 A Reformed
 Semi-Monthly
Magazine





Vol. 67, No. 9
February 1,1991


Contents                                                              February I, 1991                            THE
                                                                                                             STANDARD
Meditation - Rev. Jason L. Kortering
   RETAINING OUR FIRST LOVE                                                                           195        BELZRER
EDITORIALLY SPEAKING . . . - Prof. David J. fngelsma                                                  197     ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                                             Semr-monthly,  except monthly during June, July,
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                          and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
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   THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM                                                                          198    at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
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LETTERS                                                                                               200    49516.
                                                                                                             EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
ALL AROUND US - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                                                       Editor: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
                                                                                                             Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                                             Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
A Word Fitly Spoken - Rev. Dale /-/. Kuiper                                                                  DEPARTMENT EDITORS
   SALT                                                                                               202    Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                                             Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
                                                                                                             Critters, Rev. Carl Haak, Prof. Herman Hanko,
From Holy Writ - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                                      Rev. John  Heys,  Rev. Marvin Kamps, Rev. Kenneth
                                                                                                             Koole,  Rev. Jason Kortering, Rev. Dale Kuiper, Mr.
   EXPOSITION OF THE SONG OF MOSES (EXODUS 15:lff.) (2)                                               203    James Lanting, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.
                                                                                                             Marybeth  Lubbers, Rev. James  Slopsema,  Rev.
Special Article - Rev. Car/J. Haak                                                                           Charles Terpstra, Rev. Cise  VanBaren,  Rev. Ronald
                                                                                                             VanOverloop,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard
   APPLICATORY PREACHING                                                                              205    Woudenberg
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   THE REFORMED  FAMIW: GRANDPARENTS                                                                  210    terest from our readers and questions for The
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   FROM TASMANIA HOME - A REPORT                                                                      212    must be signed. Copy deadlines are the first and
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REPORT OF CLASSIS  EAST - Mr. Jon Huisken                                                                    editorial office.
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BOOK REVIEW                                                                                           214    articles in our magazine by other publications,
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NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES  -Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                                          215    made;  c) that a copy of the periodical in which
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194  I The Standard Bearer  1 February  1,199l


                                           Retaining Our
.Meditafion                                First Love
Rev. Jason Kortering


   Unto the angel of the church              First love!                             ence in the heathen city of Ephesus
of Ephesus write; These things               How precious it really is.              was a testimony of the power of
saith he that holdeth the seven              Love is significant, but first love     that love of God. Jesus said, in
stars in his right hand, who               is even more so.                          verse 1, "I know thy works." That
                                             Striking, is it not, that the first     says it all. The work of the church
walketh in the midst of the                subject which Jesus addressed to          was to preach the gospel and con-
seven golden candlesticks; I               His church on earth concerned             firm it with a life of obedience.
know thy works, and thy labour,            love. The letter to Ephesus begins a      They had exercised discipline  upon
and thy patience, and how thou             series of seven such letters to spe-      them who were evil, as we ,read in
canst not bear them which are              cific churches in Asia Minor. Each        verse 2: "Canst not bear them
                                           church had certain strengths and          which are evil" and, "hast tried
evil: and thou hast tried them             weaknesses which the Lord had to          them which say they are apostles
which say they are apostles, and           address. The weaknesses encom-            and are not." Certain individuals
are not, and hast found them               pass the loss of first love at Eph-       circulated among them, claiming
liars; and hast borne, and hast            esus, to the lukewarmness of              apostleship; but they were pre-
patience, and for my nameS                 Laodicea. The road to apostasy al-        tenders and had to be exposed as
sake hast laboured, and hast not           ways begins with the loss of first        such. Furthermore, in verse 6 we
                                           love.                                     read that they hated the deeds of
fainted.                                     The reason should be obvious.           the Nicolaitanes, a segment within
  Nevertheless I have somewhat             Love is vital to the covenant rela-       the church who synthesized the
against thee, because thou hast            tionship which we enjoy with God.         gospel with pagan culture and
left thy first love. Remember              The highest good for man is to en-        claimed you could be a Christian
therefore from whence thou art             joy covenant friendship with the          and at the same time enjoy heathen
fallen, and repent, and do the             ever blessed God; or, as the West-        festivals. For maintaining their
                                           minster Catechism expresses it, the       obedience to Christ members of the
first works; or else I will come           chief end of man is to glorify God        church of Ephesus suffered perse-
unto thee quickly, and will re-            and to enjoy Him fully forever. To        cution. In verses 2 and 3, mention
move thy candlestick out of his            accomplish this, we need love. It is      is made of their patience, a quality
place, except thou repent.                 the spiritual energy that brings us       of strength which God gives to
   But this thou hast, that thou           to God. `Now abideth faith, hope,         those who endure hardships.
                                           love, these three; but the greatest of       All of this indicates that the
hatest the deeds of the Nicolai-           these is love" (I Cor. 13:13).            church of Ephesus loved Jesus.
tanes, which I also hate. He                 Such love is of God! God Him-              Can that be said of your church
that hath an ear, let him hear             self is love (I John 4%. Love is the      as well?
what the Spirit saith unto the             moving cause for our salvation:             As a Reformed church, we have
churches; Tohim that over-                 "in love, having predestinated us         been heirs of a wonderful heritage.
cometh will Igive to eat                   unto the adoption of children"
                              of the                                                 It was out of the desire to propa-
                                           (Eph. 1:5). "God so loved the             gate the great truths of the Re-
tree of life, which is in the midst        world that he gave his only begot-        formed faith without hindrance,
of the paradise of God.                    ten Son" (John 3:16). The work of         that our Protestant Reformed
                 -Revelation 2:1-7         the Holy Spirit within us produces        Churches had their beginning. We
                                           a loving response, "Abba, Father"         saw common grace and the free of-
                                           (Gal. 4~6). Love is what salvation is     fer of the gospel as a compromise
Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Protes-    all about.                                of our calling to be faithful to the
tant Reformed Church of Grandville,          Jesus acknowledged that the             Lord Jesus. This love was also
Michigan.                                  church of Ephesus possessed this          tested in our history as churches.
                                           love in a great measure. Their pres-      During the 195Os, the error of a
                                                                                     February 1,199l I The Standard Bearer  / 195


conditional covenant arose within              prays faithfully, and diligently im-         place to be sure. You can do these
our churches from without, and                 plements all he has learned about            things just to be seen of men; but
our commitment to sovereign grace              spiritual things.                            you will never be on your knees in
was put to the test. It too taught us            These are the newly converted              the inner closet, except with the
patience, endurance through diffi-             - i.e., either newly converted to            pure motive of love. -
cult times.                                    the Christian faith, or, in the case of        What about your  home life? We            ~
   All of this is proof of love, God's         one who has been a Christian for             show our love of God by loving
wonderful love in us and through               some time, newly come to appreci-            our neighbors. The close:st neigh-
us, that draws us into a covenant of           ate the Reformed faith. This is the          bors we have are in the family: our
friendship with Him. The local                 experience of a newly organized              husband/wife, our  parente/Chil-
congregation manifests this love               congregation, whether that be                dren. Love of God is she>wn in a
both in her ministry, her life among           through the work of missions or              godly home life.
the members, and her concern for               the constituting of a new congrega-            Then there are the fellolw members
others without.                                tion in an area where the church             of the congregation. Love c)f God is
   What about first love? This is the          has already been established. This           not shown in fault-find@ g, gossip,
issue here in verse 4: "thou hast              is the response of the church liber-         judging others. Rather it is shown
left thy first love"; and also in verse        ated from internal strife and enjoy-         in caring, building up God's
5: "repent and do the first works."            ing the benefits of reformation.             church, helping where wt2 can.
   To help us understand, we may                 Jesus looks upon such love, not            Any local congregation ciIII mea-
properly compare the love relation-            as a passing fad, but a necessary            sure her degree of love bJI the treat-
ship between husband and wife to               expression that continues in the        -    ment shown to other mernbers.
that between Christ and the church.            church.                                        Then we show love by the
This is biblical. Ephesians 6 in-                Thou hast lost thy first love!             amount of involvement vre have in
structs the husband to love his wife             Even though love will mature as            opportunities  to grow spiritually. This
as Christ loves His church. In Rev-            time goes on, Jesus does not want            love of God needs nouris hment.
elation 21:2 the church is called the          His church to lose the fervor, jo$           The way to do that is to tnurn off the
bride of Christ. Within the human              and loyalty manifest in her origin.          noisemakers and distractors and
relationship of love, we may distin-             Two things enter into considera-           spend time reading, in slyIlritual  re-
guish three stages of love: first love,        tion here. First, the evaluation of          flection, in singing and exjoying
enduring love, and perfect love.               the intensity of our love must focus         music. This includes discussing
First love is characterized by three           upon ourselves in the office of all          God's Word with others. It in-
qualities: fervor (a great intensity),         believers. It will not do, simply to         eludes also attending sockieties, dis-
joy (that verges on ecstasy), and              look at the church as a gathering of         cussion groups, and such like. You
loyalty (a deep sense that you will            people. This is vital, to be sure; but       can measure your first 107vte by
never be interested in anyone else).           the church is made up of the sum             these.
Such first love is described in                total of all members. Love is very             Finally, what of our zea!I for mis-
Fsalm 19:5, where the morning sun              personal. Jesus wants us to evalu-           sions? Are we serious abcjut our
is compared to the bridegroom,                 ate ourselves. What is the condi-            witnessing to others andabout
"coming out of his chamber and re-             tion of our love for God, for Jesus,         support of missions within the
joiceth as a strong man to run a               for ourselves and each other? Sec-           church?
race." Enduring love is a more sta-            ondly, we must also take into con-             If there is any lack in tlme areas,
ble, enriched love which has the               sideration that the intensity of love        we must repent! If we dc not pay
benefit of testing, the kind of love           will fluctuate. We must not despair          attention to our lack of love. the re-
you can count on because it has                if we lack enthusiasm because we             sult will be disastrous. Tlhe'same  is
been proven over and over. Perfect             are passing through a season of              true in marriage: neglect love and
love is our future in glory when we            lukewarmness. We must rather ex-             you will grow apart, and your mar-
shall love one another without sin.            amine ourselves and heed the                 riage could well end in djivorce.
  The Christian who has come to                warning here and turn things                 The same is true of the chlurch. The
like precious faith in the God of all          around.                                      road to Laodicea is through Eph-
glory expresses first love. It takes             How can we measure whether                 esus. It all starts with 10ss of first
on the character of fervor: one's              we have lost our first love?                 love. Jesus says, Repent (3:r else I
whole life and conversation is cen-              I suggest five areas. What about           will remove the candlestick (verse
tered in growing in faith and know-            your deuotiond life? That is proba-          5). When that happens, aL church
ing more about God. It is character-           bly the best measure of how much             stops being a church.
ized by joy - a special exuberance             you love your Lord. Conversation               The key word Jesus use:s is, "Re-
and glow of life when we learn of              is the heart-beat of friendship. The         member from whence them art
forgiveness of sin and peace with              friends we love are the friends with         fallen and repent." Remcmber,  as
God through Christ Jesus. And it               whom we spend time and talk. Do              the way to repent!
takes on the character of loyalty.             you take time to be alone with God             Many of you have expcerienced
Such a one never misses church, is             - not just in family devotions, or           first love. Perhaps some Iof our
present always at the meetings,                in church worship. That has its              readers have not. They d.a not even

196 / The Standard Bearer I February 1,199l


know or cannot recall times when          say they lost their first love and        obediently do what God requires of
love was fervent, joyful, and filled      there is nothing else to do but di-       us, and that in itself will generate
with loyalty. I suggest it is for this    vorce each other. Here we are re-         love. Just spend more time with
reason that God has aged saints in        minded that the way to generate           God in quiet reflection and dis-
His church, and why it is such a joy      first love in a marriage is to do the     cover for yourself.
when He brings newly converted            first works. Treat each other the           May God give us the ears to hear
ones into the body of Christ. What        way you did when you dated and            what the Spirit says.
a role they fill by helping the           were first married, and you will            This leads us to the perfect love
church to remember "first love."          find that first love will return. The     of the paradise of God. 0
  One more thing: Do the first            same is true for the church. Prac-
works. Many times married people          tice energetically the first works,




                                          Editorially Speaking.. .

