A Reformed





                         Davidson College
                      Presbyterian Church:
                   site of the Fifth Colloquium on Calvin Studies



Vol. 66, No. 77
March 7, 1990


 Contents                                                                                            TUC
                                                                      March ?,I990                    ,,  ,I-
                                                                                               Sl?WD~
Meditation  -  Rev. lames D. Slopsema
   W A L K I N G   W I T H   G O D                                                                 BMR
                                                                                        243
                                                                                                ISSN 0362-4692
Editorial  - Prof.  David  /. Engelsma                                                         Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
   SEM PROFS ATTEND JOHN CALVIN CONFERENCE                                       -      245    and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                               lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
LETTERS                                                                                        at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                        247    POSTMASTER:   Send address changes to The
                                                                                               Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids, MI
All Around  Us  - Prof.  Robert  D. Decker                                                     49516.
                                                                                               EDITORIAL   COMMITTEE
   LABORING WHILE IT IS DAY                                                             248    Editor: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
   CONTROVERSIAL DUTCH THEOLOGIAN RETIRES                                               249    Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
   FRESH THEOLOGY                                                                              Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
                                                                                        249    DEPARTMENT   EDITORS
   NEWS FROM SINGAPORE                                                                  249    Rev. Ronald  Cammenga.  Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                               Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                               Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof. Herman
The Day of Shadows  -  Rev.  )ohn  A. Heys                                                     Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko. Rev. John  Heys,  Rev.
   SOVEREIGN GRACE'S COMFORTING SHADOW                                                  250    Kenneth Koole, Rev. Jason Kortering, Mr. James
                                                                                               Lanting,  Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.  Marybleth  Lub-
                                                                                               bers, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev. Charles Terpstra.
The Strength of  Youth  - Rev. Barrett  1. Critters                                            Rev.  Cise  VanBare",  Rev. Ronald  VanOverloop,
   THE END TIMES (3): THE ANTICHRIST                                                    252    Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard  Woudenberg.
                                                                                               EDITORIAL   OFFICE                  CHURCH   NEWS   EDITOR
                                                                                               The Standard Bearer                 Mr. Ben Wigger
Contribution  - Mrs. Karen Karsten                                                             4949  Ivanrest                      6597  - 40th Ave.
   THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE                                                        255    Crandville,  MI 49418               Hudsonville,  MI 49426
                                                                                               EDITORIAL   POLICY
                                                                                               Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
When Thou  Sittest in Thine House  - Rev. Kenneth  Koole                                       of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
   HEADSHIP  IN MARRIAGE: CALLED TO LIVE LIKE KINGS                                     258    terest from our readers and questions for The
                                                                                               Reader Asks Department are welcome. Contribu-
                                                                                               tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
Guest Article  - Rev. Thomas C. Miersma                                                        and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
   DESTROYED FOR LACK OF WHAT?                                                                 must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
                                                                                        260    the fifteenth of the month. All communications
                                                                                               relative to the contents should be sent to  lthe
NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  - Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                           263    editorial office.
                                                                                               REPRINT   POLICY
                                                                                               Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
                                                                                               articles in our magazine by other publications,
                                                                                               provided: al that such reprinted articles are repro-
                                                                                               duced in full:  b) that  wooer   acknowledeement  is
In This l&sue . . .                                                                            made;  c)  tha;  a'copy   bf  t'he  periodical  ii  which
                                                                                               such reprint appears is sent to our editorial office.
                                                                                               BUSINESS   OFFICE            NEW   ZEALAND   OFFICE
                                                                                               The Standard Bearer The Standard Bearer
  The last Directory of our churches to be printed in  The  .!?tundai-d Bearer  appeared,      D o n   D o e z e m a   .    c/o Protestant Reformed
I think, nearly two years ago. Since the information it provides is hardly anymore             P.O. Box 6064                  C h u r c h
                                                                                               Grand  Rapids, MI            B. Van Herk
current, we have included an update in this issue.                                               49516                      66 Fraser St.
   What purpose does the Directory serve? For those who regularly receive a copy of            PH: (616) 243-3712           Wainuiomata,,New        Zealand
the "Acts of Synod and Yearbook" . . . probably not much. But it may be helpful for            SUBSCRIPTION   POLICY
                                                                                               Subscription price: $12.00 per year in the  1J.S..
other of our readers. It was suggested to us, in fact, by a very active member of one          815.00 elsewhere. Unless a definite request for dis-
of our Evangelism Committees, that other committees which are responsible for mail-            continuance is received, it is assumed that the
ing out tracts might want to include a copy of the Directory in the packet. Given the          subscriber wishes the subscription to continue
                                                                                               without the formality of a renewal order, and he
easy accessibility of copy machines today, it certainly wouldn't be difficult at all to do     will be billed for  renewa`l.  If you have a change of
that. We pass the idea along, at any rate, for what you think it's worth.                      address, please notify the Business Office as early
     ****************.******                                                                   as possible in order to avoid the inconvenience of
                                                                                               delaved   deliverv.  Include  vow  Zio Code.
  Sometimes articles which once appeared in the  S.B. are reprinted in booklet or              ADViRTlSINC            i'OLICY        '     '
                                                                                               The  Standard  Bearer does not accept  commercial
book form. More often than not, however, the old articles are lost to all who do not           advertising of any kind. Announcements of church
have access to the bound volumes. And those are hard to come by. Recently                      and school events, anniversaries, obituaries, and
however we were  given  a set of the oldest volumes, with the suggestion that we cut           Fympathy  resolutions will be placed for a  !63.00
                                                                                               fee. These should be sent to the Business Office
off the binding, make Xerox copies of the pages, and then bind them, thus making               and should be accompanied by the $3.00 fee.
the one set multiply so as to be able to supply others who might have an interest in           Deadline for announcements is the 1st and the
obtaining the old issues. That's an  intrjguing idea.`Before we would ever do                  15th of the month, previous to publication on the
                                                                                               15th or the 1  st respectively.
something like that, however, we'd want to know if there are indeed people who                 BOUND   VOLUMES
would be interested in taking advantage of such an offer. As far as cost is concerned,         The Business Office will accept standing orders
be assured that we'd make every effort to do the job as inexpensively as possible              for bound copies of the current volume; such
                                                                                               orders are filled as soon as possible after comple-
while still maintaining the quality. And we have no intention of turning a profit.             tion of a volume A limited number of past
What it costs, we will charge. But that could still be as much as $18  - $22 each. If, in      volumes may be obtained through the Business
spite of that, you do have an interest, please drop a note to the Business Manager,            Office.
                                                                                               16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and 105mm
c/o the Business Office.                                                              -D.D.    microfiche, and article copies are available
                                                                                               through University Microfilms International.



242  I The Standard Bearer  / March 1, 1990


 Meditation
Rev. lames Slopsema                    Walking With God

   Noah was a just man and               God is the God of infinite            Noah's days the wickedness of
perfect in his generations, and        goodness. In fact, there is no          man was great in the earth.
Noah walked with God.                  good apart from Him. He is the          Mankind had corrupted the earth
                       -Genesis 6:9    source of all goodness and the          before God and filled it with
                                       standard of all that is good. In        violence. Mankind had given
   What a Shari, contrast!             that goodness God lives and             himself over to eating and drink-
   God saw that the wickedness         walks eternally. God never acts         ing, marrying and giving in mar-
of man was great in the earth.         contrary to the goodness of His         riage, all apart from God and His
Every imagination of his heart         divine Being. All His thoughts          holy commandments. Amongst
was evil continually. So wicked        and works and actions are in            all this Noah lived in faithful obe-
had mankind become that it             perfect accord with His goodness.       dience to the will and law of
repented God that He had made          For that reason all the ways of         God.
man on the earth. The Lord even        God are righteousness and truth.          Having described the life of
declared that He would destroy           To walk with God is to walk           Noah in this way, the Word of
mankind from off the face of the       along with God in His goodness.         God sums up Noah's life in one
earth.                                 God has revealed the way of             phrase: Noah walked with God.
   And then there is Noah.             goodness for man in His holy              Do you walk with God?
   Noah was a just man and             law. Keep the commandments of             Certain it is that the generation
perfect in his generations, and        God and you walk in His                 of men among whom we live is
Noah walked with God.                  goodness. Keep the command-             not walking with God. They are
   We too live in a time of great      ments of God and you are walk-          very much like the generation in
wickedness. The world is quickly       ing with God.                           which Noah found himself. They
filling the cup of iniquity and          That this is, in fact, the reality    walk not with God but arm in
making itself ripe for judgment.       of walking with God is evident          arm with the Devil.
This time the judgment of God          from what God says of Noah.               Let us walk with God, as did
will not be a flood, but the final     Noah was a just or righteous            Noah. Let it be said of us that we
destruction of the world through       man. This means that Noah               are righteous men and women,
fire.                                  ordered his life according to the       perfect in our generation!
                                                                               * * * * * * * * * *
   How important it is to walk         laws of God.
with God as Noah of old.                 Noah was also perfect. This             When two walk together down
* * * * * * * * * *                    means that Noah was complete,           the same path they normally
                                       i.e., complete in his righteous-        communicate with each other.
   When you walk with someone,         ness. No, this doesn't mean that        True, you can walk with some-
you walk in the same direction,        Noah was without sin. But it does       one and the both of you say
down the same path as the other        mean that Noah walked in the            nary a word. But most often
person. In like manner, one            righteousness of God's law in           those who walk with each other
walks with God when he walks in        every aspect of his life: in his        are friends. And friends com-
God's ways, in the same direction      marriage, in his home with his          municate. They share with each
that God walks.                        children, in his business, in every     other their joys and sorrows,
                                       aspect of life. Noah was the kind       their likes and dislikes, their in-
                                       of man that was above reproach          terests, the things that happen in
                                       by his fellow man.                      their lives. They do this especial-
                                         And Noah was this in his
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope                                                ly when they walk together.
Protestant Reformed Church of          generation, i.e., in the generation       In like manner those who walk
Walker, Michigan.                      of men among whom he lived. In          with God also enjoy a close com-

                                                                                 March 1, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  I2!43


munion with God. In fact, our                 ings of His death and resurrec-        of Noah's day with the flood, He
ability to walk with God in His               tion.                                  will destroy the world of our day
goodness depends on keeping                      This faith, which is something      with fire. This shall take place
ourselves in close communion                  God works in the hearts and lives      when Christ one day comes
with Him.                                     of all His people, is a daily turn-    again.
   Understand full well that we               ing to God for help and salvation.        And in the day of Christ the
are not able to walk with God in                 By faith we are led to see          ungodly will be destroyed
His goodness in our own                       many things. from the Word of          forever, even as they were in the
strength. Of ourselves we are                 God. We are led to see our sins        flood. But those who walk with
wicked and depraved, dead in                  and weaknesses so that we              God, as did Noah, shall be s.aved.
trespasses and sins, incapable of             grieve over them in godly sor-         They will be brought to a new
doing any good, inclined to every             row. We are led to see our total       creation, a creation much
wicked way. Consequently, the                 inability to overcome sin in our       superior to that which Noah en-
only possibility that remains for             lives: to turn from our sins or to     joyed after the flood. And in this
us is to reach out to the Devil so            be reconciled to God. But we are       new creation they will walk with
as to walk arm in arm with him                also led by faith to understand        God eternally, in perfect joy and
down the path of sin.                         that there is salvation from sin in    peace. For in this new creation
   If we will walk with God in the            the perfect work of Jesus Christ.      there will be none who oppose
way of goodness, God must                        Consequently, those who live        God or persecute His people.
transform us by His grace. He                 by faith turn to God, seeking the      There will be no sin. Neither will
must make us good as He is                    salvation He has provided in           the curse of.God be found, which
good, righteous as He is                      Christ. In prayer they daily con-      brings so much misery to our
righteous, holy as He is holy.                fess their sins to God, seeking        lives here below. There will only
   This God does by establishing              forgiveness in the blood of Jesus      be the perfect bliss of Gods
with us the closest possible com-             Christ. In the name of Jesus           friendship and companionship, as
munion and fellowship in Jesus                Christ they also seek God's help       we walk with Him eternally.
Christ.                                       to overcome sin in their lives           With our eye singled to thris
   In this communion God                      that they may lead a new life of       glorious future, let us walk daily
bestows upon us the blessings of              loving service to Him.                 with our God in the perfection of
salvation He has obtained for us                It's only in that way - the          His law, living in close comrnu-
in Jesus Christ. Through the suf-             way of faith - that God's people       nion with Him through prayer
fering and death of Jesus Christ              receive and enjoy the blessings of     and His Word. 0
on the cross, God has obtained                salvation. Through faith they ob-
for us the forgiveness of all our             tain the forgiveness of sins and
sins. He has also obtained for us             are reconciled to God. Through            Spiritual Breakdown
the power of a new life. These                faith they also receive the power        If you are impatient, sit dow.n
blessings God freely bestows                  of a new life to walk with God in      quietly, and have a talk with Job.
upon us, the result of which is               the goodness of His precepts.            If you are just a little head-strong,
that day by day we walk with                    Do you so walk with God?             go to see Moses.
God in holiness and righteous-                  Is yours a life of intimate com-       If you are getting weak-kneed,
ness.                                         munion with God, leading you to        take a look at Elijah.
  However, communication and                  walk with God in His perfections         If there is no song in your heart,
communion are always two-                                                            listen to David.
                                              and goodness?                            If you are a policy man, read
sided. It takes two to com-                   * * * * * * * * * *                    Daniel.
municate. Consequently, we also                                                        If you are getting sordid, spend a
have an active part in the com-                  Noah walked with God and            while with Isaiah.
munion that exists between God                received a great reward. God             If you feel chilly, get the beloved
and us. Our part in this commu-               destroyed the world with the           disciple to put his arms around you.
nion is faith.                                flood for its great wickedness.          If your faith is below par, read
  God bestows upon us the bless-              But Noah was spared with his           Paul.
ings of the cross by faith alone.             family in the ark and was                If you are getting lazy, watch
This is because faith is our                  brought by God to a new crea-          James.
                                                                                       If you are losing sight of the
spiritual connection to Jesus                 tion.                                  future, climb up to Revelation and
Christ. By faith we become one                  This serves as a picture of          get a glimpse of the promised land.
with Jesus Christ and thus                    greater things that were to come.                                 --S.B., 1929
receive from Christ all the bless-            Just as.God destroyed the world

