     A Reformed
     Semi-Monthly
     Magzine





~
i  Vol.  67,  NO.  8
     January 15,1991


Contents                                                    January 15, I991                       T,.HF
                                                                                                        .-
                                                                                            I STANDARD
Meditation - Rev. James D. Slopsema
   PURSUING RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO LIFE                                                  171    ~
                                                                                              BELZRER
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                           ISSN 0362-4692
   THE APPROACH TO COVENANT CHILDREN (6)                                             173    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                              and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                              lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
In His Fear - Rev. Arie den/-/artog                                                           at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
   SPIRITUAL DECLINE                                                                 175     POSTMASTER:  Send address changes to The
                                                                                             Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids,  Ml
                                                                                             49516.
Guest Article - Rev. Wilbur G. Bruinsma                                                      EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
   GOD'S COVENANT AND MISSIONS                                                       177     Editor: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
                                                                                             Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                             Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
Contribution - Mr. Don Doezema                                                               DEPARTMENT EDITORS
   NEWS FROM THE DOMESTIC MISSION COMMITTEE                                          179     Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                             Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                             Critters. Rev. Carl  Haak.  Prof. Herman  Hanko.
Search the Scriptures - Rev. Gise J. VanBaren                                                Rev. John  Heys,  Rev. Marvin Kamps, Rev. Kenneth
                                                                                             Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Rev. Dale  Kuiper,  Mr.
   SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION TO THE BELOVED                                               181     James Lanting, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.
                                                                                             Marybeth  Lubbers, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.
Takina Heed to the Doctrine - Rev. Mhvin KamDs                                               Charles Terpstra, Rev.  Cise  VanBaren.  Rev. Ronald
                                                                                             VanOverloop,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard
   THk BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD: PERSPlCUliY                                              183     Woudenberg
                                                                                             EDITORIAL OFFICE             CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
                                                                                             The Standard Bearer          Mr. Ben Wigger
ALL AROUND US - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                               186     4949  Ivanrest               6597  - 40th Ave.
                                                                                             Crandville,  Ml 49418        Hudsonville,   h4l 49426
Decency and Order - Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga                                                  EDITORIAL POLICY
                                                                                             Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
   APPOINTMENT OF DEACONS                                                            187     of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
                                                                                             terest from our readers and questions for The
                                                                                             Reader Asks Department are welcome. Contribu-
BOOK REVIEWS                                                                         190     tions will be limited to approximately  300 words
                                                                                             and must be neatly written or typewritten. and
NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES -Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                                  must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
                                                                                             the fifteenth of the month. All communications
                                                                                             relative to the contents should be sent to the
                                                                                             editorial office.
                                                                                             REPRINT POLICY
In This issue...                                                                             Permission is hereby granted for the reprinting of
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                                                                                             provided: a) that such reprinted articles are repro-
                                                                                             duced in full;  b) that proper acknowledgement is
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accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless wishes, raising us but a little         such reprint appears is sent to our editorial office.
                                                                                             BUSINESS OFFICE          NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
above a state of indifference: God, in His Word, greatly insists upon it, that we            The Standard Bearer The Standard Bearer
be in good earnest, `fervent in spirit,' and our hearts vigorously engaged in reli-          Don Doezema              c/o Protestant Reformed
                                                                                             P.O. Box 6064               Church
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                                                                                             subscriber wishes the subscription to  continue
  Rev. denHartog,  in this issue, says much the same thing when he calls back-               without the formality of a renewal order, and he
sliding a "grievous and ugly thing." He pointedly reminds us too that God's                  will be billed for renewal. If you have a change of
promise that in Christ we are eternally secure does not exempt us from the possi-            address, please notify the Business Office as early
                                                                                             as possible in order to avoid the inconvenience of
bility of falling, of backsliding, of being lukewarm. Not, he continues, is spiritual        delayed delivery. include your Zip Code.
decline to be attributed to any deficiency in the grace of God, but to the presence          ADVERTISING POLICY
                                                                                             The  Standard Bearer  does not accept commercial
of the old man of sin in every child of God.                                                 advertising of any kind. Announcements of church
  Even in a David. Even therefore while one is able outwardly to cover a state               and school events, anniversaries,  obituari'es,  and
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How about us? How much vigor, how much fervor, is them, in our spiritual                     and should be accompanied by the $3.00 fee.
                                                                                             Deadline for announcements is the 1st and the
lives? Do we pursue righteousness, as we are admonished to do in Rev.                        15th of the month, previous to publication on the
Slopsema's "Meditation"? Are we running in the race? Are we striving for the                 15th or the 1st respectively.
                                                                                             BOUND VOLUMES
mastery? And do we do so, like Paul, by bringing all into subjection to Christ?              The Business Office will accept standing orders
  Or, will honest introspection reveal rather a state of spiritual lethargy? `We             for bound copies of the current volume; such
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are in a state of spiritual decline," writes Rev. denHartog,  "when . . ..`I For more,       tion of a volume.
read his article under  `31 His Fear" 17                                       - D.D.        16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and  105mm
                                                                                             microfiche, and article copies are available
                                                                                             through University Microfilms International.

170  / The Standard Bearer/January 151991


                                           Pursuing  -
                                           Righteousness
Meditation                                 Unto Life  s
Rev. James Slopsema


  As righteousness tendeth to                In which direction are you              strife between various classes in so-
life: so he that pursueth evil             headed?                                   ciety and among the nations. Wit-
                                                       Et****)**
pursueth it to his own death.                                                        ness all the suffering and misery
                                                                                     that results. All this stands as a
                     - Proverbs 9:ll         Righteousness and evil are con-
                                           trasted.                                  sure testimony of the evil in which
                                             The word "evil" is very descrip-        mankind lives.
                                           tive. It means to make a tumult. It         Over against this evil, this
  In which direction are you               describes evil as that which turns        proverb speaks of righteousness.
headed?                                    upside down the established order           If evil is a trampling underfoot
  There are only two possibilities.        of God in society.                        God's law, righteousness is the
You are either headed in the direc-          God has given us His law to reg-        keeping of God's law.
tion of life, or you are headed in the     ulate our lives both with respect to        The righteousness of which this
direction of death. A third possibil-      God and with respect to one an-           parable speaks certainly does not
ity there is not.                          other.                                    find its origins in mankind. Quite
  This becomes apparent from the             Most think that this law is too         obviously, mankind is not able of
proverb we consider in this medita-        narrow and restrictive. Most think        himself to live in righteousness.
tion.                                      that this law robs life of its joy,       Nor is he able to appear before God
  We find in this proverb an exam-         makes life dull and uninteresting.        in righteousness. Since the fall, he
ple of Hebrew parallelism. There             Nothing, however, could be fur-         has become prone to all evil.
are two phrases that run parallel to       ther from the truth. The law of             This righteousness finds its ori-
each other, the second phrase ex-          God is good. For when it is fol-          gin in God. It was conceived by
pressing the opposite of the first.        lowed, it so structures man's life        God in eternity. It was obtained by
To interpret such a parallelism we         that he is able to live in peace with     God for His people through the
must explain the first phrase in           God and his fellow man. Obedi-            death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
light of the second.                       ence to the law enables you to en-        It is freely given to His people
  But notice that the idea of direc-       joy a wonderful life with God.            through faith in Christ Jesus.
tion is very prevalent in this             Obedience to the law also affords           There are two aspects of this
proverb. It speaks of the fact that        great joy in your marriage, in your       righteousness: a legal aspect and a
righteousness tends to (literally, to-     home, in your church, and in many         spiritual aspect.
wards) life. In turn, he who pur-          other areas of your life.                    Viewed legally this righteous-
sues evil pursues it to (literally, to-       Evil is viewed as turning upside       ness places us in God's courtroom.
wards) his own death.                      down the order God has estab-             God is our Judge, who passes judg-
  Two directions there are: life or        lished for man in His law. It em-         ment on our lives every day. Dai:ly
death.                                     phasizes a trampling underfoot            we appear in His courtroom to hear
                                           God's law, so that life is thrown         His verdict. Were we to stand be-
                                           into chaos and confusion.                 fore God alone, God would declare
                                              To this evil, mankind is prone.        us guilty of violating His law. For
                                           In fact, man is capable of nothing        daily we sin. Sometimes we sin
                                           but this evil, unless he is born again    horribly. And God, the all-know-
                                           in Jesus Christ. Witness how many         ing One, sees it all. Hence, should
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope            marriages are ending-in divorce.          we come into God's courtroom
Protestant Rejkned  Church in              Witness all the broken homes and          alone, ,God's verdict would be,
Walker, Michigan.                          lives in our society. Witness all         guilty.

                                                                                     January 15,199l  I The Standard Bearer / I71


   But God has txovided a rieh-                 seen that, by trampling underfoot            We are called not to pursue evil.
teousness for I& people in J&us                 God's good commandments,                   We are warned by God to avoid
Christ. In Christ God has paid for              mankind brings chaos and confu-            that which is evil, to flee from it,
all their sins. He has also provided            sion to life. He destroys his mar-         and to keep ourselves as far away
for them in Christ a perfect obedi-             riage. He destroys his home. He            from it as possible.
ence. And when His people appear                brings trouble and sorrow upon               In spite of this warning, the
before Him clinging by faith to this            himself. This we must understand           world in which we live is pursuing
righteousness, God accounts the                 to be the judgment of God upon             evil with all its energy Thait is why
righteousness of Jesus Christ as                mankind for his great evil.                evil abounds in our society.
theirs, so that they appear righ-                 However, in life God holds back            Those that are pursuing evil will
teous before Him. And God also                  the full manifestation of His wrath        pursue it to their own death. Of
declares them to be such.                       upon mankind. In hell there is no          course! We have just seen that evil
   But there is also a spiritual as-            holding back. In hell God pours            tends towards death, results in
pect to this righteousness.                     out the fullness of His wrath so that      death. From this it only follows
   To be declared legally righteous             man knows nothing but God's                that those who pursue this evil
by God does not depend on our                   wrath for ever and ever. Hell is the       throughout life and turn no,t away
righteous living; neither does it              ultimate ruin of man. It is eternal         from it will pursue it all the way
change the way we live. Were God                death!                                     into hell.
simply to declare His people righ-                To this death all evil tends. That         Are you pursuing evil?
teous in Jesus Christ and do no                 simply means that evil leads you in          If you are, by all means repent.
more, they would still live in evil,            the direction of death. Evil eventu-       Turn from evil and pursue alfter
as the rest of mankind.                         ally results in death.                     righteousness.
   However, God will not allow                    In contrast to death there is life.        To pursue righteousness is to
this. All those whom He declares                  The life referred to in this para-       seek after the righteousness of God
righteous in Jesus Christ, God also             ble is eternal life. This life consists    in Jesus Christ, that you may obtain
changed spiritually so that they be-            in the glorious enjoyment of God's         it and live in it. One pursues the
gin to live righteously. What a glo-            friendship and fellowship in Jesus         righteousness of God when he
rious change this is! God so                    Christ. Many scoff at such an idea.        comes to God with his miserable
changes the lives of His own that               It has been mockingly called "pie in       sins, confesses them with godly
spiritually they become new men                 the sky." However, anyone who              sorrow, and seeks to be made right
and women. It is as though they                 has at all tasted God's friendship         with God on the basis of the perfect
have been born all over again.                  and lived in His fellowship knows          work of Jesus on the cross.
Whereas before they lived in evil,              the great joy it brings. The plea-           One pursues the righteou.sness
they now live in obedience to                   sures of this world pale in compari-       of God when he comes to God in
God's law.                                      son to it.                                 the hour of temptation, seeldng
  Yes, it is true that the transforma-            To this life all righteousness           God's help in Jesus' name to stand
tion is not complete in this life. The          tends. Simply put, this means that         against the wiles of the devil.
works of God to change the way                  the possession of the righteousness          One pursues the righteou.sness
His people live are not complete                of God in Jesus Christ will most as-       of God when he comes to God
until they reach heavenly glory.                suredly bring you into the enjoy-          daily seeking God's help fo:r Jesus'
There is still much in them that is             ment of eternal life. Appearing            sake to live in all godliness.
sinful. Yet they have been glori-               righteous before God in Jesus                Those who pursue after righ-
ously changed so that they begin to             Christ in God's courtroom gives            teousness shall find it. The rule of
live in obedience to all of God's               you the right to this life. Being          God is this: Seek and ye shall find.
commandments.                                   righteous in your living through           This applies also to the righteous-
  Such is the righteousness of                  the power of Jesus Christ brings           ness of God in Jesus Christ.
which this proverb speaks.                      you into the actual enjoyment of             And, having found the righ-
         **es***                                this life. As you live righteously in      teousness of God, we will taste the
  We find in this proverb a con-                the midst of the world, you begin          unspeakable joys of life. We will
trast also between life and death.              to enjoy the great blessings of            begin to enjoy that life now and
  Following the implications of the             God's friendship and fellowship.           enjoy it completely in heaven. 0
parallelism we find in this proverb,            One day you will enjoy these
we are taught that, whereas righ-               things completely and fully in
teousness tends to life, so does evil           heavenly glory.
tend to death.                                            ***x-x-**
  The death referred to here is eter-             He that pursues evil pursues it to
nal death, the death of hell. This              his own death.
death consists of suffering the                   To pursue evil is to delight in it,
wrath of God on account of sin.                 so that you follow after it, seek it
Man bears this wrath of God al-                 out, and indulge in it as much as
ready in this life. We have already             possible.