n Subscriptions                            H Outlines for                           n Special Issue on
                                              Bible Study                               Creation Planned
  The results of our mini-cam-
paign to extend the witness of the           Especially our societies and              The May 1,199l issue of the SB
Standard Bearer with the help of our       other Bible study groups should          will be devoted to the Reformed
readers are in. We had asked that          know that after Rev. Gise VanBaren       doctrine of creation, God willing.
each of our present subscribers            completes his outlines on the book       Treatment of this basic truth of the
submit at least five names to whom         of Philippians, we will publish, in      Christian faith will include such
,we would send a complimentary             regular installments, outlines on        topics as the creedal statement on
copy of the SB and an order form.          Ruth by Rev. Carl Haak. The first        creation; the relation of creation
It is encouraging that 240 names           installment should appear in the         and science; the importance of cre-
were submitted. Of these, 17 have          March 1,199l issue. We suggest           ation for Christian education; cne-
now subscribed to our magazine.            that our societies decide to study       ation and ecology; an analysis of
What is disappointing is that these        Ruth. Of course, the outlines will       theistic evolution; and more. Our
names were submitted by only 24            serve well also for personal study.      consistories, evangelism commit-
of our subscribers. Had all of our                                                  tees, and Christian schools may
more than 2,000 subscribers sent in                                                 find this special issue useful in
as many names as did the 24 and            n New Publications                       their teaching and witnessing. We
had a corresponding percentage of                                                   will make extra copies of this issue
the names subscribed, we would               We call the attention of our read-     available at attractive prices. Or-
now have more than 1,300 new               ers to two recent publications of        ders for extra copies of this issue
subscribers and readers.                   the book publishing committee of         must be placed well in advance of
   We continue our efforts to ex-          the R.F.P.A. One is The Doctrine of      publication so that we can have a
pand our readership. The board of          Scripture by Professor Homer C.          sufficient number of copies
the Reformed Free Publishing As-           Hoeksema, a 93-page paperback            printed. Call or write our business
sociation has advertised the SB in         selling for $6.95. The other is Stud-    office for information or to place
the Christian Observer. Presently          ies in Philippians by Rev. Carl Haak,    your order. Cl                     -DF
they are running an advertisement          a 63-page study guide selling for
in the (Presbyterian) Journey.             $3.95. Order from the R.F.P.A., P.O.
                                           Box 2006, Grand Rapids, MI 49501.
                                           Those living in Western Michigan         No sinful word, nor deed of
0 Lord, how happy should we be             can obtain both of these books, as             wrong,
If we could cast our care on Thee,         well as all the publications of the         Nor thoughts that idly rove;
   If we from self could rest;             R.F.P.A., at the Reformed Book           But simple truth be on our tongue,
And feel at heart that One above,          Outlet in Hudsonville, MI.                  And in our hearts be love.
In perfect wisdom, perfect love,                                                                    SB, November 15,1932
   Is working for the best.
                  SB, October 1,1932

                                                                                    February 1,199l I The Standard Bearer / 197


                                               The Collapse
 Editorial                                     of Communism

   The past year witnessed a truly             would result in poverty. Commu-          show themselves amicable to the
 significant event: the collapse of            nism collapsed because it could not      nations of the West, seeking loans.
 Communism. That theological-eco-              supply the bread.                        Nor do the governments and press
 nomic-political colossus reared up              Communism failed politically. It       of the West bring up the appalling
 in world history by Marx, Lenin,              extended and maintained itself by        crimes of the Communists. All is
 and Stalin and taking form espe-              sheer force and stark terror. This       overlooked and forgotten. The suf-
 cially in the Soviet Union since the          was its deliberate policy. Its gov-      fering of untold millions is ignored.
 Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 has              ernment was tyranny. Not only            Overnight, as soon as the hard-
 fallen. Communism has proved an               does Communism have the distinc-         pressed Communist leaders smile
 utter failure.                                tion of producing some of the cru-       at the West, the rulers and people
   History's judgment of Commu-                elest, most brutal tyrants in all the    of the West embrace them as
 nism was replete with ironies that            bloody history of the fallen race,       friends and allies. In an act that
made the fall of the house of Marx,            but also every Communist regime          confirms the Christian's contempt
 Lenin, and Stalin even more devas-            was tyrannical. But men and na-          for the plaudits and prizes of the
 tating. Communism failed eco-                 tions will not indefinitely endure       world, the West gives the head of
 nomically. While the capitalism of            tyranny. Even the animal will fi-        the Soviet Union a peace prize!
 the West was bringing greater ma-             nally turn on his tormentor in des-      And billions of dollars to bail out
 terial prosperity to more people              peration. And man has a natural          the bankrupt nation.
 than ever before in history, Com-             desire for earthly freedom. The            The West shares the guilt for the
 munism (funded in large part by               subject peoples in Communist             atrocities of Communism. At the
 borrowed capital from the West to             countries rebelled against the dicta-    end of World War II, in full knowl-
 begin with) reduced its millions to           torship of the party. This is ironic.    edge'of what this meant for those
 destitution. It was the economic              Communism has always preached            hapless peoples, the United States
 failure of Communism that brought             and incited revolution. It was itself    and Great Britain turned over the
 it down in Eastern Europe and in              born of revolution in Russia. Revo-      nations of Eastern Europe to the
 the Soviet Union. The people saw              lution by their peoples against the      tender mercies of Stalin. The na-
 the wealth of the West and would              governments of the capitalist na-        tions of the West accepted the So-
 not put up with their poverty any             tions of the West was to be the way      viet Union, Red China, and the
 longer. This is ironic, for Commu-            in which the Communist utopia            other murderous, Marxist sta.tes as
 nism's claim has always been that             would be realized. In the end, it        members in good standing of the
 it is exactly its economic theory that        was Communism that went under            international community. The po-
 makes it an irresistible power,               in revolution or the threat of revo-     litical liberals in the United States
 whereas the downfall of the West              lution.                                  fawned over the Communist move-
 was supposed to be assured by its               It was a monstrous experiment.         ment. "I have seen the future and
 capitalist economics. Communism               The terror, the torture, and the         it works," cried Lincoln Steffens,
 was right when it insisted on the             murder inflicted by the Marxist          typical liberal, upon a visit tab Stal-
 importance of bread - man must                states over the past 70 years, usu-      inist Russia in the 30s. But it did
 eat. (1800 years before Marx, Jesus           ally upon their own citizens, defy       not work. And even if it did
 made the request for bread the first          human calculation and comprehen-         "work," such was the nature of its
 of the petitions for man's own                sion. Joseph Stalin alone was re-        working - the secret police, arrest
 needs in the model prayer.) But it            sponsible for the deliberate murder      in the night, the kangaroo court
 was wrong when it asserted that               of 60 million Russians, whether by       and show trial, the Gulag, and the
 ownership of industry and farming             starvation, or by the concentration      policy of crushing the individual in
 by the State would produce this               camps, or by summary execution.          the interests of the exalted State -
 bread in abundance, whereas per-              For this, there is not a word of re-     that anyone with a love of truth
 sonal ownership of the means of               pentance on the part of the Com-         and justice would abominate it.
 production and private enterprise             munist leaders as they suddenly

 198 I `he Standard Bear& I February 1,199l


  `Never was the sbinelessness  -          nism is hostile to God and His                threatens to undo the West eco-
the utter lack of p&iple - of the          Christ. This is the essence of Com-           nomically. Witness the looting of
West more apparent than when               munism. The essence of Commu-                 the banks by the capitalists them-
President Ford of the United States        nism is not economic. It is not po-           selves with the connivance of the
and his Secretary of State, Henry          litical. It is not social. But it is reli-    highest officials of government.
Kissinger, declined to receive at the      gious. It is Communism's hatred of            And an increasingly man-centered
White House the great, exiled Rus-         God. Marx wrote that "(the Chris-             West idolizes the State, just as is
sian patriot and courageous foe of         tian) religion is the opiate of the           done by Communism.
Communism, Aleksandr Solzhenit-            people." Lenin declared, "the only               Nor does the collapse of Com-
syn. Solzhenitsyn proved prophetic         idol we permit and maintain is                munism signal ease for the church.
when he wrote, in 1975:                    godlessness." Solzhenitsyn stated,            With the collapse of Communism
   Ipuf no hopes in fhe Wesf - in-         "Atheism is the core of the whole             has come a remarkable uniting of
deed, no Russian ever should. If we        Communist system." Wherever                   the nations. The cold war is over.
eoer become free if will only be by our    Communism prevailed, it perse-                The nations are seeking each other
own efforts. If fhe fwenfiefh cenfu y      cuted the church. Billy Graham                on behalf of "a new world order."
has any lesson for mankind, if is we       showed himself a false prophet or a           When the nations are one, the
who will teach the West, nof fhe West      dupe or both when he preached a               church must expect the final form
us. Excessive ease and prospetify  have    few years ago in the Soviet Union,            of the kingdom of the beast and the
weakened fheir will and their reason       under the auspices of its servile             great tribulation.
(The Oak and the Calf, p. 119).            church, and declared that he saw                 But in the collapse of Commu-
   The theological liberals in the         no evidence of persecution in Com-            nism with its resultant unifying of
West will carry into the Judgment          munist Russia. As he spoke, the               the nations, the Reformed believer
complicity in Communism's evils.           true saints groaned in the dreadful           hears the footfall of his coming
Never could the Marxist-leaning            camps in Siberia and the blood of             Lord, Jesus the Christ. He is com-
World Council of Churches find in          Christian martyrs cried out to God            ing. He is coming quickly. He is
itself to condemn the injustices and       from the Russian soil.                        coming for judgment. The judg-
outrages of the Communist coun-               God judged the deified State               ments in history are imperfect.
tries. On the contrary, it supported       with overthrow that exposed it as             There must be the Final Judgment
Communism's revolutionaries, rev-          an impotent idol.                             of nations and individuals. God
olutions, and tyrannies with money            The kingdoms that rage against             will render to every man according
and praise - in the name of the            Him and His Christ, God breaks                to his deeds. His terror outstrips
God and Father of Jesus Christ. It         with a rod of iron already in his-            and avenges that of the Stalins of
accepted Communism's religious             tory.                                         this world. The Stalins forget this
stooges as legitimate, honored                The collapse of Communism                  to their eternal sorrow.
members of a council whose consti-         does not imply the justification of              Let us not forget this, for judg-
tution confesses (vainly) the Jesus        the democratic and capitalist West.           ment must begin at the house of
detested by Communism as Lord.             The nations of the West also lie un-          God.
And it did its best to fill the mem-       der the judgment of God. For in                  "Come, Lord Jesus, through the
ber churches with the Communist            them earthly liberty unbounded by             collanse of Communism and the
propaganda.                                the law of God has become license             unifying  of the nations in their new
   The collapse of Communism is            and virtual chaos. Witness the                world order that leaves Thee and
not merely an inexorable judgment          promiscuity and abortion. And                 Thy Kingship out of considera-
of history. It is the judgment of the      capitalism divorced from the                  tion!"
living God upon Communism in               sovereignty of God over things ma-               "Come, Lord Jesus, for judg-
history. What Daniel told another          terial has become greed that now              ment!" q                            - DJE
tyrant as his kingdom was collaps-
ing holds true for the collapse of
Communism: The most high God,
who rules in the kingdom of men,                                Thy home is with the humble, Lord!
has numbered your kingdom and                                           The simple are Thy rest;
finished it (Dan. 5:17ff.).                                     Thy lodging is in childlike hearts;
   God judged an economic system                                        Thou makest there Thy nest.
that defied His law of personal
property and private enterprise               This deliverance of the soul from all useless and selfish and unquiet cares,
with economic and political disas-         brings to it an unspeakable peace and freedom; this is true simplicity. This
                                           state of entire resignation and perpetual acquiescence produces true liberty;
ter.                                       and this liberty brings perfect simplicity. The soul which knows no self-seek-
   God judged a cruel and bloody
dictatorship with revolt and over-         ing, no interested ends, is thoroughly candid; it goes straight forward with-,
throw.                                     out hindrance; its path opens daily more and more to "perfect day," in pro-
   God judged an avowedly atheis-          portion as its self-renunciation and its self-forgetfulness increase; and its
tic kingdom with ruin. Commu-              peace, amid whatever troubles beset it, will be as boundless as the depths of
                                           the sea.                                                    - SB, November 15,1932

