A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine

                       . One of the modern-day tactics of
                     the devil is to make us as Christians
                     so busy with the things of this world
                     that we do not have time for our call-
                     ing in our Christian homes . . . . Soon
                     our children are out of the home and
                     living on their own. They are now as
                     busy as we are, establishing them-
                     selves in their careers, and there is
                     no time for Christian family fellow-
                     ship. We taught them this ourselves.

                          See "Redeeming the Time" - page 488



Vol. 66, NQ. 21
September 15,299O


Contents                                          September 15, 1990                    THE
                                                                                   Sli4NDW
Meditation - Rev. Jason L. Kortering
   ACKNOWLEDGING OUR  SINS                                                 483        BE4RER
                                                                                   ISSN   0 3 6 2 4 9 2
EDITORIALLY SPEAKING - Prof. David J. Engelsma                             485    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                  and  Atigust.  Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                               lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
                                                                                  at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
  THE COVENANT OF GOD AND THE CHILDREN                                            POSTMASTER:  Send address changes to The
      OF BELIEVERS (6)                                                            Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids, MI
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                                                                                  EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
LETTERS                                                                    487    Editor: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
                                                                                  Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                  Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
In His Fear - Rev. Arie den/-/aflog                                               DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                  Rev. Ronald Cammenga. Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
   REDEEMING THE TIME                                                      488    Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                  Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof. Herman
The Day of Shadows - Rev. John A. Heys                                            Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John  Heys,  Rev.
                                                                                  Kenneth  Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Mr. James
   THAT WONDERFUL COVENANT (2)                                             490    Lanting, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.  Marybeth  Lub-
                                                                                  bers, Rev. James  Slopsema,  Rev. Charles Terpstra,
                                                                                  Rev.  Cise  VanBaren,  Rev. Ronald  VanOverloop,
Cloud of Witnesses - Prof. Herman C. Hank0                                        Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.
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INDEX TO VOLUME 66                                                                of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
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482 / The Standard Bearer I September 15,1!390


  -





                                           Acknowledging
Meditation
Rev. Jason Kortering                       Our Sins

   When I kept silence, my bones           actually taken another man's wife,          thing? In the extreme, there are the
waxed old through my roaring               adulterated his own marriage with           drug addicts and the drunkards
all the day long. For day and              her, and forced her to break her            who use every excuse imaginable
night thy hand was heavy upon              marriage vows as well. When she             in order to persist in their sinful
                                           reported later that this tryst had re-      lives. Are there not others who
me: my moisture is turned into             sulted in her pregnancy with                persist in a life of partying illicit
the drought of summer. Sefah. I            David, he immediately sought to             sex, stealing, swearing, or any
acknowledged my sin unto thee,             cover it up by having Uriah return          dominant sin?
and mine iniquity have I not               home and spend a night with his                Give some thought to this.
hid. I said, I will confess my             wife. And when that failed he               Maybe you are doing this right
                                           coldly plotted Uriah's death by             now!
transgressions unto the LORD:              having him exposed to imminent                 David, by the Holy Spirit, tells us
and thou forgavest the iniquity            danger in the front line of battle.         that during that time of guilty si-
of my sin. Selah. -Psalm 32:3-5            Yes, David committed sins against           lence, he was miserable. He de-
                                           the sixth and seventh command-              scribes this in verses 3 and 4. He
   Silence!                                ments of God.                               tells us that he roared all the day
  There are times when it can be             These sins were more than pri-            long. Literally the Hebrew figure is
devastating.                               vate affairs. David had done this           that he howled like a beast. Insidle
  So it was in the life of David.          with the knowledge of those                 himself, his conscience was so trou-
  He had committed terrible sins           around him as well as those around          bled that he became afraid of God..
and had not repented before God.           Bathsheba. He had inquired of her           The deepest cause of this howling
No, these sins were not of a general       identity, sent for her, had her return      was, "thy hand was heavy upon
category. It was not so in David's         home. He had to deal with ser-              me." He could not enjoy sleep, his
life that he had no idea of what sin       vants and messengers who were               conscience terrorized him through
was involved. It was nothing less          privy to his evil deeds. Still more,        the night. During the day he could
than the sins of adultery and mur-         he held the trusted position of king        not work, he could not concentrate,
der into which he had fallen. Even         of Israel. In that office he was the        for the fear of God surrounded him
God's evaluation of the life of            type of the King of kings, Jesus            at every turn. This "soul trouble"
David focuses upon these sins:             Christ Himself. He had even used            produced physical problems,  forhe
"David did that which was right in         his office to advance his evil deeds.       adds, "my bones waxed old, my
the eyes of the Lord and turned not        He took advantage of his position           moisture is turned into the drought
aside from anything that he com-           as king to order Bathsheba to come          of summer." The skeleton supports
manded him all the days of his life,       and return, as well as to arrange           the body and if our bones are old,,
save only in the matter of Uriah the       the death of her husband. He                we feel worn out. The figure he
Hittite" (I Kings 15:4,5).                 broke a sacred trust.                       uses concerning moisture refers to
  It was a dark moment in the life           And all the time, he was silent           the trees of Palestine whose sap
of Israel's king.                          before God!                                 runs thin during the dry spell of
  If we reflect upon the true char-          He persisted in this sin. David           summer. He likewise felt dried up.
acter of these sins in the life of         was overcome with lustful passion.          He existed, but he did not have any
David, we shudder with disbelief.          He did not exercise self-control, but       drive or incentive to succeed at
The "man after God's heart" had            he rather gave in to his own feel-          anything. He suffered spiritual de-
                                           ings; and when things went from             pression and its consequences.
                                           bad to worse, he allowed evil to               He lived, yet he wanted to die.
                                           have its way in his life.                      Such are the consequences of
Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Protes-      That silence went on for nine             "guilty silence."
tant Reformed Church in Gramidle,          months to a year.                              The scene is repeated over and
Michigan.                                    Have you ever done such a                 over. I cannot imagine a Christian

                                                                                     September 15,199O  I The Standard Bearer I 4%


who has not gone through this to                    Do you speak this language as          of God perfectly for us that we
some degree in his or her life. Mar-             well?                                     might have his imputed righteous-
tin Luther called this a Pauline                    It is the language of a convicted      ness for ourselves.
Psalm. He means of course that                   sinner. Only one who has before             What brought the change in
what Luther experienced and Paul                 God come to terms with his sin,           David's life?
experienced, David also experi-                  speaks this way and is willing to           Nothing other than God's mes-
enced. There can be no peace with                use these words which so accu-            senger.
God by the deeds of the law. Take                rately describe the true nature of          Nathan the prophet was sent to
courage, dear reader, you are not                sin.                                      David by God with his anecdote of
alone when your bones wax old                       Hence David adds, "I acknowl-          the rich man who stole the only
through your roaring.                            edged my sin unto thee and mine           lamb from his poor neighbor in or-
   God did not leave David alone in              iniquity have I not hid. I said I will    der that he might feed it to :his
his silence.                                     confess my transgressions unto the        guests. David was incensed by the
   After the "Selah" of verse 5, the             LORD."                                    injustice, and when told, `Thou art
pause that forces us to reflect a mo-              We have here the record of the          the man," he humbled himrrlf be-
ment, come these beautiful words:                fact that David did this. If we want      fore the face of Jehovah andi saw
"I acknowledged my sin unto thee                 to know the content of his acknowl-       his sin in dealing with Bathsheba
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I              edgment and confession we have to         and Uriah her husband.
said, I will confess my transgres-               turn to Psalm 51 which records that         How merciful of God to point
sions unto the LORD; and thou for-               confession. Psalm 51 was written          the finger at us.
gavest the iniquity of my sin. Se-               upon the same occasion and gives            We may squirm in our seats, we
lah."                                            to us the details of what David said      may try to deflect its personal ap-
   A changed David is speaking in                to God as he made this confession.        plication, we may look across the
these verses.                                    Verses 3 and 4 express the heart of       aisle at the sins of others to try to
   The three words that he uses in               it, "For I acknowledge my trans-          console our own sinful conduct,
reference to his sin are most en-                gressions; and my sin is ever before      but when God touches our Ihearts,
lightening. They indicate that                   me. Against thee, thee only have I        we can do nothing but cry and
David has come to terms with his                 sinned and done this evil in thy          come to terms with our sins before
sinful behavior. They are all used               sight: that thou mightest be justi-       God.
in verse five. He speaks of his "in-             fied when thou speakest and be              It does not mean that our confes-
iquity." That word emphasizes the                clear when thou judgest." By our          sion of sin will free us from any
filth and depravity that is involved             coming to God and making ac-              consequence of sin. The child con-
when we sin. In this case, it was                knowledgment, we admit that He            ceived by adultery died. The
the terrible filth of actually lusting           is the unseen witness of all our          sword never departed from David
after another man's wife and plan-               deeds and the Judge of all our in-        as long as he was king. Nathan
ning the death and carrying out the              most thoughts and secret deeds.           told David that his concubines
execution of a human being. The                  We have failed our God. We have           would be ravished openly in the
point is that this filth is not only in          broken our part of the covenant.          light of day (a thing done when
the eyes of men, but emphatically it             We make ourselves worthy of be-           Absalom came to Jerusalem). Yes,
is filth in God's holy eyes. Another             ing abandoned, "Cast me not away          our sins carry a certain price, but
word he uses is "transgression."                 from thy presence and take not thy        that becomes bearable when we
With this word David comes to                    holy spirit from me" (Ps. 51:ll). We      know God has forgiven.
terms with the fact that these deeds             are sorry to God for this evil we           "Thou forgavest the iniquity of
were violations of God's law. God                have done. We ask God to forgive          my sin."
has set a boundary within which                  us and not let it stand in the way of       God does not let past sins stand
He expresses His love and favor,                 His fellowship with us. We desire         in the way of His love and friend-
outside of which He is a God of                  to be at peace with God as He is at       ship.
wrath and judgment. David                        peace with us.                              David wrote in Psalm 51:13, "I
stepped out of bounds with God                     Such a cry always focuses upon          will teach transgressors thy ways."
and thereby became liable for the                Jesus.                                    In this Psalm he fulfilled that
punishment of his sins: temporal                   David was well aware that his           pledge to teach others what he had
and eternal death. The third word                confession of sin required that he        learned.
is translated "sin," which is the                come into the presence of God with          May God put this teaching into
most familiar word and has as its                the blood of the lamb. God never          our hearts.
root the missing of the mark. The                overlooks sin. Forgiveness means            We exalt then, "Blessed is he
importance of this word empha-                   that another has paid the debt and        whose transgression is forgiven,
sizes that such acts of disobedience             the benefit is given to us. This is       whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
are deliberately committed. David                the gospel of our Lord Jesus. For-        man unto whom the Lord imputeth
was not a victim of circumstances,               giveness for sin is based upon His        not iniquity, and in whose spirit
he planned it and deliberately                   bearing the penalty of our death          there is no guile" (vss. 1,2). 0
broke God's law.                                 upon the cross and keeping the law

484 I "he Standard Bearer I September 15,199O


                                         Editorially Speaking

  The editorial in this issue on the     let in order to witness to the dis-        South Holland, IL 60473; or, The
place of the children of believers in    tinctive Protestant Reformed               Evangelism Society, Lynden PRC,
the covenant of God concludes the        covenant-doctrine and  covenant-            108 Beernink Lane, Lynden, WA
much-interrupted series of six arti-     practice, not only throughout the          98264.
cles that began in the March 15,         Reformed and Presbyterian com-                These editorials have drawn re-
1990 issue of The Stfzndard Bearer.      munities, but also among the Bap-          sponse. There is still interest in the
  The evangelism committees of           tists.                                     doctrine of the covenant. In the
the Protestant Reformed Churches            The pamphlet is now available.          next issue of The SB, we will pub-
of South Holland, IL and of Lyn-         Copies for personal use or for dis-        lish the response from leading men
den, WA have cooperated in pub-          tribution can be obtained from ei-         in the Netherlands Reformed Con-
lishing these articles in pamphlet       ther of the two churches: The              gregations. Cl                       - OF
form. Lynden initiated the project.      Evangelism Committee, South Hol-
Their purpose was to use the book-       land PRC, 16511 South Park Ave.,




                                         The Covenant of God
                                         and the Children of
Editorial                                Believers (6)

The Call to Believers'                    instruments in the hand of God for         version in the life of the covenant
Children to be                            such conversion. Should they               child is neglected both by Re-
                                          earnestly pray for their children's        formed parents and by the Re-
Converted                                 conversion? Should they urgently           formed church, and therefore also
                                          call the children to conversion?           by the child. It is possible that this
  We face, finally, the question,           The question about conversion is        neglect is due to a misunderstand-
what place does conversion have          vital for the covenant child herself.       ing, as though mention of the con-
in the life of the covenant child?        Ought she to look for this reality         version of the covenant child
Does conversion have a place, or is       and experience in her own life? If         threatens either the truth that the
it now unnecessary for him? If            so, how must she expect to experi-         salvation of the child is the fruit of
conversion has a place in the life of     ence it? May she consider herself a        the covenant or the truth that in
the child of the covenant, is this       proper candidate for public confes-         the covenant it is God alone Who
place an important place, even a          sion of faith and a worthy partaker        saves the child. In part, the hesita-
necessary place, or is the place of       of the Lord's Supper without con-          tion of Reformed Christians to
conversion somewhat minimized?            version? `May she have the cer-            speak of, much less to emphasize,
  These are important questions          tainty of salvation apart from con-         the conversion of the children of
for the believing parent and for the     version, simply because she is the          the covenant is due to their reac-
Reformed church. What is their at-       child of believing parents and has          tion against the sin against God's
titude towards the conversion of         been baptized?                              covenant that becomes more and
their children? After all, if conver-       Let us admit that there is a dan-        more popular today in Reformed.
sion is necessary, they must be the      ger that the important place of con-        circles, namely, that covenant, ba:p-

