                 THE
 ~~/,,,~""`I
A Reformed       BEARER
 Semi-Monthly
 Magazine





                          52nd Annual
                        Synod of the PRC


]zlly 1,199l


CONTENTS:                                                                                                                       July I, 1991                              STANDARD
Meditation - Rev. Gise J. VanSaren                                                                                                                                                BHER
       Pre-Synodical Sermon ..,...........*..........................,........................ 411
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma
       1991 Synod of the PRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414       ISSN 0362-4692
Contribution - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                                                                                                                    Semi-monthly, excapt monthly during June, July, and August.
       The Seminary Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418    PublIshed by the Reformed Free Publlshlng Assoclatlon, Inc.
Special Article - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                                                                                                                  Second Class Postage PaM at Grand RapMs, Mlchlgan.
       A Reforming Reformed Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419                           Poatmaaterz Send address changes to the Standard Scarer,
                                                                                                                                                                         P.O. Box 6064, Grand Rapkts, MI 49516.
All Around Us - Prof. Robed D. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~.....~............ 422
The Day of Shadows - Rev. John A. Heys                                                                                                                                   EDITORIAL COMMITlEE
                                                                                                                                                                         Edkor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
       That Gracious Gift of Steadfast Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423                                     S+cretaryz  Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                                                                                                         Managlng Editor! Mr. Don Coezema
Guest Article - Rev. Steven R. Key
        Church Membership in an Evil Age (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*...... 425                                                 DEPARTUENT  EDITORS
                                                                                                                                                                         Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. kle
When Thou Sittest in Thine House - Rev. Kenneth Koole                                                                                                                    denHartog, Rev. Russell Cykstra, Rev. Barry Grlttena, Rev.
        Responsibilities Toward Children (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427                                     Carl Haak, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John Hsys, Rev. Marvin
                                                                                                                                                                         Kamps, Rev. Kenneth Kooie, Rev. Jason Kmterlng, Rev. Dale
Search the Scriptures - Rev. Carl J. Haak                                                                                                                                Kulper, Mr. James Lantlng, Rev. Qaorge Lubbers, Mrs.
       The Book of Ruth                                                                                                                                                  MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev. James Slqxama,  Rev. Charles
                                                                                                                                                                         Terpstra, Rev. GlsaVanBaren,  Rev. Ronald VanOvarloop, Mr.
        "Chaste Conversation Coupled With Fear" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429                                                    Benlamln Wlgger,  Rev. Bemard Woudenbarg.
Report from Classis East - Mr. Jon J. Huisken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430                                            EDITORIAL OFFlCE           CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431                                                         The standard Bearer        &m$byer
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                                                                                                                                                                         EDfTORW  WUCY
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410 /Standard Bearer / July 1,199l


                                              Pre-Synodical
Meditation
Rev. Gise VanBaren                            Sermon
Revelation 23-29                                   Today we find many churches
         This letter to Thyatira is one of    which only a generation or two ago
sevenletters Christ addresses to each         were sound, but are now rapidly de-
of seven churches of Asia Minor. Of           parting from the Word of God. Many
two of the churches He speaks no              welcome into their midst, and even
word of rebuke. Rather Christ com-            try to force upon the churches, proph-
mends them for a godly walk. One of           etesses, women in office, who also
the churches He is ready to spew out          will teachwithinthechurches. Today
of His mouth. Theremainingchurches            we find, too, these same churches
reflect various degrees of faithful-          ready enough to reject the infallible,
ness.                                         inspired Scriptures. They would
         In Thyatira there was a church of    rather rely upon the "infallible" doc-
Jesus Christ. It was not a very large         trines of scientists: evolution and other
congregation. From many points of             human philosophies. There is no
view it was an attractive church. It          longer a wholehearted commitment
had friendly and loving people. This          to the Word of God. There is rather an
congregation was however hardly a             eagerness to accept the latest doc-
perfect church. It was troubled with          trines of the "learned" teachers of the                Rev. Gise VanBaren
false doctrine. The error of the              day - whether men or women.
Nicolaitans was present also in this               Christ wrote a letter of neces-         adds, that there was something amiss
little congregation. There was also a         sary instruction to Thyatira. Notice,        in that love. Though there was a form
lack of discipline, so that, when false       first, the problem which Christ ex-          of Christian love there, that love had
doctrine flourished, the church               posesinthat church. Second, observe          no place for rebuke of the sinner. That
seemed unable or unwilling (or both)          the command Christ gives to this             is a serious lack in love. Love desires
to deal with it. It was a church that         church. Finally, consider well from          perfection, holiness. Love rebukes
some claim was mystical in its ap-            whom this command comes: it is from          what is opposed to holiness.
proach-for there is no mention here           Christ, not from man.                              Closely connected with that,
of its faithfulness to the Word of God.            The church of Thyatira was in           there was not evident in their love a
Rather Christ points out errors asso-         many respects an attractive church.          wholehearted concern with the truths
ciated with mysticism. Some were              Christ appears to mention favorably          of God's Word. After all, a love for
ready to receive as gospel truth "spe-        her works. Christ says, "I know thy          God is a love for His Word. `Yet, in
cial revelations" that the woman              works: charity (love), service, faith,       Thyatira, there was clear evidence of
Jezebel claimed to have received.             thy patience, and thy works; and the         apostate walk. The church, with its
         This little church bears much        last tobe more than the first." Strictly     minister, its angel, seems to have said
resemblance to the churches of our            speaking, Christ does not say, "Icom-        nothing about that.
own day. Though I would not dare to           mend you for all these things." He                Nevertheless Christ says, "I
claim that it resembles our own               recognizes the existence of works: "I        know your love, a love that seeks the
churches, I believe that the warning          know that these take place in your           welfare of one another (though with-
given is also to us as churches. We           midst."                                      out sufficient emphasis on truth)."
confront dangers and evils similar to              He knows all their works! He            There was fellowship. The church
that faced by the church of Thyatira.         knows the love shown there! How              withitsindividualmembersappeared
                                              important love truly is. The church of       to be united in love.
                                              Ephesus had been rebuked because it               Christ also says that He sees
                                              had lost its first love. In contrast,        their service. He sees their work of
Rev. VanBaren~spastoroftheProtestant          Christ says to Thyatira, "I know that        helping one another. He sees, too,
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-        in your midst you practice love." But        their faith. It is mentioned third -
gan and was president of Synod 1990.          it should be evident from what Christ        not ,5rst, as it ought to have been if all
                                                                                                   July 1,1991/ Standard Bearer / 411


