A Reformed         BBR
Semi-Monfhly
Magazine





Vol. 67, No. 11
March 1,199l


Contents                                                     March I, 1991                    THE
                                                                                        SIYUVD~
Meditation - Rev. Jason L. Korte&g          _.
   BARABBAS PREFERRED                                                            243        BMR
Editorial - Prof. David J. Enge/sma                                                      ISSN  0362-4692
   CREATION AND SCIENCE . . . AND COMMON GRACE (2)                               245    Semi-monthly, except monthly during  jwne,  July,
                                                                                        and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                                        lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
ALL AROUND US - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                           247    at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                        POSTMASTER:  Send address changes to The
                                                                                        Standard Bearer, P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapids, Ml
Decency and Order - Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga                                             49516.
   THE WORK OF DEACONS                                                           249    EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                        Editor: Prof. David  I.  Engelsma
                                                                                        Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
In His Fear - Rev. Arie denHarfog                                                       Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
   SPIRITUAL DECLINE (2)                                                         252    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                        Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                                        Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
Taking Heed to the Doctrine - Rev. Marvin Kamps                                         Critters, Rev. Carl Haak, Prof. Herman Hanko,
  THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD: THE UNITY OF SCRIPTURE                                254    Rev.  lohn   Hevs.  Rev. Marvin  Kamos.  Rev. Kenneth
                                                                                        Koole,  Rev.  j&n  Kortering, Rev.  b&e  Kuiper, Mr.
                                                                                        lames  Lantina.  Rev.  Ceorae  Lubbers. Mrs.
Search the Scriptures - Rev. Carl J. Haak                                               Marybeth   Lubbers,  Rev.  J&es   Slopiema,  Rev.
                                                                                        Charles Terpstra, Rev.  Cise  VanBaren,  Rev. Ronald
  THE BOOK OF RUTH (1)                                                           257    VanOverloop,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger, Rev. Bernard
                                                                                        Woudenberg.
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  THE END TIMES (10): THE LAST BATTLE                                            259    of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
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   EXPOSITION OF PSALM 81 :lff. (1)                                              261    and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
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242 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


Meditation                                  Barabbas Preferred
Rev. Jason Kortering


   Now at that feast the gover-               Come with me as we draw near            ing Roman domination of the Jews,
nor was wont to release unto the            to Jesus. He must be the focal point      and promoting Jewish nationalism.
people a prisoner, whom they                of our interest. Be careful, though;      There must have been a sizable
would. And they had then a no-              for the more we gaze upon this Suf-       number of such Jewish patriots.
                                            fering Servant of Jehovah, the more       The malefactors on the crosses
table prisoner, called Barabbas.            we will see the horrible depths of        were in all probability connected
Therefore when they were gath-              our own depravity.                        with these efforts as well. Most of
ered together, Pilate said unto               Thus it must be, if we are to           the Jews cheered such efforts. Any-
them, Whom will ye that I re-               glory in the cross of Jesus.              thing to be free from Publican taxal
lease unto you? Barabbas, or Je-              Barabbas represents the king-           tion and Roman oppression. Tep
                                            dom of man, the kingdom of the            rorism had its appeal, already then.
sus which is caZIed Christ? For             Antichrist. This conclusion is              But what does that have to do
he knew that for envy they had              drawn from the evidence the Bible         with the Antichrist? Did not Rome
delivered him. . . .                        gives us about this man. In Mark          represent the Antichrist? Histoq
   The governor answered and                15:7 we read, "And there was one          shows to us that the Antichrist will
said unto them, Whether of the              named Barabbas, which lay bound           come forth in the way of political.
twain will ye that I release unto           with them that had made insurrec-         opposition. The only real spiritual
                                            tion with him, who had committed          antithesis in this world is Christ
you? They said, Barabbas.                   murder in the insurrection." In           and antichrist. These Jewish
             Matthew 27:15-18,21            Matthew 27:16 he is called a "no-         zealots who carried on Jewish na-
                                            table prisoner." In Luke 23:19,25         tionalism hated Rome; but they
                                            we learn that Barabbas was not            were of the same spiritual tempera-
   Jesus or Barabbas!                       only associated with men who              ment. Their tactics were the samle:
   Both were nominated for release.         were guilty of insurrection and           plunder, murder, and violence. We
   A stranger nomination we could           murder, but that he did the same.         see this about us today The world
never imagine.                              John 18:40 adds that he was also a        may be divided even to the point of
   We must put it more strongly: it         "robber." Some suggest that we can        war, Iraq and America and all the
is an insulting nomination. Insult-         learn something from his name,            nations may be mortal enemies
ing to Jesus. How is it that He is          Barabbas, a combination of "Bar,"         now; but, given time, all will even-
placed on the level of one such as          meaning son, and "Abba," meaning          tually merge into the one world
Barabbas, and the people are told           father. True, every man is a son of a     kingdom of man, the antichristian
to vote for one or the other?               father, but in this instance they sug-    kingdom.
   Still more, insult soon turns to         gest that "Father" is also the name         The only exception is Christ and
shame. The people express their             for "Rabbi," a Jewish teacher of the      His kingdom.
choice by shouting their preference         law. Since Matthew 27:Kidentifies           And there stands Jesus. His
for Barabbas.                               him as a notable prisoner, it is sug-     kingdom is not of this world.
   Oh, the clouds of judgment be-           gested that his notoriety was               To understand this, we must
gin to hover over Jesus.                    twofold: first, from the fact that he     needs look upon Him with the eyes
   Pilate tauntingly shouts to the          was from a prominent Jewish fam-          of faith. To be sure, He laid His
people, "What then shall I do with          ily to begin with, and secondly, his      hands upon the blind man and re-
Jesus?' The blood-curdling cry              efforts at insurrection were much         stored his sight. Repeatedly He was
comes forth from the multitude,             appreciated and, since he played a        moved with compassion upon the
"Let him be crucified!"                     leading role in this, was held in es-     multitudes and gave up quiet time
                                            teem by the people.                       with His disciples in order that He
                                              Why would a man, guilt of rob-          might meet the needs of the people,
                                            bery, murder, and insurrection be         teaching them and healing them.
                                            held in esteem? The answer lies in        Who can ever understand that
Rev. Korfering  is pastor of the Profes-    the fact that Barabbas may have           death-defying cry at the tomb,
fanf Rt@med Church of Gr&zdvilIe,           been involved in terroristic activi-      "Lazarus, come forth!" With equal
Michigan.                                   ties that were aimed at overthrow-        majesty He calmed the storm and1

                                                                                        March  1,199l I The Standard Bearer I  243


soothed the troubled heart. We              sus. He knew that Jesus was inno-          Evidently, the Roman govern-
must not overlook the fact that He          cent of any public crime. He could       ment consented to this request of
could be firm when He spoke to              not, however, afford a confronta-        the Jews and made it an annual
His spiritual enemies -- none with          tion with the Jewish leaders. Past       event. This still does not explain
greater force than the Scribes and          history clearly demonstrated that        why Pilate presented a choice to
Pharisees, those whitewashed sep-           these feisty Jews could be quite a       the Jews. Usually, the Jews sug-
ulchers full of dead men's bones.           handful for Roman authority. He          gested a person, and the Rolman
  All this being true, we have not          could better appease them than be        authorities confirmed it. This took
yet addressed His real ministry. Je-        called to give account to Caesar of      place here as well. But in the midst
sus was the fulfillment of prophecy,        Rome. Already he had challenged          of this process, Pilate suddenly
the Messiah, the Lord's Anointed            them to judge Jesus in their own         took advantage of the practice and
who had come to redeem Israel               court system, asserting from the         decided to give them a choice, Je-
from all their iniquity. All during         outset that he did not consider Je-      sus or Barabbas. He had no prob-
His earthly ministry He set His             sus' "offense" a capital crime.          lem placing Jesus in the same cate-
face toward Jerusalem. More than            When Pilate learned that Jesus had       gory as Barabbas. Political expedi-
to teach, more than to keep the Sab-        lived in Nazareth, he forthwith sent     ency was the name of the galme for
bath or other feast days, it was His        Him to Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee.       him. He had a twofold motive.
purpose to die. Only hours before,          But, He was back. What now?              First, he wanted to test the popular
He groveled in the dust as a worm,            Pilate was not only a judge, he        support that Jesus had. Could he
with bloody sweat, imploring His            was a shrewd politician as well.         (Pilate) drive a wedge between the
Father, "If it be possible, let this cup    He thought it smart to capitalize on     leaders of the Jews and the com-
pass from me: nevertheless, not as          a custom associated with the Jew-        mon people? Second, if he could
I will, but as thou wilt." The king-        ish Passover, to release a Jewish        do that, he saw a way out of a diffi-
dom of heaven is founded upon               prisoner. There is no mention of         cult situation.
perfect righteousness. It requires          the release of such a prisoner in the      In such human contrivances,
the death of the guilty sinner. Je-         entire Old Testament. It appears         God has a divine purpose. The
sus, the perfect Son of God, was            that it began during the four hun-       whole world must stand before Je-
made to be sin for us.                      dred years separating the old and        sus and Barabbas. Ultimately, this
  His kingdom is spiritual. It is           new testaments. Zionism, or Jew-         is Gods nomination. In a most pub-
characterized by the love of God            ish nationalism, began during this       lic way, God is challenging every
enthroned in the human heart and            time when Israel was occupied for        human being: will you cast your
de1ivering.a  people from the do-           the most part by Egypt and Syria.        lot with Jesus or with Barabbas?
minion of sin and Satan and restor-         From the little evidence one can           With one accord, man chooses
ing them unto favor with God.               find, we conclude that the idea of       Barabbas. The kingdom of man,
  Days before, He had ridden into           releasing a prisoner at the Passover     the glory of man, the hopes of man,
Jerusalem upon the colt, the foal of        Feast was maintained along the fol-      are most important, even if it in-
an ass. He must needs enter into            lowing lines of thought. Israel was      volves breaking the law of God.
His kingdom in the deepest way of           in forced bondage in Egypt. They         Such it is with all of us. There is no
humility, the suffering and death of        were freed to take up their place in     human exception. The apostate
the cross. He is about to bear Gods         Canaan, to be a nation. (Notice the      church, the powers of this world,
eternal wrath against the sins of           secularization of a religious feast.)    the people at large, even the disci-
His people.                                 The Passover was viewed as a feast       ples of Jesus, all forsake Jesus: "Let
  This background helps us under-           of freedom from foreign oppres-          him be crucified!" We hang our
stand the nomination.                       sion. During these years of Egyp-        heads as well. The world stands
  Pilate set forth this choice.             tian, Syrian, and Roman oppres-          condemned.
  In a sense, he was manipulated            sion, they requested the foreign           But God turns the effrontery of
by the Jewish leaders. Annas and            government to release a prisoner         man into victory. Jesus is not a vic-
Caiaphas, as well as the elders of          who represented their cause, as a        tim. He must suffer and die on that
the people, had gone through a              symbol of their future. Eventually       cross. "Him being delivered. by the
parody of justice, a supposed trial.        they would once again have na-           determinate counsel and fore-
Jesus' guilt had been decided at the        tional independence.                     knowledge of God, ye have taken
outset. The only thing still to be            This would explain why the             and by wicked hands crucified and
determined was what formal                  populace would want a robber and         slain" (Acts 2:23). He died, but He
charge could be brought to Pilate.          murderer released. He committed          also arose. Death is swallowed up
After much confusion, they latched          those crimes while serving the na-       in victory.
upon the idea of civil disobedience,        tionalistic cause of the Jews. The         Jesus or Barabbas!
a threat to destroy public property,        objects of these crimes were the           Let us not crucify the Son of God
destroy the temple.                         hated Romans. Such a criminal be-        afresh.
  Pilate had tried every way possi-         came a folk-hero to the Jews. His          Let us now cry out, My Jesus, I
ble to get from under the miserable         release would be cause for celebra-      love thee, I know thou art mine! 0
task of conducting a trial for this Je-     tion and hope.

