need not pass on the con-         held, the doubt cast on the              cases (from Illinois, Minnesota,
stitutionality of the Act's pre-       Missouri statute is not so much a        and Ohio) all deal with state laws
amble."                                flaw in the statute as it is a           creating obstacles to access to
  The deliberate avoidance of          reflection that Roe's "rigid tri-        abortion in the first trimester.
this fundamental issue in the          mester analysis" has proved to be        Each case gives the Court the
abortion debate prompted the           "unsound in principle and un-            potential opportunity to confront
conservative Justice Scalia (in a      workable in practice." According-        and strike down the fundamental
concurring opinion) to accuse the      ly, the Roe trimester framework          core of Roe v. Wade.
plurality of being "indecisive"        was abandoned.                              The  Webster  decision reveals
and "irresponsible." And Justice         Is Roe still law? Since the            that even the majority cannot
Blackmun in his dissent bitterly       plurality in Webster discarded the       decide whether the core issues in
charged the plurality with             key elements of the Roe frame-           the abortion debate are legal,
"cowardice and illegitimacy" in        work - trimesters and viability          political, moral, or religious (see
                                       - as being unsound, the question         Justice Stevens' quote above). Ac-

                                                                                November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I59


cordingly, it is unlikely that the               jurisdiction - a question to be             may decrease when some states
Court will ever find that life                   decided through the democratic              outlaw them.
begins at conception and that a                  process by each state legislature.            Thus, it may be unrealistic to
fetus is a legal "person" under                  But this, of course, only avoids            hope that the Supreme Court
the 14th Amendment's due pro-                    the issue and shifts the battle-            next year will definitively rule
cess clause.                                     ground from the nation's capital            that "personhood" begins with
   It is more likely that a plurality            to the state capitals. And it is            conception. Short of that,
of the Court will decide next year               some consolation, perhaps, that             however, the holocaust against
that the abortion debate is a                    the total number of abortions               the unborn will undoubtedly con-
"political" question outside of its                                                          tinue. 0
                                                                                        -




                                                 Exposition of
 From Holy Writ
Rev. George Lubbers                              Philippians 1:27-30 (I)

   "Only let your conversation be                For he had been cruelly and un-               Yes, here is the heart of the
as becometh the Gospel of Christ:                justly scourged and cast into               great apostle, tenderly but firmly
that whether I come and see you,                 prison.                                     admonishing these fellow co-
or else be absent, I may hear of                   Paul rejoices that these saints           laborers to be of the same mind
your affairs, that ye stand fast in              had been partakers with him in              in the Lord. (See also chapter
one spirit with one mind striving                the preaching of the gospel of              2:1-6.) They must display the
together for the faith of the                    Christ (chapter 1:7, 8). He thinks          same mind which motivated
Gospel."                                         of them and prays for them in               Christ Jesus to suffer and dite for
   Paul the apostle is deeply con-               the assurance that God, who                 us on the accursed tree, obedient
cerned for the spiritual well-being              began this good work in them,               unto the end.
of the saints in the church at                   will finish it even unto the day of           Such is the deepest motif for
Philippi. He loves this church                   our Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 6). Hav-         Paul's affectionate exhortation.
very dearly. They are very much                  ing said this he immediately tells          The fact is that Paul's inter-
in his mind and heart, as he                     them that they are not yet                  cessory prayer for these saints is
assures them in chapter l:l-8. He                perfected in the love of Christ as          constantly what he says in verse
thinks of this church as the first-              they surely will be in the future           9: "and this I pray, that your love
fruits of his labors in Macedonia.               glories when they shall forever             may abound more and more in
He had preached the Word there                   be with the Lord.                           knowledge, and in all judgment;
on successive sabbath days by                      Paul knows that not all was as            that ye may approve things that
the riverside. Here the Lord had                 it should have been among                   are excellent; that ye may be
opened the heart of Lydia, a                     saints. There was strife and dis-           sincere and without offense till
seller of purple, so that she gave               unity and lack of love even                 the day of Christ; being filled
heed to the things which `Paul                   among those who had labored                 with the fruits of righteousness,
preached. And she believed, with                 with him in the Gospel.  This               which are by Jesus Christ, unto
her household, and they all were                 situation does not dim Paul's ar-           the glory and praise of God."
baptized into the Name of the                    dent love and affection for them.             What a mighty prayer to God
triune God. They had seen Paul's                 In heart-stirring language he               for the daily increase in abound-
labors and his suffering for Jesus'.             pours out his love for them as he           ing love for these saints!
                                                 addresses them as my brethren,                In view of these sentiments
                                                 dearly beloved and longed for,              from Paul's heart we can well
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus              my joy and crown. Stand fast in             understand the clarion call
in the Protestant Reformed Churches.             the Lord, my dearly beloved!                echoed in verse 27: "Only let