172 ! The Standard Bearer I January X5,1991


                                                                                                                                    -



                                                The Approach
                                                to Covenant
~
 Editorial                                      Children (6)

       The distinctive approach to              explodes the presumption that all          church presumes nothing when she
     covenant children taken by the             the natural children of believers are      baptizes a child. Rather, she takes
     Protestant Reformed does not in-           regenerated elect, "for they are not       God at His Word that He is the God
     volve us in "dormant regenera-             all Israel, which are of Israel" (Ram.     of believers' children. This is not
     tion" (cf. the editorial in the Jan-       96). We think it foolish to presume        presumption but faith.
     uary 1,199l issue of the Standard          what the Word of God declares to              To describe the covenant concep-
     Bearer).                                   be false. Third, and most impor-           tion of the PRC as "presupposed
       But is the view of the baptized          tantly in the covenant thinking of         regeneration" is a mistake. Not
     children that underlies this ap-           the PRC the basis of infant baptism        only does this ignore that, of all Re-
     proach in reality the notion of "pre-      is something altogether different          formed churches, the PRC insist
     sumptive regeneration"? This was           from the assumed regeneration of           that the grace of baptism is exclu-
     the question of Mr. Paul Wiersma           all the children. Presumptive re-          sively for the elect children, but ii:
     in a letter in the November 15,199O        generation makes the assumed re-           also overlooks the fact that for the
     issue of the SB. Dr. J. R. Beeke and       generation of all the children the ba-     PRC regeneration is not the basis of
     Elder J. W. Beeke of the Nether-           sis of infant baptism. For the PRC,        infant baptism.
     lands Reformed Congregations               however, the regeneration of the in-          Not "presupposed regenera-
     (NRC) charged that this is indeed          fants does not constitute the basis        tion," but "the believed covenant
     the covenant conception of the PRC         of their baptism. Although these           promise" describes the PR position.
     in a letter that appeared in the           Churches believe (not: presume)            Since the covenant promise flows,
     November 1,199O  issue of the SB:          that as a rule the Spirit of Christ re-    from and carries out the decree of
      The NRC view disagrees with both          generates the elect infants early in       election according to the apostle in
     presumptive and dormant regenera-          childhood, not even the regenera-          Romans 9:6-13, one might explain
     tional views which imply regarding         tion of elect infants constitutes the      the PR baptism of infants as "trust
     chiIdren us regenerate before fruits of    basis of infant baptism.                   in covenantal election." God has
     regeneration are eviaed.                     If we knew by special revelation         His eternal decree of election run in
       Presumptive regeneration is an           from God that none of the infants          the line of the generations of believ-
     aspect of the covenant conception          was regenerated at the time of bap-        ers.
     associated with the Dutch Re-              tism, we would still baptize our              It is because of the elect among;
     formed theologian, Abraham                 children. The basis of infant bap-         them that God has all the infants
     Kuyper. It holds that the ground or        tism would not have been de-               baptized. It is because of the elect
     basis of infant baptism is an as-          stroyed by this revelation.                among them that God has all the
     sumption made by the parents and             The basis of infant baptism is the       children reared in the truth. And it
     by the Reformed church, that all           covenant promise of God to be our          is election that determines the ap- -
     the natural children of believing          God not only personally but also in        preach that church and parents are
     parents  are regenerated.                  our generations. We baptize our            to take to their children in the rear-
       The PRC sharply repudiate pre-           babies because God includes our            ing of them.
     sumptive regeneration. First, living       children with us in the covenant of           The PRC have their eyes wide
     and acting on the basis of presump-        grace. The covenantal practice of          open to the teaching of the apostle
     tion are always dangerous, even in         infant baptism, essential to the Re-       in Romans 9:6ff. that the covenant
     everyday earthly life. The man             formed faith, does not, therefore,         promise does not extend to all the
     who presumes will end up with              rest on a dubious, indeed false, as-       natural children of believing par-
     egg on his face. To presume is to          sumption, but upon the sure                ents, but to some only. These
     assume something without solid             promise of God revealed in Holy            Churches know very well that the
     warrant. Second, Scripture itself          Scripture. A Protestant Reformed           sovereignty of God in salvation and

                                                                                           January 15,199l  I The Standard Bearer I 1173


damnation applies also to the phys-            weeds do not determine his activity            But this is quite different from
ical children of believing parents.            in the field, but the wheat. Much           asserting that  parents and church
In an age when even Reformed and               less does the farmer allow the ad-          may not view the children as saved
Presbyterian churches are offended             mitted presence of weeds to cause           children of God until they grow up
at the apostle's gospel that God               him to doubt that the wheat is truly         and have a conversion-experience.
hates certain children of believers            wheat and even to regard the                   As a Reformed minister and par-
and loves others before they are               wheat as weeds, until the wheat             ent, I have no interest whatever in
born, exclaiming, "Such a God is               proves differently.                         conversion as the basis for viewing
unrighteous," the PRC honor this                 Herman Hoeksema called this               baptized children as God's dear
sovereign God, submitting to the               the "organic idea" of the covenant.         children, loved of Him from. eter-
apostle's `Nay but, 0 man, who art             Believers and their true, spiritual         nity, redeemed by Jesus, and
thou that repliest against God?"               children form the living body of the        promised the Holy Spirit, th.e Au-
(Rom. 9:20). Of all the errors to              covenant people of God. In the              thor of faith. None!
which the PRC may be prone, this               sphere of the covenant as the                  As a Reformed minister and par-
surely is not one of them that they            covenant takes form historically are        ent, I oppose a mystical conversion-
presume that all the children of be-           also to be found adult hypocrites           experience as the basis of my and
lievers are regenerate.                        and the reprobate, carnal seed of           their own viewing of the children
   But the presence of unconverted             believing parents. Their presence is        as saved children. Strongly!
reprobate among our children does              acknowledged and dealt with. But               God has made a promise.
not rule out our viewing and ap-               the covenantal election of God                 It is the promise of covenantal
proaching our children as elect, re-           "calls the shots."                          friendship with IIimseIf  through
generated children in our rearing of             Such an approach blesses and              Christ in the Spirit-real, spiritual,
them. For the approach is not de-              comforts the elect, regenerated chil-       essential, living friendship, which
termined by the carnal seed mixed              dren. This is the main purpose of           is eternal life.
in among the children, but by the              the covenant Christ: "Feed my                  It comes to me and my wife now
godly seed according to election.              lambs" (John 21:15).                        as believers.
   Approaching the baptized chil-                For the covenant children it is              God makes it also to our chil-
dren as elect, regenerated children            certainly true, as it is true for every     dren.
is not a presumption that must                 elect believer, that they attain as-           On this basis we approach them
function as the basis of their bap-            surance of their election by observ-        as God's children in our rearing.
tism, but the manner of rearing                ing in themselves the fruits of elec-          This is creedally Reformed.
them that arises from faith in the             tion, chief among which is true                This is biblical.
covenant promise.                              faith in Christ (Canons, I/12). This           This is covenantal.  q          - DJE
   This is the approach that office-           is only to say that one's assurance
bearers take toward the congrega-              of salvation is by faith alone in
tion. Although Reformed office-                Christ as promised in the Word.
bearers know that hypocrites are               We teach our children this.
invariably mixed with believers
and their children, they view the
congregation as the elect, believing,
confessing church of Christ. The                                                    Comfort
minister addresses the church, not
with a cold, "congregation," or
with a secular, "dear friends," or             Sometimes a light surprises                It can bring with it nothing,
even with an analytical, `beloved                The Christian while he sings;              But He will bear us through;
saints and cursed sinners," but                It is the Lord who rises                   Who gives the lilies clothing,
with the warm, Christian, believ-                With healing in His wings:                 Will clothe His people too:
ing, `beloved congregation in the              When comforts are declining,               Beneath the spreading heavens,
Lord Jesus Christ." This is the bib-             He grants the soul again                   No creature but is fed;
lical approach. So Paul addressed              A season of clear shining,                 And He who feeds the ravens
the congregations (cf. I Cor. 1:2ff.l.           To cheer it after rain.                    Will give His children bread
  This is true to everyday life,
which is a parable of heavenly life.           In holy contemplation,                     Though vine nor fig-tree neither,
The farmer calls his field of ripen-             We sweetly then pursue                     Their wonted fruit should bear,
ing grain and rank weeds, "my                  The theme of God's salvation,              Though all the fields should .wither,
wheatfield." Even if there are more              And find it ever new:                      Nor flocks nor herds be there:
weeds than grain, he calls it the              Set free from present sorrow,              Yet God the same abiding,
wheatfield. This is his view of it.              We cheerfully can say,                     His praise shall tune my voice,
And this determines his approach               Let the unknown tomorrow                   For while in Him confiding,
to the field in fertilizing, cultivat-           Bring with it what it may.                 I cannot but rejoice.
ing, irrigating, and harvesting. The                                                                           - SB, August 15,1932

174 / The Standard Bearer I January 15,1991


In His Fear                                Spiritual  Declink
Rev. Arie denHartog


  The subject we wish to address is        few today are spiritually minded         tual decline is possible for the child
personal spiritual decline in the life     enough to be interested in such          of God, not because of any weak-
of the child of God. Our focus is          subjects. The true child of God,         ness on the part of the grace of
not on the apostasy that we see to-        however, is one who daily exam-          God, but because of the continuing
day in so many churches and in the         ines his own spiritual life.             presence of the old man of sin in
lives of many of those who call              Spiritual decline is a real possi-     the child of God and because of the
themselves Christians. This is in it-      bility and we ought to be con-           weakness of our faith. Because of
self a very grievous thing and             stantly on our guard against it.         our sinfulness the Lord sometimes
ought to be the cause of greatest          When we say this we do not in any        withdraws in a measure His grace
concern for every true child of God.       way deny the blessed and wonder-         and Holy Spirit from us, so that we
It ought always to cause the child         ful truth of the preservation of the     suffer such spiritual decline, and in
of God to walk in the fear of the          saints. God will never allow His         this deep way learn our absolute
Lord, being very careful lest he           saints to fall from His grace. Not       dependency on the Lord.
himself also fall. But even before         one of God's elect shall ever perish.       Backsliding is a grievous and
we show concern about the apos-            They are in the hands of the Good        ugly thing. When the Christian
tasy that we see around us we              Shepherd, and no man can pluck           backslides he loses interest in God
ought to be concerned about the            them out of those almighty hands.        and in His blessed Son, Jesus
spiritual decline in our own lives,        The child of God is born again with      Christ. He no longer makes God.
lest we have great concern about           an incorruptible life that cannot        the supreme object of his affection
the weeds in another garden while          die. God's covenant with His peo-        and the reason for all his glorying.
our own garden is overgrown. Our           ple is absolutely sure. The work of      When the child of God backslides
concern must be with the real and          Christ on their behalf is a perfect      he forgets the blessedness of his
constant danger of spiritual decline       work, a work which He Himself            salvation. His heart has grown
with which every believer is faced         will surely bring to perfection. The     cold to the amazing wonder of the
in his or her Christian life.              intercession of Christ for His own       love of God toward him according
  This decline is often called             cannot fail. Our Lord gives us a         to which he has been adopted as
"backsliding." The greatest of the         beautiful example of this in             His child and made heir of all the
saints of God have experienced pe-         connection with His prediction of        spiritual blessings of God's house
riods of spiritual decline in their        the fall of Peter. After He warned       and of eternal life. He has little re-
lives. This does not mean however          Peter that Satan desired to have         gard anymore for the cross of the
that we ought to dismiss this sub-         him and sift him as wheat, Jesus         Lord Jesus Christ and the great
ject lightly, imagining that it is         gave the sure and blessed promise:       price that the Lord paid in His suf-
something quite natural and to be          "But I have prayed for thee, that        fering anguish through the sacrifice
expected in the so-called normal           thy faith fail not" (Luke 22~32).        of His own body to pay for the re-
Christian life. Decline in our own           However, when God in His               demption of His own. Let no child
lives ought to be a matter of great-       Word promises to preserve His            of God say that this is a small thing.
est concern. The Christian cannot          saints, He does not thereby promise         Spiritual decline takes place in
stand still in his life. He either pro-    always to keep them from falling.        varying degrees. It can happen
gresses or declines. It is true that       In this too the Lord's sovereign         that a Christian for a time in his life
                                           purpose and wisdom in our salva-         entirely departs from the Lord and
                                           tion is fulfilled. Nevertheless, the     leads a grossly sinful life. So
                                           falls of the saints of God can be        dreadful is our sinful nature, eve:n
                                           very grievous and the conse-             after we have been regenerated,
                                           quences of these falls most dread-       that this is possible. During this
                                           ful. The Canons of Dordt speak of        time the life of such a child of God
                                           this matter very vividly in the Fifth    may be indistinguishable from the
                                           Head of Doctrine, articles 4 and 5.      life of a worldly and ungodly man.
Rev. denHarfog  is pastor of Hope          In order to save space I will ask the    It may seem, both to this child of
Profesfanf Refiwtned  Church in            reader himself to look up and read       God himself and to those who ob
Redlands,  California.                     these articles in the Canons. Spiri-     serve him, that he no longer is or