things had been right, for out of faith     give her the ability to teach? Did not       relationships outside of the marriage
must proceed all good works. Yet            God give her the ability to interpret?       vow. That is the gift of God to these
there was an element of faith, cer-         Did not God, on occasion, also give          people. They must enjoy the way
tainly on the part of a large share of      her the ability to reveal to the people      God made them and the church must ,
the congregation. There was here that       of God what was not explicitly taught        approve of all this. Sad! Today these '
element in the church that held to the      in Scripture?                                corruptions are identified as benefits
cross of Jesus Christ. And there was             It is interesting that those who        of grace.
patience in the way of the Lord. "All       would promote the idea of women in                There is in our nature that which
this," Christ says, "I see. And I know      office do not refer to this Jezebel as       find&omethingappealingin  Jezeblel's
thyworks-thelattertobemorethan              one of these mentioned in Scripture.         doctrines. "Know the depths of Sa-
the former." They were growing in           She was one that Thyatira suffered to        tan." How often have not we turned
works.                                      teach. It was scandalous that she was        on television, how often have not some
      Thyatira resembles many of the        allowed to teach. Her teaching was           in our churches attended movies, pre-
churches today. Though there is in          likewise most heinous. She encour-           sumablyfordiscoveringhowbadthey
them an emphasis on love and works,         agedidolatrynotbecauseitwasright,            trulyare? How do youknowthatyou
one sees the churches, like Thyatira,       but because, so she said, "We must           must reject them if you do not see
departing from faithful doctrine.           know the depths of Satan." She en-           what goes on? How can you con-
There is seen in the church ultimately      couraged fornication-probably as-            demn the dance if you have not
a social gospel.                            sociated with idol worship. She en-          danced? Finallyitcomes to this point:
      With this kind of emphasis upon       couraged eating of meats offered to          how do you know that lesbianism,
works, problems arose within that           idols. "Go to the temple of the idol.        homosexual&m, sexual relationships
church. And the trouble was that the        Go lie with the young virgins there.         outside of marriage are evil if you
"angel" of the church and its consistory    Go partake of the meat offered to the        have not experienced them yourself?
were not spiritually strong enough to       idolsthere -not because it is good,"         Do you hear the warning of Christ to
handle them. One notes that ,Christ,        she said, "but you must learn the            Thyatira and to our churches? Be-
in speaking to this church, does not        `depths of Satan. Otherwise, how can         ware lest the doctrine of Jezebel af-
say even one word about its doctrinal       you ever enjoy the deliverance that          fects us as well.
purity. It isno wonder therefore that       takes place through the cross of our              Christ gives a command to the
there are those who have concluded          Lord Jesus Christ? So," said Jezebel,        "angel" of the church of .Thyatira and
that here was a church that did not         "the sinner must experience the              to those who yet remained faithful in
have much time for doctrine. The            depths of Satan in order to enjoy the        that church. It is not a command that
members concentrated  on: ,,activity,       "grace of the Great Deliverer. Live in       we might expect. Notice: Christ does
feeling, emotion.-  *.'  '  :  -'           corruption, that you might truly come        not say, "Discipline this Jezebel. You
      For that reason this church has       to understand the power of the cross."       must excommunicate her." That  is
been called mystical. The very exist-            Besides, how doesoneknow  that.         the duty and calling of the church. It
ence of:.Jezebel,  with her false teach:    he will hold fast to the faith unless he     must punish through spiritual means
ings, shows that some here relied           teststhis?"Testitbycommittingadul-           those who turn from the doctrines of
more upon a special revelation in           tery; live in wickedness," said she.         God's Word. Yet Christ does not say
addition to Scripture. God's revela-        "Then you will learn experientially          anything about discipline. The rea-
tion presumably was given directly          that God preserves His people."              son, clearly, is this. The church of
to people such as this Jezebel. Christ           It is very sad that today many          Thyatira was not in a spiritual posi-
speaks of ti Jezebel." That was not her     have gone far beyond what Jezebel            tion to do that. They seemed not even
actual name, of course. Who would           taught. One does not hear anymore            to have sufficient knowledge of the
give any child that name if he knew         that we must experience the depths of        requirements of God's Word. So
the history of the Old Testament Scrip-     Satan to enjoy the grace of God. It has      Christ says, "I will take care of her,
tures? Christ gives her the name            gone so far today that we hear rather        and all those who commit adultlery
II Jezebel" because she resembles that      what the committee report states to          with her. I will cast her and her
horrible woman married to Ahab  -           the Assembly of the Presbyterian             followers into a bed and kill her chil-
the woman that led Israel into idola-       Churches of the U.S.A. this summer.          dren." There will be discipline, but it
try, establishing Baa1 worship in the       That report does not speak of "the           will be discipline that comes directly
nation. This New Testament Jezebel          depths of Satan" at all. It speaks of the    from Christ out of heaven. This
was both a teacher and a prophetess         same kinds of evil fomications but ? woman will be cast into a bed (not of
in Thyatira. The church suffered her        calls them now the gifts of God to the       adultery but of sickness and pain).
to teach. Not all agreed  with'her          church. Let there be homosexual              That would be a direct consequence
instruction, but many did. Was she          marriages. Let there be ministers            of the evils she taught. Those who
not God's prophetess? Did not God           who live in homosexual relationships.        committed adultery with her would
give her many gifts? Did not God            Let therebe those who dwell in sexual        likewise suffer.

