A Reformed
Semi-yonthly
Magiwine





                   Office Bearers' Conference
                        South HoIImid, Illinois
                             March 6, 1990

                     See "Protestant Reformed Conference
                                         on Preaching"-- p. 294



Vol. 66, No. 73
April  I,  7990


 Contents                                                         April 7, 7990

Meditation  -  Rev.  lason  L.  Kortering
    JESUS PRAYS THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE                                        291

 Editorials  -  Prof. David  /.  Engelsma                                               ISSN 0362-4692
   THE COVENANT OF GOD AND THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS (2)                        293     Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                        and  Au'gust.  Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
    PROTESTANT REFORMED CONFERENCE ON PREACHING                                 294     lishing Association, Inc. Second Class-Postage Paid
                                                                                        at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
 Letters  -                                                                             POSTMASTER:  Send address changes to The
                                                                                        Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids, MI
    RESPONSE TO "THE `OTHER SIDE' OF POSTMILLENNIALISM"                         295     49516.
                                                                                        EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
The Reader Asks  - Rev. Cornelius Hanko                                                 Editor: Prof. David  I. Engelsma
                                                                                        Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
   SPEAKING IN TONGUES                                                          299     Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
                                                                                        DEPARTMENT EDITORS
The Strength of Youth  - Rev. Barrett L. Critters                                       Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert  D'ecker,  Rev.
                                                                                        Arie  denHartog.  Rev. Russell Dykstra,  R,ev. Barry
   THE END TIMES (4): THE GREAT PERSECUTION                                     301     Critters, Rev.  Corn`elius Hanko, Prof. Herman
                                                                                        Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John Heys, Rev.
                                                                                        Kenneth  Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Mr. James
All Around Us  - Prof. Robert  D. Decker                                                Lanting, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.  Marybeth  Lub-
   WHY A TEACHER SHORTAGE?                                                      303     bers, Rev. James  Slopsema,  Rev. Charles Terpstra,
   BAPTIST SEMINARY IN TROUBLE OVER  INERRANCY                                  304     Rev. Cise  VanBaren,  Rev. Ronald  VanOverloop,
                                                                                        Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.
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   WESTMINSTER SEMINARY                                                         304     The Standard Bearer           Mr. Ben  Wigger
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290  / The Standard Bearer  I April 1, 1990


                                         Jesus Prays That They
Meditation                               Ali May Be One
Rev. jason Kortering


   `Neither pray I for these               The Lord Jesus is very much            the son of Joseph and Mary. He
alone, but for them also which           conscious of two worlds. Con-            dwelt with the Father in eternity,
shall believe on me through              cerning the world of the lost, He        and in the fullness of time was
their word; That they all may            prayed in verse 9: "I pray not for       sent into the world. He is the on-
be one; as thou, Father, art in          the world, but for them which            ly begotten Son of God! Upon
me, and I in thee, that they             thou gavest me." Here in verse           Him the Father laid the guilt of
also may be one in us: that the          21, "Neither pray I for these            the sins of all His elect, appointeld
                                         alone, but for them which shall          Him to endure the sentence of
world may believe that thou              believe on me through their              death that followed, and opened
hast sent me. And the glory              word . . . that the world may            the way to the heavenly glory.
which thou gavest me I have              believe that thou hast sent me."           Secondly, verse 23, ". . . that
given them; that they may be             You see, there are two worlds,           the world may know that thou
one, even as we are one: I in            the world of the lost and the            hast sent me and hast loved
them, and thou in me, that               world of the saved.                      them, as thou hast loved me."
they may be made perfect in                Our great High Priest presses          What a wonder. Such knowledge
one; and that the world may              to His bosom the world for which         is not of the flesh, it is the know/-
know that thou hast sent me,             He was about to shed His blood           edge of faith. With such knowl-
and hast loved them, as thou             and who would believe on Him             edge of faith we know that even
hast loved me. "                         through the gospel. These in-            while Jesus hanged upon the
                     John 17:20-23 eluded  not only the disciples, not            cross the Father loved Him, and
                                         only the Jews, but also the Gen-         in that way of the cross opened
                                         tiles. Jesus is fully aware that, not    the way of love to us His people..
  Stand with me before Calvary.          very far in the future, the veil of        The banner over Jesus was
  Gaze with me upon the suffer-          the temple will be rent and the          love.
ing Savior.                              darkened windows of men's                  Amazing love: My God, why
  If there is ever a time that we        hearts would see the light and           hast thou forsaken me!
are inclined to question the reali-      come to faith.                             That the world may know that
ty of hell and Gods punishment             That unity could be accom-             thou hast loved them, as thou
for sin, we had better pause a           plished only in the death of the         hast loved me.
moment at the cross. Listen: "My         Son of God.                                Such love produces true unity.
God, My God, why hast Thou for-            The focal point of faith is that         For that unity Jesus prays, that
saken Me!" This is the Son of            cross.                                   those who believe on Jesus may
God crying out of hell.                    Literally verse 20 reads,              be one.
  But why?                               `I. . . believe into me." The idea         Three different times Jesus ex-
  The answer is in the words of          is that man comes from the out-          presses this in this portion of His
our text.                                side and by faith comes into the         high priestly prayer. In verse 21
  Father, that they all may be           inside to abide with Christ.             He says, ". . . as thou Father art
one!                                       Such a union with Christ pro-          in me and I in thee, that they
                                         duces a twofold confession.              also may be one in us"; and in
                                           First, verse 21, ". . . that the       verse 22, "the glory which thou
Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Prot-    world may believe that thou hast         gavest me I have given them that
estant Reformed Church of  Grand-        sent me." This deals with the            they may be one even as we are
ville,  Michigan.                        true identity of Jesus. He is not        one"; and finally in verse 23, "I

                                                                                     April  I,1990  I The Standard Bearer  I291


`in them and thou in me that they              with Him. He gives to us the             what makes the church attractive
may be made perfect in one."                   "glory" necessary to accomplish          and draws others into her midst.
   From these expressions, we                  this by renewing us in the image         The opposite is also true: if the
conclude that Jesus is saying two              of the Heavenly Father, as Paul          church is divided, separated from
things about this unity. First,                wrote later: ". . . be renewed in        the Father and Jesus His Son, for-
there is a beautiful union be-                 the spirit of your mind and that         sakes the truth, and even forces
tween Jesus as Mediator and His                ye put on the new man which              a union without unity, this i.s an
Heavenly Father, the Triune God.               after God is created in righteous-       offense to the believer. Jesus
This union which they enjoy                    ness and true holiness" (Eph.            prayed for true unity. That is
together is the model for union                4:23, 24). This forms the basis for      essential for the complete gather-
between the saints, that they                  true fellowship one with another.        ing of the church throughout al1
may be one even as we are one.                   There is more.                         ages.
Second, the union between the                    The unity for which Jesus                 Well may we bow before this
saints is not independent of                   prayed also includes a commu-            high-priestly prayer as we con-
Jesus, but draws its life from the             nion of love: ". . . as thou Father      sider the wonder of Calvary.
union Jesus has with His Father                art in me and I in thee." God               Jesus realized that the unity of
and that makes it real. ". . . that            loved His Son, and that love was         His own, both with Him and with
they also may be one in us."                   expressed most intimately in the         His Father, was exclusively in the
   This is profoundly spiritual.               eternal decree when the triune           hands of His Heavenly Father.
   It ought to caution us that                 God spoke His eternal good               For that reason He prayed. He
Jesus is not here praying for out-             pleasure into the ears of His Son.       prayed at the foot of the cross,
ward, denominational unity be-                 Jesus prayed that the church             "Father, that they all may be
tween churches. Much less does                 might be so united with Him that         one!"
He pray for such unity at any cost.            He would speak the words of His             The answer to this prayer
The ecumenicalists of our day                  Father into their ears and they          came to Jesus in two ways.
ought to study this passage more               might hear and rejoice in Him.              First, the answer came at the
carefully before they quote it so                Finally, Jesus prayed for the          cross. Unity required the pay-
glibly in support of their com-                unity of purpose: ". . . that they       ment of sin. This Jesus did in
promising and apostasy.                        may be made perfect in one."             humble submission. From the
   Indeed, we must labor for                   "Perfect" here is "complete."            cross He cried, "Father, forgive
specific expressions of the true               Jesus seeks the completion of the        them, for they know not what
unity of the church while we are               church, the gathering of every           they do." He gave His life a ran-
on earth. Such outward unity                   member and the ultimate con-             som for many. With a loud voice
must not be separated from, but                summation of all things, that this       He shouted, "It is finished," and
founded upon, the prayer of                    church would bring unto the              gave up the ghost. To be sure,
Jesus.                                         Father praise and glory. As all          the earthquake, open graves,
   Think of this: "the glory which             things begin in Him, so all things       rent veil followed; but most of all
thou gavest me, I have given                   must end in Him. To Him be               the resurrection of Jesus from the
them that they may be one."                    glory forever.                           dead sealed the unity of the
What is that glory? In verse 5                   The urgency for this unity is          believers in the forgiving love of
Jesus spoke of it as "the glory                expressed by Jesus in two ways.          God.
which I had with thee before the               First, verse 21: ". . . in order that      Second, the answer came on
world was." Being the only                     the world may believe that thou          Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was
begotten Son of God, Jesus par-                hast sent me," and the second in         given to Jesus so that the gospel
took of the divine nature. In that             verse 23: `&. . . that the world         might be preached throughout all
intimacy with the Father, Jesus                may know that thou hast sent me          the world and the world might
participated in the divine activity,           and hast loved me as thou hast           be brought to their knees and
the eternal counsel of peace, the              loved me."                               confess that salvation is by ;grace
creation of the world, the prov-                 This unity within the church is        alone. The church is made one
idential care .of the universe. He             crucial for the success of the           by the effectual preaching od the
emptied Himself of that glory and              gospel which is preached.                gospel, for then believers come
became a man. He Who was rich                    If the world (not the ungodly,         to know God as the Sovereign
became poor. While on earth He                 but those to be saved) is to             God of salvation from eternity to
prayed that all His own might                  believe and know that God sent           eternity.
enter into such intimate union                 Jesus, the world of the believers                           (con% on page 310)
with the Father as He enjoyed                  must be one and united. This is