                                                                                  September 15,199O  I The Standard Bearer I ,485


tized, Reformed young people are                 the children. They do this, not only      physical child of believers who is
made the objects of an "evange-                  by saying, "Believe!"- `Repent!" but      not a genuine, spiritual son or
lism" that treats them as unsaved                also by thorough, careful instruc-        daughter (Heb. 10:29).  He too is
sinners who must be saved by ac-                 tion in the entire gospel of Scrip-       called to convert himself. Conver-
cepting Christ. If this is what is               ture; by discipline; and by godly         sion is his duty. Refusal exposes
meant by the conversion of the                   example. God works conversion             him to severest punishment. It will
child, Reformed parents and the                  by His Word. Therefore, church            be more tolerable in the day of
Reformed church reject it in the                 and parents teach the children the        judgment for Sodom than for him.
name of the covenant of God sealed               Bible. God works it also in answer        When he manifests himself as un-
totheir  children in infancy.                    to prayers. Therefore, church and         spiritual and unbelieving by refus-
   But these misunderstandings                   parents are to pray for the conver-       ing to make confession of faith, by
and errors may not be decisive for               sion of the children.                     neglecting the means of grace, by
the answer to the question about                   Fifth, the children are to be           fornication, by drunkenness and
the conversion of the children of                taught to experience'conversion, to       drug use, and by impenitence re-
the covenant. Scripture alone is                 find conversion in their lives. This      garding this wicked course of life,
decisive.                                        is true particularly, although not        he must be excommunicated from
  First, conversion is always the                exclusively, at the time of public        the church by discipline. As
work of the Holy Spirit in free,                 confession of faith and celebration       Deuteronomy 21:18ff. requims, the
sovereign grace. This is true on the             of the Lord's Supper. No uncon-           parents themselves must cooperate
mission field, but this is also true in          verted person may come to the             in this work of the church, putting
the covenant. Conversion is never                table of the Lord. No one who is          the honor of Christ's Name and the
a work of the sinner, earning or ob-             doubtful of his conversion is able to     welfare of the congregation above
taining the grace of God. Our con-               come. However, this experience of         their natural love for their child.
verting ourselves is not a prerequi-             conversion is not some mysterious,          One of the strongest objections of
site to entering the kingdom of                  undescribable, inexplicable feeling.      the Baptists against infant b.aptism
heaven. Although we are active in                Rather, it is heartfelt sorrow over       is that it fills the church with young
conversion - we believe, we re-                  sin, true faith in Jesus Christ, and a    people, and finally with adults,
pent, and we turn to God - our ac-               sincere determination to love God         who are manifestly unspiritual,
tivity is caused by the Holy Spirit.             and the neighbor.                         worldly, and immoral. Nor can it
   Second, conversion has a place in               Neither is the conversion of the        be denied that some Reformed
the life of the covenant children;               children of the covenant as a rule a      churches expose the truth oif the
and this place is that conversion is             sudden, dramatic change in                covenant to this charge by tlheir tol-
necessary. Christ's word in                      teenage years, or even in later life.     erance of the ungodliness of the
Matthew 18:3 applies to the chil-                The history of the conversion of the      young people and by their refusal
dren of believers, "Except ye be                 penitent thief and of Saul is not the     to discipline even the most blatant
converted..., ye shall not enter into            norm for elect children born and          transgressors among them. All are
the kingdom of heaven." Covenant                 reared in the covenant. Usually,          presumed to be regenerate and
children must receive the gift of re-            they are converted from earliest          saved. The result of this presump-
pentance. They must have faith                   childhood. This is the implication        tion is the death of the church as
conferred, breathed, and infused                 of the fifth commandment of the           the carnal, profane seed come to
into them. They must be turned to                law. From earliest years, the chil-       dominate the church, finally driv-
God as to their heavenly Father in               dren are converted to God so that         ing the spiritual children out.
Whose will they delight.                         they are able to honor their parents      These churches do not take election
  Third, conversion is itself the                from the motive of the fear of Jeho-      seriously. Not all the children are
fruit of the covenant: It is the effect          vah God Who has redeemed them             included in the covenant and
and benefit of the covenant                      from sin and death through the            church of God, but the elect only.
promise. God's promise to the                    blood of Jesus Christ. This is also       The elect manifest themselves by
elect children, signified and sealed             expressed in Psalm 71. God is the         holiness of life. Those who are un-
at baptism, works conversion in                  trust of the covenant child, as the       holy must be disciplined both by
them. The friendship of God, expe-               rule, from his or her youth (v. 51,       sharp preaching and by church cen-
rienced by them in the Holy Spirit,              for God has taught him or her from        sure.
causes them to turn away from sin                youth (v. 17). The covenant rela-           This is a great grief both to par-
and to God. Because God includes                 tionship goes back, in fact, to con-      ents and church. It is the full re-
them in the covenant, by gracious                ception and birth (v. 6). Although        sponsibility of the ingrate who cru-
promise, their conversion is certain.            there are times of struggle, doubt,       cifies to himself the Son of God
  Fourth, parents and church not                 and turning away from God, there          afresh and puts Him to an alpen
only may but are also solemnly re-               is gradual development in daily,          shame. But it is not evidence of the
quired by God to call their children             ongoing conversion - deeper sor-          failure of the Word of God. For the
to conversion. They must do this                 row; firmer faith; more ardent love.      great truth in the sphere of the
with regard to specific sins, as well              The refusal to be converted is the      covenant is this: "I will have mercy
as with regard to the entire life of             manifestation of the bastard - the        on whom I will have mercy..."

486 I The Standard Bearer I September 15,199O


(Rom. 9:15). As in Israel under the         And it is practical. To refer only         from childhood Who, having
old covenant, so in the church un-        to the calling of believing parents,         looked upon me in my infancy in
der the new covenant, "the election       this doctrine provides the basis for         grace, incorporated me as a baby
has obtained it, and the rest were        having children; indicates the posi-         by His Spirit into His Son, Jesus,
blinded" (Rom. 11:7).                     tive approach to take in their rear-         burying me into Jesus' death and.
   This is a doctrine of the covenant     ing; lays down the content of the            raising me with Him in newness of
that is thoroughly biblical. It is in     rearing; and gives encouragement             life.
full accord with the Reformed con-        in times of struggle and disappoint-            I and the multitudes of covenant
fessions. It has an honorable place       ment.                                        children like me cannot but testify
in the Reformed tradition. It up-           Therefore, I witness to this doc-          to the covenant of God. Our testi-
holds and extols the sovereign           trine of God's covenant boldly. I do          mony is the witness of irrepressible
grace of God in salvation. It gives       so all the more fervently because I          joy:
comfort to parents and children          myself have experienced the truth                      When the Lord shall count
alike. To mention only one aspect         of it: child of believing parents;                            the nations,
of its rich comfort, only this doc-      baptized in infancy; converted on               Sons and daughters He shall see,
trine of the covenant enables be-        my mother's lap; guided in the                         Born to endless life in Zion,
lieving parents to bring the body of     good way of the Lord by the Spirit               And their joyful song shall be,
their infant child to the grave with-    of Christ from earliest childhood;                            `Blessed Zion,
out doubting of the election and         knowing God as my Friend, with-                       All our fountains are in thee,
salvation of the child (cf. the          out terror before Him, under the                              Blessed Zion,
Canons of Dordt, I/17).                  gospel of unconditional grace; and,             All our fountains are in thee." cl
                                         however imperfectly, loving Him                                                    -DJE




                                         Letters

The Searching Spirit                      he sets out to look for. The search          Doezema, Secretary, 1904 Ply-
   The July 1,199O  issue of The          may be futile.... Not so with the            mouth Terrace S.E., Grand Rapidls,
Standard Bearer is a gem. I have en-      Holy Spirit, who never needs to              MI 49506. Designate the contribu-
joyed the series of articles on the       "search for the things of God." All          tion for the mission to Northern
Covenant, too.                            that the Holy Spirit needs to do is          Ireland. You will be interested to
   In the article, `The Holy Spirit       urzca~er what He already knows               know that at the time of this writ-
- His Work in the Economy of Sal-         about God, since He is the third             ing Rev. Kortering is considering a
vation," by Rev. Charles Terpstra,       person of the Trinity.... Would not           call to serve as missionary to the
there appeared a word which for          Rev. Terpstra therefore agree that            Larne area in Northern Ireland.
me was incorrect and misleading.         his use of "search" was incorrect,               Rev. Terpstra's answer to your
Under the heading, `The Holy              since the Holy Spirit is all-knowing?        question about the Holy Spirit fol-
Spirit as the revealer of Truth,"           Thank you for an excellent                 l o w s .                            - E d .
paragraph 3, there was this state-       Paper
ment by the author: `The Spirit is                                Peter J. Sluys          In the first place, this expression
the one who searches the deep                                  Kalamazoo, MI           is taken directly from the Scripture
things of God; He has perfect                                                          in I Corinthians 2:lO: "But God
knowledge and understanding of           P.S. In addition to the above, I              hath revealed them unto us by his
the spiritual things of God." It         would like to send a check to be              Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
would be more correct to say that        used exclusively for the good work            things, yea, the deep things of
"the Spirit is the one who uncovers      of the Protestant Reformed                    God." The KJV is an accurate
the deep things of God...." Since        Churches among the Christian                  translation of the Greek verb used
the Holy Spirit is God, the third        brethren in Northern Ireland.                 here. The verb is not "to uncover,"
person of the Trinity, He does not       Please advise me to whom I should             for which there is a word in the
have to do any searching. He is          send the check.                               Greek but which the Spirit did not
a&knowing,  as the author also                                                         see fit to use. It is a verb that
states.                                  Response                                      means "to search, examine into, iin-
  When someone searches for                 Send your check to the Mission             vestigate." The Holy Spirit Him-
something, he may not find what          Committee of the PRC, Mr. Don                 self, therefore, chose the word

                                                                                    September 15,19W  I The Standard Bearer I 487


"search." He knows what His own                  ity. Far from contradicting the De-       that love Him (cf. v. 9), those things
work is, and He tells us that it is to           ity and omniscience of the Spirit,        the Spirit uncovers for us (i.e., re-
search the deep things of God.                   therefore, this expression actually       veals to us), precisely because He is
   In the second place, it is certainly          proves it. The Spirit knows every-        the One Who searches all things,
true that a human search for some-               thing there is to know about the          even the deep things of God.. This
thing may end in futility; but this              Triune God, because He makes a            serves for the comfort of the saints,
cannot be and is not true of the                 continual search of the depths of         therefore, as Calvin states in. his
searching of the Spirit. I Corinthi-             His being, attributes, and life.          comments on this passage: `This is
ans 2:lO does not teach that the                   Finallp in the third place, this ex-    added for the consolation of the pi-
Spirit searches for the deep things              pression cannot be divorced from          ous, that they may rest more se-
of God, as though He does not                    the Spirit's work of revealing the        curely in the revelation which they
know them and cannot find them.                  spiritual wisdom of God to us, es-        have from the Spirit of God, as
Rather, it teaches that He searches              pecially the mystery of our salva-        though he had said: `Let it suffice
what is always before His eternal                tion. This is the context in I            us to have the Spirit of God as a
mind and what He already knows                   Corinthians 2. And this is the con-       witness, for there is nothing in God
concerning the Godhead. And that                 nection between the Spirit's search-      that is too profound for him to
is because, as Mr. Sluys points out,             ing and what Mr. Sluys refers to as       reach."' Cl        -Rev. C. Terpstra
the Spirit is fully God, being one of            3.rncovering.N The glorious things
the three Persons of the Holy Trin-              which God has prepared for them




In His Fear
Rev. Arie denliartog                             Redeeming the Time

   The inspired apostle of our Lord              termine how and where we will             their lives dear for the Lords sake.
exhorts us in Ephesians 5:17 to "re-             spend eternity. What a fearful real-      Exceedingly great shall be the re-
deem the time." He adds fearful                  ity that is! What an utterly amaz-        ward which they will enjoy for all
urgency to this exhortation by                   ing fact! God has a calling for each      eternity.
warning us that the days are evil.               of us to perform. He has a purpose           Time is a very precious gift that
God has ordained the times of our                for our life on earth. We must ful-       God gives us for carrying out our
life. He has ordained all the time               fill that purpose in the days the         calling in this life. We are carried
of the history of the world. He de-              Lord gives to us. And after our           along with it. Time passes and we
clares the end of time from the be-              days on earth are accomplished the        cannot ever get it back. God gives
ginning. He is the alpha and                     Lord will reward every man for the        us opportunities to serve Him and
omega of all time. He sovereignly                things he has done. The ungodly           to live our lives unto Him. These
accomplishes His counsel and                     man will spend eternity paying for        opportunities pass and they can
good pleasure in the history of the              the evil deeds that he performed          never be recovered. It is good for
world. God has also ordained the                 during the days of his life on earth.     us to think of that often. Loiok at
time of our lives individually. He               The saints of God, chosen by grace        some old photos of yourself. Re-
has appointed the time of our birth              unto eternal life, will spend eter-       call some of the events of your past
and the time of our death. Con-                  nity experiencing and enjoying the        life and consider that the opportu-
trary to what we often imagine,                  reward of God's grace. The Lord           nities that you had at that time will
our time on earth is very short,                 will reward their faith in Him, their     never again be yours. Take  :note
only seventy or eighty years, for                steadfastness, their good works,          how much older you are no'w than
most of us, and for some even far                and the persecution and suffering         you were a few years ago. It is
less than that. After that, we pass              they endured for the Lord's               foolish to wish that you could be
on to the eternal place that God has             sake.                                     young again because that is impos-
prepared for us.                                   There will be a difference in the       sible. With the passing of every
  Our short days on earth will de-               reward. Those who have been               day our time on earth is getting
                                                 faithful in much shall receive a          shorter. How often we must grieve
                                                 great reward. Those who have suf-         over wasted time and pray to the
Rev. dediarfog is pastor of Hope                 fered and died for the Lord's sake        Lord for His forgiveness for the
Protestant Reformed Church in Red-               will join the great company of mar-       great sin of foolishly squandlering
lands, California.                               tyrs who have not counted even            the time of our life.