                                                                                    January  15,199l  I The Standard Bearer I 175


ever was a true child of God, until            does not delight in mere outward           and eager in their service of the
the Lord by His sovereign grace                service, when man's heart is far           Lord. Yet the members of this
and faithfulness renews such a one             from the Lord. The backslider will         church were in a state of decline.
to repentance. Often, however, de-             often try to substitute ceremony           All spiritual decline is essentially a
cline in the Christian's life is less          and ritual and the giving of gifts         decline in love for the Lord. The
drastic than that, though still very           for the true, loving worship of God,       Lord commands us to live out of
serious. The devil, in seeking to              thereby seeking to appease an ac-          the principle of love. He Himself
lead God's children away from the              cusing conscience, or to appear pi-        has placed the principle of that love
Lord, often does that little by little,        ous before his fellow man. In the          in our hearts through the working
sometimes in an almost impercepti-             book of Isaiah, God says concem-           of the Holy Spirit. We are to love
ble way. It is possible for the Chris-         ing such worship, even though it           the Lord with all our heart and soul
tian to be in a state of spiritual de-         may be formally correct, this:             and strength and mind. We are al-
cline even though outwardly he                 "Away with it." Such a person              ways to abound in that love and
seems still to be living the life of a         may still hold to an outward pro-          never to allow it to diminishi. Love
Christian. He may still be faithful            fession of faith and seem to be or-        for God must be the motive out of
in his church attendance and regu-             thodox in his doctrine. He may             which we perform all our works
lar in his outward acts of worship             even be able to carry on a great de-       before the Lord. In that love we
and devotion. Spiritual decline be-            bate on theological questions and          dwell in the commrmion and fel-
gins with decline of the heart.                vehemently argue for sound doc-            lowship of God and delight to do
When such decline is allowed to                trine, but the Lord is not pleased         His commandments. When that
continue it will soon also appear in           with him. Do you recognize your-           love diminishes we begin to de-
the outward life.                              self in all of this?                       cline. The Lord had to warn the
   We are in a state of spiritual de-            The Christian in a state of spiri-       church of Ephesus to remember
cline when the Christian life be-              tual decline is vulnerable to the          from whence she had fallen and to
comes dull and dry. We are in. a               temptations of the devil. The clas-        repent. So serious was the state she
state of decline when we have lost             sic biblical example of this is that of    was in that if she did not repent the
our zeal and devotion to the Lord.             David. It was when he was in a             Lord would take the candlestick
Prayer seems cold and unanswered               low spiritual state that he was            away from this church.
and little more than the repetition            tempted by the devil to commit the           Spiritual decline is something so
of stock phrases. There is little in-          awful sins of adultery and murder.         serious that it must be repented of
terest in the study of the Word and            That example ought to be a very se-        before we fall into great sin. In or-
little desire to speak of the truths of        rious warning to all of us. How se-        der to repent from that sin we need
God's Word and of the blessings of             rious it is to be in such a state!         to know the causes of our decline.
salvation with others. The Chris-                When a Christian continues to            We shall consider some of these in
tian in such a state finds the com-            live in such a state of spiritual de-      our next article. Above all we need
mandments of the Lord grievous                 clension, this will have a serious ef-     to know that God alone by His
and burdensome. He does not seri-              fect on his family. The next genera-       Holy Spirit is able to restore us
ously and earnestly apply himself              tion might depart from the Lord al-        from such a spiritual state. I7
any longer to keeping the com-                 together because they have not
mandments of the Lord. Slowly at               been nurtured in a spiritually
first he begins to make small com-             healthy home.                                       CONSECRATION
promises in his life. What he once               We have an example of the spiri-         Humbly, Lord, I come to thee,
condemned on the basis of God's                tual decline of a whole church             Hoping thou wilt hear my plea.
Word he now justifies. He loses the            among the seven churches ad-               This, 0 God, I ask thee now,
consciousness of the seriousness of            dressed by the Lord in the book of         As before thy throne I bow:
sin. He murmurs and complains                  Revelation. The church of Ephesus          That my life may truly be
about the hardships and trials in              was from many points of view a             Less for self and more for thee;
his life, unable to discern the hand           commendable church. The Lord               That I might thy grace make known
of God and the goodness of God in              commends her for her works, her            Thinking, God, of thee alone;
them. He no longer enjoys the fel-             labor and patience, and even her           Live for thee and only thee-
lowship of God's people. He can-               steadfastness. This church must            This, 0 Lord, my humble plea.
not bear with the weaknesses of his            have been doctrinally strong and                       -S.B., October 15,, 1932
fellow saints, and he becomes criti-           faithful in exercising Christian dis-
cal and judgmental of their every              cipline, if we understand correctly
fault.                                         what the Lord has to say about her.
  This is a sad state to be in. The            Yet the Lord had to rebuke her be-
Lord is grieved by those of His                cause she had lost her first love.
children who are in such a condi-              Apparently this spiritual decline
tion. Their worship and service of             came to a church made up of mem-
Him, if there is any such at all, is           bers who were recent converts once
unpleasant to the Lord. The Lord               zealous for the faith of the Gospel

176  / The Standard Bearer/January  15,199l


                                           God's Covenant
Guest Article                              and Missions
Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma


  There is a golden link between            and we preach it to those who are         in sins and trespasses and in dire
God's everlasting covenant of grace         wayward. Furthermore, this call-          need of salvation. As children of
and mission work. So much so,               ing to preach the Gospel to all na-       God we are deeply aware of this
that it is hard to conceive of any          tions is not merely a labor which a       wretched state which was  once
proper mission work being carried           few men perform for the church in         ours.
on without a deep appreciation of           a prescribed way. It is a calling that       But we are also gratefully aware
the truth of God's covenant with            flows out of the very heart and soul      that God in His grace and accord-
His people in Christ.                       of the church and all its members.        ing to His divine decree of election
   Consider God's covenant: it is             And it is in all this that we find      did not leave us to die in our sin.
His everlasting bond of friendship         the inseparable connection between         While we were yet enemies lost in
and fellowship with His chosen              God's covenant and the labor of           the pollution of sin, God sent forth
people in Christ. It is rooted in the       missions.                                 His Son who died to deliver us
life of fellowship God has within             The truth of God's covenant is,         from sin and death. We were, as a
Himself as the triune God; it is de-        first of all, the impetus in missions.    result of His work on the cross,
creed from eternity in God's                It gives the church and her mem-          freed from our guilt and delivered
sovereign election; and it is estab-        bers the incentive and the drive to       from the corruption of sin. By
lished throughout history with be-          preach the Gospel to others. It gen-      means of this great deliverance
lievers and their seed. Consider            erates within the hearts of all God's     Christ has reconciled us to God.
also that this covenant of God is           people a sincere desire to see others     The offense of our sin is removed:,
universal in its scope, that is to say,     brought to faith and repentance.          and God no longer will deal witht
God establishes it with His elect           How so? The truth of God's                us in His wrath but now has ac-
people out of every nation, race,           covenant is not simply a a0cfrid          cepted us into His favor and fel-
and language in this world; and             distinctive which we as Reformed          lowship. Not only has God made
that where God does this His                believers maintain. It is Zife to us!     us His friends, but He has gone so
church is to be found in this world.        We have experienced in our own            far as to adopt us as His very own
  Now consider our calling in mis-          lives what it means to be taken           children! We belong to God's fam-
sion work: to go out into this              from the corruption and guilt of sin      ily! This is His covenant with us.
world and preach the Gospel to ev-          and incorporated into the very            And more, He promises us that this
ery creature. Without hesitation or         household and family of God!              covenant He will carry on in our
discrimination we preach wherever           Prior to our regeneration we were         generations, with our children and
God in His good pleasure leads              those who were the enemies of             our children's children. That is for
and directs us. We preach in sea-           God. Ezekiel tells us that we were        us a source of great comfort and
son and out of season to those who          polluted in our own blood, naked          joy! In humble gratitude we give
will hear the Gospel and even to            and bare. We were by nature the           praise to God for His unchangeable
those who will not. We preach it at         children of wrath even as others.         love toward us who are in Christ
home and abroad; we preach it to -          We were without hope and without          Jesus.
the heathen and the unchurched;             God in this world, being alienated           In that same heartfelt gratitude,
                                            from the household of God and             however, we also are moved to
                                            strangers from the covenants of           consider the sinful condition of oth-
                                            promise. We were destitute, lost,         ers who have not been brought to
                                            and blinded in unbelief. And al-          faith and repentance. We are
                                            though many of us were regener-           moved by compassion because we
                                            ated before we actually were able         know what a wretched state it is in
                                            to walk in disobedience, fulfilling       which they live. We know, of
Rev. Bruinsma  is pas for of First          the desires of the flesh and of the       course, that God has not chosen the
Protestant Reformed Church in Hol-          mind, nevertheless we also were           vast majority of the men and
land, Michigan.                             those who in principle were dead          women of this world. We know

                                                                                      January 15,199l  I The Standard Bearer I If7


that God has justly condemned                  are of no value, or of lesser value        in this way the truth of God's
many according to His eternal de-              than he. He will lose his listeners if     covenant becomes the content of
cree of reprobation. But this does             he does this. The missionary must          our mission labors.
not give us reason to shun every-              come to those who will listen with           Finally, the covenant also is for
one and to look down our noses on              a message that places him on the           us the goal of all our mission
everyone who is not a member of                same level with them. The truth of         labors. We are children of our heav-
our church. On the contrary, we do             God's covenant provides him with           enly Father. Together we with all
not know who "out there" is elect              that message. There is one thing           of God's elect belong to God's spir-
or reprobate. This judgment God                the missionary knows that he               itual family. We are brothers and
alone makes. Therefore it is our               shares in common with those who            sisters within the same household.
sincere desire to preach the Gospel            listen: he is a sinner fallen in Adam      And we are all joint heirs together
to as many as the Lord places in               and liable to punishment. If once          with Christ to the heavenly king-
our paths. We are told that the                he can, by the work of the Spirit in       dom. It is God's purpose to bring
preaching of the Gospel is the                 the hearts of his hearers, "con-           all of His children to dwell u.nder
power of God unto salvation, and               vince" them of this, then he can           the one roof of His heavenly man-
we are ready and willing to use this           proceed to lay before them the             sion. There each of us has his own
powerful means whenever and                    blessed truth of deliverance in            individual room in Father's `house.
wherever the Lord leads us. By                 Christ. And more, he can tell those        Certainly therefore, there is :no
means of the preaching of the                  who hear him of the blessed privi-         greater goal or desire that we can
Gospel, by means of mission work,              leges which belong to those who            have than by the preaching of the
God uses us, His church to call sin-           are adopted members of God's               Gospel to call all of God's people
ners out of the darkness of sin and            household! In this way the                 home. Our family and home is in-
into His covenant fellowship!                  covenant becomes the content of            complete if we are missing just one
What greater desire is there, then,            the mission message.                       of our fellow saints. It is our goal
for us who already bask in the fa-               In the second place, the truth of        therefore to gather into the fold of
vor and fellowship of God, than to             God's covenant also becomes a              Christ His sheep wherever they
see others of God's chosen brought             gauge which the missionary uses to         may be found in this world. In this
into this same covenant fellowship             perform his mission labors. When           way Christ hastens the day of His
of our God.                                    the missionary comes to a group of         coming, and brings about the final
   And since this is the desire of ev-         people on the mission field he has         realization of God's covenant in
ery child of God, the work of mis-             to gauge his preaching by their            heaven.
sions flows out of the very heart              level of knowledge and their needs.          Often the accusation has been
and soul of the church. There is a             The truth of God's covenant is an          leveled against those of Refcmned
longing on the part of every mem-              aid in making this determination.          persuasion that the maintenance of
ber of the church to see all of God's          For example, perhaps the mission-          the truth of God's covenant estab-
elect who have not yet been regen-             ary is called to preach the Gospel to      lished in the line of generations sti-
erated brought to repentance and               those who have never as yet heard          fles mission work. Such a narrow
faith. So much do we appreciate                it. The question is: where does he         conception of God's covenant, it is
what God has done for us.                      start? At what level? More than            claimed, will only serve to counter-
   The truth of God's covenant also            likely these heathen among whom            act the fervent desire of the church
becomes the content of our mission             he labors do not know the first            to preach the gospel to those out-
labors. There are two points to                thing about a covenant home and            side the sphere of that covenant.
consider in this respect.       '              family since they have never come          This accusation is unfounded and
   First of all, the truth of God's            under the influence of the Gospel.         false. The question rather ought to
covenant must be the content of                Then that missionary, while preach-        be asked: how can one perform
our preaching on the mission field.            ing the Gospel, must focus his at-         mission work without this solid,
As we have already noticed, the                tention on the practical matter of         comforting, and encouraging truth
truth of the covenant is the Gospel            God's covenant established in the          of God's holy Word? 0
- sin, salvation, God's fellowship.            line of generations - and that by
God's covenant with His people in              means of a good, biblical, Christian
Christ therefore must be the mes-              family.
sage we bring. This in a very real               On the other hand, perhaps the
sense provides the missionary with             missionary is called to preach to a
his point of contact. When he is on            nucleus of people who have heard
the mission field (especially among            the Gospel but in an Arminian con-
the heathen) the missionary is                 text. Then, having a foundation on
acutely aware of the need to estab-            which to work, he can point out to
lish a point of common ground                  his hearers that God's covenant is
with those to whom he preaches.                particular, that it is established only
He cannot come to others in pride              with God's elect who are scattered
and look down on them as if they               over the whole earth. So it is that