                                                                                         February I, 1991 I The Standard Bearer I I.99


                                               Letters

H Reformed                                       Iastlv, we can see that the astro-       The Post-millennial view holds the
    Eschatology                                nom&imagery is a parallel with             world will continue to improve be-
                                               Old Testament judgments on pagan           fore the end.
                                               nations. Examples include Babylon            Regarding his other points: (1) I
  What a blessing your magazine                in Isaiah 13; Edom in Isaiah 34;           would not deny that the pope has
has been the past couple of months!            Samaria in Amos 8; and Egypt in            been one of the many antichrists,
I believe and practice the Reformed            Ezekiel 32. Do these parallels not         nor that he may become the An-
faith in our Orthodox Presbyterian             clearly indicate that Jesus is merely      tichrist at the end. (2) Matthew 24
congregation here, but I continue to           using Old Testament imagery, inti-         is a chapter that finds partial fulfill-
be encouraged by the sharing of                mately familiar to His audience, to        ment in A.D. 70 and partial fulfill-
our Reformed brethren else-                    signify to them God's final excom-         ment, clearly, at the very end and
where....                                      munication of Israel?                      the return of Christ. (3) And the
  I was, though, rather discour-                 Brethren, I believe that the Re-         brother's last paragraph about hu-
aged by the eschatological articles            formed faith is the only sufficient        manism shows the fundamental
by Rev. Gritters.... I really felt like I      antidote to our nation's addiction         difference in viewpoint between
was reading some excerpt from Hal              to humanism. But that antidote is          the Post-millennial and the A-mil-
Lindsey, or one of our local dispen-           undermined by a dispensationalist          lennial Reformed believer.
sational preachers.                            presupposition that the errors of             If Mr. Cole, or other readers, are
  First, the articles violated the             humanism are a biblical aspect of          interested in the comparison be-
plain statements of Reformed                   our culture. In other words, we            tween the three millennial views,
creeds. The Westminster Confes-                can't stop humanism if we believe          they may write to me at the edito-
sion explicitly identifies the An-             that it belongs here.                      rial office, and we will make avail-
tichrist with the papacy. I believe                           - Christopher S. Cole       able in-depth studies from the A-
the Be&c Confession makes a simi-                                        Charlotte, NC    millennial viewpoint. Or they may
lar remark.                                                                               wait for further articles in my
   Secondly, and more importantly,                                                        rubric, "The Strength of Youth,"
the author's interpretations vio-              N Response                                 where I will be discussing the ques-
lated other, plainer passages. Rev.                                                       tion, although not in detail.
Gritters forgot one of the funda-                Brother Cole's letter seems to in-                          - Rev. Barry Gritters
mental principles of biblical                  dicate that he has never heard of an
hermeneutics, i.e., that the less clear        A-millennialist. To compare an A-
passages of Scripture must be inter-           millennial (Reformed) view of the          H A Good Calvinist
preted in the light of other passages          end times with Hal Lindsey and
where the concept is shown more                dispensationalist preachers is a sur-           Magazine
clearly.                                       prising mistake that should not be
   For example, that Matthew 24                made by one who obviously has                 Enclosed find (a generous gift -
refers to the period preparatory to            studied the Scripture.                     Ed.) to help with the cost of putting
the destruction of Jerusalem in                   There are similarities between          out your very good Calvinist maga-
A.D. 70, is plainly explained by the           the dispensational/Premillennial           zine.
paraphrase, "Jerusalem surrounded              view and the A-millennial view                It is a special blessing especially
by armies," in Luke 21. In addi-               (ours) of eschatology, in that both        to those of us who do not h,ave
tion, Jesus Himself, within the pas-,          believe that the world will become         good, scriptural, Calvinist churches
sage under consideration, refers the           worse before the return of Christ.         near by . . . .
time of its fulfillment to "this gen-          (In this sense they differ radically          I thank God for guiding me in
eration.N The quibble that "genera-            from the Post-mill view, which             His Word.
tion" means "race" collapses under             seems to be brother Cole's.) But                                 - Mrs. R.E. Kelley
the scrutiny of any word study. In             the similarity ends there. Pre-mills                                 Sandusky, OH
no other use of "generation" is                believe that Christ will return to
"race" even a possible interpreta-             reign on the earth for a thousand
tion.                                          years; we believe that His return
                                               will be the end of the present earth.
200 I The Standard Bearer I February 1,199l


      H Courageous                                dad Bearer ("God's Continuing                  tion! Keep up the good work in
           Publication                            Controversy with Unchanged                    these times of apostasy, theological
                                                  Rome," The SB, October 15,1990X  I             drift, and of Neo-Evangelical com-
         Recently I read, in Christian            want to subscribe to a paper that              promise. God bless your print-
      News, a reprint of a very impressive        takes such a bold stand!                       ministry! q
      article countering Popery that was             I look forward eagerly to receiv-                                    - Cl? Gerald Parker
      originally published in The Sfan-           ing your fine, courageous publica-                                         Quebec, Canada




      Prof. Robert Decker                        All Around Us

      H Kansas City Prophets                      would have a minisf y like unto the            enf hues meaning differenf  things; by
                                                  apostle Paul. ("My great predeces-             hearing voices either infernally or au-
         There is a church in Kansas City         sor," Cain smilingly calls  him.)  The         dibly.
      (Kansas City Fellowship by name)            angel gave her a sign fhaf this                   According to this same writer,
      that is creating quite a stir in           prophecy about her son was true: that              . . . the world Cain painfs is affrac-
      charismatic circles. Its pastor, Mike      she would live an unusually long life.          five and exciting in itself Hisfo y is
      Bickle, and "prophets" such as Bob          Last year she died af fhe age of 104.          alive, and we are in the center of
      Jones, John Paul Jackson, and Paul             Cain received his firs f visif from the     God's sfrafegies. Signs and wonders,
      Cain claim that the prophetic gift         Lord when he was 8. The Lord fold              said Cain, will continue fo increase fo
      should be restored in the church;          him he would have a great minisf y if           where the church will do greafer  works
      that prophecy is a natural, biblical       he kept himself pure. As a teenager, he         than ]esus did. The last-days church
      means for God to speak to His peo-         was already on the healing circuit,            will be unequalled in power, purify,
      ple; and that this increased               crisscrossing fhe country, his spe-            and unify . . . . Cain describes his vi-
      prophetic activity is a sign of the        cial fy, prophetically felling people          sion of an army of children that will1
      emergence of the last days' victori-        their names, backgrounds, and their           parade down the streets, healing whole
      ous church. Last May the Kansas            ailments, and that fhe Lord was heal-          hospital wards. He foresees news
      City Fellowship became part of             ing them. Crowds would sometimes               broadcasfs  where fhe anchors report no
      John Wimber's Vineyard network             report seeing angels s funding beside          bad news because eve yone is in sports
      of some 300 churches. Last June            Cain as he spoke. He became known              arenas hearing the gospel. Over a bil-
      over 7,000 people gathered in              for his reclusive ways, fasting for @s         lion will be saved. The dead will be
      Kansas City for a leadership con-          before his talks, being blindfolded in         raised; limbs will be restored; fhose
      ference sponsored by Kansas City           fhe back seat of the car on his way to         with handicaps will jump from fhair
      Fellowship. "Prophet" Paul Cain            assemblies so fhaf nothing he saw              wheelchairs and crutches will be cast
      was one of the featured speakers at        would disfracf him from his revela-            aside; and those in fhe stadiums will
      the conference.                            tions.                                         go for days wifhouf food or wafer and
        Cain's life story is bizarre.               As a young man he was engaged to            never notice . . . .`I
      Michael G. Maudlin  (Christianity          be married, but, he claims, one night             All this, the Reformed believer.
      Today, January 14,1991)  tells us:         while he was driving the Lord ap-              has no difficulty recognizing as evil
        Like Jesus and the Buddha, Cain`s        peared in fhe passenger seat and said          blasphemy. The Scriptures warn
      legend begins with a miraculous birth.     that he was "jealous" of Cain's com-           us in II Peter 2 of the false teachers
     Pregnant in her mid-forties, suffering      pany, and called him fo a celibate, sin-       who bring damnable heresies into
      ferminally  from fuberculosis,  a heart    gle life. With Cain's con.+enf,  fhe Loid      the church and whose pernicious
     condition, and cancer, Cain's mother        also took away Cain's sexual desire . . . .    ways many follow. Men like Cahn
     was purportedly visited by an angel         In a recorded falk, Bickle summarized.         claim direct revelation. The special
     who promised that she would be              all the ways Cain receives revelations:        office of prophet in the New Testa-
     healed, that she would bear a son, and      by mental impressions; by physical             ment Church ceased with the end
     he  would be called "Paul," because he      sympfoms (pains  in his body corre-            of the apostolic age and the close of
                                                 sponding to where someone is af-               the Canon of Holy Scripture. The
                                                 flicted); by fhe angel of the Lord visif-      test we must apply to all preachers
     Prof. Decker is professor of Pracfical      ing Cain in dreams, trances, or sfand-         and supposed "prophets" is: "To
     Theology in fhe Profesfanf Reformed         ing by him invisibly and speaking to           the law and to the testimony: if
/    Semina y.                                   him; by seeing spirifual ligh fs, differ-      they speak not according to this
                                                                                                February 1,199l I The Standard Bearer I' 201


word, it is because there is no light          unopposed by the NCC General              in the heart of the city/ helps about
in them" (Isa. 8:20).                          Board. Ms. Campbell is an or-             10 women each month to obtain
   As bad as all this is, what is more         dained minister in the Christian          abortions. The chtich spent more
disturbing is the response of                  Church (Disciples of Christ), she         than $13,000.00  for this cause in
Maudlin. His response is, let's wait           also has standing as an American          1990. As far back as 1968 the
and see. If these prophecies hap               Baptist minister. She is known for        church began helping poor women
pen, then Cain is legitimate. And              her activist stands against racism        end their pregnancies by arranging
Maudlin writes in Chrisfiunify To-             and sexism. Campbell replaces in-         trips to countries where abortion
day, the prestigious magazine and              terim geneial  secretary James A.         was legal. The church sponsors an
voice of the neo-evangelical move-             Hamilton, who took over following         abortion clinic in Grand Rapids.
ment in this country.                          the July 1989 resignation of Arie         David Rankin, the church's pastor,
                                               Brouwer. Brouwer is an ordained           says abortions are ordained by God
                                               minister in the Reformed Church in        because females are endowed with
n Woman To Head                                America.                                  the capacity to abort naturalky
    the NCC                                                     - Chrisfianify Today     through miscarriage.
                                                                                           Now, in the city of churches, the
                                                                                         "Jerusalem" of the Reformed tradi-
   Joan Brown Campbell in Novem-                                                         tion, we find a "church" that spon-
ber became the second woman and                H Grand Rapids Church                     sors the murder of the unbor:n.
the first female minister to be cho-               Funds Abortions                       Fountain Street is not worthy of the
sen to serve as general secretary of                                                     name church. 0
the National Council of Churches                 Fountain Street Church, which                    -National and Infernational
(NCC). Campbell, 59, was elected               advertises itself as a `liberal church
           -                                                                                                   Religion Report.