244 I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


                                           Sem Profs Attend
Editorial                                  John Calvin Conference

   The Theological School Com-                Some ninety theologians, pro-        Overall the papers were of real
mittee -of the Protestant Re-              fessors, and pastors heard nine       worth, reflecting solid, thorough
formed Seminary makes provi-               Calvin scholars present papers        scholarship in important aspects
sion for the professors to attend          and then respond to questions         of the theology of the man to
conferences that will be helpful           and reaction from the audience.       whom the Reformed faith owes
for their work. With the approval          Most of the speeches dealt with       so much. In the past the papers
of the TSC, Professors Hanko and           various aspects of the theology of    were published in book form. Do-
Engelsma availed themselves of             John Calvin: "The Body in             ing this again would make
the provision to attend a                  Calvin's Theology"; "The Doc-         available the one scheduled lec-
"colloquium on Calvin studies"             trine of the Holy Trinity: Gregory    ture that was not given - a lec-
on January 19 and 20 of this               of Nazianzen and Calvin";             ture intriguingly titled, "A Survey
year at Davidson College in                "Calvin's Doctrine of Eternal         of the Development of Calvin's
Davidson, North Carolina.                  Life"; "The Word of the Holy          Theology in the French Reformed
   A colloquium is an academic             Spirit in Calvin's Theology"; and     Community, 1536-1990."  It would
meeting at which specialists               "Calvin's Significance for            also enable the registrants at the
deliver addresses on a topic and           Evangelism Today," among              colloquium, and others, to read
then answer questions relating to          others. One lecture was devoted       the lectures in their entirety.
the speeches. The Davidson Col-            to the theology of Heinrich Bul-      Many of the speakers struggled
lege Colloquium is a spin-off from         linger, Swiss Reformed pastor and     unsuccessfully to compress their
the Calvin Studies Society that            theologian in Zurich and contem-      addresses into the short span of a
meets every other year, usually            porary of Calvin. Dr. Wilhelm         mere hour.
at Calvin Seminary in Grand                Neuser from the University of           Running the risk of ignoring
Rapids. The Davidson Colloquium            Munster in Germany, who coor-         other speeches equally worthy, I1
meets in the alternate years. The          dinates international Calvin          may note several papers of
purpose of the Davidson Collo-             scholarship, gave a review of         special interest or value. Pro-
quium is the same as that of the           Calvin studies today.                 fessor Thomas F. Torrance from
Calvin Studies Society:
   The primary purpose of the Socie-
ty shall be to engage in and promote
the study of the life, times, and
thought of John Calvin. While
centering on John Calvin, the interest
shall include persons and subjects
related to the Reformed aspect of the
Protestant Reformation, centering on
the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. Besides theological subjects,
historical, sociological, and other
concerns shall be reflected. In pur-
suit of this purpose, the Society shall
encourage research, sponsor con-
ferences, and insofar as possible
shall assist in and arrange for
publications.
                                           One of the sessions at the Calvin Colloquium.

                                                                                   March 1, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  /  ;!45


the University of Edinburgh,                     this rare call to the Reformed        The Calvin Studies Society is
Scotland gave a brilliant lecture                churches to engage in missions        presently engaged in this
on Calvin's doctrine of the Trini-               on a basis that is true to their      translating and editing.
ty in which he contended that                    own theology: the predestination         No denomination of churches
there is basic agreement between                 of God. The PR members of the         has livelier interest in the
Calvin, theologian of the Western                audience would have liked to          theology of John Calvin than do
church, and Gregory Nazianzen,                   have asked the speaker whether        the PRC. For in doctrine, in
the Eastern theologian.                          he thought that evangelism then       church government, and in wor-
   The speech on Bullinger's                     needs and demands the univer-         ship, the theology of Calvin, as
theology shared the fruit of fresh               sal, conditional grace and the        the expression of the Word of
research that is being done in the               universal will of God to salvation    God, is the confession and prac-
writings of Bullinger, some of                   of the "well-meant offer," as is      tice of the PRC. There is a
which has not yet been                           the prevailing notion among pro-      danger that Calvin scholarship be
translated into English. Bullinger               fessing Calvinists today. But time    merely a professional activity.
is particularly important for                    had run out on Saturday after-        Men and women study Calvin as
Reformed theology because of his                 noon.                                 other scholars study ancient
insight into the truth of the cove-                Such a conference affords the       Chinese civilizations. It is not
nant in Scripture. Bullinger saw                 delightful opportunity to meet        work done by the church that
the covenant as the central, uni-                theologians and authors private-      loves and adheres to the
fying doctrine of the Scripture.                 ly. In private conversation there     theology of Calvin. It is not work
   I. John Hesselink argued per-                 was discussion not only of            done on behalf of the church, so
suasively that Calvin's teaching of              Calvin's theology but also of re-     that she may come to a deeper
the Spirit's guidance of the                     cent books, developments in the       knowledge of the truth of the Bi-
believer includes more than the                  churches, and the widest range        ble under the guidance of Calvin
believer's obedience to the law.                 of matters theological. A stray       and the other Reformers. It is not
There is also a "secret guidance"                remark about Joachim of Fiore         even a work done by theologians
in which the Spirit gives the                    (12th century monk, who               who themselves share Calvin's
believing man or woman special                   developed an influential millen-      beliefs and exert themselves to
insight and special empowering                   nial teaching) to an as yet           instruct the church in these
for the Christian walk, although                 unknown dining companion occa-        beliefs.
this never contradicts the Word                  sioned a learned, useful, im-           I confess to a sense of puzzle-
or takes place by new revela-                    promptu lecture on the                ment and disquiet when I hear of
tions.                                           millenarian monk. The tablemate       the widespread interest in
   Merwyn Johnson insisted that                  turned out to be a medieval           Calvin's theology and when I: see
predestination (Calvin's doctrine                historian whose speciality for the    the devoted scholarship in thds
of predestination?) must be the                  past twenty years has been            theology. Why are not the
basis for all evangelism, since                  Joachim.                              Reformed and Presbyterian
evangelism depends upon the                        The interest in Calvin's            churches characterized by in-
sovereign grace of God. He                       theology and the work being           terest in and fidelity to Calvin's
stated that much of modern                       done, worldwide, in translating,      theology? Why are these
evangelism is faulty because it                  analyzing, and publishing this        churches deliberately abandoning
rests on the Pelagian notion of                  theology are astounding. Calvin's     Calvin's theology,~  even to the
the natural ability of man and                   theology is still commanding at       point of shedding themselves of
proceeds accordingly in its tac-                 the end of the 20th century. This     the Calvinistic creeds? Why i.s
tics. My notes have him saying,                  scholarly work is of great benefit    this true also of the churches to
"Modern evangelism does not                      to us who regard Calvin's             which. some of the outstanding
.hold the priority of grace in                   theology as faithful explanation      Calvin scholars belong? If one
evangelism. Rather, man himself                  of the Word of God. Especially        thing was true of Calvin, it was
has priority. Grace is only a                    valuable is the translating into      that he did not regard theology
possibility." Having ridden from                 English and publishing of the         as mere private, academic pursuit
the airport to the conference the                writings of Calvin and of the         and personal, professional
day before on the Billy Graham                   other Reformers that have been        business, much less as a game for
Parkway, and having become ac-                   inaccessible up until now in far-     Ph.D's in religion. Theology is
customed to ardent defense by                    off places and in strange tongues.    church-work. Sound theology is
Reformed people of free will                                                           necessary for the very being of
evangelism, we were struck by                                                          the worshiping, confessing, and

246  I The  Standaid  Bearer  I March 1, 1990


obeying congregation of Christ.       far as I am aware, the only work        erring from the truth. No one of-,
Where the church has apos-            of Calvin on the subject in             fered a satisfactory explanation.
tatized, she must be reformed by      English is his letter of 1537 which     A paper on the subject would be
theology - the theology of            appears in Volume III of his            profitable and provocative. But
Calvin.                               Tracts and Treatises as "On Shun-       let it be a theological paper, not
  Perhaps this is what John H.        ning the Unlawful Rites of the          a psychological study of Calvin's
Leith has in mind when he pro-        Ungodly and Preserving the Puri-        supposed emotional hang-ups.
poses that the next colloquium,       ty of the Christian Religion." But      And let it be by someone who
in 1992, "focus on Calvin Studies     there are at least several other        does not begin with the bias that
as they relate to the life of the     similar works of Calvin on this         this severity is only an abhorrent
congregation. I believe the collo-    very important theme, none of           evil in Calvin.
quium would serve the church          which to the best of my knowl-            Members of the Calvin Studies
well by concentrating on Calvin's     edge is available in English.           Society and of the Davidson
understanding of piety, catecheti-    Calvin's view of the necessity of       Colloquium may like to know
cal instruction and worship. Con-     belonging to a church that              that the Reformed Free Publish-
troversy on each of these themes      manifests the marks of the true         ing Association in Grand Rapids,
exists in the church, and church      church is not only of historical        MI has recently published Henry
practices increasingly deviate        significance but is also of great       Cole's translation of Calvin's two
from Calvin's teaching."              practical importance for Prot-          great works on predestination
  If the Calvin Studies Society       estants in departing churches to-       and providence, "A Treatise on
and the Davidson Colloquium on        day.                                    the Eternal Predestination of
Calvin Studies are open to sug-         A second suggestion is that           God" and "A Defence of the
gestions, I have two. First, would    one of these conferences assign         Secret Providence of God." The
someone translate into English,       someone to prepare a paper on           title is Calvin's Calvinism. The
and publish, Calvin's writings        the subject of Calvin's severity in     book had been out of print since
against the "Nicodemites," i.e.,      condemning heretics. More than          1950.
those who professed the Refor-        once at the recent Davidson Col-          As has become evident by this
mation gospel but for various         loquium, speakers referred to           time, we enjoyed the con-
practical reasons remained within     Calvin's "harshness" in dealing         ference. Cl                       -DJE
the Roman Catholic Church? So         with those whom he regarded as