178 I The Standard Bearer I January 15,199l


                                          News From
                                          the Domestic
Contribution                              Mission Committee
ML Don Doezema


  To the Domestic Mission Com-            Lord is pleased to provide a man          faithful in their own congregations;
mittee is entrusted the task of im-       for full-time labor in the field. Es-     and the three who were given by
plementing the decisions of the           pecially perhaps is that the case in      Rev. Bruinsma a pulpit-supply
Synod of the PRC relative to the          Jamaica, for which field Synod ap-        schedule for the vacant Water-
labors of this denomination in three      proved the sending of a minister          works Church were still, after a
declared fields (Florida, Jamaica,        and an elder or ex-elder co-laborer,      year and a half, adhering to that
Northern Ireland), and of exploring       for four-week periods, twice a year,      schedule. Membership in the con-
opportunities in other "domestic"         for the purpose of giving instruc-        gregations was steady. And the
areas as they are presented to us by      tion to leaders and potential lead-       good spirit which prevailed at a
the King of the church. In view of        ers in the Jamaican Protestant Re-        special meeting held to consider
the fact that more than half a year       formed Churches, while we have            the matter of the planned confer-
has passed since Synod 1990, we           no missionary on the island. By the       ences convinced the emissaries of
should perhaps give a brief report        time this article appears in print,       the truth of the report that previous
of the activities of this Synodical       two men will, the Lord willing, be        meetings of Classis were "orderly
Committee.                                in Jamaica for that purpose. We are       and fruitful in making various deci-
  In consultation with the Mission        very happy that not only the pastor       sions that affected the churches as a
Committee the three calling               of the calling church, Rev. Joostens,     whole." The various congregations
churches have extended calls to           but also an elder from one of our         had also maintained their respec-
various of our ministers, to serve as     western churches, Mr. Ed Gritters         tive church buildings and even, in
missionaries in the above-men-            of Redlands PRC, has found it pos-        some instances, improved them.
tioned fields. So far, two calls from     sible to commit himself to this four-       Preparations for the conferences
each of them have been declined:          week effort.                              included of course the securing of a
Revs. Kortering and Kamps to                We might add that, for the first        meeting place. Arrangements were
Lame, Revs. Miersma and Korter-           year (i.e., from Synod 1990 to            made to rent facilities near Savan-
ing to Jamaica, and Revs. Key and         Synod 1991) only one four-week            nah-La-Mar, centrally located with
Dykstra to Venice. Currently Rev.         session will be held in Jamaica.          respect to the largest cluster of
Miersma is considering a call to          First Church did however send             Protestant Reformed Churches in
serve in Lame, and Rev. Haak to           Rev. Joostens and their Jamaica-          Jamaica. Looking into possibilitiies
serve in Venice.                          committee chairman, Dan Pastoor,          for transportation, the two men dis-
  Though it is true that mission          to Jamaica for one week in October        covered that the cost of car rental
work does not really begin in             to investigate the feasibility of the     had escalated significantly - to the
earnest till a missionary is sta-         contemplated four-week effort and         point where the expense involved
tioned in the field, it is hardly true    to make necessary preparations for        in renting a vehicle for just four
that the calling churches and the         it. The two men left for Jamaica,         weeks at a time, for the seven re-
Mission Committee have nothing            according to their own testimony,         maining sessions during a pro-
to do but bide their time till the        with some "fear and trepidation,"         jected four-year period, would total
                                          apprehensive of what they might           no less that $15,000 US. No won-
                                          find to be the state of affairs in the    der, therefore, that First Church be-
                                          churches after a year and a half of       gan to ponder the advisability of
                                          being on their own. They were de-         buying a car with the money recov-
                                          lighted however, and thankful to          ered in the sale of the two vehicles
                                          God, to find a stable situation. The      which we owned d-die Rev. Bruin-
Mr. Doezema is secreta y of the Do-       four pastors (Revs. Brydson, Tom-         sma was on the island. Though we
mestic Mission  Committee.                linson, Williams, and Wilson) were        do not at this point know how

                                                                                    January  15,1991/ The Standard Bearer  / 179


everything will eventually fall in             know what is going on, and appre-        South Holland, in Fort Wayne, IN,
place, it does seem to us that our             ciate the regular contact by tele-       and Boise, ID; and Redlands,  in
churches will be financially better            phone, as well as the prompt             Santa Cruz. Perhaps we will have
served by far if we take the buy-              response to their requests for infor-    opportunity to expand on these in a
use-store-use-resell approach.                 mation and help." Hudsonville de-        future newsletter; but permit us to
   Cars and buildings demand                   cided, by the way, to purchase a         say just a little about the contacts
what seems almost to be an inordi-             VCR, for taping sermons in several       which Redlands  has had with a
nate amount of time and energy on              of our churches, in order to use         group of interested people in Santa
the part of working committees.                them in Larne on those Sundays           Cruz beginning already last spring.
But attention to these details is nec-         when no minister from the States is      A visit by Rev. denHartog  and El-
essary, in order to facilitate the la-         present to preach for them in per-       der Everett VanVoorthuysen, fol-           _
bor which constitutes our real pur-            son. Hudsonville is funding the          lowed by continued correspon-
pose for being there at all, namely,           purchase through collections taken       dence over the next several
the giving of instruction. The in-             in their own congregation. And, as       months, led finally to a decision on
struction, as we have already men-             was reported in News From Our            the part of Redlands  to provide
tioned, is intended for the leaders            Churches last time, Hudsonville          preaching there on the last two
and prospective leaders, with a                decided also to sponsor radio            Sundays of October. Both the num-
view to strengthening their hold on            broadcasts of the Reformed Witness       ber of families in the group :md
the Reformed truth, so that, as they           Hour over Trans World Radio              their very obvious enthusiasm en-
work in their respective congrega-             (shortwave) in Europe.                   couraged Redlands  to make an all-
tions, the churches will in turn also            Kalamazoo, another first-time          out effort to continue providling
be built up in the faith. And, inci-           calling church, has been assigned        preaching. Finding the Mission
dentally, the instruction is being             the task of overseeing the work in       Committee unable to help with
given by both of the men who are               the newly-declared field of Venice,      manpower from the east, Redlands
now on the island. Rev. Joostens is            Florida. While they await the send-      worked hard to provide from the
teaching the theology, and Elder               ing of a man to labor there full         west. Rev. Cammenga, Rev.
Gritters the practical implications            time, they too must do what they         Kuiper, and Rev. De&es  were
of that theology. No little task is            can to provide for preaching and         granted permission by their consis-
this. Our prayer for them, surely, is          teaching on the field. And they too      tories to spend a week or two in
that the Lord will richly prosper              are being helped in that regard by       Santa Cruz. Since these men re-
their efforts. The Mission Commit-             Classical appointments. In their at-     ported a continued enthusiastic re-
tee eagerly awaits their report                tempt to provide regular preaching       sponse to the preaching, Redlands'
when they return from Jamaica.                 in this field, Kalamazoo has the         desire to maintain a presence there
   So much for the interim labor in            added advantage of the presence of       remained strong. They found the
Jamaica. Hudsonville, meanwhile,               Rev. C. Hanko, who, in spite of ob-      Mission Committee able ancl will-
is equally active in providing for             vious infirmities connected with         ing to give financial assistance, to
the needs of the Covenant Re-                  advanced age, is willing still to        help them pay for the rental of fa-
formed Fellowship in Lame,                     preach and teach as the need arises.     cilities, for advertising, and, espe-
Northern Ireland. Unable to secure               We currently rent not only a           cially, for travel expenses of minis-
adequate provision for the pulpit in           chapel for the services in Venice,       ters. But, that was the easy Ipart.
Lame through the "volunteer"                   but also a house for the use of min-     The critical need was for man-
method, Hudsonville requested                  isters who go there to preach, or for    power.
Classis East to make Classical ap-             the missionary should the Lord             At the time of this writing, it is
pointments for the mission field.              lead a man to accept that call. The      uncertain whether continued provi-
The first to go to Lame on these               men in the Venice group were able        sion can be made to meet the needs
terms was Rev. Ken Hanko, who                  to rent for that purpose a nice, fif-    of these families. Perhaps having
had himself labored there for sev-             teen-month old, three-bedroom            to say "no" is a natural part of do-
eral months, a year ago. He was                home in South Venice. The mem-           ing one's best with the God-given
followed by Rev. Gritters, who in              bers in this group too, according to     resources currently available to us.
turn will be followed, D.V., by Rev.           Rev. Koole, who recently spent a         But it grieves the Mission Commit-
Kamps. Rev. Gritters, who is also a            couple of weeks in Venice, "eagerly      tee, and surely the local Consistory,
member of the Mission Committee,               await a missionary and seem to en-       to see this kind of thing happen.
reports that there is serious consid-          joy each other's company."               We have been entrusted witlh a rich
eration being given in Larne to                  Mission fields for our denomina-       heritage of the truth. We have been
renting or building a place of wor-            tion have often been born out of         given, especially of late, many
ship in Ballymena, where the inter-            work initiated by energetic evange-      places to proclaim it at home and
est is great. He reports too that the          lism committees of individual con-       abroad. And we don't have the
Fellowship is very happy with the              gregations in it. Currently the ef-      men to do it. (Young men . . . do
manner in which "Rev. VanBaren                 forts of several such have been          you hear this?)
and Hudsonville consistory are                 brought to our attention: Lynden,          Two vacancies among our own
handling the field. They feel they             in different areas in the Northwest;     pulpits . . . three mission fields cry-

180 1 The Standard Bearer I January 15,199l


ing for missionaries . . . and calls for    sion to evaluate wisely various          and cries for help which continue
help from other directions. Our             calls for help in order best to focus    to arise in other places - these are
need for more ministers goes with-          our energies as a denomination is        not burdens. They are gifts. May
out saying. Our need for consisto-          here said.                               we by the grace of God press these
ries willing to "share" their pastor          By all means, let us pray the          opportunities with a zeal commen-
in times like these perhaps needs           Lord of the harvest that He send         surate with the cause. Cl
saying. Our need for two mission            forth reapers. The fields we have
committees with the necessary vi-           already been given, the-inquiries




Search the                                  Specific Instruction
Scriptures                                  to the Beloved-
Rev. Gise VanBaren


Read and study Philippians 4:1-g.           can sustain and keep them by His           Paul solicits the help of the "true
  This final chapter of the short           Word and Spirit.                         yokefellow." Some translations as
epistle to the Philippians contains a         However, Paul is aware also of         well as commentators take "yoke-
moving address and important in-            some lack of harmony in the              fellow" to be the name of the indi-
structions. Note the great love of          church - a lack which requires           vidual: in Greek that would be
the apostle as expressed in the first       correction. There was lack of har-       Syzygus. Paul appears to make a
verse: "...My brethren, dearly              mony between two of the women            play upon the individual's name.
beloved and longed for, my joy and          in the church: Euodias and Synty-        He is truly what his name implies:
crown . . . my dearly beloved."             the. The problem was very likely         a yokefellow. He is one who
They are `loved" with that high,            not of a doctrinal nature - for oth-     "pulled" with the apostle in assist-
intense love which is not mere at-          erwise Paul would surely have cor-       ing with the labors. Now Paul a.sks
traction, but a tie because of the          rected it. Clearly he was also           for his help again in resolving the
perfections of Christ in them. They         greatly indebted to both of these        differences between the women
are as well Paul's "joy and crown."         women who had assisted him a             mentioned in verse 2.
Paul did not measure the success            great deal while he labored in              Paul recalls too those others in
of his life in terms of wealth or           Philippi. He deeply appreciated          Philippi who were likewise very
power, but rather in terms of faith-        their efforts. But these two had a       helpful to him. There was Clement
fulness in preaching of the gospel.         falling out. We do not know what         and other unnamed individuals.
Under his preaching many in                 the problem was -but it was such         Though unnamed, God knew th.em
Philippi had been converted. They           that Paul does not condemn either        - for their names were written in
are the cause of his rejoicing now          one. He encourages them to be of         the book of life. That too is a beau-
- especially as he thinks about             one mind in the Lord. The manner         tiful commentary on God's people.
this while yet languishing in               of treatment of this problem is in-      Though one's name is not listed
prison.                                     structive. Paul treats both women        among the noble on this earth, still
  Paul also is insistent upon the           fairly and equally. (He uses "I be-      God knows each of His own by
command: "Stand fast in the                 seech" in addressing each in turn.)      name.
Lord." As church, they must con-            And Paul tells them the impor-              Verses 4 through 7 express be,au-
tinue in the faith in spite of any op-      tance of being "of the same mind."       tiful exhortations to the church.
position. They do so, of course, in         Both served the same Lord. Both          The command given first is to re-
the consciousness that it is "in the        were concerned with the Kingdom          joice always! The apostle repeats
Lord" that they stand. Only Christ          of heaven. Should not this also af-      the command for emphasis. It is a
                                            fect their attitude towards each         truth so often forgotten. Who
                                            other? And should not the fact           would rejoice in trying times? Who
                                            that each in the church claims to        rejoices in suffering and pain? 1!et
                                            serve the Lord cause them to seek        there must be a proper form of re-
Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protes-      to remove all the petty grievances       joicing, not only when all seems to
tant Refmned  Church of Hudsonuille,        which often disrupt life in the          go well, but also in trials. Does not
Michigan.                                   church?                                  Scripture emphatically teach that