60  I The Standard Bearer  I November  I,1989


your conversation be as                    So much is this gospel-preach-        kingdom of heaven. It is that, in
becometh the gospel of Christ." It      ing Paul's great joy and responsi-       our lives, we shall take this word
is a call to battle colors in the       bility that for him to live is Christ    of the Cross to heart. Jesus says,
great conflict which they must          and to die is gain. Yes, this            "If any man would come after
wage by faith for the truth of the      Gospel is always victorious, and         me, let him deny himself, take u.p
Gospel. This calls for an inner         Christ is glorified in Paul's body,      his cross, and follow me . . . . For
unity and spiritual harmony of          whether Paul is to be set free by        whosoever would save his life
exalted purpose.                        Nero at Rome or whether he will          (soul) shall lose it: and whosoever
  Let us try to see this a little       be condemned to die. He hopes            will lose his life for my sake shall
more in depth. It will call for         to come and see these beloved            find it" (Matt. 16:24, 25).
some study of the terms in the          Philippians; but what is far more           Such a walk is worthy of the
text in the light of the Scriptures.    important is that, whether he            Gospel of Christ.
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST                    comes to them or whether he                We ought to notice that the
(Phil. 1:27)                            cannot come, he may hear that            term "conversation" which is the
  Perhaps we do well to ex-             they continue to stand in one            KJV's rendering of the Greek
amine the meaning of the con-           spiritual purpose in the united          politeuesthe, refers to the proper
cept gospel here. Paul repeatedly       defense of the Gospel of Christ.         walk of citizens of the kingdom
speaks of the great importance of         What really is this Gospel of          of Christ. Paul says in Philippians
this Gospel of Christ (verse 5).        Christ? That is an all-important         3:20, "for our citizenship (conver-
From the first day when Paul            question which calls for a clear-        sation) is in heaven; whence we
preached by the riverside (Acts         cut exegetical answer.                   also wait for a Savior: who shall
16: 13-15) till now, some years           It is a Gospel which preaches          change (fashion anew) the body
later, they had fellowship with         Christ crucified and made a curse        of humiliation, that it may be
Paul and Timothy in this Gospel-        for the sins of all His people. He       conformed to the body of his
ministry. They had stood with           fulfilled all righteousness as the       glory according to the working
Paul even when he was a                 free-gift of God (Rom. 5:15-17).         whereby he is able even to sub-
prisoner, both in Caesarea for          Yes, it is the tidings that, where       ject all things unto himself." Such
two years, and now for well nigh        sin abounded, grace did much             is the grand concept of the citi-
the same length of time as a            more abound; and that this Christ        zenship which is ours, as those
prisoner of Christ at Rome (Acts        is made unto us wisdom, righ-            who are poor i,n spirit (Matt. 5:3).
23:26 ff. and Acts 28:30, 31).          teousness, and complete redemp-          For do not ever forget that that
How much the Gospel means to            tion (I Cor. 1:30, 31). This makes       blood of Jesus is such that it
him (particularly the preaching of      Paul and every saved sinner say,         brought the Gentile believers
the glad-tidings) we notice in the      "For I through law died unto law,        near who were once far off. Now
words of Paul in verses 12-18,          that I might live unto God' (Gal.        they are no more foreigners and
where Paul is encouraged that a11       2:19). Or, as Paul writes in             strangers, who are alienated from
his long incarceration as               Romans 7:4, "Wherefore, my               the commonwealth of Israel (Eph.
messenger in bonds for Christ on-       brethren, ye also were made              2: 12).
ly became the occasion that the         dead unto law through the body              Yes, we are first-class citizens
Gospel made progress and in-            of Christ; that ye should be             of the commonwealth of Israel.
roads into the very heart of the        joined to another, even to him           Christ came in the fulness of tim.e
Roman government, as he                 who was raised from the dead,            and preached peace to those whlo
preached in his own house in            that we might bring forth fruit          were near and to those who
chains. Yes, Paul, the preacher, is     unto God'! Such is the glad-             were far off. Therefore Lydia too
truly in bonds; but the word of         tidings which Christ preached            had her heart opened by the
God is'not bound. When there            when He said, "Come unto me,             Lord. When Paul, therefore,
were preachers who preached             all ye that labor and are heavy          desires only that he may hear
from selfish and self-exalting in-      laden; and I will give you rest"         that these Philippians walk prop-
terests, Paul was not burdened,         (Matt. 11:28). Such is the Gospel        erly as citizens who, in one ac-
because Christ is being preached.       which was preached, clear and            cord with all the saints, wage
That is Paul's great and central        strong, when God opened the              holy, spiritual warfare with all
burden - that the Gospel of the         heart of Lydia to give heed to           who oppose the Gospel, this is a
Cross be heralded forth, that this      the Gospel-tidings (Acts 16: 14,         proper desire, the expected
Jesus, who was crucified and            15).                                     thing!
killed by men, was raised up vic-         However, there is more to this            In this great conflict these
torious as the Prince of life!          preaching of the Gospel of the           combatants in the church at

                                                                                 November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I61


Philippi  are dealing with mighty                   the secret place of the Almighty,             gospel" is to be understood in
and cruel foes, unbelievers of the                  they must stand, they must be                 this sense, then we should
Gospel, and haters of God and of                    strong and not give a hair-                   translate it that we stand through
his Christ. It is a relentless foe.                 breadth! We are reminded here                 faith! This gives good biblical
   In this conflict they are re-                    of the beautiful words which Paul             sense. Our difficulty with this
quired to do two things. First of                   penned to the church in Corinth               rendering is that the Apostle
all, they are to stand. Secondly,                   at the close of his great first Epis-         would have written the Greek
they must do battle with the foe                    tle, chapter 16:lO: "Watch ye,                preposition (dia), by means o,f
as becometh citizens of the king-                   stand fast in the faith, quit you             faith, by the agency of faith, and
dom of heaven. They are to be                       like men, be strong. Let all things           not the simple dative of interest.
poor in spirit, pure of heart,                      be done in love."                             Yes, the battling is only waged
peacemakers, and those who are                        Such must also be our watch-                when we take up the sword of
willing to suffer for the sake of                   word in the militant church in                the Spirit in faith, the faith which
Christ, not loving their souls unto                 the world. Jesus gives us the                 conquers the world (I John 5:4).
death (Matt. 5:3ff. and Rev.                        battle-directive when He says,                "For whosoever is begotten of
12:ll). For it is as Paul writes to                 "that ye stand fast in one spirit             God overcometh the world
the Ephesian church, "for our                       and in one mind, striving together            (cosmos); and this is the victory
wrestling is not against flesh and                  for the faith of the gospel."                 that overcometh the world, even
blood, but against the principali-                    There is some question as to                our faith." We have but to read
ties, against the powers, against                   the proper interpretation of this             such a passage as Hebrews 11:33,
the world-rulers of this darkness,                  "faith of the gospel." Some inter-            34, where the writer briefly
against the spiritual hosts of                      pret it as meaning to stand by                rehearses the mighty victories of
wickedness in heavenly places"                      means of faith. Faith then is the             such saints as Gideon, Barak,
(Eph. 6:12). In this conflict the                   subjective assurance of a saving              Samuel, Jephtha, David, and
saints at Philippi  must not forget                 faith, as described in Questions              Samuel," who through faith sub-
who their enemy is; they must                       20, 21 of the Heidelberg                      dued kingdoms, etc.
not forget that they are to be, as                  Catechism. It is, then, that living             However, our text seems to
it were, a united army under the                    tie by which we have been in-                 call for a different interpretation
Captain of the hosts of Israel.                     grafted into Christ and receive all           of standing together for the :faith
They must be as fellow-athletes                     His benefits. For we are saved by             of the Gospel. But this will need
in this life-and-death struggle                     grace through faith, which is                 to wait till our next installment,
with Satan and all his hellish                      solely a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-10).           with further exegetical observa-
hosts! Having taken position in                     To be sure, if "for the faith of the          tions. 0
                                               -                                             -




                                               Oral Roberts in Trouble
                                               Christians in Russia
All Around Us
Prof. Robert Decker                            Thoughts Worth Pondering

                                                    Oral Roberts in Trouble                       down the Oral Roberfs University's
                                                                                                  147-student  medical school next
                                                      The National & International                May. The hospitals emergency room
                                                    Religion Report (September 25,                was closed Sepf. 14. Roberts also
                                                    1989) informs us that:                   , said his home and the adjacent one
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical                Barring "a miracle," Oral Roberts           of his son Richard (together  valued
Theology in  the Protestant Reformed                will close the towering Cify of Faith         at over $1 million), along with other
Seminary.                                           medical complex Jan. 1 and shut               ministry homes near  the ORU  cam-