244 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


                                           Creation and
                                           Science  and
                                                                                n n n 
Editorial                                  Common Grace (2)

  Although the report of the study            This basis is general revelation            records hisfo y would not arise Cpp. 14,
committee to the Christian Re-             and common grace.                              15).
formed Synod of 1991, "Committee              In keeping with its mandate, the              These questions (abouf  the doctrine
on Creation and Science," approves         committee on creation and science              of creation and the interpretation of
theistic evolution, this is not the        finds the basis, or ground, for theis-         Genesis 1 and 2 - DIE) have arisen
main purpose of the report. For the        tic evolution in general revelation.           because of advances in science (p. 19).
CRC has already approved theistic          General revelation is Gods making                Regarding the question of "the
evolution. The CRC Synod of 1988           Himself known to men in creation               existence of evolutionary forebears
received a report from its Board of        and history, in distinction from the           of the human race," the majority of
Trustees informing the Synod of the        revelation of Himself in His Word,             the committee cannot rule out ani-
Board's decision that the writings         Holy Scripture. The committee               mal ancestors of the first man, be-
of three of the Church's professors        proposes that general revelation is            cause they `believe that we are
advocating theistic evolution "fall        an authority in the church along-              called to somehow take account of
within the limits set by the synodi-       side Scripture. It is an authority          both of Gods revelations whether
tally adopted guidelines for the in-       equal to Scripture: "The authority          we currently know how to do that
terpretation of Scripture and by the       of general revelation, no less than         or not and that traditional conclu-
doctrinal statements of the Chris-         that of special revelation, is a di-        sions would be compelling on
tian Reformed Church . . ..`I Only         vine authority, which must be ac-           scriptural grounds were it not that
then did the Synod appoint the             knowledged without reservation"             nature (general revelation -- DJE)
study committee on creation and            (p. 41). General revelation (which             seems to be authoritatively telling
science.                                   for the committee is virtually iden-        us something else" (p. 43).
  It was not the mandate of the            tical with modern scientific theory)             If the basis of theistic evolution is
committee to investigate whether           teaches evolution -- not only a             general revelation, the source and
theistic evolution is biblically and       world that is billions of years old,        explanation of general revelation is
creedally Reformed. Rather, the            but also the development of all             Gods common grace. In support
mandate was "to address the rela-          things, including man, from the             of its contention that "the fall into
tionship between special and gen-          dead matter that resulted from the          sin neither eroded the content of
eral revelation as found in Belgic         "Big Bang" (p. 36). This authorita-         general revelation nor destroyed its
Confession Article II . . ..`I The com-    tive testimony of general revelation        authority," the report appeals, on
mittee was to explore and formu-           demands a reinterpretation of Gen-          page 7, to "corm-non grace" as
late the basis for the approval of         esis 1 and 2 along the lines of theis-      taught by Herman Bavinck, partic-
theistic evolution in God's general        tic evolution.                              ularly in his address, "De AZgerneene
revelation. Then, significantly, the          The report frankly acknowledges          Genade" ("Common Grace"; for an
Synod defeated a motion that               that general revelation is responsi-        English translation of this work, cf.
would have forbidden the profes-           ble for bringing about the new in-          Calvin TheoZogical Journal, April
sors from teaching theistic evolu-         terpretation of Genesis 1 and 2 that        1989: 61). The passage appealecl  to
tion while the study was being             is essential for the approval of the-       in Bavinck reads as follows:
made (cf. Acfs of Synod 1988, pp.          istic evolution in the church.                   God has nof left sin to ifs own de-
595,599).                                     Thus fhis issue concerns the impact      structive working. He had a purpose
  It would be a mistake, therefore,        of general revelation upon our under-       with His creation, and mainfained this
to regard the approval of theistic         sfanding of special revelation. If we       purpose aZso affer the fall. He has izr-
evolution as the heart of the report.      stood in a tradition fhaf insfrucfed  us    fervened between sin and the creation
The heart of the report is rather the      in our reading of Scripfure  to ignore      with His common grace, which, al-
basis it proposes for the approval of      either general revelation or fhe results    fhough if does not renew inwardly,
theistic evolution.                        of science, the question of how Genesis     nevertheless retards and resfrains ouf-

                                                                                            March  1,199l  I The Standard Bearer  I 245


wardly. Out of this common grace            mittee on Creation and Science . . .        cordance with this divine purpose,
comes-all thaf &hich is good a&l frue       and Common Grace."                          no unbeliever ever possesses or ar-
that we will observe among fallen men.        In this way, the report satisfies         rives at the true knowledge of God
The light shines dill in the darkness.      Herman Bavinck's expectation of             the Creator from general revelation,
The Spirit of God dwells and works in       theology. Bavinck concludes  "De            for he invariably and instant1.y
all that is created. (Grand Rapids:         Algemeene Getde" by describing              holds the truth in unrighteousness
Eerdmans-Sevensma,  nd., pp. 16,17;         theology as a mixture of common             (vs. 18) and changes the truth of
my translation of the Dutch.)               grace and special grace: "Theology          God into a lie (vs. 25). For exam-
  For its position that ungodly,            has first arisen in the congregation        ple, he changes the truth of creation
evolutionary scientists rightly in-         of Christ when common grace and             into the lie of evolution. Romans
terpret God's general revelation,           special grace have flowed together"         1:18-32 explicitly teaches that there
the report again appeals to com-            (p.  32). They have flowed together,        is in general revelation for the un-
mon grace (p. 12). Although it              however, as the seven lean and ill-         believer no common grace, but
does not quote this passage, the re-        favored cows of Pharaoh's dream             only common wrath: "For the
port is adopting the notion that            "flowed together" with the seven            wrath of God is revealed from
Bavinck expressed in "De Algemeene          fat cows. Common grace has de-              heaven against all ungodliness and
Gede" when he wrote:                        voured special grace. General reve-         unrighteousness of men, who hold
  And fhrough His revelation in na-         lation has swallowed special reve-          the truth in unrighteousness" (vs.
ture and histo y, He binds them (the        lation. Evolution has consumed              18).
unregenerafed  world -- DJE) to fhe in-     creation.                                     With regard to the believer,
visible, supersensual world and               But this theology is not Re-              whose eyes are opened to the wis-
arouses in their hearts the desire for      formed theology. Indeed, it is not          dom, power, and glory of the Cre-
worship and virtue. All of that rich        Protestant theology. The raising of         ator in creation by particular,, sav-
life of nature and of fhe world of hu-      general revelation to an authorita-         ing grace, general revelation is "a
manity is therefore fo be ascribed to       tive position in the church along-          most  elegant book, wherein all
God`s common grace  (pp. 26,271.            side Scripture (in reality, over Scrip-     creatures, great and small, are as so
  We may fairly summarize the               ture) is denial of the fundamental          many characters leading us to con-
CRC "Committee on Creation and              Protestant principle:  sola Scripfura --    template the invisible things of
Science" as follows. God's common           Scripture as the only authority in          God' (Belgic Confession, Art. 2).
grace testifies in nature that the          the church. To this illicit exaltation      But the believer reads this book
universe is billions of years old and       of general revelation, the Reformed         strictly in the light shed by Holy
that all things, man not excepted,          faith says "no." Article 7 of the Bel-      Scripture. For the believer, general
evolved from the original, dead             gic Confession declares it to be "un-       revelation, like everything else, in-
matter. God's common grace has              lawful for any one, though an apos-         cluding angels from heaven, is sub-
been working also in umegener-              tle (much more, a mere scientist --         ject to the authority of the written
ated, unbelieving scientists, the           DJE), to teach otherwise than we            Word of God (Gal. 1:8,9>.
damned Charles Darwin and                   are now taught in the Holy Scrip-             It is to be expected that the re-
Thomas Huxley especially in-                tures." Nothing, insists the Re-            port on creation and science will
cluded, to receive and interpret the        formed creed, including general             win adoption by the CRC synod of
testimony in nature. Evolution is           revelation, much less, hostile, evo-        1991, opening the Church and the
the Word of God in common grace.            lutionary scientists, is "of equal          Christian schools of her members
Reformed believers must, therefore,         value with the truth of God" which          to theistic evolution. There can be
submit to this authoritative Word           is the Bible. "We reject with all our       no radical, effectual resistance to its
of God. In obedience to it, they            hearts, whatsoever doth not agree           thinking and argument that refuses
must at the very least approve the-         with this infallible rule," including       to lay the ax to the report's roots in
istic evolution as an honorable             prevailing scientific opinion con-          common grace.
Christian doctrine. Since special           cerning the origin of the universe.            This to me is tragedy.
revelation - Holy Scripture --                Is there then no general revela-             Oh, that the Church of the re-
teaches something entirely different        tion, i.e., Gods making Himself             port, and all Reformed churches
in Genesis 1 and 2, the Reformed            known to all men through creation?          everywhere (for theistic evolution
church must sanction and promote            The apostle makes plain, in Ro-             and the view of Scripture that per-
a reinterpretation of Genesis 1 and         mans 1:18ff., that there is. But the        mits it now make inroads widely
2. Genesis 1 and 2 is not historical        sole purpose of God with this reve-         among Reformed and Presbyterian
and, therefore, is not to be under-         lation of His eternal power and             churches), would simply heed
stood literally.                            Godhead to the unbelievers is "that         what the report on creation and sci-
  At the heart of the report, as at         they are without excuse" (vs. 20).          ence itself amazingly confesses at
the root of theistic evolution in the       Why does the report on creation             one point:
CRC, is common grace; The report            and science omit exactly these cru-            A plain reading of thefirsf chapters
itself explicitly says so. The title of     cially important words in its quota-        of Genesis, as it was almosf univer-
the report should have been, "Com-          tion of the passage from Article 2 of       sally accepfed  by Chrisfians  unfil fhe
                                            the Belgic Confession (pi 6)? In ac-        nineteenth  centu y, indicates that God

246 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


 made the world in six days a few thou-     gether  they were the first parents of the       This, says the report, is part of
 sand years before Abraham, that the        human race. Orighzally  they were per-        "the problem confronting the
 various kinds of plants and animals       fecf and holy, but after the fall they         church."
 were created by Him according to their     and their descendants became corrupt             The report is wrong,
 kind, and that Adam and Eve were           and sinful, desperately in need of re-           This is the solution. Cl         - DJE
 uniquely created in God's image. Eve       demption  (p. 36).
 was m&e from Adams rib, and fo-




 Prof. Robert Decker                       All Around Us

 n Foxhole Christiatis                      same is true of the leaders of our            ham returned to the White House
                                           nation. President Bush turned to               with the president for lunch and
   I recall from childhood days            prayer and preachers in the hours              more prayer before leaving town.
 during the Second World War a              surrounding the January 16 com-                  To all of this we offer just this
 saying that went like this, `There        mencement of hostilities in the                thought: why in time of national
 are no atheists in foxholes." The         Middle East. The bresident  at-                crisis do people turn to God when
point of the saying was that the ter-      tended worship services at Camp                at other times they feel the need
rors of combat compelled men to            David on both the Sunday before                neither for prayer nor for the wor-
believe in and turn to God. It             the 16th and the Sunday afterward.             ship of the Lord and, indeed, have
seems we are witnessing the same           As the U. N. deadline was about to             very little or no time at all for God
phenomenon now that our nation             expire, he telephoned Presiding                and His Word?
is at war in the Middle East. Mili-        Bishop Edmond Browning of the                                National b Infernational
tary chaplains report increased at-        Episcopal Church (Mr. Bush is an                                        Religion Report
tendance at worship services and           Episcopalian) and U. S. Senate
Bible Study meetings. Captain              Chaplain Richard Halverson and                 n Weird And
James O'Conner,  a Lutheran and            told them he had been praying for
chief chaplain aboard the aircraft         peace. Both men prayed with Mr.                    Scandalous Views
carrier USS John F. Kennedy, notes         Bush over the phone. Browning
that chapel attendance increased           also prayed with Secretary of State               A sizable renewal group within
by 40% since the deployment be-            James Baker. On Wednesday the                  the Presbyterian Church (USA)
gan. `The majority of our crew are         president sent a call to his long-             based in Louisville called Presbyte-
non-affiliated," O'Conner said, `but       time personal friend, the Rev. Billy           rians for Renewal (PR) is charging
many are coming to the faith."             Graham. The message: "I need                   its church's Special Task Force on
   What is true of the military is         you." Graham arrived at the White              Human Sexuality with "opening
true of the country in general.            House at 5:45 that same afternoon.             the floodgates to a fully permissive
Churches across the country re-            Graham had dinner with the                     society of approved consensual
ported larger than usual crowds on         Bushes and prayed with them and                adult sex, irrespective of gender,"
the Sunday preceding the war's             other family members four or five              with promoting "weird and scan.-
outbreak. Many churches sched-             times during that evening. He                  dalous" views on marriage and fi-
uled prayer vigils through the             stayed the night. A hastily orga-              delity, and with planning to recom-
week. Faculty and students at sev-         nized service was held the next                mend ordination of gay and les-
eral Christian colleges and Univer-        morning at Memorial Chapel at                  bian pastors. PR claims that cer
sities held prayer convocations.           Fort Myer, across the Potomac in               tain beliefs of the members of the
And the news media are urging the          Virginia. Among the several hun-               Task Force were made clear at an
people to pray for peace in the            dred who attended were: the Vice               open meeting last November in
Middle East.                               President, almost all the members              Charlotte, NC, where committee
  According to reports from both           of the Cabinet, many of the White              members deliberated whether it is
the secular and religious press, the       House staff, General Cohn Powell,              wrong for the church to condemn
                                           assorted military people, and their            categorically non-marital sex and
                                           spouses. During the course of his              whether marital fidelity  necessarily
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical     17minute  sermon Graham quoted                 means marital monogamy.  PR is
Theology in the Protestant Reformed        Abraham Lincoln's prayer "that we              also claiming that the Task Force
Semina y.                                  will be on Gods side." Mr. Gra-                struck at the church's foundational