292  I The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


                                      The Covenant of God and the
                                          Children of Believers (2)
                                      Protestant Reformed Conference
Editorials                                on Preaching

n The Covenant of God                 expect, and ought to enjoy, God's      conceiving the life of the Chris-
and the Children of                   wondrous love, Gods delightful         tian as a cold, formal, outward
                                      friendship, and Gods comforting        observance of prescribed rules
Believers (2)                         assurance, "I am your God, and         and accepted customs. And this
   The covenant is not a contract     you are My dear friends." With         determines the lives of Reformed
consisting of the mutual obliga-      this, of course, we expect His         Christians with each other: Mar-
tions of God and the believer.        care and blessing as regards both      riage is friendship; family life is
Although earthly marriage in-         this life and the life to come:        friendship; life in the congrega-
cludes the mutual duties of hus-      salvation! Think of the husband's      tion is friendship.
band and wife, these duties do        nourishing and cherishing of his         Two vital truths about the
not define the marriage. Marriage     wife and of the parents' nurture       covenant must be noted before
is not the duties, but the one-       and protection of their children.      we go on to the matter of the
flesh union. The covenant is not         In the covenant, God calls us       place of children in the covenant.
a treaty (much less a treaty          to give Him our love, our friend-      First, the covenant is Gods.
modeled after the profane             ship, and our exclusive, whole-        Deliberately, we frame our sub-
Canaanite treaties), any more         hearted service: thankfulness!         ject as we do: "The Covenant of
than the relation between a           Think of the devoted help that         God . . .  ." The covenant of Gods
believing father and his children     the husband desires from his wife      because He conceives it, He
is a treaty. Nor is the covenant a    and of the honor that parents          promises it, He establishes it, He
promise, although God estab-          look for from their children.          maintains it, and He perfects it.
lishes the covenant with His            Since the friendship of God is       He alone does all this. .He does
people by promise. Ezekiel 16:8       enjoyed only through His Word,         this without the help of
clearly distinguishes between the     the covenant people will be            Abraham, of Israel, or of the
promise by which the covenant is      marked by reverence for Scrip-         church. Again and again, God
made and sealed and the cove-         ture, for the preaching of the         says, "I will establish My cove-
nant which God enters into by         gospel, and for sound teaching.        nant." When Jerusalem has
way of the promise: "yea, I sware     Since we express our friendship        broken the covenant with her
unto thee, and entered into a         in prayer and in obedience to the      abominable idolatries so that no
covenant with thee, saith the         law, the covenant people will be       other judgment can be expected
Lord God, and thou becamest           characterized by prayer and obe-       than that God solemnly declares
Mine." Although the bridegroom        dience.                                the covenant null and void, God
takes his bride by means of a           At their very heart, Christian       amazingly says, "Nevertheless I
vow - a solemn oath and prom-         experience and Christian life are      will remember My covenant with
ise, this vow is not the mar-         friendship with God in Jesus           :hee . . . and I will establish unto
riage. The marriage is the life       Christ. "Henceforth I call you not     :hee an everlasting covenant"
together of the two.                  servants . . . but I have called       Ezek. 16:60). Never does God
  This understanding of the           you friends . . ." (John 15:15).       jay, "Let you and Me make our
covenant makes clear what the         This is the Reformed answer to         covenant." Never does Scripture
true covenant members ought to        the view of the Christian life as a    :each that the covenant depends
expect from God and what we           "personal relationship with God."      `or its fulfillment upon sinful
are required to give to God. We       This guards the Reformed Chris-        nan.
                                      tian against the dread error of          The covenant is a covenant of

                                                                                April  I,1990  I The Standard Bearer  / 293


grace. Never is this more clearly              is controlled, arranged, and struc-    Protestant Reformed Churches in
evident than in the incarnation of             tured by the covenant. As a            connection with the spring
the Son of God. In sheer mercy                 believer, my whole life is cove-       meeting of Classis in South
and awesome power, God did the                 nant life. God is my God, not          Holland the next day. Classiis
impossible thing: He established               alone on the Sabbath, but also         West and its committee - Rev.
the new covenant. We had                       through the week; not alone in         Ron Cammenga and Rev. Ron
nothing to do with it, except that             my worship, but also in my             Hanko - deserve the thanks of
our dreadful guilt, total depravi-             work; not alone in my devotions,       those who attended for a profit-
ty, and utter helplessness and                 but also in my marriage and            able, well-structured conference.
misery made the incarnation and                family; not alone as regards my          The theme of the conference
death of the Son of God                        church life, but also as regards       was expressed in the keynote ad-
necessary for the establishing of              my behavior to the State, to my        dress: "Preaching in the Re-
the covenant.                                  employer, and to my neighbor.          formed Tradition." The structure
   To err here is no minor mat-                The friendship of God lays claim       of the conference was different
ter, for all of salvation flows from           to everything, controls all, and       from that of similar conferences
the covenant. If the covenant                  shows itself everywhere. It makes      in the past. Instead of two osr
depends upon man, so also does                 a radical difference in the            three papers on a theme, an
salvation depend upon man. A                   believer's experience and              opening address was followed by
doctrine of the covenant that                  behavior. On the one hand, he          three sets of "sectionals," each
denies the graciousness of the                 now possesses joy, contentment,        set consisting of three differtent
covenant necessarily undermines                and hope. On the other hand, he        aspects of preaching. In the sec-
also the "five points of                       walks in holiness.                     tionals, the audience split up ac-
Calvinism."                                      This all-embracing character of      cording to preference to hear a
   But the covenant is Gods in a               the covenant is implied in the         brief introduction to a certain
yet deeper sense. It is the revela-            biblical figures of marriage and of    aspect of the theme and to
tion to us and the sharing with us             the parent-child relationship. The     discuss that aspect.
of Gods own, inner, trinitarian                whole life of the young woman is         The keynote address by Pro-
life. Gods own life is friendship.             affected by marriage and is            fessor Robert D. Decker, pro-
The life of God is f~hmi/y friend-             claimed by her husband. The            fessor of practical theology in the
ship. The Father loves the Son                 relationship in which my three-        PR Seminary, was a strong
Whom He has begotten and the                   year-old daughter stands to her        defense of preaching as the chief
Son loves the Father Whose im-                 mother and me controls her en-         means of grace for the people of
age He is; and They are friends                tire life. She behaves as she does,    God, a fervent plea for exegetical
in the Holy Spirit Who proceeds                she speaks as `she does, she           preaching, and a compelling ad-
from Them both and in Whom                     thinks as she does, she is who         vocacy of the "art homily"
They embrace.                                  she is, because she is our             method of constructing the :ser-
   A mystery? Granted, if you                  daughter. The relationship with        mon ("thematic preaching").. Tak-
mean that there are depths here                her parents molds her (a thought       ing note of the dismaying disap-
that surpass -our understanding.               that makes God-fearing parents         pearance of this kind of preach-
Nevertheless, this is revealed.                tremble, and should).                  ing, indeed of preaching as :such,
The life of God is covenant life -               One important aspect of lives        in our time; the speaker
life of the nature of Father-Son.              that are embraced by the cove-         demonstrated that such
And this life, God "lets us in on,"            nant is the family of believers.       preaching is both biblical and
in Christ, so that the relationship            For the children of believers are      "deeply embedded in the Re-
between us and God is Father-                  included in the covenant. -DJE         formed tradition."
son and Father-daughter. How                                                            The speech will be publislhed
are we to pray? "Our Father!"                  HProtestant Reformed                   in the April, 1990 issue of the
   This leads to the second truth              Conference on                          Protestant Reformed Theoloigical
about the covenant that is vital.                                                     Journal. Readers of The Standard
The covenant of God with us is                 Preaching                              Bearer can obtain a copy of this
all-embracing and all-dominating:                On March 6, one hundred men          issue of the Journal by writing
The entire iife of the believer -              and women gathered in South            the Seminary at 4949 Ivanrest
body and soul, physical and                    Holland, Illinois for a day-long       Ave., Grandville, Ml 49418, or
spiritual, temporal and eternal,               conference on preaching. The           calling (616) 531-1490.
God-ward and man-ward - is                     conference was arranged by a             The nine sectionals that took
taken up into this covenant and                committee of Classis West of the       up the rest of the day treated the

294  I The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


following aspects of preaching:          introduction be brief and pointed           We officebearers were reminded
"Organization and Homiletics";           and that lively discussion be en-           of the high calling that is ours,
"Preaching from the Old Testa-           couraged.                                   that there continue to be a faith-,
ment"; "Heidelberg Catechism               It would be good to conclude              ful explanation of Gods Word so
Preaching"; "The Importance and          such a conference with a plenary            that the congregations are built
Improving of Delivery"; "The             meeting at which the speakers               up through the preaching. It is a
Elders' Oversight of the Preach-         and the leaders at the sectionals           source of no small encourage-
ing"; "Missionary Preaching";            would answer questions arising              ment that there is unity of
"Series Preaching"; "Preaching as        from the sectionals and questions           thought and purpose in the PRC
Teaching"; and "Applicatory              directed to the speeches. This              concerning the vital activity of
Preaching." A preacher intro-            would enable all who attend to              the preaching of the Word.
duced each topic; and discussion         share in the discussion that took           Preachers, elders, and people are
followed. There are benefits to          place in the sectionals and would           one in the confession that "the
structuring a conference this            serve as a wrap-up of the con-              Holy Spirit works faith in our
way. Many aspects of the theme           ference.                                    hearts by the preaching of the
can be treated. Participants can           As is invariably the case with            gospel" (Heidelberg Catechism,
choose the sessions that most ap-        conferences of this kind among              Q. 65).
peal to them. There is opportuni-        us, there was the enjoyment of                The women of the South
ty for questions, discussion, and        fellowship in the unity of the              Holland congregation served the
debate. If this format is used in        Reformed faith and life according           conference with fine lunches and
the future, it is important that the     to the "Three Forms of Unity."              dinner.                               -DJE
                                                                                -                                                -



                                        Response to "The `Other Side!
                                        of Postmillennialism"
Letters                                 (see  Letters,  March  15,199O)


n Response to "The                       Theological Journal.  The purpose           a glorious kingdom here on
`Other Side' of                          of this article was to demonstrate          earth, they will be tempted to
                                         that the biblical position, some-           identify the kingdom which Antii-
Postmillennialism"                       times called "the Amillennial               Christ establishes with the
                                         position," is not a pessimistic in-         kingdom of Christ. It will be hard
  There are a couple of mis-             terpretation of Scripture, but an           enough in that dreadful day to
understandings which ought,              .eminently optimistic viewpoint             stand for the cause of Christ
perhaps, to be cleared up before         for the church to take. In connec-          without putting other spiritual
I enter the substance of Rev.            tion with this purpose, I was               temptations in the way.
Jones' article.                          compelled to warn Gods people                 In no way did I suggest that
  The purpose of my article was          against the spiritual dangers in-           the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
not to refute the error of post-         volved in postmillennialism. It is          Christ is not manifested in this
millennialism by means of a              my fervent hope and prayer that             world. The kingdom of Christ is
thorough exegetical study. If Rev.       those who hold to postmillennial-           manifested in this present age in
Jones is interested in such a            ism "do not actually promote the            the preaching of the gospel to
refutation, he may consult an ar-        kingdom of Antichrist"; but Her-            the ends of the earth; in the
ticle I wrote earlier for an Office-     man Hoeksema was right when                 gathering of the church; in the
bearers' Conference and which            somewhere he warned Gods                    establishment of covenant
was subsequently published in            people of the spiritual danger in-          schools; in the godly and holy
the Protestant Reformed                  volved. It is not inconceivable             walk of the saints as they reveal
                                         that, if the saints are looking for         in all their lives the sovereign