62 I The Standard Bearer I November 1, 1989


pus and an 832 graduate housing            parently experiencing far less           glorify God in your body, and in
compound, will be sold to help pay         persecution than under previous          your spirit, which are God's (I Cor.
$25 million in debts. The cutbacks         regimes. We are told that:               6:19,20)."
are expected to cost 600 people their         *Christians may now receive              We are not ants shipped with the
jobs but could save the 4,300 student      Bibles and other Christian literature    plastic farm through the mail for the
ORU and other ministry divisions,          from outside Russia. Parcels actually    pleasure of some curious child. We
sources said. It was clearly a blow to     arrive at their destinations.            are the blood-bought possession of
the 71-year-old  faith healer, who said       l children are no longer hindered     Heaven. We are owned by the Lord
God told him to build a 777-bed            from attending church services.          of the Universe and He takes a per-
hospital and research center. The             *Christians are allowed to visit      sonal interest in us. Jesus Himself
$150 million complex was completed         friends from the West; Western           said: `And ye shall be hated of all
in 1981 without a mortgage, but the        Christians are allowed to stay with      men for my name's sake. But there
state would allow only 294 beds in         friends in the USSR.                     shall not a hair of your head perish.
the hospital (its highest average oc-         l Moves are under way to prevent      In your patience possess ye your
cupancy was 148 in 1984). Roberts          "excesses of authority," such as im-     souls" (Luke 21:17-19).
blamed a sharp decline in donations        prisoning people for their Christian        Now that we are into the cate-
(from nearly $5 million monthly to         faith.                                   chism and society season we do
just over $2 million) on a "spirit of         The same issue of The Protes-         well to take to heart what the
skepticism" created by media               tant Review reports that Chris-          Rev. Hans Overduin writes con-
coverage of TV preacher scandals.                                                   cerning memory work in The
His own fund-raising practices, con-       tians in other communist lands
flict over promises he made to recip-      (Romania, for example) are still         Messenger (September 1989).
ients of medical school scholar-           being persecuted. Some are cruel-          Is memory work still important?
ships, and his and Richard's life-         ly beaten, others are imprisoned         Indeed it is! And as this new season
styles, including ownership of multi-      for the faith, and all Christians        of education begins and memory
ple luxury homes, figured in that          are forbidden to witness to the          work is required, let us as children
coverage. Shortly before the Roberts       Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ.          and young people, teachers and
announcement, newspapers across            Surely we ought to remember              parents, be enthusiastic about the
the country carried testimony of           Gods suffering people in our             memory work that is given. Memory
former PTL executive James Taggart                                                  work is work, yet it should not be a
                                           daily prayers. Surely too we
in the Jim Bakker trial. Taggart told                                               boring chore, but a delightful
of Bakker returning from a trip to         ought to thank God for the free-         challenge. As parents we should help
Tulsa and complaining that "he lived       doms we enjoy here in North              our children with their memory
shabbily compared to Oral Roberts,         America. 0                               work. It is a good idea to learn the
the (Rex) Humbards, and other                                                       Sunday School text and Psalter selec-
ministers."                                Thoughts Worth                           tion together as a family. As parent-s
  What a far cry all this is from          Pondering                                we should also show interest in what
the Son of Man (Whom these                                                          our young people have to learn for
men claim to be serving) Who                  Edwin P. Elliot has this              Catechism class, Perhaps we could
                                                                                    re-learn with them what they have to
had not where to lay His head!             Editorial Note in Christian              learn for the first time. It is good to
Jesus also told us that if we              Observer (September 29, 1989)            digest together the materials to be
would follow Him we will have              which we do well to ponder:              learned. Teachers who give memory
to deny ourselves and take up                Life is harsh. Marriages fail, and     work should be examples too in
our crosses. One cannot help but           murder on the streets of the nation's    learning the memory work. Then
think of the description of the            capital has been reduced to a news-
                                           paper statistic printed between the      too, seeing the continued importance
false teachers found in 11 Peter           weather and the bail scores. This        of memory work, it surely would not
2:3: "And through covetousness             world's optimists must look some-        be out of order to encourage each
shall they with feigned words              where other than the Washington          other as adults together in the
make merchandise of you . . . ."           Times or NBC Nightly News for con-       memorization of various Scriptural
Certainly "by reason of" these             solation.                                passages and confessional state-
                                                                                    ments, psalms and hymns. 0
men "the way of truth is evil                Christians alone find stability and
spoken of" (II Peter 2:2). 0               security in a world of broken prom-
                                           ises and sudden justice. We have
Christians in Russia                       comfort both for this world and the
                                           next. Remember how Paul wrote:
   The Protestant Review (June             "What? know ye not that your body
1989) reports that under the               is the temple of the Holy Ghost
policies of glasnost (openness)            which is in you, which ye have of
and peresfroika (reconstruction)           God, and ye are not your own? For
God's people in Russia are ap-             ye are bought with a price: therefore

                                                                                    November  I,1989  I The Standard Bearer I63


When Thou
Sittest in                                     The Reformed Family:
Thine House
Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers                         Wife (1)

      "<Even as Sara obeyed                    Even as more and more of our                man was created first, the
   Abraham, calling him                        young people take to writing                woman taken from him.
   lord . . . `t (I Peter 3:6).                their own wedding words, they                 Secondly, it is apparent frlom
                                                                                           the fact that Adam named his
   Wife.                                       should be encouraged to use this
                                                                                           wife. In the Old Testament times,
   Strife.                                     tried and tested marriage or-
                                                                                           the giving of names had lasting
   Not many words rhyme with                   dinance. For its preamble records
                                                                                           significance. It also presupposed
wife; this is one of the ugly ones             the source of a11 strife, and,
                                                                                           a certain control over that person
which does. With divorce in                    recognizing that, provides the on-
America at an all-time high (one               ly possibility for a proper, long-          or thing, even as it does yet to-
out of four marriages ends in                  lasting, even happy, married life.          day. When a man names his
                                                     Marriage is good and honor-           business, this indicates that he is
divorce), many today would also
agree that this word most aptly                able, though the Apostle Paul               the head of his business; when a
                                                                                           man christens his boat, it imlplies
describes their marriages. Ir-                 declared, "For I would that all
                                                                                           that he has control over his boat;
reconcilable differences. Enmity               men were even as I myself"
                                                                                           when a husband and wife name
in the home. War in the bed-                   I Cor. 7:7. It is a God-ordained
                                               creation institution. Therefore,            their children, it indicates thiat
rbom. Strife.                                                                              they have authority over their
   And what more can one ex-                   marriage is pleasing to God, even
                                                                                           children. How does this apply to
pect when a daughter of Eve                    as Christ honored it with His
                                                                                           the creation hierarchy? Jehovah,
marries a son of Adam? When a                  presence in Cana. And it will not
                                                                                           the omnipotent One over Whom
rebel weds herself to a tyrant?                do for us to say, "Well, to avoid
                                                                                           there is none higher, named1 Him-
   The marriage form most often                this inherent conflict, I'll not get
                                                                                           self, 1 AM THAT I AM (Ex. 3:14).
used in the Protestant Reformed                married." Rather, we must submit
                                                                                           Undoubtedly, although Genesis
churches, and as found in the                  to Gods divine intention for us as
                                                                                           does not explicitly state it,
back of The Psalter, states it cor-            wives.
                                                                                           Jehovah also named Adam;
rectly when it begins with the                       This divine mandate is first
                                                                                           therefore, He had dominion over
sobering words, "Whereas mar-                  recorded in the Book of Genesis.
                                               "
ried persons are generally, by                      . . . and thy desire shall be to       Adam, and Adam was respon-
reason of sin, subject to many                 thy husband, and he shall rule              sible to Him. Adam, moreover,
                                                                                           named the animals, over whom
troubles and afflictions . . . ."              over thee" (Genesis 3:16b). No
                                               matter how craftily men and                 he had dominion. Adam also,
  When one is young, still starry-             women attack and pervert these              strikingly enough, named Eve.
eyed about the romance of mar-                 first few chapters of Genesis, it is        Adam gave Eve her generic
riage, these words may seem                    impossible to deny the fact that            name, "Woman" (Genesis 2:23),
somewhat somber. Yet, ex-                      the man was created dominant,               as well as her personal nam.e,
perience, as well as Scripture                 with headship; the woman, help-             "Eve" (Genesis 3:20).
itself, supports the truth of these            meet, subservient to the man. No              Finally, it is clear in the curse
opening words. Ours is a mar-                                                              placed upon each of them:
riage form whose premise is                    woman, even though she be
                                                                                           Adam's judgment being his pain-
basic. It should not be shelved.               Scripturally illiterate, can mis-
                                               understand these clearly defined            ful toil, as head, to provide for
                                               principles.                                 his household; Eve's judgment
                                                     First of all, it is clear from the    falling on what was uniquely hers
Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in           original creation itself, i.e., the         as a woman and as a "suitable
the Protestant Reformed Church of                                                          helper" for her husband, pains in
South Holland, IL.