                                                                                           March  1,1991!  The Standard Bearer  / 247


belief in the authority of the Bible        ness" also means "the time between           churches which stand in the Re-
by suggesting that scriptural teach-        the collapse of an old way of men            formed tradition is poorly at-
ings on sexuality are tainted by pa-        and women relating to each other             tended. Dr. Louis Lotz writes
triarchal injustice. "The book in           in the church and the emergence of           about this in a recent issue of The
which we find revealed God's grace          a new way." During this transi-              Church Herald,  the official magazine
in Jesus Christ has been tried and          tional period, he said, we mustgive          of the Reformed Church in Amer-
found guilty of patriarchalism," PR         thanks for the "disappearance of             ica. He notes that all kinds of gim-
charges. So far, 721 PCUSA congre-          the old way" and "seek guidance              micks have been tried but nothing
gations have endorsed "Witness for          for the shaping of the new way."             seems to revive the second service.
Biblical Morality," a document that         Conference speakers and panel                Only a handful attend. In one in-
calls for a firm denominational             members included Nick and Rev.               stance he notes a college choir per-
commitment to marriage and tradi-           Claire Wolterstorff (Nick's wife is          formed at the second service and
tional sexual values. Interestingly         an Episcopalian clergywoman),                there were more in the choir loft
enough a recent survey in the               Revs. Bruce and Vicki Menning,               than in the pews. No mention is
PCUSA found that most of the laity          Linda Male, Rev. Laura Smit, Clau-           made of the God ordained means
do not want homosexuals in the              dia Beversluis, Rev. Carl Kammer-            of grace, the preaching of the Word,
pulpit even if they are celibate, but       aad, Annalies Knoppers, and Mary             by which means the Son of God
64% of the pastors and 70% of the           Steward Van Leeuwen. Prof.                   gathers the church  (Heidelberg Cafe-
"specialized clergy," such as semi-         Wolterstorff concluded the Confer-           chism, L. D. 21). This is the one
nary professors, endorse the policy.        ence by saying, "The old order in            means which can restore the sec-
              National  b Infernational     which the voices of women were               ond service. Lotz concludes his
                         Religion Report    muffled and always treated as be-            thoughts on the question wii:h
                                            ing of second rank-that old order            these words, "God does not mea-
n Poignant Betweenness                      is coming to an end. Slowly, with            sure our spirituality by the number
                                            pain, it is ending, it is really ending.     of times we worship, but by the in-
   Such is the phrase coined by             We have seen clear signs of the              tegrity of our worship." Maybe so.
Nicholas Wolterstorff at the Part-          coming of flourishing and justice."          But, surely, having only one service
nership in the Gospel Conference,             The Bible clearly forbids women            on the Lords Day is not obedience
sponsored by the Committee for              to serve in church office. It takes          to Scripture's exhortation,  `I.". ne-
Women in the Christian Reformed             hermeneutical and exegetical gym-            glect not the assembling of your-
Church and nine West Michigan               nastics to make Scripture say other-         selves together as the manner of
CR churches. The November con-              wise. But where does the Bible               some is . ..`I (Hebrews 10:25).  Hav-
ference, the fifth of its kind, at-         ever teach or condone in any way             ing one service on the Lord's Day is
tracted some 310 men and women              the "muffling of the voices of godly         certainly not what our fathers had
from churches in Canada and the             women" or the "treating of women             in mind when they said, among
United States. This year's registra-        as being of second rank'?                    other things, that obedience to the
tion was the largest ever. The                                             The Banner    Fourth Commandment involves
"poignant betweenness" is more                                                           "diligently frequenting the house of
than the period between Synod               n What To Do About                           God on the Lords Day" (Heidelberg
1990's decision to open all ecclesias-                                                   Catechism, q. 103). 0
tical offices to women and its pro-             The Second Service                                           The Church Herald
posed ratification in 1992. Accord-
ing to Wolterstorff, the "between-            It's no secret that the second ser-
                                            vice on the Lords Day in many


                                               Rules For Daily Life
Begin the day with God:                     Go through the day with God,                 Conclude the day with God.
  Kneel down to Him in prayer;                Whate'er thy work may be;                     Thy sins to Him confess;
Lift up thy heart to His abode,             Where'er thou art - at home,                 Trust in the Lord's atoning blood,
  And seek His love to share.                    abroad,                                    And plead His righteousness.
                                              He still is near to thee.
Open the Book of God,                                                                    Lie down at night with God
  And read a portion there;                 Converse in mind with God;                     Who gives His servants sleep;
That it may hallow all thy                    Thy spirit heavenward raise:               And if thou tread'st the vale of
      thoughts,                             Acknowledge every good be-                         death,
  And sweeten all thy care.                      stowed,                                    He will thee guard and keiep.
                                              And offer grateful praise.
                                                                                                      - SB, December 15,1932


248 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


Decency
and Order                                   The Work of Deacons
Rev. Ron Cammenga


  The office peculiar to the dea-           be deacons appointed in the church            "to do their utmost endeavors, that
cons is diligently to collect alms          so `I... that the poor and distressed         many good means be procured for
and other contributions of char-            may be relieved and comforted, ac-            the relief of the poor."
ity, and after mutual counsel,              cording to their necessities."                  Generally the collection of the F
                                              The lengthiest description of the           alms by the deacons ought to take
faithfully and diligently to dis-           deacons' office is found in our               place on the Sabbath Day during
tribute the same to the poor as             "Form of Ordination of Elders and             the worship services. This is in
their needs may require it; to              Deacons."                                     keeping with the apostle's require-
visit and comfort the distressed              From which passage (i.e., I Cor.            ment in I Corinthians 16:1,2: %Tow
and to exercise care that the               12:28) we may easily gather, what the         concerning the collection for the
                                            deacon's office is, namely, that they in      saints, as I have given order to the
alms are not misused; of which              thefirst place collect and preserve with      churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
they shall render an account in             the greatest fidelity and diligence, the      Upon the first day of the week let
consisfory, and also (if anyone             alms and goods which are given fo the         every one of you lay by him in
desires to be present) to the con-          poor: yea, to do their utmost en&v-           store, as God hath prospered him,
gregation, at such time as the              ors, that many good means be pro-             that there be no gatherings when I
consistory may see fit.                     cured for the relief of the poor. The sec-    come."  The Heidelberg Catechism,
                                            ond part of their office consists in dis-     Lords Day 38, makes part of our
         Church Order, Article 25.          tribution, wherein are not only re-           keeping of the Sabbath Day that we
                                            quired discretion and prudence to be-         "diiigently frequent the church of
Introduction                                stow the alms only on objects of char-        God, to . . . contribute to the relief of
  The concern of Article 25 is with         ity, but also cheerfulness and simplic-       the poor, as becomes a Christian."
the work of the deacons. Article 24         ity to assist the poor with compassion        Part of the regular Sunday worship
dealt with the method of their elec-        and hearty affection: as the apostle re-      of the people of God ought to be
tion. Article 25, now, prescribes the       quires, Remans chapter 12; and 11             their contributing to the Benevolent
labors which are required of those          Corinthians chapter 9. For which end          Fund. This is one collection that:
who have been elected to the office         if is very beneficial that they do not        the Scriptures require to be taken in
of deacon in the church.                    only administer relief to the poor and        the church.
  The earliest Reformed synod, the          indigent with exfernal gifts, but also          This does not mean that Gods
Synod of Wezel, 1568, addressed it-         with comfortable words from Scrip-            people may not give to the deacons
self to the work of the deacons.            ture.                                         for the relief of the poor on any
  According fo fhe testimony of Scrip-         Article 25 requires especially             other day than Sunday. But it is to
fure if is absolutely cerfain,  that the    four duties of the deacons: collec-           say that regular Sunday collections
office of fhe deacons consisfs  in this     tion of the alms, distribution of the         are to be taken for the poor.
that they serve at fables, which is fo      alms, preservation of the alms, and             Since this is the prescribed
say, fhaf fhey come to the help of the      accounting and reporting to the               method by which the deacons are
poor in their needs and provide fhm         consistory and congregation of                to obtain the alms, it is forbidden
with what is necessary fhrough the          their collection and distribution.            that the deacons resort to the meth-
gathering of alms.                                                                        ods employed in our day by other
  The Be&c Confession describes             Collection of the Alms                        "charitable organizations." The
the office of deacon in Article 30.           Article 25 speaks of the deacons'           deacons have no business involv-
The article teaches that there must         diligently collecting "alms and               ing themselves in crass money-
                                            other contributions of charity."              making schemes, bazaars, socials,
                                            "Alms" refers to money. "Other                lotteries, auctions, and Bingo
                                            contributions of charity" refers to           games. The Scriptures bind the
Rev. Cammenga is pastor of fhe              such things as food and clothing.             deacons to the free, thankful con.tri-
Profesfanf Reformed Church of Love-         The "Form" speaks of "alms and                butions  of the members of the
Zand, Colorado.                             goods" and also urges the deacons             church.

                                                                                            March 1,199l /The Standard Bearer / 249


   In passing it may be noted that it       violently or unjustly with the wid-       concerned members to inform the
was the custom of the early church          ows and orphans in the church,            deacons when they suspect that a
to take up a special collection for         and if they hear of anything of this      need exists.
the poor after the celebration of the       nature, they must report it to the          The distribution to the poor is to
Lord's Supper. Very likely this be-         consistory . . ..`I                       be "as their needs may require it."
came the substitute for the apos-                                                     The deacons are to meet the
tolic love feast. In some of our            Distribution of the Alms                  "needs" of the poor (Acts 4:35). The
churches today a similar practice is           Distribution of the alms is to be      poor should not be made to suffer
found in the taking of a "thank of-         made to the poor. This means, first       needlessly because pressing needs
fering" for the poor after the Lord's       of all, the poor members of the con-      are not provided for or not pro-
Supper has been administered.               gregation itself. The original article    vided for promptly by the deacons.
   As part of their duty to collect         in the Church Order of Dordf spoke        But neither should the benevolence
the alms, the deacons ought to in-          of "both residents and strangers."        of the church be used to provide
form the congregation of benevo-            "Residents" were native members           unneeded luxuries for the poor or
lent needs and exhort the members           of the local church, while                to give them a standard of living
to give their alms. Especially are          "strangers" were refugees who had         comparable to the majority of the
they to exhort close relatives of           fled persecution in their native          other members of the church.. The
their responsibility to come to the         lands. Besides the poor in the local      deacons' responsibility extends to
aid of the needy, and the poor to           congregation, the deacons are to          the needs, the basic necessitiles  of
seek the assistance of their rela-          stand ready to assist the poor in sis-    the poor.
tives. This is the teaching of I Timo-      ter churches within the denomina-           What the "need" of the poor is,
thy 5:4,16: "But if any widow (i.e.,        tion, and also other Christians of        the deacons are to determine. Here
"poor person," RC) have children or         different church affiliation.             much discretion and wisdom are
nephews, let them learn first to               There are even circumstances           required. In order to determine the
shew piety at home, and to requite          when the deacons may render as-           nature and the extent of the need,
their parents: for that is good and         sistance to poor unbelievers. The         there must be openness and coop-
acceptable before God. If any man           apostle exhorts in Galatians 6:10,        eration between the deacons and
or woman that believeth have wid-           "As we have therefore opportunity,        the poor. On the one hand, the
ows, let them relieve them, and let         let us do good unto all men, espe-        poor should be honest and
not the church be charged; that it          cially unto them who are of the           forthright in informing the deacons
may relieve them that are widows            household of faith." Such relief          of their needs. On the other hand,
indeed."                                    ought to be given, however, not to        the deacons ought to avoid unnec-
  The deacons are also to exhort            poor unbelievers generally, but to        essary probing and needless inva-
those who are wealthy in the                those who are very deliberately           sion of privacy. The deacons
church of the special responsibility        placed across the path of the             should investigate to such a `degree
they have in regard to relief of the        church, who probably themselves           that they are convinced of the need
poor. Scripture speaks of this call-        contact the church or pastor. Such        and understand the extent of the
ing. "Charge them that are rich in          relief is not to take precedence to       need.
this world, that they be not high-          the poor within the congregation;           A question that sometimes arises
minded, nor trust in uncertain              the poor saints come first. And           is whether or not Christian educa-
riches, but in the living God, who          such relief by the deacons must cer-      tion is to be considered a need.
giveth us richly all things to enjoy;       tainly be accompanied by a witness        Historically, the Reformed churches
that they do good, that they be rich        to the gospel and the explanation         have answered this question affir-
in good works, ready to distribute,         that the assistance given is ren-         matively. We have already seen
willing to communicate; laying up           dered in the name of Christ.              that the Church Order speaks of
in store for themselves a good                 The question is often asked:           Christian education as one of "the
foundation against the time, to             "Should the deacons search out the        demands of the covenant"(Church
come, that they may lay hold on             poor, or should the poor come to          Order, Article 21). If Christian edu-
eternal life" (I Tim. 6:17-19). The         the deacons?" The answer to this          cation is a "demand," a necessity.,
Synod of Wezel laid this calling            question is: "Both." Certainly it be-     then it certainly is permitted
upon the deacons: "They ought               longs to the office of deacons that       covenant parents to seek the help
also to diligently admonish those           they search out the poor. Compas-         of the deacons in paying their
who can afford it to come to the            sion for the poor will compel the         Christian school tuition.
help of the needy of the church and         deacons to do this. But the poor            The deacons are to distribute the
the want of the poor." Our "Form'           also have the responsibility to           alms only "after mutual counsels'
makes a point of addressing the             make use of the office of deacon.         Article 25 says. This introduces a
rich: "Be charitable, ye rich, give         There are often times when the            safeguard and also provides for it
liberally, and contribute willingly."       deacons are unaware that a need           that the deacons act as a body and
In addition, the Synod of Wezel             exists. In such cases the poor must       never independently. This means
ruled: `The deacons will also watch         go to the office of Christ in the dea-    that the deacons must meet and
for cases in which someone deals            cons for help. It is also possible for    discuss together the needs of the