488 I The Standard Bearer I September 15,199O


  We are to redeem the time. The         to my car from the airport terminal           ing Christian concern for those
word "redeem" implies that some-         I saw a manalso  walking to his car           who are lonely and in need.
thing is lost. Most often the word       who was carrying a portable wire-                We justify this in our own minds
redeem is used in connection with        less telephone. He was engaged in             by saying to ourselves that we need
the fact that we are by nature guilty    what at least appeared to be an im-           to spend so many hours at work to
and lost sinners. Christ came to re-     portant business conversation. I              make enough money to pay for ev-
deem us through His sacrifice on         shook my head in amazement. The               erything we "need" today. Mother
the cross. We are now no longer          poor man is so busy that he cannot            must work outside the home too,
eternally lost. We now belong to         even walk to his car from the termi-          and often she does not have
our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. We     nal in peace. Just imagine! And,              enough time for her work and call-
have been redeemed unto eternal          especially if such a one is an un-            ing in the home. All sorts of com-
life. We have been redeemed in or-       godly man, what good will it all do           promises are made. We justify ail
der that we might live our whole         ultimately?                                   of this by saying "that's just the age
life unto Him and for His glory.           It is ironic that in our age life is        we live in." We have to have a nice
  It is possible for time to be lost.    going at an ever- increasing pace.            home. We must have costly recre-
Time is lost when it is wasted,          One would have expected that with              ational equipment. We must be
when it is spent in idleness and in      all our modern conveniences we                able to pay for expensive vacations.
vain pursuits, in ungodliness and        could perform the necessary work              Our children have to be involved in
the pleasures of sin. The ungodly        of our life in a much shorter time            this activity and that activity.
man does that when he lives his life     than a few years ago and we would                 Meanwhile, the time of our life
in unbelief and rebellion against        not need to be so busy. We should              rushes on. Soon our children are
God. He spends his time in evil          have lots of extra time for the most           grown up and it is too late to in-
deeds and without any regard for         important things in life. But the ex-          struct them in the truth of God's
His calling before God. Daily he         act opposite happens in the world.            Word. Years of busyness have not
increases his sin and guilt and wor-     Many companies today make ever                permitted time to foster strong
thiness of judgment. He spends his       increasing demands on their em-               Christian family bonds. We have
time to gain the fame and wealth of      ployees. And there are always                 missed the joy of seeing our chil-
this world. Often he makes himself       those who are ready to give their              dren growing up and of spending
very busy. There is no idle moment       heart and soul to the company and              time with them. We just didn't
in his life. He must get more and        who are willing to give more and               have the time. Soon our children
more for himself through his work        more of their time to the company             are out of the home and living on
and through his achievements.            The competition is fierce. As a re-           their own. They are now as busy as
Nothing can satisfy his cravings,        sult there is less and less time for          we are, establishing themselves m
his covetousness and materialism.        other things, even for things that            their careers, and there is no time
In the midst of his busyness he has      may be more important in life.                 for Christian family fellowship. We
no time for the things of God and        Very few are the evenings available            taught them this ourselves.
His kingdom. He is too busy to ob-       for quiet reflection and study. To                Elderly people languish and diie.
serve the Lord's day. He is too          use an old cliche, `life is a rat race."       Few have the time to visit them
busy to bother himself with the          Day and night man must work, la-              and care for them. Just put them
commandments of God for his life.        bor, and toil. And all of this is utter       away in nursing homes. Someone
He is too busy pursuing his own          vanity if man's life is not lived unto        else can care for them. We do not
selfish benefit to be concerned          the Lord.                                     have the time. Many Christians
about the need of his neighbor.            Our lives and our Christian                  grow up seldom taking the time to
And then suddenly his life comes         homes are affected by all of this. We          read good solid Christian books,.
to an end. He did not expect that.       are all so busy. It is so easy to be           doctrinal books, and Christian jcar-
Foolishly he imagined that it would      too busy with the wrong kinds of              nals. There is no time. And then
go on forever. And he suddenly re-       things. And time is rushing by.               we wonder why the church is so
alizes that he has nothing of lasting    One of the modem-day tactics of                weak and perishing because of lack
value. All of his time has been          the devil is to make us as Chris-             of knowledge. It is easy for false
spent in utterly futile labors. The      tians so busy with the things of this          prophets to propagate false doc-
great and holy judge of all men          world that we do not have time for             trine in the church because few
condemns him to eternal destruc-         our calling in our Christian homes.            members of the church know
tion. How unspeakably terrible           We do not have time for private               enough to oppose it on the solid
that will be for him.                    study and meditation and prayer to            teaching of the Word of God.
  How we use our time is becom-          God. We do not have time for sit-                 Then we grow old and the time
ing an increasingly urgent matter        ting in our homes with our children           of our departure draws near. When
in our age. The world is getting         to instruct them out of the Word of           our life is over we look back and
more and more busy. Everything           God. We do not have time for                   consider what we have done with
has to be done as quickly as possi-      proper Sabbath observance. We do               our lives. Where has the time gone
ble. Not one moment is to be             not have time for getting involved            and what have we gained? Maybe
wasted. Recently as I was walking        in church activities and for show-            we are sitting in a big and beautiful

                                                                                     September  15,199O   I The Standard Bearer  I 489


house and feel secure because we                 when we often stop and evaluate          covenant homes with our families
have a large retirement account in               our own life and how we are              to talk of God's Word and His king-
the bank. But what lasting value                 spending our days. We redeem the         dom with our children. We redeem
does it all have? How easily the                 time when we learn to say no to          the time when we use our days for
devil can deceive us into wasting                certain demands on our time be-          the good works which the Lord has
all our time for things that are ulti-           cause of more important considera-       ordained for us. We redeem the
mately without value and profit so               tions that must be taken care of.        time when we spend it in tes'tifying
that we neglect the things of the                We redeem the time when we               of the truth and grace of God in our
kingdom of God that have eternal                 refuse to get caught up in the crazy     lives and doing works of genuine
value and significance.                          rat race of the world that is fueled     concern and love for our neighbor.
   As children of God we are called              by covetousness and materialism          We redeem the time when we.
to redeem the time. Christ has re-               and greed and ungodliness. We re-        spend it busy with the great work
deemed us that we might live unto                deem the time when we spend it           of the church and the preaching of
Him and consecrate our whole                     laying up treasures in heaven and        the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
lives unto Him. We redeem the                    not on earth. We redeem the time         When we do these things by His
time when we lay hold of each mo-                when we use it to equip ourselves        grace and Holy Spirit we shall gain
ment of our lives as a gift of God's             in the knowledge of God and of           an eternal reward that even the
grace to serve Him. We redeem the                His Word and for walking in His          supreme sacrifice of our life .will
time when in the fear of God we                  commandments and enjoying fel-           not be able to compare with. El
consider the great issues of time                lowship with the Lord. We redeem
and eternity. We redeem the time                 the time when we spend it in our




The -Day                                         That Wonderful
of Shadows
Rev. John Heys                                   Covenant (2)

  With everything in a statement                 New Testament gives a rich and           Lamb of God? And do we not here
which presents the difference be-                comforting explanation of what He        have a better, that is, a richelr pre-
tween the Old Testament and the                  realized for us.                         sentation of how the covenant
New Testament we cannot and                        It is also true that the New Testa-    promises are fulfilled by our God?
may not agree. That statement,                   ment reveals and explains that           In the Old Testament there were
speaking about the Old Testament                 there is only one covenant that          lambs presented in the temple as
and the New Testament, says:                     God has established with His peo-        necessary for the blotting out of
"The Old is in the New explained;                ple. As pointed out last time, we        sin. But it is the human Lamb of
the New is in the Old contained:                 do in Hebrews 8~6 have the               God presented in the New Testa-
the Old is in the New revealed; the              covenant of God presented in the         ment Who did this; and the New
New is in the Old concealed."                    New Testament as a better                Testament does explain what the
  Yes, the Old Testament does con-               covenant established with better         Old Testament presented as the
tain types and shadows which are                 promises. But that means a better        way of our salvation.
explained in the New Testament. It               presentation of the same covenant          Similarly we find John e?plain-
is true therefore that the Old is in             with the same promises. The Old          ing in Revelation 21:14 that God's
the New explained. Christ and His                is in the New explained, and the         house, in which we will have sweet
work are revealed in the New Tes-                New is in the Old contained. Our         communion with Him, is so very
tament as that to which these types              God, the only true God, is Jehovah,      different from His houses, pre-
and shadows pointed. Christ is                   the I AM. And that means that He         sented to us in the Old Testament,
there in tKe Old Testament, and the              never changes His mind and will,         which were built as a tabemacle  in
                                                 and cannot have His mind and will        Moses' day and as a temple by
                                                 changed by any creature.                 Solomon. Yes, there is something
                                                   Did not John the Baptist in John       better in the New Testament; there
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the          1:29,36  - and thus in the New           is something explained in the New
Protestant  Reformed churches.                   Testament - present Christ as the        Testament that is contained in the

490 I The Standard Bearer I September 15,199O


Old Testament by means of types          most assuredly be fulfilled when           He referred were the Old Testa-
and shadows.                             Christ returns. We can no more say         ment. Surely He Who was in the
  However, the last statement in         correctly that what the New Testa-         New Testament revealed was not in
that brief poem about the differ-        ment presents is concealed in the          the Old Testament concealed. Still
ence between the Old Testament           Old Testament than we can today            more, in Matthew 5:17 Jesus said,
and the New Testament is not true.       say that what the New Testament             "Think not that I am come to de-
Yes, the Old is in the New revealed,     presents, as coming when Christ re-        stroy the law or the prophets: I aim
but the New is not in the Old con-       turns, and is so beautifully pre-          come not to destroy, but to fulfill."
cealed. For to conceal is to cover       sented in Revelation 21 and 22, is         Not only do we have here a refer-
and in that way hide from view.          concealed in the New Testament.            ence to the Old Testament, wherein
Our bones, and many very impor-            There is another awesome truth           that law and the writing of the
tant organs, are there in our bodies,    which we should hold on to and             prophets are presented to us; but:
and are concealed by our flesh and       confess. That awesome truth is that        Jesus states that He is come to ml-
skin. But there is nothing in the        today we should maintain that the          fill the law and the prophets. He
New Testament that is concealed in       New Testament depends upon the             did not come to reveal what was in
the Old Testament. The form may          Old Testament. How can the com-            the Old Testament concealed. He
be different. In the Old Testament       ing of Christ into our flesh, His          came to fulfill what is plainly writ-
we have types and shadows, sheep,        cross, resurrection, and ascension         ten in the Old Testament. What
blood, altars, and temples; but in       into heaven mean anything apart            was in the Old Testament is not
the New Testament we have The            from that which is presented to us         what He alone could see, but also
Lamb of God, His blood, His cross,       in Genesis 3? The Old Testament             that which the unbelieving Jews
and the new Jerusalem wherein            surely does not conceal our awful          could and did plainly see.
God's house of many mansions             guilt and worthiness of everlasting            Thus when in Hebrews 8:6 we
will be established. The Old is in       hell fire! Nor does it in Genesis          do read of a better covenant estab-
the New revealed more richly. But        3:15, that protevangel, or if you          lished upon better promises, the
there is not one basic truth of God's    will, that mother-promise, conceal         Old Testament is not being de-
covenant in the New Testament            our need of Christ and His coming.         graded. When you call your house
that cannot be found in the Old          What is more, if that name of God,         a comfortable dwelling place
Testament. A better covenant, yes,       namely, Jehovah, which means I              wherein you enjoy life, you are not
but a different covenant, no! The        AM, was not presented to us in the          stating that the foundation is de-
New is not in the Old concealed. A       Old Testament, could we believe            crepit and worthless. That house,
better promise is in the New Testa-      that His promises will most as-            as to its walls, the rooms, the pro-
ment because it presents the thing       suredly be fulfilled? If any change        tection from the burning sun and1
promised rather than the thing that      can come in Him, and He has to             winter blasts, is certainly enjoyable
pictures it. Take away, hide, con-       say I Was, or I Will Be, upon what         to dwell in and use. But even
ceal any truth about God in the Old      promise from Him can we depend?            though you see the walls and ceil-
Testament, and you can bum up            If the deviltry and hatred of God          ing, that does not mean that the
the New Testament or throw it            that is in Satan was concealed in          foundation is of inferior value. You
away! Concealed? No! There are           the Old Testament, how could we,           cannot have that house without a
in the New Testament only two            or how would we need to have pre-          foundation. Likewise, the better
names of God - in the Greek the          sented to us in the New Testament          covenant with better promises does
words kurios and fheos. In the Old       our victory over him through               not declare that the foundation is
Testament we have many more              Christ?                                    bad and ought to be cast aside. We
names of God - not only EZohim             The unbelieving Jew who today            need both; and sermons from the
and Jehovah, but also names such         rejects the New Testament as the           Old Testament today, in light of
as Adowi which means Lord, and           Word of God also rejects the whole         what we find in the New Testa-
El-shaddui which means almighty          Old Testament as His Word. Deny            ment, are rich and tremendously
one. The New Testament names             Christ, cry out as some of the Jews        comforting and instructive.
Lord and God are by no means             did, `We have no king but Caesar,"             Let us put it this way: the Old
concealed in the Old Testament but       and you deny the whole Old Testa-          Testament presented to the elect
revealed as to their meaning.            ment as the Word of God. You may           children of God a very detailed and
  The Old Testament saints had all       agree with some of the historical          clear picture of what they needeci-
that which is needed for faith in        events, but you will deny the spiri-       to see, in order to believe and have
God and for the assurance that His       tual significance of these events.         the comfort and blessedness of sal-
covenant promises would be ful-          Did not Jesus Himself in John 5:39         vation. That picture, however, al-
filled. We in the New Testament          state, "Search the Scriptures; for in      though a very detailed and clear
days have all that which we need         them ye think ye have eternal life:        picture, and so very necessary for
for faith in God and for the assur-      and they are that which testify of         the enjoyment of that which is
ance that His covenant promises          Me"? He said that to the Jews who          promised us, is a black and white
have been fulfilled, and that what       hated Him and later on crucified           picture. The New Testament, we
the New Testament promises will          Him. And the Scriptures to which           may appreciate, is one having all