64  / The Standard Bearer/ November 1, 1989


child-bearing. All the sorrow and      her address of him that she was a       nouncing a young woman a
anguish which tarnishes the joy        "lordess." Rather, we must see in       "wife," will not magically make
and blessing of conceiving, bear-      the marriage relationship the           her a good one. We live today in
ing, and rearing children became       perfect mirror that reflects Christ,    a marital morass; and in our own
hers. As if this were not enough,      the bridegroom, ruling the              small church circles, too, marital
her (and our) desire would be to       church, His bride, in love, with        problems are rife. Even divorce,
her husband, and.he would rule         the roles and duties of each            once rarely discussed, has
over her.                              clearly delineated. And the roles       become troublesome. Today,
   And the curse is as real today,     and duties of husband and wife          more than ever before, it is
at the close of the modern twen-       are not the same.                       urgent that we as wives and
tieth century, as it was in those        Serving the needs of her hus-         mothers help our own daughters
haunting first annals of history.      band (and children, too) becomes        and all young women to be good
   In short, the wife is and must      burdensome and taxing for the           wives, both by our careful exam-
be a servant. Abraham's beautiful      godly wife. Remaining silent,           ple and by concrete Biblical in-
and God-fearing wife Sarah             when the situation seems to call        struction (Titus 2:4, 5). This, as
acknowledged this, calling her         for a good old lashing out, seems       well as prescriptive preaching,
husband "lord."                        restrictive. Conducting oneself         will prepare them for their dif-
   To serve her husband, willing-      piously and obediently, when a          ficult, yet rewarding, roles as
ly, is the wife's primary calling.     decisive "I won't" seems in order,      wives.
She must serve all his needs:          appears a bit outdated. The curse         It is instructive to note that
spiritual, emotional, and physical.    which came upon Eve for dis-            after the fall, when God's highesi:
This is, all by itself, full-time      obeying God is not easy, nor            created work, His image-bearers,
work. Added to this, her will          pleasant, for us women. But             stood broken and humbled, it
must be subject to that of her         there will be no true happiness in      was then Adam named his wife.
husband. She must be silent. She       marriage unless, and until, these       And it is her lovely name which
must be obedient. Although she         Biblical principles are in place.       gives hope to all of her sin-
may chafe under them, there is           As a Reformed, Christian              stained daughters. "And Adam
simply no escaping these divine        female, I think I was very well         called his wife's name Eve,
mandates. Scripture is replete         trained to become a mother. The         because she was the mother of
with them. (See especially Eph.        church and the home prepared            all the living" (Gen. 3:20).
5:22 and 33; Col. 3:18; I Tim.         me well for my duties as mother.          And so, there is another word,
2:ll.)                                 But, I was much less prepared for       a better word, which rhymes
  The Bible does not speak of a        becoming a wife, even though I          with wife, to give the true-born
partnership of equals in marriage.     was surrounded by many good             daughters of Sarah renewed zeal
It is not as though Adam is king       role models. Being a wife was           and ardor for their God-given
of creation and Eve, the queen.        not something one talked about,         tasks.
When Sarah called Abraham              lest the talk become too intimate.        Wife.
"lord," she did not understand by      However, the rite of marriage             Life. Cl
                                       itself, the minister solemnly pro-




                                       The Man of Sin
Day of Shadows
Rev. john Heys                         Foreshadowed (3)

                                         When the sovereign God of             and her seed, He did not mean
                                       our salvation told the devil that       that He was going to make the
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in    He would put enmity between             devil hate Adam and Eve and
the Protestant Reformed Churches.      him and his seed and the woman          their covenant seed. There was