250 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,1991


poor, taking a formal decision to         but also with comfortable words           shall render an account in consis-
meet a particular need by a major-        from Scripture."                          tory, and also (if anyone desires to
ity vote. The deacons may even               It may be added that this is the       be present) to the congregation, at
consult the consistory in certain         most rewarding part of deacons'           such a time as the consistory may
cases, seeking the additional advice      work. If all that the deacons do is       see fit."
of the elders and minister. The bib-      write and send checks, there is no           Regular reports are to be made
lical principle applies: "In the mul-     great satisfaction in doing their         to the consistory. Ordinarily this
titude of counselors there is safety."    work. Then the deacons rob them-          ought to be done routinely at the
  This does not rule out the possi-       selves of the joy of their labors. But    monthly consistory meetings.
bility of exceptions in emergency         to meet with Gods people, to open         These reports ought to be suffi-
cases. Such cases do, from time to        the Scriptures to them, to bring          ciently detailed so that the consis-
time, arise. Even then, one deacon        them Gods promises, and to wit-           tory is able to determine that the
ought never to act on his own.            ness the Spirit at work to comfort,       deacons are faithfully doing their
And as soon as possible the whole         encourage, and strengthen the poor        work. The consistory must be as-
body of deacons ought to be in-           -- that is rewarding!                     sured that the poor are being pro-
formed of the emergency action                                                      vided for and that the deacons are
that was taken, seeking their ap-         Preservation of the Alms                  bringing them the comfort of the
proval, albeit after the fact.               Besides collecting and distribut-      Word of God.
  Accompanying this distribution,         ing the alms, the deacons are called         The principle underlying reports
the deacons are "to visit and com-        to exercise care that the alms be         to the consistory is the mutual su-
fort the distressed," Article 25          preserved and protected against           pervision of the officebearers,
states. The deacons are not simply        abuse.                                    Church Order,  Article 81. Besides
to relieve the poor in a formal, im-         The deacons must guard against         this, the elders, as the ruling bod:y
personal way, sending a check, for        abuse of the alms by the poor. The        in the church, exercise supervision
example, or dropping off some gro-        alms must be administered only to         not only over the minister of the
ceries. Any social service or gov-        those who are genuinely needy.            Word, but also over the deacons.,
ernment organization can do that.         The deacons must distribute the              Regular reports ought also to `be
The deacons must never forget that        alms to the poor only after the poor      made to the congregation. Usually
they distribute the mercies of            have contacted their close relatives,     this is done at the time of the an-
Christ.                                   so as to avoid unnecessarily bur-         nual congregational meeting or by
  The deacons must "visit" the            dening the church. And the dea-           means of an annual financial report
poor. This means ordinarily a per-        cons must see to it that the alms         to the congregation. It is also possi-
sonal visit with the poor in their        distributed to the poor are not           ble for an individual member to
own home.                                 squandered.                               meet with the consistory concern-
  Besides, the deacons must `com-            The deacons must also preserve         ing either the collection or the dis-
fort" the poor. They do this by talk-     the alms against the possibility of       tribution of benevolence. In either
ing to the poor, reading and ex-          abuse by the deacons themselves,          case, discretion must be exercised
plaining the Scriptures, and apply-       as has on occasion happened. One          by the consistory, which general1.y
ing the Word of God to the special        deacon alone should not be left to        means that names and specific
circumstances of the poor. At bot-        count the benevolent collections.         amounts of assistance are not dis-
tom, the deacons' office too, like        This should be done in the pres-          closed. The deacons are to give an
that of the minister and the elder, is    ence of all the deacons, with an el-      account to the congregation be-
the office of bringing Christ's Word      der present. The "Questions for           cause the work of mercy which the
to Christ's people. The poor have a       Church Visitation" require this:          deacons perform is principally the
special need of hearing the Word of       "Are the collections counted in the       work of the congregation through
Christ. There are special tempta-         presence of the minister or one or        the office of deacon. Cl
tions and peculiar struggles to be        more of the elders?" The benevo-
faced by the poor of God's people.        lent monies should not be kept at
There is the tendency to become           the home of one of the deacons, but
discouraged and despondent.               safely deposited in the bank. At          Though waves and billows o'er me
There is the temptation to envy and       least two sets of Benevolent Fund            pass
bitterness. The deacons must ad-          books should be kept.% Benevolent         In whelming floods of ill,
dress themselves to these tempta-         monies should-always be dis-              Within the haven of God's love
tions and serve as the means of           tributed by a committee of at least       My soul is anchored still.
God to protect the poor from these        two deacons. And there should be          And though the strain and stress of
threats. The "Form" speaks of this        an annual auditing of the Benevo:           life
calling beautifully: "For which end       lent Fund by the consistory.              My thread of faith may,break,
it is very beneficial, that they (the                                               The cable of His faithfulness
deacons) do not only administer re-       Deacons Reports                           No storm can ever shake.
lief to the poor with external gifts,        Deacons reports are prescribed
                                          `by Article 25: I'... of which they                       - SB, October 15,1!332

                                                                                      March  1,1991/  The Standard Bearer  / 251


In His Fear                                 Spiritual Decline (2)
Rev. Arie denHat?og


   In our last article we considered        conscience. But slowly man be-            shall he also reau. God is not
                                                                                                                   --
something of the reality and seri-          comes accustomed to sin. He is no         mocked. He that soweth to htis
ousness of spiritual decline in the         longer troubled by it. He succeeds        flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup-
Christian's life. Such decline is not       to a measure in silencing the voice       tion. (See Galatians 6:7,&j When
to be dismissed merely as some-             of his conscience. He makes more          we give ourselves over to sin, we
thing quite natural and inevitable          and more compromises in his life.         may become so hardened tha.t it is
because of the normal character of          At first perhaps he commits his sin       necessary for God to break us. It
the Christian life. We ought to be          in secret, vainly imagining that          may be necessary for God to ex-
on our guard against such decline           even God does not see or know his         pose our sin openly and put us to
and be deeply concerned about it.           sin. He lives as a hypocrite among        shame, as He did with David after
It can have very serious conse-             his fellow Christians.                    his great sin. When the Lord does
quences. It makes us vulnerable to             Such secret sin will have devas-       this to one of His own, He acts in
the attacks of the devil and endan-         tating effects on our walk with           mercy and lovingkindness to turn a
gers us for falling into great sin.         God. It is impossible to experience       man away from sin and back to
The example of David ought to be            His grace and fellowship when we          Himself, and to save him from
a fearful warning to us. Decline in         live in such secret sin. God is holy.     complete destruction. But this will
the life of the child of God can            He that walks in darkness and says        for that man be painful and humili-
make him for a time the object of           that he has fellowship with God is        ating. We ought greatly to fear the
God's anger and displeasure, and            a liar and the truth is not in him. If    consequences of sin in our lives, so
make necessary grievous chastise-           we attempt to continue secretly           that such dealings of the Lord with
ment in his life. Spiritual decline is      with sin in our heart, or perhaps in      us are not necessary.
a sin that the child of God commits         a secret closet, that sin will develop      Closely related to the above
by giving way to the working of             and grow more and more. If such           mentioned cause of spiritual de-
the Evil One in his life. It is a sin       sin is allowed to continue, it will       cline is the great and constant dan-
that we ought to know and ac-               soon happen that a man sins more          ger of worldliness in our lives.
knowledge and repent from.                  and more openly and becomes               Worldliness is of course just an-
  We ought to know the causes of            brazen about his sin.                     other great sin that we must be on
spiritual decline in our lives in or-         Such is the awful development           our guard against. The Bible warns
der that we might turn again to the         of sin in the lives of men. James         us again and again about this. The
Lord. The chief cause of course is          speaks of this in the first chapter of    friendship of the world is enmity
sin, sin that arises out of our old         his epistle: "Let no man say when         against God. "Love not the world,
depraved nature that we bear with           he is tempted, I am tempted of            neither the things that are in the
us until the day of our death. We           God: for God cannot be tempted            world. If any man love the world,
must wage a constant spiritual bat-         with evil, neither tempteth he any        the love of the Father is not in him.
tle against this sin and guard              man: but every man is tempted             For all that is in the world, the lust
against its spoiling our Christian          when he is drawn away of his own          of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
life. When that sin is unconfessed          lust, and enticed. Then when lust         and the pride of life, is not of the
and unrepented of it will separate          hath conceived, it bringeth forth         Father, but is of the world" (I John
us from God and diminish our                sin; and sin, when it is finished,        2:15,16X
spiritual life and strength.                bringeth forth death' (James 1:13-          Worldliness does not usually
  The devil knows how to lead us            15). When a man gives himself             overwhelm the Christian in one
little by little into sin and away          over to sin, he becomes a slave of        day. It is something that happens
from God. When sin is continued,            the sin. He gives himself over to         slowly and gradually. There is a
it will begin to dull our conscience.       the bondage of the devil, and the         subtle working of the devil in re-
Perhaps at first when we walk in            devil leads him to spiritual devas-       gards to this sin also. He has the
sin we will have great pangs of             tation and ruin in his life.              ability to influence our minds and
                                              This is something that can and          hearts when we give way to Ihim.
Rev. denHarfog  is pasfor of Hope           does happen in the lives of God's         He can convince us that things in
Profeslanf Reformed Church in Red-          people. The Word of God warns us          the world are not really as bad as
lands, California.                          that whatsoever a man soweth, that        they seem. Maybe we should re-

252 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


evaluate. There is, after all, still a     regular visits to expensive restau-        great sin of unequal yokes in mar-
lot of good in this world. There is        rants at least once a week; to enjoy       riage. This has always been one of
much we can learn from it. There           lavish vacations to remote and ex-         the chief reasons for falling away in
are in it harmless pleasures that we,      otic places in the world. Years ago        the church. Young people, you had
have a right to enjoy just like any-       many families did not even think of        better realize the great spiritual
one else. Soon it happens that we          vacations. Now we imagine that             danger of this. How many have
begin to lose our spiritual sensitivi-     they are a necessity of life. We           been brought to spiritual ruin by
ties. We lose our abhorrence for the       must have motor homes, campers,            this and have ended up in marital
evil of the world. We begin to             boats, and all kinds of expensive          situations that have caused them to
overlook and tolerate a little evil.       sports and recreational equipment.         make serious compromise in their
And this grows more and more,              The more we have, the harder we            lives, even caused them to leave the
without our even realizing it some-        are to satisfy.                            church of Jesus Christ, or at least to
times. That is how the devil leads           Yes, it is true that all these things    forsake the true church and go to
us away from God. It is only by the        are not sinful in themselves. We           one that is on the road to apostasy.
grace and Spirit of God that we will       may enjoy the things that God has          What awful consequences that has
be alarmed as we look back and             given us. We may not however set           had in many families. The true
consider how far we have fallen.           our hearts on these things and de-         Christian who because of sin and.
Apostasy is not merely a matter of         mand these things. We may not              weakness has allowed himself to
doctrinal departure in our life. It        murmur and complain when we do             become attracted to a marriage
also involves letting go of the prin-      not have them. Remember that one           partner that is wholly unsuitable
ciples of the Word of God in our           of the chief sins of Israel in the         for a truly Christian marriage and
practical daily Christian lives and        wilderness was the sin of murmur-          godly home will only suffer great
making compromise with the                 ing and complaining because they           sorrow and grief in later life. Often
world and the devil. How needful           could not have the luxuries, ease,         in such cases the judgment of God
it is to stop often in our lives and       and pleasures of life that their           comes upon the children from such
consider why it is that we are             hearts lusted after. We may not            a marriage, who depart even mulch
sometimes enjoying worldly things          imagine that we must always have           further from the Lord than their
that we once condemned. The                as much as our ungodly neighbors.          parents did. The Lord in His judg-
church as a whole must do that.            We may not begin to make compro-           ment cuts off these families in their
Are we living in a manner of life          mises in our lives to obtain earthly       generations from His covenant of
that the church in former days con-        treasures. We may not allow our-           grace. These are the serious cons,e-
demned? Do we imagine that the             selves to become so busy with              quences of spiritual decline.
reason for this is that we today are       work and business to obtain these            Spiritual decline comes when the
more enlightened, have greater lib-        things that mother has to leave her        Christian neglects daily devotion to
erty or better understanding of the        calling in the home and father is          the Lord through the reading of His
things of the world as they really         seldom ever at home to instruct            Word, through prayer, and through
are? Or is it because we as individ-       and discipline his children in the         faithful attendance at the house of
uals and maybe we as church are in         fear and admonition of the Lord.           the Lord and the preaching of His
a state of spiritual decline?              All of this is materialism, and we         Word. We have communion with
  Materialism is an aspect of              had better recognize it as such.           God chiefly through His Word and
worldliness and often a reason for         Such materialism is one of the chief       by prayer. These are the means
decline in the Christian life. How         causes of spiritual decline in the         that the Holy Spirit uses to build us
strongly we are attracted to mate-         church. Materialism destroys spiri-        up, and to strengthen and encour-
rial things. The love of money is a        tuality. Materialism is the sin of         age us daily in our Christian life. It
great danger for all. It is possible       making an idol out of the things of        is impossible to be spiritually
even for a poor man to be material-        this world. It is impossible to serve      strong and to walk with the Lord.
istic. Nevertheless, it is a fact that,    God and mammon. Idolatry of ma-            without these means. Spiritual
as we grow more and more                   terial things will inevitably lead us      decline comes when we imagine
wealthy, the danger of materialism         away from God.                             that going to church once on the
increases. How easy it is for us to          Another aspect of worldliness is         Lords day is sufficient. Spiritual
imagine that we need more in life.         worldly friendships. How much              decline comes when we imagine
Often young people imagine that            we are influenced by our friends           that we know enough of the Word
they have to have so much nicer            and the people we have fellowship          of God, that we need no more
cars and houses and furniture than         with on a day-today basis. This is         earnestly to study the doctrines it
their parents had. And they must           more true than most of us realize.         contains because we have arrived,
have these things almost immedi-           Many a Christian has been led              and that we have attained to suffi-
ately after they are married. On the       astray through the influence of un-        cient understanding so that we can
other end of the spectrum, those in        godly friends. This is especially          get along without this.
retirement years imagine they need         true for young people. Friendship            I shall write one more time on
more and more in order to live             with members of the opposite sex           this subject under the title "Retum-
lives of ease and luxury; to make          in the world has led many into the         ing to the Lord." Cl