1 etters

Amoral Evolution                      Mr. DeJong's article to that of         part in the evolutionary game.
in the Schoors                        evolution as taught in our              Morris and DeJong reject evolu-
                                      schools.                                tion and turn to branding evolu-
  "Evolution is the root of             It is inconceivable that these        tionists as Nazis, racists, or abor-
atheism, of communism, nazism,        should be confused in that evolu-       tionists. Evolution, like chemistr,y
behaviorism, racism . . . and all     tionary biology and the evolution       and mathematics, is entirely out-
manner of anti-Christian systems      that Darwin envisioned can make         side the realm of the abortion
of belief and practice." So wrote     no ethical judgments or raise           issue and knows neither right nor
Henry M. Morris, perhaps the          philosophical issues. Evolution         wrong. To equate the teaching of
world's leading creationist, in a     deals with genes, fossils, DNA,         evolution with social issues is ir-
very McCarthy-like attack upon        and change through time, not            responsible and misleading.
evolution. After reading Mr.          moral questions or "might makes         Perhaps if we remember this
Henry DeJong's article "Abortion      right." It is true that there are       distinction, then we need not fear
and Evolution" (The Standard          those who advocate Social Dar-          or distrust the fact of evolution.
Bearer, Feb. 1, 1990), I felt com-    winsim - Marx did, as did                        Dana Scott Slaughter
pelled to contrast the Social Dar-    Rockefeller; but political, ethical,             Wyoming, MI
winism referred to above and in       and philosophical views play no

                                                                                March 1, 1990 I The Standard Bearer  I2!47


Response                                       From the South                         many of us devour the truth ex-
   Whose schools?                                I am writing to you . . . to tell    pressed in the Reformed faith!
   Mr. De Jong did not "reject                 you how much I have been               Thank you for . . . such an edify-
evolution and turn to branding                 blessed by the witness of the          ing newsletter. Secondly, I rreed
evolutionists as . . . abortionists."          Protestant Reformed Churches           your assistance in locating a
His article analyzed the theory of             through their literature, especial-    clear, biblically sound book writ-
evolution as a teaching that not               ly The Standard Bearer . . . We        ten by a Sovereign Grace writer
only makes all principled objec-               thank God for the work of the          dealing in depth with the issue of
tion to abortion impossible but                PRC. Please, don't change a            "The Gifts." My hope would be
also provides solid warrant for                thing. If there's one thing that       that it would be somewhat of an
abortion.                                      can kill a denomination, it's          exhaustive work, one centering
   Evolution is a doctrine of                  "progress!"                            on why the gifts have
origins. Setting aside the Bible's                    Charles H. Greenewald           ceased . . . .
doctrine of origins and, thus, the                    Norcross, GA                      We need Sovereign Grace
God of creation and providence,                                                       books!
evolution makes man the                        Request for                                      Dion L. Marshall
measure of all things. Indeed, it                                                               Corcoran, CA
                                               Sovereign Grace Books
"knows neither right nor wrong."                                                      Response
   Reformed Christians neither                   . . . I love The Standard
fear nor distrust the theory (not              Bearer! God receives ALL His             Recommendation of books on
"fact") of evolution. Holding                  glory, spare none! . . . How           the cessation of extraordinar,y
Genesis 1-3, like all Scripture, for           someone can say he is                  and miraculous gifts is on the
the inspired Word of God and                   "Christian" and reject the             way, with recommendation of
honoring God as sovereign                      sovereignty of God perplexes me.       other books that will be helpful
Creator, they hate the theory of                 The reason for my writing is         to you. We are also sending you
evolution and repudiate it utterly.            twofold. Foremost in my heart is       books and materials as a gift..
   Especially in our schools.                  to sincerely thank you and en-                   -Ed. Cl
         -Ed.                                  courage you, however feebly, for


                                              Laboring While It Is Day
                                              C o n t r o v e r s i a l   D u t c h   .
                                                   Theologian Retires
                                              Fresh Theology
All Around Us
Prof. Robert Decker                           News From Singapore

                                               Laboring While                         Arabia leading the list of 54
                                               It Is Day                              countries considered "restricted
                                                                                      access nations." These nations
                                                 About two-thirds of the world's      prohibit the publishing of Chris-
                                               population live in countries that      tian literature, deny access to
                                               restrict the church in some way,       missionaries, and forbid people to
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical         according to a recent study by         gather in religious assembly. In-
Theology in the Protestant Reformed            Issachar Frontier `Missions            dia and Indonesia are included
Seminary.                                      Strategies. The study finds Saudi      on this list despite the fact that

248  I The Standard Bearer I March 1, 1990


 these countries do allow some          Centraal Weekblad on the occa-           This position, viz., that our
 mission activity. Even if these        sion of Kuitert's retirement an ar-    understanding of Scripture must
 two nations are not counted,           ticle in which he said that Kuitert    be reformulated in the light of
 some 44 percent of the world's         made his mark on the church.           our present experience of God, iis
 population are closed to mis-          "As a student of Berkhouwer,           no different from Kuitert's view
 sionaries. This percentage is ex-      who in the years following World       that theology must be tested by
 pected to grow in the next             War II led the GKN out of its self-    human experience. This makes
 decade so that by the year 2000        chosen isolation, Kuitert further      mans understanding of Scripture,
as much as 85 percent of the            freed Reformed theology from its       an understanding based on his
population will live in countries       shortness of breath (shortsighted-     "experience with God," the norm
closed to missionaries.  (Christian-    ness) and its useless navel-gazing     for faith and practice. According
ity Today, December 15, 1989)           that characterized it during the       to this view Scripture itself can
   If the above report is accurate      thirties and forties." According to    no longer be what it claims to
then surely the church ought to         the same article the human quali-      be, the God-breathed Word
"labor while it is day, ere the         ty of the setting of Gods revela-      which is profitable for doctrine,
night cometh in which no man            tion was a major principle in all      reproof, correction, and instruc-
can labor."                             of Kuitert's writings. Revelation      tion in righteousness. Scripture,
                                        came to us, according to Kuitert,      according to this view, cannot hle
Controversial Dutch                     in human language and thought.         the absolute rule for the faith and
Theologian Retires                      The Christian religion, as other       life of the Christian. A position
                                        religions, begins with a searching     such as this is just another aspect
   Dr. Harry Kuitert retired in         for God that is tested in the          of the all-out assault on the dot
December 1989 as professor of           realm of human experience.             trine of Holy Scripture we are
Ethics and Dogmatics at the Free        (Centraal Weekblad, REC News           witnessing in our day. May God
University of Amsterdam. Kuitert        Exchange, The Banner)                  give us grace to "stand fast and
found himself the center of con-          That the GKN, wherein most of        hold the traditions which we
troversy in the Reformed                us have our spiritual roots, is        have been taught," especially the
Churches in the Netherlands             what it is today is due in no          traditional, Reformed doctrine of
(GKN) several times during his 25-      small part to the influence of Dr.     Holy Scripture (II Thessalonians
year career at the Free University.     Kuitert. That is not to his credit.    2:15).
During the 1960s the synod of           But then the GKN lacked the
the GKN questioned Kuitert on           strength to discipline this man        News From Singapore
his position on the historicity of      who as his career progressed
the Fall of Adam. During that                                                    From The Committee For Con-
                                        grew increasingly bold in his
same decade the synod ques-                                                    tact With Other Churches of the
                                        denials of the fundamentals of
tioned his position on the                                                     PRC comes several interesting
                                        the Reformed faith.
authority of Holy Scripture. In                                                news items from our fellowsaints
1976 the synod once more ques-                                                 in the two congregations of the
                                        Fresh Theology
tioned Kuitert's position on the                                               Evangelical Reformed Churches
authority of Scripture and ques-          John Stapert tells his readers       in Singapore. On behalf of these
tioned his position on the binding      that the ongoing task of theology      churches the Rev. Jaikaishin
character of the Reformed Con-          is "to reformulate our under-          Mahtani, pastor of Covenant
fessions. On none of these occa-        standing of Scripture in light of      ERCS, is spending the months of
sions was the professor dis-            our present experience of God."        February and March in his native
ciplined, though on the third oc-       We must all be open to this pro-       land of India "exploring a possi-
casion (1976) he was repri-             cess: to the "reformulation of         ble mission field" there. It would
manded by the synod.                    doctrine, to the recasting of          appear that the Lord is giving
   Strikingly enough, the same          catechisms, to the creation of         these newly organized Reformeid
`year the synod issued its repri-       fresh theological categories. God      churches in Singapore an open
mand it approved the study com-         is never adequately captured by        door for missions in India. What
mittee report on scriptural             our formulations." Stapert thinks      a wonderful gift of God and fruit
authority, titled "God Met Ons"         that miraculous healings of the        upon the mission work done by
(God With Us), a report which           sick "constitute one kind of           our churches in Singapore this is!
was heavily influenced by               divine intrusion that should           Now these churches, the fruit of
Kuitert. A colleague of Kuitert,        prompt us to think afresh"             the faithful and diligent work of
Prof. G. Manenschijn, wrote in          (Church Herald).                       our churches, especially through

                                                                                  March 1, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  / 249


our former missionary, the Rev.               suffering another bout with             because of the tremendous clost.
Arie den Hartog, are busy                     ulcers. May God bless Pastor Lau        May God in His mercy provide
themselves in missions. Let us be             and strengthen him in his               for their need.
fervent in prayer for Rev.                    ministry. First Church continues           Both pastors Lau and Mahtani
Mahtani and the work in India.                to experience a great deal of dif-      plan to attend the conference
   On January 13 the First ERCS               ficulty in finding a permanent          with sister churches scheduled
celebrated the 8th anniversary of             place for worship. Twice the            for June 11, 12, and 13 in Grand
its organization as a church. First           government has denied their re-         Rapids. Needless to say, we
Church continues to enjoy                     quests for permission to renovate       eagerly look forward to seeing
numerical growth. The congrega-               and use existing buildings for          them again and fellowshiping
tion now has a goodly number of               their worship services. It appears      with these brothers and others of
children. The pastor of the con-              that they will be forced to buy         like precious faith with us who
gregation, the Rev. Lau Chin                  property and build a new church.        are coming from various parts of
Kwee, is back in the pulpit after             This they had hoped to avoid            the world. 0





 The Day                                      Sovereign Grace's
of Shadows
Rev. ]ohn Heys                                Comforting Shadow

   As pointed out last time,                  he requested his wife to lie and        the Chaldees or Haran to find1
Abraham's obedience, when God                 tell all in Egypt, where they had       another God-fearing wife to beget
commanded him to leave his                    gone, that she was Abraham's            his children.
country, kinsmen, and father,                 sister.                                   But let us not overlook the fact
and go to a land which He would                  Now it is truth that she was his     that Abraham and Sarah clearly
show him, revealed that he had                stepsister. Genesis 20: 12 reveals      here revealed that they were not
been born again. However, that                that although she was the               holding on to God's promise.
obedience was only a beginning,               daughter of his father, she was         They were walking in unbelief
and in fact a small beginning, of             not the daughter of his mother.         and not in faith. Here we do
new obedience.                                She had become his wife, and            have a shadow of what his
   Abraham did obey, and he left              therefore to tell this half truth is    grandson, Jacob, did years later,
his country, kinsmen, and father,             to tell a lie. As his wife she was      when he lied and deceived his
and the land where he had been                actually closer to him than if she      father into believing that he was
born. But he also left that coun-             were a full sister. Man and wife        Esau, so that he might get the
try where God brought him. He                 become one. Brother and sister          birthright blessing. Abraham, a
left the land where God brought               are not. By, hiding the fact that       believing child of God, did cast a
him and where God promised to                 she was one flesh with him,             shadow of sins that appear SOI
make him the father of a great                therefore, was a lie. That lie ac-      widely in the lives of God's
nation, to give him a great name,             tually means, from a positive           people. Let it be repeated,,fol
to make him a blessing, and to                point of view, that the king of         Scripture presents these things to
bless all the families of this earth          Egypt could legally marry her.          show us the reality of it: The
in him (Genesis 12:1-3). What is              That is what Abraham and Sarah          child of God in this life.has only
more, he entered into a sinful life           actually said by that lie. They         a small beginning of that new
which manifested unbelief. For                also said that Abraham could            obedience. He may at times
                                              legally marry another woman             reveal tremendous faith, because
                                              and would, because of God's             God gives him the strength to do
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in           promise to make a great nation          so in His sovereign grace. But he
the Protestant Reformed Churches.             of him, have to go back to Ur of        will often slip and slide and fall