202 I The Standard Bearer / February 1,199l


                                            Exposition of the
From Holy                                   Song of Moses
Writ
Rev. George lubbers                         (Exodus 15:lff.) (2)

  The historical perspective of this        not made with human hands. It             fire by night. Not an enemy is in
prophetic song should be carefully          was established by "thy hands"            sight! Here and yonder a dead
observed by us.                             (Ex. 15:17). Here the LORD will           body of a soldier lies on the shore
  It will be 40 years before Joshua         reign forever!                            - perhaps also the body of
will lead Israel across the river Jor-        In a sense, Israel is standing in       Pharaoh. And Israel sings as if
dan into the promised land (Jos.            the very sanctuary of Jehovah at          they are already standing at the sea
3:14ff.).  And it will be 480 years be-     the shores of the Red Sea. Have           of glass singing the victory song of
fore the temple of Solomon will             they not all been baptized into           the Lamb standing on Mount Zion
have been built (I Rings 6:l). And          Moses in the cloud and in the sea?        (Rev. 14:lff.j. And their refrain
it will not be till the time of Christ's    Were they not under the protection        shall resound through the ages, as
death and resurrection that the new         of the cloud of Jehovah's glory all       sung by those who "have tasted of
and everlasting house of God will           through the night? Did not the            the heavenly gift, and were made
have been built, in which all na-           spirit of glory and of God rest upon      partakers of the Holy Ghost, and
tions shall have a place, the elect Is-     them (I Cor. lO:l, 2; I Pet. 4:14)?       have tasted of the good word of
rael of God, the dwelling place of          Yes, they were a most blessed peo-        God and the powers of the world
God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:13-22).           ple. The eternal God was their            to come" (Heb. 6:4,5).
And, lastly, it will not be till the fi-    refuge, and underneath were the             For the children of Israel sing.
nal glorious renewal of all things          everlasting arms. God rode in this        No, not all that was called Israel
that the Tabernacle of God shall be         night to their help in His excellence     sang in true spiritual joy. They saw
with men (Rev. 21:lff.j. Then shall         on the sky (Deut. 3327).  And, in         the wonder of deliverance from
there be a new heaven and new               the very heavens where God estab-         Pharaoh, but did not see that this
earth wherein righteousness shall           lished His bow in the cloud, Israel       was water of separation from sin
dwell (II Pet. 3:lOff.).                    dwelt safely!                             and death; that it called for a new
  The grandeur of the Song of                 It was the great NAME of JEHO-          obedience of faith and humble
Moses and of the children of Israel         VAH of which they sing. That              waiting upon God's bidding on
is that it casts its prophetic glance       name of Jehovah is upon their lips.       their desert journey. And many,
across these ages, as if all was fully      Thirteen times they confess this          whose carcasses fell in the desert,
accomplished in their deliverance           great and glorious name. Pharaoh          would not, could not enter into thie
from Egypt and in their being led           in stubborn ignorance and total un-       promised land because of their un-
into the land promised to Abraham           belief had dared to utter the blas-       belief (Heb. 3:18). However, there
and to his seed!                            phemous words "Who is Jehovah             were those who had their hearing
  Israel will be brought into the           that I should obey his voice to let       mingled with faith. They were th'e
land and "planted" in the inheri-           Israel go? I know not Jehovah, nei-       spiritual Joshuas and Calebs -the
tance of God. This inheritance, this        ther will I let Israel go!" (Ex. 5:2).    remnant according to election of
holy habitation, is called the Sanc-        But that morning the song of Israel       grace!
tuary of God. This is a Sanctuary           was: some trust in chariots, and          The Joyful Redemption Song
which God has "established." It is          some in horses, but we will remem-          Yes, it is redemption's song. In a
                                            ber the Name of our God (Ps. 20:7).       very real sense this was a sacrifice
                                              They stand here at the shore of         upon the altar, the golden. It was
                                            the Red Sea. The sea is now calm.         the sacrifice of thanksgiving; it was
                                            It is as if it were a sea of glass. It    the fruit of the lips. Other sacrifice
                                            may well have reflected in a thou-        Israel could not, may not bring at
Rev. Lubbers is a minisfer  emeritus in     sand ways the glory of the She-           this point. Their "sacrifice had
the Profesfanf Reformed Churches.           kinah-cloud, which was a pillar of        been slain." In a typical sense God

                                                                                      February 1,199l /The Standard Bearer I 2103


says to them here: For Christ, your             very doorstep of the Promised land       rael had dawned (Jos. 5:9). And,
Passover, has been slain for you.               - in hope. Perhaps they are more         think of it, perhaps not less than
Why? Because in the deepest sense               than a million strong. Seventy           500,000 women could participate in
this sacrifice is the blood of the              souls had gone down to Egypt, and        this singing and musical fest.
Lamb of God, who had been slain                 now they come forth in their thou-       Miriam was not out of her role
from before the foundation of the               sands. And they really sing a new        here, as she was later when she was
earth (Rev.  13%). Egypt's names                song. They sing of Jehovah, by Je-       smitten with leprosy for seven days
were not written in that book. But              hovah, and unto Jehovah. And the         because she tried to usurp the place
the children of Israel -yes, they               great theme was: the horse and his       and office of Aaron (Num. l2:lff.J.
are written in that book. They have             rider hath Jehovah cast into the sea.    No, she could very well have a part
killed their lambs in the night of              Who is like unto our Jehovah             in the service of the congregation of
the death of Egypt's firstborn. And             amongst all the gods of the hea-         the living God. She might have
they, as God's firstborn sons, had              then? It is the song of the ages of      played the organ in the church
gone forth when God called "my                  time as well as the endless eternity     Anno Domini  1991 with the sanction
Son out of Egypt!' (Has. 11:l; Matt.            before the throne of God and of the      of Christ who has sanctified the en-
2:15). Thus Israel was delivered                Lamb (Rev. 4,5).                         tire creation into His service (I Tim.
from sin and guilt in the blood.                  Let us remember at this point,         3:3-5). Yes, also the music  accom-
"And when I shall see the blood I               too, that Israel had not yet "come to    panying the singing is sanctified by
will pass over" (Ex. 12:13)!                    Mount Sinai" (Heb. 12:18-21). They       the word of God and prayer!
  The children of Israel, in their              are still within the time of the 420       It seems to me that we have here
generations, stand here at the Red              years after Abraham, before the en-      a pattern, part and parcel of the
Sea. They stand here where God                  a&n-tent  of the law-giving, with the    worship service in the church,
will bless those who love Him, in               implied curse of the law (Gal. 3:17,     which will one day be exalted into
thousands of generations (Ex. 20:6X             18). Hence, any attempt to judge of      the heavenly accompaniment. I
The holy seed, the children of Is-              the propriety of Miriam's acting as      think I hear this when I read: "And
rael, confess here with their mouths            a prophetess in terms of Old Testa-      I heard a voice from heaven, as the
and they believe with their hearts.             ment law does not obtain. And            voice of many waters, and as the
They stand here with the word of                Calvin's aside that Miriam's play-       voice of a great thunder. And I
prophecy in their ears, as this is              ing with the tabret was proper as a      heard the voice of harpers harping
spoken by Moses. The same Spirit                part of the Old Testament services       with their harps" (Rev. 14:2).
that was in Moses was also in their             but would be entirely improper in          And I ask: was Miriam's primi-
hearts. It was not only in the hearts           the New Testament church misses          tive tambourine translated into a
of the men in Israel, but also in the           the point.                               golden harp far exceeding the
hearts of the mothers who were                    It is quite evident that the           sweet twanging of a David,, under
saved in childbearing, whilst they              women in Israel played a very im-        Christ, the Chief Singer in Israel,
remained steadfast in faith, charity,           portant part under the leadership        who leads the thundering organ of
and holiness with sobriety. For                 of Miriam as a "prophetess." She         God with the singing as of ,a voice
also these women and their believ-              simply interpreted the singing of        of many waters? Surely, it .will be
ing children were members of the                Moses and all Israel at an occasion      the year of the Eternal Jubilee. The
household of faith and of the Israel            of inexpressible joy of a liberated      sorrows and the reproach of all the
of God (Eph. 219; Gal. 6:lO).                   church of Christ (Acts 7~38; Heb.        Egypts in the world will be remem-
  What a large singing church                   11:24,25).  The day of the removal       bered nevermore! Amen! fl
sang here at the seashore, at the               of the reproach of Egypt upon Is-

                                                 Life's Tempestuous Sea
What wrecks on life's tempestuous              Some full of dark foreboding cares,       Oh, pause and think, ye giddy
      sea                                        And others full of glee,                      throng,
  May everywhere be found!                     The wild waves soon engulf them all,         Life soon comes to an end,
Some in rags and poverty,                        No matter who they be.                  And where shall you eternally
  And some with gold are                                                                    Another life then spend:?
         crowned.                              The towering intellect, so wise,
                                                 The fool with silly smile,              Just as you sow, so shall you reap,
The billows rise, the billows fall,            Alike soon sink beneath the waves,           `Tis clear as noonday sun,
  Wild rolls the angry sea;                      They've lived their little while.       In heaven above or hell beneath,
And down they go, no help is                                                               Shall end life's race you run.
      found,                                   Few ponder with a serious air,
  Nowhere have they to flee.                     And think, where shall I go                                 SB, June 15,1932
                                               When sun shall set and I am stopped
                                                 From running to and fro?

204 / The Standard Bearer I February 1,199l


                                          Applicatory
Special Article Preaching
Rev. Carl Haak


  In assigning me the topic of ap-        elude application of the text to our      come." Through preaching, which
plicatory preaching, the committee        life. Preaching is incomplete with-       applies the standard of the law of
did not, I am sure, intend for us to      out this. Our commission is not           God to us as the rule for our lives,
discuss the composition of sermons        only "to disciple all nations," but to    we are conformed to the image of
preached after the Lord's Supper,         "teach them to observe all things         God.
as if the application of the gospel is    whatsoever I have commanded                 Article 11 of the third/fourth
limited to those occasions. Rather,       you" (Matt. 28:18-20). Doctrine and       head of the Canons teaches that the
they had in mind that all true bibli-     Truth are not simply to be set be-        Holy Spirit by the preaching not
cal preaching is to have an applica-      fore us as subject material, but we       only "illuminates their minds . . .
tory flavor and thrust to it.             are to hear in the preaching how          that they may rightly understand
  Also, I did not take the subject to     they will be seen in your and my          and discern the Spirit of God," but
be synonymous with what is com-           life. This is no easy matter for the      also "pervades the inmost recesses
monly called "practical preaching."       preacher. It requires diligent and        of the man; he opens the closed,
Personally, I have not yet under-         heart-rending work in the prepara-        and softens the hardened heart . . .
stood what is meant by practical          tion of the sermon. Application           that like a good tree, it may bring
preaching. I often get the impres-        makes the sermon distinctive,             forth the fruits of good actions."
sion that people feel practical           pointed, personal; something              (See also Art. 14 of the fifth Head of
preaching merely tells them what          which sticks with the hearer.             the Canons.)
to do (what others ought to do?),         Preaching without application is          What is Applicatory Preaching?
thus relieving them from their call-      preaching "which aims at nothing            Application is "an act of putting
ing to think and reason for them-         and hits nothing" (J.C. Ryle, Sim-        to use, a practical inference to be
selves under the preaching. Believ-       plicity in Preaching).                    derived from a discourse" (Web-
ers are to engage in the earnest            Our Confessions reveal that this        ster's Dictionary).
work of applying the Word                 is the characteristic of Reformed           I would offer the following state-
preached themselves, and to them-         and biblical preaching. Lord's            ment on the nature of applicatory
selves.                                   Days 32 and 33 of the Catechism           preaching: Applicatory preaching
  By applicatory preaching I un-          teach that the converted walk and         spells out how the renewed child of
derstand simply this: what is the         must walk in all good works. This         God will live in every department
Holy Spirit saying to me from the         arises from the innermost work in         of his life as a necessary conse-
Word which has been expounded in          the renewed, who are given a "sin-        quence of the truth of God made
my hearing?                               cere joy of heart in God, and with        known to him. Applicatory
  I would like to divide the subject      joy and delight to live according to      preaching will make clear how we
under the following heads.                the will of God in all good works."       put off the old man of sin in his
The Necessity of                          Implied is the truth that the preach-     concrete forms and how we put on
Applicatory Preaching.                    ing is the power for this conver-         the new man in very deed and
  The Word of God is to be applied        sion; that is, preaching which tells      truth. More, applicatory preaching
by the preacher to the mind and           us not only what we are to beZieve,       is not only admonitions and exhor-
heart and life of those that hear         but also what we are to be. Lord's        tations, but also consolation as
him. Exposition of the text is to in-     Day 44 emphasizes that the com-           well. We must beware of one-
                                          mandments are to be "strictly             winged birds. To limit applicai:ion
                                          preached" for this reason: "that we       just to admonition is to put asunder
                                          constantly endeavor and pray to           what God has joined together.  Ap-
                                          God for the grace of the Holy             plicatory preaching both admon-
                                          Spirit, that we may become more           ishes and comforts. It shows us
Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant     and more conformable to the image         how God would have us walk in
Reformed Church of Lynden, Wash-          of God, till we all arrive at the per-    obedience, but also how God
ington.                                   fection proposed to us, in a life to      would have us live in trust. Both