                                                                                        April 1,  1960  I The Standard Bearer  /2:95


rule of the grace of Christ in their           down at the right hand of the          Psalm 22:27, 28, Psalm 37:9-l  1,
hearts; in the throngs of faithful             throne of God' (12:1, 2).              and others to a kingdom of Christ
in every age who do not bow the                   This great antithesis between       here on earth.
knee to Baal, but bow instead in               the citizens of the kingdom in the        The limitations of an article in
humble worship of King Jesus.                  world and the citizens of the          The Standard Bearer make ;a
   But this manifestation of the               kingdom of darkness is rooted in       thorough discussion of this ques-
kingdom here in the world is in                the great "antithesis" of the rule     tion impossible, although it is
sharp antithesis to the all-                   of Christ in the world. Christ in-     something that needs very much
pervasive rule of the powers of                deed rules over all, including         to be done.
darkness. The saints walk here in              hell's demons. But Rev. Jones            Prophecy is part of the revela-
this world as citizens of the                  knows too that this rule of Christ     tion of God in Jesus Christ. I[n
kingdom of heaven. They are,                   is a rule of grace in the hearts of    prophecy God speaks of His eter-
and one can consult the apostle                the elect, and a rule of power in      nal purpose and will with respect
Peter's first letter as proof of this,         the lives of the ungodly. Psalm 2,     to the salvation of His church,
pilgrims and strangers in the                  of all the texts in Scripture, can     the triumph of the kingdom of
earth who seek the heavenly                    hardly be a support for a              His dear Son, and the way in
kingdom and live in hope of its                kingdom in the world in which          which history as a whole serves
realization in the coming of the               all the nations shall bow in hum-      His great purpose. Sometimes
day of the Lord. In the mean-                  ble worship to King Jesus. If the      prophecy is predictive, some-
time, they suffer persecution at               postmillennialists are right that      times not. Sometimes prophlecy
the hands of the ungodly; but                  Psalm 2 refers to an earthly king-     discusses in bold detail the `"day
they rejoice even then in the                  dom, why then does the Lord            of the Lord," sometimes it zeros
hope of another day. To use the                laugh? Does He laugh because           in on particular circumstances in
words of the Holy Spirit in                    He has made all the nations His        the life of the nation of Israel as
Hebrews: "These all died in faith,             willing, joyful subjects? No, the      the life of that nation was part
not having received the prom-                  Lords laughter is the laughter of      and parcel of the realization of
ises, but having seen them-afar                derision. He has set His King          Gods purpose.
off, and were persuaded of them,               upon His holy hill of Zion. The          The "day of the Lord" is that
and embraced them, and con-                    heathen rage and imagine vain          great day when, in distinction
fessed that they were strangers                things. They take counsel              from the dispensation of types
and pilgrims in the earth. For                 together against the Lord and His      and shadows, God realizes His
they that say such things declare              anointed. But the awful, bone-         purpose. That day began with the
plainly that they seek a country.              chilling laughter of the God of        incarnation. It ends with the
And truly, if they had been mind-              heaven arid earth is because in        return of Christ upon the clouds
ful of that country from whence                all their raging they serve the        of heaven to make all things
they came out, they might have                 purpose of the establishment of        new. You say: "But 2000 years
had opportunity to have re-                    the kingdom of heaven. Indeed          have elapsed in that one day?"
turned. But now they desire a                  He rules them with a rod of iron;      Peter reminds us that a day is
better country, that is, an                    but it is nevertheless to break        with the Lord as a thousand
heavenly; wherefore God is not                 them, for He dashes them in            years, and a thousand years as
ashamed to be called their God:                pieces like a potter's vessel.         one day. It is the one great day
for he hath prepared for them a                  I am aware of the fact that the      of the fulfillment of Gods un-
city" (vss. 13-16). And these were             final question between amillen-        changeable promise.
not simply old dispensational                  nialism and postmillennialism is a       In speaking of that day, proph-
saints who did not understand                  question of the interpretation of      ecy in the Old Testament was
that this "better country" was to              prophecy. It sometimes seems to        given within all the "trappings"
be realized in this world, but                 me that there is very little dif-      of the dispensation of types .and
they were that "cloud of                       ference between the interpreta-        shadows. It was given within the
witnesses" which surrounds us                  tion of prophecy used by the           context of the time in which God
and encourages us to "run with                 postmillennialists and that used       spoke typically and symbolically
patience the race that is set                  by the premillennialists. However      to a nation typical of the church
before us, looking to Jesus the                that may be, we had better get         of all ages, living in the typical
author and finisher of our faith;              straight some basic principles of      land of Canaan, surrounded by
who for the joy that was set                   Old Testament prophetic inter-         typical ceremonies of the law;
before him endured the cross,                  pretation before we apply such         and, therefore, in all the typical
despising the shame, and is set                passages as Isaiah 9:7, Psalm 2,       language of that time. It is no

296  I The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


more right to identify the              that Jesus Himself makes in His        shadows and the dawn of the age
kingdom of Solomon spoken of in         sermon of the mount. That is, in       of the realization of the promise.
Psalm 72 with a kingdom of              fact, why believers, though              Presumably the reference to
Christ here upon earth than it is       beleaguered and hard-pressed in        the Lords parables in Matthew
possible to identify the raising up     the world, live in joyful op-          13 is especially to the parables of
of the tabernacle of David (Amos        timism. The day is coming when         the mustard seed and the hidden
9: 11) with the rule of Christ with     they shall inherit the earth. That     leaven. I have treated these in
the Jews in Palestine and the           this earth is the renewed earth        my book, "Mysteries of the
rebuilding of the old temple -          when heaven and earth are              Kingdom," and need not repeat
especially when the Scriptures          joined in one perfect kingdom of       here what was said there.
themselves inform us that the           righteousness is exactly the             Hebrews 13:26-29 would surely
fulfillment of Amos is in the           promise of Revelation 2 1: 1.          not be the kind of passage a post-
gathering of a catholic church            That Isaiah 9:7 speaks of an in-     millennialist would appeal to. So
(see Acts 15:15-18). It is a mistake    crease of Christ's government is       far as I have noticed, no post-
to identify the rule of Christ as       beyond dispute. But to hang a          millennialist would ever say that
described in Psalm 2 with a-post-       postmillennial viewpoint on that       the kingdom of Christ to be
millennial kingdom when Scrip-          word seems to be stretching            realized here upon this earth is
ture itself tells us that verse 7       things a bit. The LXX has              brought about by "the removing
was fulfilled in the resurrection of    (translated from the Greek): "His      of those things that are shaken
our Lord Jesus Christ from the          rule shall be great." The German       (which, according to vs. 26,
dead (see Acts 13:33).                  has: "Auf dass seine Herrschaft        refers to heaven and earth); nor
  It is easy to refer in passing to     gross werde." And this surely is       that even this glorious kingdom
many passages of Scripture. But         the idea of the Hebrew.                to be realized here on earth is a
one ought really to consider their        And so we could continue to          "kingdom which cannot be
meaning. Just a glance at a few         look at dozens of individual texts,    moved." Even an ardent
of them will show how far from          all of which can not be inter-         Calvinistic postmillennialist
any postmillennial conceptions of       preted as referring to an earthly      believes, I think, that this earthly
a kingdom they are.                     kingdom of righteousness.              kingdom, as glorious as it is, shall
  Psalm 22:27, 28 appears in the          There are some passages in the       be moved when Christ comes
context of Christ's suffering. How      New Testament to which Rev.            again.
beautiful that already in the Old       Jones refers, which require a            Neither Ephesians 1:20-22 (I
Testament we have the assurance         brief`answer.                          think this is the passage Rev.
that Christ's atoning sacrifice was       I am aware of the many who           Jones refers to - his article has
to exalt Him in the highest             interpret Matthew 24 as referring      Eph. 21:20-22) nor I Corinthians
heavens so that He might gather         only to the destruction of             15:24, 25 refers to a postmillen-
a catholic church in which "the         Jerusalem. That the Lord has this      nial kingdom by any stretch of
ends of the world shall remember        in mind is readily granted. But        the imagination. Christ is exalted1
and turn unto the Lord: and all         that the Lord speaks of His own        in the highest heavens over all
the kindreds of the nations shall       coming at the end of the age and       God's works, sovereign in all
worship before him." There is no        gives signs of that coming is His      history, with "all things under hi:s
reason in the verse itself or in        own testimony. The disciples ask:      feet," because He is "the head
the whole of its context to apply       "When shall these things be? and       over all things to the church."
this to an earthly kingdom when         what shall be the sign of thy          And I Corinthians 15:24, 25 em-
all the Scriptures (including the       coming, and of the end of the          phatically states: "Then cometh
great commission - to which             world?" The Lord does not say:         the end!" Christ indeed rules
Rev. Jones refers) speak of that        "Never mind those questions; I         universally and puts "down all
great work of God in gathering          want to discuss something else         rule and all authority and
His church from all the nations of      with you." He answers their            power." He rules till He has "put
the earth.                              earnest questions and gives them       all enemies under his feet." Then
  Psalm 37:9-11 seems hardly to         the signs of His coming and of         He delivers up "the kingdom to
be a text to which a good post-         the end of the world. That He          God, even the Father." Both,
millennialist would appeal, unless      does so in the context of the          quite obviously, refer to Christ's
the reference is to the one state       destruction of Jerusalem is not        universal rule over all the wicked
ment: "The meek shall inherit the       surprising when we consider that       by which He makes them serve
earth." But so far as I know, no        Jerusalem's destruction was the        the purpose of the full salvation
one ever has disputed this point        end of the dispensation of             of the church in the day of His

                                                                                  April  I,1990  I The Standard Bearer I297


coming.                                        unto him, though he bear long          characterized by the organic
   I am thankful that Rev. Jones               with them?" The elect suffer un-       development of sin as "all th.ose
refers to our Three Forms of Uni-              told agony in this world at the        ominous signs (of Christ's calming)
ty, for in all these Forms there is            hands of the wicked. It seems as       become increasingly more ap-
not so much as a breath concern-               if God does not hear their sobs,       parent." That organic develop-
ing a postmillennial kingdom. Ar-              for they are not delivered. But        ment of sin finally culminates in
ticle XXXVI of the Belgic Confes-              we have the sure promise that          the "man of sin" (II Thessalonians
sion I have explained in a recent              God, though He bears. long with        2:3-12). That is the kingdom of
issue of The Standard Bearer.                  them, will nevertheless avenge         Antichrist.
The explanation of the second                  them speedily. To that is ap-            Anyone who asserts that
petition in Q. & A. 123 exactly                pended the rhetorical question:        Calvin was a postmillennialist
militates against such a post-                 "When the Son of man cometh,           ought to reread his Calvin. That
millennial kingdom. We pray that               shall he find faith on the earth?"     other reformers were postmillen-
God may rule us so by (His)                    How can this be interpreted to         nialists is an assertion without
word and Spirit, that we may                   mean: "When Christ comes to            proof. That some, especially
submit ourselves more and more                 destroy Jerusalem He will not          among Presbyterians, were post-
to (Him). We pray that the                     find faith in the land of Israel in    millennial cannot be denied. That
church may be preserved and in-                that generation"?                      Scripture militates against post-
creased; that the works of the                   But there are so many more           millennialism at every turn of the
devil and the world may be                     words of the Lord. How often did       page is clear beyond doubt.
destroyed "until the full perfec-              not the Lord have to instruct the        May God lead us by His Word
tion of thy kingdom take place,                disciples that His kingdom was         and Spirit to wait patiently, walk-
wherein thou shalt be all in all. "            heavenly when they always had          ing as pilgrims and strangers in
It seems beyond dispute that this              their hopes set upon an earthly        the earth, for the great day of
heartfelt prayer of Gods people                kingdom? And when the                  the coming of our Lord.
is answered only in the day of                 Pharisees demanded of Him                             -(Prof.) Herman Hanko
Christ's coming at the end of                  when the kingdom of God should
time. Certainly "the full perfec-              come, "he answered them and
tion" of Christ's kingdom does                 said, The kingdom of God com-
not come until that day when                   eth not with observation: neither      W A Reformed Oasis
Christ returns. I know of no post-             shall they say, Lo here! or, lo        on a Semi-Pelagian
millennialist who believes that                there! for, behold, the kingdom
this earthly kingdom of which                                                         Landscape
                                               of God is within you" (Luke
they speak is the full perfection              17:20, 21). When Pilate mocking-         I am a new subscriber to The
of Christ's kingdom. What a                    ly asked the Lord concerning His       Standard Bearer  and would like
beautiful prayer for the second                kingdom as its King stood bound        to request a reprint of your
coming of Christ this becomes!                 and helpless before him, the Lord      review of the book, A Case .for
   Rev. Jones does not like my                 answered: "My kingdom is not of        Arminianism: The Grace of God,
explanation of Luke 188 and                    this world: if my kingdom were         The Will of Man (December 1,
prefers to interpret it as meaning             of this world, then would my ser-      1989). I just received my first
"that when the Son of Man                      vants fight, that I should not be      issue (February 15, 199Oj and am
comes to destroy Jerusalem, He                 delivered to the Jews: but now is      singularly impressed!
will not find faith in the land of             my kingdom not from hence"               I have just read an essay by
Israel in that generation." But                (John 18:36).                          Clark Pinnock (editor of A Case
this is surely reading into the text             Rev. Jones wonders, if the           for Arminianism - DJE) entitled,
something which is not there.                  world is getting worse, "where         "The Arminian Option," in which
The words of the Lord are ap-                  was the high point from which          he has the temerity to declare
pended to a parable which Christ               the decline supposedly began?"         that Calvinism is predominate in
taught to encourage "men always                The answer to that question is, of     evangelical circles and is prej-
to pray, and not to faint." The                course, Paradise just before the       udicial to Arminianism. Would to
parable is applied in verse 7. If              fall. What Scripture constantly        God it wereso.. . .             1
the unjust judge avenged the                   teaches is that, with the fall sin       Your periodical is a Reforlmed
widow only because "by her con-                entered into the world. From that      oasis on a semi-Pelagian land-
tinual coming she wearied' him,                moment on, as the catholic             scape of arid scholasticism.
"Shall not God avenge his own                  church is being gathered, the            I would be happy to remit the
elect, which cry day and night                 history of the world is                cost for the photocopy of your