250  / The Standard Bearer I March  1,199O


into sin because of his sinful         They have no interest in the           "grace abideth ever and faileth
flesh.                                 truth concerning Christ. Him and       never." He afflicted Pharaoh so
  As pointed out last time, sin        the work He .has wrought for His       that he did not take Sarah -as his
develops in the church as well as      people does not excite and thrill      wife. He protected Abraham and
in the world. The believers stum-      them. And the lie of Satan, his        Sarah even though they had
ble and fall. And sometimes that       devilish work which is defended,       sinned grievously. In His grace
can be a tremendous fall. Peter        and their sinful walks of life, do     He sent Abraham back to that
made a beautiful confession of         not make them cold and do not          promised land, and did not allow
faith when he said "Thou art the       make them want to run away             a finger to touch and hurt him.
Christ, the Son of the living God"     from these evils. They are             This was all because of His grace
(Matthew 16:16). But a few days        neutral both as far as the lie is      in Christ, not because of past
later he declared, when at Jesus'      concerned - false doctrines that       works of faith which Abraham
trial a man said that he was a         exalt fallen man - and as far as       and Sarah performed.
disciple of Christ, "Man, I am         transgressions of God's holy law         Go back again to. Genesis 12:7.
not" (Luke 22:58). A high point of     are concerned. This church has         There we read that God very
faith can be seen in a child of        fallen far. He, Christ, is ready to    clearly made plain to Abraham
God, but a low point in his            spew it out of His mouth. But          that Canaan was the land
spiritual life is not unusual. Did     because God loves His elect            promised to him and his seed.
not Paul, that dedicated, faithful     believers in that church, He com-      There we read, "Unto thy seed
apostle of Christ write in Romans      mands them to bring Christ (that       will I give this land: and there
7:24, "0 wretched man that I am!       is, the truth concerning Him)          builded he an altar unto the
who shall deliver me from the          back into the church. Churches         Lord, Who appeared unto him."
body of this death?"                   can fall very far into sin. Adam's     This makes it plain that Abraha:m
  Turn to Revelation chapters          sin is a shadow of all these cor-      knew that he was leaving the
two and three. There sins are          ruptions that are in the church        land God promised him. For we
mentioned that existed in the          world as well as in the rest of the    also read in verse 10 that he
churches listed in that chapter.       human race.                            "went down into Egypt to so-
Note especially the description of       To return to Abraham, let us         journ there." This means that he
the church at Laodicea. We read        listen to the Heidelberg               intended to come back, and he
even that God is ready to spit her     Catechism when it, in Lord's Day       still believed that God promised
out of His mouth. At the door of       XXIV, states that "our best works      him the land of Canaan. To so-
the church - not outside the           in this life are all imperfect and     journ is not to settle. To sojourn
heart of the members - stands          defiled with sin." If you do not       is to be a temporary resident.
Jesus telling them that they must      agree with that statement, look        Abraham still had faith. In His
open the door of their church in       up Isaiah 64:6 where we read,          grace God preserves that faith
the sense that they again have         "But we-are all as an unclean          everlastingly in His elect.
Him preached from their pulpit.        thing, and all our righteousnesses     Abraham sinned grievously, but
He calls those who were born           are as filthy rags; and we do fade     did not lose his faith, because
again, His elect remnant in the        as a leaf; and our iniquities, like    God kept it there in his soul!
congregation. They can hear            the wind, have taken us away."           As far as Sarah is concerned,
Him. He is not calling spiritually     A believing child of God says          she also sinned grievously. Even
dead sinners to let Him come in-       that. Yea, God says that through       when taken into the harem to be
to their hearts. The spiritually       him. Surely then we do not             with those women whom the
dead cannot hear Him knock any         deserve salvation because we           king could defile and take to
more than a physically dead man        believe. Even if we do perform         himself as his wife if he wanted
can hear you when you come to          good works, as Abraham did             to, Sarah did not straighten
the funeral home. Besides, there       when he obeyed God and went            things out and say, "I am
is absolutely nothing in that          to the promised land, just             Abraham's wife."' Did it thrill her
whole letter to this church that       remember that one sin calls for        to think that she could become a
even suggests that Jesus is knock-     everlasting punishment. Go back        queen in Egypt?
ing on the doors of the hearts of      to what God said through Isaiah.         However, the point to consider
its members. The letter does           We do fade as a leaf. Our iniq-        here is that Abraham was guilty
plainly reveal that the truth is no    uities, like the wind, blow us         also of her sins, as well as his
longer being preached in that          away from the proper walk of           own. He asked her to lie. That
church. The bulk of the con-           life so very, very often.              makes him guilty of the lie. We
gregation is neither cold nor hot.       Now it is true that God's            had better consider also the sins

                                                                                March 1, 1990 I The Standard Bearer I251


which we have led others into,                  by Jesus to pray, "Forgive us our       lasting punishment. Our Savimor
and realize that this is a double               debts, as we forgive our debtors."      then must and did do the work
sin for us. We sinned by tempt-                    Our Savior did not save us           we failed to do.
ing, and we sinned when that                    merely by suffering our punish-           What a marvelous work of
other person did what we led.                   ment. That had to be taken out          Christ, then, and what a blessed
him to do sinfully. And, once                   of the way. But all the work of         manifestation of God's grace! He,
more, so that we do not forget                  love which we did not do is still       our gracious God, kept Pharaoh
and ignore this fact, only ONE                  required, and He performed that         from killing Abraham so that he
sin of Adam brought the whole                   work. In Matthew 5:17 He tells us       could have his wife. He did not
measure of punishment upon the                  that we must not think that He          punish Abraham, although he
human race. He died because of                  came to destroy the law or the          deserved it. Rather He sent
one sin, because of a sin that we               prophets. And He states it em-          Abraham back to the promised
might even try to minimize. A                   phatically, "I am not come to           land. He kept fulfilling His prom-
sin that takes only a split second              destroy (the law) but to fulfill."      ise even though Abraham
to perform, a fleeting sinful                     We do have a huge debt. The           turned against Him.
thought or desire, is against the               older we get, the greater our             God did not speak to Abraham
everlasting God, and calls for an               debt becomes. We fail so often to       with His mouth, the way He did
everlasting punishment.                         walk in love toward God. We are         when he was in that promised
  Here then is also the wonder-                 commanded, and we were                  land. But He did speak by His
ful truth that is so often over-                created, to walk that way every         works which He performed. And
looked: Jesus Christ our Savior                 split second of our lives, without      note also that although Abraham
did not simply suffer all the                   a moment of walking in hatred           left Canaan because of a grievous
punishment that we deserve                      toward God. And remember that           famine, God brought him bac:k
because of our millions upon                    if we are not walking in love, we       and kept him alive there in that
millions of sins, but He also DID               are walking in hatred. Fail to pay      land of promise. God keeps every
all the works of God's law that                 your debt to the government, as         letter in every word of His
we failed to do. Does not Scrip-                far as your taxes are concerned,        promise to His church. Here we
ture speak of our debts? And do                 or to a store, and your debt will       have a shadow of the great
we not read in I Corinthians 6:20               get greater. The interest you           blessedness that is coming to us.
and 7:23 that we are bought with                must pay increases the debt. It         One day we are going to see ful-
a price? We have a debt. We owe                 will not fade away in time.             ly and perfectly that His "grace
God works of love which we did                  Before the eternal God, our             abideth  ever  and mercy faileth
not perform. And we are- taught                 failure to serve calls for ever-        never." 0




 The Strength                                  The  End  Times  (3):
of Youth
Rev. Barfeti Critters                          The .Antichrist

   A major sign of the end times                overcome the saints, as a power         sumed." If Antichrist.is to colme
is the rise and development of                  that cannot be resisted. He will        in the place of Christ and against
Antichrist. In the last days, short-            be the antithesis to Christ.            Christ (as the name indicates:), it
ly before the return of our Lord,                 The name Scripture gives, him         would seem that he would pre-
Antichrist will come to rule the                is "Antichrist," in the singular. He    sent Himself as the Christ. M:y
world, conquer the nations, and                 is "the man of sin" and the "son        assumption here is that the An-
                                                of perdition," who "opposes,"           tichrist will be one man.
                                                "exalts himself," "sitteth in the         This is not to say that there
Rev. Gitters  is pa&or of the Prot-             temple of God," shows "himself          are not even now many.anti-,
estant Reformed Church of Byron
Center, Michigan.                               that he is God," and is "con-           christs,  as the New Testament

252  / The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


makes plain (I John 2:18), that is,     christ comes? Will we be able to        newspapers and news magazines?
many persons who come to op-            stand against his forces when he        Do you analyze history and cur-
pose Christ and His work. Nor           demands submission and uncon-           rent events? Don't be blind to the
should this distract our attention      ditional obedience?" More impor-        developments in the world todaly.
from the spirit of Antichrist that      tantly, because of his deception        The Berlin wall is coming down
is already in the world, working        "will we be .able to detect him for     and the Germanies may unite.
furiously to destroy the church of      who he really is?" The Lord gives       Czechoslovakia is abandoning
Christ. When the Scripture refers       us great and precious promises.         (apparently) its Communist rule.
to Antichrist, though, we are           No one shall be able to pluck you       Other Communist countries are
pointed to a man who will come          out of his hand. We are more'           leaning toward Capitalism. Whalt
as a spiritual and political head of    than conquerors through Christ,         this may mean for the future of
the world.                              because Christ is victor over the       the world is not known. But kelep
  A radical departure from the          Antichrist. He shall come to con-       your ears to the ground and your
faith (see the last article, "The       sume him with the breath of his         eyes pealed. A great world com-
Divorcing of the Truth") will           mouth.                                  munication system; one world
usher in the man of sin, the Anti-        The key texts to study in con-        language and monetary system;
christ. This is a natural develop-      nection with the Antichrist are II      one great government. Are they
ment in the history of the world        Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13 &        possible?
and the church. The falling away        17, and Daniel 7 & 8, (as well as         There is also an ecclesiastica
prepares for the Antichrist, who        I John 2:18 and similar passages).      side to the Antichrist. This is
could not be successful in his mis-     Read these Scriptures carefully.        represented by the second beast
sion unless most church members           The symbolism of Revelation           of Revelation 13.
were already duped. The Anti-           13 points out that there are two          Four things stand out regard-
christ is the climax of the depar-      sides to Antichrist's kingdom: a        ing the symbolism of this beast.
ture from the faith of the gospel.      political side and an ecclesiastical    This second beast comes out of
  There are two errors that must        side, a reign over the church as        the earth. It looks like a lamb. It
be avoided in connection with           well as a reign over the world.         speaks like a dragon. It stands in
the coming of Antichrist. First,          The political side of Antichrist's    the service of the first beast. Thiis
we must not be unrealistically op-      reign is represented by the first       beast represents, not another
timistic about the future. We           beast of Revelation 13. Coming          kingdom, but the spiritual. side of
know that Christ will conquer- in       out of the sea, which represents        the first kingdom. The beast may
the end - has conquered, really         the nations of the earth (Daniel        seem fierce, but he looks like a
- as we sing, "Christ shall have        7:2, 3 and Revelation 17:15), it        lamb, evidently the looks of
dominion over land and sea." We         wears the crowns of roya& (See          Christ. The Antichrist, sitting in
know that the gates of hell will        also Daniel 7:17, 23). This             the temple of God (II Thess. 2:4),
not prevail against the church.         kingdom will be a combination of        is worshiped by .earthlings,  again,
But this does not mean that there       the world powers of the past as         a sign of a religious empire...Thle
will not be horrible times for the      well as of the present. Whereas         beast. will persuade people to
church, that the battle will mean       in Daniel the prophet spoke of          build an image, to which he will1
blood and fire and painful              different beasts representing dif-      give life, which they will wor-
wounds. The institute will be           ferent nations, John shows in           ship.
destroyed, many saints killed, the      Revelation one monstrous                  The Antichrist arises out of the
ability to buy and sell removed         creature, one conglomerate of           church, combining the powers of
for those who will not bow to the       nations. The beast has ten horns,       the world and the church to fuse
beast and his image. The future is      representing a complete measure         together one politically and
not rosy. There is a battle to be       of power to rule (see Revelation        religiously unified empire (see
fought.                                 13:7). The wound that God in-           Revelation 17: 1, 2). Again, this is
  But we ought not to be                flicted on Babel's attempt for          what the church is moving
pessimistic and frightened about        political world unity will be heal-     towards today. Think once of. all
these times either. The danger is       ed (Rev. 13:3). Instead of conflict,    the work the "church" is doing to
more real for us .that we be            cold war or hot war, there will         try to improve the world apart
paralyzed with fear from this           be peace. "And they worshiped           from gospel preaching. The social
message of "gloom and doom."            the beast, saying, who is like un-      gospel that Jesus is a savior from
"What will happen to our family,        to the beast? who is able to make       problems, mental, political,
friends, church, homes, schools?        war with. him?"                         economic, and social, is the rage.
Where will we go when the Anti-           Young people, do you read the         Think of the political involve-