412 /Standard Bearer / July 1,199i


     That is happening today, too.         as Synod meets this week, it must                 That should strike awe in our
All the diseases associated with sexual    hear Christ's word to "holdfast what         hearts' as we are about to hold our
deviations represent the judgments         thou hast." We hold fast to the an-          sessions of Synod. We must remem-
of Christ not only upon the world, but     cient confessions that set forth the         ber, men and brethren of Synod, that
even upon many within the church           doctrines of the Word confessed by           Christ not only hears our words and
who want nothing to do anymore             the church. Hold to them! Do not be          sees our deeds, but He also knows
with the infallible, inspired Word.        swayed by those who in our day insist        ourheartsandminds.  Nothinglcanbe
What does He say to those who have         that Scripture is not infallible. Do not     hidden from Christ. When we make
not followed Jezebel's evil doctrine?      be swayed by all those who insist that       decisions, we must hold fast that
Christ says this, "That thou hast, hold    there are other forms, perhaps more          which we have, in the great aware-
fast till I come."                         reliable forms of revelation than Scrip-     ness that He discerns the thoughts of
     There is a reference here to the      ture. Do not be swayed by those who          the heart and the intents of the mind.
instruction of the church given            say we need a new way of interpret-               Christ shows not only His eyes.
through the apostles at the time of the    ing Scripture, a new hermeneutic.            Christ identifies Himself further as
so-called Synod at Jerusalem. In Acts      Hold fast that thou hast! Maintain           the One having feet of fine brass.
15:28,29,  the apostles and the elders     that! That is the calling of Christ to       According to Psalm 2, He is the One
in the church in Jerusalem decided         His church.                                  who, with His rod of iron, breaks the
"for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost           ItisChristHimselfwhospoketo             wicked. He tramples the disobedient
and to us, to lay upon you no greater      Thyatira, and now to us. He spoke in         under foot. Therefore here too He
burden than those necessary things         such a manner as to leave no doubt           presents Himself with brass feet. He
that ye abstain from meats offered to      that He who speaks knows whereof             tramples to the dust those who op-
idols (the very thing that Jezebel de-     He speaks. Notice how He identifies          pose His Word by introducing the
nied)andfrombloodandfromthings             Himself here as He does first in chap-       doctrines of men. This truth should
strangledandfromfomication(some-           ter one. He says, "These things saith        be a stem warning to the assernblies
thing Jezebel likewise denied), from       the Son of God who hath eyes like            and synods of those who introduce
which if ye keep yourselves ye shall       unto a flame of fire and feet like fine      doctrines and practices  deci'dedly
do well. Hold fast to that ye have."       brass."                                      contrary to God's Word. It has to
There were those in the midst of that           You see, this is not just a wise        remind us too, delegates to Synod,
church who understood that Jezebel,        man who was addressing the church            how that Christ also discerns our
was not coming with sound doctrine.        here. It is not either one who is simply     hearts and judges our decisions. He
Christ says to them, "Youunderstand        looking over the shoulder of the el-         gives to every man according as his
that you may not commit fornication.       ders and minister of Thyatira, watch-        worksshallbe,  Tolaborknowingthat
You know you may not eat those             ing what they do. It is more than that. .    Christ with His eyes as flames lof fire
things offered to idols. That is my        He who speaks has eyes like unto fire.       and feet of polished brass is there
word." Christ says, "Hold fast to          Surely it is to remind the church.and        should remind us of the seriousness
that."                                     us that Christ sees. He knows! We            of our task. In the awareness of His
     To hold fast to these truths in-      often say to each other, "You must not       eyes upon us and His feet rea.dy  to
volves maintaining them by studying        judge a person's motive." We dare            trample down all that which is dis-
them and walking according to them.        not say that to Christ. The church of        obedient or rebellious, let us labor
They must ask themselves, what did         Thyatira confronted the One who              faithfully and diligently.
Christ say to His church? Never mind       could search out the reins and the                To His faithful church Christ
what Jezebel has to say. They are to       heart. (The reins, literally, are the        gives His promise: "He that
hold fast what they had.                   kidneys, which were considered the           overcometh and keepeth My works
     The church of Christ is without       seat of emotions.) Christ says, "I am        (note:  Christ's  works, not man's idea
doubt found in many places where           the One who can see into your very           of works) till the end, to him will1 give
there are sincere people of God. Yet so    mind and heart. I not only see and           power over the nations and he shall
few churches anymore are concerned         hear outward deeds and words, but I          rule them with a rod of iron (Psalm 2),
with doctrine -with love, perhaps;         discemwhatisinyourheartandyour               as vessels of a potter they sh,all be
with works, yes; caring for the needy      reins."                                      broken to shivers even as I received of
in devastated areas of this earth, in-          Thus Jezebel could not say to           My Father. And I give to Him the
deed. But the doctrines of the Word        Christ, "I am called by the Holy Spirit      morning star." So there is His `bless-
are denied. That must not be true for      to teach and prophesy." This Jezebel         ingin faithfulness and obedience. It is
us as churches and Synod!                  dare not say to Christ, "But it is proof     His reward of grace. It is His promise
     We are only a small group of          of one's spiritual strength to enter the     to us as well. "He who has ears to
churches. We are hardly a perfect          depths of Satan." Christ exposes her         hear, let him hear." Amen. Q
church. The sins of this world and of      many corruptions. His eyes see
other churches affect us as well. Yet,     through her facade.

                                                                                                July 1,199l / Standard Bearer / 413


                                                I9991 Synod of the
Editorial                                       PRC

     The 52nd annual synod of the               free election, were Rev. Jay Kortering,
Protestant Reformed Churches met                president; Rev. Marvin Kamps, vice-
in Grand Rapids, Michigan from June             president; Rev. Ron VanOverloop,
11 to June 17. It was fitting that the          first clerk; and Rev. Ron Cammenga,
Hope Church of GrandRapids  hosted              second clerk.
this synod, since Hope is celebrating
its 75th anniversary this year.                 A Candidate for the Ministry
     ThechurchbuiIdingoftheSouth-                    A highlight of Synod 1991 was
west PRC, where the pre-synod&l                 the oral examination of senior sem-
service was held the evening of June            inarian Mitchell C. Dick. To the ex-
10, was almost filled for the worship           amination belonged the preaching of
service with which synod tradition-             asermonbefore the delegates of synod
allybegins. Rev. GiseVanBaren,presi-            (on Psalm 3418);  questioning by the
dent of the previous synod, preached            seminary professors in dogmatics,
the searching message on Revelation             Old and New Testament history,
2:18-29,  Christ's Word to the church           church history, church polity, and                Prof. Engelstia examines
at Thyatira. He called the synod and            matters of the student's own godli-               Mitch Dick in Dogmatics
the PRC to hold fast "that which ye             ness and attitude toward the work of        PRC. A large audience heard Profes-
have . . . till I come." The text of this       the gospelministry; and pre-assigned        sor Herman Hanko's challenging
sermon is the meditation in this issue          written exegesis of passages from the       speech, "A Reforming Reformed
of the  Standard Bearer.              The       Hebrew Old Testament and from the           Church." We publish the speech else-
congregation's singing of Psalm 48              Greek New Testament. Synod ap-              where in this issue of the SB. Under
was stirring:                                   proved the examination and declared         the direction of Mr. Roland Petersen,
  Mount Zion's walls behold,                    Mr. Dick a candidate for the ministry       a choir sang two appropriate and
  About her ramparts go,                        in the PRC. He is eligible for a call on    beautiful numbers. The president of
  And number ye the lofty tow'rs                or after July 13.                           the Theological School Committee
  That guard her from the foe.                       The joy of the churches over this      (TSC), Rev. Gise Vanbaren, and the
  Observe her palaces,                          gift of a minister of the Word from the     rector of the Protestant Reformed
  Mark her defenses well,                       ascended Christ found exuberant ex-         Seminary, Professor Robert Decker,
  That to the sons that follow you              pressionatthepubliccommencement             presented Candidate Dick his di-
  Her glories you may tell.                     exercises that were held on June 14 in      ploma. On behalf of the Grandville
      The officers of synod, chosen by          the church building of the Grandville       congregation, Mr. Jon Huisken gave





                    Last-minute reviaofor...                                                 Synodical  exam