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these aspects am to be found in ap-            into the text, as though the               back at home, they ought now to be
plicatory  preaching. For we read- in          preacher needed to add to the con-         able to see it too. "Never venture
I Timothy 3:16 that Scripture is               tents of the text something of his         to expound it to the people, tmless
profitable "for reproof, for correc-           own. He must on the contrary take          you are sure that you have the
tion, for instruction in righteous-            God's Word, whose meaning in the           meaning intended by the Holy
ness"; and we read in Romans 15:4              past he has ascertained, set it teal-      Spirit, and offer then no other than
"that through patience and comfort             tered and unabridged, with all its         that!' (Dabney,  Lecfures  on Sacred
of the Scripture, we might have                winsomeness and all its severity, in       Rhetoric,  p. 253).
hope."                                         the midst of the present, and let it          This results in the lively preach-
   It is well to remember that really          say to the men of the present what         ing of the Word. First for the min-
all true preaching is spiritually use-         it said to the men of the past" (Reu,      ister: he stands convicted that what
ful and beneficial (applicatory) be-           Homiletics,  p. 361).                      he says has God's authority attend-
cause it is the declaration of the liv-          The point to be stressed is that         ing it. There is then a freshness to
ing Word. The Word will stick to               application is not only to be Scrip-       the application as well as the cer-
the renewed heart and bring forth              tural, but above all fez&&.  The           tainty that it arises not out of the
fruit; it can never return to God              main thought of the text must be           preacher's frustrations with his
void but must accomplish the pur-              the main thought of the applica-           congregation, or his own leanings,
pose for which He sends it. We                 tion, and whatever is subordinate          but from the Ring of the Church
must leave the impression that the             in the text must be subordinate in         Himself, for whom the minister
importance of all the things we                the application. Application is to         stands as a herald. Second, the
preach from the pulpit are beyond              be tied to exposition, in the sense        blessing of strictly textual applica-
expression,in  worth, and is to be             that it is taken directly out of it.       tion extends to the congregation as
known, loved, obeyed, and trusted              This is the compelling force of            well. They will gladly receive it,
by the people of God. Not only                 preaching. It is never what you            even though it may hurt and prick,
must preaching touch directly                  and I deduce from certain religious        because they see that the applica-
upon our walk, but every second                principles, but what God Himself           tion, instead of being imposed on
spent in the pulpit we are to make             plainly says to us from the Scrip          the text, is the outgrowth of it.
the Truth of God known. And that               tures. We are to hold fast to the          They see the application coming,
is eternally useful, beneficial, of in-        text. "The preacher's business is          and it is sealed upon their hearts as
estimable worth.                               simply to take what he finds in the        a message from the Lord. They are
   More speCifically, applicatory              Scriptures, and as he finds it, and        led to examine themselves in the
preaching touches upon our lives.              press it down upon the under-              light of the Word.
And it does that, not by vague gen-            standing, hearts, and consciences of          Application divorced from the
eralities, but by concretely and tan-          men. Nothing else is his business          text, and not clearly grounded on
gibly showing what God says to                 as a preacher. The die is just so          the Scriptures, is powerless, or,
me in this passage, how it both in-            sharp and hard, so large and per-          worse, oppressive and thus damag-
structs and comforts me.                       fect as God would have it. He              ing. Application tied to the text
   Never can we forget that the ba-            judged it was the right die to pro-        and resting on the Scriptures binds
sis of applicatory preaching is to be          duce the impression he intends"            the conscience, compels the will,,
found in the truths of justification           (Dabney,  Discussions, Vol. 1, p. 596).    and sinks into the heart.
and sanctification. Only when it                 To be able to apply the text, the           2. With a Knowledge of the Con-
lives in our minds that God has re-            preacher must first clearly under-         gregation
deemed His people in the obedi-                stand the text. "If you begin in a           The Word is to be applied within
ence of Christ, and now by the re-             fog, you may depend on it that you         the walls of a local congregation,
newing of the Holy Spirit calls                will leave your people in the dark"        taking into account the conditions
them to walk in all good works to              (Ryle, Simplicity in Preaching). The       existing, the character of the hear-
His praise and to their own assur-             application then will not shoot over       ers, and the place and time where
ante before Him, can we have the               their heads, to the right or to the        they live. The preacher must in-
true and healthy spiritual frame-              left, but be as an arrow finding the       quire as to how the text speaks to
work in which applicatory preach-              mark, being shot out of the Lord's         the need of his congregation, and
ing is to be done. We set those                own arsenal.                               how it can best be brought home to
truths aside at our peril. All at-               This means that we will not drag         them.
tempts at application which are not            out of the text meanings which the           This requires an intimate knowl-
performed in their context will re-            Holy Spirit never intended to put          edge of the congregation, acquired
sult in teaching men to go about to            into them, or that we begin by             by faithful pastoral care. We ask
establish their own righteousness              looking for intricate and subtle           ourselves: How do they think?
before God.                                    meanings to show how clever we             What is their life like? What objec-
How is it to be Done?                          can be. Whatever we draw out of            tions and questions will be rais,ed?
   1. Textually                                the text, our people ought to be           What temptations do they face?
   "The application dare not, how-             able to put back in. If we see it in       The stimulus for applicatory
ever, be anything alien imported               the text, when our listeners are           preaching is when the Pastor lis-

206 I The Standard Bearer I February 1,199l


     tens to his people in their conversa-     churches." But it is the sermon          danger exists that we blunt the
     tions, asks them questions about          which hits hard on me, that is,          sword of the Spirit, that we faint: in
     their lives and struggles, lives in       shows me my misery, my deliver-          the day of battle. Only a conceited
     the congregation with a discerning        ance in Christ, how I shall show         and reckless preacher would deny
     eye for the needs of his flock. Pas-      forth my thankfulness. It brings         it. Well do we meditate day and.
     toral care and applicatory preach-        me to know my only comfort in life       night on our calling to give account
     ing are inseparable.                      and death. This in no way dimin-         to Him for all that we have spoken
       This would also imply that there        ishes the duty of defending the          or failed to speak in the pulpit.
     is not just one sermon for one text.      faith against false doctrine in the      Only when we stand in the con-
     Though the truth of the text never        preaching. Nor is this to be under-      sciousness of faith that we are not
_    changes, the exact shade of applica-      stood that the minister aims his ser-    the servants of men but the ser-
     tion which the Pastor bringscan.          mons at individuals in the congre-       vants of God are we made bold to
     The Pastor prepares his sermon ac-        gation. Rather, applicatory preach-      Speak.
     cording to the needs and struggles,       ing must seek to cause the hearer to       Nothing more. This is equally
     joys and sorrows, temptations and         turn his eye upon himself, in order      pernicious. There is today a con-
     sins which are present with the           that he might come to grips with         certed effort from the far left, reli-
     flock at any given time.                  the sin that dwells in his own flesh,    gious modernism, to compel us .to
       3. Personally                           find the comfort he himself needs,       preach for doctrine the command-
       First for the preacher. Here we         and be encouraged in a walk of           ments of men. The attempt is made
     must be first partakers of the fruits.    sanctification.                          to make the Reformed pulpit feel
     As Ezekiel was commanded to eat           Some of the Pitfalls                     guilty if it does not champion social
     the book and found it sweet, so             1. Being all Application               causes such as apartheid, revolu-
     must we prayerfully ponder the              "Then there are those who need         tion, redistribution of wealth, and
     text in our own heart, being not a        to be warned against mere exhorta-       what not more. To this the pulp:it
     stranger to it. When preaching on         tion. So often men seem to think         must respond; we receive for doc-
     sin and misery, let us be conscious       that preaching is just extended ex-      trine the commandments of God
     of the plague in our own hearts.          hortation. They start exhorting          and will not bind our hearers with
     When expounding on the deliver-           their people at the beginning of         any man-made causes.
     ance that is ours in Christ, let us       their sermon; it is all application.       What is often forgotten is the
     with the apostle make all our boasts      They do not present the truth first      threat from the far right, ultra con-
     in the Cross of our Lord Jesus            and then make the inevitable appli-      servativism. This is felt by the
     Christ. When exhorting unto a life        cation. They spend the whole time        preacher especially in his appliCi3-
     of gratitude, let us make diligent        getting at their people, and slash-      tory preaching. Then there are
     search of our thoughts, words, and        ing them and exhorting them, call-       those who have a good deal to say
     deeds, that they have the approval        ing them to do this and that and         in criticism of the church and the
     of our Master.                            forcing them" (Lloyd-Jones,  Preach-     worldliness of others in the church,
      "The sermon that we preach to            ers and Preaching, p. 258).              insisting that the church ought to
     our congregation is worthless un-           We are concerned with the glori-       be conformed to their mold. To
     less we have first preached it to         ous gospel of the blessed God; that      consent to this in the preaching is
     ourselves. If we cannot always            it be reflected in the lives of the      to bring upon the people of God
     point to the effect of renewed re-        saints. Our concern is not simplis-      burdens too heavy to bear, and sub-
     pentance and faith on the part of         tic moralisms or presenting four or      ject the church to the scourge of le-
     the congregation, we must be able         five easy do-it-yourself steps to a      galism. Our response to this pres-
     to point to it at least on the part of    happy life. Our themes deal with         sure must be as emphatic as to lib-
     the preacher. The preacher who,           sin and guilt, salvation by grace        eralism; we preach for truth Godl's
     while preaching to others, himself        alone in Christ alone, repentance        Word, and not the commandments
     becomes a castaway, who demands           before God, the majesty and              of men.
     repentance and faith of others and        sovereignty of God, all leading to'         "They forget that it does not fol-
     himself refuses them, deals only in       the one conclusion in the renewed        low, because a man has drawn his
     high sounding words" (Reu,                heart: "Forasmuch as there is none       weapon in the King's armory, that
     HomiZefics,  p. 385).                     like unto thee, 0 Lord; thou art         therefore he is fighting the King's
       Second, personally applied to the       great, and thy name is great in          battle; soldiers have sometimes
     congregation. "So unnatural is the        might. Who would not fear thee, 0        used the sovereign's arms to fight
     habit of personal application, that       Ring of nations?' (Jer. 10:6,7).         duels with each other . . . . When tlhe
     most will readily fit the doctrine to       2. Speak Nothing Less and              minister appears in the pulpit he
     anyone but themselves" (Bridges,          No thing More                            appears not as a messenger of man
     The Chrisfian  Midst y, p. 284). The        Nothing less. There is the carnal      but as God's herald" (Dabney  Dis-
     applicatory sermon is not one             inclination to draw back from the        cussions, Vol. 1, p. 597).
     which allows the hearer to go out         sharpness of the Word. This is             3. Not.all to be Left for the End
     saying: "The preacher hit hard on         brought to bear upon us in overt as      of the Sermon
     others, and hard on other                 well as subtle ways. Always the

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   Application should not wait for               Conclusions:                            the heart of man. The Holy Spirit
the end and give the appearance of                 1. Preach the Gospel                  must do this. So we must pmach
being tacked on as something                       All the application in the world      looking for God to make His Word
which does not belong to the core                can do no good unless we preach         effective unto salvation and in lives
of the sermon. A third point which               the gospel of God. Christ crucified     abounding to His glory.
brings the sermon to a focal point               and risen must ever have its central      God will faithfully remind. us of
leaving the congregation with one                place. God's people must be taught      this. `What preacher, worth any-
thought is proper. But the truth                 what they should believe, and thus      thing, but has often seen his `best
ought to be applied as we go. Once               what they should be and do. The         work fail of appreciation, and on
having opened the truth of the text,             motivation for every point of appli-    the other hand his feeblest crowned
do not let it grow dark, but strike              cation, whether it be exhortation or    with encomium, of which he must
while the light yet bums. When we                consolation, must be that of grati-     in solitude be deeply ashamed?"
preach and feel the force of the                 tude and praise to our God for so       (VanOosterzee,  Pracfical  Theology, p.
truth coming out in the exposition,              great a salvation.                      343). For preachers it is written,
we must not wait for the end and                   2. Rely upon the Holy Spirit          "Except the Lord build the house,
try to pick it up again, but then and              This goes without saying. No          they labor in vain that build it: ex-
there bring out how it bears on our              preacher, be he the most eloquent       cept the Lord keep the city, the
life.                                            and persuasive man ever to stand        watchman waketh but in vain" (I%.
                                                 behind a pulpit, can bring so much      127:l). q
                                                 as a gram of truth home to rest in




The Day                                          The Antichrist
of Shadows                                       Foreshadowed
Rev. John Heys