                                                                                         March  1,199l  I The Standard Bearer I253


                                            The Bible Is God's Word
Taking Heed                                 The Unity
to the Doctrine of Scripture
Rev. Marvin Kamps


   We have all encountered individ-          refused to put his infant son            ceived men into imagining that hu-
uals who have no appreciation for            through the agony of circumcision,       manism is Christianity.
the unity of Scripture. They are,            then he too had to be put to death.         The great reformer of the church,
those who carry a small New Testa-             The God of the New Testament           Martin Luther, taught the unity of
ment, presenting it as the Word of           is the God of Christianity. He is the    the Old and New Testaments.
God. They preach and teach only              God of love. This God we can love        Skevington Wood presents Luther's
from the New Testament. It is their          and serve. In the Gospels we meet        position. He writes:
claim that the New Testament is for          Jesus, who has indeed shown us a            The gospel is to be found in the Old
the church, while supposedly the             better way. The God of Jesus is the      Tesfamenf in terms of the promises,
Old Testament was for the Jews of            God who wants to help and bless          and the law is to be found in the New
the old dispensation. We have the            all men. The God of Jesus wills          Tesfamenf, as for instance in our
gospel; the Jews had the law. The            that all men be saved and come to        Lord`s reinferprefafion  in the Sermon
Christian faith, therefore, is ex-           the knowledge of the truth. And          on fhe Mounf. "Thus fhe books of
pressed in the New Testament but             we have the testimony of the apos-       Moses and the prophets are also
not in the Old Testament. Some of            tle Peter himself that the God of the    gospel (emphasis, MIQ, since fhey
these people are even so bold as to          New Testament is longsuffering . . .     proclaimed and described in advance
say that they do not believe in the          not willing that any should perish       whaf the aposfles preached and wrofe"
God of the Old Testament, for He is          but that all should come to repen-       (Captive to the Word, p. 252A
the God of war and bloodshed.                tance. And all this is true about the       In addition Wood informs us:
The God of the Old Testament com-            God of the New Testament because            He (Luther) dismissed those  neo-
manded the slaughtering of whole             He "so loved the world." A man           Marcionifes of his day who played
nations. The Old Testament is                can preach the New Testament             down the significance of the Old Tesfa-
filled with gruesome stories of              with all his heart, and he can call      menf and tossed if aside as "a book
vengeance, wrath, judgment,                  with great compassion the sinner to      that was given fo the Jewish people
bloodshed, and genocide. Who                 faith in Jesus and His God. There is     only and is now out of dafe, confain-
could possibly enjoy reading or be           no gospel in the Old Testament. It       ing only stories of past times. " Lufher
edified by the tales of Israel's de-         cannot really be preached. And by        quofed  the testimony of Christ Him-
struction of the Canaanites? Every           way of concession to one who             self, and of fhe New Testament writers,
man, woman, and child, even help-            would insist upon the unity of           in order to confufe such an erroirleous
less infants, were cut down with             Scripture, these individuals would       view. The Old Tesfamenf is not to be
the sword by the servants of the             insist that if there is any gospel at    despised but diligently read. The New
cruel `I am that I am." Who could            all in the Old Testament then it is      Tesfamenf cannot be understood aparf
possibly be edified by the reading          far inferior to that of the New Tes-      from the Old, Luther insisted . . . (page
and study of the severe laws of              tament.                                  154).
Moses? Even in the nations of Is-              The above is the position of              This was also the position of
rael itself things were not much             many, if not most, pulpits in this       John Calvin and of the Reformed
better. Women were to be stoned to           country and throughout the world.        and Presbyterian churches histori-
death if they were unfaithful to             The Bible is rent asunder. The God       cally That the Scriptures are one
their husbands. If one neglected or          of the New Testament is pitted           and that both the Old and New
                                             against the God of the Old Testa-        Testaments present the one and the
                                             ment. People are taught explicitly       same gospel comes to expres:sion
                                             or implicitly to ignore the Old Tes-     confessionally in the Heidelberg
Rev. Xizmps is pastor of Southwest           tamen t.                                 Catechism in Lord's Day 6, where
Protestant Reformed Church in                  But all this is so very wrong and      we read:
Grandville, Michigan.                        unbiblical. It is evil. Satan has de-
254 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


   Whence knowest thou this (thaf Je-       these separate promises to Abra-           and even contradict one another on
sus is fhe Mediator, MK)? From the          ham, Israel, Judah, and David are          various points, each being only a.
holy gospel, which God himself first re-    but aspects of the promise. In this        fallible attempt to present the
vealed in Paradise; and afterwards          light the Old Testament is replete         gospel of Jesus. It is alleged, there-
published by fhe patriarchs and             with the very same gospel as is the        fore, that only by comparing and.
prophets, and represenfed by the sacri-     New.                                       analyzing these conflicting theolo-
fices and ofher ceremonies of the law;        It must be underscored that the          gies can the church today ever dis-
and las fly has fulfilled if by his only    "covenant of friendship" that God          cover what Jesus "really taught."
begotten  Son.                              has established with Israel, the           But the fact is that if the books of
   And the Belgic Confession of             church, in Christ Jesus is exclusive,      the Old and New Testaments are
Faith states that the                       and that because of this fact it be-       not in fact the testimony of the
  Holy Scriptures are confained  in         comes realized and manifested his-         Spirit of Christ Jesus, we will never
fwo Books, namely the Old and Nao           torically in an antithetical way.          know what Jesus taught. Higher
Tesfament, which are canonical,             God's wrath, indignation, and              criticism has shredded Sacred
againsf  which nothing can be alleged       judgments fall upon the "seed of           Scripture. All who earnestly hold
(Art. 4).                                   the serpent," that is, the reprobate       to the doctrine of divine, infallible
  And in Article 6 of the same con-         wicked, who are typically por-             inspiration should immediately
fession the fathers, in rejecting the       trayed in cursed Canaan's children,        recognize that the Bible, though
apocryphal books, declare that the          the Canaanites (cf. Gen. 3:15,9:25-        made of many different books and
books of the Old and New Testa-             27). These Canaanites God com-             written over many centuries, is one
ments bring us the Christian faith.         manded His covenant friends, the           Word. It is a unity. For it is the
   Reformed men have always                 Israelites, to destroy completely as       speech of the Spirit of Christ Jesus.
taught that the New Testament               an expression of God's judgment            Jesus spoke by the Spirit through
must be interpreted in the light of         upon their iniquities and the por-         the prophets of old (Heb. 1:l and I
the Old, and that the Old Testa-            trayal of the victory of grace in          Pet. l:lO, 11). Besides, "all scripture
ment contains the New within it-            Christ Jesus over the seed of the          is given by the God-breathed-forth"
self. They stand in relationship to         serpent. If only men would learn           activity of God Himself (II Tim.
each other as does promise and ful-         that the New Testament (which de-          3:16). Jesus Himself testified to the
fillment. The Old Testament is the          clares to us the great victory of          unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem that
gospel of Christ Jesus under the            Christ Jesus over sin, guilt, death,       the message of the Old Testament
forms of types and shadows. The             and Hell, and testifies that this vic-     was the very same Word which He
principles of obedience to the              tory was accomplished for the elect        preached to them: "Search the
gospel of Jehovah God in Christ Je-         of God alone), they would have no          scriptures; for in them ye think ye
sus are demonstrated to us in the           problem confessing the unity of            have eternal life; and they are they
walk and obedience of the saints of         Scripture. It is because of the rejec-     which testify of me" (John 5:39). In
the old dispensation. Abraham is            tion of sovereign, unconditional           addition, Jesus insisted upon the
the father of all believers. Noah is        predestination of a church in Christ       unity of the Scriptures, when He
the preacher of righteousness. And          Jesus that men want to reject the          taught the people that He and His
David is the man after God's own            Old Testament. The Old Testament           Father are one: "If he called them1
heart.                                      more concretely demonstrates the           gods, unto whom the word of God
  Yet it remains to spell out specifi-      exclusive character of God's love          came, and the scripture cannof be bro-
cally what is the unifying theme of         for His elect people and His eternal       ken; Say ye to him, whom the Fa-
all Sacred Scripture. It is this: Jeho-     rejection, unconditionally, of others.     ther hath sanctified, and sent into
vah Gods covenant of friendship             Carnal men are always offended by          the world, Thou blasphemest; be-.
with the church of all ages chosen          the truth of God's absolute                cause I said, I am the Son of God?"
in Christ Jesus, who in the name of         sovereignty over the affairs of mere       (John 10:35,36X
the God of Israel redeems, sancti-          men. Herein lies the great "offense"         Moreover, we should note that
fies, and glorifies His people given        of the Old Testament Scriptures.           the principle of hermeneutics that
Him of the Father from all eternity.        Arminianism, because of its rejec-         Scripture interprets Scripture is
Genesis 3:15 is the mother promise          tion of sovereign predestination,          based upon the fact that the Scrip-
and expresses the above truth:              leads inevitably to Modernism in           tures are one whole. The Old can be
"And I will put enmity between              regard to the doctrine of Scripture.       and must be interpreted in the light
thee and the woman, and between               In addition, the unity of Scrip-         of the New, and the New must be
thy seed and her seed; it shall             ture is predicated upon the truth          interpreted upon the background
bruise thy head, and thou shalt             that the Holy Spirit is the author of      of the Old. The New Testament by
bruise his heel." All the other             the Bible. It is not so, that there are    itself is not the complete Word of
promises of the Old Testament are           many authors. It is not so, that           God, and it can never be rightly un-
but the amplification and unfolding         there is a Pauline gospel, a gospel        derstood without the Old. How
of the particulars of this promise of       of Matthew, a Petrine gospel, and a        could one ever really understand
God to send His Son as the seed of          Johannine gospel, and that all of          that Jesus is the stem of Jesse, and
the Woman. And therefore too all            these are distinct from one another        the lion of the tribe of Judah, and