                                                                                  September  15,199o  I The Standard Bearer  / 491


the details of the Old Testament                need for faith in God and for our             The Lord willing, we will pre-
picture, but in full color. Christ,             salvation. The New Testament is a           sent more of this in the next :install-
His cross - as in Genesis 3:15 and              better presentation because it              ment of The Day of Shadows. Be
Isaiah 53 - is there. So is His res-            brings us to the fulfillment of the         thankful now however that the bet-
urrection, as Job speaks of it in Job           Old Testament promise of a Savior,          ter presentation which we have of
19:25. In Isaiah 65 we also have a              and to full pardon through His              God's covenant is a picture in full
clear, distinct, and beautiful picture          blood. But the best is when all this        color. But use the Old Testament in
of that to which He ascended, and               weary night of sin and death is             order to understand that picture,
which will be ours when He re-                  over, Christ returns on the clouds          and be assured that when you see a
turns upon the clouds of heaven at              of heaven, and the everlasting day          sermon announced that is based on
the end of time. Then we will not               of very intimate covenant fellow-           an Old Testament text, the truth is
need pictures but will enjoy the full           ship with God begins and is en- -           not going to be concealed but re-
reality of God's covenant with its              joyed in body as well as soul.              vealed by that richer presentation
promises presented to us in both                  And today the Old Testament               that our covenant God has made
the Old Testament and the New                   sermon can be very rich, for it pre-        possible by fulfilling so many of the
Testament.                                      sents - and must present -both              Old Testament promises. What we
   Here is the good, better, and best.          the truth in it and the better, that is,    are promised and still need will be
The Old Testament is a very, very               richer elements the New Testament           fulfilled because of what the New
good presentation of the truth we               brings to us.                               Testament teaches us. Cl




                                                John Chrysostom:
Cloud of                                        Golden-Mouthed
 Witnesses
Prof. Herman Hanko                              Preacher

   "Almighty God, who hast given ,              in leading God's people to the wor-
to us grace at this time with one ac-           ship of their Lord.
cord to make our common suppli-                   Preaching has always been the
cations unto Thee; and dost                     life blood of the church. From the
promise, that when two or three                 preaching of the apostles in the
are gathered together in Thy name               early church to the pulpits of God's
Thou wilt grant their requests: ful-            church today, preaching has al-
fil now, 0 Lord, the desires and pe-            ways occupied a central and im-
titions of Thy servants, as may be              portant place. Only when Rome
most expedient for them; granting               introduced into the church mean-
us in this world knowledge of Thy               ingless and godless practices did
truth, and in the world to come life            preaching decline and all but dis-
everlasting, Amen."                             appear from the worship of the
  This beautiful prayer, so appro-              saints. The Reformation was,
priate for worship, is taken from               above all, brought about by
the liturgy of Chrysostom. It was               preaching - simple, biblical, ex-
used in the worship services which              posi tory preaching. And so it has
he, as the most famous of all the               been in the 400 years since the Re-
preachers of the early church, used             formation. When the church was              John Chrysostom - c. 347-407
                                                strong, the pulpit was strong.
                                                When the church was infiltrated             into the church, it came on the
Prof. Hanko is professor of Church              with false doctrine and worldli-            wings of preaching.
Histo y and New Testament in the                ness, it was because the pulpit had           It is not amiss, therefore, to con-
Protestant Reformed  Semina y.                  failed. When reformation came               sider the greatest preacher of the
492 / The Standard Bearer I September I$1990


 ancient church, John Chrysostom.           doned his studies in law and a sec-         own Reformed tradition, to preach
 Not only has his name become syn-          ular career and devoted himself'ex-         series. Many of his sermons are
 onymous with preaching, but the            elusively to the work of the church.        still extant. He preached 67 ser-
 last part of his name, "Chrysos-           In preparation for this work, he            mons on Genesis, 90 on Matthew,
 tom," was given him because the            studied under Diodore, who had              88 on John, 32 on Romans, 74 on. I
 name means "Golden-mouthed,"               founded a monastic school, but              & II Corinthians, as well as series
 and was indicative of the high re-         who was influential in the estab-           on other books. He preached not
 spect granted him as a minister of         lishment of a Seminary in that city.        only on the Lord's day, but also
 the gospel.                                This is worthy of more than pass-           during the week, sometimes five
   John was born in Syrian Antioch          ing note, for the Seminary in Anti-         days in succession. His auditorium
 in 347 from Secundus, a pagan mil-         och was devoted to the principle of         was always packed with people,,
 itary officer, and Anthusa, a godly        biblical interpretation which in-           and sometimes the congregation,
 woman of great moral force and             sisted that the literal meaning of          appreciative of his preaching,
 character. She married young and           Scripture was the correct one. An-          would break out in spontaneous
 was widowed at the age of 20.              tioch took a position contrary to the       applause - for which he severely
 When Secundus died, John was an            Seminary in Alexandria, Egypt,              reprimanded them.
 infant, and his spiritual nurture          which promoted an allegorical                  One noteworthy incident
 came from his mother. So careful           method of interpretation. The tra-          demonstrates the power of his
 was she in Johns religious instruc-        dition of the Seminary at Antioch,          preaching. During the Lenten sea-
 tion that a prominent heathen of           however, was the tradition in the           son of 387 the people of Antioch ri-
 the day said in astonishment at her        church during those periods when            oted over new taxes imposed upon
 devotion, "Bless me! What women            preaching was strong, and it is still       them by the emperor Theodosius
 these Christians have."                    the method held today in all ortho-         and burned a number of statues of
    Ant&h, where the believers              dox Seminaries. God used this ed-           the emperor and his family. Theo-
 were first called Christians, had be-      ucation to prepare John for his             dosius threatened to destroy the
 come a worldly and godless city.           work as preacher. A fellow student          city in his anger and sent troops
 One writer put it this way - and it        was Theodore, later bishop of the           into the city to quell the rioting and
 gives us some idea of the environ-         church in Mopsuesta, and himself a          judges to try the instigators of the
 ment in which John was reared:             leading church father.                      riot. John took the occasion to
    The warmth of the climate disposed        John had strong leanings to-              preach 20 sermons on the subject,
 the natives to the most intemperate en-    wards the monastic life, but re-            "On The Statutes," in which he re-
joyment of tranquility and opulence,        frained from entering a monastery           minded the people of their respon-
 and the lively licentiousness of the       because of his mother's wishes.             sibilities to those whom God had
 Greeks was blended with the heredi-        Only after she died did he retire for       put over them and reminded the
 ta y softness of the Syrians. Fashion      10 years to live the life of a hermit       emperor of the evils of undue cru-
 was the only law, pleasure the only        in the hills outside Antioch. As a          elty. These sermons served to bring
 pursuit, and the splendor of dress and     hermit he brought irreparable dam-          about a quietness in the city and. an
 furniture was the ody distinction of       age to his health and bore bodily           amnesty from the emperor. One
 the citizens of Antioch. The arts of       afflictions to his deathbed.                writer of the time said of these ser-
 luxu y were honored, the serious and         But God had more important                mons: "Though such a crowd had
 manly virtues were the subject of          work for John. He was summoned              come together, the silence was as
 ridicule, and the contempt for female      to return to Antioch where he first         deep as though not a single person
 m0dtdy  and reverent age announced         became a lector (reader of Scripture        had been present." 3 One is re-
 the universal corruption of the capital    in the worship service), then a dea-        minded of Luther's sermons which
 of the East. f                             con in 381, then a minister in the          quelled the disorders in Witten-
    He was given an excellent educa-        church. It was during this period           burg, brought on by the unruly
 tion in the best schools in Antioch,       that he wrote a book on the nurture         Zwickau prophets.
 studying especially philosophy and         of children and another on the min-            Because of his great preaching
 rhetoric in preparation for a career       istry entitled, "The Priesthood."           powers, he was appointed by the
 in law. He was not immediately             Both gained for him a reputation of         agent of the emperor to be minister
 baptized by his mother, chiefly be-        excellence, for they were filled with       in Constantinople. He had to be es-
 cause of some erroneous views of           profound wisdom.                            corted out of the city by troops be-
 baptism which prevailed in the               Nevertheless, he was above all a          cgase  of the great devotion of his
 church at that time. * At 23 years of      preacher. Already while he was              people in whose midst he had lai-
 age he was baptized by Miletus, the        studying for law, his oratorical gifts      bored for 12 years.
 bishop of the church in John's city.       were noticed; but God put them to              The pulpit in Constantinople
 Later John himself would protest           use in the service of the ministry of       was perhaps the most prestigious
 this practice of delaying baptism,         the Word.                                   in the entire Eastern Church, and
 but he does mark his own conver-             For 12 years he occupied the pul-         perhaps in the entire church. It was,
 sion as happening in his 20th year.        pit in the church of Antioch. It was        after Constantine the Great, the
    After his conversion he aban-           his custom, as it has been in our           capital of the empire. On the shores

                                                                                      September  15,199O   / The Standard Bearer  /  493


of the Bosporus in Greece, it was                have Isaiah for an example. If she         bright, piercing eyes, pallid, hollow
the most influential church of the               wads me to be drowned in the ocean, I      cheeks, and a short, gray beard." 5
time.                                            think of Jonah. If I am to be thrown          He was a preacher who empha-
   But it was not long before he was             into thefire, the three men in thefur-     sized the moral aspects of the
in trouble. John, great preacher                 nace suffered the same. If cast bqore      Christian faith. He himself de-
that he was, feared no one and                   wild beasts, I remember Daniel in the      scribed his work in this way: `My
preached the Scriptures, believing               lions' den. If she wants me to be          work is like that of a man whlo is
that only God's Word was the food                stoned, I have before me Stephen, the      trying to clean a piece of grotmd
of the soul. Because Constantino-                first martyr. If she demands my head,      into which a muddy stream is con-
ple was the imperial city it was                 let her do so; John the Baptist shines     stantly flowing." 6
filled with luxury and corruption,               before me. Naked I came from my               In keeping with his times, he
intrigue and depravity. Against all              mother's womb, naked shall I leave this    held some views which were later
these sins he preached with vehe-                w0rld. Paul reminds me, "If I still        considered erroneous by the
mence and force; and his preaching               pleased men, I would not be the ser-       church. Orthodox in all matters to
earned him the undying hatred of                 vant  of  Christ." 4                       which the church had addressed it-
the Empress, Eudoxia. Conniving                     Even here his influence contin-         self, he took a weak position on the
with the bishops of Alexandria, she              ued, for people from Antioch and           depravity of man and the power of
secured his exile across the                     other parts of the empire came to          sin in man's nature. But these is-
Bosporus, but it was to last only a              visit him, and he carried on corre-        sues were not to be defined until
short time. He returned in triumph               spondence with all parts of the em-        the work of the great church :father,
to his pulpit and continued to con-              pire - a total of 242 letters.             Augustine.
demn the evils in the city. He prob-                And so the empress had him                 He has gone down in history as
ably, from an earthly point of view,             banished to an area so far removed         one of the church's great preachers.
made his fatal mistake when he                   from the churches that he could            Fearless, catering to no man, will-
called Eudoxia another Herodias                  have no influence at all: the remote       ing to suffer the consequences of
who would not rest till she had ob-              NE corner of the Black Sea called,         his firm commitment to Scripture,
tained the head of John.                         Pitys. On the way, he was cruelly          he is an abiding testimony of the
   This time he had gone too far.                treated by the soldiers and died           importance of the preaching in the
The emperor deposed him; John re-                during the journey in 407. He was          church. May God give such
fused to obey the command and                    buried in an obscure grave.                preachers to the church today. Cl
abdicate his pulpit. The emperor                    But the church honored him, and
sent troops into the cathedral dur-              several years later exhumed his
ing a baptism ceremony and mixed                 body and moved it to a grave in               1. Quoted from Gibbons' D&line  and Full
the blood of the worshipers with                 Constantinople. He died a martyr           of the Roman Empire in Nicene  and Post-Nicene
the water used for baptism. He                   for the faith in a time when there         Fathers, Vol. IX, p. 10.
was exiled to Cucresus in the Tau-               was supposed to be no persecution.            2. These views, held by some in the
                                                                                            church, consisted mainly in the notion that
rus mountains of Armenia. He de-                    "The personal appearance of the         baptism washed away  aII previous sins. It
scribed his feelings upon being ex-              golden-mouthed orator was not              was considered wise, therefore, to  Fitpone
iled in a letter.                                imposing, but dignified and win-           baptism so as to be free of as many sins as
   When I was driven from the city, I            ning. He was of small stature (like        possible.
                                                                                               3. Quoted from Greut Leaders of the Chris-
felt no anxiety, but said to myselj  If          David, Paul, Athanasius, Melanch-          tian church, ed. by John D. Woodbridge;
the empress wishes to banish me, let             ton and others). He had an emaci-          Moody Press, 1988.
her do so; "the earth is the Lord%." If          ated frame, a large, bald head, a             4. schaff,  op. cit., p. 14.
she wants to have me sawn asunder, I             lofty, wrinkled forehead, deep-set,           t t$;ted from Post-N&me FathFs, p. 16.
                                                                                                . .