   Although we do read of Lot's                  that God `I... delivered just Lot,      became enemies of Abraham and
descendants, namely, the Moabites                vexed with the filthy conversation      his covenant seed.
and the Ammo&es, we read noth-                   of the wicked: (For that righteous        The fornication of these daugh-
ing about him after he and his                   man dwelling among them, in see-        ters of Lot revealed them to be
daughters went up the mountain                   ing and hearing, vexed his righ-        Sodomites, and thus to be thlose
that was above the city of Zoar and              teous soul from day to day with         who also deserved to be destroyed
committed fornication. We do read                their unlawful deeds)."                 by hail and brimstone. In thought
of the descendants of Lot, these                   ,There is an awesome truth to         and word, as well as in name, they
Moabites and Ammonites, in both                  take hold of in regard to the birth     were Sodomites. And although it
the Old Testament and New Testa-                 of his two sons. God gave him no        is true that Lot also sinned bjy his
ment. But there is presented noth-               son through his wife, who was an        drunkenness, this evil was fed and
ing that Lot did after the sins of his           unbelieving Sodomite. But he did        encouraged by his daughters.
daughters got him two sons in the                receive, besides his two daughters,     They gave him more wine than he
sinful way of fornication. Rather, in            two sons through the wickedness         should have drunk, and no doubt
Genesis our attention is called to               of these daughters, who also de-        encouraged him to keep on .taking
Abraham, from whom Lot had de-                   served to be changed into pillars of    it until he was in a position to com-
parted.                                          salt. Plainly these daughters were      mit the sin which they had in mind
   As pointed out in a former arti-              taught false doctrines and evil         for the sake of their flesh. They
cle in this department of The Sfan-              practices by their carnal, unbeliev-    were not interested in having
dard Bearer, Lot was an elect child              ing mother. Even though Lot un-         covenant seed brought forth.. Of
of God. In II Peter 2:7,8 we read                doubtedly tried to teach them           course, Lot should have refused
                                                 God's law and their calling to walk     that wine; for becoming drunk is
                                                 in love toward Him, these daugh-        not only losing strength and ability
                                                 ters went the way of their flesh and    to serve God, and serving one's
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in fhe          brought forth sons whom they            own flesh instead, but it means
Protestant Reformed Churches.                    brought up in unbelief and who          that one's flesh is one's god. And

208  I The Standard Bearer 1 February I, 1993


the two daughters clearly broke the      through that serpent did come up               antichrists to bring forth ultimately
seventh commandment and re-              against God with his lie. And after            fhe  Antichrist. Sin is developing so
vealed themselves as fornicators.        the Son of God came in our flesh,              definitely and openly that the An-
   Those daughters were not inter-       Satan comes up against us as the               tichrist will rule the whole world,
ested in bringing forth covenant         enemy of Christ and tries to make              and that which the ungodly tried to
seed. Committing a sin, breaking         us go against Christ in our walk of            achieve in building the Tower of
one of God's commandments, re-           life. That wicked work of those                Babel will be reached. One godless
veals hatred against God, not love       two daughters of Lot present to us             universal kingdom will be estab-
and desire to serve Him. They re-        a picture of what was coming and               lished, as we read in Revelation 13;
vealed themselves to be Sodomites.       will be here when the Antichrist ar-           and the true church will not be al-
They knew very well how                  rives. He makes things look good               lowed to buy or sell, so that many
widespread and public was the            to us and even, as necessary, uses             of its members will starve to death,
breaking of the seventh command-         people very close to us to set us              because they refuse to take the
ment in Sodom and Gomorrah. By           against Christ.                                mark of the beast upon their right
no means was this sin covered and          Consider the fact that we read of            hand or forehead.
performed in hidden places. And          the Antichrist literally in John's               Take note, therefore, of the fact
even though these daughters knew         first two epistles. He is not named            that the present antichrists and the
that God destroyed these cities be-      the Antichrist before this. But note           coming Antichrist will come out of
cause of that public and bold forni-     that in I John 2~18 we read: "Little           the church. Lot, the believing child
cation, they were not interested in      children it is the last hour (the              of God, and his daughters, and the
the growth of Gods church. They          Greek word literally is "hour," not            sons they brought forth, were re-
did say that they would try to pre       "time"): and as ye have heard that             lated to Abraham, Lot belonging to
serve the seed of their father. But      antichrist shall come, even now are            the Old Testament church as he
they did not take at all into consid-    there many antichrists; whereby we             came with Abraham into the land
eration what our God had done to         know that it is the last hour." Then           which God promised to the Old
their mother, and that He revealed       in verse 22 we read: `Who is a liar            Testament church.
very clearly that He was not going       but he that denieth Jesus is the                 It is true that Revelation 13 pre-
to give their father seed by means       Christ? He is antichrist that deni-            sents a twofold picture of the com-
of a legal wife.                         eth the Father and the Son." Then              ing Antichrist. First is presented to
   We have here a shadow of what         finally in II John verse 7 we read:            us that Antichrist from a political
is in the church-world today. In the     "For many deceivers are entered                and physical point of view. Then in
Old Testament we have presented          into the world, who confess not                the last part of the chapter we see
to us many types and shadows of          that Jesus Christ is come in the               him presented from a spiritual, reli-
Christ, and of the salvation that He     flesh. This is a deceiver and an an-           gious point of view. And the awe-
brings us. But there are also from       tichrist."                                     some fact is that Lot's leaving
Genesis through Malachi shadows            In these passages - the only                 Abraham, the leader of the Old Tes-
of the Antichrist who is coming.         ones wherein we find the name of               tament church, led to his daugh-
We should recognize these an-            God's enemies as antichrists - we              ters' walking in the sin of Sodolm
tichrists who prepare his way, so        find this awesome truth: The cli-              and Gomorrah, which in turn
that we may be kept from them and        max of all antichristian movements             brought forth fierce enemies of
be thankful that our God has kept        will in time bring forth the An-          -    Abraham's seed, which was the
us from their deceit and wicked-         tichrist. And it is well to note that,         church of that day. And we do here
ness.                                    in the above passages, that article            have a shadow of what the church,
   The birth and cross of Christ, His    "the" appears every time before the            as well as the ungodly world,
resurrection and ascension into          name antichrist. He is THE An-                 brings forth in the days that lie just
heaven, did cast their shadow in         tichrist, Satan's tool in its final,           ahead of us.
the Old Testament dispensation.          most highly developed form! Go                   In I John 219, after what is stated
But the Antichrist cast his shadow       back to I John 2:18. There John                in the verse preceding about many
many a time in the events pre-           speaks of many antichrists, and in             antichrists being in the world, we
sented to us in the Old Testament        the Greek, the original wording as             read: "They went out from us, `but
Scriptures. For our comfort as well      placed by the apostle John by the              they were not of us; for if they had
as instruction we ought to consider      Spirit of God, we read: `I... as ye            been of us, they would no doubt
what the Scriptures say about these      have heard that the antichrist shall           have continued with us; but they
shadows. When he comes in his fi-        come."                                         went out, that they might be made
llal form, which in the Scriptures is      The Antichrist's coming is pre-              manifest that they were not of us."
called the Antichrist, we will not be    pared by many antichrists that Sa-             Even as Lot left Abraham and went
far from the return of Christ.           tan uses. And, as stated a moment              out from him, his sons, who were
   The shadow of the Antichrist ap-      ago, the antichrist's predecessor-             begotten sinfully through the plot
peared very shortly after man's cre-     Satan inside of the serpent - came             of his daughters, became antichris-
ation. Consider the fact that "anti"     at the very dawn of history, and has           tian, or, if you will, became an-
means "against," and that Satan          been coming with more and more                 tichrists then already. Lot took. one

                                                                                        February1,1991/TheStandardBeare.r/  209


very sinful step, even though he              Look at what the fleshly seed of        John 2~18 and hold on tightly to this
was a believing child of God. His           Abraham did at the cross of Christ.       truth that the shadow of the An-
daughters took a bigger sinful step,        There was that antichristian devil-       tichrist is here and tells us that he
and the way was prepared for the            try of nailing Christ to the cross,       will also be here very soon with his
Moabites and Ammo&es which                  blaspheming Him, and calling Him          devilish power. Yes, we are in the
were very really antichrists who            a false prophet. Consider how to-         last few minutes of that last hour.
fought against Abraham's seed               day the bulk of Abraham's fleshly            Although that departing of Lot
who were Christians. Lot erred by           seed, called Israelites yet today, and    from Abraham, with whom God
leaving Abraham and living with             claiming to believe and hold on to        established His covenant, is a rela-
Sodomites. His daughters went               the Old Testament, condemn the            tively light shadow, there are very
further into sin, further away from         whole New Testament, and thus             dark shadows of the coming An-
how the child of God must walk,             are antichristian.                        tichrist today; and we ought to rec-
and brought forth sons who tried to           Think of the corruption in the          ognize them and do all we can to
wipe from off the face of this earth        church-world today. Think of the          keep our covenant seed from being
God's elect children.                       idolatry of Roman Catholicism,            captivated by the present an-
   Here, by all means take note, is a       with its Mary-worship and its hu-         tichrists and this final climatic An-
shadow of what is happening to-             man additions to the Word of God.         tichrist.
day and is rapidly accelerating the         It pleased our God to raise up               In the church-world salvation is
appearance of the Antichrist. Yes,          Luther, and others with him, to           merely preached as deliverance
the church-world is producing that          point out this antichristianity.          from the punishment of sin, which
antichrist, preparing the way for             Consider the antichristian forces       all of Satan's children want. Free-
him to be here with a most power-           in churches that deny that Christ         dom from the love of sin is not pro-
ful and skillful attack upon the true       alone is our Savior, and teach that       claimed, but instead sins are en-
church of Christ. Here already in           we have to open our hearts and let        couraged even in the church-world.
Genesis 19 is a shadow of what we           Him come in and save us. We, they         Fleshly gain is hailed, but spiritual
find in Revelation 13. Not only are         teach, can prevent Him and our            gain is not presented or recom-
more crafty and subtle false doc-           sovereign, almighty God from do-          mended, because it takes away fun
trines being produced in the church         ing what They wish to do. All the         for the flesh.
world; but more and more sinful             false doctrines of today - and they          Read the signs of the times,.
deeds are not only approved but             are many and so crafty and subtle         Look at the shadows of the ccming
also recommended in church maga-            - cast the shadow of the Antichrist       Antichrist; and do all you can to
zines!                                      and his worldwide success of              keep your children from the crafty
                                            which the Scriptures speak. Read I        coming of the man of sin. Cl
                                                                                                               i.



 When Thou
Sittest in                                  The Reformed
Thine Hous&
Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers                      Family: Grandparents

  For I know [Abraham], that                  I didn't ever really know my            great grandchildren. But as with
he will command his children                grandparents, my paternal grand-          most of the old photos, faded and
and his household after him....             father not at all. Life was hard on       ragged, the barn looms too large,
                    - Genesis 1859          the farm and Charles died at the          the actual people are minuscule. In
                                            age of 62. But I'm told this taciturn     the photo entrusted to my keeping,
                                            fellow was a charter member of            Charles faces the camera ill-at-ease,
                                            Hope Church, Grand Rapids. I              stem, hat in hand, chin dropped to
                                            have peered closely at the old            his chest.
Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in        brown snapshot of him for some               Who was this man? What did
the Protestant R.$mned  Church of           small clue to explain my own looks        he believe? What were his hopes?
South Holland, Illinois.                    and personality and that of his           His disappointments? His
210 I TheStandardBearerl  February1,1991