                                                                               November 1, 1989 I The Standard Bearer  I65


no need or reason for that. The                 pletely the spiritual life where-      God. Satan, who hated God, was
devil already hated them. He                    with he was created. Adam and          not going to accept this decree of
hated them the moment that he                   Eve did hate God for denying           God and make, or try to make,
learned that God had created                    them the right to get to the glory     men turn back to their God. He
them in His own image, and saw                  that the devil told them they          had died spiritually himself; and
them walking in love to God.                    could get by eating that forbid-       being spiritually dead he could
And the seed of the serpent,                    den fruit.                             only rejoice in man's depravity
every one of them, comes into                     It was no little sin that they       and hatred of God. As we saw, in
this world spiritually dead; and                committed, even though it was          these articles of The Day of
that means that they hate God                   not a direct breaking of the com-      Shadows, Satan got Cain to kill
and all those who love Him. God                 mandments in the second table          Abel and got Lamech not only to
does not need to put enmity in                  of the law. Eve did not seek           kill but to take two wives for his
them against Himself and His                    Adam's good, and she encour-           carnal pleasure. In a relatively
covenant people.                                aged him to do that which would        short time Satan got the seed of
  What God promises in that                     make him lose his spiritual life.      the serpent to be so devilish that,
mother promise is that His elect                And Adam was willing to help           for the protection of His church,
children will be delivered from                 Eve walk in sin and take her           God had to send that worldwide
their love of sin into which they               own spiritual life away. They          flood. Only eight souls were
fell. He will in His grace make                 basically did break the first table    saved. And this only moved
them hate Satan and all who                     of the law, in fact very clearly       Satan to work more feverishly
walk in the sin which he brought                they broke the first command-          after the flood, so that he got
upon the human race. Of course,                 ment. They did have another            them to try to build that tower of
because we are born with a sinful               God before Jehovah. Did Satan          Babel for the antichristian ame-
nature, and often fail to manifest              not tell them that by eating of        world kingdom. He got one of
our love of God and faith in our                that fruit they would "be as gods,     the seed of the woman, Noah, to
Lord Jesus Christ, the world can                knowing good and evil"? They           get drunk and encourage im-
love us and even want to marry                  wanted to be gods and to have          morality, so that Ham's flesh was
us and live with us.                            the right to do as they pleased.       pleased to see sin back again in
   But the point we want to make                Even though eating seemed to           this world. And today the devil is
here is that the negative side                  them not only harmless but ad-         working hard to try to restore         i
always implies the positive side;               visable, they brought death upon       that one-world kingdom and
and to get the whole picture we                 themselves with everlasting            destroy the church of God. Did
have to see both sides. Hating                  punishment in the lake of fire!        he not even try to get Jesus to
the devil and all his depraved                  God said that they would die           bow down before him? Did he
followers means that we love                    spiritually the day that they          not deceitfully promise Him that
God and all His covenant                        sinned. And even if you want to        which he could not realize? In-
children. And when we walk in                   maintain that this death was a         deed he was trying to destroy the
sin, we manifest the hatred                     physical death, the process of         church by bringing its King into
against God of our old nature,                  death came upon them that day.         hell!
which came into the world                       Adam lived for nine hundred and           But always, in every attempt
through Satan, and the folly of                 thirty years; but death began to       of Satan, God strengthened in His
our first parents, Adam and Eve.                take hold of him the very day          reborn children their love toward
  We do well to take note of the                that he tried to become a god.         Him. And the victory always is
fact .that the mother promise is                From the moment that they ate          that of the church. Always it is
the promise of the almighty, un-                of that forbidden fruit they were      Christ's victory. For He is The
changeable God. He declares in it               on the way to hell. Only Gods          Seed of the Woman not onlly, but
what HE is going to do, not what                grace kept them alive so that in       He is the Son of God in our flesh.
we might do. The all-wise God is                time God's Son might come in             When God then shattered
no fool. He is no liar. Nor is He               our flesh and save us from both        Satan's work by confusing Iman's
for one split second slightly                   the spiritual and physical death.      speech and by dividing the
curbed or temporarily changed in                  The almighty and most mer-           human race into different races
His sovereign, eternal decree. He               ciful God told the devil that He       and nations with different
told Adam that he would die the                 would make some of the human           tongues, the victory was that of
day he ate of the forbidden fruit.              race love Him, and that they           the seed of the woman, not of
The moment he would begin to                    would be completely delivered          the seed of the serpent. And
hate God, he would lose com-                    from their devilish hatred of their    though, according to God's

66 I The Standard Bearer  I November  1,1989


  counsel, Satan will be able in the    man of sin with one language,           the heavenly glory which is
  days of the coming man of sin to      life style, and way of thinking,        promised it is concerned. Unwill-
  unite the whole world as one          God had all this planned so that        ingly and unknowingly, until it
  wicked, antichristian kingdom,        His church would be realized            has happened, Satan will serve
  man's number is 666, and only         with its different kinds of             the cause of God's kingdom.
  the seed of the woman will reach      members who all have the same           Even as he got Judas and the un-
  the blessed 700, the perfection of    spiritual life, but who serve that      believing Jews to kill Christ, and
  covenant life of man with God in      body of Christ in their own             performed that which realized
  the new holy creation that is         divinely designed way. God              the basis for our salvation, so he
  coming.                               frustrated the devil in what he         is being used by God to get
    As pointed out above, a             strove to do. But God used him          things ready for Christ to return
  negative thing always implies a       so that Christ's church might be        to realize His kingdom on the
 positive opposite. Confusing           realized as the glorious body that      new earth.
  man's speech at the tower of          it is going to be with members            Yes, the building of that tower
  Babel took away from Satan that       from different colors, races, back-     of Babel foreshadowed the com-
 which he was seeking. But there        grounds, and talents.                   ing antichrist in what he will do.
  is this wonderful positive side          Consider once how much more          But do not overlook the fact that
 that God, by bringing into being       beautiful than a solo the singing       our Gods halting of that anti-
  different races, nations, and         of a well-trained choir is. Not that    Christian deed in Nimrod's day
 tongues, brings a blessing to His      solos are not beautiful (but, even      foreshadows His coming work
 church. In fact this creation of       then, soloists like to have the ac-     when He will send His Son back
 different languages makes that         companiment of the organ or             to crush the head of Satan and of
 church become the body of              piano). But that shadow of the          all the seed of the serpent, and
 Christ. Consider that if Satan had     man of sin there at the tower of        bring into being that kingdom of
 succeeded in building that tower       Babel, and God's bringing that          endless glory in the one-world
 and in realizing a one-world           devilish kingdom to naught, does        Christian kingdom of Christ.
 devilish kingdom, wherein the          say something wonderful to us.            The shadow cast by Gods
 seed of the woman would all be         The way for that Hallelujah             work of bringing to an end that
 destroyed (as the coming man of        chorus that will be singing God's       one-world kingdom of Nimrod
 sin will try to do) Christ would       praises in the new Jerusalem was        reveals to us what most assuredly
 never have been born, and could        in Gods wisdom and grace being          will arrive in the near future.
 not have died for our sins. And a      prepared. Things did not momen-         Satan's whole devilish kingdom
 countless number of elect that         tarily slip out of God's control        will be destroyed and all its
 were eternally chosen would not        and then return to Him by means         citizens will be cast into the lake
 have been born; and the body of        of the confounding of the speech        of fire. Christ most assuredly will
 Christ would be hopeless.              of man. No, the all-wise and            come and realize a new creation
    Consider also the fact that the     sovereign God decrees every-            and His glorious kingdom in it.
 church as the body of Christ has       thing that happens, so that the         Sing it: "His saints shall not fail,
 not only many members, but dif-        kingdom of Christ will be here          But over the earth Their pow'r
 ferent kinds of members, even as       and His wisdom, power, and love         shall prevail." And then: "To God
 our bodies have eyes, ears,            may shine forth forever in              give the glory And praise Him
 hands, fingers, feet and toes,         Christ's kingdom.                       for aye." 0
 lungs and heart, and many other          Let us take hold of that com-
 kinds of members. In broad lines       forting truth that all things work
 we read of this when in Scripture      together for good to those that
 we read of God gathering His           love God. His promises are
 people out of every nation,            always fulfilled to the last and
 tongue, and tribe. These people        smallest detail. Satan is a tool in
 are different not simply in their      Gods hand. And although this
 speech, but their speech is dif-       evil spirit is still striving to
 ferent exactly because their way       destroy Gods church, and will in
 of thinking, what they will, and       God's time realize the one-world
 the way they do things, is so dif-     kingdom of the man of sin (in
' ferent. Although Satan moved          contrast to whom Nimrod was
 men to build the tower of Babel        but a child of sin) he will to no
 to realize the kingdom of the          degree hurt the church as far as
                                                          .'
                                                                                November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer  I67