                                           Book Reviews

CALVINISM IN HISTORY, by                         (Reviewed by the Editor.)                  Against Arminianism  (reviewed in
N.S. McFetridge.  Published by and                 Still Waters Revival Books is a          the July 1,1989  issue of The Stan-
available from Still Waters Revival              publisher of Calvinistic books in          dard Bearer).
Books, 12810 126th St., Edmonton,                Canada, newly sprung up. An ear-              Calvinism in Histo y is likewise a
AB, Canada T5Y OYl. 120 pages,                   her publication was the reprint of         reprint. It was first published in
$7.95 US/$9.50  Can. Paperback.                  Christopher  Ness' An Antidote             1882. The 120-page  paperback is
494 / The Standard Bearer ! September 15,199O


the first volume in a projected se-         If these godless rascals are in the      and all that appertains to it, that is
ries of "Calvin Classics" that will       camp of Cavlvinism,  even remotely,        what the preacher must be doing
focus on the sovereignty of God           I want out.                                always; but he never can do it after-
and the five points of Calvinism.           In any reprinting of the book,           wards as he can in the blessed days
  Volume 1 is concerned to show           one glaring error of fact should be        of quiet in Arabia, after Christ h?s
the powerful influence of Calvinist       corrected: John Calvin was born in         called him, and before the apostles
theology in the history of nations        1509, not in 1519 (p. 4). Cl               lay their hands upon him. In many
(Scotland, England, The Nether-                                                      respects an ignorant clergy, how-
lands, the United States), on the         THE JOY OF PREACHING, by                   ever pious he may be, is worse tlhan
moral fiber of its adherents, and         Phillips Brooks (Introduction by           none at all. The more the empty
upon missions. The four chapters          Warren W. Wiersbe). Grand Rapids:          head glows and bums, the more
are "Calvinism as a Political Force";     Kregel Publications, 1989. 237 pp.         hollow and thin and dry it grows"
"Calvinism as a Political Force in        $8.95. (paper) [Reviewed by Prof.          (p. 51). In this connection Brooks
the History of the United States";        Robert D. Decker.]                         warns against the danger of study-
"Calvinism as a Moral Force"; and           Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)  was         ing the truth for its own sake. Tlhe
"Calvinism as an Evangelizing             born in Boston and educated at             minister must "...receive the truth
Force." Calvinism, contends               Harvard and the Protestant Episco-         as one who is to teach it...the result
McFetridge,  topples tyrants; pro-        pal Seminary in Virginia. He               of such a habit will be...a deeper
motes political liberty; produces         served three churches: Church of           and more solemn sense of responsi-
men and women of conviction and           the Advent (1859-1861)  and Trinity        bility in the search of truth; a desire
courage; and stimulates evange-           Church (1861-18691,  both in               to find the human side of every
lism. This last will surprise many        Philadelphia, and Trinity Church in        truth, the point at which every
who regard Calvinism as cool to           Boston (1869-1891). From 1891 un-          speculation touches humanity.. ."
evangelism at best, and hostile at        til his death in 1893 Brooks was           (p. 52).
worst. "In fact, there is no other        Bishop of Massachusetts.                       Brooks' definition of preaching
system which has displayed so               In 1877, at the height of his ca-        as "the communication of the truth
powerful an evangelizing force as         reer as a preacher, Phillips Brooks        by man to men" may seem inade-
Calvinism' (p. 107).                      delivered the Lyman Beecher Lec-           quate. As he develops the idea
  The author never questions              tures on Preaching at Yale Divinity        throughout the course of his lec-
whether the revolutions in which          School. This book is a reprint of          tures one comes to appreciate w:hat
some Calvinists were involved can         those lectures first published in          he means by "communicating the
be justified in light of the condem-      1895 under the title Lecfures on           truth by man to men." Lectures
nation of rebellion by the Word of        Preaching.                                 two and three, which deal with the
God in Romans 13:1-7.  He simply            Brooks does not approach the             preacher himself and his work, and
ignores the flat prohibition of resis-    subject from the formal and techni-        lecture eight, which deals with the
tance to the state by the Reformer        cal point of view of Homiletics, but       "value of the human soul," are
whose name some of the revolu-            speaks of preaching from his own           worth the price of the book.
tionaries were proud to bear.             experience as a preacher. For this             Whether Brooks chose the title of
  The assertion that the American         reason the book lacks system.              the book or not we do not know.
Revolution was a Calvinistic enter-       Probably for the same reason there         What we do know is that he re-
prise strains credulity. "The inde-       is a bit more repetition of thoughts       garded preaching not as a burden-
pendent and democratic spirit of          and ideas than one would like to           some task, but as a joy. Said he in
Calvinism...rose  up in rebellion         find in a book of this nature. For         his opening lecture to the students,
against all despotic measures,            example, Brooks repeatedly                  "I cannot help but bear witness to
whether of Church or State, and           stresses in various contexts the ne-       the joy of the life which you antici-
girded itself again for the great con-    cessity of the preacher sympathiz-         pate.... Let us rejoice with one an-
flict on this Western continent" (p.      ing with his congregation. The             other that in a world where there
49). Ben Franklin moved by the            point that the preacher must be a          are a great many good and happy
spirit of Calvinism? Thomas               child of God and an exemplary              things for men to do, God has
Paine? Thomas Jefferson?                  Christian is repeated several times        given us the best and happiest, and
  Worse follows. As though be-            throughout the book. Brooks em-            made us preachers of His Truth."
side himself to enlist for Calvinism      phasizes as well that the preacher             The book is enhanced by a brief,
everyone who was someone at the           must have a broad background in            delightful biographical introduc-
time of the American Revolution,          the liberal arts and in the sciences.      tion by Warren W. Wiersbe.
McFetridge  discovers the spirit of       He must be widely read and con-                Kregel Publications is to be com-
Calvinism in David Hume, Jean-            tinue to read throughout his min-          mended for making this book, one
Jacques Rousseau, and 18th cen-           istry. So strongly did Brooks feel         of the classics on preaching, avail-
tury, revolutionary France! (pp. 66,      about this latter point that he ad-        able. It ought to be read by semi-
67). Wonderful to relate, Immanuel        monished the students to whom he           nary students and preachers. It can
Kant was imbued with "the Calvin-         was speaking, "Oh, my fellow stu-          be read with profit by lay persons
istic philosophy" (p. 66).                dents, the special study of theology       as well. Cl

                                                                                   September  15,199O   I The Standard Bearer  l 495


                                                                                                    Index of Volume 66

                                                TFXTUAL  INDEX                                                                                      Calvinism in Histo y
Text                                                                                                      Author page                               ................................. N.S. McFetridge.. ...............DJE.......494
Genesis 6:9 ................................................................. .243                                                                  Case for Arminianism: The Grace of God, the Will of >Man
Psalm 23:4 ............................................................ 3LDsK .......219                                                            ................................. Clark H. Pinnock...............DJE ........ 115
Psalm 27:4 .................................................................. .339                                                                  Christian Ethics: Options and I.ssues
Psalm 32:3-5 ......................................................... E.. .483                                                                     ................................. Norman L. Geisler.. ...........HH...... .381
Psalm 92:1,2 ........................................................                                                         ............ .75      Closer Walk With God ..........................................DJE ........ 117
Proverbs 10:28 ..................................................... JDS .......147                                                                 Commenta  y on Matthao
Isaiah 6................................................................ GCL.......208                                                              ................................. John A. Broadus ..............RDD.. .... .334
Isaiah 6................................................................ GCL.......235                                                              Commenta  y of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the
Isaiah 6................................................................ GCL.......331                                                                 Heidelberg Catechism........................................DJE ........117
Isaiah 6................................................................
                                                                                                                 GCL.. .... .356                    Concise Dictiona  y of the Christian Tradition
Malachi 4:2 ...........................................................                                                       .......123            ................................. J.D. Douglas ....................... DJE .......310
Matthew  28:5-8                                                                                                    E
                                        .......................................................... .315                                             Covenants: God's  Way  With His People
Matthew 5:6 ......................................................... JLK.. ..:..45 9                                                               ................................. 0 . Palmer Robertson.. .......HH.. .......93
Mark 9:23,24 ....................................................... JLK.. .........3                                                               Doctrinal Integrity
John 3:16..............................................................
                                                                                                                  BJW.. .... .280                   ................................. Samuel Miller.. ................... DJE.. .....477
John 1220-23 .......................................................                                                         .......291             Faith and Reason.. ...Ronald H. Nash.................... JL.........22
John 19:31-33,36                                                                                                   E
                                            ....................................................... .267                                            Getting to Know John's Gospel
Romans 1:16, 17................................................... JDS...... .363                                                                   ................................. Robert A. Peterson ............HH.. .....382
Romans 5:l ........................................................... JDS.........27                                                               Good Shepherd and His Sheep
Romans 8:35-39 ...................................................                                                           .......171             ................................. Robert C. Harbach.. ...........DJE.. .... .221
II Corinthians 4:16-18                                                                                             ;:
                                                        ................................................. .51                                       1. Gresham Machen:  A Biographical Memoir
Ephesians 1:5 ...................................................... BJW.......475                                                                  ................................. Ned B. Stonehouse.. ........RDD.. .......70
Ephesians 4:1-3 .................................................... JDS .......435                                                                 James: The Man and His Message
Philippians ......................................................... GVB.. .......68                                                               ................................. James B. Adamson ............HH.. .......46
Philippians l:l-11 .............................................. GVB .......128                                                                    Joy of Preaching, The
Philippians 1:12-26.. .......................................... GVB.. .....205                                                                     ................................. Phillips Brooks................. RDD.......495
Philippians  1:21 ................................................ RDD.........99                                                                   Letter  of Paul to the Ephesians: An Introduction and
Philippians 1:27-30.. .......................................... GCL.........60                                                                        Commenta y........Frances Foulkes ............... RDD.........94
Philippians 1:27-30.. ........................................... GCL .......lll                                                                    More Glorious Covenant, The
Philippians 1:27-30 ............................................ GVB.......452                                                                      ................................. Gerrit Vos ........................... NLJ .........69
Philippians 2:1-11 .............................................. GVB .......467                                                                    Nations, Israel, and the Church in Prophecy, The
James 4:4.. ............................................................. JDS .......411                                                                                           John
                                                                                                                                                    .................................       . Walvoord ............... HH.. .....307
I Peter 13-5 .......................................................... JLK.. .... .387                                                             Safe in the World: The Assurance of Our Salvation
II Peter 3:9 ........................................................... BJW.......176                                                              ................................. Martyn Lloyd-Jones........RD D.......478
I John 5:3 ............................................................. BJW.. .....160                                                             Seed of the Woman, The
                                                                                                                                                    ................................. Arthur C. Custance.. ........GCL.. .....430
                                                BOOK REVIEWS                                                                                        Strong`s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
Book Title                                     Author                                               Reviewer page                                   ...............................................................................
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               DJE...... .116
Agony of Deceit, The                                                                                                                                Studies in John's Epistles
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Horton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RVO . . . . . . . 333              ................................. George G. Findlay .............HH.. .....406
Another  Gospel, Alternative Religions and the NAM                                                                                                  Theology of the Reformers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth A. Tucker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AL . . . . . . . . . 91    .................................Timothy George................. DJE.......237
Augustine  - The Farmer's Boy of Tagas te                                                                                                           Two Hundred Years of Theology
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I? DeZeeuw J. Gzn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK . . . . . . . 117              ................................. Hendrikus Berkhof ...........DJE.. .....405
Born Again: Biblical and Theological Study  of                                                                                                      Unholy Hands on the Bible
     Regeneration . . . . . . . Peter Toon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH ..a.... 381                                     ................................. John W. Burgon &
Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism  b Arminianism                                                                                                           ................................. Jay P Green ........................ DJE.......358
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenneth G. Talbot . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 478