all things work together for our               is to acknowledge ever before God        churches there were those who dis-
good (Rom. 8:28)? Then joy is pos-             that goodness which He bestows           torted the doctrine of God -- say-
sible even when one must cry. It is            through Jesus Christ our Lord. In        ing even: Let us do evil that grace
the Christian's response to God's              this way, the requests come before       may abound (Rom. 6). The beauti-
work in and for him.                           God. That there are requests indi-       ful Christian must rather be mind-
   We are also to "let our modera-             cates that specific things are           ful of the "lovely," that whic:h
tion be known unto all men:' The               brought before His throne. One           shows perfection and holiness -
word "moderation" has been trans-              does not just make some sort of          which must be the basis of all love.
lated also as "big-heartedness" or             general prayer for "whatever we          And finally, he must be concerned
"forbearance." It is the attitude of           need." Rather, he presents to God        with that which is of "good report"
heart and mind which the child of              definite petitions.                      (well spoken of).
God has over against others. Not                 The fruit of all this is the "peace       These are the things of "virtue."
only does he rejoice with respect to           of God" (vs. 7). Peace is not simply     Virtue, says the commentator Hen-
himself, but his spiritual life is re-         the absence of war, but a blessed re-    driksen, is the "fruit which grows
flected also in his attitude towards           lationship with God. Peace exists        on the tree of salvation. The trunk
others. He is not mean spirited and            when the cause for division, sin, is     of this tree is faith, and its roots are
vindictive. Rather would he suffer             removed. That peace floods the           imbedded in the soil of God"s
at the hands of others than inflict            soul of the child of God. That           sovereign, saving grace." Such is
suffering or pain on another. This             peace "passeth all understanding."       also worthy of proper praise.
is not to say that he can condone              No human understanding is able to           The picture is striking. The
heresy or any distortion of God's              comprehend fully what God has            question we face, of course, is: how
infallible revelation. But he does             done to accomplish this. We know         do we really measure up to this
not walk about with a "chip on his             that God must send His own Son           "model" Christian? Paul reminds
shoulder." In meekness he contin-              into our flesh to deliver us. But        the church that they have Paul him-
ues his pilgrimage.                            how can one ever understand the          self as their example. He gave to
   All of this is with the assurance           infinite plan of God that accom-         them good instruction in the Word
that his Lord shall soon come. That            plished all of this?                     of God. He showed in his own life
coming could be in the way of his                It is this peace of God which pre-     and walk the fact that Christ and
death, when Jesus receives him into            serves the church through every          His cross were of utmost concern to
those mansions of glory. Or the                trial. Our "hearts and minds" are        him. Those who walk in this way
Lord's coming will be at the end of            established in the knowledge that        surely enjoy the peace of God upon
the age when He returns on the                 all is well. Who need fear when          them.
clouds of glory. Regardless, that              peace is guaranteed through              QUESTIONS:
coming is at hand. Though some                 Christ's cross?                            1. One could profitably check
2,000 years have passed since Paul               Finally, in verses 8 and 9, the        again how many times Paul uses
wrote this, that final return of               apostle presents the portrait of the     the word "brethren" in the e;pistle.
Christ was also at hand in the sense           beautiful Christian. He is a think-      Why this frequent use of the word?
that the next "hour" on the "time              ing (meditating) Christian. What           2. How were the Philippians
clock" of God is Christ's return.              he thinks of is not that which is        Paul's "joy and crown"?
   Another important exhortation is            worldly and sensual, but spiritual         3. Can you conceive of circum-
that of verse 6: "Be careful for               and heavenly. He is ever consider-       stances which would give rire to
nothing." Literally, this would                ing what is "true," that is, in har-     the sort of situation which existed
teach, "Be not anxious about any-              mony with the absolute standard of       between the two women (vs.. 2) in
thing." That is not merely a fine              all right: God Himself. He discov-       Philippi?
theory; it is the principle which              ers this in the revelation God has         4. What is the "mind" which we
guides the Christian. One is in-               given: Holy Scripture. He thinks         must have?
clined to worry about many things.             about what is honest (right, digni-        5. What is the `book of life"?
And many events generate worries.              fied) before God and in relation-        Why is it so important?
Yet, why be filled with cares -                ship with other people. How can            6. What is a "yokefellow" (vs.
knowing that even our light afflic-            he cheat another or walk in dishon-      3)? Could this be a man's name?
tion works for us a far more ex-               esty when he belongs to Christ?            7. Do we "rejoice alway in the
ceeding and eternal weight of glory            He is mindful of what is just; that      Lord"? Why or why not?
(II Cor. 4:17)? The solution to all            is, he considers what is righteous         8. Why does Paul repeat himself
anxiety is, of course, prayer and              before God and treats those about        in verse 4?
supplication. There is no more ef-             him in righteousness as well. He           9. What does Paul mean in
fective and certain cure for worry             meditates on that which is pure:         declaring the "Lord is at hand" -
than that. "Prayer" is the more                morally and ethically correct. The       while some 2,000 years have since
general term; "supplication" is the            Philippians were converts from           passed?
part of prayer which brings before             heathendom, in which idolatry was          10. Why is the Christian often
God our specific needs. All prayer             prevalent.- and with it, often,          "full of cares"? What is the a.nswer
must be "with thanksgiving." One               adultery. Even within the                to these cares?

182 I The Standard Bearer I January 15,X991


  11. What is the difference be-              13. What  are necessary things            15. What effect ought this activ-
tween "prayer" and "supplica-              we are to think on? How often do           ity have upon the temptation of
tion"?                                     we do this?                                worldly amusements?
  12. How often must we make                  14. Are we merely to think on             16. How do we develop in these
our supplications to God? How              these things - or also to carry            blessed fruits of righteousness? I7
can we know what to ask for?               them out? Explain.




Taking Heed                                The Bible is God's Word:.
to the Doctrine Perspicuity
Rev. Marvin Kamps


  The biblical truth of the clarity of     division. The unity of the church          Spirit of Christ. Skevington Wood
Scripture was vigorously set forth         would be destroyed!                        informs us of the position of Mar-
by the Reformers of the sixteenth             Rome had no conception of the           tin Luther:
century over against the teaching          "office of all believers" or any real         Luther's conception of the place oc-
of Rome. The term "perspicui@"             understanding of the "illumination         cupied by Scripture in revelation zoas
as applied to Scripture, means that        of the Spirit of Christ" in the life of    allied to his unremitting emphasis on
the Bible is of such a nature that its     the individual believer. In fact,          what he called its perspicuity. He held
meaning is clear, transparent, and         Rome insisted upon the exclusive           that the Bible is luminously clear in its
penetrable to the believer. Not the        prerogative of the church to inter-        meaning as befits the chosen medium
impenitent, spiritually dead in sin        pret the Bible. This meant that ulti-      of  God's own self-disclosure. He re-
sinner so finds God's Word; for to         mately only Peter's successor, the         buked Erasmus for inclgning  to "that
him it speaks only of wrath and of         Pope in Rome, could accurately in-         impudent and blasphemous saying,
judgment. But the man of God, re-          terpret God's Word. As far as the          `the Scriptures are obscure."' "They
generated, indwelled by the illumi-        people were concerned the Bible            who deny thti all-clearness and all-
nating Spirit of Christ, and placed        was a "closed book." Only the              plainness of the Scripfures  leave us
thereby in the office of all believers,    clergy, as beneficiaries of the al-        nothing else but darkness," he com-
can see through to the saving              leged "sacrament of ordination,"           plained. "Moreover I declare against
meaning of Scripture.                      could be entrusted with the duty           you concerning the whole  of the Scrip-
  Rome had taught that the Bible           and privilege to read, study, and          ture that I will have no one part of if
is far too difficult for the so-called     proclaim the Word of God in the            called obscure," he continued; "and to
lay people to understand. Roman            light of the authoritative interpre-       support me stands that which I have
Catholicism has always viewed the          tation of the Romish Church. Ro-           broughf forth out of Piter, that the
Bible as a dark, obscure book. The          man Catholicism is the intruding          Word of God is to us a `lamp shining
laity, therefore, were never encour-        of a mere human mediator be-              in a dark place` (I.l Pef. 2:19).  Buf (f
aged or even allowed to read the           tween God and His people in                any parf of this lamp does not shine, it
Bible. The people could not, ac-           Christ Jesus. This mere human              is rather a part of fhe dark place fhan
cording to Rome, properly tmder-           mediator is the infallible Pope in         the lamp ifself. For Christ has not so
stand the Bible. Giving them per-          Rome. He is the one man who                illuminated us, as to wish fhat any
mission to read and interpret it           alone can rightly interpret Scrip-         part of His Word should remain ob-
would only lead to all manner of            ture.  AU must acknowledge his of-        scure, even while He commands us to
error and endless controversy and           fice and the Romish Church's              attend to it: for if if be not shining
                                            "magisterium."                            plain, His commanding us fo affenri to
                                              The Reformation is to be remem-         it is in vain" (Captive To the Word,
                                            bered in part under the figure of an      p. 135).
                                            open Bible. In many Protestant               Our confidence that the Scrip-
                                            churches there is displayed the           tures are perspicuous must not be
                                            symbol of the "open Bible." The           viewed as a mere Protestant asser-
                                            Bible is open in the sense that it is     tion without biblical warrant. In
Rev. Kamps is pastor of Southwest           readable, and subject to interpreta-      other words, does the Bible itself
Protestant Reformed Church in Grand         tion by the ordinary believer under       teach that it is clear and subject to
Rapids, Michigan.                           the guidance and leading of the           interpretation by the beiieving stu-

                                                                                      January  15,199l  I The Standard Bearer I 183


dent of Scripture? Surely, the Scrip-          tions of God's Word, to the point of       perspicuity is to deny that God has
tures everywhere call themselves -             rejecting the fellowship of the            spoken to His people in Christ Je-
"light." Not only do we have the               saints and forsaking the church.           sus. The believer, therefore, can
passage above from II Peter, but               They have exalted individualism,           and must be permitted to intlerpret
also Psalm 119:105:  "Thy Word is a            independency, and personal deter-          Scripture for himself.
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto            mination, to the point where they            Besides, the truth of the per-
my path." But even more impor-                 will not hear the church, or the of-       spicuity of Scripture is precious to
tantly the idea of perspicuity is im-          fices of Christ, or the testimony of       us. The Bible calls the believler to
plied in the concept of "revelation."          the saints in common. Their fierce         read, study, and meditate upon the
The apostle John was instructed to             individualism is the manifestation         Word of God. How could we do
record "The Revelation of Jesus                of their failure to understand that        this if the Bible were closed to us?
Christ" (Rev. l:l-11). The prophet             the Spirit dwells in and leads the         What great comfort, encourage-
Daniel confessed to Nebuchadnez-               church organically into all the            ment, peace, and joy the studly of
zar, "But there is a God in heaven             truth. The unity of the church insti-      Scripture has brought to the heart
that revealeth secrets..." (Daniel             tute has no meaning for them and           of the repentant sinner who in faith
2:28). And the apostle Paul con-               they acknowledge no necessity to           clings to Christ Jesus. Growth in
fessed, "How that by revelation he             preserve that unity. Their opinions        sanctification and godliness is, in a
made known unto me the mystery;                are so highly esteemed by them-            measure, dependent upon the truth
(as I wrote afore in few words,                selves that all other doctrines            of the clarity or perspicuity of
Whereby, when ye read, ye may                  which they may hold in common              Scripture. In addition, the right of
understand my knowledge in the                 with the church must be set aside          church reformation is given to
mystery of Christ) Which in other              as not nearly as important as their        eve y believer by the Reformed
ages was not made known unto the               own peculiar opinions.                     chur& Even though some use this
sons of men, as it is now revealed               Such a perversion of the per-            right to "rend the sheepfold of
unto his holy apostles and prophets            spicuity principle of Scripture and        Christ," it is an important responsi-
by the Spirit" (Eph. 33-5). To re-             the "office of all believers" is not       bility, filled with blessing for the in-
veal is to uncover, and, by uncover-           the way to the reformation of the          dividual and for the church of
ing, to display and present for all to         church! often it is so presented.          Christ, when rightly used. Misuse
see. The very concept of revelation            The individual is then personally          of right doctrine must never lbe the
precludes depicting the Scriptures             convinced, not only of the correct-        grounds or occasion for repuldiat-
as dark, obscure, and impenetrable             ness of his position, the great sig-       ing this doctrine. But let careless
to the believing mind.                         nificance of his insights, and the ab-     and profane men be rebuked
   I believe it most necessary to              solute necessity of, if need be, sepa-     sharply for their profanity and
warn against a misuse within Re-               ration from the church, but he is          carelessness in their abuse of bibli-
formed churches of the doctrine of             convinced also that the failure of         cal doctrine.
the perspicuity of scripture.  Right           others to agree with him and to              In addition, it cannot escape the
principles are subject to abuse and            stand with him is to be explained          reader that the Reformed church in
misuse. This is, of course, true with          by the alleged unfaithfulness of the       our day is more and more under
respect to other doctrines of Scrip-           believers, and the apostasy of the         pressure to deny the perspicuity of
ture. We need only be reminded                 church institute.                          Scripture. There is the attitucie
how men have twisted beyond                      In that light, it might be tempting      even among Reformed believers
recognition the doctrines of election          to deny the doctrine of perspicuity        that the Bible is far too difficult to -
and justification in order to foist an         and give more credence to Rome's           understand. After all, the preach-
antinomian conception of life upon             errors; for such misuse of the office      ers and seminary professors are not
an unsuspecting church. The Hei-               of all believers and the doctrine of       even sure about their understand-
delberger asks the question: "But              perspicuity is the cause of endless        ing of God's Word. Synod "A"
doth not this doctrine make men                division and turmoil in the church         takes one position. Synod "B," a
careless and profane?" (Lord's Day             institute. But in regard to this           year later, takes another which is
24, Q. 64). The fathers are instruct-          temptation we must demand, "Get            contradictory of the former dleci-
ing us in the truth that we are justi-         thee behind me, Satan." The doc-           sion. This is done repeatedly The
fied by faith alone without works.             trine of perspicuity is biblical. It is    elder looks to his pastor. But the
It ought to be observed very care-             an aspect of the doctrine of revela-       pastor does not know and he im-
fully that biblical doctrine neuer             tion. God has spoken, and His              ploringly looks to the seminary
makes men careless and profane;                Word to us is clear and understand-        professor. And the poor  seminary
but it should also be pointed out              able. God has not mumbled! His             professor looks to the experts in the
that careless and profane men euer             Word has not been distorted, wit-          field of study under question,, All
abuse sound doctrine.                          tingly or unwittingly, for it is given     hope and pray for the leading of
  So too with the doctrine of per-             to us by holy men moved and in-            the Spirit of Jesus Christ, even if the
spicuity. Many men in the past                 spired by the Spirit of Christ. The        explicit injunctions of Scripture
have insisted upon their erroneous             truth of revelation and inspiration        must be set aside. No one is confi-
views, interpretations, and applica-           guarantees  perspicuity. To reject         dent that he can rightly know the