298  I The Standard Bearer  I April  1,199O


article or any other article ger-       by sovereign grace. There is no        salvation by the mercy of God
mane to this issue.                     charge.                                alone, and that repudiates both
  Once again, my Reformed                 As you suggest, evangelical          the gospel of salvation by man's
brethren, thanks for your God-          Christianity today is thoroughly       running and the gospel of salva-
exalting periodical.                    corrupted by Arminian free             tion by man's willing (Rom. 9:16).
       Greg Fields                      willism with all its attendant            Our desire is that all of
       Hamilton, Ohio                   evils. The few remaining ad-           evangelical Christianity be
                                        vocates of the sovereignty of          thoroughly Calvinistic and that
Response                                grace have made their peace            Arminianism be driven from the
  We have sent you the copy of          with the lie of free will and ac-      field, that is, that evangelical
the book review that you re-            cept the free willists as legiti-      Christianity be truly evangelical..
quest. We have also sent you            mate, worthy colleagues in the           Welcome to the world of The
several articles, pamphlets, and        work of the gospel. The Standard       Standard Bearer. Thank you for
books on the truth of salvation         Bearer is determined to witness        your encouragement. Spread the
                                        to the gospel that proclaims           word.                               -Ed.




The Reader Asks Speaking in Tongues :
Rev. Cornelius Hanko



  A reader from Burnie,                 in his own language." And in           proselytes were drawn, possibly
Tasmania asks whether the               verse 8, "And now hear we              by the "sound as of a rushing
speaking in tongues in I Corin-         every man in our own tongue,           mighty wind," to the place where
thians 12 and 14 is the same as         wherein we were born." Where-          the one hundred and twenty
in Acts 2.                              upon follows a list of the various     were gathered and where the
                                        languages spoken.                      Spirit had been poured out. Now
  This is a very interesting ques-        Some are of the opinion, that        those who were filled with the
tion. Before Christ's ascension in-     this was not a miracle of speak-       Spirit moved among that
to heaven, Jesus promised His           ing, but of hearing. This is based     multitude, speaking to each one
disciples that "they shall speak        on the fact that twice we read         in the language of his native
with new tongues" (Mark 16: 17).        that the Jews and proselytes           country. We read literally in
Here Jesus speaks of "new               heard the one hundred and twen-        verse 8, "Every single man was
tongues" in distinction from the        ty speak to them in their own          hearing them speaking in his
Hebrew spoken by the church of          tongue or language. Yet this is        own language." Thus, one of
the old dispensation and still by       impossible, since the miracle of       those who had received the Spirit
the disciples in Jesus' time. This      speaking is ascribed to those who      walked up to a Parthian and
obviously refers to the speaking        were filled with the Holy Spirit       spoke to him in his language.
in tongues on the day of                and spoke as the Spirit gave           This same one may have ap-
Pentecost.                              them utterance (Acts 2:6).             proached a Crete or an Arabian
  In Acts 2 we read, "And they            Evidently this is what hap-          and spoke to him of the "wonder-
were all filled with the Holy           pened: A large number of Jews          ful works of God."
Ghost, and began to speak with          and proselytes from practically  *       Actually a double wonder wa.s
other tongues, as the Spirit gave       every part of the known world          performed upon them. In the first
them utterance." Again in verse         were gathered in Jerusalem to          place, they were able to speak in
6, "Every man heard them speak          keep the feast of Pentecost. It has    languages which they had never
                                        been estimated that as many as         learned. In the second place,
                                        two million people came from far       they now understood the wonder
                                        and wide to keep the most im-          of the cross, the resurrection, and
Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in    portant feasts in the Holy City.       the ascension of their Lord and
the Protestant Reformed Churches.       Thousands of these Jews and            Savior as never before. Those

                                                                                  April  1,199O  I The Standard Bearer I299


were the "wonderful works of                    Various interpretations have         preted, so that all could be
God" of which they spoke. The                been given of the speaking in           edified.
church had broken out of the                 tongues as it appeared in Corinth         Speaking in tongues did serve
narrow channel of the Jewish na-             and in other of the early               a useful purpose in the early
tion to become the universal                 churches. Some have `understood         church, so that Paul does not
church of the new dispensation.              it to be a language of heaven,          condemn it, but would rather
This is evident, not only from               since in I Corinthians 13:l Paul        that they all had that gift, if it
their speaking in tongues, but               says, "though I speak with the          were used properly (verse 5). But
also in the fact that three thou-            tongues of angels . . . ." Others       prophesying was far more
sand were converted and added                regard it as "whisperings and           beneficial for the entire con-
to the church that same day.                 mutterings, rudiments of various        gregation, for thereby they all1
   Turning now to I Corinthians              languages." Still others hold that      were built up in the most holy
12 and 14, we are confronted                 those who spoke in tongues              faith (verses 3-5). He urges them
with the question whether the                passed over into a sort of ecstasy,     to "covet earnestly the best gifts"
speaking in tongues in the con-              "making incomprehensible                (I Cor. 12:31). 0
gregation of Corinth was the                 sounds, partly sighings, partly
same as the momentous event on               cries, disjointed words, all uttered
the day of Pentecost.                        in a highly excited state."               Only By Blood Could .
   There is an obvious difference              There is no basis for these wild         Atonement Be Made
between what took place on the               interpretations anywhere in
day of Pentecost and in the                  Scripture. But there is every           Only by blood could atonem.ent
church at Corinth. Those who                 reason to maintain that the                  be made
spoke in tongues in Corinth did              speaking in tongues referred to in        To wash foul sins from the
so publicly, in the audience of              I Corinthians and elsewhere in                      soul.
the entire congregation (I Cor.              the epistles is the same as that        No other offering could cover our
14:2). As a result, the entire con-          which took place on the day of               guilt,
gregation heard them speak, and              Pentecost. Although this gift was         Purify, cleanse and make
failed to understand them. For               sadly misused in the congrega-                      whole.
that reason the apostle stresses             tion of Corinth, the purpose of it      Blood of bulls, goats and rams
that if anyone spoke in an                   was to address a visitor who                 would not suffice,
unknown tongue, he should be                 spoke another language in his             Though some were offered
able to interpret what he said               own tongue, telling him of the                      each day.
(verse 5), or there should be an             wonderful work of salvation.            God's only Son's precious life-
interpreter (verse 27). Evidently              Paul says that he spoke in                 blood was spiIt,
there were many who desired to               tongues "more than ye all." This          Our many sins on Him lay.
be able to speak in tongues, so              can readily be understood,
that there arose confusion in the            because as the apostle to the           How can we thank Thee, Lord,
congregation. It must have                   Gentiles he came in contact with             for that great gift,
sounded at times like a mad                  many different nationalities and          Christ's precious blood freely
house, as each one thought he                languages. Therefore the Holy                       given;
was gifted with the ability to               Spirit made it possible for him to      We'll praise Thee now and
speak in tongues (verse 23). This            converse with various na-                    eternally raise
the apostle condemns in no                   tionalities in their own language.        To Thee, our glad hymns in
uncertain terms. Paul adds that                It is also readily conceivable                    heaven.
speaking in tongues should be                that a stranger would enter into                                 -S.B., 1929
limited to two or three persons              the worship services at Corinth,
(verse 27). Most emphatically he             and that the Holy Spirit would
wants the church to know that                give one of the members the gift
the gift of prophecy, by which               of tongues, declaring to him "the
the entire church could be                   wonderful works of God," or, as
edified, was far more important              Paul expresses it, "speaking . . .
than the gift of speaking in                 by knowledge . . . or by doctrine"
tongues, which the apostle                   (verse 6). But for the sake of the
describes as being the least of all          congregation it was important
the special gifts bestowed on the            that this message, proclaimed in
early church (verses 5, 6, 28).              a foreign tongue, should be inter-

300 I The Standard Bearer I April 1, 1990


           Strength                     The  End Times  (4):
of Youth                                The Great Persecution
Rev. Barrett Critters



  The biblical teaching about An-        of oil, used as torches,                severe persecution, they deny
tichrist, who will come in place         slaughtered by the thousands.           that there will be a final, "Great
of Christ and against Christ, is         This was the story for the Refor-       Tribulation." But there are prob-
that he will be both a political         mation saints who were stretched        lems with that thinking that
and an ecclesiastical power. His         out on racks, burned at the stake,      cannot be solved. Obviously, Mat-
reign of terror for the people of        and slaughtered by the hundreds         thew 24:29, 30 does not refer on-
God will be a reign over both the        While they worshiped, as in the         ly to the destruction of Jeru-
"church" and the "world."                1572 St. Bartholomew's Day              salem. It says that the tribulation
   One horrible result of the reign      massacre in France.                     comes  immediately before  the
of the Antichrist will be a                 But this is not what "the great      sign of the Son of man in
persecution of God's people.             persecution" refers to. Christ          heaven. And the Son of man did
Even though some do not believe          spoke to His disciples in Matthew       not appear in heaven immediate-
that there will be a great               24 of this terrible persecution,        ly after that event. Second, verse
persecution (some post-millennial-       describing it as "great tribulation"    36 says that no man knows the
ists) and others believe that,           (vs. 21).                               time that this great event will
although there will be a great             In Matthew 24, one of Jesus'          take place. Is Jesus merely refer-
persecution, the saints will be          purposes was to foretell that           ring to the fact that no man
raptured out of it (most pre-            Jerusalem would be destroyed. It        knows when Jerusalem will be
millennialists), the child of God        was. In AD 70, the Romans               destroyed? Third, verse 37 com-
may not expect to be spared              under the leadership of Titus           pares this great event with the
tribulation. "In the world ye shall      besieged and finally entered Jeru-      destruction of the world by the
have tribulation," Christ says (see      salem, wasted the city, dese-           flood. Does Jesus say that the
also Matthew 24:9, 10, 21, 22            crated the temple, and murdered         flood is a picture of the destruc-
along with 24:29a).                      the people in some of the most          tion of Jerusalem? II Peter 3:5-7
  The church always suffered             gruesome butcherings in history.        and Luke 17:20-37 give the clear
persecution. From the persecu-           In reference to this persecution        answer. Finally, something that
tion of righteous Abel to the kill-      also, the Lord told them to pray        we sometimes forget is that after
ing of Zechariah the son of              that their flight would be not in       Matthew 24 comes Matthew 25,
Berechiah, Christ said, persecu-         winter or on the Sabbath, and           and that the two are related. The
tion of the church always existed.       that they would be not pregnant         parables of the ten virgins, the
There is nothing surprising or dif-      when they would have to run for         talents, and the last judgment
ferent there (see Hebrews                their lives (vss. 18, 19). But this     (very clearly applications of what
11:35-38, and I Thessalonians            persecution was only a fore-            Jesus said in chapter 24) are ap-
3:2-4). Paul told the saints in Acts     shadowing of the final, incom-          plications of the teaching of the
14 that "through much tribula-           parable persecution at the end of       final coming of Christ, not the
tion" we must enter into the             this dispensation. Still to come is     destruction of Jerusalem.
kingdom of God. Shortly after            the great persecution, the like of        There is yet to come a great
Paul died, when the saints would         which the church has never seen         persecution of the church.
not forsake their faith, they were       (see Matthew 24:2 1).                     The church will be "chased" (II
fed to lions, boiled in great pots         Many refuse to believe that           Thess. 2: 15, marginal reading)
                                         there will be such a great              out of the world, "pressed" and
Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Prot-     persecution. Believing that there       "squeezed" out of existence
estant Reformed Church of Byron          will be some persecution for the        ("tribulation" means just this).
Center, Michigan.                        church throughout the ages, even        This will be done by refusal to