                                                                                         March 1.1991 /The Standard Bearer I :255


the royal seed of David without the           the testimony of all Scripture, when        sovereign will, as the immutable
testimony of the Old Testament.               treating any one text.                     God of infinite love and grace in Je-
The covenant of grace remains an                Finally there is one more element        sus Christ. In the beginning of his-
unknown entity to those whose                 of the unity of Scripture to which I       tory, under types and shadows, this
eyes are blind to the riches of the           of necessity must call your                revelation was made known. In the
Old Testament. It is because of the           attention. Other men today would           "fulness" of time (Gal. 4:4) the reve-
unity of Scripture that the Re-               emphasize the unity of Scripture.          lation of Gods love of His chosen
formed and Presbyterian churches              But one thing is often lacking in           people reaches its zenith in Jesus,
have ever held to "infant baptism"            their presentation. And this is not         the Christ. Many Reformed preach-
of our covenant children. Those               only, to my mind, lamentable, but           ers seldom, if ever, give instruction
who reject infant baptism reveal by           also very dangerous. They fail to           in regard to the counsel of God, His
this rejection that they do not really        relate the unity of Scripture to            eternal decrees of predestination
understand that all Scripture is a            Gods counsel and to Gods self-              and providence; and yet they claim
unity. It has one message, which is           revelation. Scripture is one whole, a       shock and dismay that the people
that God is the God of believers              unity of thought and message,               do not appreciate the concept of the
and their seed in Christ Jesus ac-            declaring the one glorious gospel in        unity of Scripture. Anyone who
cording to His purpose of election.           Christ Jesus, uZtimafeZy because            would maintain the truth of the
Every Baptist fails to recognize the          Gods counsel is one  and because            unity of Scripture must of nlecessity
unity of Scripture on this matter.            God is One. All that takes place in         see this unity as the blessed testi-
Rev. H. Hoeksema makes this clear             time, in heaven and on earth, is ac-        mony of the Spirit of Christ Jesus,
when he writes:                               cording to Gods sovereign decrees.          who "searcheth all things, yea the
  After all, the deepest reason why all       The unifying principle of that coun-        deep things of God' (I Cor. 2:10X
Baptists reject the baptism of irzfanfs is    sel of God, according to Scripture,         The deep things of God are His
that they fail fo recognize the frufh         is the great glory of His Name              eternal will and counsel in Christ
that the people of God are one and the        through the salvation of a people           Jesus.
same throughouf  all ages, and thaf the       chosen in Christ Jesus. Since the             We, mere sinners by nature, have
same covenant is established with             Bible is the infallible record of           the eternal Word of God in Jesus,
them and with their children through-         Gods self-revelation, it therefore of       by whom God has spoken unto us
out their generations, both in the old        necessity shares that same unity            and to our children of His everlast-
and in the new dispensations (Re-             and oneness that characterizes              ing and unchangeable love and
formed Dogmatics, p. 687).                    Gods eternal will and counsel.              grace.
  Scripture  can  interpret Scripture         Scripture teaches us that God has             The Bible is Gods Word.
because Scripture is one. In both             revealed Himself, that is, His eter-          Believe the Word of God .and re-
the old and new dispensations                 nal thought, holy purpose, and              joice in it forevermore! El
there is but one God, one covenant,
one sign of the covenant, and one
people of God.
  In this connection, we must call
to your attention that old but valid                                      Benefits Of Trials
warning: "every heretic has his
text." Even the Devil quoted scrip-
ture to the Lord Jesus in order to                                Is not the way to heavenly gain
deceive the Lord if that were possi-                                    Through earthly grief and loss?
ble. So in all ages men quote Scrip-                              Rest must be won by toil and pain -
ture out of context, and without re-
gard to the unity of Scripture. In                                      The crown repays the Cross.
the second paragraph of this article                              As woods, when shaken by the breeze,
I referred to three different pas-                                      Take deeper, firmer root,
sages that men use to defend an
Arminian and Pelagian theology (I                                  As winter's frosts but make the trees
Tim. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9; and John 3:16X                                   Abound in summer fruit;
By violating the principle of the                                 So every Heaven-sent pang and throe
unity of God's Word, these pas-
sages are given a totally false inter-                                  That Christian firmness tries,
pretation which enthrones man and                                 But nerves us for our work below,
reduces the great God to the status                                      And forms us for the skies.
of a beggar. Scripture must and
can interpret Scripture, but then we
must hold in high regard the prin-                                                                      - SB, December 15,1932
cipie of the unity of Scripture. The
exegete of Scripture must Zisfen to

256 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


Search The
Scripfures
Rev. Carl Haak                               The Book of Ruth (1)

  (Note: The outline of the Book of            The human instrument or author            deemer, the "one who acts as a
Ruth, which is begun here and will           (unknown) evidently lived and               kinsman." The whole idea of re-
be carried on in several subsequent          wrote this history sometime during          demption seen in Boaz, who re-
issues of the SB, was prepared by            the reign of David. It appears that         deems Elimelech's inheritance and
Rev. Haak for use in Lynden's                David was well known, and the               Ruth, is a picture of our redemp-
Ladies' Bible Study Society. At our          book could conceivably have been            tion by Jesus Christ.
request he submitted the outline to          written to fill in the history of           Outline
us "as is" - that is, without any re-        David's genealogy. That the book            Chapter  l-
vision for a larger readership. It           was actually written sometime af-           Ruth comes to Bethlehem
seems to us that it can serve a use-         ter the life of Ruth herself is also in-      A. Vss. l-7 - Introduction and
ful purpose, in that form, in our            dicated in that the author feels he               setting to the book
Standard Bearer, for other societies         must explain the custom of ratify-            B. Vss. 8-18 -- Ruth's determin,a-
and Bible Study groups which                 ing a legal transaction by giving up              tion to stay with Naomi
choose to study this book of the             one's shoe (ch. 4:7). This custom             C. Vss. 19-22 -- The return to
Bible.)                                      must have been unknown to the                     Bethlehem
                                             readers of the author's time.               Chapter 2 - Ruth meets Boaz
Introduction:                                Significance of the Book                      A. Vss. l-7 - Ruth gleans in the
  The story of Ruth took place at              1. It traces the line of Christ,                fields
the time "when the judges ruled,"            specifically the line of David, show-         B. Vss. 8-16 -- The kindness of
and thus is part of the period of the        ing David's descent from Ruth the                 Boaz
Judges (the time between Joshua              Moabitess. Repeatedly the Old Tes-            C. Vss. 17-23 --Ruth returns to
and the conquest of Canaan, 1450             tament Scriptures show the marvel                 Naomi
BC, and Israel's cry for a king, the         of Gods preserving the line of              Chapter 3 - Ruth's appeal to Boaz
first of which was Saul, 1050 BC.)           Christ (seed of the woman, Gen.               A. Vss. l-5 - Naomi's advice
Exactly when did the history of              3:15) in humanly impossible ways.             B. Vss. 6-13 -- Ruth speaks to
Ruth take place during Judges?               The Savior comes from God's grace.                Boaz
There are two major views. Some                2. It shows the universality of             C. Vss. 14-18 -- Ruth returns to
say that Ruth lived during the days          Christ's church. Ruth is a type of                Naomi
of the Midianite invasions and was           the gathering of the Gentiles in due        Chapter4 -
thus a contemporary of Gideon                time to Christ, even as we are              The marriage of Boaz and Ruth
(Judges 6). The Midianites would             grafted in (Rom. 11).                         A. Vss. l-8 - The kinsman
invade Israel during the harvest               3. It gives us lessons in true              B. Vss. 9-12 -- Boaz takes Ruth
season, and this would explain the           faith, love of God, trust and sincere         C. Vss. 13-17 -- Ruth bears a son
famine that caused Elimelech to              regard for our Christian duties.              D. Vss. 18-22 -- The ancestry of
leave the country. Others place              That is, it gives us lessons in godli-            David.
Ruth near the end of the period of           ness as those lessons are written by        References
the Judges because of the geneal-            grace in Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.             A Bible Dictionary
ogy given in chapter 4:18-22.  If              4. It teaches us the working of             (Smith, Douglas)
there are no missing links, Boaz             God's providence as He works all            Concordance of the Bible
would be David's great grandfa-              things together for good to  them             (Young's, Cruden's)
ther, and thus Ruth would have to            that love Him. Careful study will           Old Testament Bible Hisfo y
live at the end of the time of the           give us an eye to see Gods fatherly           by Alfred Edersheim
Judges. This is probably correct.            providence in our private concerns,         Matthew Henry's Commenta y on
                                             and acknowledge God in all our                the Bible
Rev. Haak is pasfor                          ways (I Sam. 2:7,8; Ps. 113:7-g).           Standard Bearer  articles by
                        of the Protestant
Reformed Church of Lynden,                                                                 Rev. J. Heys
                                 Wash-         5. It teaches us the beautiful idea
ington.                                      of redemption. Boaz is the re-

                                                                                           March 1,1991/  The Standard Bearer I zw


Points to Ponder                            Samson (Judges 13-16),  or with the                 b. Where is Moab? Bethle-
  1. Read the entire book of Ruth           story of Micah's image (Judges 17,         hem? What is an Ephrathite?
in one sitting. Do you see in it the        18). Both give us a glimpse of life                 c. When did the barley har-
five points under "significance"?           during the time of the Judges.             vest take place? What were the Old
Do you find other major themes in           How do they differ?                        Testament laws on gleaning? (See
the book? Why did the Holy Spirit              3. History and Geography                Deut. 24:19-21  and Lev. 19:lO.l
include the book of Ruth in the                     a. What do you know about                   d. Research the idea of a
Bible?                                      the period of the Judges? That is,         "kinsman" or "redeemer" (Deut.
  2. Compare the account of Ruth            what are its distinguishing charac-        25:5ff. and Lev. 25:25ff.).  Also the
(the spiritual climate of Boaz,             t e r i s t i c s ?                        idea of one's "inheritance" in
Naomi, Ruth) with the account of                                                   I Canaan.  Cl


   A WORD FITLY SPOKEN
   Rev. Dale Kuiper

                                                             Hope
      Hope is the power of the Christian life, when the Christian life is viewed as a pilgrimage, a journey through
   this present time and place to a better city and country. Hope is the power that keeps the Christian on that pil-
   grim way and encourages him on that way. The book of I Peter, addressed to pilgrims and strangers scattered
   throughout the earth, stressing the importance of hope in this present evil world, is'uniquely the roadmap,
   guidebook, or charter for the Christian life.
      Hope is always regarding something which is future, which a man does not yet fully possess, and which hle
   cannot see (Rom. 8:24,25). In Old Testament times, Israel's hope was in God, in His Word, in His mercy, because
   of the promise of God that He would send the Christ. The New Testament believer's hope rests upon the
   promise of God that Christ will come again to make all things new; it is the hope of glory, the hope of salvation,
   the hope that never makes ashamed, the hope that is the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast; it is the blessed
   hope! Because hope is bound up with the coming of Christ and the renewal of all things, it may be defined as ex-
   pectation, certainty, and longing. The Word of God teaches us to expect certain, definite events in the future: when
   Christ comes, our present, short, light affliction will be replaced by a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
   glory. The Word of God comforts us with the surety of God's counsel by telling us that God confirmed it with an
   oath, that with certainty we may lay hold upon the hope that is set before us. The glory of the inheritance is such
   that with jos with zeal, with all his being, the child of God reaches forth for the inheritance with a holy impa.-
   tience.
      The Christian's hope is firmly based on the resurrection of Christ from the dead. If Christ be not raised, all is
   hopeless; but since He is raised, there is hope. In the resurrection of Christ we have an example of what shall
   happen to the believer: he, too, shall be'raised, exalted, and rewarded. In His resurrection we have the legal
   right for our resurrection to glory, for it is the proof of our justification. And in His resurrection we have the
   power of regeneration. For we have been `begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
   from the dead" (I Pet. 1:3).
      Hope cannot be hid. Those who live on this earth with the resurrection life of Christ in them cannot and do
   not melt into the background. Hope, the dominant characteristic of the pilgrim, is manifest daily in every cir-
   cumstance; is observed in its activity by those round about; is made the subject of inquiry by all manner of men;
   and is gladly explained by the child of God. Hope loves to do that! Hope is capable of a reasonable defense and
   a warm, humble explanation. Hope loves to speak of its part in Jesus Christ and the glory that He'brings. That
   which elicits the questions as to our hope is our willingness to suffer for righteousness' sake, our serenity in -the
   midst of upheaval, and a life of holiness in the midst of corruption and perversion. "Every man that hath this
   hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I John 3:3).
      Hope never ends. Even when we have been glorified and have entered into the enjoyment of heavenly bl:iss,
   hope continues forever. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (I
   Cor. 13:14).  Readily can we understand that faith, as the bond that unites us to Christ, and love, as the bond of
   perfectness, shall continue forever. But hope? How can hope abide when it has received its object? Well, there is
   always more! Because God is infinite in His perfections, and because the enjoyment of God will never come to an
   end.

   Reu. Kuiper is pastor of Immanuel  Protestant R$ormed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada.


258 / The Standard Bearer I March.l,1991


The Strength                                The End Times (10)
of Youth                                    The Last Battle
Rev. Barrett Gritters


  The history of this new dispensa-
tion ends in the battle of Armaged-
don. The last battle, Armageddon,
comes afier the millennium.
  The pre-millennialist believes
that there will be fwo major battles,
one at the end of the great tribula-
tion, the other at the end of Jesus'
thousand-year reign on earth. The
first battle, they say, is the battle of
Armageddon; the second is the bat-
tle of Gog and Magog. In the first,
Jesus will destroy the Antichrist
and begin the millennial kingdom
on earth. In the second, Jesus will
destroy the forces of Gog and Ma-
gog and usher in eternity.
  The difficulty with this view is
that it believes the battles of Reve-
lation 16 (vs. 14) and Revelation 20
(vss.  7-10) are different battles. But
the pre-mill should not stumble at
the fact that these battles are sepa-
rated by several chapters in Revela-         great battle referred to in Revela-        world will experience a great pros-
tion. The book of Revelation does            tion 16.                                   perity; the church will suffer.  Andi
not give history in chronological              The second difficulty with this          now the battle of Armageddon
order, but has a series of visions,          view, as with almost all pre-millen-       brings to an end this devilish king-
many explaining the same history            nialism, is that it interprets ZiferaIZy    dom. This is the last battle.
but from different viewpoints and            an obviously symbolic book.                   This is how it will come about:
with differing emphases. Proof of              Third, pre-millennialism has the         Revelation 20 tells us that at the
this is that in chapter 16, John was        mistaken notion that permeates all          end of the 1,000 years (this present
shown what will take place at the           its teachings, that the nation of Is-       dispensation), Satan will be loosed
very end, including the battle of           rael will again be restored as the          so that he can deceive the nations
Armageddon. In chapter 17, John             kingdom of God, separately and in           (vs. 4), something that he was un-
receives detailed instruction about          distinction from the church.               able to do during this dispensation.
the great whore and the beast,                 The a-millennial position differs        The result is that Antichrist rises to
whose destruction was already de-           radically from this view.                   power and unites the world into
scribed in chapter 16. Likewise, in            The battle of Armageddon spells          one. The second result is that the
chapter 20 we come back to the              the end of Antichrist's kingdom.            nations are gathered together for
                                            His kingdom will be a great politi-         war, encircling the "camp of the
                                             cal, universal world power, under          saints" and "the beloved city."
                                             one head, the man of sin (II Thessa-       While they are in the middle of the
                                             lonians 2). This political power           most horrible war the world has
                                             will be served by the false prophet        known, fire from heaven devours
                                             (Rev. 13,17), the united forces of re-     them, the devil is cast into hell, an'd
Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Profes-       ligion, especially Christianity At         the last judgment takes place (vss.
tanf R$omed Church in Byron Cen-             the height of his kingdom, the             7ff.).
ter, Michigan.