Search the                                       Philippians:
Scriptures
Rev. Cise VanBaren                               An Introduction

   We will be studying, D.V., the                immediately to Neapolis, the              Paul with his assistants went
short epistle to the Philippians in              seaport for Philippi. From there,      outside the city on the Sabb,ath to
following articles. In preparation               they traveled directly to the im-      a river bank where "prayer was
for that study, we should obtain                 portant city of Philippi. This         wont to be made." The few
certain background information.                  special, Divine direction indicates    Jewish women of the city had
For this particular study, read                  the importance of this work            gathered there. There was no
Acts 16:6-40 and Acts 20:6. The                  beginning in Europe. It also           Jewish synagogue in the city.
questions at the end of the article              shows the intent of God that the       Since a minimum of ten Jewish
will treat especially these                      gospel be spread over all the          men were required to establish a
passages.                                        world - and generally from east        synagogue, one can assume that
  The Apostle Paul with Timothy                  to west.                               there were probably none in the
and Silas went to Philippi  on his                 One could profitably find addi-      city. Paul and his associates
second missionary journey about                  tional information on the city         gather to worship with the few
A.D. 52. Philippi  had not been                  itself either in a Bible dictionary    women of the city at the river
their intended destination. First,               or encyclopedia. Briefly, it could     bank. The custom of gathering at
Paul and Silas visited those                     be noted that this was already a       such a place is mentioned in
churches established in the first                very old city at the time of Paul's    Psalm 137: 1, "By the rivers of
missionary journey. After leaving                arrival. This ancient city had         Babylon, there we sat down, yea,
the area of Galatia, Paul and Silas              been seized by Philip of               we wept, when we remembered
with Timothy sought to enter the                 Macedonia and renamed after            Zion."
province of Asia and later                       himself in the year 358 B.C. The         The account in Acts presents
Bithynia (Acts 16:6, 7). In both in-             city passed into the hands of the      what appears to be somewhat
stances they were forbidden of                   Romans in 168 B.C. The Romans          meager results on Paul's mission
the Holy Spirit to do so. God, of                honored the city by making its         labors. We read of the conver-
course, will have His Word                       people to be Roman citizens with       sion of Lydia ("whose heart God
preached both when and where                     the benefit of exemption from          opened'), the probable conver-
He wills. As a consequence of the                taxation and special privileges        sion of the girl delivered from an
forbidding of the Spirit (they                   before Roman law. It is claimed        evil spirit, and the conversion of
could go neither to the right nor                that the Jews had been driven          the Philippian jailor with his
the left), these men were forced                 from those cities which were           household. These were the first
to travel west to Troas which                    uniquely Roman - which would           members of the church at
was on the cost of the Aegean                    explain too the fact that only a       Philippi.
Sea.                                             few remaining women, Jews,               Paul visited this church several
  At Troas Paul had the vision of                were worshiping at the river           times in his later mission
the Macedonian man who                           bank when Paul visited them.           journeys. One visit is mentioned
"prayed him, saying, Come over                     Philippi  was located in an area     in Acts 20:6. Some surmise at
into Macedonia, and help us." As                 which had been an important            least two other visits made by
a result, these missionaries of                  mining center for gold. It had         Paul.
Christ took shipping and went                    strategic importance in the              Paul's letter to the church was
                                                 defense of this area. This city        written years later while he was
Rev.  VanBaren  is pastor of the Prot-           was the first in Europe to have        in prison at Rome (cf. 4:22).. It is
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-               the church established in it.          one of the four "prison epistles"
ville,  Michigan.                                                                       (Ephesians, Philemon, and Colos-

68  I The Standard Bearer  I November  I,1989


sians). These were written in the      A Brief Outline                        believed? What is the importance
years A.D. 62 or 63. Paul's in-          A. Opening greetings.                and significance of this? Does not
terest in and love for that con-             1. Paul's salutation (l:l-2).    this conflict with what we read in
gregation is clearly evident,                2. Paul's thanksgiving and       Rev. 3:20?
especially in the first chapter. He             prayer  (1:3-11).                4. What do the Canons of
thanked God "upon every                  B. Expression of Paul's own          Dordt have to say about the
remembrance" of them (vs. 3); he             thoughts of God's work           work of conversion and the
greatly "longed after you all" (vs.          with him as prisoner             origin of faith (Heads III-IV)? Is
8); he expresses his prayer that             (1:12-26).                       this in agreement with what we
their "love may abound yet more          C. The humble walk.                  read of Lydia?
and more . . ." (vs. 9). It is a             1. Encouragement to faith-          5. Does Lydia's prominence in
moving letter to a dearly loved                 fulness in the face of        Acts indicate anything about
congregation of Jesus Christ.                   adversity (1:27-30).          women serving in office in the
  The letter is surely of a dif-             2. Christ's humiliation and      church? Can a woman be promi-
ferent nature than that written to              its example for us            nent and important in church
Corinth (especially I Corinthians).             (2: 1-18).                    without occupying the offices?
In that church there were all            D. Personal instructions:               6. In Acts 16:37-40, Paul
sorts of heresies and evil ac-               1. Reasons for sending           makes good use of his Roman
tivities which are severely re-                 Timothy and Epaphro-          citizenship. Is it proper to try to
buked by the apostle. This letter,              ditus (2:19-30).              avoid punishment for one's faith
though it does contain a few                 2. Paul's example to the         in this way? Why did Paul bring
words of rebuke, is more of a                   Philippians (3:1-2 1).        up his citizenship after he was
pastoral and personal sort. One              3. Various exhortations to       beaten? Can you find an instance
can, for instance, go through the               the church (4:1-9).           of Paul's avoidance of a beating
book and mark the words "love"           E. Concluding statements:            by mentioning his citizenship?
(four times) and "joy" (six times)           1. Thanks to Philippi  for          7. Comment upon the method
which are found in it. It has a                 their assistance              used in mission work at Philippi.
happy tone indeed.                              (4: 10-20).                   Does this give guidelines for mis-
  The book itself is not as struc-           2. Salutations and final         sion work today?
tured as some of Paul's epistles.               benediction (4:2 l-23).          8. This is one of the four
There is rather significant (and       Questions for discussion:              "prison epistles." In perusing the
deep) doctrine - especially in           1. Trace Paul's second mission-      letter, is there any evidence in
the second chapter. There we           ary journey (see a map).               the writing of the effect of that
read some very remarkable                2. Why did Paul go first to the      imprisonment for Paul?
things about the incarnation and       Jew and then to the Gentile?              9. What might account for the
the humiliation of Christ. Yet           3. Who was Lydia? What was           different situations in Corinth and
much of the book is very per-          her occupation? Comment on             in Philippi? Cl
sonal and practical.                   this. How does Acts state that she