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allow God's people to buy                      they think that outward member-         kill you: and ye shall be hated of
groceries or-gas; to use the                   ship in the church will be of           all nations, for my name's sak.e."
telephone or electricity, to work              benefit for them in the judgment        In John 15:21 the Lord taught, "If
and make a living (Rev. 13:17).                day, perhaps at least guarantee         they persecuted me, they will
While the world swims in a pool                them a cooler spot in the fires of      also persecute you . . . . But .a11
of wealth, the church will lack                hell. But in the days of the great      these things will they do unto
basic necessities. How bad this                tribulation there will be no social     you for my name's sake, because
will be cannot even be described               benefits in the true churches. In       they know not him that sent
because, although one can hardly               those days there will be little         me." And Revelation 12 makes
imagine how bad some persecu-                  financial or emotional support. In      very plain that the anger of the
tions have been in the past, this              those days there will be mass           beast for the church is because
persecution will be "such as was               defections from true churches,          the church brought forth Jesus
not since the beginning of the                 exposing hypocrites for what            Christ.
world to this time . . ." (Matt.               they were.                                Think of that when you suffer.
24:2 1).                                         The false church engages in           For the sake of Christ we live as
   The Antichrist wiI1 orchestrate             this severe persecution of the          we do. For the sake of Christ we
this cacophony (Revelation 13).                true church because of envy. The        speak the truth of God and His
The nominal church will play his               false church wants to silence the       Son. For the sake of Christ we at-
tune (Revelation 17, especially                witness of the truth because the        tend and support the schools we
verse 6). The true church of Jesus             false church wants these converts       do. For the sake of Christ we sup-
Christ will be blasted (Rev.                   for herself. More than once in the      port the church and kingdom
12: 13).                                       book of Acts you read that "the         here on earth. For the sake of
   It's worthwhile to think about              unbelieving Jews were moved             Christ we will not bow down to
this in the context of the world               with envy" because of the work          the beast and his image, nor
we live in today. Our sophisti-                of the apostles (see chapter 17,        receive his mark on our body.
cated, humanitarian, "rights"-                 for example). Paul says in I            So, for the sake of Christ we are
oriented, peaceful, "do-your-own-              Thessalonians 2:16 that the             persecuted! For no other reason
thing-as-long-as-you-don't-hurt-               unbelieving Jews were forbidding        would we allow our children to
anyone-else" society will be the               Paul and the others to speak to         starve, but for the sake of Christ.
one that shows its true colors and             the Gentiles because the Jews           For no other reason would we
attempts the destruction of                    didn't want the Gentiles to be          lose home and family and posses-
Christ's church.                               saved. They were jealous even           sions and life, but for our Christ.
  It's also worthwhile to                      then, because they wanted the           For no other reason do we sing
remember that the "church" will                Gentiles to be converted to             with Luther in "A Mighty Folr-
be lighting the matches, opening               Judaism (Matthew 23: 15).               tress," "Let goods and kindred
the cages, boiling the oil . . . .               This will be true in the last         go, This mortal life also; The
Prostituting herself anew (see                 days as well. The Antichristian         body they may kill, God's truth
Ezekiel 16:33, 34), this "church"              kingdom will not allow the true         abideth still, His kingdom is
will hate those who love her                   church to speak because it will         forever." For Christ.
former "lover." Then these who                 be green with envy of any con-            Remember, then, the goal of
call themselves followers of                   verts the Lord gives the church         their persecution - it's not to
Christ will drink themselves to                in those days, and it will be           hurt you, but to stop you from
drunken glee with the blood of                 lusting after every follower for its    speaking about Jesus Christ. Let's
the saints (Rev, 17:6). They will              Antichristian kingdom. This is          not forget that He is at the center
hate the true children of God.                 true today as well. False teachers      of this as well.
For this, God will judge her (I                in colleges and high schools are          We ought to recognize every
Thess. 2:16; II Thess. 1:6-10).                envious that some students are          form of persecution today fair
  During those days the church                 still espousing the traditional doc-    what it is. Every pressure to
of Christ will be trimmed of its               trines. Then, because they want         move us from our confession. of
fat. Hypocrites in the true                    these students for themselves, all      the truth, whether that's the truth
churches will be few, if any. To-              stops are pulled to silence the         of the sovereignty of God in crea-
day, many remain members of                    truth.                                  tion or the sovereignty of God in
the church because family and                    Behind it all is hatred of Jesus      salvation or the infallibility of the
friends are there, or because                  Christ. Jesus said in Matthew           Bible, is an attempt to destroy
their support - emotional or                   24:9, "Then shall they deliver          our salvation and an attack
material - is there, or because                you up to be afflicted, and shall       against Jesus Christ.

302  I The Standard Bearer  / April  1,199O


   Do you fear persecution? Who           be less than 24 hours, but that        own choosing. Dost ask who that
would deny that they have fear            time will be cut off. The Lord is      may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
when they think of persecution,           in control. He will hasten His         Lord Sabaoth His name, From
whether that's the tribulation of         coming to take his elect to glory,     age to age the same, And He
the very end or the persecution           destroy the wicked world, and          must win the battle." He has. In
of the present? We ought to have          make all things new, because He        Him, you will.
a healthy "fear" of persecution as        will not have one of His elect
Paul expressed in I Thessalonians         deceived or fall. With respect to      Questions for discussion:
3:5ff, making us beware of it and         us, we certainly would fall; but       1. Should the church member
take measures against it.                 the Lord will not allow it (Can-         who is not persecuted feel guil-
  But we must not be terrified.           nons V-8). He will "cut short"           ty? Should the church member
The Lord Jesus gives good con-            those days for our sakes. Finally,       seek out persecution? Should
solation regarding these terrifying       the comfort in persecution is this:      he pray to be spared persecu-
days. First, we were ordained by          we have a glory coming that can-         tion? In this connection, what
God Himself to go through                 not even be compared with the            does I Timothy 2:1, 2 mean?
whatever tribulation we ex-               suffering we experience now (II        2. Look up the Formula of
perience (I Thess. 3:3).                  Cor. 4: 17, Romans 8: 18), a glory       Subscription in the back of the
Remember that. Second, this               of living eternally with our great       (old) Psalter. What does the
persecution is nothing new. Peter         God and His Son Jesus Christ.            promise that the officebearers
warned the saints in his days to            Bear up, saints. Lift up the           take mean for their place in
"think it not strange concerning          hands that hang down, and the            the persecution?
the fiery trial which is to try you,      feeble knees . . . . No one will       3. Are all those today who are in-
as though some strange thing              pluck you out of His hand. There         volved in persecuting God's
happened unto you: But rejoice,           is laid up for you a crown of life.      people aware of what they are
inasmuch as ye are partakers of           In the world you have tribula-           doing? Does this matter? For
Christ's sufferings . . . ." Christ       tion; but do not fear, Christ has        them? For our reaction to
suffered. His saints always suf-          overcome the world! Stand                them?
fered (Matt. 5:12, I Thess. 2:15).        strong in Him.                         4. How can we strengthen our-
You are in good company! Third,             "Did we in our own strength            selves to face these coming
the days will be shortened for            confide, Our striving would be           days, or to face any persecu-
your sakes (Matt. 24:22). This            losing; Were not the right Man           tion? 0
doesn't mean that the days will           on our side, The Man of Gods


                                          Why a Teacher Shortage?
                                          Baptist Seminary in Trouble over
                                              lnerrancy
All Around Us                             Mega Churches
Prof. Robert Decker              .-       Westminster Seminary

                                           HWhy a Teacher                        fluence men and women to enter
                                             Shortage?                           into and to remain in, the
                                                                                 teaching profession in our
                                             Because of a teacher-shortage       schools."
                                           problem the League of Canadian          The results of this study are in-
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical     Reformed School Societies in On-      teresting indeed! The study found
Theology in  the. Protestant Reformed      tario commissioned a study "to        that the teachers have a "deep
Seminary.                                  examine those factors which in-       commitment to teaching in a

                                                                                    April  1,199O  I The Standard Bearer  I 303


Christian manner and setting, but              Forest, North Carolina has made         variety of needs. There are
t-hat there are some major                     biblical inerrancy a criterion for      ministries to singles, to divorced
obstacles to having a true sense               hiring faculty. The Seminary may        persons, to alcoholics, etc.
of satisfaction while performing               be placed on probation by an ac-        Another reason why these
this demanding task." The major                crediting agency on account of          churches are growing is that
obstacles as perceived by the                  this. The seminary was issued a         many people, especially those
teachers are 1) Lack of adequate               warning last December by the            born after 1930, have lost their
salaries and 2) Lack of apprecia-              Southern Association of Colleges        loyalty to their denomination.
tion for the work of teachers. In              and Schools (SACS). The                 (Christianity Today)
this connection the study found                seminary must show improve-               If the Word of God is bein;g
that "teachers often receive                   ment within the next two years          faithfully preached and taught, if
negative comments only, and                    in areas of planning and evalua-        the sacraments are being exer-
parents tend to interfere with                 tion, faculty selection, the role of    cised according to the institution
their work." Responses from                    faculty on committees, and the          of Jesus Christ, and if church
Board members indicate that                    role of trustees, says SACS, or it      discipline is being exercised #ac-
these have a "deep sense of ap-                may lose its accreditation. It is       cording to the teaching of Holy
preciation for the dedication and              the position of the SACS that           Scripture in a church, will not
commitment teachers bring to                   maintaining biblical inerrancy as       that church be meeting the
their tasks." (Uarion)                         a criterion for hiring faculty is to    "needs" of its members? Will not
  Our Protestant Reformed Chris-               have no ". . . regard for due pro-      that church grow spiritually into
tian Schools are also beginning to             cess, institutional traditions, and     its head, our Lord Jesus Chri:st?
experience a shortage of                       principles of academic freedom."        Will not the fruit of faithful
teachers. Some of our schools,                 (The Banner)                            preaching and teaching, the use
especially in the Western U.S.,                  We hope the seminary will not         of the sacraments and church
annually struggle to find qualified            change its stand on this critical       discipline, be a membership ,that
people to teach in their schools.              issue. Compromise on the truth          "bears one another's burdens,
A number of teachers, many of                  of the inerrancy of Holy Scrip-         and so fulfills Christ's law?" (Gala-
them men and many of them                      ture is far too great a price to        tians 6:2). Will not God in Chuist
quite capable, have in the last                pay for accreditation. If maintain-     use those means to gather, de-
few years left the teaching pro-               ing biblical inerrancy is to violate    fend, and preserve His elect to
fession. If the Federation of Prot-            the principles of academic              the glory of His Name? (Heid.el-
estant Reformed School Societies               freedom, so be it!                      berg Catechism, L.D. 21).
were to conduct a study similar
to the one done by the Canadian                n Mega Churches                         n Westminster
Reformed League, one wonders                     It is estimated that there are          Seminary
what the results might be. We                  well over one thousand mega
are certain that there would be                                                          Westminster Theological
                                               churches in the U.S. and the
no lack of commitment to Prot-                                                         Seminary in Escondido, California
                                               number is growing. To qualify as
estant Reformed Education on                                                           has appointed the Rev. Joseph A.
                                               a mega church a church must
the part of the teachers. We are                                                       Pipa to its faculty. Pipa will be
                                               have a worship attendance of at
also certain that there would be                                                       the seminary's Director of Ad-
                                               least 3,000 per Sunday. Among
no problem in relationships be-                                                        vanced Studies. Dr. Jay Adarns,
                                               the ten largest churches in this
tween Boards and teachers. But                                                         the former Director of Advanced
                                               country, the largest is First Bap-
we do think that inadequate                                                            Studies, will continue to teac.h in
                                               tist Church, Hammond, Indiana,
salaries, especially for the men                                                       the Doctor of Ministries program.
                                               with as many as 30,000 worship-
teachers who are heads of house-                                                       Pipa is currently the pastor of
                                               pers on the Lord's Day and the
holds, might very well be a prob-                                                      Covenant Presbyterian Church
                                               "smallest" is Chapel Hill
lem. What does the reader think                                                        (PCA) in Houston, Texas. Pipa
                                               Harvester Church, Decatur,
about all this?                                                                        received his Ph.D. from West-
                                               Georgia, with 7,500 in attendance       minster Seminary in Philadelphia
n Baptist Seminary in                          at worship services.                    in 1985.  (Christian Observer)
                                                 Part, a large part, of the appeal
   Trouble over                                                                          Dr. Pipa is kown to some of
                                               of these churches, according to         our ministers and people. We
   Inerrancy                                   Lyle E. Schaller who did a study        congratulate him on his appoint-
                                               of this phenomenon, is that they
  Southwestern Baptist                                                                 ment to Westminster West and
                                               provide ministries to a wide
Theological Seminary, Wake                                                             wish him well in his work. 0