414 /Standard Bearer I July 1,199l


     the candidate a gift of money for the       the expansion of the seminary build-          and has proved to be a time of rich
     purpose of building up his library.         ing, authorizing an architect to do           spiritual benefit as we are brought to
                                                 "schematic design work" that willbe           a deeper understanding of the won-
     The Seminary                                submitted to the synod of 1992 for            derful truths of the Reformed Faith.
          Synod took several significant         approval. Professor Decker explains              The Mission Committee is re-
     decisions regarding our seminary. It        this decision elsewhere in this issue.      printing two booklets that will be
     admitted four men who have recently              The proposal of the TSC that           useful in its work and in the work of
     graduated from college to the regular       outside speakers be invited occasion-       the individual congregations: a bro-
     course of studyin the seminary: Allen       ally to address our faculty and stu-        chure on the faith and practices of the
     J. Brummel (Dordt College); Henry           dent body was approved. The TSC             PRC and a booklet containing the
     DeJong  (Trinity Christian College and      also brought to synod final details of      three Reformed confessions (the
     Valparaiso University); Scott R.            the conference on Scripture that the        "Three Forms of Unity").
     Haaksma (Calvin College); andDoug-          seminary is sponsoring in October of             At its request, the Foreign Mis-
     las J. Kuiper (Calvin College). With        this year.                                  sion Committee was authorized to
     returning second-year seminarian                                                        send a minister and an elder to Ghana,
     PatrickBaskwell,  thesemenwillmake          Missions                                    Africa this year, to investigate Ghana
     up a student body of five in the com-            The mission fields of the churches     as a possible field of foreign mission
     ing school year.                            in common at present are Jamaica;           work.
I         Synod also approved the admis-         Venice, Florida; and Northern Ire-
     sion of two men from the Evangelical        land. Synod heard reports on these          Contact with Other Churches
     Presbyterian Church (EPC) of Aus-           fields from the Mission Committee                The synodical Committee for
     tralia into a special course of training    (MC). The obvious, critical need is         Contact (CC) with Other Churches
     in the seminary, beginning this fall.       missionaries. The PRC are working           reported on the fruitful and much
     They are Chris Conners and David            all of the fields in an irregular and       appreciated work that Rev. Bernard
     Higgs. Theirs will be a three-year          unsatisfactory way. Two-man del-            Woudenberg did in the Bumie, Tas-
     program preparing them for the gos-         egations are going to Jamaica twice a       mania congregation in particular and
     pel ministry in the EPC of Australia.       year to instruct the officebearers of       in the EPC of Australia in general.
     The application of these men with the       the Jamaica churches. Venice, Florida       The PRC will again try to supply
     approval of the EPC of Australia was        and Northern Ireland are supplied           preaching for the Bumie congrega-
     gratifying to synod. It is the desire of    with preaching through classical ap-        tion, if this request is forthcoming.
     the PRC to be useful to other               pointments of various pastors for                Synod adopted the proposal of
     confessionally faithful Reformed and        periods of several weeks. Synod was         the CC that the PRC help their sister
     Presbyterian churches in the training       also aware of other requests for Prot-      churches in Singapore by loaning them
     of sound, able Reformed pastors and         estant Reformed preachers. It is ur-        a "senior minister" for three years.
     teachers.                                   gent that the churches have men for         Hope Church (Grand Rapids) is the
          The EPC has committed itself to        the vitally important and demanding         calling church. The CC wilI attempt
     the financial support of these men          work of missions. Well may the con-         to provide immediate help for the
     and their families. This is no small        gregations and members beseech the          Evangelical Reformed Churches of
     undertaking. Synod authorized col-          Lord of the harvest to send forth these     Singapore (ERCS) by asking a
     lections in the PRC to help with this       laborers (Matt. 9:38).                      consistory to release its pastor for a
     support and commends this worthy                 The Covenant Reformed Fellow-          period up to six months. Synod ap-
     cause to our people.                        ship (CRF) of Northern Ireland ex-          proved the request of the First Evan-
          In response to an overture from        pressed its gratitude to the PRC in a       gelical Reformed Church of Singapore
     the TSC, synod rescinded decisions          letter that was read to the synod:          for help in buying needed church
     of 1966 and 1971 establishing a pre-          . . . our heartfelt thanks and deepest    property in the form of collections in
     seminary department in the seminary.          appreciation for all the help you have    the PRC. Synod encouraged the con-
     With the exception of Greek and               given to the CRF. In particular we        gregations to give generously to this
     Dutch, college subjects will no longer        would like to thank your Mission          cause. A letter expressing concerns of
     be taught. The overture pointed out           Committee and the Consistory of           synod was sent to the ERCS.
     that it is "impossible for three profes-      Hudsonville PRC who have labored               The session of the PRC of New
                                                   so diligently and conscientiously on
     sors to teach the entire seminary cur-                                                  Zealand greeted synod by letter. In-
                                                   our behalf throughout the past year.
     riculum and at the same time to teach        We are delighted that we have been         cluded was the statement, "We do
     pre-seminary subjects." With this             able to receive pulpit supply on a        not forget that it is through the gener-
     decision, financial aid to college stu-       regularbasisandareespeciallygrate-        ous giving of God's people in your
     dents from the Student Aid Fund of            ful to those ministers who have come      churches that makes having our own
     the Churches also is ended.                   over to help us. Their ministry has       minister possible. For this and for
          Synod approved the concept of           been enthusiastically received by all      your continued support we express

                                                                                                      July 1,199l I Standard Bearor I 415


                                                committee. A main reason given by             Dutch). Such was the case at this
                                                its supporters for adoption of the            synod over the question whether the
                                                overture was that representation at           Dutchlanguage ought to be one of the
                                                synod of three classes would encour-          requirements for entrance into the
                                                age appeals and make for better judg-         seminary. The outcome of the debate
                                                ment on cases brought to synod.               (listen up, all aspiring seminarians!)
                                                Synod was not convinced by this               was a resounding affirmation of the
                                                ground for the overture. There was,           Dutch requirement. The PRC are
                                                besides, agreement with the conclud-          firmly and unabashedly committed
                                                ing statement of the study committee:         to the preservation of their Reforrned
                                                "We are convinced that now it (the            heritage, much of whichis still found,
                                                reorganization proposedby the over-           untranslated, in the Dutch language.
      Rev. Kortering  - President               ture - DJE) would not be advanta-                  The unity of the churches, rooted
                                                geous to our churches."                       in Holy Scripture as expressed in the
our deepest gratitude."                                  The synodical budget adopted         Reformed creeds, was remarkably
     The CC was authorized to send              for 1992 is $470 per family, based on         evident at synod, not only in the fel-
another observer to theNorth Ameri-             1440, families in the denomination.           lowship between and after hours, but
can Presbyterian and Reformed Coun-             This is an increase of $20 over last          also in the debate and decisions, as
cil, if the PRC are again invited.              year.                                         well as in the very issues themselves
                                                         Synod 1992 will meet in South        that appeared on the agenda. Noth-
Other Matters                                   Holland, Illinois, the Lord willing.          ing detracting from Scripture, the
     The overture of Southeast PRC                       Under the genial, but firm direc-    confessions, or the church order is at
(Grand Rapids) to reorganize the de-            tion of President Kortering, synod            issue with us. God be thanked!
nomination in three classes was re-             did its work with diligence and dis-               May Christ our Head, for wh!om
jected. This was the advice of the              patch. It is always intriguing to vet-        we worked, now bless the decisions
committee appointed by the synod of             eran'observers of synods, neverthe-           of the 1991 Synod of the PRC for the
1989 to study the overture. This was            less, how synods can be caught up in          welfare of these churches and for the
also the opinion of a majority of               lengthy, spirited, and usually very           increase of Reformed truth in all the
consistories that responded to a ques-          interesting debate over seemingly             world.  Q
tionnaire sent out by the synodical             minor matters (pace, lovers of the                                           -- DJE