496 / The Standard Bearer I September 15,199O


What Mean Ye tn/ This Seruice?                                                                                                                       Defense of Pro-Life ............................................. CH.. .....:!OO
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Bacon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . . . 45      Destroyed for Lack of What?.......................... TCM.. .....260
When the Morning Came                                                                                                                                Directory of PR Churches................................................ "..62
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Piet Prins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE.;.....332    Dr. Dad Contra Mundum .............................. WDG .......I41
William III and the Revolution of 1688                                                                                                               Dry Rot and Worms ......................................... RDD.......398
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marjorie Bowen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . 453              Dwelling in the House of the Lord ..................JLK.. .....339
                                                                                                                                                     Elders'Oversight of the Preaching.. .................DD.. .... .376
                                                      TITLE INDEX                                                                                    Election of Elders.. ............................................. RLC.. .... .354
Title                                                                                                      Author page                               Enduring Mercy and Everlasting Peace.........JAH...... .274
Abortion and Evolution ................................... HDJ.......213                                                                             Eternal Adoption............................................... BJW.......475
Acknowledging Our Sins .................................. JLK.. .....483                                                                             Eternally Chosen and Graciously Called.. JAH..
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      .....        .....lO6
All Men and the Gospel.. .................................. BJW...... .176                                                                           Evangelical Presbyterian Church.. ................. RDD.........17
Amazing Example of Christ, The ................... GVB.. .....467                                                                                    Experiential Preaching.. ..................................... JLK.......371
Amoral Evolution .............................................. DSS.. .... .247                                                                      Exposition of Isaiah 6 (1).................................. GCL.......208
Anthony and the Ascetics ................................. HH.. .... .401                                                                            Exposition of Isaiah 6 (2).................................. GCL.......235
Antichrist, The ................................................... BLG .......252                                                                   Exposition of Isaiah 6 (3) .................................. GCL.......331
Appearances Can Deceive................................ RDD......39  8                                                                               Exposition of Isaiah 6 (4). ................................. GCL.. .....356
Athanasius Against the World............................ HH.....32  1                                                                                Exposition of Philippians 1:27-30 (1)..............GCL.. ...... .60
Back on Pitch ...................................................... KDJ...... .224                                                                  Exposition of Philippians 1:27-30 (2)..............GCL .......lll
Baptist Objection ................................................ w o.......415                                                                     Fear God and Not Man.................................... AdH.. .....344
Baptist Seminary in Trouble over                                                                                                                     Federal Equal Pay and Minimum Wage Laws..JL.......47  4
     Inerrancy ...................................................... ..RD D.......304                                                               Feminism Entrenched, in the CRC ................... DJE.......461
Beginning of Birth-Pangs .................................. DJE.........53                                                                           Festive Convocation, A...................................... DJE.........29
Begotten Unto a Living Hope........................... JLK.......387                                                                                 Fields and Winslow on the Doctrine
Believer's Hope at Death, The ........................ SRH.. .... .153                                                                                  of Grace ............................................................. GF.. .....I320
Changes and Sameness - A New Volume                                                                                                                  Footsteps of Our Lord as Heard in
     of the SB ........................................................... DJE.. .........5                                                             New Zealand ................................................ RGM.......`187
Christian Reformed Alliance, A..................... RDD.........85                                                                                   Four Significant Conferences.......................... RDD .......`18 4
Christians in Russia ......................................... RDD.........63                                                                        Fresh Theology ................................................. RDD.......:249
Church, Theology, and Violence in South                                                                                                              Friendship With the World:
     Africa ................................................................... JL.......272                                                            Enmity With God............................................ JDS.. .... .411
: Comfort of the Rod and Staff, The.. ................JLK........219                                                                                 From a Former Baptist ........................................ SJS.. ....442
Committee for Contact with Other                                                                                                                     From Oppression to Freedom ............................. JV.......346
     Churches .......................................................... HH.......114                                                                Function of the Conscience of Man ...............AdH.. .....:229
Committee for Contact with Other                                                                                                                     Fundamentalism Is Not Enough.. .................... DJE...... .:318
     Churches .......................................................... HH.. .... .232                                                              Gay Soap Opera.. .............................................. RDD...... .I398
Concerned CRC .............................................. ..RDD.. .......17                                                                       Giving Thanks to God.. ...................................... JDS..........75
Concerning the PR Form of Public                                                                                                                     God's Purpose in the Gospel ........................... BJW.......:280
     Confession of Faith ........................................ JEH.........82                                                                     Gospel of Christ .................................................. JDS .......:363
Conditionality and the Gospel ........................ BJW.........35                                                                                Grandville Publishes Harbach ......................... DJE.......:221
Congregation's Regard for Her                                                                                                                        Great Persecution, The ..................................... BLG .......:301
     Preacher, The................................................... DJE...... .365                                                                 Greatest of These Is Love, The.. ......................... KK.......I255
Conscience of the Christian, The.. .................. AdH.. .....285                                                                                 Greetings from Measbro Dyke
Controversial Dutch Theologian Retires ......RDD.......249                                                                                              Evangelical Church.......................................... PR.......444
Could Sodom and Gomorrah Have                                                                                                                        Greetings from Synod of EPC of Australia......CC.. .....445
     Been Worse?...................................................RDD.........84                                                                    Greetings! ........................................................... GVB.. .....128
Courts Sanction Sunday Work Refusals..                                                                                 JL..
                                                                                                         ..........             ......185            Headship in Marriage:
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                        Called to Live Like Kings............................... KK.......:258
     of Believers (1) ................................................ DJE.. .... .269                                                               Headship Report of the CRC .......................... RDD.......184
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                     Help My Unbelief.. ............................................. JLK.............
     of Believers (2) ................................................ DJE.. .... .293                                                               Holy Spirit - His Work in the Economy
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                        of Salvation.. .................................................... CJT.. ,416
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   .....
     of Believers (3) ................................................ DJE.......317                                                                 Holy Spirit and Missions................................. RDD...... .~420
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                     Home-Schooling.. ............................................... WC.........31
     of Believers (4) ................................................ DJE.. .....341                                                                Home, Church, and School.. ........................... AdH.. .......2 0
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                     Hope and the Protestant Reformed
     of Believers (5) ................................................ DJE.......413                                                                    Churches' Mission Calling.......................... AdH.. .....164
Covenant of God and the Children                                                                                                                     Hope as an Incentive to Godliness ................. BJW.......160
     of Believers (6) ................................................ DJE.. .... .485                                                               Hope of Every Believer Regarding His
Crux of the Matter, The ................................... RDD.......367                                                                               Future Earthly Life ....................................... RVO...... .162
Death a Gain ..................................................... RDD.........99                                                                    Hope of the Righteous: Gladness.................... JDS.. .... .147

                                                                                                                                                                                 September IS,1990  /The Standard Bearer I 497


Hungering After Righteousness.. .....................JLK.. .... .459                                         Promotion of More Meaningful
Husbands, Love Your Wives ........................... ..KK.. .... .139                                          Sister-Church Relationships.. ..................... RGM .                                                 425
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ......
Illusory Hope of Postmillennialism.. ...............HH.. .....158                                            Protestant Reformed Conference on
Illusory Hope of the Rapture ...........!.............DHK.......155                                             Preaching ......................................................... DJE........ 294
Impossibility of a Rich Man Entering                                                                         Psalmody Conference ........................................ HH........276
    the Kingdom....................................................                        .......195        Psalms, Metrical Psalmody, and the Psalter .XII. ......132
In Defense of Common Grace                                                           Li
                                                       ................................. .105                REC Loses Another Member .......................... RDD ........ 185
In Defense of our Psalter................................... HM.......223                                    Redeeming the Time ........................................ AdH .                                                488
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ......
Incarnation and Church .................................... DJE.. .....125                                   Reformed Faith - Theology of Hope.............DJE. ......149
Inseparable Love of God ................................... JLK.......171                                    Reformed Family: Wife (1) ............................. MBL.........64
International Reformed Conference ................HH.......395                                               Reformed Look at the New Age
Is Oratorio Drama? ............................................. CH.......4OO                                   Movement (1). ................................................ SRH..........18
ISBE-Significant Publishing Venture ............DJE...........6                                            ~ Reformed Look at the New Age
Jesus and Our Little Children.. ....................... AdH.. .......80                                         Movement  (2)................................................. SRH..........56
Jesus Prays That They All May Be One.. .........JLK.......291                                                Reformed Look at the New Age
John Chrysostom: Golden-Mouthed                                                                                 Movement (3). ................................................ SRH.. ........89
    Preacher ................................................................. .492                          Reformed Theological School in the
Justin Martyr-Convert from Heathendom...g .........86                                                           Pacific Area ....................................................... JM. ......446
Keeping the Unity of the Spirit......................... JDS.......435                                       Reformed Wife: Mother (1) ............................ MBL.......326
Labor While It Is Day....................................... RDD.......248                                   Reformed Wife: Mother (2) ............................ MBL.......469
Looking at the Things Unseen                                                         pg.. .......51          Religious Liberty in Jeopardy.. ..................... ..RDD.. .......85
Lying - Is It Always Wrong? .....................................................          ...........7      Reply to the Rev. Steve Schlissel ...................... DJE.......lOl
Lying - Is It Always Wrong? ....................... HVM...........8                                          Report from Classis West.. ................................. RH.. .....334
Lying - Is It Always Wrong?. .......................... HH...........9                                       Report of Classis East .................................................. 72
Man of Sin Foreshadowed (21, The.................JAH.. .......13                                             Report of Classis East ......................................... E...... .213
Man of Sin Foreshadowed (31, The.. ...............JAH.........65                                             Re@t of Classis East ......................................... JJH.......429
Mega Churches ................................................. RDD.......304                                Report on Work in Northern Ireland ...............KH.......207
Mission Principles (1): The Calling ...............RVO.......396                                             Requests More on Premillennialism.. ................ BS.. .....223
Missionary for the British Isles ......................... JLK.......393                                     Response to the Other Side of
Missions, A High Priority.. ............................. RDD.......130                                         Postmillennialism.. ......................................... HH.. .....295
Moonshine Blasphemy ...................................... DJE.. .... .342                                   Responsibilities Towards Children (1) .............KK.......403
More on Home-Schooling.. ................................ RN.........55                                      Resurrection of the Lord, The
                                                                                                                                                    .........................................................A%.         .315
More on the Form of Public Confession ..........EH...... .200                                                Return Visit to Singapore                                                                         ........... .136
Necessity of Evangelism.................................. RVO .......233                                     Rising of the Sun of Righteousness.. ................JLK...... .123
New Presbyterian Church in England, A .....RDD.......131                                                     Rural, Isolationist, and Deformed PRC.. .........DJE.........29
News from Singapore ...................................... RDD.......249                                     SB on Cassette ....................................................EPE.. .....199
No Bone Broken.................................................. JDS.. .... .267                             SB on Tape ............................................................ KR.......463
Now, a Word about Myself.............................. GVB .......205                                        Secretary's Annual RFPA Report.. ..................... PK.........41
Office of Professor of Theology, The.. .............RLC.......109                                            Sem Profs Attend John Calvin Conference.. ...DJE...... .245
On Being Fed ........................................................ BB.......375                           Seminary and Synod........................................ RDD .......391
Oral Roberts in Trouble ................................... RDD.........62                                   Seminary Newsletter ............................................... .79
Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the                                                                         Shadow of What Lies Ahead, A ..................... $?I.......305
   Reformed Presbyterian Church.. ................ RDD.........16                                            Sign of Divorcing the Truth, The.. ................... BLG.. .....210
Other Side of Postmillennialism, The................NJ.......271                                             Slaughtering Baptists? ....................................... DJE.......414
Our Hope for Our Savior's Return.. ...............JAH.......151                                              Slaughtering Baptists? (2) ................................. DJE...... .439
Our Mission Work - `89-`90 ............................. DD.......351                                        Small Beginning of the New Obedience                                                  JAH..
                                                                                                                                                                                        ........                     .... .189
Parity of Officebearers.. .................................... RLC.........39                                Sovereign Grace's Comforting Shadow..                                                 JAH..
                                                                                                                                                                                         .......                     .....250
Peace Through Justification .............................. JDS .........27                                   Speaking in Tongues.. ......................................... CH.. .....299
Perceptive Articles on Suicide ....................... EWO.......320                                         Sp&tuuhCondition  of the Evangelizing
Persecution a Reality for Many Christians...RDD.......39  9                                                                .................. .... ...................................... RVO.......278
Philippians: An Introduction ......................... GVB.........68                                        State Supreme Court Holds Church
Plan of Action, A............................................... GVB.........ll                                 Liable for Discipline .......................................... JL.......329
Polycarp: Martyr of Christ ....................................... .32                                       Student Aid ........................................................ RLC .......228
PRC and Missions ............................................. Ct.. .......32                                Student Preaching .............................................. RLC .......283
PRC Synod, 1990 ................................................ DJE.. .....389                              Successful Missions .......................................... RVO.........38
PRC Synod: Missions and Contact .................DJE.......437                                               Suicide - Self Murder (1) .................................
Preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism.. .......MK.......373                                                  Suicide - Self Murder (2)                                                               gk:::::::::
                                                                                                                                                      .................................
Preaching to All Nations, Then the End ........BLG.. .... .349                                               Supreme Court Balks at Overruling
Preaching: The Main Duty of the Preacher...C  JH...... .368                                                     Roe V. Wade........................................................ JL.........58
Promoting Good Christian Schools.. ..............RLC...... .324                                              Synodical Decision on Crosses.. .................... HVM                                                    463
                                                                                                                                                                                                               .......
                                                                                                             Synods and General Assemblies.. .................. RDD.........16

498 / The Standard Bearer / September 15,199O


Synods and General Assemblies.................... RDD.......450                                   CHILDREN
Task of the PRC with Their Seminary .............DJE.........77                                      Responsibilities Towards Children (1) ......KK.. .....403
Task of the PRC with Their Seminary (2). .......DJE.. .... .173                                   CHRISTIAN COMFORT
Task of the PRC with Their Seminary (3). .......DJE.......197                                        Comfort of the Rod and Staff, The............JLK.......219
Tertullian - Theologian.......................................... .225                            CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE
That Wonderful Covenant (1) .................................................... ;E.. .465           State Supreme Court Holds Church
That Wonderful Covenant (2)                                                     ...........490          Liable for Discipline ................................... JL.......:329
Then Luther Too Was Wrong............................ DJE.......221                               CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Thoughts Worth Pondering ............................ RDD .........63                                Home, Church, and School ...................... AdH.. ........20
True Christian Asceticism?...................................JH.......441                         CHRISTIAN HOPE
Virtuous Woman...a Crown to Her                                                                      Believer's Hope at Death .......................... SRI-I.......`153
   Husband ........................................................ MBL.......179                    Hope and the Protestant Reformed
Voice from Tasmania ...................................... PWM.......442                                Churches'Mission Calling.. ................. AdH.. .....`164
Walking With God .............................................. JDS.......243                        Hope as an Incentive to Godliness.. .........BJW.......`160
Westminster Seminary.. ................................... RDD.......304                             Hope of Every Believer Regarding
What Next From the GKN .............................. RDD .......131                                    His Future Earthly Life ......................... RVO.. .....`162
When Will the End Come?............................... BLG.........43                                Hope of the Righteous: Gladness.. ...........JDS.......`147
Who? Me?.............................................................LH.......379                    Illusory Hope of Postmillennialism.. ........HH.......`158
Why a Teacher Shortage?.................................RDD.......303                                Illusory Hope of the Rapture.. ................. DHK.......`155
Windbagging ..................................................... SMS.......103                      Our Hope for Our Savior's Return..                          JAH..
                                                                                                                                                          ........        .....`151
Word of Encouragement, A............................. GVB.......452                                  Reformed Faith - Theology of Hope ......DJE.......`149
Work of the Evangelical Presbyterian                                                              CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
   Church of Australia.. ........................................ PB.......422                       Concerned CRC ......................................... RDD.. .......17
Work of the Measbro Dyke Congregation.. ......PR.......471                                           Feminism Entrenched in the CRC.............DJE.......461
                                                                                                     Synods and General Assemblies.. ...........RDD.. ,450
                                                                                                                                                                          .....
                               SUBJECT INDEX                                                      CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Subject Title                                                       Author page                      Federal Equal Pay and Minimum
ABORTION                                                                                               Wage Laws................................................... JL.. ,474
                                                                                                                                                                          .....
      Abortion and Evolution............................. HDJ.......213                              Religious Liberty in Jeopardy..................RDD.........85
      Defense of Pro-Life....................................... CH.......200                     CHRISTMAS
      SugprmVeed;t  Balks at Overruling                                                              Incarnation and Church.. ............................ DJE.......125
                              ................................................. JL.........58     CHRYSOSTOM, JOHN
ALLMEN   *                                                                                           John Chrysostom: Golden-Mouthed
      All Men and the Gospel.. ........................... BJW.. .....176                               Preacher.. ...................................................HH.. ,492
                                                                                                                                                                          .....
ANNUAL REPORT                                                                                     CHURCH HISTORY
      Secretary's Annual RFPA Report.. ..............PK.........41                                   John Chrysostom: Golden-Mouthed
ANTHONY                                                                                                 Preacher ..................................................... HH.. ,492
                                                                                                                                                                          .....
      Anthony and the Ascetics .......................... HH.. .... .401                             Justin Martyr - Convert from
ANTICHRIST                                                                                              Heathendom............................................. HH.........86
      Antichrist, The ............................................ BLG .......252                    Polycarp: Martyr of Christ ........................ HH.........32
ASCETICISM                                                                                           Tertullian - Theologian ............................. HH.. .... .225
      True Christian Asceticism?............................JH.......441                          CHURCH ORDER
ATHANASIUS                                                                                           Article 17 Parity of Officebearers.. ...........RLC.. .......39
      Athanasius Against the World.. .................HH.......321                                   Article 18 Office of Professor of
BAPTISTS                                                                                                Theology .................................................. RLC.......109
      Baptist Objection ......................................... w o.......415                      Article 19 Student Aid ............................... RLC.......228
      From a Former Baptist ................................. SJS.. .....442                         Article 20 Student Preaching .................... RLC.......283
      Slaughtering Baptists? ................................ DJE.. .... .414                        Article 21 Promoting Good Christian
      Slaughtering Baptists? (2)........................... DJE.. .... .439                             Schools ..................................................... RLC.......324
BARNSLEY, ENGLAND                                                                                    Article 22 Election of Elders.. .................... RLC.......354
      Greetings from Measbro Dyke                                                                 CLASSIS EAST
         Evangelical Church ................................... PR .......444                        Report of Classis East .......................................... .72
     Work of the Measbro Dyke                                                                       Report of Classis East .................................. E...... .213
         Congregation ............................................. PR.......471                    Report of Classis East .................................. JJH.......429
BLASPHEMY                                                                                         CLASSIS WEST
      Moonshine Blasphemy ............................... DJE.......342                              Report from Classis West ............................ RI-I.......334
BRITISH ISLES                                                                                     COMFORT
      Missionary for the British Isles ..................JLK.......393                               Comfort of the Rod and Staff, The............JLK.......219
CHANGES                                                                                           COMMON GRACE
      Changes and Sameness - a New                                                                   In Defense of Common Grace.. ................... PJS.......105
         Volume of the SB...................................... DJE.. .........5                    Response ....................................................... DJE.. .....105