184  !  TheStandardBearerl   January15,1991


mind of Christ or the will of God.           Aural  items. . ..On the other hand, foot-    saints today, to understand the
It is no longer perceived that faith         washing, exchanging the holy kiss, eat-       Bible and personally receive Goci's
is a going forward upon the step             ing marketplace idol food, women hav-         revelation. The individual believer
ping stones of Christian doctrine,           ing a head covering when praying or           stands in organic connection with
divine commandments, and Scrip-              prophesying, Paul's personal prefer-          the saints of all ages. His faith
tural counsel; but that disobedience         ence for celibacy, or a woman's teach-        must be in harmony with that of
is going forward without basis or            ing in the church are not inherently          the saints of all ages. Remember:
grounds for action in God's Word.            moral matters (How to Read the                `There is one body and one Spirit
   If to confess Gods-revelation             Bible For all Its Worth, Gordon D.            . . . One Lord, one faith . .." (Eph. 4:4,
and inspiration is to hold to the            Fee and Douglas Stuart, 1982, p. 66).         5). The doctrine of perspicuity and
doctrine of perspicuity; then to                Besides, certain embellishments            "the office of all believers" have as
deny the doctrine of revelation and          unavoidably found their way into              their very purpose, in part, to pre-
inspiration of the sacred writers is         the church's witness and response             serve and manifest, as much as ie
to reject perspicuity. To deny that          to revelation. These embellish-               possible, the invisible, inward, and
the Bible is the record of God's rev-        ments are to be identified and re-            spiritual oneness of the body of
elation is to preclude the possibility       jected by our study of secular mate-          Christ. We do this, above all, by
of any saving knowledge of God in            rial. A proper understanding of               our membership in and unity with
Christ as our Savior. And to de-             God's Word is possible only if one            the Reformed church institute. The
spise the doctrine of infallible inspi-      first has mastered the pertinent his-         doctrines of the perspicuity of
ration is to deny that the record of         torical, geographical, archaeologi-           Scripture and the office of all be-
God's revelation in Christ Jesus is          cal, geological, and contemporary             lievers must not lead to a rejection
perspicuous. That this is true               religious documents. With such a              of the Reformed church, but to the
should be plain to all, for if the hu-       mandate, the ordinary believer                position "that all men are duty
man, imperfect, forgetful, and even          ought not even to imagine that he             bound to join and unite themselves
sinful writers of Scripture were left        can properly interpret scripture.             with it; maintaining the unity of the
to labor in their own strength  alone,          Scripture has become again a               Church" (Belgic Confession,  article
without the guidance of the Holy             dark and obscure book, which only             28). 0
Spirit, then surely their books and          those who are the experts can
epistles would be dark, obscure              rightly interpret. This is the conse-
documents filled with confusion              quence if one denies the doctrine of
and imperfections of every kind.             inspiration. The Reformed com-
   The Reformed believer today is            munity of churches is rapidly re-                     I Will Love Him
led to believe that this is indeed the       turning to a Romish view of Scrip-                           (John 14:21)
case. The Hebrew Scriptures, espe-           ture. For many this is a happy oc-
cially the Pentateuch, are explained         currence, for it frees them, they             "I will love him," Jesus says it,
according to an evolutionistic view          think, from the responsibility to                Can it be He speaks to me,
of the development of religion.              study and know the Bible and to               In those accents pure and holy,
Consequently, Genesis  l-11 does             work humbly for the continual re-                May I grasp it - He loves me?
not record actual world history, but         -formation of the church.
some unspecified pre-history. The               But this is all wrong, for it is dis-      Y will love him," earthly love is
writers of the Bible were time-              honoring to our God and spiritu-                 Tender as the clinging vine;
bound and culturally conditioned             ally self-destructive of the individ-         But the wondrous love of Jesus
men. Therefore, some precepts                ual and the institute of the church.             Is a fountain deep, divine.
which they wrote have no applica-               We must believe what the Bible
tion to us of the twentieth century.         says about itself. Firstly, that God,         "I will love him," Lord, reveal it,
Several of the apostolic precepts of         Jehovah, has revealed Himself in                 Manifest Thyself to me,
the New Testament were only for              Christ Jesus. Secondly, that God              Show me more of what Thou art,
the first century church and have            has inspired and moved holy men                  More of what I ought to be.
no significance or application for us        by His Spirit to write the infallible
today. For example we are urged:             record of His revelation. Thirdly,            "I will love him," angels cannot
   One should first distinguish be-          that God has regenerated His own,                Know the depth of Love Divine,
tween the central core of the message        having given to them eyes to see              They can never say with sinners,,
of the Bible and what is dependent           and ears to hear, and has thereby                I am my Lord's, and He is mine.
upon or peripheral to it . . . . It is to    enabled them td receive the things
safeguard  the gospel from being turned      of the Kingdom of Heaven.                     "I will love him," blessed promise,
into law through culture or religious        Fourth+, that believers have the                 Hold me ever by Thy love,
custom, on the one hand, and to keep         Spirit of Christ in them as members           May I. never lose its sweetness
the gospel itself from changing to re-       of His Body, the church. Therefore,              Till Thou welcome me above.
flect  ezxry conceivable cultural expres-    in the fifth place, that they are able,
sion, on the other hand. . ..Paul's sin-     in spiritual fellowship  with the saints                            - SB, June 15,1932
lisfs, for example, neuer contain cul-       of past centuries and with the

                                                                                           January  15,199l  /The Standard  Bearer  ! 185


                                               All Around Us
Prof. Roberf Decker


n Soviets Grant                                for now the persecution of the             cate playing disco music in church
    Religidus Freedom                          saints will cease and the church           (given his position, why not?), but
                                               will be able freely to worship the         he does say the church should
                                               Lord and educate the children of           search for better ways to attract
  Last September 26 the USSR                   God's covenant in His fear. May            youth. Schelling claims to be work-
passed a very significant new law              God bless His saints in the USSR           ing toward better dialogue between
on religion, a law which replaces              and may Christ by means of the             young people and their elders.
the 1929 code. By a vote of 341-1              preaching of the Word gather, de-          Says he, `We have to meet each
the Soviet parliament passed a law             fend, and preserve His church in           other and get talking. It is as im-
which legalizes freedom of wor-                that land.                                 portant to talk to youth as it is to
ship, proselytizing (evangelism),                               REC News Exchange         hear preaching on Sunday."
religious education. This new law                                                           So now we have to listen to disco
also formally ends state support of                                                       music and participate in disco
atheism. This means that the                                                              dancing in order to reach and keep
changes of the last several years              n Dutch Dominies                           the young people in the church?!
under the restructuring of Soviet                  Disco                                  What these young people need is
society are now legalized. Reli-                                                          not dialogue but the means of
gious organizations, including                    It is the opinion of Piet Schelling,    grace, the chief of which is, accord-
churches, are now recognized as le-            the new "chairperson" of the               ing to the plain teaching of Scrip
gal entities. The state may not in-            Netherlands Center for Reformed            ture and our Reformed Confes-
terfere with religious organizations.          Youth Work (a ministry of the Re-          sions, the preaching of the Word
Interestingly enough, clergy may               formed Churches in the Nether-             (including sound, thorough cate-
run for public office. Hotly de-               lands GKN, in which denomination           chetical instruction). Faithful
bated was a clause on the use of               lie the spiritual roots of most of us),    preaching of the Holy Scriptures
public schools for religious instruc-          that the people who do not like            would expose the evils of disco and
tion after regular school hours. The           what young people are doing these          other forms of dancing, call the
clause was not adopted but will                days generally have not tried it. So       youth to faith in the Lord Jesus and
come up for discussion at a later              Schelling decided to do something          repentance towards God, and in-
session..                                      about this. He decided to introduce        struct them in the way of godliness.
  One of the republics of the USSR              about 40 preachers to a youth activ-      The Bible asks, `Wherewithal shall
passed an even more liberal law                ity. He invited them to a disco            a young man cleanse his way?"
than the national law. The Repub-               dance complete with hard-rock             The Bible neither explicitly nor im-
lic of Russia now has a law on its             music, flickering lights, and a live       plicitly answers "by dialoguing
books which mandates the study of               deejay. We are told the pastors           with his elders about disco dancing
comparative religion in public                  grumbled a bit at first about "the        and hard-rock music." The 13ible's
schools and opens the door to vol-             racket," but once they hit the dance       answer to the question is, "by tak-
untary religious instruction during            floor, they started to have fun. A         ing heed thereto according to thy
school hours.                                   few of the ministers left the dance       (God's) word" (Psalm 119:911.
  For the moment at least, all this             floor after a few minutes, but only              Centraal Weekblad, The Banner
bodes well for the church and peo-             because dancing was too much
ple of God in the USSR. At least                work. None left because he
                                                thought dancing was nonsense.
                                                Schelling said he did the disco ex-       I The Reformed
                                                periment because he fears that the            Journal Will Be
                                                church is passing by young people.            No More
                                               Instead of listening to teen music
                                                and trying to understand it, for ex-         In the December issue of I'he Re-
                                                ample, church leaders offer organ         formed Journal, Editor-in-Chief Jon
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical          music in worship services and             Pott announces that the magazine
Theology in the Protesfanf Reformed             wonder why young people can't re-         will no longer be published by
Setnina  y.                                    late to it. &helling  doesn't advo-

186 I The Standard Bearer I January 15,199l


Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.                Interestingly enough, one of the             On its cover RJ claims to be "a
The magazine will merge with Per-           current editors of the RJ, Ronald           periodical of Reformed comment
spectives, a theological journal pub-       Wells, has an article in the very last      and opinion." Ironically, there is a
lished by the Reformed Church in            issue of the magazine, "Can There           letter to the editor in this last issu.e
America and edited by James Van             Be A Christmas TULIP/ in which              of RJ from Albert Salmon in which
Hoeven and John Stapert. Pott and           he says, "This Christmas I rejoice          he says, *` . . . I had subscribed to
most of his fellow editors will join        again with the message of the an-           your magazine, attracted by the ti-
the staff of  Perspectives. The Re-         gels, proclaimed first over a little        tle, and have been completely dis-
formed Journal (hereafter Rfi was the       town, but echoed down the ages. It          appointed by each issue. You are .
voice of the liberal wing of the            is a message that God means for all         nothing more than flaming liberals,
Christian Reformed Church.                  humankind. For Reformed people,             and completely anti-Scripture.
Nearly forty years ago it was               I wonder aloud whether, if we are           Please stop publication immedi-
founded by Harry R. Boer, James             going to celebrate Christmas truly          ately, or change your name."
Daane, George Stob, Henry Stob,             and fully, we don't have to find our           We agree with the sentiments of
and Henry Zylstra. Boer continued           TULIP's and knock the "L" out of            brother Salmon completely. RJ has
to write for `the magazine until the        them. Only then will heaven come             not been a periodical of Reformed
present. It was in the RJ that Prof.        clearly into view, and only then             comment and opinion. Though
Harold Dekker, now emeritus pro-            will we see the Son of God coming           edited and written by very capable
fessor of missions of Calvin Semi-          in love for all of us" (RJ, vol. 40, is-    people through the years, RJ has
nary, published his "God so loved           sue 10, p. 8). `TULP is the                 consistently opposed the Reformed
 . . . all men" articles in which he ar-    acronym and/or mnemonic for the              tradition as that tradition is so pro-
gued for universal atonement.  The          "five points of Calvinism": total            foundly set forth in The Heidelberg
Standard Bearer offered a detailed          depravity, unconditional election,           Catechism, The BeZgic Confession, and
critique of Dekker's position, as           limited atonement, irresistible              The Canons of Dora t. From this
well as a defense of the truth of           grace, and the perseverance of the           point of view we are not sorry that
limited atonement, in a series of ed-       saints. RJ has been consistent               RJ will be no more. Cl
itorials by Rev. Herman Hoeksema            through the years. In its last issue
under the title, `Rank Arminianism          it still teaches that God loves all
at Calvin Seminary."                        men.