                                                            Synod in session





                                     Food and Fellowship:' important aspect of Synodical  gatherings

416 /Standard Bearer /July 1,1691


/Pi    `July 1,19!31/ Standard Bearer / 417


                                             The Seminary
 Contribution
Prof. Roberf Decker                          Library

      The synod of our Protestant Re-              The TSC asks authorization to         earnings of this fund. Currently the
formed Churches adopted the fol-               hire an architect to do schematic de-     professors have their office equip-
lowing proposal presented by the               sign work with cost estimates. The        ment (furniture and computers and
Theological School Committee (TSC):            cost of this work would be $2000.00.      books) in their classrooms.
  TheTSCproposesthatwebeginwork                Funds for this work will come from             Synod was well aware of the
  on an expansion of the seminary              the Seminary Building Expansion           other needs in the denomination: our
  building to include the following            Fund. These plans would be submit-        Christian schools, several church
  needs:                                       ted to Synod 1992  for final approval.    buildingandrenovationprojects. For
      1. Relocate the library to an area           TheTSCrequests  thatitbeautho-
  moreconducive toreadingandstudy-             rized to begin collecting funds by        this reasonno  monieswillbe assessed.
  ing and increase its size to double its      special gifts for this building expan-    Thebuild.ingexpansionwillbefunded
  present size. The new library should         sion project.                             by the voluntary gifts and contribu-
  be quiet, secure, and should include             The basis for this proposed addi-     tions of our people. The synod was
  private, well-lit reading areas (either      tion'is:                                  encouraged to learn that over the past
  carrels orrooms). Staff offices should           1. The need to store our growing      year a donor who wishes to remain
  be nearby. (The present library area         library collection in a secure area       a n o n y m o u s   h a s   contributled
  would be used for students and visi-         conducive to study by students, pro-      $35,000.00  to this project. The donor
  tors for the present.)                       fessors, and others.                      promised to give another $15,000.00
      2. Add four staff offices, one of            2. Professors have established the    should synod approve of the library
  which is for future use. These offices       seminary as their primary workarea.
  would be "private," clustered to-            This demands adequate office work         expansion. Thus we have received
  gether, and located adjacent to the          areas and adequate library facilities.    $50,000.00  for this project already.
  library. Each office should be from              3. The present archive area is not    We are thankful to God for this provi-
  12'~12'to12'~16'withbookshelving.            adequate nor designed  for our grow-      dential and generous contribution to
      3. Provide two new storage               ing collection.                           our seminary. The donor has done
  rooms, one for archives (approxi-               Those who are familiar with the        this, "as an encouragement to the
  mately 400 square feet) and one for        current building know that the li-          members of the Protestant Reformled
  books andliterature (approximately         brary is located in the very center of      Churches to contribute toward this
  300 square feet). The archives room        the building. The three classrooms
  should be fireproof and secure.                                                        project." Presumably the TSC will'be
                                             and the faculty room all open into the      contacting our churches and people
                                             library. This makes it impossible for       in the near future asking for vohm-
                                             students to study in the library when       tary contributions for this project.
                                             classes are being taught. In addition            Our people will be encouraged
                                             the library continues to grow, so that      to, know too that five men are cur-
                                             soon we will simply be out of space         rently enrolled in the seminary. In
                                             for our books. While we are purchas-        addition there are several young men
                                             ing books, and have been ever since         enrolled in pre-seminary courses at
                                             we moved into the building in Janu-         various colleges and universities in
                                             aryof  1974,westillhavealongwayto           the U. S. and Canada. God is answer-
                                             go. We need a library that will sup-        ing our prayers for students for tlhe
                                             port the four-year seminary curricu-        ministry. For all of this we at tlhe
                                             lum. This means we need approxi-            seminary are thankful to our God
                                             mately fifteen to twenty thousand           who has promised to be with His
                                             volumes. Currently we have approxi-         church through Jesus Christ even unto
                                             mately 2500 volumes. The library is         the end.  0
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical       supported mainly by a fund of a little
Theology in the Protestant Reformed          over $20,000.00.  Books and maga-
Seminary.                                    zines are purchased with the interest

416 IStandard  Bearer l July 1,199l


                                            A Reforming
Special Article
Prof. Herman Hanko                          Reformed Church

 (A transcript of a speech delivered at     emphasis on liturgy and ritual. The           behind the plea for relevance, one
 the graduation of Mr. Mitchell Dick,       former robs the people of God of the          soon discovers that a particular view
              JuZy 14, 2991.)               awe and reverence which ought to              of Scripture and the confessions is at
                                            characterize the life of the saints; while    stake. The confessions of the church
     The title of this speech is taken      the latter leads the church back to           are no longer accepted as the norms
from a motto which has often been           Rome by making worship dependent              of the church's faith but are said to be
used within the Reformed churches           upon externalities.                           time-bound documents which ex-
to express what is an essential part of          Changes are introduced into              pressed the faith of the church prop-
the Reformed faith: "A Reformed             church governmetit  which result in           erly at a distant time, but c,an no
Church is a Reforming Church." The          aberrations which lead the church             longer serve us in our day. And the
twoterms, "Reformed" and"Reform-            into a congregationalism which de-            confessions have this characteristic
ing," are meant tobeinterchangeable:        nies the unity of the church, or a            because the Scriptures themselves are
A church which is not a reforming           hierarchism which denies the au-              a time-bound book, a culturallycon-
church is not a Reformed church, for        tonomy of the local congregation.             ditioned book which does not lay
an essential characteristic of a Re-        And, under the guise of being a truly         down eternal principles and truths;
formed church is that it is always          reforming church, the special offices         Scripture is only an expression of the
reforming.                                  in the congregation are opened to             faith of individuals many centuries
     This motto has oftenbeen abused        women.                                        past who lived in another culture and
in our day, for it has become an ex-              Changes are even introduced in          age and who cannot be expected to
cuse for and justification of the intro-    doctrine, with the result that the            speak with relevance to our modern
duction into the life of the church         creedal  foundations of the church are        age.
novelties and innovations which are         undermined and doctrinal heresies                     The interpretation of Scripture
contrary to Scripture and the confes-       are adopted which lead the saints             itself is here at stake, and we reject all
sions. Such misuse of this sound            from the truth as it is in Christ.            such teachings as being totally con-
principle, however, does not warrant              If one examines the reasoning           trary to the principle that a Reformed
an abandoning of the principle. It          behind this phenomenon, one soon              church is a church always reforming.
would be disastrous for us to discard       discovers that the great principle of a                On the other hand, the principle
the principle because of its abuse.         reforming Reformed church is de-              that a Reformed church is always
     A reforming Reformed church            fined as meaning that a truly Re-             reformingunderscoresanotherweak-
is not a church which engages ininno-       formed church must be relevant to             ness that maybe present in the c:hurch,
vation. It is said that a truly Reformed    our present day so that it can speak          the weakness of ecclesiastical and
church must continuously be chang-          effectively to our twentieth century          spiritual  stagnation.  The very prin-
ing; and the result is the introduction     culture. Forms of worship, principles         ciple itself condemns such inertia.
of changes in every part of the eccle-      of church government, doctrines                       This has happenedin the history
siastical life of the church of Christ.     themselves, which may have served             of the church. It is a remarkable fact
     Changes in worship are con-            the church well in past ages, are out-        that the churches of the Netherlands
stantly being made, either in the di-       dated and outmoded, and cannot                fell into such ecclesiastical inertia
rection of more informality in wor-         speak effectively to today's world.           within thirty years of the Synod of
ship or in the direction of greater         They have lost their relevance over           Dordt. Within such a short pel<od of
                                            the centuries, and the church must            time, weaknesses in doctrine and
                                            find new ways to worship, to func-            church government crept into the
                                            tion, and to confess the faith, so that       churches and gradually led the
                                            the church is not left in the eddies of       churches into apostasy of the worst
Prof. Hanko  is professor of Church His-    on-going ecclesiastical life.                 kind.
tory and New Testament in the Protes-             Butifonegoesbackanotherstep                      Why was this? While there may
tant Reformed Semina y.                     and examines the thinking which lies          have been various causes of this re-
                                                                                                     July 1,1991/ Standard Bearer I 419