304  I The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


 The Day                               A Shadow o
of Shadows
Rev. john Heys                         What lies A lead

  Although it is true that "to err     toward Him. In our courts men         Abraham out of Ur of the
is human," this statement is a         are tried, not for what the world     Chaldees, Lot went along. Like-
truth with which the unbelieving       calls sin, but what mankind con-      wise when Abraham went north-
sinner agrees. However, it makes       siders to be a crime against man,     ward to Haran and then south-
a world of difference whether by       as misdemeanor, a violation of a      ward to Canaan, Lot went with
the words "to err" you mean sin-       law of mankind. We must,              him. When Abraham went even.
ning against God, or simply doing      however, call every sin of man        further south into Egypt, because
something of which your fellow         rebellion against our God. Sins       of the famine God sent into Ca-
men do not approve. To err can         are not mistakes, or human er-        naan, Lot went with him. This
simply mean to make a mistake          rors, but acts of hatred against      was a sinful act of Abraham; anld
in your writing or typing, for         God, Who made us to do His will,      now in Genesis 13 we read of a
which you need an eraser then in       and to do it in love toward Him.      sin, an act of hatred against Gocl,
order to put down the correct            Now, when Abraham lied              that Lot committed, one of ac-
spelling. Besides, although it is      about Sarah being only his sister,    tually walking in the same sin
true that to err is human, we          he made it possible for Pharaoh       that Abraham had committed,
must say much more than that.          to commit the sin of taking her       and for which he set an example.
We must say that sin - in no           for his wife. That was no mere          Abraham had set his affections
matter what form it. comes, or in      error on Abraham's part. The          on earthly things and ceased
what way it is displeasing to men      awful plague that God brought         walking by faith in God, Who
- is an act of hatred against God      upon Egypt reveals clearly that       had brought him not only to Ca-
and deserves everlasting punish-       He considered it to be a sin; and     naan, but had very clearly and
ment.                                  that Abraham had also sinned,         emphatically told him that THIS
  Bear in mind the fact that           and had not merely made an er-        was the land which He promised
Adam and Eve's sin of eating of        ror which could be erased by          him (Genesis 12:7). In fact there
the fruit of the tree of knowledge     man.                                  He stated, "Unto thy seed will I
of good and evil in the garden of        And now we find Lot, his            give this land." Plainly Abraham
Eden was far more than an error.       nephew, committing, not an er-        should have stayed there. But thle
It was such a terrible sin that it     ror, but a sin against God. It was    desire for material gain, worldly
made the whole human race guil-        a sin that, in a sense, was of a      things, moved him to go down
ty of hating God; and it brought       different form than Abraham's         into Egypt, where there was no
the punishment in hell upon the        was, but was very definitely an       famine. God did not tell him to
whole human race that they             act of hatred against God. And        go away for material gain. There
would bring forth in time. Adam        God made him suffer severely          is no question about it that
and Eve brought SIN into the           because of that sin, as we shall      Abraham knew that God prom-
world, and not merely error, in        see, and as is presented to us in     ised him this land. And it is
the sense of mistake. It was not       Scripture.                            also so very true, as Abraham's
due merely to what man calls             Lot was not Abraham's son,          return to Canaan shows, that the
wrong thinking and willing, but        but he was a nephew brought up        Canaanites, who stayed in the
was something against Gods will-       by Abraham after his,, that is        land Abraham left, did not starve
ing and thinking, an act of hatred     Lot's father died. Abraham taught     to death. They came safely
                                       him much about God and our            through that grievous famine.
                                       calling to serve him. Of that we      And it was God Who brought
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in    may be sure. When God called          them through it. They did not
the Protestant Reformed Churches.

                                                                                April  I,1990  I The Standard Bearer  / 305


even have the promise that God                 well watered everywhere, even          He in His grace enables us to do,
gave Abraham. And let us not                   as the garden of the Lord, like        or our debt before Him becomes
overlook the fact that Abraham                 the land of Egypt" (Genesis            bigger and bigger.
had he not committed this sin of               13: 10). Get that! God Himself            Now Lot reveals his lack of in-
ceasing to trust in God and His                shows us where Abraham went;           terest in God's covenant pro.mise.
promise, would not have been                   and that Lot follows Abraham's         Not rejoicing in what God prom-
tempted to commit that next sin                example!                               ised Abraham, he went awa:y
of lying about Sarah, not being                  What a lesson for us! It is so       from him with whom God had
his wife but being only his sister.'           appealing to our flesh, and easy       made such a rich promise, a.nd
Here was a true statement that                 as far as the flesh is concerned,      went unto a people that hated all
nevertheless was a lie. We might               to move away from a city where         works of love to God, and hated
say that it was no error on                    there is a church that preaches        God Himself. In Genesis 14:12 we
Abraham's part to say she was                  the truth, and unto a city where       read that Lot actually lived in
his sister; but it definitely was a            the lie is preached; or even to go     Sodom; and in Genesis 19:l `that
sin to deceive Pharaoh. -In fact,              where sin abounds much more            He "sat in the gate of Sodom."
even after Pharaoh took Sarah to               than where we live, because we         This means that he was, to say
his palace, Abraham did not yet                can get more material wealth.          the least, a friend of those
come with the truth that she was               Spiritual wealth is of minor con-      wicked people of Sodom. People
his wife as well as his sister. This           cern for us. 0, yes, we still say      often gathered in the gates of the
also reveals that it was a sin on              with the mouth that we want it;        city for judgments, for settling of
Abraham's part to go down to                   but with our deeds (as was the         their problems - and it is not im-
Egypt, after he had been prom-                 case with Abraham and Lot) we          possible that Lot was a
ised that land of Canaan. It                   say that we need to get away           magistrate, a ruler of a section of
reveals the materialism in his                 from this "famine." And then we        the city. He married an ungodly
mind, his love for worldly things,             get away from the Bread of Life        woman of the city, and let his
seeking the things here below,                 preached in the region where           daughters marry some of these
and not trusting in God Who had                God brought us.                        wicked people. No, we do not
very definitely, word for word,                  What is an undeniable fact is        read literally that his wife was an
assured him that Canaan was the                that, when one is walking in the       unbeliever. But her dropping
land he would receive for his                  wrong spiritual direction, he must     behind Lot and their daughters,
seed as well as for himself.                   turn completely away, and go           and looking back at the cities,
   Still more, in Genesis 128 we               back to the way of truth and           after being forbidden to look.
even read that the city where                  righteousness. We cannot stand         back, reveals her unbelief, as
God gave Abraham this promise,                 still spiritually. We go either in     does also the punishment that
and where Abraham after that                   the right direction, in the fear of    God meted out to her.
promise had even built an altar                Gods name; or we go in the               Lot's hesitation and delay in
to God, was called Bethel, which               wrong direction, the way of            leaving the city before the
means House of God! He left that               hatred toward Him. One turns           brimstone came reveals the
behind. It is no wonder then that,             around and away from sin, or           weakness of his faith, and his
when he told Lot to choose                     one continues in acts of hatred        longing to live in that godless
where he wanted to be (if Lot                  toward God. There just is no           city with the wicked Sodomites.
went eastward, then Abraham                    neutral ground. We turn from           Why, he even offered to these
would go westward; if Lot went                 sin, or we go further into sin!        Sodomites his daughters! Yes, he
to the left, he would go to the                Stay in the shadow, and you will       did try to protect these
right; and if Lot went to the                  be outside of the sunlight. Grow       "strangers" who came to inform
right, he would go to the left),               in the pleasure of worldliness,        him of the destruction of the
Lot chose to go where he would                 and you grow in hatred toward          cities. But we may never sin to
gain materially. Material things               God. There just is no spiritual        try to keep others from sinning.
were more important to him than                neutrality. There is no spiritual      We do read in Genesis 19:18-20
spiritual things. Abraham had set              standing still. We go forward          that Lot pleaded with the angels
the example by going down to                   either in works of love toward         to be allowed to go not so far
Egypt, away from the land God                  God, or in deeds of hatred             away as they had told him to go.
promised him. Lot followed in his              against Him. He tells us to love       Truly, Lot, even though he was
footsteps and chose to go into                 Him with all our heart, soul,          an elect, believing child of God,
the region of some desperately                 mind, and strength. And either         whose life was spared from that
wicked cities, because "it was                 we add to our good works, which        judgment of God upon the

306  / The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah,          soon going to be called to have        night is coming. These sin-
was at times very weak in his          the mark of the beast in order to      shadows, cast on this earth by
faith. And the truth is plainly        buy and to sell,' the temptation       members in the Old Testament
before us in this incident that the    will be great for us. And it is on-    church,`warn us of what lies
children of God can and do have        ly because here we have a              ahead.
only a small beginning of this         shadow of God's grace revealed           Today we see the church
new obedience. We can at times         in saving Lot, that we can have        world mingling more and more
become very weak in our faith.         the confidence that God will keep      with the ungodly world, instead
And if God does not deal with us       His elect in the faith, and bring      of living sharply antithetical lives.
in His mercy, and if He does not       them to the new Jerusalem,             This warns us that we must, to
see us - which He surely               where no sin will ever be              our coming generation, present
unceasingly does - as those for        present.                               the warning that what calls itself
whom His Son died, we would              Why are incidents such as the        the church loves the world rather
cease to be believers and would        one of Lot's sins presented to us      than the kingdom of heaven, and
suffer the same wrath of God as        in Scripture? The answer is: To        is tempting the true church into
that which fell upon Sodom and         teach us and to warn us. We as         today's Sodom and Gomorrah,
Gomorrah, and upon Lot's wife.         parents must set a good example        that is, into w.hat God is going to
  And we can be sure that here         before our children. Our children      punish with an awful torment!
is a shadow of what lies ahead         must be taught so that, when             God Himself tells us to
for the church, and is even being      they become parents, they do not       remember Lot's wife. Let us also
practiced greatly today. Not only      set a bad example for their            remember Abraham's sins which
are we already tempted to leave        children. Our God, in His tender       Lot followed. These sins of Lot
the sphere where we can be             mercy and grace, presents these        we will consider more fully, the
vibrant, living members of the         sins so that we may, in His lov-       Lord willing, next time. But read
church of God, who hunger and          ing kindness, be warned.               in the Scriptures what Lot's
thirst for the truth, and want to        The lengthening shadows that         descendants did, and what hap-
gather with the saints to sing         come when the sun reaches the          pened also to them. Cl
God's,praises;  but when we are        low western horizon warn us that
                                                                                                                        `-