strengths? His quirks? Was he            6). And the Israelite fathers were        done supporting it, now it's your
happy? Did he ever laugh? When           commanded to keep these statutes          turn," then we erode the statutes of
my own father dies, Charles will         "in the family" when they were in-        God and the children's faith in
pretty much be forgotten in our          structed to teach them to "thy sons,      God-glorifying values. In an age of
family, even though he sired a great     and thy sons' sons"(verse 9). In          insatiable greed, our grandchildren
many children, grandchildren,            Deuteronomy 6, the commandment            must see us do the right thing
great-grandchildren, and great-          to teach thy son and thy son's sons       rather than make the right invest-
great-grandchildren.                     is expanded to include the admoni-        ment. This is the legacy we leave
  How different from a baptism           tion and reward, "all the days of         them. And, of course, there is great
witnessed about three years ago in       thy life; and that thy days may be        blessing in teaching our children's
South Holland. Both sets of grand-       prolonged" (verse 2).                     children. There is the closeness and
parents as well as all four sets of        Grandparents "command" their            rapport with those of our own flesh
great-grandparents were in active        grandchildren by the good exam-           and blood. There is the reward of
attendance. Already this little girl     ples they set and by their lives of       laughter and lightheartedness with
knows her grandparents and great-        unceasing devotion and commit-            vibrant young people, in a way in
grandparents very well. This is a        ment. They are faithful to the vows       which only the young can celebrate
day when grandparents live a             they have made in their own mar-          life. For the first time, one is com-
longer, fuller life than ever before.    riages, and they are exemplary in         forted by the clasp of chubby tod-
Studies conducted show that in           their personal walk and conversa-         dler arms without the added re-
1776, when our country was born,         tion in the society in which they         sponsibility of midnight medicine
life expectancy was at a low of only     live. They can look the whole             doses or monthly tuition payments.
35 years. One hundred years later,       world in the face, for they owe not       I am reminded of the grandmother
in the 18OOs,  life expectancy had       any man ("The Village Black-              who said, "If I had known that
risen to a mere 40 years. Today,         smith"). It will not do for grand-        grandchildren were this much fun,
more than 200 years since the in-        parents to lay aside their armor          I would have had them first."
ception of our nation, life ex-          once their own children have estab-       Psalm 128 tenderly refers to this
pectancy is 75 years.                    lished homes. Nor  may  the sword         phase of a man or woman's life as
  Giant strides in medicine insure       be sheathed during the first few          seeing thy children's children, and
better health and longevity for el-      years of their retirement. The battle     peace upon Israel.
derly people. Remarkable ad-             of faith is lifelong; we will need our       Many today are decrying the
vances in communication and              spiritual weapons of warfare (Eph-        lack of values and morals in Amer-
transportation put grandparents in       esians 6) until the moment we gasp        ica's youth. Allan Bloom,in his
easier and closer access to their        our last breath. Satan and his wily       best-selling book The Closing of the
children and grandchildren than          host haven't laid their weapons           American Mind,  discusses this very
ever before-whether this is appre-       aside, eased up on the attack, or         topic as a malaise which has in-
ciated or not. Today's grandpar-         called a truce; in truth, the warfare     fected America's family life.
ents are active, vigorous, involved,     is accelerated. And our grandchil-           But they[American  homes1 have
and alert. Many of them look and         dren must profit from our around-         nofhing  to give their children in the
act much younger than they are; to       the-clock vigilance, our spiritual        way of a vision of the world, of high
quote the old proverb: they are          battle exercises, if they, and we, are    models of action or profound sense of
healthy, wealthy, and wise. Most of      to endure to the end.                     connection wifh  others....  The family
them are more at home on a Nordic          In commanding our children and          requires a certain authorify  and wis-
ski tracker than in a rocking chair      grandchildren and our household           clam about the ways of the heavens and
on the porch. They are interested        after us to future generations, we        of  men. The parer& must have krwwl-
and interesting; they have much to       grandparents must not just talk           edge of wha t happened in the pad, ard
teach their grandchildren.               about honesty, decency, ethical be-       prescriptions for what oughf to be, in.
  This teaching which the grand-         havior, and our love for the church       order fo resist the philistinism or the
parents are able to do is not some       and school; our grandchildren have        wickedness of the present (p. 57).
option which they have depending         to see this example in our lives.            In the November 15,199O issue
on whether or not the grandchil-         When we say to them, "Keep the            of the Chicago Tribune, William
dren are willing to heed it or they      Sabbath Day holy and frequent the         Raspberry writes:
themselves are willing to give it. It    House of God; this is really impor-          Talk to your friends about the de-
is a direct, clear mandate from God;     tant," but our many vacations, ex-        clining efhica1.standard.s  of America's
nor was Abraham the only patri-          tended absences from the church of        young people, and you're likely to hear
arch ever to receive it. In              our membership, and week-end-             dozens of explanations: fhe presszire  of
Deuteronomy 4, Moses exhorts Is-         getaways contradict our pious ut-         television advertising; fhe greed-is-
rael to keep the statutes and judg-      terances, then our grandchildren          okay legacy of the Reagan years; the
ments of Jehovah God so that all         have reason to doubt our integrity.       growing contrast between the haves
the heathen nations will say,            When our grandchildren hear their         and the have-nets;  the capitulation of
"Surely this great nation is a wise      elders say, "I have put my children       politicians to fhe "special inferesfs";
and understanding people"(verse          through the Christian school; I'm         the sociefal emphasis on fhe individual

                                                                                   February 1,199l I The Standard Bearer / :!II


(as opposed to group) interest and the         of experience and adversity. These        heroes. Your maturity, your experi-
disintegration of the family. All true.        grandparents have attended nu-            ence, your commitment, andi your
But there is another, simpler reason           merous Sunday School Christmas            optimism for the future of God's
why so many youngsters haven?                  programs and grade school gradu-          kingdom is contagious for your
learned the values espoused by their el-       ations (often three or four different     grandchildren. The adversity
ders: They haven't been faughf.... And         ones in a week), and now are ac-          through which you have come, and
they haven't been taught by the exam-          tively interested in their grandchil-     endured, is the bright hope for
ple of their elders.                           dren's life partners and job deci-        your children and children's, chil-
   I have only one faded photo-                sions. Grandparents, in concert           dren for the generations yet to
graph to link me to my grandfather.            with the parents, of course, are          come.
My children have warm loving                   greatly responsible for developing          Someone has said: heroism is en-
memories of four God-fearing                   grandchildren of sound character          durance for one moment more. In
grandparents who have regaled                  who possess a sharp sense of right        the lives of God-fearing grandpar-
them with the old family "skele-               and wrong, an "internal compass"          ents we see endurance for one gen-
tons," have spanked and rebuked                as columnist Raspberry puts it.           eration more. Endurance until
them for unacceptable behavior,                They contribute in a powerful way         Christ returns, bringing His reward
have played Scrabble and Chess                 to a "wise and understanding" gen-        with Him.
with them (and beat them, too),                eration.                                    For He knows that like Abraham
have discussed the church situation              In a world of too many villains         you will command your children
and the political scene with com-              and unspeakable wickedness, you,          and your household after you.  17
mon sense and a wisdom born out                grandparents, are our spiritual




                                               From Tashnia
Contribution
Rev. Bernard Woudenberg                        Home - A Report

   On the way to Tasmania one                  1.8 and 32 degrees added if one           quick to explain; and one soon be-
crosses both the international date            wants to know how warm, or how            gins to believe it. But gorgelous
line and the equator, and every-               cold, it really is. Kilograms have to     flowers are everywhere.  Solme we
thing changes. Suddenly tomor-                 be translated into pounds, centime-       know, but they come in sizes and
row becomes today; and what was                ters into inches, kilometers into         hues never imagined; and others
supposed to be today is yesterday.             miles, and liters into quarts. One        one has never seen, with a unique
The sun rises early rides through              dollar is a coin, and larger than a       beauty all their own. The north-
the north and sets late, while the             two-dollar piece, which is about          west coast of Tasmania, VanDie-
south sides of buildings and trees             the size of a two-cent piece and          man's Land, as Abel Tasman, the
stay in the shade. The nights are              nearly the same color, all of which       original Dutch explorer, first
short but dark; and the stars shine            are smaller than the twenty-cent          named it, is where Gulliver in his
unusually bright. Drivers get into             piece and much smaller than the           travels was said to have been cast
the passenger's side of cars; and              half dollar, which is the largest of      ashore; and it still retains a land of
passengers sit where drivers ought.            all and easiest to tell because it has    fascination as great as Lilliput of
The right side of the road is the              jagged edges.                             ancient lore.
wrong one on which to drive, and                 One has to be careful and alert;           But, if the air is chilly, the people
the left side is right: right turns are        he can never relax and take any-          certainly are not.
wide, and left turns sharp. Tem-               thing for granted. The sun is               We were met at the airport by
peratures must be multiplied by                bright; but rain can come without a       nearly the whole of the Evangelical
                                               moment's notice, even while the           Presbyterian congregation of
                                               sun is still shining. There is always     Burnie; and together they brought
                                               a little chill in the air, and the        us to our home, all gaily decorated
Rev. Woudenberg is pastor                      nights are cold; but everything can       in welcome. The children must
                              of the
Protestant Reformed Church of Kala-            quickly change. "Four seasons can         .have worked hours making paper
                                               be in one day," the natives are           chains; and hand-painted welcome
mazoo, Michigan.
212 1 The Standard Bearer I February 1,199l


  signs displayed our name. Then           to religion); and the plainness fits       I have often thought, must find it
  we went for Tea, their evening           the historic Calvinistic form which        strange, with the quiet solemnity,
  meal, and an opportunity to visit        old Presbyterian&m seeks con-              long sermons, and music from the
  and get acquainted. Already then,        sciously to retain.                        past. In fact, I was struck last sum-
  if one thing came through, it was          And the congregation isn't large         mer while visiting the Reformed
  their deep interest in the Reformed      either, about five or six families in      churches in the mountains of Ro-
  faith and the doctrines it contains.     all, but with a sizable percentage of      mania (a country generally reputed
  And, if there was another, it was        young people and children. And             to be living a hundred years in the
  their love and appreciation for the      compensating for its size is an in-        past) how similar their services are
  Hoeksemas, who labored among             tensity of interest seldom any more        to ours. But, if so, here much more;
  them so recently their appreciation      met.                                       except that, if in Romania it is bly
_ for having sat under the Profes-           One who has preached for years,          accident, here it is with purpose.
  sor's teaching, and their sorrow         and in many different places,              Presbyterianism of this kind has
  that that visit was so abruptly cut      knows that size is not everything.         made a conscious choice to stay the
  short, and so sadly so. But their        There is, to be sure, a certain fasci-     way it has always been, to retain a
  time together remains a memory           nation about preaching to a large          continuity with those who have
  which will never be forgotten.           audience, especially if one does not       gone before; and they do it without
     The home where we are living is       do it all the time; but there is also a    excuse. They want it that way.
  high on the bluff, overlooking           certain frustration. It can be hard          I believe, if God is leading us as
  downtown Burnie and the sea; not         to get close and feel the interest of      Protestant Reformed Churches to
  quite as close as the Hoeksemas'         those who listen. But not here. The        work with churches of this kind,
  was, just a few blocks farther back      congregation is small and close,           and every indication would seem
  from the edge, but &ill close            and their involvement in the Word          to be that so He is, it behooves us to
  enough to hold that sense of height      is there, one knows.                       try to understand what this is all
  which living on a bluff provides. A        I came to Burnie, as I suspect           about. It is not as though we are to
  walk to town, down the twisting          Prof. Hoeksema did, with the antic-        judge whether they ought or ought
  path or along the winding road, is       ipation of many quiet hours and            not so to be; or to try to change
  a test of stamina, especially coming     days free to read and write, only          them to be like us, or we like them.
  back; but the view (between houses       rather swiftly and pleasantly to dis-      It is doubtful that either could ever
  clinging to the hillside for sake of     cover it is not to be. These people        be. Historical patterns lie deep, and
  the sight, with flowers everywhere       have an agenda, they want to learn,        are not easily changed; and unless
  covering walls, filling trimmed gar-     and they have a long list of things        sinful, should not be either. They
  dens, and climbing every fence)          they want to learn about. After            are to be respected, both among
  makes it all worthwhile, even as         months and years without a minis-          our own and among others. These
  sea breezes refreshingly waft one's      ter, young and old alike are going         are the ways in which the Holy
  face.                                    to seize the opportunity to be in-         Spirit has variously led His people
     But the real joy is in the church.    structed, while it is available. It is     in different places. But sharing
    The building, just a short block's     the kind of a beguilement no true          through it all one faith, we should
  walk from the house, is small, as        teacher can resist. Plans and inten-       try to understand and appreciate
  plain and unimpressive as can be.        tions fall quickly by the way.             each other's ways just the same.
  The fact is that few churches here         And then there are the services.         God's workings with His people
  are large (Australia, in the pattern       Many coming for the first time           are always cause for rejoicing. q
  of modem Europe, is not inclined         into our traditional church services,



                                                     Their Names

  Sweet thought, my God! that                No one too mean to have his              Mow can we then yield to diis-
           on the pahns                              place                                     trust,
    Of Thy most holy hands                         Amid that record blest,               Or think we are forgot,
  Are graven all Thy people's               And if but there our names are            While ever thus the care of One
           names,                                    found,                              Who loves and changes not?
     Though ,countless  as the                     We'll share the heavenly
             SEldS.                                    rest.                                        SB, December 1,1932