Decency                                     Appointment
and Order                                   of Deacons
Rev. Ron Cammenga


   The deacons shall be chosen,             Article 25 describes the work pecu-           the poor who out of necessity are
approved, and installed in the              liar to the office of the deacons.            compelled to move from one place
same manner as was stated con-              Article 26 deals with cooperation             to another and lack the financial
cerning the elders. Church                  of the deacons with others who are            means to do so.
                                            involved in caring for the poor.                Some worthwhile reading on
Order, Article 24.                             There are other references to the          the office and work of the deacon
                                            deacons in the Church Order. Arti-            would include: The Deacons Hand-
                                            cle 27 concerns the length of term            book, by Gerard Berghoef and
Introduction                                of elders and deacons. Article 37           - Lester DeKoster;  The Ministry of
   Articles 24-26  of the  Church Or-       provides for the addition of the              Mercy for Today, by l?Y. DeJong;
der describe the office and work of         deacons to the consistory where               and Handbook for Elders and Dea-
the deacons. Article 24 concerns            the number of officebearers is                cons, by Wm. Heyns.
the appointment of the deacons.             small. Article 40 prescribes the              Demise of the Office of Deacon
                                            time, purpose, and manner in                    Early in the history of the Ro-
Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the              which the deacons' meetings are to            man Catholic Church the office of
Protestant Reformed Church of Love-         be held. Article 83 speaks of the             deacon, like so much else, was
land,  Colorado.                            assistance given by the deacons to            corrupted. Several factors com-

                                                                                         January15,1991/TheStandardBearerI  187


bined to bring about the degenera-             cal purposes the office of deacon is          serve the church in administeting  fhe
tion of this office. For one thing,            lost in modern Lutheran&m.                    a#airs of the poor; the ofher, in caring
the giving of alms was no longer                  The Anabaptists, on the other              for the poor fhemselves  (Instiixtes A(.
regarded as the fruit of thankful-             hand, promptly dispensed with the             3,9).
ness for salvation and motivated by            office of deacon altogether. They                This idea of Calvin did not find
love for the poor, but was taught to           rejected the right of private prop            general acceptance in the Reformed
be meritorious. In addition to this,           erty and attempted to restore the             churches. One synod, the synod of
the work of relieving the poor was             practice of community of goods. In            Wezel, 1568, did speak in favor of
more and more taken away from                  the Anabaptist scheme of things               this arrangement.
the deacons, and the deacons were              there was no need for the office of              It would, however, be helpful ifespe-
made the assistants of the priests             deacon.                                       cially in larger localities two sods of
and bishops. The care of the poor              Calvin's Influence                            deacons would be established, one part
was largely taken over by the mm-                 Only in the Reformed and Pres-             of which shall apply itself to the gath-
neries and monasteries. At times               byterian tradition has the office of          ering and distribution of the alms and
there was not a readiness to help              deacon come to its rightful place.            at the same time see to if that, in case
the poor, because poverty was re-                 This is due largely to the influ-          there are any goods thaf have been be-
garded as a direct judgment of                 ence of John Calvin. Calvin did               queathed to the poor, these will be
God, or a life that was itself merito-         much to restore to the church the             claimed from the heirs in a lawful way
rious. There were even those who               office of deacon, making this office          and disfribufed  faithfully to fhose for
took vows of poverty.                          once more a useful office in the              whom they had been intended in the
   Especially harmful was the sub-             church.                                       bequest. The other kind will in the
ordination of the deacons to the                  Calvin insisted on two funda-              main care for the sick, the wounded,
priests and bishops. Their calling             mental principles. First, he insisted         and the prisoners; these deacons ought
to "serve tables" (Acts 62) was in-            that the work of the deacons was              to be gijW not only with faithfulness
terpreted to mean that they were to            properly the care of the poor. And            and diligence but also with thegi;ft of
render assistance at the celebration           second, he taught that the office of          comforting and a better than acerage
of the Mass. Gradually the work of             the deacons was not inferior but              knowledge of the Word; and they must
the deacons became the task of                 equal to the offices of elder and             diligently inquire from the eldwrs ifin
maintaining good order in the wor-             minister.                                     their district there are perhaps sick or
ship services; removing, before the               Peculiar to Calvin's teaching,             infirm people who are in need of com-
celebration of the Mass, those who             however, was his notion that there-           fort and encouragemenf.
had not yet been admitted to par-              should be two kinds of deacons in                Later Reformed synods,  bow-
take of it; arranging the altar for the        the church. He appealed to Ro-                ever, dropped the distinction be-
celebration of the Mass; and taking            mans 12% ". . . he that giveth, let           tween two kinds of deacons. Both
care of the utensils that were used            him do it with simplicity . . . he that       the care of the poor and the visita-
in its administration. The Ron&h               showeth mercy, with cheerfulness."            tion of the sick were made thke duty
priests were considered to repre-              Calvin interpreted this as referring          of all the deacons, two aspects of
sent the priests of the Old Testa-             to two different kinds of deacons.            one and the same office.
ment and the deacons the Levites,              There ought to be deacons who                 Method of Appointment
who were supposed to assist the                care for the poor. These Calvin                  Various methods of appointing
priests. In the Roman Catholic                 called "procurers" or "stewards."             deacons have been followed by the
Church today this conception of the            And there ought to be deacons who             Reformed churches in the past.
office of deacon still prevails.               care for the sick. These Calvin                 Worthy of mention is the method
   The need for the recovery of the            called "hospitallers." He writes in           outlined by the Polish Reformer,
office of deacon was apparent to               his Insfifutes:                               John 6 Lasco, minister of the
Martin Luther. Luther expressed                   The care of the poor was enfrusfed         refugee churches in London. In his
the conviction that "... the office of         to the deacons. However, two kinds            work entitled Forma ac Ratio `Tota
deacons ought to be m-established              are mentioned in the leffer to the Ro-        Eccle.siastici  Minisferii, writterl in
in such a manner, that it would not            mans: "He that gives, let him do it           1560, in which he described biblical
be an office for Scripture reading in          with simplicity . . . he that shows mercy,    church government, he specified
public worship, as is now the case,            with cheerfulness." Since it  is certain      the following procedure for the ap-
but for distributing among the poor            that Paul is speaking of the public of-       pointment of deacons.
necessities of life provided by the            fice of the church, there must have been         The con&toy would prescribe a
church, since it is evident from Acts          two distinct  grades. Unless myjudg-          special day of fasting and prayer on
6 that for that purpose the dia-               menf deceives me, in the first clause he      which the minister was to preac,h
conate has been installed."                    designates the deacons who distribute         fm'ce, explaining the nature and func-
  There was a beginning of this in             the alms. But the second refers to            tions of fhis holy office. Thereupon fhe
Lutheranism, but in time the                   those who devoted themselves to the           congregation would join in prayers for
Lutheran churches surrendered the              care of the poor and sick.... If we ac-       the wisdom and guidance of God.
care of the poor to the princes and            cept this (as it must be a&xpted), there      Wifhin the next week fhe ballots: of the
the civil authorities. For all practi-         will be two kinds of deacons: one to          members would be collecfed at the

188 I The Standard Bearer / January 15,199l


homes by the elders. From those desig-    of proven faith and pious walk and              keeping with those passages of
ded by the members, the consisto y        who are of an advanced age, according           Scripture which enjoin the women
would erect the necessary number. AI1     to the example of the Apostles, can also        to be silent in the church and forbid
of those who presented no legitimate      be admitted to this office.                     them to exercise authority: I
objections to their own election would      Evidently, however, the Synod of              Corinthians  14:34,35;  I Tiiothy
be publicly presented to the congrega-    Wezel did not intend that women                 2:11-14.  This is also consistent with
tion on the next Lord's Day in the        should be ordained as deaconesses,              those passages which set down the
morning service.  If  the congregation    female deacons, but that they                   qualifications of the deacons, which
did not protest against any during the    should be appointed to assist the               qualifications themselves make
next week, they would then be appro-      deacons. This is also why the                   plain that a deacon must be a man,
priately installed in their ofice.        Synod did not require their ap-                 not a woman: Acts &l-6; I Timothy
  Article 24 prescribes three steps       pointment, but only made it a mat-              3:8-13.
in the appointment of the deacons:        ter of "convenience.N                                For a fine defense of the historic
election, approbation, and installa-         The Synod of Middelburg, 1581,               Reformed position forbidding
tion.                                     expressed its disapproval of an at-             women to occupy the office of dea-
  Election of deacons may take            tempt to re-institute the office of             con, and an examination of the
place in one of two ways. The con-        deaconess.                                      Scripture passages often appealed1
sistory may select the appropriate          The Christian Reformed Church                 to in support of this practice, the in-
number of deacons and present its         is one denomination that has in re-             terested reader is referred to the
choices to the congregation for ap-       cent years opened up the office of              pamphlet "Phebe: An Example Ear
proval (Aristocratic Method, cf. Ar-      deacon to women. Article 3b of the              the Christian Woman," by Prof. H.
ticle 22). Or the consistory may          revised Christian Reformed Church               Hanko. (This pamphlet  can  be ob-
present a double slate of nominees        Church Order states: "All confess-              tained by writing to the Business
to the congregation, from which           ing members of the church who                   Office of The Standard Bearer at the
half are elected (Aristocratic-Demo-      meet the biblical requirements are              address listed in the inside cover.:1
cratic Method, cf. Article 22). As in     eligible for the office of deacon."                  Regarding the ordination of dea-
the case of the election of elders,       This article deliberately does not              conesses, VanDellen  and Monsma
the second method is to be pre-           restrict the office of deacon to                state:
ferred and is generally followed in       "male" confessing members of the                     It cannot be proven from Holy Writ
our churches.                             church, but allows "all" confessing             that so-called deaconesses were acfu-
  Nominations are to be an-               members to be eligible for this of-             ally called and ordained to office, jusf
nounced to the congregation on at         fice, including women.                          as the deacons were. I Tim. 3:IZ . . .
least two successive Sundays. This          Without involving ourselves in a              does indicate that women had a share
provides the members of the con-          lengthy discussion of the ordina-               in the work of mercy practiced by the
gregation the opportunity to regis-       tion of women into the office of                early Churches. But in the absence  of
ter with the consistory any objec-        deacon, there can be no doubt that              any indication that women were ever
tions against the nominees.               this practice is expressly forbidden            inducted into office we conclude that
  Barring all lawful objections, the      by Scripture. Anyone who reads                  these deaconesses were appointed to &IS-
election is held, after which those       Scripture without the "aid" of the              sist the deacons in an unofficial capac-
who have been elected are to be           tinted spectacles of the women's                ify (The Church Order Commen-
duly installed into office. Installa-     movement can come to no other                   tary,p. 113). Cl
tion is the actual induction of a         conclusion. This certainly is in
man into the office, so that after his
installation he begins to function as
a deacon. Installation is to take                                                     FAITH
place during a formal worship ser-
vice and with the use of the "Form        0. for a faith that will not shrink,
of Ordination of Elders and Dea-            `Though pressed by many a foe;              A faith that shines more bright and clear
cons."                                    That will not tremble on the brink              When tempests rage without;
Deaconesses                                 Of poverty or woe.                          That when in danger knows no fear,
   In light of the current movement                                                       In darkness feel"s no doubt.
to have women ordained to the
special offices, particularly to the      That will not murmur nor complain
office of deacon, it may be well to         Beneath the chastening rod,
say a few things about dea-               But in the hour of grief and pain             A faith that keeps the narrow way
conesses.                                   Will lean upon its God.                       Till life's last hour is fled,
   The Synod of Wezel, 1568, pro-                                                       And with a pure and heavenly ray
vided for the appointment of wor-                                                         Lights up a dying bed.
thy women.                                                                                                -S.B., November 15,1932
   In those places where it is conven-
ient we are of the opinion that women