                                       Book Reviews

THE NATIONS, ISRAEL AND                  The first book, "The Nations in      dispensations; differences, con-
THE CHURCH IN PROPHECY,                Prophecy," gives a brief sum-          cerning the interpretation of in-
by John F. Walvoord; Zondervan         mary of the whole history of the       dividual texts as they relate both
Publishing, 1988; 497 pp. (no          world from the viewpoint of the        to Israel and to the church; dif-
price available) (paper). (Re-         prophetic writings in Scripture;       ferences between pre-tribulation-
viewed by Prof. H. Hanko)              the second book, "Israel in            ists .and post-tribulationists on the
  The author of this book is the       Prophecy," deals with the              question of the rapture; and dif-
chancellor of Dallas Theological       prophecies which, in the author's      ferences concerning the role of
Seminary, the leading Seminary         opinion, treat the history of the      the nations in relation to Israel.
in pre-millennial thought. The         Jews; the third book, "The             The author occupies something
book was originally published as       Church in Prophecy," discusses         of an intermediate position - if
three books: "The Nations In           those prophetic utterances which       that expression can be used.
Prophecy," Israel in Prophecy,"        deal specifically with the church.     While opposed to-covenant
and "The Church in Prophecy."            There are many differences           theology, he does not hold to
These three books are now pub-         among premillennialists over           rigid dispensationalism as pro-
lished in one volume by Zonder-        many questions of prophecy: dif-       pounded, e.g., by the well-known
van.                                   ferences with respect to various       Scofield Bible. He does not hold

                                                                                 April  I,1990  / The Standard Bearer  / 307


to an absolute literal interpreta-             kingdom. This millennium will be       possible. He does not reckon
tion of Scripture, but allows for              brought to and end by the              with the fact that Stephen, in his
symbolic interpretation where                  gathering of the nations against       speech before the Sanhedrin.,
the context requires this. He does             Israel and the great battle of Ar-     literally refers to the nation of
not even make a clear-cut distinc-             mageddon will be fought. All the       Israel in the wilderness as thle
tion between the church and the                enemies of Israel will be defeated     "church." He claims, wrongly,
"kingdom people," although the                 by Christ and the eternal joy of       that the word "Israel" never
distinction is surely present in               heaven will be ushered in.             means "church' in Scripture. And
his thinking. Nevertheless, his                  We cannot, in a book review,         so he denies that the church. in
position is squarely in the tradi-             evaluate the position of pre-          all ages is one, that Christ is both
tion of pre-millennialism.                     millennialism. We call attention       the Head of this one church and
   In general, he holds to the fact            to three areas which, in our judg-     the King of the kingdom in
that, with the crucifixion of                  ment, are basic to a criticism of      which all the people of God are
Christ, the Jews went into exile.              this position.                         citizens, that this one universal
The ages of the new dispensation                 The first area is that of            church, gathered from the begin-
up to this point are the times of              Hermeneutics. This is, to us, most     ning to the end of time from both
the Gentiles when the church is                crucial. It involves the whole         Jews and Gentiles has its great
gathered. This time of the Gen-                question of the "literal" interpre-    unity in Christ Jesus the Head
tiles will be brought to an end by             tation of Scripture. While             and Lord of all. This too is a. fun-
the rapture which can occur at                 Walvoord is ready to grant that        damental error..
any point. Those who have been                 Scripture must be interpreted            The third area is his obviously
faithful from the church, both liv-            symbolically in some places, he        wrong exegesis of texts which
ing and dead, will be caught up                calls the amillennial interpreta-      are twisted to fit his premillennial
into the air. Immediately follow-              tion of prophecy a "spiritualiz-       conceptions. I can give only a
ing this, the nation of Israel will            ing" of prophecy. Especially           few examples. Both John 14:1-4
establish a covenant with the na-              when amillennialists refer proph-      and I Corinthians 15:51-57 are
tions and live in peace for 3%                 ecies of the Old Testament to          said to be descriptions of the rap-
years during which a kingdom in                the church when Israel is men-         ture, an obvious impossibility.
Israel will be firmly established              tioned, he demurs and castigates       Psalm 2:6, 7 is said to refer to the
(something which is already tak-               amillennialists for refusing to        resurrection of David and his
ing pIace with the establishment               take Scripture literahy. He            reign with Christ in the mihennial
of that nation in Palestine). After            refuses to recognize that the New      kingdom, an obvious contradic-
3% years, Russia, the revived                  Testament itself refers such           tion of Acts 13:33 where Paul ex-
Roman Empire of Europe (devel-                 passages to the church. I have in      plains that Psalm 2 was fulfilled
oping now in the common                        mind, e.g., such passages as           in the resurrection of Jesus
market), and the nations of the                Amos 9:11-15 and Acts 15:15-18,        Christ.
East, will march against Israel,               Hosea 2:28 and Romans 9:25, 26,          The whole premillennial c:on-
and a time of great persecution                and others. In fact, although the      ception also brings to the fore
and suffering will begin for the               passage in Amos 9 is briefly           various serious doctrinal .ques-
Jews and for those Gentiles who,               treated, he does not even men-         tions which the premillenniahsts
during this period, turn to God.               tion these other passages.             seem incapable of answering. I
This aIso will last 3% years, after              In connection with this, he,         refer to such questions as: Why,
which Christ will come again                   along with all premillennialists,      if the one sacrifice of Christ is
with those who have been taken                 does not understand the typical        complete and perfect, will the
in the rapture. This coming of                 character of the Old Testament.        sacrifices have to be restored in
Christ will usher in the millen-               This is a serious error and leads      the millennial kingdom?
nium. Christ will reign on Mt.                 to many wrong interpretations.         Walvoord answers that they will
Zion. The temple and the                         The second area is the whole         be merely symbols of the perfect
sacrifices will be restored. The               area of the forced division be-        sacrifice of Christ. But this stands
faithful Jews throughout history               tween the nation of Israel and the     in conflict with Hebrews which
will be raised, including David, to            church. He admits that the Scrip-      tells us that the symbolic and
live in the millennial period. The             tures speak of the elect Gentiles      typical sacrifices of the Old Testa-
nation of Israel will enjoy a                  as the seed of Abraham as well         ment, which could not take away
millennium of unparalleled pros-               as the Jews, but the very nature       sin, are forever removed by the
perity. All the Gentiles will also             of premillennial thought makes         perfect sacrifice of Christ.
live with the Jews in that                     an identification of the two im-       Another problem is the question

308  I The Standard Bearer  / April  1,199O


                From the Permanent Committee for the Publication of Protestant Reformed Literature:

   The Permanent Book Committee, an arm of the RFPA, has                      Book Sale effective April 1,199O  - May 31,199O
been in existence since the early 1960s and has been instru-                                           ORDER FORM
mental in providing the finances for many of the old and new                                                                     Qllantity           Cost
publications that find- a place on your bookshelves. Our             Behold, He Cometh! . . . . . . . . .  .14.95
original purpose was to publish books written by Protestant          Believers and Their Seed. . . . . . . . 5.95
Reformed writers; but more recently we have turned our               Calvin's Calvinism . . . . . . . . . . . .14.95
attention also to re-printing other Reformed books which have        Come, Ye Children . . . . . . . . . .  .22.95
for years been out of print. To date we have reprinted only          The Five Points of Calvinism . . . . . .5.95
Calvin's Calvinism.                                                  God's Eternal Good Pleasure . . . . .14.95
   We would like to do more. But the publishing of books is          God's Everlasting Covenant
expensive, and the necessary finances are often lacking. We              of Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .9.95
have, recently, received some substantial gifts, for which we        Hyper-Calvinism and the
are very grateful. But, because we have just completed the               Call of the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . .5.95
reprinting of two volumes of The Triple Knowledge,,  and are         In the Sanctuary. . . . . . . . . . . . .  .5.95
working on a new book, The Doctrine of Scripture, by the late        Lori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .  .6.95                           -
Prof. Homer Hoeksema, we are still very much in need of              Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .  .5.95                             -
additional funds.                                                    The Mysteries of the Kingdom. .  . .10.95                                        -
   A remedy for that is to sell more of the books in our             The Mystery of Bethlehem . . . .  . .  -7.95 EE-
current inventory. It's with a view to reducing that inventory,      Peaceable Fruit. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .9.95
in order to increase our working capital, that we announce           Reformed Dogmatics . . . . . . . . .  .20.95
another sale. Beginning the first of April, and continuing till      The Voice of Our Fathers . . . . . . .21.95
                                                                     We and Our Children . . . . . . . . . . .5.95
the end of May, you may order two books and get a third
book free. The free book will have to be the lowest priced of        When I Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .12.95                                  -
                                                                     "Whosoever WilP' . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.95
the three books ordered. And we must exclude sets from this                                                                                           -
                                                                     The Wonder of Grace. . . . . . . . . .  .5.95
sale. We provide, on this page, an order form for your possible                                                                                       -
                                                                                              Total
convenience.      If you prefer not to cut up your  Standard                                                                                          -
                                                                                            Postage (see schedule
Bearer, just jot down the titles of your selections on a piece of    Amount enclosed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
paper and submit that instead.                                                                                                                        -
   We would like also to encourage you to become a member                1. Use the postage schedule below for orders shipped
of our growing book club. Book club members are sent every           within the U.S.
new publication, which they purchase at a 30% discount. And              2. Use the retail amount of your order to figure the postal
they may order other of our books, at any time, for that same        rate.
30% discount. (Please note that the discount is applied only
to regular prices, not to sale prices.)                                       Postage Schedule                   $23 to $43.99. . . . . . .$4.00
   Our books, by the way, are being read not only in our             $11.99 orless. . . . . . .$1.75             $44 to $59.99. . . . . . .$5.00
country but also across the sea. And they are generally well         $12 to $22.99. . . . . . .$2.50             $60 or more. . . 10% of total
received by those who are interested  inReformed  materials.                           Foreign countries add 20% of total.
To tap this market we recently sent out letters, with a list of
our materials, to some 325 religious book stores across the
country.    That brought some good response, including a             0 I desire to enroll as a book club member, at 30% discount.
large order from a book dealer on the west coast.                     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      We might mention too that Mr. Charles Kregel, one
of our retired committee members, has volunteered to pro-
mote our publications, serving as representative of the RFPA
especially at Book Sellers' Conventions. We have yet to see          Address:                                                                         -
what comes of this effort.
      Our concern, of course, is not to make a profit. For, all      City:                                                   S t a t e : -   Z i p :   - -
of the proceeds from the sale of our books are used to publish
new titles or to reprint out-of-print books. We desire only to       Mail to:
be used of the Lord to disseminate the kind of literature                            Reformed Free Publishing Association
which promotes the glorious gospel of His sovereign grace.                                           P.O. Box 2006
For that, we covet your prayers and your financial support.                                   Grand Rapids, MI 49501