                                                                                  March 1, 1990  / The Standard Bearer I253


 ment of many churches. Think of              every thought to the obedience           thew 24:24 says, "For there shall
 the Vatican's (Rome's) embassies             of the Antichrist. Revelation 13:5       arise false Christs . . . and shall
 in many of the countries of the              says, "And there was given him a         shew great signs and wonders;
world and the astounding accep-               mouth speaking great things and          insomuch that, if it were possible,
tance of the pope by the world's              blasphemies . . . and he opened          they shall deceive the very
leaders as a political power!                 his mouth in blasphemy against           elect," the words used there be-
   The Lord gives a general pic-              God, to blaspheme his name, and          ing the same as describe the
ture of what the world will be at             his tabernacle, and them that            miracles of our Lord, II Thessalo-
the end of time. Down there at                dwell in heaven."                        nians 2:9 points out: "Even h:im
the end of time there is a form                  If Christ came to oppose sin,         whose coming is after the work-
into which the church and the                 Antichrist will promote it. If           ing of Satan with all power a:nd
world must fit. Here we are in                Christ came to represent the             signs and lying wonders . . . ,."
the church today, able to see that            righteousness of God, the Anti-          The works of Antichrist will be
the "church" is molding itself to             christ will represent unrighteous-       the works of Satan, who has
fit into that shape. "He that has             ness. If Christ came to bring all        power, given only by God, of
an ear to hear, let him hear."                glory to the Father, the Anti-           course, but beyond the natural
   One kingdom, with one head,                christ will seek it for himself, rob-    ability of man.
with one unifying power: they                 bing God. If Christ came to save            The beast will be able to
will all worship the image of the             sinners, the purpose of Antichrist       speak! He will make fire come
beast.                                        will be to damn them to hell, to         down from heaven. Perhaps he
   Oh, it will be a glorious,' ap-            bring as many to his domain as           will turn you, then, to the history
pealing, rich, kingdom from the               possible for him and his minions.        of Elijah and ask you to begin
viewpoint of the world. This, too,              The culmination of the beast's         dancing to see if your God will
must be made clear. The devil                 work will be that the world will         send fire from heaven. Will you
wants nothing more than the                   be seduced to worship him in-            be deceived?
minds of young people to envi-                stead of God, saying to him,               He is coming.
sion an evil empire with hooded               "Wonderful, Counselor, the                 Yes, his spirit and power has
guards wearing spiked helmets,                Mighty God, the Everlasting              always been in the world, ever
evil-looking leaders with black               Father, the Prince of Peace." This       increasing with the years. The
and red flags, riding black horses            always has been and always will          mystery of iniquity is already
and exercising a tyrannical and               be his goal.                             working. "Everyone that con-
oppressive rule. That's deception.              His deception will be powerful,        fesseth not that Jesus Christ is
His kingdom will be a glorious                so powerful that if they were not        come in the flesh is not of God:
kingdom, the Antichrist's:                    God's chosen ones, the elect             and this is the spirit of AntichLrist,
politically sound, economically               would be deceived. Men and               whereof ye have heard-that it
prosperous, socially acceptable,              women will not so easily be bam-         should come, and even now
religiously appealing. Wars will              boozled into worshiping                  already is it in the world" (I John
be eliminated for a time; famine              something other than God. So, as         4:3). Let no antichrist beguile
eradicated or overruled; poverty              miracles were given to God's             you, young people, before the
clean gone. And true religion will            prophets as credentials, as it           Antichrist comes.
be outlawed.                                  were, of their ministry (Hebrews           He is not yet here in full mani-
  Antichrist!                                 2:2-4), the Antichrist will use great    festation. Though never yet has
  The power of the beast is the               wonders and signs to "confirm"           there been a power like this
power of the devil himself, of the            his divine authority. "I am God."        power, it is coming. I come
great dragon (Rev. 12:2, 4). Don't              This is sometimes questioned.          quickly, says the Lord.
miss this. Thus, the work of the              Some believe that Antichrist will          You cannot keep him from
beast is a work against Christ. He            have only the ability to display         coming. You must fight his
is a false prophet supreme, speak-            marvelous, natural, earthly              power, his spirit, his work - not
ing on behalf of the devil,                   powers. I believe that Antichrist        with the sword of the flesh, b,ut
teaching men, persuading men,                 may well have supernatural               of the Spirit. But you will not
to gain them to the devil's side.             powers. Revelation 13:13, 14             stop his final manifestation.
To change II Corinthians 10:5, his            says, "He doeth great wonders...           Here is the patience and the
goal will be to cast down every               le deceiveth them that dwell on          faith of the saints, of young
high thing that exalteth itself               he earth by the means of those           people in Gods church. Don't
against the knowledge of the                  niracles which he had power to           deny Christ; wait for the coming
beast,  and bring into captivity              rlo in the sight of the beast." Mat-     when Christ shall finally show his

254 I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


dominion over all things,. con-           Questions for discussio.n:                person, or a group of.
suming the Antichrist with the            1. Are there parallels in OT his-         persons?
spirit of His mouth and destroy-             tory to what will happen in            What should we beware of
ing him with the brightness of               the future regarding the Anti-         concerning the Antichristian
His coming; purify yourself even             christ? What can we learn              kingdom?
as Christ is pure.                           from them?                             Should we wish for the Anti-
   God give you grace to be               2. Is the pope Antichrist?                christ to come, since this
faithful, watching, waiting.              3. What would be more decep-              means Christ, too, will come
                                             tive: an Antichrist as one             soon? q




                                          The Greatest of
 Contribution
Mrs. Karen Karsten                        These Is love

  Mrs. Karsten, an able writer who        be crushed and vanquished by             This first death and bloodshed
has written before for publication, is    the promised Savior. Adam and          began a flow of blood which
a member of our Hudsonville Prot-         Eve clung tenaciously to this          would run down through the cen-
estant Reformed Church. We en-            precious promise, for it was to be     turies. Soon Abel's life was
couraged her to submit to the S.B.        the avenue of love and fellowship      snatched away and his blood
an article on a subject which we          with their Father. Yet, many           cried out from the ground.
knew to be.of concern to her: the
manifestation of the love of Christ in    questions crowded their minds.         Because his death pointed to
the lives of His people. She did that     Would there be some visible sign       Jesus Christ, Adam and Eve
for us, and we're glad to share it        of this promised Savior? Who           found comfort in God's love and
here with our readers.                    was- this new enemy called             promise. And Noah, after escap-
                                          death? And how were they to            ing a cataclysmic destruction of
  The reality of shattered perfec-        work and function in this fallen       the world, offered animals in
tion' gripped fiercely onto the           world? It was then that God            sacrifice~to be reminded by their
souls of Adam and Eve. The                reached down -and stilled the          blood that God loved him. Years
world, which had harmonized so            breath and life of simple animals.     later in Egypt, thousands of ex-
perfectly with their lives, had           Their life was snatched away and       pectant, tremulous Israelites
become a place of hostility, strife,      their blood flowed bright and          killed a sacrificial lamb and
and death. Their touch would no           crimson over the ground as God         poured the blood over their door-
longer produce eager and lush             used their skins to cover the          posts. Death hovered and passed
growth in the plant world, and a          bodies of his needy children.          because of the blood and God's
barrier of fear would shut them           What a profound spiritual lesson       protecting love.
out of the animal kingdom. Pain           Adam and Eve learned in those            Finally, eat the very pinnacle of
clutched at their hearts as they          first few hours of life in a fallen    history, the sign became a reali-
listened to the creation groan            world! Their sin, with its terrible    ty. The very life-blood of God
under the lash of sin. But the            consequences, could be covered         Himself flowed on Golgotha to
searing pain of lost fellowship           only by the sacrificial blood of       cover the sins of a multitude of
with their Father was the most            Christ. The broken and bleeding        believers. Through Christ's blood
difficult to bear. A great gulf of        lamb would be the perpetual sign       and His love, the atonement for
sin separated them from the               until the Savior arrived. Not only     sin was complete and the
perfect love and communion                was bloodshed to signify death, it     sacrificial bloodshed of animals
which had so richly nourished             was also to be the key to life and     was forever ended. Yet, the
and blessed their lives. To be            love.                                  blood of Christ continues to
sure, God had promised relief.                                                   course through the veins of His,
The demonic power of sin would                                                   church. This life-blood is His

                                                                                   March 1, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  / 255


love, the same love that Adam                 apathetic attitude towards this           Abraham's life demonstrates
and Eve saw only through the                  relationship makes the church          that love is not only committed,
sacrificial animals.                          lethargic and sickly.                  but it is also fearless. He did not
   The fact that God's love flows               It is apparent, therefore, that      cower when God called him lout
through the body of the church is             even though Gods love begins           of Ur to a strange land, or when
no small wonder. It brings                    with the individual in a private,      he hurried to Lot's rescue, or was
warmth, nourishment, protection,              invisible relationship, yet, the       asked to offer up his only son.
cleansing, and healing to all of              reality of this becomes evident in     His faith was in God's love, and
her members just as blood func-               how the members of Gods                so he acted without fear. He was
tions within the human body.                  church interact with one another.      confident in his life because he
Without this flow of liquid tissue            Internal love of God is verified by    was confident in the c1eansin.g
the body soon perishes. So also,              external works of love. "By this       power of the sacrificial blood.
Gods love gives vitality and                  shall a11 men know that ye are         The same is true within the
energy to the church so that she              my disciples, if ye have love one      church today. When the
can carry out her calling in the              to another" (John 13:35). "If any      members of the body of Christ
world. It is not surprising that              man say, I love God, and hateth        fully experience the power of
Gods love functions as the                    his brother, he is a liar: for he      Christ's love and forgiveness,
church's life-blood, for Scripture            that loveth not his brother whom       they will also experience con-
tells us that the very essence or             he hath seen, how can he love          fidence in their earthly walk .and
heartbeat of God is love (I John              God who he hath not seen?" (I          relationships. They will have the
4:8). The most profound                       John 4:20).                            freedom to be honest in regards
demonstration of that love is                   This love functions on many          to their needs and shortcomings.
found in redemption and atone-                different levels, from marital and     Unthreatened by fear, confronta-
ment. "In this was manifested the             familial love to love among Chris-     tion and confession can occur in
love of God towards us, because               tians in a variety of churches and     a loving spirit among members.
God sent his only begotten Son                places. But all of these relation-     The life of the church is then
into the world, that we might live            ships of love share basic              characterized by health and
through him. Herein is love . . .             behavioral characteristics. The        vitality. But when individuals are
that he loved us and sent his Son             Scriptures are replete with            insecure and anxious in their
to be a propitiation for our sins"            descriptions of and instructions       relationship with God, they will
(I John 4:9, 10).                             for Christ-like love. Matthew          also experience the same anx:iety
  This love flows to each                     25:31-46 teaches that the greatest     and insecurity in their interper-
member on a very individual                   evidence of Christian love is          sonal relationships. And fear
basis. Just as the interaction of             found in an eagerness to feed,.        within the church is like bacteria
blood with the various body                   clothe, and minister unto the          in the bloodstream. It steals life
organs is different, so also God's            least esteemed member of the           and energy out of the body and
love interacts with each saint in a           body. Love is demonstrated by          makes work difficult or impossi-
unique and individual way. This               committed, sacrificial service.        ble. And when faith in Gods love
interaction is an internal, private,          Scripture gives us a sterling ex-      is weak the church is often af-
and exclusive exchange between                ample of this in the life of           flicted by other serious illness,es.
the individual and his God. It is a           Abraham as he dealt with his           Members become suspicious and
personal relationship which                   nephew Lot. Even though he was         distrustful of one another. Look-
thrives on prayer and personal                superior to Lot in spiritual and       ing for security in group consen-
study of God's love letter, the Bi-           physical wealth, yet, he never         sus, they may form exclusive
ble. It develops roots by con-                hesitated to set aside his personal    cliques which are harsh and
scious surrender of grief and                 comforts to aid his ever straying      judgmental of other members.
pain. It grows rich and strong                "brother." Not only did he readi-      Differing opinions may be viewed
through adoration and confes-                 ly employ his resources in a           as a threat rather than an asset
sion. The ability of the individual           dangerous rescue of Lot from the       to the church. Every issue anld
to work and function within the               kings of the East, but he also         discussion degenerates into a bat-
church depends largely on the                 dared to intercede before God for      tle between "sides." Instead of
growth and development of this                Lot's life when Jehovah had            ministry, suspicion and anger
relationship. A lively personal               determined to destroy Sodom.           begin to control the life of the
relationship of love with Christ              Abraham acted out of committed,        church. But perhaps the most
produces life and growth in the               sacrificial love even when there       pernicious disease to affect fetal--
church. An indifferent and                    was little reward for his work.        ful church members is a reliance