                                       Book Reviews

THE MORE GLORIOUS COVE-                Bearer for many years. That               Now, through the efforts of the
NANT, by Gerrit Vos, Men's             publication, now in its 64th year,     Men's Society of the Hudsonville
Society, Protestant Reformed           has exemplified the highest            Protestant Reformed Church,
Church, Hudsonville, MI 49426,         standards of Reformed journal-         where the late Rev. Mr. Vos
1986, 312~~. (Reviewed by the          ism, and the presence of G. Vos'       served as pastor for 21 years, his
Rev. Norman L. Jones, Jr.)             Meditations  did much to enhance       meditations are being made avail-
  The byline of G. Vos was a           the publication's reputation.          able to a wider Christian au-
regular feature of The Standard                                               dience. This, the third volume of

                                                                              November 1, 1989  / The Standard Bearer I69


collected essays by Rev. Vos,                    preaching, who need to show              and higher criticism of the Bible
consists of 45 selected medita-                  how Reformed theology and ar-            at that school and in the Presby-
tions from the Epistles and the                  tistic expression can work               terian Church U.S.A. He was one
Book of Revelation.                              together to keep our audiences           of the founding professors 0.f
   It is somewhat difficult to                   interested in Gods truth. Further,       Westminster Theological
categorize the Vos style of                      The More Glorious Covenant               Seminary in Philadelphia and
writing. It is sort of a cross be-               would serve well for family devo-        also a leading figure in the for-
tween C.H. Spurgeon's poetic                     tions for adults, and for private        mation of the Orthodox Presby-
brilliance and John Calvin's                     devotional reading. A suggestion         terian Church.
theological toughness.                           for-the publisher if future                 Much can be learned from a
   Vos was a master of the old                   volumes of Vos' meditations are          reading of this book which is
Dutch school of preaching, that                  contemplated: Please include at          much more than a recounting of
is, making theology an art form                  least a Scripture reference index,       the life of this servant of God. In-
by a powerful use of literary im-                and perhaps even a topical index         sights abound into the struggles
agery. His writing is a constant                 for handy reference purposes.            for the truth of the gospel within
challenge to one's sanctified im-                Vos' writings burst with choice          Presbyterianism in the early
agination and it tends to be                     thoughts and they could use              twentieth century. These strug-
mind-gripping, a quality often                   some general categorization.             gles were not at all unlike the
lacking in most religious prose to-                This review appeared in the            battle being fought for the truth
day. From a full, reflective mind                December  9, 1988 issue of Christian     within the Reformed churches of
Vos proceeds to drive the truth                  Observer, a Presbyterian magazine        our own day.
of God into his reader's heart.                  published in Manassas, VA whose            The account of the last weeks
   Vos is a hard-core Calvinist, in              frequent references to the activities    of his life give us insights into the
the Protestant Reformed tradi-                   of the Protestant Reformed Churches      kind of man J. Gresham Machen
tion, who takes the doctrines of                 we appreciate. The Rev. Norman           was by Gods grace. After a very
sovereign, covenantal grace very                 Jones is a minister in the Reformed      busy first semester at West-
seriously. They were to him life                 Church in the United States and a        minster during the 1936-`37
itself. He therefore focuses on                  long-time, friendly observer of the      school year, Machen, though
Christ as the sinner's only hope                 PRC. The review is published with        weary, insisted on keeping a
.and comfort. And by the way of                  permission. -Ed.  0                      promise to speak and preach in
necessary contrast, he sprinkles                 J. GRESHAM MACHEN: A BIO-                several churches in North Dakota
his essays with blistering con-                  GRAPHICAL MEMOIR, by Ned                 during the Christmas recess.
demnations of Pelagianism, Ar-                   B. Stonehouse. Edinburgh: The            While there he developed
minianism, and Perfectionism in                  Banner of Truth Trust, 1987. pp.         pneumonia, and at 7:30 p.m.,
all their forms.                                 l-520 $12.95. (cloth). (Reviewed         January 1, 1937 the Lord took
   Vos is not ashamed to meditate                by Prof. R.D. Decker)                    his servant to glory. When the
on Gods reprobation of the                         The Banner of Truth is to be           night before the Rev. Samuel
wicked, a theme not often en-                    commended for reprinting this            Allen, pastor of the Orthodox
countered in so-called Reformed                  fine biography of Machen written         Presbyterian Church of Bismarck,
ministry today. In discussing                    by his colleague and successor in        N.D., visited Machen  in the
Romans 9:18-20, for example, he                  the New Testament department             hospital, Machen  said to hirn,
observes, "Terrible truth, you                   at Westminster Seminary. While           "Sam, isn't the Reformed Faith
say? Yes, but it is the truth                    there are other biographies (e.g.,       grand?" During one of his con-
nevertheless. It is the same truth               a briefer, perhaps more popular          scious periods the next day he
that is trampled under foot by                   one, by Henry Coray) this is the         dictated this telegram to Prof.
the church of our day. Where do                  standard.                                John Murray: "I'm so thankful for
you find a church today that                       Machen  certainly ranks as one         active obedience of Christ. No
dares to confess the hardening by                of the greatest evangelical, Re-         hope without it." These were
God of the reprobate? All                        formed theologians of the twen-          Machen's last words.
through the ages the Lord had it                 tieth century. Born in 1881, he            May God raise up more rnen of
written down, and, later printed                 was delivered up to glory at the         his calibre and conviction to
in a million Bibles." (p. 31)                    relatively young age of 55 in            follow his worthy example in
  This, reviewer recommends this                 January of 1937. Machen,  a pro-         "earnestly contending for the
book to ministers who need a                     fessor at Princeton Theological          faith once delivered to the
more lively, imaginative, direct                 Seminary, was the leading figure         saints." Cl
manner of speaking and                           in the battle against liberalism

 70  I The Standard Bearer I November  I,1989


                                       News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                    Our Churches