                                                                                                       April  I,1990  I The Standard Bearer  I  309


of how it is possible that the                 THE CONCISE DICTIONARY                  is sin, but an adulterous nature is
glorified bodies of the people of              OF THE CHRISTIAN TRADI-                 not sinful? Is not the underlying
God taken up into the air at the               TION: DOCTRINE - LITURGY                assumption this, that sin is only
time of the rapture can live with              - HISTORY, by J.D. Douglas,             in the deed and will, and that sin
the earthly bodies of the people               Walter A. Elwell, and Peter             is not in the very nature itself of
who live in the millennial                     Toon.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zonder-        fallen man? Rome will be
kingdom of Israel. Walvoord                    van Publishing House, 1989. 422         delighted to learn of this (fatal)
brushes this question aside as be-             pp. Cloth. $19.95. (Reviewed by         concession by Protestants.
ing unimportant. Still another                 the Editor)                                Nevertheless, the volume will
question is how the sounding                     The Concise Dictionary is a           be very helpful (and interesting)
trumpet of I Corinthians 15:52                 very good, single-volume dic-           to all who have an interest in the
can be called the "last" trumpet               tionary of the names, terms, and        church's words and names,
when it only ushers in the millen-             doctrines found in the theology,        especially those who have olcca-
nium, and when another trumpet                 liturgy, and history of the church.     sion to look up the meaning of
will have to be sounded at the                 Three noted evangelical scholars        words and names that are UI-
end of the age.                                give brief, but pointed, definitions    familiar. 0
   The clearly written book of                 or descriptions of some 3,500
Walvoord not only describes in a               names (e.g., Marcion, John Hus,
very understandable way the                    Far1 Barth) and terms (e.g., an-        MEDITATION (con*t. from page 5'92)
position of premillennialism, but              tmomianism, common grace,                 God continues to answer this
sharply defines its many weak-                 theotokos).                             prayer of Jesus.
nesses.  q                                       The Reformed student will take          How precious it is to be in-
                                               issue with the Dictionary at cer-       cluded.
                                               tain points. Is it indeed the case        Did Jesus pray for you? The
                                               that "the Bible condemns homo-          common bond of faith unites
                                               sexual practice (Rom. 1:26-27),         believers everywhere, in all
                                               but the condition of homo-              places and at all times.
                                               sexuality as such is not sinful"?         The ultimate answer is in i:he
                                               On this reasoning, must we not          church triumphant. 0
                                               also say that the act of adultery


                                               News From
                                               Our Churches _
Mr. Benjamin Wigger


                              April 1, 1990    God that she can report a year of        not only excellent, but has in-
CONGREGATIONAL                                 rich blessing.                          creased. The congregation has
ACTIVITIES                                        First, they are thankful that it     grown from the twelve families
   I thank Bethel P.R.C. in Elk                was God's will that their mis-          and two individuals of one year
Grove, IL for supplying the                    sionary pastor might become             ago to fifteen families and three
following information.                         their pastor. It has meant much         individuals as of this anniversary.
   On March 29, 1990 Bethel                    to all, but especially to the new       In this first year of existence they
P.R.C. will have completed its                 elders and deacons, that Pastor         have witnessed three public con-
first year of existence. It is with            Ronald Van Overloop continued           fessions of faith and four ba:p-
great joy and humble gratitude to              to labor among and with them.           tisms (and another two very
                                                 Secondly, whereas the "sanc-          soon).
                                               tuary" remains a gymnasium in              Truly, God is building His
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Prot-            the morning and a double por-           church, even as Prof. Engelsma
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-             table classroom in the evening,         preached at the service of the in-
ville,  Michigan.                              the attendance at both services is      stitution of Bethel. They pra.y

310  I The Standard Bearer  I April  I,1990


that they may continue to know              On Sunday evening, March 4,         keynote address by Prof. R.
God's most indispensable blessing        both the Choral Society of the         Decker, "The Reformed View of
in the future, doing "good unto          Hope P.R.C. in Walker, MI and          Preaching," and was followed b:y
Zion."                                   the Choral Society of the Doon         a number of sectionals dealing
* * * * * * * * * *-                     P.R.C. in Doon, IA presented a         with various aspects of the main
                                                                                theme.
  The Evangelism Society of the          program. Hope's concert was
                                         their annual spring program, and       MINISTERIAL CALLS
Southeast P.R.C. in Grand Rapids,                                                 Rev. Steve Key has declined
MI has recently decided to               Doon's program consisted of
                                         hymns and Psalms divided along         the call he had been considering
subscribe to three periodicals           the lines of the Heidelberg            from the congregation of the
with the intent of making these                                                 Randolph P.R.C. in Randolph, WI.
available to the congregation.           Catechism.
                                            We are also happy to inform         SCHOOL NEWS
Copies of The Christian Observer,        you that at this present time six        On Friday, February 23, Rev.
Christian Renewal, and The Ban-          sister congregations have              M. De Vries spoke on the theme,
ner of Truth are now finding             responded to a call for financial      "Submission to Government," for
their way into the homes of              help from our Pella P.R.C. in          a chapel service at the Free
Southeast's congregation.                                                       Christian School in Edgerton,
  It might also interest you to          Pella, IA. You may remember
                                         that they needed work done on          MN.
know that The Christian Observer         the exterior of their church             The Ladies' Guild of the Love-
will soon feature an article on          building, and, being unable com-       land P.R. Christian School, Love-
Southeast P.R.C., along with an                                                 land, CO, sponsored a Father-Son
interview of Ken Rietema Sr. and         pletely to underwrite this ex-
                                                                                Banquet for all men and boys
daughter-in-law Kathy, concern-          pense themselves, they asked
                                                                                school age and older.
ing their work in taping audio           other PR congregations for help.
                                                                                  On February 22 the students of
copies of                                From my latest Pella bulletin ap
              The Standard Bearer.       proximately $1,400 has been            Heritage Christian School in Hud-
                                         raised.                                sonville, MI presented their an-
                                            The Young People's Society of       nual All School Program entitled,
 Compared with Christ                    the Hull P.R.C. in Hull, IA recent-    "Our Only Comfort." The pro-
Compared with Christ, in all beside      ly sponsored their annual soup         gram, as you might have
  No comeliness I see;                   supper on February 20 at the           guessed, was based on the divi-
The one thing needful, dearest           City Hall. Money raised was to go      sions of the Heidelberg
     Lord,                               towards the expenses of this sum-      Catechism. 0
  Is to be one with Thee.                mer's convention in Redlands,
The sense of Thy expiring love           CA.
  Into my soul convey;                      The young people of the             NOTICE
Thyself bestow; for Thee alone           Loveland P.R.C. in Loveland, CO,          Classis East will meet in
  I absolutely pray.                     also busy raising funds for this       regular session on Wednesday,V
Whatever else Thy will withholds,        year's convention, recently spon-      May  9,.1990  at the Kalamazoo
  Here grant me to succeed:              sored their second annual Sweet-       Protestant Reformed Church.
0 let Thyself my portion be,             heart Banquet. A delicious meal        Material to be treated in this
  And I am blest indeed!                 and worthwhile program were            session must be in the hands of
                                         planned. All couples, regardless       the Stated Clerk at least three
Less than Thyself will not suffice       .of age, were invited.                 weeks prior to the convening of
  My comfort to restore:                   The congregation of the South-       this session.
More than Thyself I cannot have;         west P.R.C. in Grandville; MI held     Jon  J. Huisken
  And Thou canst give no more.           their annual potluck supper on         Stated Clerk
Loved of my God, for Him again           February 23 in the church.
  With love intense I burn;              DENOMINATIONAL                         NOTICE
Chosen of Thee e'er time began,          ACTIVITIES                                Hull Protestant Reformed
  I choose Thee in return.                 An Officebearers Conference          Christian School is in need of  ;a
Whate'er consists not with Thy           was held on Tuesday; March 6, in       teacher for the third/fourth
     love,                               our South Holland P.R.C. in            grade room.  l,f you are in-
  Oh, teach me to resign;                South Holland, IL. The subject of      terested, please call Pete  Brum-
I'm rich to all the intents of bliss,    the conference was "Preaching."        mel, (712) 439-1308, the school,
  If Thou, 0 God! art mine.              The conference began with a.           (712) 439-2490, or Alvin Bylsma,
    -Augustus Montague Toplady                                                  (712) 439-2569.

                                                                                   April 1, 1990 I The Standard Bearer I 311


  -FE
STANDARD                                                                                                          SECOND CL4SS
 BEARER                                                                                                           Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                  Grand Rapids, Michigan

 t?o. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506



WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                    ATTENTION STUDENTS!                    RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   On March 18, 1990, the Lord                           The Protestant Reformed                 The consistory and congrega-
willing, our dear parents, grand-                      Scholarship Committee is taking        tion of the Loveland Protestant
parents, and great-grandparents                        applications for scholarships to       Reformed Church express their
MR. AND MRS. E.J. MAATMAN                              be awarded to future Protestant        Christian sympathy to our
celebrated their 65th wedding                          Reformed ministers and                 fellow church members, Mr. and
anniversary. We are thankful to                        teachers for the 1990-91 school        Mrs. Lorenz Bertsch, in the
our heavenly Father for giving                         year. Each applicant must also         death of his sister, MRS.  ER.NA
us God-fearing parents, and for                        submit an essay of at least three      SCHOON.
the love and Christian instruc-                        hundred words, answering this             May the bereaved be  corn-
tion we have received from                             question: "What's the respon-          forted  in the assurance that
them in these many years.                              sibility of the teacher/minister in    "Thou shalt guide me with Thy
   "But the mercy of the Lord is                       relationship to the parents in         counsel, and afterward receive
from everlasting to everlasting                        covenant instruction?" For an          me to glory." (Psalm  73:24)
upon them that fear him, and                           application, contact:                  Rev. Ron Cammenga, Pres.
his righteousness onto children's                             Mr. Jim Holstege                Glen Criess, Clerk
children." (Psalm  103:17)                                    1637 Sylvan Ave. S.E.
 3 children                                                   Grand Rapids, Ml 49506          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
11 grandchildren                                         The application, accompanied            On April 10, 1990, the Lord
 7 great-grandchildren                                 by the essay, must be returned         willing, our parents and grand-
                          (South Holland, Illinois)    by June 1,199O.                        parents MR. AND MRS.  GERRIT
                                                                                              LUBBERS will celebrate their
                                                                                              60th wedding anniversary. We
                                                                                              rejoice with them at this
                                                                                              evidence of God's faithfulness
                                                                                              and ask that God will continue
                                                                                              to bless them in the years re-
                                                                                              maining.
                                                                                                 "For the Lord is good, His
                                                                                              mercy is everlasting, and His
                                                                                              truth endureth to all genera-
                                                                                              tions." (Psalm 100:3)
                                                                                               6 children
                                                                                              26 grandchildren
                                                                                              41 great-grandchildren        (Hudsonville,  MI)


                                                                                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                                                The Board of the R.F.P.A. ex-
                                                                                              tends its sincere sympathy to
                                                                                              fellow board-member, Neal
                                                                                              Pastoor, in the passing of  his
                                                                                              sister, CAROL PASTOOR on
                                                                                              March 14, 1990.
                                                                                                May the comfort of the fami-
                                                                                              ly be in this, that the death of
                                                                                              His saints is, in the sight of the
                                                                                              Lord, precious (Psalm 116:1!5).
                                                                                              Mr. John Dykstra, president
                                                                                              Mr. Peter Koole, secretary



312  I The Standard Bearer  I April  1,199O