256 I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


on the outward forms and prac-              Finally, I Corinthians 13               to heal and nourish and bless. Ii:
tices of religion for security            beautifully summarizes how love           encourages the lonely, gives
before God. Members may find a            behaves. It is patient and is not         hope to the despondent, renews
superficial relief from spiritual         easily irritated; it restrains when       those broken by sorrow, loss, or
anxiety in their church atten-            the instinct is to take revenge or        persecution. Flowing tirelessly it
dance, in their tithing, their sup-       retaliate. It is kind; its actions are    seeks out the sinning, wandering
port of Christian institutions, or        characterized by gentleness, af-          members and draws them into
in a host of other rules and              fection, and courtesy. It does not        fellowship. It heals the diseases of
regulations for home and church           envy; it rejoices in the ac-              fear and strife and gives power to
life. But this mere formal and            complishments and gifts of others         her walk and witness.
legal practice of religion distracts      and brings contentment in every             And finally, when the ages
members from.their need for a             situation. It does not boast and is       culminate, God will gather into
growing relationship of love with         not proud but enables the in-             His arms a lonely bride, made
Christ. Jesus fully understood the        dividual to realistically and             more radiant and glowing by her
subtle and deadly effect of for-          honestly assess himself and his           endurance of time and history.
malism and legalism in the                life. It is not rowdy, rude, or in-       Then the love of God will be ful-
church. Much of his ministry was          decent but respects the person,           ly understood and appreciated.
spent in revealing and condemn-           property, and opinions of others.         And the saints will stand before
ing this evil. "But woe unto you,         It does not seek itself; it gives         the throne in white robes and
Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and          generously of its time, resources,        their voices will join in the holy
rue and a11 manner of herbs and           and energies. It is not easily pro-       chorus: "Worthy is the lamb that
pass over judgment and the love           voked but is calm, sensible, and          is slain!" With delight they will ,at
of God . . ." (Luke 11:42).               understanding. It shuns evil; it          last gather around the banquet
   Overcoming fear and its                does not gossip but "covers a             tables of heaven, and the palace
devastating effects within the            multitude of sins" (I Peter 4:8). It      of the King will resound with ho-
church requires a renewed un-             finds joy in the truth and rejoices       ly merriment as the great,
derstanding of where the                  whenever good is done and the             celestial love feast commences. I7
members of the church stand               truth is shared.                                                                     I
before God. It requires a clear             Love within the body of Christ
focus on Gods love for His be-            bears, believes, and hopes al1                        My Portion
loved church, and on the blood            things. It bears up when persecu-         POSSESSION
price paid for her redemption.            tion slashes at her vital organs          I've a wonderful possession,
"Hereby perceive we the love of           and heresy seeks to still her             Peace with God through Christ
God, because he laid down his             beating heart. It continues to               my Lord,
life for us . . ." (I John 3:16). Only    believe when radical misuse of            Mine forever, He hath said it,
then can church members learn             Scriptural teachings cripples her         In His own unerring Word.
the meaning of love without fear.         walk, and when indifference and
1 John 4 clearly teaches that love        lethargy threaten to silence her          POSITION
casts out fear. Freed from the            voice. Love gives the church the          Having naught, deserving
condemning power of sin, we are           ability to hope during the                   nothing,
given a spirit of "power and of           ravages of schism and strife and          Yet, I'm standing in His grace,
love and of a sound mind' (I              when she reels under the fiery at-        I've no right, but still 1'11 stand
Timothy 1:7). Depending on                tacks of imprisonment, want, re-            there,
Christ for this spirit, the church        jection, and despair.                     Till I see Him face to face.
once torn by fear and insecurity            It is the love of God and love          EXPECTATION
can be renewed. A proper under-           among the members that keeps              I've the greatest expectation
standing and practice of God's            the church vibrant and alive.             Ever known to earthborn sons,
love will rush like blood within          Centuries of suffering and strug-         For my blessed Lord is coming
the body to heal the slightest of         gle have not left her broken and          To reclaim His purchased ones.
injuries.                                 scarred. Her face has not grown
                                          wizen or her hands twisted and            OCCUPATION
                                          gnarled. Her voice still rings            Now I meditate the glory -
                                          clear and her footsteps are strong        Occupied until He comes.
                                          and sure - because within her             Joying in my God and Saviour,
                                          body streams the invigorating             Till He takes me to His home.
                                          blood of Gods love. It continues                                        -S.B., 1929

                                                                                      March 1, 1990  / The Standard Bearer I  :257


When Thou
Sittest in                                     Headship in Marriage:
Thine House
Rev. Kenneth Koole                             Called to live Like Kingis

   There is a children's song that             more than once. (Cf. Eph. 5:25ff;      ever she Iisteth." And if her hus-
goes like this: "First comes love.             Col. 3:19, etc.) But what we go        band occasionally becomes a bit
Then comes marriage. Then                      on to point out is that the calling    balky about being swivelled
comes `you know who' with a                    of the husband does not stop           about, she can make his life Imost
baby carriage."                                there. There is more involved. A       miserable and unhappy indeed.
   No, not exactly, sad to say.                second element enters in, name-        He says he is head (with her ap-
And certainly not today. Not in                ly, headship. And here one             proval). In reality, he is nothing
that order, in some instances; but             enters the arena of conflict, both     but a "figure-head." His wife will
in others, not with that fruit. Mar-           in the marriage itself, and in con-    not put up with anything else.
riage, in far too many instances,              temporary, strident debate. It is      This is not recognition of hea.d-
does not mean a readiness to                   THE point at issue today. For the      ship.
have children at all. It is not con-           husband, does "love" mean                Insistence upon male headship
sidered "smart." My only ques-                 "headship"? And if it does, what       in the home is not a denial of
tion at this point is, who for us              does that mean for the woman?          Christ's supreme headship, but a
determines what is "smart"                     And what does it mean for the          recognition of it and submission
(wise)? Society? Self? Or God and              man? Batten down the hatches.          to it. Christ's will is plain. "Wives,
His Word? The believer                         We enter rough seas here.              submit yourselves unto your #own
recognizes that this is certainly                Central to the Reformed con-         husbands, as unto, the Lord (Le.,
God's business. It is to be a mat-             ception of things is "headship,"       as standing in Christ's stead!). For
ter of prayerful consideration.                God-ordained headship. It is cen-      the husband is the head of the
   But to get back to the                      tral to our conception of mar-         wife, even as Christ is the head
children's chant. They are right,              riage and the home as well. Here       of the church . . ." (Eph. 5:22,
though it be in their ignorance.               also there is but one head. And        23). Obviously, this is not a "con-'
There is a certain order that per-             that head is not to be the             cession" that Paul is making for
tains to marriage, an order that is            woman! That head is to be the          his day and age, but it is mea.nt
God-ordained, an order that can                man. There is little love for this     for all time, as long as there is
be dismissed only with dire con-               doctrine today. The feminists tell     the ordinance of marriage,
sequences. What is it that follows             us it is a myth popularized by           You can start arguing away
love?                                          chauvinistic males (also,              the husband's headship when
  We considered last time what                 Calvinistic males).                    Christ ceases to be the Head of
was first and primary in mar-                    Male headship can be denied          the church. Paul ties the two
riage, namely, love. Love is                   in subtle ways in the church. The      together. The one is the pattern
basic. It is love that leads to mar-           wife makes no claim to be the          for the other. An assault on
riage, it is love that comes to ex-            head of the home. If, on family        man's headship here is an assault
pression in marriage, and it is                visitation, the elders were to ask     on Christ's.
this love that is to permeate the              who was the head of the home,            This headship is not based on
marriage to the benefit of all con-            the woman would say, "Oh, my           some innate masculine superiori-
cerned. Of this the Scripture                  husband, of course." And he            ty, though psychologically the
reminds the believing husband                  would quickly agree. But the           male is better qualified for
                                               elders know very well that, while      leadership than his female
Rev. Koole is pastor of Faith Prot-            she makes no claims to being the       counterpart. Nonetheless, in
estant Reformed Church of Jenison,             head, this wife is the neck, and       many instances the wife may be
Michigan.                                      she turns the "head" "witherso-        superior to her husband in

258  I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


various gifts and abilities, and, if    have final "say" in congrega-          to agree to a 50-50 proposition,
her husband is struck with a crip-      tional matters. But their concern      you may be sure she will
pling disease, even in strength.        is to have nothing to do with self     dominate in the marriage as well.
Superior abilities neither              and their "creature comforts";         She will be the one who "crows,"
establishes nor destroys the prin-      rather it has to do with the direc-    he the one who attempts "to
ciple of headship. Headship is an       tion and ultimate blessedness of       hatch the eggs." The only other
office. And Christ gives the office     the church.                            possibility would be two indepen-
to the husband, not to the wife.          And here is the point; headship      dent beings going basically their
   This means two things. First, it     means a life of service. But it is     own ways, sharing a bed
means that the believing wife           service by the use of AUTHORI-         together at night, and not much
must study the Bible so she can         TY. As it is in the church with        else. This is marriage in name
understand this doctrine of head-       the elders, so it is to be in the      only.
ship. She must do that so she           home with the man.                       The point is, one or the other
,knows what her Lord requires of          It is here that we run headlong      will be the "head," determining
her. And by "Lord" we mean,             into this deep antagonism of the       the direction of the home, not
Christ Jesus, It is to Him that her     feminist movement. Feminism is         both. After all is said and done,
ultimate obedience lies.                one of the prevailing "spirits" of     only one can have the say-so.
  And, secondly, it means that          the day, and has so intimidated        What we are saying is that Scrip-
the husband himself must study          mankind that the charge of             ture teaches that that one is to be
the doctrine of headship to know        "chauvinism" sends them scurry-,       the man.
what is required of him in his of-      ing for cover like so many rab-          The Women's Lib. movement
fice. Contrary to what we might         bits caught in the carrot patch. It    must be withstood and opposed.
think, true headship is no more         militates against every notion of      How? Well, not simply by
natural to the male than submis-        male-headship, whether in              shouting it down. Nor by exercis-
sion is to the woman, By nature         church, government, or home.           ing tyrannical force in the home,
we are irresponsible, and ir-           Marriage, it insists, is to be a       by means of raging and threats
responsibility has about as much        50-50 proposition. All traditional     frightening the wife and children
in common with headship as              roles are to be scrapped. There is     into submission. That is folly and
Vanity Fair has with Paradise.          to be joint rule.                      sin. Is that Christ-like?
  Headship, of course, is not the         I have no problem with scrap-          Rather we oppose the feminist
same as rights of tyranny, as           ping traditional roles. My problem     movement when we as God-
though everything that the hus-         lies with scrapping BIBLICAL           fearing husbands exercise head-
band does and demands is right          roles. And Scripture on this mat-      ship and give direction, spiritual
and good. God has not given             ter is clear. It is not for nothing    direction to the home. This is our
headship to the man so that             that Peter says that Sarah called      answer to the devilish spirit of
everything can go his way. It           Abraham "Lord."                        the day.
does mean that he has the "final          If headship means anything, it         It comes down to this, we as
say," but that does not mean his        means that marriage is not a           husbands are to live like Kings!
"final say" necessarily has God's       50-50 proposition. That is an im-      (There, that ought to make the
approval. God did not grant             possibility anyway.                    feminists shout!) This is our right.
headship so that the man could            A marriage contract that             This is our calling. Would you
take care of #l, if that #l is self.    speaks of joint rule, equality of      believe this is also love?
But God has granted headship for        say-so between wife and hus-             What must be remembered in
the sake of the "body," namely,         band, is nought but a pious            this regard is that there are two
the wife and the home.                  platitude. Three, a triumvirate,       kinds of kings. There are the
  It is the same as with elders in      can function somewhat; two can         Eglons of this world, who rule
Christ's church. They have head-        out-vote the one. What happens         from the seat of their pants,
ship in the congregation (which is      when one votes against one?            demanding that they get service!
why women can not hold the of-          Who gets her way? And I say            For such God's Word has nothing
fice), but not so that they can         "her way" because I can assure         but left-handed "compliments."
take care of .themselves in some        you that in any 50-50 marriage         And there are the Josephs, who
hierarchical fashion. Rather it is      agreement between male and             oversee things through personal
so that they can govern and             female, the woman is the one           involvement, faithful stewards in
direct the affairs of the church        who will "wear the pants." If she      the name of their King, looking
for the well-being of that body of      is "persuasive" enough already at      well to the ways of their realm.
believers. Yes, like kings they         the engagement to get the man