                                                                                          January  15,199l  I The Standard Bearer  ! 189


                                               Book Reviews

THE MOODY HANDBOOK OF                          descriptive in controversial areas,         16:8-11). A person cannot receive the
THEOLOGY, by Paul Enns.                        giving arguments for and against            efficacious grace of God for salvation
Chicago: Moody Press, 1989. Pp.                the conflicting doctrines. One in-          without having received and recog-
vii-688. Hardcover. $24.95. (Re-               stance is the controversy between           nized the work of God in common
viewed by the Editor.)                         Calvinist and Arminian theologies.          grace. Common grace thus is prepara-
   The author describes this book as           Another is the issue of the extent of       toy for eficacious  grace; it brings
"a general introductory work in the            the atonement (pp. 326ff .). Regard-        man to a realization of his sin crrnd  of
entire area of theology that can pro-          ing the latter, the author's own con-       the righteousness of Jesus Christ (pp.
vide answers to simple, basic ques-            viction compels him to take sides           334,335).
tions" (p. xiii). It covers the whole,         later in the book: `limited atone-             The Protestant Reformed reader
vast range of Christian theology               ment is difficult to sustain bibli-         is startled thus to be excommuni-
under the five, major divisions of             cally" (p. 486).                            cated summarily from salvation
Biblical Theology; Systematic The-                The Protestant Reformed student          (not having received, and refusing
ology; Historical Theology; Dog-               of theology takes special interest in       to recognize, the work of God in
matic Theology; and Contemporary               the description and comparison of           common grace, he "cannot receive
Theology. The scope of the work                Calvinist and Arminian theologies           the efficacious grace of God for sal-
necessarily demands brevity of                 and of covenantal and dispensa-             vation"). What is worse is that to
treatment of the various elements.             tional theologies. Enns states cor-         common grace is ascribed a ,vital
Nevertheless, not only the Sunday              rectly that "the heart of Reformed          role in the saving work of God in
School teachers and other lay peo-             Theology may be summarized in               Christ: It prepares for efficacious
ple who desire to know more about              the Canons of the Synod of Dort...."        grace in such a way that efficacious
theology, at whom the author aims,             (p. 463) The two and a half pages           grace is dependent upon common
but also the seminary student and              devoted to "Common Grace" also              grace. Efficacious grace, the:refore,
the preacher can benefit from this             hold our attention. It is worth             is not efficacious after all. It is a re-
compendium of theology.                        quoting a lengthy passage from this         lief to recall that the Canons of
   The Reformed preacher, teacher,             section in order to show what is be-        Dort-in  which is summarized "the
or student will benefit particularly           ing done with the theory of com-            heart of Reformed Theology'"`-ex-
from the clear distinctions and rela-          mon grace in Protestant theology            plicitly  rejects this notion concem-
tionships, e.g., between Biblical and          today:                                      ing common grace as false doctrine:
Systematic Theology; from the                     Necessity of common grace.  2.              The Synod rejects the errors of those
brief, pointed descriptions of vari-           It is Prelimina y to Eficacious Grace.      who teach: That the corrupt and natu-
ous theologies and doctrines, e.g.,            Before a person can be saved there          ral man can so well use the common
Dispensational Theology and Liber-             must be a witness from God; that wit-       grace  (by which they understand the
ation Theology; and from the lists             ness comes first through a knowledge        light of nature), or the gifts still left
of sources and-references at the end           of God. God reveals Himself to people       him after the fall, that he can gradually
of each chapter.                               through the avenue of common grace.         gain by their good use a greater,. viz.,
   The work is flawed, although not            When people participate in the mate-        the evangelical or saving grace and
destroyed, for the Reformed,                   rial blessings of God Watt. 545) it         salvafion itsel{ And that in this way
covenantal student of theology by              ought to make them reflect on the           God on His part shows Himself ready
the pervasive dispensationalism.               g00ams 0f God. Addifi0dy, Goa               to reveal Christ unto all men, since He
Enns is an avowed disciple of Pen-             has revealed something of Himself in        applies to all sufficiently and @i-
tecost, Walvoord, and Ryrie. Ac-               nature: His "eternal power and divine       ciently the means necessa y to conver-
cordingly, he assures the reader that          nature" are clearly seen by all (Ram.       sion W/W, Rejection of Errors, 5).
"the ultimate form of God's theo-              1:20).  All people have an awareness of        A good, helpful glossary of theo-
cratic kingdom is the millennial               their accountability to a righteous God,    logical terms is included at the
kingdom" (p. 27); promotes the                 all the while having been participants      end. q
rapture (pp. 112,113,141);  and de-            of His blessings toward them. With
clares that "the church is a separate          that awareness in mankind, the Holy         BEFORE BURNOIJ'I'z  BAL-
entity from Israel and remains dis-            Spirit convicts persons  of the righ-       ANCED LIVING FOR BUSY PEO-
tinct from Israel" (p. 351). Usually,          teousness of Jesus Christ who offers the    PLE, by Frank Minirth, Don
he makes a valiant effort to remain            solution to mankind's dilemma (John         Hawkins, Paul Meier, Chris Thur-
190 I The Standard Bearer I January 15,199l


man. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990.         Dick Howser, are held up as out-            The benefit of this short work for
189 pages. Paperback. $7.95. (Re-        standing examples of the Christian       Reformed and Presbyterian ruling
viewed by the Editor.1                   life, despite their gross transgres-     elders lies in its suggestions and
  In this book, the Minirth-Meier        sion of the Fourth Commandment           encouragement concerning the
Clinic applies the wisdom of its         (to say nothing of the utter waste of    practical aspects of the task of el-
Christian psychology to "burnout"        life in professional sport).             ders. Although all of the advice
in the Christian. Burnout is de-            The book is not without helpful       cannot be carried out in North
fined as "a cluster of symptoms, in-     insights. The authors note that the      America at the end of the 20th cen-
cluding emotional and physical ex-       most significant factor in burnout is    tury, the emphasis of the author,
haustion, depersonalization or a         the bitterness that results from         born of his own experience, upon a
tendency to withdraw from people,        holding grudges.                         thorough, loving knowledge of the
and decreased personal and profes-         Whatever the place of this             members of the congregation and a
sional performance" (p. 73). Since       "Christian psychology," a book           wise, faithful visitation of them, es-
a major cause of burnout is an "ob-      such as this reminds the Reformed        pecially in their need, is useful for
sessive-compulsive personality/          minister of his calling to preach the    elders today.
this personality is described, ana-      Word in its spiritual-psychological         If the great ends of our ofice are, by
lyzed, and admonished at length.         fulness and power. It reminds the        God's blessing, to be attained, it is
  The psychology is thick. The           believer to hear and read the Word       plain, in thefirst  place, that the elder    ,
Christianity is thin. Calvinism          that pierces "even to the dividing       must know the people in his dis-
takes it on the chin: "obsessive-        asunder of soul and spirit...and is a    trict.  He must be acquainted with
compulsives...tend to gravitate to-      discerner of the thoughts and in-        them all, old and young, their history,
ward a rather strong Calvinistic po-     tents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12) with     their occupations, their habits, their
sition with an emphasis on the           daily faith and obedience. 0             ways  of  thinking. They and their chil-
sovereignty of God....One of the                                                  dren should be his personal friends, so
reasons (they) hold to the all-en-                                                that they naturally turn to him as to
compassing sovereignty of God is         THE ELDER & HIS WORK, by                 one on whom they can depend as a
to give themselves a sense of con-       David Dickson. Dallas, Texas:            kind and sympathizing fried  and a
trol in a seemingly uncertain            Presbyterian Heritage Publications,      faithful counselor. He must know
world" (pp. 70,71).  (This quotation     1990. 96 pages. Paperback. $6.95.        them as they are at home....(p.  15)
indicates why I am suspicious of         (Reviewed by the Editor.)                   The office of elder for Dickson
the wisdom of psychology:                  David Dickson was a ruling el-         was obviously not a formality, but
Whereas Scripture teaches that con-      der in the (Presbyterian) Free           a calling and opportunity to care
fession of Divine sovereignty im-        Church of Scotland in the 19th cen-      for Christ's blood-bought people.
plies the believer's dependency, psy-    turns The Elder &His Work is a           This it must also be for every Re-
chology finds in this confession "a      reprint of the book originally pub-      formed elder.  Cl
sense of control.") Basketball star,     lished in the 1870s.
Bill Bradley, and baseball manager,




                                         News From  *
                                         Our Churches
ML Benjamin Wigger


                                         Congregational Highlights                  On the evening of December 131,
                                           The Young People's Society of          all of the adult societies of our
                                         our Edgerton, MN PRC sponsored           Hudsonville, MI PRC met in their
                                         a Christmas singspiration on the         annual combined Christmas Social.
                                         evening of December 23. Besides          The program included a piano-or-
                                         inviting members of their own con-       gan duet, some singing of
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protes-    gregation, they also extended invi-      traditional Christmas music, and a
tant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,     tations to our churches in Doon          short slide program on the Holy
Michigan.                                and Hull, Iowa.                          Land, given by Mrs. Tim Heemstra.

                                                                                  January  151991 /The Standard Bearer! 191


                                                                                                        SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                        Postage  Paid at
                                                                                                        Grand Rapids, Michigan

  l?O.  Box 6064
  Grand Rapids, Ml 49506



This was followed by an opportu-                cert, a concert that was sung with       missionary pastor in the Venice, FL
nity to discuss a portion of                    praise to the Lord, the Almighty,        area. Included in that trio with
Matthew 2. After seeing slides of               the King of Creation.                    Rev. Haak were the Revs. R., Cam-
the Holy Land, including Bethle-                School News                              menga and B. Gritters.
hem and Jerusalem, we find that                    The Hope PR Christian School in        i The Hudsonville, MI PRC was
the study of the wonder of the birth            Walker, MI presented their annual        scheduled to call a missionary after
of our Lord takes on new meaning.               all-school program, entitled "Songs      the Christmas morning service to
   In an effort to enjoy the many               of Christmas," on December 13 in         serve in the field of Larne, North-
musical talents that our Southeast              the First Jenison Christian Re-          ern Ireland, from a duo of Pastors
PRC seems to have been blessed                  formed Church.                           C. Haak and T. Miersma.
with, the congregation sponsored a              Evangelism  News                           The Hope PRC of Isabel, !3D was
short request program. These re-                   The Reformed Witness Commit-          scheduled to call a pastor on the
quests were sung or played by                   tee, made up of members of our           evening of December 27 from a trio
members, young and not so young.                Doon, Edgerton, and Hull PRC's,          of the Revs. C. Haak, R. Ha&o,
Special numbers consisted of a pi-              support two Bible discussion             and B. Gritters.
ano solo, a trumpet solo, a chil-               groups as part of its outreach. Rev.       And the Randolph, WI PRC
dren's musical number, and a quar-              DeVries  leads a Bible discussion ev-    made their ninth call since becom-
tet, to name just a few.                        ery other Tuesday in Sioux Falis,        ing vacant, this one to Rev. R.
   On consecutive Sunday                        IA. Participants in this group in-       Hanko, to serve as their pastor. On
evenings, the combined choirs of                clude members of the Doon PRC            the trio with Rev. R. Hanko `were
the Hudsonville and Faith PRC's                 and interested people in Sioux           the Revs. G. VanBaren and M. De-
presented their Christmas Con-                  Falls. They are studying the book        Vries. Cl
certs, first on December 9 in the au-           of Acts. And, for the second year,
ditorium of Hudsonville Church,                 the R.W.C. is sponsoring a Bible
and then one week later in South-               Study on the campus of Dordt Col-
west PRC. Each performance was                  lege. Rev. Dykstra and Chester           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
before a packed house. And no                   Hunter, Jr. lead this group in the         The Adult Bible Study of the
wonder, for the 101 voices, which               study of the book of Mark.               Faith Protestant Reformed Church,
also included members from the                  Ministerial Calls                        Jenison, Michigan expresses their
Holland, Hope, and Byron Center                    Our congregation in Kalamazoo,        Christian sympathy to Mr. and Mrs.
PRC's, presented a truly fine con-              MI called Rev. C. Haak to serve as       Gordon Moelker and family in the
                                                                                         death of their father and grand-
                                                                                         father MR. JOHN MOELKER.
                                                                                            Psalm 29:11, `The Lord will give
                                                                                         strength unto his people, the Lord
                                     NOTICE!!!                                           will bless his people with peace."
                                                                                                      June VanDenTop,  secretary

      Hope Protestant Reformed Christian School of Grand Rapids, MI is                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   offering up to $200,000 in notes to finance the renovation of the school,               After nearly eight years in a
                     5year notes: 8.0%; 1 O-year notes: 8.5%                             coma, MR. MARTIN "MARTY"
    These notes will be issued in multiples of $1,000, payable on demand                 STRAAYER was taken home to be
                            with interest paid semi-annually.                            with the Lord. The consistory and
                    For further information, please call or write:                       congregation of the Loveland
                                   Gordon Schipper                                       Protestant Reformed Church ex-
                                 3007 Willow Creek Dr.                                   press their heartfelt sympathy to
                                 Grandville, Ml 49418                                    Marty's family. May they be com-
                                                                                         forted by the promises of God's
                                    (616) 531-2322                                       Word and sustained by His glrace.
                                  or the school off ice:                                 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is'
                               1545 Wilson Avenue S.W.                                   the death of His saints," Psalm
                               Grand Rapids, Ml 49504                                    116:15.
                                    (616) 453-9717                                             Rev. Ron Cammenga, President
                                                                                                              Glen Griess, Clerk

192 / The Standard Bearer / January 15,1991