                                                                                      February 1,199l I The Standard Beam: I 213


                                                Report of
                                                Classis East

                         January 9,199l         niment, classis decided that, on the       ing: Delegates ad examina - Rev.
Byron Center                                    basis of their letter, the classis con-    W. Bruinsma to a three-year primus
Protestant Reformed Church                      sidered this to be a matter of princi-     term and Rev. J. Kortering to a
   Classis East met in regular ses-             ple and therefore instructed Norris-       three-year secundus  term. Classical
sion on Wednesday, January 9,1991               town to present an overture to             Committee - Rev. K. Koole to a
at the Byron Center PRC. Each                   Synod 1992 which is to be pre-             three-year term. Church visitors -
church was represented by two del-              sented to Classis East preferably by       Revs. J. Kortering and G. VanlBaren
egates. This session was chaired by             September, 1991 but no later than          with Revs. Heys and Slopsema as
Rev. Richard Flikkema.                          January, 1992. Classis also dealt          alternates. Synod&l delegates -
   Two major items, other than the              with the language of Norristown's          MINISTERS Primi: M. Kamps, J.
routine material for a January ses-             protest and instructed them either         Kortering, J. Slopsema, G. Van-
sion of classis, were on the agenda             to prove the charges made in the           Baren; Secundi:  W. Bruinsma, R.
for this meeting. The first dealt               protest or retract them.                   Flikkema, B. Gritters, S. Key; EL-
with an appeal to classis about a                 Classical appointments were re           DERS Primi: D. Engelsma, I!
consistory  decision and, because of            quested by Hudsonville and Kala-           Hoekstra, J. Huisken, K. Schipper;
its nature, was treated in closed               mazoo for Lame, Northern Ireland;          Secundi: D. Harbach, I! Koole, C.
session. This precludes any report-             Venice, Florida; and for Kalamazoo         Kregel, R. Pastoor.
ing on'this issue. The second dealt             in Rev. Woudenberg's absence. The            Classis also'heard the final report
with a protest and letter of explana-           following schedule was adopted:            of the church visitors. All the visits
tion from Norristown regarding the              LARNE: February 10,17,24 -                 have been made, and the visitors
decision of the September 12th clas-            Kortering; March 10,17,24 -                report that, "for the most part,
sis requiring them to use The                   Koole; April 28, May 5,12 - Van-           peace and unity exists within the
Psalfer (the protest) and their han-            Baren; VENICE: February lo,17 -            congregations."
dling of the issue of not using mu-             Bekkering March 3,10 - Flikke-               Subsidy requests for 1992 from
sical accompaniment for singing                 ma; March 24,31-  VanOverloop;             Kalamazoo ($6,500) and from
(the letter of explanation). The                April 7,14 - Joostens; April 28,           Covenant ($27,500) were approved
protest contended that the deci-                May 5 - Kamps; May 19,26  - K.             and will be forwarded to synod.
sions taken in May and September                Hanko; KALAMAZOO: February                 Expenses for this session amounted
re the use of The Psalter violated Ar-          3 - Slopsema; February 17 -                to $2,117.85. Classis will meet next
ticles 30 and 31 of the Church Or-              Bruinsma; March 3 - Gritters;              on May 81991 at Holland. 0
der.  Classis rejected the protest.             March 17 - Slopsema; March 31-                         Respectfully submitted,
With regard to the letter of explana-           Key.                                                              Jon J. Huisken
tion concerning musical accompa-                  In matters of voting, the follow-                                 Stated Clerk




Book                                            REPENT OR PERISH, by John H.               Jesus Christ have an eternal des-
                                                Gerstner. Ligonier, PA: Soli Deo           tiny. Unbelievers will be annihi-
                                                Gloria Publications, 1990.218              lated. What formerly was held only
Review                                          pages. Paperback, $7.95. [Reviewed         by the liberals and the cults is now
                                                by the Editor.]                            held by "evangelicals": There is no
                                                  One of the latest heresies among         hell. Prominent men are among
                                                "evangelicals"  in the United States       those who espouse and promote
                                                and England is the denial of eter-         "conditional immortality." John R.
                                                nal punishment. Only believers in          Stott, known as the "pope of the

214 / The Standard Bearer I February 1, r991


evangelicals,"  and Philip E.                    A vigorous controversialist,               unbiblical to deny hell, it is also
Hughes, who recently retired from              Gerstner reminds of the defender             unbiblical that hell has little or no
teaching at Westminster Theologi-              of the faith about whom it was said          place in Reformed preaching or in
cal Seminary., openly advocate the             that he not only demolished his op-          the Reformed consciousness. The
denial of hell. Clark Pinnock and              ponents but also dusted off the              effect of the reminder is to under-
F.F. Bruce have cautiously indi-               spot where they were standing.               score the importance of God's
cated their approval.                          Writing of the then Lutheran,                work in us of repentance - the way
   Repent  or Perish is Presbyterian           Richard John Neuhaus (who has                to escape hell. In true evangelistic
theologian, John H. Gerstner's,                since defected to the Roman                  fashion, Gerstner presses upon the
polemic against this error and                 Catholic Church), Gerstner re-               reader the necessity of repenting..
those who teach it. He refutes the             marks, `Richard John Neuhaus                 In this connection, Gersiner  pro-
arguments of those who deny hell               says there is a hell, but no one is in       poses his (and Jonathan Edwards')
and proves conclusively, yet once              it - a good way to gain entrance"            peculiar notion that also the unre-
again, that Scripture teaches the              (p. 206). One wonders, incidentally,         generate sinner can pray to God,
eternal punishment of the wicked               whether Neuhaus's conversion to              although he hates Him, for the gift
as everlasting suffering of the just           Rome did not include a conversion            of regeneration and true repen-
wrath of God.                                  to the doctrine that hell will be            tance.
   His (Christ 3s) Word surely abides          populated, since Rome certainly                Soli Deo Gloria - publishers of
forever and, if it does, sinriers  abide in    does hold for dogma that there will          the book - is another new publish-
hell forever. If they are ever alinihi-        be people in hell, especially Martin         ing company specializing in Re-
lafed, He and His Word are annihi-             Luther.                                      formed works and the reprinting of
lated with them. This is the reason I            A benefit of the book for those of         old Puritan books. Their catalogue
wrote this book. Not because I love hell       us who believe the eternal punish-           is available from Soli Deo Gloria,
and hate its annihilation, buf because         ment of the wicked is its powerful           213 W. Vincent St., Ligonier, PA
I hafe attempts fo annihilafe God and          reminder that hell is a reality. If it is    15658.  0
His Son, Jesus Christ !p. 185).




                                               News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                            Our Churches

Evangelism News                                have really appreciated the preach-            Here Rev. Joostens and Elder
   Pastor denHartog,  along with El-           ing. Redlands plans to keep in con-          Gritters will teach Reformed doc-
der E. VanVoorthuysen, from our                tact with them and to send them              trine to about 20 of the leaders of
Redlands, CA PRC, traveled to                  tapes and literature. We hope also           the churches in Jamaica for four
Santa Cmz in mid-December to                   that our churches will still be able         weeks in January, D.V. On three
meet with the brethren there. It was           to help them in the future, as the           days of each of these weeks the
difficult to bring them the news               Lord provides a missionary to our            men will stay at the Orchard
that our churches will not be able             denomination.                                House. Rev. Joostens will teach the
to continue sending ministers to               Mission News                                 six loci of systematic doctrine in the
preach for them This was disap-                  As has been reported here sev-             morning, and Elder Gritters will
pointing news for them since they              eral issues back, Rev. Joostens and          apply in a practical way these
                                               Dan Pastoor, from First PRC in               teachings to the life of the churches
                                               Grand Rapids, spent a very busy              in the afternoon sessions.
                                               week last October in Jamaica. They             Rev. Joostens and Elder Gritters
                                               met with the people, attended a              were scheduled to leave January 110
                                               special classis meeting, and secured         for Montego Bay with their wives
                                               a somewhat isolated but ideally              joining them for about two weeks
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Pro&-            outfitted conference center at the           midway through the sessions. Thie
fant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,           Orchard View Great House, a little           wives too will be busy. They will
Michigan.                                      north of Savanna La Mar.                     travel to the churches, in order to

                                                                                            February 1,199l I The Standard Bearer / 215


                                                                                                             SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                             Postage Paid at
                                                                                                             Grand Rapids, Michigan





instruct the women in how to play                  All of this impresses upon us                Congregational Highlights
the keyboard, and to get input on               again the great need there is in our               On December 14 the congrega-
the Psalter selections that should go           churches for preachers of the Word.             tion of our Grandville, MI PRC
into new booklets that must re-                 The harvest indeed is plenteous                 held a short program commemo-
place the worn-out ones they now                and the laborers are few. Pray to               rating their pastor's (Rev. Jason
have. They will return home be-                 the Lord of the harvest.                        Kortering)  30th year in the gospel
fore their husbands.                            Denominational Activities                       miniStry.
  On non-conference days, visits                   Prof. Hanko and Rev. Russ Dyk-                  The congregation of our Byron
will be made to the people of the               stra left in mid-December for Sin-              Center, MI PRC approved a pro-
congregations to deal with various              gapore. The purpose of their visit              posal to sell their present parson-
spiritual and administrative needs.             was to investigate possible future              age and build another on property
On Sundays, the men will separate               cooperation with the Evangelical                next to their church building.
and preach in the churches. Elder               Reformed Church of Singapore in                 Ministerial Calls
Gritters will use reading sermons.              the work of theological training                   The congregation in Hud-
   Rev. Joostens and Elder Gritters             and mission work, as well as to                  sonville, MI extended a call to Rev.
plan to return Saturday, February               deal with other matters that con-               T. Miersma to serve as missionary
9. They hope to give an oral report             cern our sister-church relation-                to Lame, Northern Ireland.
to the Council and Mission Com-                 ships. They planned to return                      And the Hope PRC in Isabel, SD
mittee on Monday, the 11th before               home January 14.                                extended a call to Rev. Carl IHaak
the Gritters fly home to California.                                                            to serve as  minister to their congre-
                                                                                                gation. 0


WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                             WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                             N O T I C E ! !
   On January 25,1991, our par-                    We, the children and grandchil-                 Classis West of the Protestant
ents, HERMAN and LOUISE                         dren of MR. and MRS. JOE                        Reformed Churches will meet in
OPHOFF, celebrated their 40th                   BRUMMEL are thankful, as they                   Randolph, Wisconsin, on Wednes-
wedding anniversary. We thank the               celebrate their 50th wedding an-                day, March 6,1991, at 8:30 AM, the
Lord for them and are also grateful             niversary on February 12,1991,                  Lord willing. All material for the
to God that He has remembered                   that it has pleased God to give                 Agenda is to be in the hands, of the
His covenant among us. It is our                them these many years together.                 Stated .Clerk,  30 days before Clas-
prayer that they may experience                 We are grateful for the godly exam-             sis convenes. All delegates in need
the blessings of the Lord for many              ple they have set before us. We                 of lodging or transportation fuom the
years to come.                                  pray that God may be near them as               airport should notify the Clerk of
   "The Lord shall bless thee out of            He prepares them for their heav-                Randolph's Consistory, using the
Zion and thou shalt see the good of             enly home.                                      forms provided for that purpose.
Jerusalem all the days of thy life.               "The Lord shall bless thee out of                     - Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk
Yea thou shalt see thy children's               Zion: and thou shalt see the good
children and peace upon Israel"                 of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.          NOTICE!!
(Psalm 128:5, 6).                               Yea, thou shalt see thy children's                 Hope Christian School of Red-
Steven and Karen Ophoff                         children, and peace upon Israel"                lands is in need of a teacher for the
  Steven Charles                                (Psalm 128:5, 6).                               combined first and second grades
Bruce and Rosanne VanSolkema                    Rich and Sylvia VanBaren                        for the 1991-1992 school year. In-
  Tedd Herman                                   Andrew and Judy Brummel                         terested parties, please contact Mr.
  Andrew Steven                                 Adrian and Trude Lenting                        Ed Karsemeyer at the school (714)
John and Patricia Ophoff                        Allen and Sharon Brummel                        ;;;-;;;; or Mr. Bill Feenstra (714)
  Jessica Marie                                 Dale and Delma Post
       Southeast PRC, Grand Rapids, Michigan    Glen and Twyla Griess
                                                Joe and Mary Brummel
                                                Ken and Glenyce Feenstra
                                                  35 grandchildren
                                                  5 great-grandchildren
                                                  3 grandchildren in glory
                                                                         Edgerton, Minnesota

216 I TheStandardBearerI  February1,1991