                                                                                 March 1, 1990 I The Standard Bearer I259


Which we are called to be should              sisting on it by exercising it,          There is no better definition of
be readily apparent.                          governing the affairs of the             headship than that. That defines
   First comes love. Then comes               home. The authority which head-          Christ. Active headship is not
marriage. Then comes the man                  ship gives one must be USED. It          contrary to love, but its proper
insisting on headship; insisting on           must be used in providing leader-        expression. For the believing hus-
it not by going about doing ir-               ship, leadership wedded to the           band there is no love if he
responsible, self-satisfying things,          consideration of love.                   refuses the responsibility that
and then refusing to be                         Loving leadership, interjected         goes along with the "crown,"
answerable to anybody; but in-                with a good dose of tenderness.          which is to say, his office. Cl




                                              Destroyed for
 Guest Article
Rev. Thomas Miersma                           Lack of What?

   The problem with the various               do with the real meaning, pur-           lates and excites the mind OI
Reformed denominations today                  pose, or calling of the church of        emotions, or is attractive to itch-
including our own, according to               Christ. It is after al1 irrelevant to    ing ears as new and different.
many, particularly if you talk oc-            the Christian life, or "my Chris-        It is precisely the person who
casionally with those who go by               tian life," or so the criticism goes.    regards doctrine out of the spirit
the name "Reformed" or "Presby-                 Now, a word of explanation is          of dead orthodoxy, who regards
terian" outside of our churches, is           probably in order at this point. In      it as basically irrelevant to actual
a kind of stuffy, dead orthodoxy.             the first place, the foregoing           Christian living, who is most
We are supposed to be afflicted               description is not a mere cartoon        wide open to doctrinal corrujp-
with a kind of moldy, old-                    or caricature. One does not have         tion. It is exactly such an in-
fashioned conservatism or tradi-              to have that much contact out-           dividual who does not see any
tionalism, which is stifling, and             side our churches to hear opin-          real need for purity, precision,
which kills the life of the church            ions such as these. Sadly, one           and faithfulness in confession,
and all enthusiasm or zeal. This              also hears these or similar words        other than traditionalism, who
is usually further equated with a             sometimes within our churches.           finds a heartfelt zeal for the truth
quenching of the life of the Spirit           Nor would one deny that dead             a nuisance, a majoring in minors,
and an inability to do the work               orthodoxy, mere intellectualism,         and considers such an attitude to
of evangelism and missions. This              or mere traditionalism are serious       be "unloving." He does so ex.act-
opinion usually also has a cor-               errors to which the church of            ly because a love of the truth is
ollary attached to it: that if you            Christ is prone in sinful com-           not in his heart. Such dead or-
defend the truth and speak                    placency. But in the second              thodoxy leads to a formal tradi-
seriously or pointedly about error            place, it must be pointed out that       tionalism which has lost the foun-
you are either lacking in love or             it is exactly the attitude which         dation and which may thereflore
worrying about doctrinal                      regards doctrine as a mere in-           be altered, changed, and dis-
minutiae, fine points which are               tellectual form, mere tradition,         regarded. The net result is usual-
merely matters of hair-splitting or           which gives rise to the opinions         ly increasing doctrinal ignorance
concerns about issues that are                represented above. It is exactly         through indifference while m,ain-
really only matters of semantics.             at the point at which the doctrine       taining for a time an appearance
All of this stuffy, dead orthodoxy            of God's Word ceases to live in          of orthodoxy. A decline in any
is supposed to have very little to            our hearts, to move us because it        real understanding of the truth of
                                              is the truth of God and our salva-       God's Word takes place, par-
Rev. Miersma is pastor of the Prot-           tion and becomes empty form,             ticularly in the generations, and
estant Reformed Church of Edmon-              that it is in danger of being set        the church is open to more bla-
ton, Alberta, Canada.                         aside for something that stimu-          tant departures from the truth.

260 I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


The one who makes these                    unbelieving attitude, a sinful in-      Where the truth of the Word of
charges is usually himself a prod-         difference, man-made notions of         God is set aside, neglected with
uct of dead orthodoxy.                     what ought to be, a real ig-            indifference, or ignored through
   It is exactly for this reason that      norance of Reformed doctrine            unbelief, where instruction ceases
this charge of dead orthodoxy is           and God's Word or lack of under-        because there is no love for it in
often leveled at what is in fact           standing, a weakness of faith or        the heart, there also God cuts off
fervent, Biblical, and principled          unbelief, or a failure to regard        in judgment the generations to
Reformed orthodoxy. It is a                God and His Word, seldom if             come. For it is by faith that we
charge of rigidity leveled against         ever seems to be considered the         stand from generation to genera-
one who takes seriously God's              cause of the trouble, though it is      tion.
law, His Word, and the truth set           the real cause of the trouble.            Nor is that difficult to under-
forth in that Word and which we,             For, you see, a love of the           stand Gods work through means,
confess from the heart. For the            truth, a fervent zeal for faithful-     means of grace. It is by the
fact of the matter is that ortho-          ness in doctrine according to the       means of grace, the teaching,
doxy has never destroyed the               Word of God, for orthodoxy in           preaching, .and instruction in
church. The truth of God's Word            doctrine and practice, is never a       sound doctrine that God works
set forth in the Scriptures is the         cause of trouble. On the con-           faith in our hearts, keeps and
foundation of the church. It is            trary, we read in Hosea 4:6, "My        preserves us as His people and
that truth we confess in our               people are destroyed for lack of        gathers His church from genera-
creeds and confessions. That               knowledge: because thou hast re-        tion to generation. The means of
truth, though the church                   jected knowledge, I will also re-       grace have as their content the
develops in its understanding of           ject thee, that thou shalt be no       truth of the gospel, the Word of
it, does not change from genera-           priest to me: seeing thou hast          God, the doctrine both of salva-
tion to generation or with the             forgotten the law of thy God, I         tion and godliness, and by it God
whims of theological fashion. It is        will also forget thy children." Not ' works the knowledge of faith and
the truth of the God Who                   doctrine, not a careful attention       confidence. "My people are
changes not.                               to God's Word, His law, and its         destroyed for lack of knowl-
   Not doctrine, but doctrinal ig-         meaning, destroy the church, but        edge . . . ." The trouble with
norance destroys the church. Not           lack of it. Not fine distinctions       many Reformed churches and
a faithful, orthodox confession of         concerning the truth of God and         other denominations of our day
that truth from the heart, but a           His will, the fine points of doc-       is not stuffy old doctrine but the
heart that forgets God's law,              trine and practice, but the lack of     lack of doctrine and knowledge,
either by dead orthodoxy and               them, a spiritual indifference to       spiritual ignorance and an
formalism or by apostasy.. The             God's Word, an empty shallow,           unbelieving attitude which
trouble in many Reformed                   superficial treatment of God's          regards doctrine as stuffy and
denominations of our day is not            Word and its doctrine, a forget-        old-fashioned. It is destroying
orthodoxy but the lack of it. The          ting of His Word, that destroys         what was once called Reformed
trouble lies with a man-centered           the church. That is a matter of         on every side of us like a ram-
approach to the truth which does           both the head, knowledge, and           pant spiritual disease. Neither is it
not receive the truth of God out           the heart, remembrance, for it is       a virus to which we as Protestant
of the obedience of faith but              a matter of the assured knowl-          Reformed Churches are immune.
would evaluate it out of man's             edge of faith from which the con-       God has given us a rich heritage
perception, in his judgment of its         fidence of faith also springs.          of the truth of His Word. This is
utility. If I am not moved by the ,.         Where a heartfelt knowledge           a gift of His grace and a blessing
truth, the doctrine, the practice          of the truth is rejected, God also      whose proper spiritual fruit is a
taught in God's Word or if it              judges. It is thus that God speaks      gratitude which shows itself in
doesn't produce the results I              to Israel, "Because thou hast re-       thankfulness for His blessings and
think it ought to have in the              jected knowledge, I will also re-       that concretely, by a fervent love
church or on the mission field,            ject thee, that thou shalt be no        and knowledge of the truth. Thi.s
then it is the doctrine or the             priest to me." An apostate people       love will manifest,itself in a
historic, Biblical, Reformed prac-         cannot serve God or offer unto          delight in the preaching of Gods
tice which is judged to be at              Him the sacrifice of praise.            Word, a zeal to instruct our
fault. The question whether, in            Where God's will and His Word           children in that truth in
fact the problem lies with me              are forgotten, God also says, "I        catechism, and in a faithful atten-
doesn't arise or, if it does, it is re-    will forget thy children." Doc-         dance and participation in our
jected. The question whether an            trine and life are inseparable.         societies. Cl