markably  quick deterioration, one          hearts of God's people. The worship        separation. It has never happened
factor was surely a spiritual lethargy      of the church becomes mere formal-         that a church which has once commit-
which crept over the churches. The          ism. The government of the church is       ted itself to false doctrine has returned
churches which had won such an as-          regulated, not by the will of Christ,      to faithfulness. From the  road1 of
toundingvictory at Dordt were weary         but by the age-old traditions of by-       apostasy there is no turning back.
of battle. They rested on their laurels     gone years.                                Nor has a church been reformed in
in the confidence that they had won a                                                  other ways which have been tried. It
mighty victory which would endure,                    On the slopes                    has not been reformed by revivals, so
and they laid down their weapons in              of the church's journey               much sought after in our day. It has
the spiritual struggle.                                                                not been reformed by conventicles in
      Such an attitude is somewhat            tti her eternal destination,             which faithful people of God have,
understandable. Churchcontroversy                 she either rigorously                while remaining in the church, lmet
is distasteful, for the trauma and con-          determines to con time                separately from the church to culti-
fusion, the horror and distress of                  the difficult climb                vate their inner life. It has not been
church controversy is great. The life            'of  greater faithfulness             reformed by groups of congregations
of the church is disrupted; the church                                                 joining together in the formation of a
cannot get on with her calling, for all                    to her Lord,                "church within a church," for God is
her energies are absorbedin a struggle                 or she begins                   pleased to work through corporate
for her very life. Congregations are              to slip backward . . . .             union of the church and corporate
torn apart, families are divided, eccle-                                               responsibility for the sins of a church.
siastical assemblies expend vast                 This leads inevitably to apos-             Church reformation takes pl.ace
amounts of energy and money in              tasy - as it did in the Netherlands        in a very specific way. Church refor-
wearisome meetings. Forgotten is            after Dordt. It leads to a church          mation always has three characteris-
the truth that vigilance is the price of    unfaithful to her Lord and Ring. And       tics about it.
faithfulness.                               so it will ever be, for it is fundamen-         It is strikingthat these three char-
      When ecclesiastical and spiri-        tally impossible to stay in one place.     acteristics have a negative and a posi-
tual stagnation enters the life of the      Achurchmustmoveforwardorback-              tive aspect, like that of conversion.
church, God's people are content with       ward. On the slopes of the church's        Conversion, according to Lord's Day
what they have. They rest in their          journey to her eternal destination, she    XXXIII of the Heidelberg Catechism,
heritage. They are fearful of any           either rigorously determines to con-       consists of the negative aspect of re-
change whatsoever. They look with           tinue the difficult climb of greater       pentance from sin and the positive
gravest suspicion on any one who            faithfulness to her Lord, or shebegins     aspect of a new obedience to God and
suggests any idea to improve the life       to slip backward until the speed of        His will. Church reformationis eccle-
of the church. Those who suggest            her decline loosens an avalanche on        siastical conversion.
suchchangeareimmediatelybranded             the slopes which suddenly buries her.           When true church reformai:ion
as troublemakers and disturbers of               A Reformed church is a church         takes place, the faithful, in a very
the peace of Israel.                        which has gone through reformation.        specific and concrete way, reject all
      When this frame of mind be-           It has gone through reformation be-        the errors which have led the church
comes common in the churches, a             cause of apostasy in her mother. Our       into apostasy, errors in doctrine, in
certain deadness sets in. Traditional-      own churches are born out of the           life, in worship, and in church gov-
ism is the guiding principle of the         reformation of the sixteenth century,      ernment. But rejecting the errors
church's life. She does things because      out of the Reformation of the              which have corrupted the life of the
this is the way it has always been          Afscheiding  of 1834 and the Doleuntie     church, the faithful return to the old
done. Any change carries with it the        of 1886, and out of the common grace       ways. To such reformation the
threat of disharmony and disunity,          controversy of 1924. Such church           prophet called Judah: "Thus saith the
and the peace of Zion is threatened. It     reformation is necessary, for an apos-     Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see,
is like a man in a boat caught in a         tatizing  church loses the marks of the    and ask for the old paths, where is the
storm on the high seas, who contents        true church, which marks are the very      good way, and walk therein, and ye
himself with the fact that he has oars      means by which the Son of God gath-        shall find rest for your souls" (Jer.
with him in the boat, although he has       ers, defends, and preserves His church     6:16). It is a return to the tied and
no idea how to use them. It is like a       in the world. If the marks of the          true paths of the confessions, of the
swimmer caught far from shore who           church are no longer present, church       worship of God as it was done in
contents himself with the fact that he      reformation must and will take place.      times of faithfulness, of the govem-
took a few swimming lessons twenty               Church reformation always             ment of the church which has stood
years ago.                                  takes place in a particular way. In the    the test of the ages.
      The confessions of the church         history of the church, such reforma-            But, and this is particularly im-
are no longer the living truth in the       tion has always taken place by way of      portant to us, church reformation is