                                                                                                                          September  X5,1990  I The Standard Bearer  1' 499


CONDITIONS                                                                                       ESCHATOLOGY
    Conditionality and the Gospel .................BJW.........35                                   Antichrist, The ............................................ BLG ........ 252
CONSCIENCE                                                                                          Footsteps of Our Lord as Heard in
    Conscience of the Christian, The.............AdH.. .....285                                         New Zealand ......................................... RGM ........ 187
    Function of the Conscience of Man.. .......AdH.. .....229                                       Great Persecution, The............................... BLG ....... .301
CONTACT COMMITTEE                                                                                   Man of Sin Foreshadowed (21, The ..........JAH..........13
    Committee for Contact with Other                                                                Man of Sin Foreshadowed (3), The ..........JAH ..........65
        Churches ................................................... HH.......114                   Preaching to All Nations, Then
    Committee for Contact with Other                                                                    the End. .................................................... BLG.. .....349
        Churches ................................................... HI-I...... .232                Sign of Divorcing the Truth, The..............BLG.. .....210
    News from Singapore ............................... RDD.. .... .249                             When Will the End Come?. ....................... BLG.. .......43
    PRC Synod: Missions and Contact ..........DJE...... .437                                     EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
COVENANT                                                                                            Evangelical Presbyterian Church............RDD.........17
    Baptist Objection ......................................... w o.......415                    EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                             CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
        of Believers (1).......................................... DJE.......269                    Greetings from Synod of EPC
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                                    of Australia ................................................ c c.......445
        of Believers (2).......................................... DJE.......293                    Work of the Evangelical Presbyterian
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                                    Church of Australia................................... PB                                                        422
                                                                                                                                                                                                                .......
        of Believers (3) .......................................... DJE.. .....317               EVANGELISM
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                                Necessity of Evangelism........................... RVO.. .....233
        of Believers (4).......................................... DJE.. .... .341                  Spiritual Condition of the
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                                    Evangelizing Church.. ........................... RVO.. .....278
        of Believers (5).......................................... DJE.......413                 EVOLUTION
    Covenant of God and the Children                                                                Abortion and Evolution............................. HDJ.. .... .213
        of Believers (6)................................................ .485                       Amoral Evolution ....................................... DSS.. .... .247
    Slaughtering Baptists? ................................ :;.......414                         FAITH
    Slaughtering Baptists? (2). .......................... DJE...... .439                           Help My Unbelief ........................................ JLK...........3
    That Wonderful Covenant (1) ...................JAH...... .465                                FEMINISM
    That Wonderful Covenant (2) ...................JAH...... .490                                   Feminism Entrenched in the CRC.. ...........DJE.......461
CROSS                                                                                            FIFTH COLLOQUIUM ON CALVIN STUDIES
    Synodical Decision on Crosses. ..............HVM.. .....463                                     Four Significant Conferences.. ............... ..RDD .......1&Q
DEATH                                                                                               Sem Profs Attend John Calvin
    Believer's Hope at Death .......................... SRH.. .... .153                                 Conference ................................................ DJE.. .... .245
    Death a Gain............................................... RDD .........99                  FUNDAMENTALISM
DEATH OF CHRIST                                                                                     Fundamentalism Is Not Enough ............... DJE.. .....318
    Moonshine Blasphemy ............................... DJE.......342                            GKN
    No Bone Broken ........................................... JDS.......267                        What Next From the GKN ....................... RDD...... .131
DEFENSE OF TRUTH                                                                                 GODLINESS
    Dr. Dad Contra Mundum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WDG . . . . . . . 141       Hope as an Incentive to Godliness.. .........BJW.......160
DIRECTORIES                                                                                      GRACE
    Directory of PR Churches......................................... 262                           Fields and Winslow on the Doctrines
DRAMA                                                                                                   of Grace.......................................................
                                                                                                                                                                                                        GF.. .....320
    Is Oratorio Drama? ...................................... CH.......400                          Sovereign Grace's Comforting Shadow  ..JAH.......250
EDUCATION                                                                                        HEADSHIP
    Could Sodom and Gomorrah Have                                                                   Feminism Entrenched in the CRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 461
       Been Worse7............................................. RDD.........84                      Headship in Marriage:
    Federal Equal Pay and Minimum                                                                       Called to Live Like Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK . . . . . . . 258
       Wage Laws................................................... JL...... .474                HEIDELBERG CATECHISM
    Home-Schooling .......................................... WC.........31                         Preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism..MK.......373
    Home, Church, and School ...................... AdH.. .......20                              HOLY SPIRIT
    More on Home-Schooling ........................... RN.........55                                Holy Spirit - His Work in the
    Promoting Good Christian Schools .........RLC...... .324                                            Economy of Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJT .,...... 416
    Religious Liberty in Jeopardy.. ................ RDD.........85                                 Holy Spirit and Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RciD .I,..... 420
    Why a Teacher Shortage? ......................... RDD.. .....303                             HUSBANDS
ELDERS                                                                                             Husbands, Love Your Wives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KK .,,..... 139
    Elders'Oversight of the Preaching.. ..........DD.......376                                   INERRANCY
    Election of Elders........................................ RLC .......354                      Baptist Seminary in Trouble over
ELECTION                                                                                                Inerrancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD  .,,..... 384
    Eternally Chosen and Graciously                                                              JUDGMENT
       Called ....................................................... JAH.......106                Beginning of Birth-Pangs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE ..I.......  53

500 / The Standard Bearer ! September 15,199O


JUSTIFICATION                                                                                                                                       NEW AGE MOVEMENT
  Peace Through Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JDS . . . . . . . . . 27                                                Reformed Look at the New Age
JUSTIN MARTYR                                                                                                                                             Movement  (1) .......................................... SRH.......... 18
  Justin Martyr - Convert from                                                                                                                        Reformed Look at the New Age
        Heathendom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . . . . . 86                      Movement  (2) .......................................... SRH.. ........56
KNOWLEDGE                                                                                                                                              Reformed Look at the New Age
   Destroyed for Lack of What? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TCM . . . . . . . 260                                                                Movement  (3) .......................................... SRH.. ........8 9
KUITERT, DR. HARRY                                                                                                                                  NEW ZEALAND
   Controversial Dutch Theologian                                                                                                                     Footsteps of Our Lord as Heard
        Retires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . . .249          in New Zealand..................................... RGM.. .....`187
LABOR                                                                                                                                               NORTHERN IRELAND
   Federal Equal Pay and Minimum                                                                                                                       Report on Work in Northern Ireland.. .......KH.......:207
        Wage Laws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL. . . . . . . 474          OFFICEBEARERS
LETTERS"                                                                                                                                              Elders'Oversight of the Preaching.. ..........DD.......376
   Amoral Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSS. . . . . . . 247                                Election of Elders........................................ RLC .......:354
   Back on Pitch ............................................... KDJ .......224                                                                       Parity of Officebearers ............................... RLC....... ..39
   Baptist Objection ......................................... w o.......415                                                                        ORATORIO
   Fields and Winslow on the Doctrine                                                                                                                  Is Oratorio Drama7.......................................CH                 ,400
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            .......
        of Grace....................................................... GF...... .320                                                               ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
   Home-Schooling .......................................... WC.........31                                                                             Orthodox Presbyterian Church and
   In Defense of Common Grace.. ................... PJS.......105                                                                                         the Reformed Presbyterian Church ....RDD.........16
   In Defense of our Psalter ............................ HM.......223                                                                                 Synods and General Assemblies.............RDD.. ,450
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               .....
   More on Home-Schooling........................... RN.........55                                                                                  PERSECUTION
   More on the Form of Public Confession....EH.......200                                                                                               Christians in Russia................................... RDD.........63
   Other Side of Postmillennialism, The.. .......NJ.......271                                                                                          Great Persecution, The.. ............................. BLG.. .....301
   Requests More on Premillennialism ...........BS.. .....223                                                                                          PeE1;g;sa Reality for Many
   Response to the Other Side of                                                                                                                                . .      ................................................ RDD.......399
        Postmillennialism .................................... HH.. .....295                                                                        PHILIPPIANS
   SB on Cassette.............................................. EPE .......199                                                                         Amazing Example of Christ, The ............GVB.. .....467
   SB on Tape...................................................... KR.......463                                                                       Greetings! .................................................... GVB.......128
   Seminary Newsletter................................. RDD.........79                                                                                Now, a Word About Myself.. .................... GVB.. .....205
   Special Issue................................................ GCL...... .200                                                                        Philippians: An Introduction .................. GVB.. .......68
   True Christian Asceticism7............................JH...... .441                                                                                 Plan of Action, A.. ...................................... GVB.........ll
  Voice from Tasmania................................ PWM .......442                                                                                  Word of Encouragement, A...................... GVB.. .....452
  Windbagging ............................................... SMS.......103                                                                         PoLYcARr
LOVE                                                                                                                                                  Polycarp: Martyr of Christ ........................ HH.. .......32
   Greatest of These Is Love, The.. ..................KK.......255                                                                                  POSTMILLENNIALISM
   Inseparable Love of God ............................ JLK.. .....171                                                                                 Illusory Hope of Postmillennialism.. ........HH.. .... .158
LYING                                                                                                                                                  Other Side of Postmillennialism, The..                          NJ..
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 .......       .....271
   Lying - Is It Always Wrong? .................... HV...........7                                                                                     Response to the Other Side of
  Lying - Is It Always Wrong?.................HVM...........8                                                                                             Postmillennialism .................................... HH.......295
  Lying - Is It Always Wrong?.................... HH...........9                                                                                    PREACHING
MISSIONS                                                                                                                                               Congregation's Regard for Her
  Holy Spirit and Missions.. ........................ RDD.......420                                                                                       Preacher .................................................... DJE.......365
  Hope and the Protestant Reformed                                                                                                                     Crux of the Matter, The............................. RDD.......367
        Churches'Mission Calling ................... AdH.. .....164                                                                                   Elders'Oversight of the Preaching............DD.......376
  Mission Principles (1): The Calling ........RVO.......396                                                                                           Experiential Preaching................................ JLK.. .....371
  Missionary for the British Isles ..................JLK.......393                                                                                    On Being Fed.................................................. BB.. .... .375
  Missions, A High Priority                                                                                   :I$.                   .130             Preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism..MK.......37  3
  Necessity of Evangelism ...................................................                                               ........... .233          Preaching to All Nations, Then
  Our Mission Work - `89-90 ...................... DD.......351                                                                                           the End.....................................................BLG ......,349
  PRC and Missions.. ..................................... CLB.. .......32                                                                            Preaching: The Main Duty of
  PRC Synod: Missions and Contact ..........DJE.. .... .437                                                                                               the Preacher ............................................. CJH.. .....368
  Spiritual Condition of the                                                                                                                          Who? Me7......................................................LH .......379
       Evangelizing Church ............................. RVO.......278                                                                              PROFESSORS OF THEOLOGY
  Successful Missions ................................... RVO.. .......38                                                                             Office of Professor of Theology, The........RLC.. .....109
MOTHERS                                                                                                                                             ESALMODY  CONFERENCE
  Reformed Wife: Mother (1)...................... MBL.. .... .326                                                                                     Four Significant Conferences.. ................. RDD.......184
  Reformed Wife: Mother (2)...................... MBL.. .....469                                                                                      Psalmod y Conference ................................. .              ......,276
MURRAY,,                                                                                                                                            PSALTER
  Other Interesting News ............................ RDD.........17                                                                                  Back on Pitch ............................................... KDJ........22 4