                                                                                     March 1, 1990  I The Standard Bearer  I:261


                                       DIRECTORY, PROTESTANT REFORMED CHU`RCHES

      NEW JERSEY:                                MICHIGAN:                               IOWA:
          Covenant P. R. Church                    Kalamazoo P.R. Church                   Pella P.R. Church
          283 Squawbrook Rd.                       4.515 Green Acre Dr.                    410 Franklin St.
         Wyckoff, NJ 07481                         Kalamazoo, Michigan                     Pella, IA 50219
          Services: 10:00  & 6:00                  Services:  9:30& 6:00                   Services:  9:30  & 7:00
         Pastor: Rev. R. Flikkema                  Pastor: Rev. B. Woudenberg              Pastor: Rev. W. Bekkering
         Pastor's Phone: (201) 891-0902            Pastor's Phone: (616)  34.54556         Pastor's Phone: (5 15) 6284747
      PENNSYLVANIA:                                                                      MINNESOTA:
          Norristown P.R. Church                   Southeast P.R. Church                   Edgerton  P.R. Church
                                                   1535 Cambridge S.E.
          17 Miami Rd.                                                                     Corner 3rd and Maple St.
          Norristown, PA 19403                     Grand Rapids, MI 49506                  Edgerton, MN 56128
          Services: 10:00  &  1:30                 Services:  9:30  & 5:00                 Services: 9:30 & 7:30 (Mar-Nov)
         Pastor:' Rev. K. Hanko                    Pastor: Rev. S. Key                               9:30 & 2:00 (Dee-Feb)
         Pastor's Phone: (215) 630-8970            Pastor's Phone: (616) 452-7047          Pastor: Rev. M.  DeVries
                                                                                           Pastor's Phone: (507)  442-4441
       MICHIGAN:                                   Southwest P.R. Church                 SOUTH DAKOTA:
          Byron Center P.R. Church                 4875 Ivanrest Ave.                      Hope P.R. Church
          1945 84th St.                            Grandville, MI 49418                    Isabel, SD 57633
          Byron Center, MI 493 15                  Services:  9:30  & 6:00
          Services:  9:30  & 5:00                                                          Services: 9:00  & 2:00
                                                   Pastor: Rev. M. Kamps                   Clerk's Phone: (605) 466-2128
          Pastor: Rev. B. Gritters                 Pastor's Phone: (616)  532-4846
         Pastor's Phone: (616) 878-3255                                                  TEXAS:
                                                 ILLINOIS:                                 Trinity P.R. Church
          Faith P.R. Church                        Bethel P.R. Church                      214 Barker-Clodine Rd.
          7194 20th Ave.                           10 AM, 900 W. Glen Trail                Houston, TX 77094
          Jenison, MI 49428                         6 PM, 927 W. Glen Trail                Services:  9:30  & 6:00
          Services:  9:30  & 7:00                  Elk Grove Village, Illinois             Pastor: Rev. R. Hanko
          Pastor: Rev. K. Koole                    Pastor: Rev. R.  VanOverloop            Pastor's Phone: (713) 492-0844
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 457-5848           Pastor's Phone: (708)  5294676        COLORADO:
                                                                                           Loveland P.R. Church
                                                   Peace P.R. Church
          First P.R. Church (Grand Rapids)                                                 709 E. 57th St.
          2800 Michigan St. N.E.                   Illiana Christian High School           Loveland, CO 80537
          Grand Rapids, MI 49506                   2261 Indiana Ave.                       Services:  9:30  & 6:00 (Ott-May)
          Services:  9:30  & 6:00                  Lansing, Illinois                                 9:30  & 7:00 (June-Sept)
          Pastor: Rev. M. Joostens                 Services:  9:30  & 6:00                 Pastor: Rev. R. Cammenga
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 247-0638           Pastor: Rev. S.  Houck                  Pastor's Phone: (303) 667-1347
                                                   Pastor's Phone: (708) 474-6064        CALIFORNIA:
          First P.R. Church (Holland)              South Holland P.R. Church               Hope P.R. Church
          290 E. 18th St.                          16511 South Park Ave.                   1307 E. Brockton Ave.
          Holland, MI 49423                        South Holland, IL 60473                 Redlands, CA 92374
          Services:  9:30  &  6:30                 Services:  9:30  & 6:00                 Services: 10:00  & 7:00
          Pastor: Rev. W. Bruinsma                 Pastor: Rev. C. Terpstra                Pastor: Rev. A.  denHartog
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 396-8303           Pastor's Phone: (708) 333-1314          Pastor's Phone: (714) 792-0307
                                                                                         WASHINGTON:
          Grandville P.R. Church                 WISCONSIN:                                Lynden P.R. Church
          (meeting in Grandville High School)      Randolph P.R. Church                    108 Beernink Lane
          3535 Wilson Ave.                         229 Hammond St.                         Lynden, WA 98264
          Grandville, Michigan                     Randolph, WI 53956                      Services: 10:00  & 2:00
          Services:  9:30  & 6:00                  Services:  9:30  & 2:00                 Pastor: Rev. C. Haak
          Pastor: Rev. J. Kortering                Clerk's Phone: (414) 326-5610           Pastor's Phone: (206) 3544337
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 538-2575         IOWA:                                   CANADA:
                                                   Doon P.R. Church                        First P.R. Church (Edmonton)
          Hope P.R. Church (Walker)                408 6th Ave.                            15911 107A Ave.
          1580 Ferndale  S.W.                      Doon, IA 51235                          Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
          Walker, MI 49504                         Services:  9:30  & 2:00                 Services: 11:00  & 3:00
          Services:  9:30  & 7:00                  Pastor: Rev. R. Dykstra                 Pastor: Rev. T. Miersma
          Pastor: Rev. J. Slopsema                 Pastor's Phone: (712) 726-3382          Pastor's Phone: (403) 489-6470
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 453-3253
                                                   Hull P.R. Church                        Immanuel P.R. Church (Lacombe)
          Hudsonville P.R. Church                  1204 Third St.                          C & E Trail and 50th Ave.
          5101 Beechtree Ave.                      Hull, IA 51239                          (St. Cyprian's Anglican Church)
          Hudsonville, MI 49426                    Services:  9:30  & 7:00 (Apr-Sept)      Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
          Services:  9:30  & 7:00                             9:30 & 1:30 (Ott-Mar)        Services:  11:30  & 4:00
          Pastor: Rev. G.  VanBaren                Pastor: Rev. R. Moore                  Pastor: Rev. D. Kuiper
          Pastor's Phone: (616) 669-0755           Pastor's Phone: (712) 439-1326         Pastor's Phone: (403) 782-5444


262 I The Standard Bearer  I March 1, 1990


                                       News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                    Our Churches

                     March 1, 1990     late January to evaluate the work      enough interest in Grandville,
MINISTERIAL CALLS                      there among the Florida                because recent bulletins have in-
  The congregation of the Ran-         residents.                             cluded reminders of choir prac-
dolph P.R.C. in Randolph, WI has       CONGREGATION ACTIVITIES                tice.
extended a call to Rev. S. Key.          Rev. S. Houck was installed as          Grandville's  Worship Commit-
MISSION ACTIVITIES                     the first pastor of the congrega-      tee also asked for members who
  The Lord willing, Rev. G. Van        tion of the Peace P.R.C. in Lyn-       would like to apply for church
Baren, along with his wife and         wood, IL on January 30. This is        organist. Information on. their
youngest daughter, will be work-       also Rev. Houck's first time serv-     new church organ was also
ing with the Reformed Fellowship       ing in the capacity of pastor, hav-    available at that time.
of Larne, Northern Ireland for six     ing served our churches as mis-          After the morning service on
weeks, from the beginning of           sionary for the past 11 years. He
March to the middle of April.          was installed in a service held in                                               I
This is in response to a request       the Illiana Christian High School
that Rev. Van Baren and his con-       auditorium. A program was                       Thirst For Christ
sistory in Hudsonville, MI re-         planned afterwards with refresh-       There is a hunger that the
ceived from the Contact Commit-        ments following in the cafeteria.        hearth-bread cannot satisfy.
tee of our Synod. You may also           And, somewhat related to the         It rises from the souls of those
remember that Rev. Kortering           above: ,I found it very striking         touched by God's grace
and his wife were in Northern          that after Rev. den Hartog was         And burns and yearns until with
Ireland the first two months of        installed in Redlands, CA he             anguished cry
this year.                             preached his first sermon on           The sinner looks upon his
  The Consistory of the Hope           January 1, 1990: That should             S a v i o u r 's   f a c e :
P.R.C. in Redlands, CA sent a let-     prove to be an easy date to
ter of appreciation to Rev. Houck      remember.                              There is a thirst mere water from
and his family, expressing thanks        On Sunday evening, December            a well
for Rev. Houck's years of labor        3 1, after the evening service, the    Could never quench, though all
as the missionary of their church.     congregation of the Covenant             its depths were drained.
  We could also add that our           P.R.C. in Wyckoff, NJ was invited      It is a thirst for Him to come
prayers are with the Houcks  as        to the parsonage for a singspira-        and dwell
they adjust to life in a parsonage,    tion and refreshments. The in-         Within, that life might be
and Rev. Houck begins his labors       vitation read in part, "Let us be        sustained.
in the congregation of Peace           together during those last hours       Sweet Bread of fullness He, life's
P.R.C., Lynwood, IL.                   of 1989; a year that so clearly          Well-spring, Jesus Christ,
  On behalf of the Mission Com-        has marked that the day of the         His body broken and His life-
mittee, Rev. Key went to Venice,       Lord is at hand."                        blood for us spilled.
FL to labor for two Sundays in           With a view to a church              No other food for ransomed
                                       dedication program in the future,        sinners has sufficed.
                                       the desire of several members in       Blessed are the ones who thirst
                                       the Grandville P.R.C. in Grand-          and hunger after Him. They
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Prot-    ville, MI was to organize a              shall be filled.
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-     church choir to present a few                          -Sue Looyenga, 1989
ville,  Michigan.                      numbers. Evidently there was

                                                                                 March  1,199O  I The Standard Bearer  I263


   THE                                                       --
Sl!AND~                                                                                                SECOND  CL4SS
 BFARER                                                                                                Postage Paid  at
                                                                                                       Grand Rapids, Michigan

 l?O. Box 6064
 Grand Rapids, MI 49506



January 2 1, the elders of the                   Evangelism Committee, P.O. Box         RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
 Loveland P.R.C. in Loveland, CO                 71, Byron Center, MI 49315.               The Consistory of the First
 handed out to every family a                      The congregation of the First        Protestant Reformed Church of
copy of a booklet entitled, "Fami-               P.R.C. in Holland, MI has ap-          Holland, Ml expresses its heart-
ly Worship." This booklet con-                   proved the purchase of an AIIen        felt sympathy to its fellow
tains the text of a sermon                       Organ. 0                               off icebearer, elder Warren
preached in 1827 by J.H. Merle                                                          Bonzelaar in the passing of his
d'Aubigne, a French Reformed                     ANNOUNCEMENT                           mother, MRS. JESSIE  BONZE-
minister. In this booklet                           The Protestant Reformed             LAAR.
d'Aubigne  recommends to Chris-                  Christian school of South                 May the family find  theit
tian parents the faithful practice               Holland, Illinois is in need of        comfort in the Word of Cod:
of family devotions, and also                    several teachers for the               "As for me, I will behold thy
gives practical advice for their                 1990-I 991 school year. Please         face in righteousness: I shall be
practice of it. It is with a view to             contact Mr. Lamm Lubbers               satisfied, when I awake,  wiith
the flourishing of family devo-                  (16535 Elm Court, South                thy likeness." (Ps. 17:15)
tions in their own homes that the                Holland, IL 60473;  [708]              Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, Pres.
elders distributed this booklet                  339-6585)  administrator, or Mr.       John  VanUffelen, Clerk
and urged its reading. A special                 Bert Wories, Jr. (18757  Bernar-
thanks was also given to the                     dine St., Lansing, IL 60438;  [708]    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Ladies Circle for underwriting the               474-4926), Board secretary.               On March 8, 1990, the Lord
purchase of the booklets.                                                               willing, with gratitude to God,
   There was a note from the                     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                 our dear parents and grand,-
Consistory of the Doon P.R.C. in                   The Adult Bible Class of Faith       parents BILL  & THRES  LENTING
Doon, IA informing the congrega-                 Protestant Reformed Church in          will celebrate 50 years of mar-
tion of the purchase of a new                    Jenison, Michigan expresses its        riage.
tape recorder, that makes possi-                 sincere sympathy to Mr. and               We rejoice with them and are
ble the recording of two tapes at                Mrs. Gerald Kuiper in the death        thankful to our Lord for the
once, and the taping of the                      of his father, MR. JACOB               many years together and pray
whole service (the machine auto-                 KUIPER, SR.                            that they may continue to ex-
matically reverses). This purchase                 "For me to live is Christ, and       perience the blessings of our
was made possible by donations                   to die is gain." (Phil.  1:21)         faithful God in the years that
from the Adult Bible Study and                   Rev. Ken Koole, President              He may give them. "Know
from an individual who receives                  Sandra Tinklenberg, Secretary          therefore that the Lord thy God,
Doon's tapes regularly.                                                                 He is God, the faithful God,
   There was also a thank you in                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                 which keepeth covenant and
the bulletin of Byron Center                       The Senior Mr. and Mrs.              mercy with them that love  lhim
P.R.C. in Byron Center, MI con-                  Society of Hope Protestant Re-         and keep his commandments to
cerning the members of their                     formed Church expresses sym-           a thousand generations." (Deut.
congregation who generously                      pathy to Mr. and Mrs. Glare            7:9)
donated Bibles for the pews.                     Kuiper and Mr. and Mrs. Art
   The Evangelism Committee of                                                          Marvin, Carolyn Davis
                                                 Bleyenberg and their families in
Byron Center P.R.C. has available                                                       Henry,  Marcella Lenting
                                                 the death of their father MR.
tapes of the "Conference on                                                             Bill, Janet Lenting, Jr.
                                                 JACOB KUIPER, SR.
Evangelism." The tapes are free                                                         Adrian, Kathy Lenting
                                                   May they receive comfort in
on loan to individuals or societies                                                       9 grandchildren
                                                 God's Word, "Thou shalt guide
or they may be purchased. There                                                           2 great-grandchildren
                                                 me by thy counsel and after-
are three VCR tapes at $8 each,                                                                                     South Holland, IL
                                                 ward receive me to glory."
or 3 cassette tapes at $4 each.
Write the Byron Center P.R.C.                    Rev.  J. Slopsema, Pres.
                                                 Karla Kamps, Sec'y.  CrandRapids.~~

264  I The Standard Bearer  I March  1,  1990