                                                                                           March 1,199l I The Standard Bearer I 259


Gog and Magog                               strong defense of this position in       tion of Israel. And with the threat
   Gog and Magog are involved in            the appendix at the back of his          of Israel entering the war, which
this last battle.                           commentary on Daniel.) The Ro-           has not happened yet at this writ-
   The names, Gog and Magog,                man empire broke up into the             ing, the battle of Armageddon, for
come from Ezekiel 38 and 39,                "Western" nations: the "Christian"       them, looms near! But the battle
which means that the Revelation of          nations of Europe and the Ameri-         will not be against earthly Lsrael; so
John is a fiZfiZZment  of prophecy          cas (and a few others). From these       their fear is misdirected.)
made by Ezekiel. In Ezekiel, Gog is         nations the Antichrist will arise.         But in the eyes of Gog and Ma-
a leader in the land of Magog. Gog             But there are ofher nations in the    gog, the "church" at that time will
leads a huge armed force from the           world, the people of whom are "as        be true Christianity! Looking at the
north down against the nation of            the sand of the sea": China, Japan,      "Christian world' (which really will
Israel, which is once more living in        India, Africa, the Soviet Union.         be the antichristian world!), the na-
Canaan after the captivity in Baby-         And the one great difference be-         tions of Gog and Magog will say,
lon. Gag's motive is loot, but God's        tween these nations and the rest is      "Let us go up to Jerusalem; let Zion
purpose is the judgment of Israel           that these nations have never been       be defiled: let our eye look upon
(see Ezekiel 38:4,16X  Then, after          "Christianized," while the others        Zion." Really, then, the battle will
Gog arrives in Israel, God destroys         have. China, India, etc., are pagan      pit the antichristian kingdo:m  under
his hosts with an awesome slaugh-           nations, hostile to Christianity.        the power of the devil, over against
ter, which Ezekiel 39 describes in          Also, since they have never been         all the pagan nations which. the
gory detail and which Revelation            that much of an influence on world       devil himself has deceived to join
19 says ends in a carrion feast for         history, they have been "on the four     up with him. It is the world fight-
buzzards.                                   corners of the earth."                   ing against itself!
   The fact that there are slight dif-         At the end of time, these nations        This will be the battle to end all
ferences between Johns vision and           will be marshalled by the devil to       battles. We see a little bit of the
Ezekiel's prophecy should not hin-          the last battle against the beloved      horror of what that war will be
der us. Gog and Magog, essen-               city.                                    when we see the weapons of mod-
tially, are the pagan nations, the un-                                               ern warfare that are used in Iraq
godly peoples that desire to destroy        The Beloved City                         and Kuwait. At the end, all the
the people of God. In Revelation 20            The "beloved city" in Revelation      powerful weapons of mass destruc-
they are seen to be the pagan peo-          20:9 is Jerusalem. But we do not         tion will be unleashed.
ples from the four comers of the            mean the earthly city by that name.         In the middle of that battle, Jesus
earth who hate Gods saints and              Gog and Magog do not fight               will return to end earths history,
war against them.                           against the Jews in Israel.              render judgment, and begin eter-
  You may ask the question, "How            Jerusalem is symbolic and repre-         nity.          (to be concluded next time)
does this fit with the view that An-        sents the church of Christ. The
tichrist will be from the `Christian-       "camp of the saints" in verse 9 is       Questions for discussion:
ized' western nations, though you           not the tents of Israelites pitched         1. How would you try to con-
say that these pagan nations will           again in the desert over there, but      vince a premillennialist of the er-
fight against `the beloved city?"           the gathering of believers and their     ror of his position? Be specific.
  The explanation is this: An-              children. And the proof of this is         2. Why are the pre-millennialists
tichrist is the beast which will have       not far to be found. Believers and       so concerned that the battle of Ar-
universal sway. All nations will be         their children, now, are Jews, ac-       mageddon not start immediclfely?
united under him - one kingdom,             cording to Romans 2:29. New Tes-         According to them, what is sup-
one government, one world. This             tament believers are called the "Is-     posed to happen before this battle
is the "one hour" that Revelation 17        rael of God' in Galatians 6:16. Old      begins?
speaks of. But the beast does not           Jerusalem has been fulfilled in Je-        3. Why would God want the
have this power all of himself, be-         sus Christ; its reality is the New       world to end in the way described
cause Revelation 17 says that there         Testament church.                        in Revelation 20? Cl
are 10 kings that give their power to          So the New Testament warns us,
the beast. Revelation 16 also talks         Christian believers, that before the
about the beast receiving help from         end of time there will be a great
the "kings of the east."                    battle, the last battle, a full-scale    No chance has brought this, ill to
  These 10 kings, or the kings of           battle, between the world and the
the east, that give their power to          "church." All the nations of the         `Tiyzod's  sweet will so let it be;
Antichrist, are Gog and Magog.              world will turn on the people of         He seeth what I cannot see.
  This fits with the prophecy of            God to persecute and destroy her.        There is a need be for each pain,
Daniel. In Daniel 7, the little horn,       (Can you see, then, why so many          And He will make it one day plain
which represents Antichrist, arises         today are watching with bated            That earthly loss is heavenly gain.
from the fourth beast, which is the         breath what's happening in the
old Roman empire. (If anyone is             Middle East? They believe that this                      - SB, October 1,1932
interested, he may read E.J. Young's        prophecy refers to the earthly na-

260 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


                                          Exposition of
From Ho& Writ Psalm 81:lff. (1)
Rev. George Lubbers


   Sing aloud to God our strength:        mouths wide when they hear their         their "infirmities," but it was the sin
make a joyful noise to the God of         mother approaching with a morsel         of "unbelief." They rejected the
]acob. Take a psalm, and bring            of food for them. Thus they are          counsel of God against themselves
hither the timbrel, the pleasant          fed.                                     (Luke 7~27-35;  Matt. 11:20-24).
                                            But there was an "Israel" of             Of this Israel, and of their total
harp with the psaltery. . . .             which God says they "would none          unbelief, Jehovah speaks when He
   Iam the LORD thy God,                  of me!" They would none of Gods          says in Psalm 81:12, "But my people
which brought thee out of the             great and holy Name which God            would not hearken to my voice and
land of Egypt: open thy mouth             proclaimed to Moses as he stands         Israel would none of me." We see
wide, and I willfill it. . . . But my     in a place prepared for him in "the      this already in Exodus 3234b: " . . .
people would not hearken to my            clift of the rock." And the Lord put     and they said: These be thy gods,
                                          His hand over Moses to cover him         0 Israel, which brought thee up out
voice; and Israel would none of           as He passed by in His "glory." Of       of the land of Egypt." And Stephen
me. . . .    Psalm 81:1,2,10,11           this "glory" Israel wanted nothing.      says to this Israel which would
                                          They did not desire the glory of a       none of God, "Then God turned,
   We have quoted only a represen-        God who is "merciful and gracious,       and gave them up to worship the
tative part of the Psalm. However,        longsuffering, and abundant in           host of heaven; as it is written in
in those verses we hear the very          goodness and truth, keeping mercy        the book of the prophets . . . yea, ye
keynote. Particularly this is true of     for thousands, forgiving iniquity        took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
verse 10, where we read the exact         and transgression and sin..." (Ex.       and the star of your god Remphan,
covenant words of Jehovah which           33:18-23; 34:4-7).                       figures which ye made to worship
He spoke directly to Israel from out        But there was also an Israel           them; and I will carry you away be-
of the secret place of thunder. It ex-    which is not the true Israel of God      yond Babylon" (Amos 5:25,26;  anld
presses the sum-total of all the lov-     who came to the temple to confess        all the prophets before the Captiv-
ingkindnesses, the tender mercies,        their sins, received forgiveness         ity of both Israel and Judah).
the unique faithful covenant made         when God "saw the blood," and              But the Lord will have His insti-
to Abraham and to his children.           heard the trumpet-blast of the           tuted feast days kept in  Israel, the
These are words to the Israel of          priest over the sacrifice (Ex. 12:11-    appointed Sabbaths in the land, as
God. And this Israel is such that it      17; Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:l). This         they culminated each year in the
includes both Jew and Greek, Bar-         was the Israel which drew nigh           seventh month in the great "feast of
barian, bond and free. It is Gods         with their mouth and honored God         trumpets" (Num. 29:lff.; Lev. 23:23,
everlasting covenant of mercy             with their lips, but their heart was     24). If this feast of trumpets was
which He will not take from His           far from Him. They are very reli-        kept, then the other two appointed
beloved people (Ex. 20:lff.; Jer.         gious zealots who willed to be           great feasts would also be honored
31:31-34; Isa. 59:20,21).                 saved by the "works of the law." Al-     in spirit and in truth: to wit the
   Such is the solid basis for Gods       ways and anon they were a people         feast of the Passover in the first
abiding claim on Israel. It is also       who were ignorant of God's righ-         month, and feast of the firstfruits of
the solid rock of His just complaint      teousness, and went about to estab-      the full harvest seven weeks later.
against Israel as uttered in verses       lish their own righteousness, not        And this ended in the feast of
11 and 12 of this Psalm. Implied in       submitting themselves to the righ-       tabernacles, the feast with the
this complaint is Gods yearning           teous God (Rom. 9:31-33; 10:1-4).        "great day" (John 7:37ff.).
love. It is as of a mother bird who       These could not see, they did not          To understand the poet, one
faithfully feeds her young in their       understand, that Christ is the end       must needs have lived in the land
nest. These infant birds open their       of the law for righteousness to ev-      of the Poet, Jehovah God! Ever th'e
                                          ery one that believes. Theirs was        call of the Lord was to Israel,
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in    not merely the sin of transgressing      through the prophets: "Sing aloud
the Protestant R.$omed Churches.          Gods commandments by reason of           to God our strength; make a joyful