420 /Standard Bearer I July 1,199l


never simply a negative condemna-             government, her doctrine, the life of        ther development of it.
tion of error, a series of No's, simply       her members, perfection is but a goal             Living out of her heritage with
a being against things. It is always          towards which she strives. From Pen-         joyful obedience to the Spirit of Christ,
also a positive development of the            tecost till today the church has moved       the church moves forward. In (every
riches of God's Word in doctrine, life,       forward in her life and calling and          area of her life, she strives to improve
worship, and church government.               must continue to do so until the Lord        her life and make it more conform-
      So it was in our own Protestant         returns.                                     able to the will of Christ. She must do
Reformed Churches. Not only did                    What must be done to accom-             this in humble confession of her im-
the spiritual fathers of our churches         plish this?                                  perfection and her need to fight the
reject the errors of common grace and              Inthefirstplace,thechurchmust           good fight of faith. She must con-
the well-meant gospel offer; not only         be in the true sense of the word rel-        stantly seek to bring her whole life in
did they consciously and deliberately         evant. Such a calling does not mean          greater obedience to Scripture.
return to the old paths; but they also        that the church must conform itself to            This will involve developlment.
set about the great taskof developing         the world, include in her life prevail-      It will include a constant searching of
the truth of Scripture, particularly the      ing movements, and adapt herself to          the Scriptures, for the Scriptures are
great truths of God's sovereign and           her culture. But it does mean that the       an inexhaustible mine of truth which
particular grace, as these truths apply       church must make the eternal and             will not be depleted before the Lord
to the doctrine of the covenant of            abiding Word of God a powerful wit-          returns. She will live in a constant
grace.                                        ness to the evils present in all of life.    willingness to subject herself in obe-
     It is this last point which is so        The church is placed by Christ in the        dience to her Lord. She will not be
crucial to our subject. A church that         world to speak to her age, to condemn        fearful of changing that which needs
has gone through reformation must             all the errors which rear their ugly         changing, of improving that which
be a church which continually re-             heads, to fight against every form of        can be improved, of confessing more
forms.                                        wickedness, and to sound the alarm           fully and completely the glorious faith',
     Negative reasons for this can be         ateveryattackuponthechurch'sfaith-           once delivered to the saints.
adduced. There are always imperfec-           fulness.                                          God has given us this calling.
tions within the church. They are                  Secondly, the church must live          Because we live near the end, the
present because the church is com-            in constant and conscious fellowship         calling comes with urgency. We are a
posed of sinful people who struggle           with the church of the past. The             Reformed church - by the grace of
daily with sin. The church itself al-         church must receive her confessional         our God. To remain Reformed we
ways included within her member-              heritage (the great creeds of the Re-        must continue to be reforming. May
ship those who, whether they come             formed faith, the heritage of her lit-       God enable us to do this. 0
from outside or are born within the           urgy and worship, the abiding and
covenant line, are not the true Israel of     unchanging principles of her govern-
God. This carnal seed within the              ment, the great truth of the antithesis)
church always constitutes a threat to         with thankfulness to God. It is the gift
the church.                                   of the Spirit of Truth whom Christ has
                                              promised to give to the church to lead
               It is fatal                    her into all truth. To despise and                     REMINDER:
             for a church                     reject this heritage is to despise and
               to assume                      reject the work of the Spirit in the
                                              church. With joy the church receives                          The
               that it has                    this and consciously and thankfully                 Standard Bearer
          attained pegection.                 lives out of it. Only when the church                   is published
                                              is able to live according to her heri-
     But apart from the fact that the         tage will she also be able to advance in                   monthly
visible church always has tares in her        her calling.                                            (rather than
midst, the church has the positive                 To move forward is to carry
calling to approach more closely the          along this rich and noble heritage.                   semi-monthly)
perfection of Christ's will for His           This is not to say that a reforming                      during the
saints in their ecclesiastical life. It is    church does not always subject her                  summer months:
fatal for a church to assume that it has      heritage to the final and authoritative
attained perfection. Such an attitude         Word of Christ her King contained in                     June, July,
is bred in arrogance, is a hiding of          the Holy Scriptures. She lives  accord-                and August.
one's head in the sand, and is a guar-        ing to her heritage, but out of the Holy
antee of ecclesiastical stagnation and        Scriptures. Her advance is not a de-
spiritual inertia. In her worship, her        parture from her heritage, but a fur-

                                                                                                   July 1,199l I Standard Bearer I421


Prof. Robett D. Decker                       All Around Us

Stressed-Out Pastors                         numbered twenty-five to fifty fami-          emerged. According to Action Inter-
         Ministers get stressed out too.     lies when the undersigned began his          national homeless children are a ma-
And they are finally beginning to talk       ministry in 1965, now number from            jor problem in many poor countries.
about it. At a conference at Iliff School    seventy-five to one hundred and fifty        Action International's director esti-
of TheologyinDenver,pastors talked           families. But the demands on the             mates that Latin America has fifty
about depression, burnout, overwork,         pastors are pretty much the same.            million street children, including
unrealistic expectations, and other          The pastor is expected to preach two         240,OOOabandonedchildreninMexico
problems. Evidence of theproblemis           good sermons every Sunday, teach             City and 500,000 in Sao Paula,  Brazil.
gleaned from a number of surveys             all or most of the catechism classes         Think of it! There are nearly three
among the clergy of several denomi-          (six or seven per week for the season),      quarters of a million abandoned chil-
nations. Of the fifty-sevenpastors, for      lead two or three Bible Study Soci-          dren in those two cities alone! Surely
example, who left the pastorate for          eties, take his share of the annual          this is a tragedy of immense propor-
other occupations in the states of Illi-     family visitation, counsel those with        tions. How many more of the pos-
nois and Wisconsin, fifty-eight per          problems of one sort or another, faith-      sible 20 million who will starve to
cent listed stress as their reason for       fully visit the sick, the widows and         death in the coming year are chil-
leaving the ministry. Medication for         widowers, the aged, and the shut-ins.        dren?
stress-related illnesses ranks second        Still more, we ask our pastors to give            We expect these things, for the
to maternity expenses in the medical         an occasional public lecture, write for      Scriptures tell us that in the last days
plan of the Southern Baptist Conven-         the Standard Bearer and The Beacon           there will be famine and earthquake
tion.                                        Lights, and serve on denominational          (Matt. 24). These along with other
         Those who analyze clergy life       or  synodical  committees. While a           occurrences are signs of the nearness
blame the stress problems on the same        faithful pastor must according to            of the end of all things. Seeing these
influences that affect parishioners:         Scripture give his life to the ministry,     things we live in unashamed hope of
consumerism, the need to controloth-         there are limits. There is, in the light     the coming of our Lord and Savior.
ers, power, relaxation of denomina-          of all this, a good trend appearing          But, the nagging question persists:
tional disciplines, and increased            among the congregations. The elders          what is our calling with respect to the
sexual promiscuity. In addition,             are increasingly aware of the problem        world'sstarvingandtheworld'spoor,
people demand that ministers be              and concerned about it. They are             and the world's abandoned children?
"omnicompetent." People expect.              insisting, for example, that the pastor      Ought we as a denomination to look
pastors to preach well, but also to be       take an adequate vacation. They are          beyond the benevolent needs of the
extremelycompetentatpastoralcoun-            also relieving the ministers of some of      members of our churches, sister
selling, at dealing with the youth,          the workbydoingit themselves. This           churches, and mission fields? These
helping the aging, giving advice to          is as it should be.                          are questions we ought prayerfully to
families, to singles, to those hospital-                                 The Banner       consider.
ized and ill.                                                                               The Reformed Ecumenical Council
         We would hope and pray that         Famine  and Children                                               News Exchange
some of the causes of stress wouldnot              Most of us have seen pictures                                     The Banner
be true for our own pastors. There is,       through the news media of starving                                            Pulse
however, a potential problem also            children invarious parts of the world.
among our own churches and pas-              They are not pretty! Apparently we           How Many Americans are  Clhris-
tors. Over the last twenty-five to           haven't seen the last of these. A            tians?
thirty years our churches have grown         Geneva-based Committee for Disas-                 Fewer than 10% of Americans
considerably. Congregations that             ters says that twenty million of Africa's    are deeply committed Christians ac-
                                             six hundred million people face star-        cording to George Gallup Jr. "These
                                             vation this year if food aid is not          people are a breed apart," he told a
                                             provided. At greatest risk are the           SouthemBaptisturbanministriescon-
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical       countries of Ethiopia, Angola, Sudan,        ference in Newark, N.J. "They are
Theology in the Protestant Reformed          Liberia, and Mozambique. In Latin            more tolerant of people of diverse
Seminary.                                    America another problem has                  backgrounds. They are more involved