CONGREGATIONAL                           At 9:15 all gathered in the         project. Their mandate is to keep
HIGHLIGHTS                             auditorium for devotions. After-      the congregation informed on thle
   "Having a Heart for God" was        wards Rev. Charles Terpstra           progress the various committees
the theme chosen by the Evan-          presented the second speech on        are making on their new church
gelism Committee of the South          "Having a Heart for God Among         building.
Holland P.R.C. in South Holland,       His Saints."                             A couple of items caught my
IL for their Reformed Conference         Once again the group was            attention in a recent bulletin
which was held September 22            divided up into nine different        from the Doon  P.R.C. in Doon,
and 23.                                groups, which then discussed          IA. First, Doon  is conducting a
   The first speech was scheduled      practical aspects of Christian        Bible Study at Dordt College.
for Friday night. Prof. David          fellowship. By the time the           This group meets on Monday
Engelsma spoke on "Having a            groups broke up, it was time for      nights in the library. They are
Heart for God Himself." Follow-        lunch.                                considering especially the work
ing this speech the group of ap-         By 1:30 the group was once          of the Holy Spirit. And second,
proximately 150 people was             more back in the auditorium for       evidently someone has taken the
divided into nine different groups     their final speech, "Having a         spoons from the Northwest Iowa
which met in various rooms in          Heart for God in Missions," by        P.R. Christian School in Doon,
the church and the school. Friday      Rev. Ron Van Overloop.                because there's a note that the
night's discussion was on the            The afternoon discussion            school spoons are still missing,
practical aspects of knowing God       groups then considered practical      and to please return them.
and enjoying His fellowship.           aspects of the believer's role in        Doon's consistory also adopted
   Bright and early Saturday           the work of evangelism. Then          a change for the end of their
morning, people once again             the groups reassembled for clos-      worship service. The congrega-
began gathering in the church          ing prayer.                           tion will remain standing in the
basement for breakfast. The              According to those who were         pews during the time that the
Young People's Society made            there, the Evangelism Committee       consistory shakes hands with the
Belgian waffles and sausage for        did an excellent job from start to    minister.
the group, with donations going        finish. The speakers also did a          The First P.R.C. in Grand
to the Young People's Conven-          wonderful job in presenting their     Rapids, MI held their annual Fall.
tion.                                  topics. The entire conference was     Fellowship Dinner in mid-
                                       an enriching experience, and          September. The committee
                                       those in attendance would en-         planned a potluck dinner for the
                                       courage everyone to attend any        whole congregation. Each family
                                       such conference in the future.        was asked to bring either a
                                         On October 9, the congrega-         favorite main dish, salad, or
                                       tion of the Lynden P.R.C. in          dessert.
                                       Lynden, WA sponsored a Cana-          DENOMINATIONAL
                                       dian Thanksgiving Day Service at      ACTIVITIES
                                       the Lutheran Church in Alder-            On October 1, a Mass Meeting
                                       grove, B.C., Canada.                  to open officially the young peo-
Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Prot-      The Consistory of Lynden also
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-     appointed a Publicity Committee
ville,  Michigan.                      for their new church building

                                                                             November 1, 1989  I The Standard Bearer I71


                                                                                                          SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                          Postage Paid at
                                                                                                          Grand Rapids, Michigan

 FIO. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



pie's society season was held at                of Heritage Christian School in           Rev. C. Haak has declined the
the Byron Center P.R.C. in Byron                Hudsonville, MI, was the featured       call he had received from thle
Center, MI. All young people in                 speaker for the annual fall league      Hope P.R.C. in Redlands, CA.
the area were urged to attend. ,                meeting of the Mr. & Mrs. Adult           And, finally, a closing thought
   On September 26 Prof. David                  Bible Societies. He spoke October       lifted from "Across the Aisle,"
Engelsma spoke on the topic "Is                 3 at the Faith P.R.C. in Jenison,       from First Church in Grand
good self-esteem important for a                MI on the subject, "Prot. Ref.          Rapids, MI and related to the
Christian, and how is it                        Education - Tradition or Convic-        spoon item above.
developed?" for the Fall Men's                  tion?"                                    "When asked why he was
and Ladies' Society League                      MINISTERIAL CALLS                       eating with his spoon, a little lad
Meeting held at the Hudsonville                   Rev. R. Dykstra has received          answered: `Because my knife is
P.R.C. in Hudsonville, MI.                      the call from the congregation of       slippery and my fork leaks."" q
   Mr. Jerry Kuiper, administrator              Hope P.R.C. in Isabel, S.D.


                                                                                        RESOLUTION OF  SYMPATIHY
Report of Classis East                                                                    The consistory and congrega-
                                                                                        tion of the Grandville Protestant
                                                                                        Reformed Church extends its
                                                                                        sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Mark
                                                                                        Hoeksema and family in the
                   September 13, 1989           Kortering; January 14 - Slopsema;       death of his father, PROF.
                   & October 11, 1989           February 25 - Kamps; March 18 -         HOMER HOEKSEMA. May they
   Classis East met in regular ses-             Van Baren.                              be comforted and sustained by
sion on Wednesday, September                       Norristown also asked for con-       God's grace. "Thou shalt guide
13, 1989 with a continued session               tinued supply during Rev. K.            me by Thy counsel and after-
on Wednesday, October 11, 1989.                 Hanko's absence. The following          wards receive me to glory."
All the churches, with the excep-               schedule was adopted for NOR-           (Psalm  73:24)
tion of Norristown, were repre-                 RISTOWN: October 29, Novem-                 Rev.  J. Kortering, President
sented by two delegates. Rev. J.                ber 5 - Joostens; November 19,              j.  VanderKolk, Clerk
                                                                                            (Grandville, MI)
Slopsema served as chairman of                  26 - Flikkema; December 10, 17 -
these sessions.                                 Gritters; January 14, 27 -              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   The majority of classis' time                Woudenberg; February 11, 18 -             The Jr. Mr.  & Mrs. Society of
was spent in considering three                  Koole; February 25, March 4 -           Hope Protestant Reformed
appeals: two regarding censure                  Bruinsma; March 18, 25 -                Church extends its Christian
and one regarding a decision                    Slopsema.                               sympathy to Mr.  & Mrs. Bruce
taken by `a consistory. All the ap-               Rev. J. Kortering and Rev. G.         Klamer, whose infant daughter,
peals were treated in closed ses-               Van Baren were chosen as addi-          COURTNEY JO was taken to
sion which precludes further                    tional alternates for church visita-    her eternal rest.
reporting on the outcome.                       tion.                                     May they be comforted in the
   Classis West asked for help to                 Expenses for the two sessions         truth expressed in Psalm 100:3,
fill the pulpit of Peace, Lynwood,              amounted to $2715.00.                   "Know ye that the Lord, He is
Illinois. Classis East granted the                Classis will meet next on             Cod: it is He that hath made us,
request to supply this pulpit for               Wednesday, January 10, 1990 at          and not we ourselves: we are
one Sunday a month from Octo-                   the Hope Protestant Reformed            His people, and the sheep of
ber-March. The following                        Church.                                 His pasture."
schedule was adopted for PEACE:                          Respectfully submitted,            Prof. Herman Hanko, Pres.
October 15 - Bruinsma; Novem-                            Jon J. Huisken                     Brenda  DeVries, Sec.
ber 5 - Key; December 17 -                               Stated Clerk Cl                   (Grand Rapids, MI)


72 I The Standard Bearer  I November  1,1989