                                                                                     March  1,199l  I The Standard Bearer  / 261


noise to the God of Jacob." It must             The only instruments used were          dead shall rise, and death shall be
be a joyful song of faith in the             the silver trumpets which were             swallowed up in victory (I Cor.
promises, the covenants, the law-            blown by the priests over the sacri-       15:51ff.). The glorious changing of
giving, as from a people who know            fices. Hence, blow up the "trum-           those who will then be living shall
that they are the sons of Jacob.             pet" in the new moon, at the time          be performed by God in a "twin-
They must know that Jacob is in the          appointed, the day of atonement            kling of an eye, and at the last
class with Abraham and Isaac, that           for all the sins of Israel. It was the     trump!" Then the trumpet :need no
God has prepared for them and for            picture of the perfect sacrifice of the    more call the thousands of saints to
their spiritual children a city which        Lamb of God, once in the end of the        the battle in the full armor of God
has eternal foundations, whose               ages (Heb. 9~23-28). This is the one       (Eph. 613ff.l.
Builder and Maker is God (Rom.               sacrifice which attempts symboli-             However, at the time when Israel
9:4,5; Heb. 11:8-10;  14-16). Yes, this      cally-typically to come to finality.       was addressed in Psalm 81:3 the
God of Jacob is our strength. He is             But of course that was not possi-       battle-cry is, "blow up the trumpet
not ashamed of us, because He has            ble. For there was no sacrifice that       in the new moon, in the full moon,"
prepared for us a city. And this city        could cleanse the conscience from          the 15th of the seventh month. For
was portrayed in the Old Testa-              sin (Heb. l&1-7).  Nevertheless, in        this exhortation comes to Israel as
ment in the earthly Jerusalem,               this sacrifice on the "full moon" of       their religious life and worship is
when the tribes went up to the tem-          the seventh month we see most              stipulated to them under the tutor-
ple to worship their God.                    clearly that "Christ is the end of the     ship of the God who placed them,
   Yes, here Israel must use their           law for righteousness to every one         as it were, "under tutors anld gover-
musical instruments, as they lifted          that believes" (Rom. 10:1-4X               nors until the time appointed." It is
up their voices in a priestly manner            And now in a sense we come to           the time appointed by our heav-
at the altar. This was especially so         the place where we can understand          enly Father. During this time the
in the time of the "full moon," the          why this feast was also called the         children of Israel were children un-
solemn feast day. For the full moon          "feast of trumpets." A little study        der the elements of the world (Gal.
always occurred on the fifteenth             of the use of the trumpet can be           4:1-3).
day of the month in each of the              beneficial here. I believe that we            Only when Israel obeyed the law
three great feasts in Israel. There is       must bear in mind that basically           of commandments and went three
a difference in the translation,             the trumpet in Scripture is different      times a year to the great ap:pointed
found in various Bible versions,             from all other instruments of mu-          feasts could they receive the bless-
concerning the term "in the time             sic. It is the exceptional instru-         ings of the law as a schoolmaster to
appointed." Thus the KJV has it.             ment, for it is the one instrument         Christ. This they had to do in
The American (Revised) Version               which is blown by God Himself as He        childlike faith. In faith they could
reads here "at the full moon." The           brings Israel to share in His victory      see, in picture language, before
latter is a literal translation of the       over sin and death, hell and the           their very eyes, that there is for-
Hebrew text. The translation of              grave, because He calls Himself the        giveness with God for their sins
Luther has it (in German) "in our            "Captain of the LORD'S hosts" to           which were red like scarlet.. And
feast of dwelling in tents." The             Joshua (Josh. 5:13-15).  It is in this     here in this temple they could look
Holland translates the Hebrew                Angel of the Lord that the trumpet         in faith upon the sacrifice of the
term full moon (bicheseem) "at the           was first blown by God. It was at          blood of the slain sheep and bul-
proper, appointed time." Of all the          the time when God spoke the Ten            locks, as this was sprinkled upon
three feasts this was the feast where        Words of which the preface is, "I          the mercy-seat, and trust that the
there was a special symbolism in             am Jehovah thy God who hath de-            promise of God stands sure. He
the number of bullocks that were             livered you out of Egypt, the house        still is our Redeemer God. He re-
offered on each day. It was like a           of bondage." These words were ut-          ceives the blowing up of the trum-
count-down: one bullock fewer on             tered after the "voice of the trum-        pet in the "full moon" as worthy of
each day (Num. 29:17-38).  Notice            pet" sounded "long" and waxed              being remembered. For such was
that the count-down of the number            louder and louder (Ex. 19:19X How          the intent of the blowing of the
of bullocks was from the second to           this trump, which no mortal man            trumpets. We read in Numbers
the eighth day of the feast in the           can blow, must have echoed and re-         lO:lO, "also in the day of your glad-
seventh month. The number reads              echoed from Mount Paran, being             ness, and in your solemn days, and
as follows: twelve, eleven, ten,             heard clearly by the tens of thou-         in the beginnings of your months,
nine, eight, seven. Thus the number          sands of the children of Israel. God       ye shall blow with your trumpets over
ends in the covenantal sabbath               came forth with thousands of His           your burnt ofierings,  and over the
number of God's completed work.              angels, and a fiery law went forth         sacrifices of your peace offerings;
From here on no diminishing is              _ from His mouth (Deut. 33:1-3).            that they may be to yolou for a memo-
possible. This ends in the eighth               Shall we say in all truthfulness        rial be,+bre your God: I am thle LORD
day, on the "full moon" day, the ap-         that this was the "first trump" of         your God."
pointed day of atonement. It is the          God?. For Paul speaks of that time            The question may be asked:
only solemn, feast day without fes-          in the unfolding of the Mystery of         what is the implication here of the
tal joy.                                     the blessed resurrection when the          term "memorial"?

262 I The Standard Bearer I March 1,199l


      The word is a noun. A memo-                Now, such satisfaction cannot and          these sacrifices was no vain and
   rial is in this case in Numbers 10~10         was not made by any of the animal          empty show. It was a legal enact-,
   a record in the court of God, who is          sacrifices in all the hundreds of          ment before the face of God, the
   most holy and just. Because of this           thousands of sacrifices that were          Judge of every sinner.
-- justice of God, not one sin of any of         slain and placed upon the altar.              (Of this we will need to write
   the saints can or may remain un-              Only a "memorial" was brought be-          more in another installment.) Cl
   paid. Satisfaction must be made.              fore the Lord. The bringing of
                                                                                                                                       -



                                                 News From
   ML Benjamin Wigger                            Our Churches
   Con re ational Highlights                        And now that I've mentioned the         continue without interruption and
      Tiv
        e ouncil of the Hudsonville,             1991 P.R.Y.P. Convention, let me just      the men laboring in Lame may
   MI PRC decided last year that at              add that plans call for this ear's         travel in safety.
   the installation of officebearers  the        edition to be held August .E?-9 at         Ministerial  Calls
   Formula of Subscription would be              Grand Valley State University,               Rev. Carl Haak declined the calli
   read ublicly and signed by those              s onsored by our Byron Center, MI          from our Kalamazoo, MI PRC to
   who Rad not previously done so.                73
                                                 P C and their oun people.                  serve as missionary in Venice, FL.
   This added an interesting touch to               The Evange ism
                                                                 P  Pommittee of              Rev. Tom Miersma declined the
   this year's installation, makin it            our South Holland, IL PRC s on-            call he was considering from our
   just a little bit more memorabfe              sored a special lecture at the isum-       Hudsonville, MI PRC to serve as
   than in the past.                             mit Christian College in Fort              missiona         to the saints in Lame,
      It could also be noted here that           Wayne, IN on January 24. Rev. B.           Northern reland.
                                                                                                        7
   First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI has             Gritters spoke on the subject of the                *****Et*
   decided to do the same next year.             "Antichrist," the same sub'ect which         And a final parting thought
      The Youn People's Society of               he dealt with last fall for tiIe annual    lifted from one of our South Hol-
   our Lovelan%, CO PRC s onsored                Reformation Day lecture in Grand           land, IL PRC's bulletins:
   what I think is a uni         P
                              ue undraiser       Ra ids, MI.                                   "Peace is the deliberate adjust-
   for this year's Young%eople's Con-              ;Fhe Jr. & Sr. Bible Study Societies     ment of my life to the will of
   vention. On the evenin of January             of our Byron Center Church asked           God." 0                    -Anonymous
   28, between the hours o 5 and 9
                                H                their pastor, Rev. B. Gritters, to
   PM, the young people did all the              show the slides he and his wife,                                                      I
   waiting, serving, and busing of ta-           Lori, had taken while on classical         NOTICE!!
   bles at the Riverhouse Restaurant in          ap ointment in Lame, Northern                 Hope Christian School of Red-
   Loveland. Their rofit for those                 P
                                                 Ire and. Rev. Gritters showed these
   four hours inclu                                                                         lands is in need of a teacher for the
                        cped all tips left by    slides on January 29, and related
    atrons, as well-as  a dollar donated         something of the work there in Ire-        combined first and second grades
   Ry the owner of the Riverhouse for            land.                                      for the 1991-1992 school year. In-
   every late served. Those who ate                And, directly related-to the             terested parties, please contact Mr.
   there t!at ni ht not only got a great         above bit of news concerning               Ed Karsemeyer at the school, (714.)
                H
   meal at an a fordable rice, but               Larne, the Mission Committee of            793-4584, or Mr. Bill Feenstra,
   they also ot the satisP action of hav-        our churches has been concerned            (714) 793-3597.
   ing helpe their youn                          with, and has considered, the re-
   money tAttend the l&f?%!?`?%?                 ported possibility of terrorism in         TEACHERSNEEDED
   Convention in Byron Cent&, $1:                connection with international                 Heritage Christian School of
   And, as if that wasn't enough, they           flights. Their conclusion was that, if
   also received a $5.00 gift certificate                                                   Hudsonville, Ml will have openings
                                                 there are no government warnings
   to be used on their next visit - com-         against such flights! and there are        in the Junior High and Intermediate
    liments of the Riverhouse. Sounds            no reports of terrorist attacks            grades for the 1991-I 992 school
   Pike a good deal.                             against Americans in the area of           year. Applicants for these positions
                                                 our labor, the appointments would          may call Gerald Kuiper at school,
                                                 be kept - unless the minister and          (616) 669-1773, or at home, (616)
   Mr. Wigger  is a member of the Protes-        his consistory considered it unwise        669-5427. Or applications may be
   tant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,          to go. May it be the pra er of all         sent to the school, 4900 40th Ave.,
   Michigan.                                     our congregations that ti:is work          Hudsonville, Ml 49426.

                                                                                              March 1,199l /The Standard Bearer I 263


   THE
STANDARD                                                                                                     SECOND CIASS
  BEARER                                                                                                     Postage Paid at
                                                                                                             Grand Rapids, Michigan

 1?0. Box 6064
 Grand Rapids, MI 49506



TEACHERS NEEDED                             sistance  for the coming school year,             teacher/administrator for fhe 1991-
   Covenant Christian High School           are asked to contact the Student                  1992 school year. For more infor-
is adding one instructor to its fac-        Aid Committee Secretary, Mr. Larry                mation, please contact: Mr. John
ulty. To apply for this teaching posi-      Meulenberg, 342 Begole S.W.,                      Meyer (President), 1255 VanDyk
tion, please write or call Miss             Grand Rapids, Ml 49504. (Phone                    Rd., Lynden, WA 98264 (206) 354-
Agatha Lubbers, administrator,              616-453-8466) This contact should                 3354; or Mr. Jack Den Hartog (Sec-
1401 Ferndale S.W., Grand Rapids,           be made before the next scheduled                 retary), 8880 North Pass Rd.,
Ml 49504, (616) 453-5248 (school)           meeting of March 15, 1991, D.V.                   Sumas,  WA 98295 (206) 988-5402.
or (616) 458-2057 (home).                                    Student Aid Committee
                                                        Larry Meulenberg, Secretary           RESOLUTION OF SYMPA-THY
CALL TO ASPIRANTS                                                                                The Ladies Society of the Hope
TO THE MINISTRY                             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                            PR Church of Grand Rapids, Ml ex-
   All young men desiring to begin            The Board of the RFPA ex-                       presses its Christian love and sym-
studies for the 1991-l 992 academic         presses Christian sympathy to its                 pathy to their members, Mrs.
year in the Theological School of           secretary and fellow-member, Mr.                  Jeanette DeVries,  Miss Gerfie Lant-
the Protestant Reformed Churches            Peter Koole, in the death of his fa-              ing, Mrs. Alice Knott, and Mlrs.
should make application at the              ther-in-law, MR. LAMMERT LANT-                    Josie Koole in the death of ,their fa-
March 21,199l  meeting of the The-          ING.                                              ther, MR. LAMMERT LANTING.
ological School Committee.                     "The Lord will give strength unto                 May they be comforted by the
   A testimonial from the prospec-          his people: the Lord will bless his               words of the Lord in John 11:25,  "I
tive student's consistory that he is a      people with peace" (Psalm 29:ll).                 am the resurrection, and thle life:
member in full communion, sound                         Cornelius Pastoor, President          he that believeth in me, though he
in faith, and upright in walk, a cer-                                                         were dead, yet shall he live."
tificate of health from a reputable         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                      Rev. James Slopsema, President
physician, and high school and col-            On February 3, 1991 our parents                     Mrs. Gerald VanDenTop,  Secretary
lege transcripts must accompany             and grandparents, CHARLES and
the application. Before entering the        BETTY VAN MEETEREN cele-                          SOUTH HOLLAND PRC PUB-
seminary, all students must have            brated their 35th wedding anniver-                LISHES 4-FOLD BROCHURE
earned a bachelor's degree and              sary. We are thankful to our heav-                   This brochure fills a vital, long-
met all of the course requirements          enly Father for giving us God-fear-               awaited need. It can be used any-
for entrance to.the seminary.               ing parents, and for the love and                 where and everywhere. It makes
These entrance requirements are             Christian instruction we have re-                 an appeal to Reformed, Presbyte-
listed in the seminary catalog avail-       ceived from them in these years.                  rian, and all Bible believers. Fea-
able from the school.                       May the Lord continue to bless                    tures of this Four-Fold are:
   All applicants must appear be-           them and keep them in His care in                 1. It briefly informs the reader of 8
fore the Theological School Com-            the coming years.                                    lively aspects of our ecclesiasti-
mittee for interview before admis-            "But the mercy of the Lord is                      cal life
sion is granted. In the event that a        from everlasting to everlasting upon              2. It is written in a style that carries
student cannot appear at the March          them that fear him, and his righ-                    the reader along
21 st meeting, notification of this         teousness unto children's children"               3. The reader is encouraged to
fact, along with a suggested inter-         (Psalm 103:17).                                      write for more information
view date, must be given to the'            Chuck and Beth VanMeeteren                        4. It can be inserted in a #IO busi-
secretary of the Theological School            Faith, Curtis, Tarah, and Nathan                  ness-size envelope
Committee before this meeting.              Randy and Nancy Hendriks                          5. Lacking this size envelope, the
   All correspondence should be di-           Sheri, Joel, and Jeffrey                        brochure can be stapled shut, ad-
                                            Don and Shelly DeVries
rected to the Theological School                                                              dressed on the blank, down-side
                                               Kari and Daniel
Committee, 4949 lvanrest Ave.,              Gary and Mary Gaastra                             panel, and stamped. It will be ac-
Grandville, Ml 49418.                         Scott, Kristina, and Brittany                   cepted by the post office.
                  Jon Huisken, Secretary    Steven and Beth Potjer                               For your free sample, write,
                                                                      Redlands, California    Evangelism Committee, Protestant
NOTICE!!!                                                                                     Reformed Church, 16511 South
  AII students enrolled in the              NOTICE!!                                          Park Avenue, South Holland, IL
Protestant Reformed Seminary,                 Covenant Christian School of                    60473 or call (708) 596-31'13.
who will be in need of financial as-        Lynden, Washington is in need of a
264 I The Standard Bearer / March 1,199l