                                                                                                                                                                            September  15,199O   / The Standard Bearer  J 501


    In Defense of our Psalter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HM . . . . . . . 223                                                           Promotion of More Meaningful
    Psalms, Metrical Psalmody, and                                                                                                                                         Sister-Church Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM . . . . . . . 425
          the Psalter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KH.,.....132                                Reformed Theological school in the
PUBLIC CONFESSION OF FAITH                                                                                                                                                 Pacific Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JM  ,...... 446
    Concerning the PR Form of Public                                                                                                                                 Work of the Evangelical Presbyterian
          Confession of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JEH . . . . . . . . . 82                                                   Church of Australia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PB . . . . . . . 422
    Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SS . . . . . . . 127      Work of the Measbro Dyke
    More on the Form of Public Confession. . . .EH. . . . . . .2OO                                                                                                         Congregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PR . . . . . . . 471
PUBLICATIONS                                                                                                                                                       SOUTH AFRICA
    Grandville Publishes Harbach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 221                                                                         Church, Theology, and Violence in
    ISBE - Significant Publishing Venture . . . . DJE . . . . . . . . . . . 6                                                                                              South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL . . . . . . . 272
                                                                                                                                                                   SPIRITUAL INSIGHT
    Illusory Hope of the Rapture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . . . . . 155                                                                         Looking at the Things Unseen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK . . . . . . . . . 51
REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA                                                                                                                                         STUDENT AID
    Synods and General Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . . . 450                                                                                    Student Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . . . . . 228
REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH                                                                                                                                       STUDENT PREACHING
    Orthodox Presbyterian Church  &                                                                                                                                  Student Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RLC . . . . . . . 283
          the Reformed-Presbyterian Church . . . . RDD . . . . . . . . . 16                                                                                        SUICIDE
REFUGEES                                                                                                                                                             Perceptive Articles on Suicide ................ EWO.......320
    From Oppression to Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JV . . . . . . . 346                                                                      Suicide - Self Murder (1) .......................... JDS.. .....181
RESURRECTION                                                                                                                                                         Suicide - Self Murder (2) .......................... JDS.. .....202
    Resurrection of the Lord, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JDS . . . . . . . 315                                                                    SUNDAY EMPLOYMENT
RETURN OF CHRIST                                                                                                                                                     Courts Sanction Sunday Work Refusals . . . . . . JL . . . . . . . 185
    Our Hope for Our Savior's Return . . . . . . . . . . JAH . . . . . . . 151                                                                                     SYNODS
RFPA                                                                                                                                                                 Greetings from Measbro Dyke
    Secretary's Annual RFPA Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PK . . . . . . . . . 41                                                                                 Evangelical Church ................................... PR .......444
RICHES                                                                                                                                                               Greetings from Synod of EPC of
    Impossibility of a Rich Man                                                                                                                                            Australia ..................................................... cc.. .....445
          Entering the Kingdom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JDS
                                                                                                                         .           . . . . . . . 195               PRC Synod, 1990.......................................... DJE .......389
ROBERTS, ORAL                                                                                                                                                        Seminary and Synod ................................. RDD.......391
    Oral Roberts in Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . . . . . 62                                                         Synodical Decision on Crosses ...............HVM.. .....463
ROE V. WADE                                                                                                                                                          Synods and General Assemblies.. ...........RDD.. .......16
    Supreme Court Balks at Overruling                                                                                                                                Synods and General Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . . . . . 450
          Roe V. Wade ................................................. JL.........58                                                                              TASMANIA
SABBATH OBSERVANCE                                                                                                                                                   Voice from Tasmania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PWM . . . . . . . 442
    Courts Sanction Sunday Work Refusals.. ....JL...... .185                                                                                                       TERTULLIAN
SALVATION                                                                                                                                                            Tertullian - Theologian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH .,..... 225
    Holy Spirit - His Work in the                                                                                                                                  THANKSGIVING
          Economy of Salvation ............................. CJT...... .416                                                                                          Giving Thanks to God................................. JDS .,,.......75
SCHLISSEL, REV. STEVEN M.                                                                                                                                          THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL
    Reply to the Rev. Steve Schlissel................ DJE.......lOl                                                                                                  Reformed Theological School in the
    Rural, Isolationist, and Deformed PRC.. ..DJE.........29                                                                                                               Pacific Area ................................................ JM........446
SCHULLER, ROBERT                                                                                                                                                   TIME
    Appearences Can Deceive.. ...................... RDD.......398                                                                                                   Redeeming the Time ................................. AdH ........488
SEMINARY CONVOCATION                                                                                                                                               TONGUE SPEAKlNG
    Festive Convocation, A............................... DJE.. .......29                                                                                            Speaking in Tongues .................................... CH.......29 9
    Task of the PRC with Their Seminary ......DJE.........77                                                                                                       TRIBULATION
    Task of the PRC with Their                                                                                                                                       Great Persecution, The............................... BLG .......301
          Seminary (2) ............................................. DJE.. .... .173                                                                                 Illusory Hope of the Rapture.. ................. DHK .......155
    Task of the PRC with Their                                                                                                                                     TRUTH
          Seminary  (3) ............................................. DJE.......197                                                                                  Sign of Divorcing the Truth, The..............BLG.. .... .210
SEX EDUCATION                                                                                                                                                      WIVES
    Could Sodom and Gomorrah Have                                                                                                                                    Husbands, Love Your Wives.. ..................... KK.......139
          Been Worse7............................................RDD.. .......84                                                                                     Reformed Family: Wife (1) ...................... MBL.........64
SINGAFORE                                                                                                                                                            Reformed Wife: Mother (1)...................... MBL.. .....326
    News From Singapore .............................. RDD.......249                                                                                                 Reformed Wife: Mother (2)...................... MBL.. .....469
    Return Visit to Singapore ......................... AdH.. .....136                                                                                               Virtuous Woman...a Crown to Her
SISTER-CHURCH CONFERENCE                                                                                                                                                   Husband .................................................. MBL.......179
    Four Significant Conferences.. .................RDD.......184                                                                                                  WOMEN IN OFFICE
    Holy Spirit and Missions.......................... RDD.......420                                                                                                 Headship Report of the CRC ................... RDD.. .....184
    International Reformed Conference.. ........HH.......395

502 / The  Standard Bearer / September 15,199O


                                         News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                      Our Churches

CALLS                                    ning in late July, the group began a      highlight of the summer and a ma-
  From the trio of Revs. R. Cam-         study on the doctrine of the              jor event in our lives. Hopefully
menga, T. Miersma, and R. Moore,         covenant following Prof. H.               these fond memories we share of
the congregation of the Randolph         Hanko's book,  The Eve&sting              conventions past will be shared by
PRC in Randolph, WI has extended         Covenant of Grace.                        our children as well. This year's
a call to Rev. T. Miersma, presently       All the young people and young          convention was held in Redlands,
serving in the First PRC in Edmon-       adults of South Holland were in-          CA, August 6-10. Their theme was
ton, AB, Canada.                         vited to a volleyball/swim outing.        "Love, the Bond of Perfection."
MISSION  ACMTIES                         Volleyball was scheduled to be               For the young people from all of
  The Consistory of the Kalamazoo        played at the PR Christian School,        our churches who attended, we
PRC in Kalamazoo, MI has formed          followed by swimming at a nearby          hope that it was an important mile-
a trio from which their congrega-        swim club.                                stone in their young lives. It is cer-
tion will call a missionary to serve       The Consistory of the Bethel            tainly not easy for them to be spiri2
on the mission field in Venice, FL.      PRC in Elk Grove Village, IL in-          tual and godly in the world today.
This trio consists of the Revs. C.       formed their congregation that they       By God's grace this event helped
Haak, S. Key, and R. Dykstra.            had received a letter of thanks from      them take a step in that direction.
CONGREGATIONAL                           radio station WJCH-FM for allow-             Parting thought from the bulletin
HIGHLIGHTS                               ing their pastor, Rev. R. VanOver-        of the Hope PRC in Grand Rapids,
  The Evangelism Society of the          loop, to record five "Meditations at      MI: "It is a trick of Satan to cause
Byron Center PRC in Byron Center,        Midday" which were aired the first        us to paint the sins of others in the
MI asked Rev. Bruinsma, pastor in        week of July.                             darkest colours and to dismiss our
the First PRC in Holland, MI to          DENChiINATIONAL                           own sins as little faults, failings,
lead an "Evangelism Workshop"            ACTIVITIES                                and weaknesses. But our sins have
on "Personal Witnessing." This             For many of us who have grown           crucified Christ and merit hell also.
workshop was scheduled to be             up in the PR denomination, the            It is of our sins that we must re-
held on two consecutive Thurs-           month of August meant Young               pent, not the sins of others." 0
days: August 23 and 30 at Byron          People's Convention. It was the                     Dairy Readings from J.C. l$yIe
Center Church.
  On Saturday, July 7, the Evange-
lism Committee of the South Hol-
land PRC in South Holland, IL in-
vited members of their congrega-                                God's Grace Sufficient
tion to help them hand out flyers in
the Ft. Wayne area to advertise          Thy grace, 0 God! is sufficient          Thy grace, 0 God! is sufficient
their preaching services and Bible         To carry us through the dark day.        Bravely to weather the storm.
Study. You also might be interested      Thy face, 0 Lord! looking on us          And though the dark clouds gather
to know that this Bible Study meets        Will drive all the storm clouds              round us;
on Tuesday nights, and that, begin-              away.                               We'll see the bright rays of the
                                         Thy grace, with our trust in Thy                  mom.
                                              promise,                            Though death casts its shadows
                                           Will make our load easy to bear.             about us,
                                         Then smile on us, Lord! in Thy              And threats our frail bark to
                                              mercy                                        destroy,
                                           That ;:a? great blessings may          Our eyes will look steadily upward
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protes-                                                And beam with thy heavenly joy.
tant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,
Michigan.                                                                                            - SB, September I,7931

                                                                                 September 15,199O  /The Standard Bearer / 503


                                                                                                          SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                          Postage Paid at
                                                                                                          Grand Rapids,  h/lichigan





WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   On October 1,1990, the Lord                     The Men's Society of the Doon              On September 18,1990, the
willing, our parents, MR. and MRS.               Protestant Reformed Church                Lord willing, our dear parents and
ALVIN RAU, will celebrate their                  wishes to `extend sincere sympathy        grandparents, MR. and MRS.
40th wedding anniversary. We,                    to brother Joawn VanOort and fam-         BERT MARING, will celebrate their
their children and grandchildren,                ily in the loss of his mother, MRS.       45th wedding anniversary. We are
are thankful to our Heavenly Father              MARRIETTA VAN OORT, on                    grateful to them for their covenantal
for the years they have had to-                  August 11,199O.                           instruction and above all to our
gether, and for their showing us by                 "The Lord will give strength unto      faithful Heavenly Father for His gift
instruction and example how to                   his people, the Lord will bless his       of God-fearing parents.
honor God's ways. It is our prayer               people with peace" (Ps. 29:ll).              Grace and truth shall mark the
that they may continue to experi-                              David Wiersma, Secretary         way
ence God's blessing and guidance                                                             Where the Lord His own will
in the years to come.                            ADVANCE NOTICE                                 lead,
   `The Lord shall bless thee out of               The Reformed Free Publishing               If His word they still obey
Zion: and thou shalt see the good                Association announces the publica-          And His testimonies heedl.
of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.           tion of Studies in Philippians by           They that fear and love thle Lord
Yea, thou shalt see thy children's               Rev. Carl Haak. This attractive              Shall Jehovah's friendship know;
children, and peace upon Israel"                 workbook-type study guide will be            He will gracG to them accord,
g-$8;b5i;gu                                      available the last week in Septem-          And His faithful covenant show.
                                                 ber, in time for the society season.                                Psalteu  68:1,4
   Carol, Cheryl, Kimberly, Rodney               The cost is $3.95 plus $1 .OO             Gene and Ruth Ann DeBoer
Rev. and Pat Koole                               postage. To order or for quantity            Monica, Michael, Michelle, Marc,
  Justin, Bruce, Catherine, Audra                discount information for study                 Marie, and Matthew
Dave and Mary Kregel                             groups, contact Eunice Kuiper at:         Two children in glory - She@&  Bob
   Lisa, Brent, Jason, Ryan, Emily                               RFPA                               Grandville Protestant Reformed Church
Dave and Norma Rau
   Dawn, Kevin, Lydia                                         P.O. Box 2006                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
Mike and Elaine Rau                                   Grand Rapids, MI 49501                 The Men's Society of the Doon
   Nathan, Benjamin                                Watch for another new RFPA              Protestant Reformed Church ex-
                Hope Church, Walker, Michigan    publication, The Doctrine of Scrip-
                                                 ture by Homer C. Hoeksema, in Oc-         tends heartfelt sympathy to our
RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                           tober. Book Club members will re-         President and fellow member,
  The Consistory and congregation                                                          Chester Hunter, Jr. in the loss of his
                                                 ceive these publications automati-
of the Protestant Reformed Church                                                          father-in-law on July 28, 1990.
                                                 cally at 30% off.
of South Holland express their                                                                "Surely goodness and mercy
Christian sympathy to Mrs. Hilda                 NOTICE!!!                                 shall follow me all the days of my
Zandstra and family in the death of                The annual meeting of the East-         life: and I will dwell in the house of
their husband, father, grandfather,              ern League of Men's and Ladies'           the Lord forever" (Ps. 23:6).
and brother, MR. HENRY ZAND-                     Societies will be held, the Lord will-                  David Wiersma. Secretary
STRA, SR, on July 21, 1990.                      ing, on Tuesday, September 18,
   May they continue to experience               1990, at 8:00 PM, in Southeast
the Lord's sustaining grace and the              Protestant Reformed Church. Rev.
comfort of His Word in Psalm 23:1,               Steven R. Key will treat the subject
4: `The Lord is my shepherd; I                   of "The Place of the Deaconesses
shall not want. Yea, though I walk               in the Church." All members and           Nought, nought I count as  pleasure,
through the valley of the shadow of              others interested in this topic are         Compared, 0 Christ, with Thee;
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art         urged to attend.                          Thy sorrow without measure
with me; thy rod and thy staff they                      Dorothy Decker, Vice-secretary      Earned peace and joy for me.
comfort me."                                                                               I love to own, Lord Jesus,
                                                                                             Thy claims o'er me and mine;
             Rev. C. Tetpstra, President                                                   Bought with Thy blood most pirecious,
                  Gil F. VanBaren,  Clerk                                                    Whose can I be but Thine?
                                                                                                                - SB, March 252932


504 I The Standard Bearer / September 15,199O