422 /Standard Bearer /July 1,199l


in charitable activities. They are more    least seven needs of the average             ing to His institution, and to dlisci-
involved in practical Christianity.        American. These needs should be the          pline those who are wayward. These
They are absolutely committed to           basis for the church's ministry. The         we confess tobe the three marks of the
prayer." Also, Gallup said, they are       needs according to Gallup are: 1) for        true church from which no one has
"far, far happier than the rest of the     shelter and food; 2) to believe life is      the right to separate himself or herself
population." But most Americans            meaningfulandhasapurpose  (aneed             (The Be& Confession, Art. 29). In
who profess Christianity do not know       cited by 70% of respondents, with            that church which displays these
the basic teachings of the faith, and      two-thirds believing most churches           marks, will not all our needs be met?
they do not act significantly different    are not effective in meeting it); 3) a       The fruit of the faithful preaching of
from non-Christians in their daily         sense of community and deeper rela-          the Word and administration of the
lives. Not being grounded in the           tionships (nearly one third of Ameri-        sacraments and the exercise of Chris-
faith, these professing believers "are     cans say they have been lonely for a         tian discipline is a mature faith. The
open for anything that comes along,"       longperiod of time in their lives); 4) to    poor receive the mercies of Christ; the
Gallup warned. The studies show            be appreciated and respected; 5) to be       lonely are visited in their affliction;
that New-Age beliefs, for example,         listened to andbe heard ("Americans          the saints are equipped to stand fast
"are just as strong among tradition-       overwhelmingly think the future of           amid all the winds of false doctrine;
ally religious people as among those       the church will be shaped by the laity       the temptations of the devil, the world,
who are not traditionally religious,"      more than by the clergy,...they  be-         and their own sinful flesh are with-
he said. And the churched "are just as     lieve it will happen and they believe it     stood; and the carnal are put out.
likely as the unchurched to engage in      should happen"); 6) to feel one is           What dire consequences there am for
unethicalbehavior." The studies show       growing in faith; 7) for practical help      those who separate themselves from
also a growing percentage of Chris-        in developing a mature faith.                that congregation where the marks of
tians who say they can sustain their            The crucified, resurrected, ex-         the true church are displayed! Q
faith without attending church.            alted Lord of the church commanded                      National  b International
     Gallupinterestinglyenoughsaid         the church to: preach the Word, ad-                                 Religion Report
that every pastor ought to know at         minister the holy sacraments accord-



 The Day of                                That Gracious.:Gift
Shadows
Rev; John Heys                             of Steadfast' Faith
     It makes a world of difference        in hell, where laughter is gone for-         woman, and a man who was even ten
whether we laugh because our God           ever, and weeping and gnashing of            years older, who laughed at the idea
causes us to laugh, or whether it is       teeth is everlastingly experienced.          that they would have a son. It `was
Satan who fills us with laughter. No,           As we considered the last few           sinful to laugh when our God told
let us put it more strongly. It makes      times in the installment of this depart-     them that through an angel. This'was
an everlasting difference whether          ment of the Day of Shadows, Sarah            a lack of trust in God. And the won-
through the salvation our God real-        laughed when she heard the angel tell        der of God's grace is that He changed
ized for us throughHis  Son, He causes     Abraham that she, a ninety-year old          them into laughing because of His
us to laugh, or whether Satan does as      woman, would bring forth to him a            fulfillment of that promise. In His
he did to Adam and Eve, and brings         son. And Abraham also laughed when           grace our God changed their laugh-
us to everlasting torment and agony        the angel told him that, though he           ter. In His grace our God made them
                                           was ninety-nine years old, Sarah             rejoice in the fulfilling of His cov-
                                           would bring forth a son for them             enant promise.
                                           (Gen. 17~17).                                     In Genesis 21:6, 7 Sarah said,
                                                 And the striking thing is that         "God hath made me to 1augh;so  that
                                           wonderful truth that God told Abra-          all who hear will laugh with me. And
                                           ham that this son's name would be            she said, Who would have said unto
Rev. Heys is u minister emeritus in the    Laughter. For that is the meaning of         Abraham, that Sarah should have
Protestant Reformed Churches..             the name Isaac. Here was a very aged         given children suck? for I have born

                                                                                                July I,1991  I Standard Bearer I423


him a son in old age." Now she                   It was a three-day journey, three             We may unhesitatingly say that
believed, and now she laughsbecause         days of very close intimacy. Three            Abraham with his heart did offer up
of what God did for her, and not                                                          Isaac. Hebrews  11:17 declares that.
                            .               days they were of increasing diffi-
because she thought HE covenant             culty for the flesh. But it was also a        Abrahamhadclearlyrevealedhisfaith
promise was incredible.                     period of time in which our God in            in God and in His promises. He
     But let us go a step further and       His grace strengthened Abraham in             believed that God would raise him
take note of how much trust in Him          his faith. To see this and appreciate it      from the dead after that sacrifice.
and confidence in His promises that         we should turn to Hebrews 11:17,18,           Hebrews 11:19 declares that he was
our God worked in Abraham, who              where we read, "By faith Abraham,             "accounting that God was able to
had worked sinfully in laughter. In         who was tried, offered up Isaac; and          raise him up, even from the (dead;
Genesis 22 we read of an amazing act        he that had received the promise of-          from whence also he received him in
of our God in Abraham that did not          fered up his only begotten son. Of            a figure." Abraham believed God's
now stop him in what was a righteous        whom it was said, That in Isaac shall         promise that in Isaac would his seed
laughter. Our God commanded Abra-           thy seed be called." Isaac was not yet        be called (Gen. 21:12).
ham to take this son, who now was a         married. He had not begotten a son as
young man, and offer him up` as a           Abraham's seed. What a faith in God,                  Abraham did not
sacrifice. Remember that his son            then, Abraham revealed in goingfor-                   sacrifice his son.
Ishmael,bornthroughHagar,Sarah's            ward, in binding Isaac, and in laying                   God sacrificed
maid, not Abraham's wife, had by            him on the alter, ready to plunge a
God's command been sent away. And           knife into him, with the absolute as-                       HIS Son
now that Ishmael was gone, Abra-            surance that God would still give him                for our salvation.
ham did suffer a great loss. The name       seed through Isaac! For in verse 19 of
Ishmael means "God hears," and he           Hebrews 11 we read, "Accounting                    What a shadow do we have here
was so named because Abraham re-            that God was able to raise him up,            of the coming of Christ and of His
ceived him as a great gift. He now          even from the dead; from whence               death for our salvation! God caused
had a descendant, a son who would           also he received him in a figure."            Abraham to see a ram which He had
continue Abraham's genealogy. And,               Abraham did not drag his feet            provided in Isaac's place. That ram
alas, after that joy Abraham must           on the way to that sacrifice. He did          was caught in the thicket by our God
send him away.                              not tell Sarah what he was going to           as a comforting shadow of Christ,
     Then years later, with Ishmael         do. He wanted no temptation or                who was willingly captured in the
gone, Abraham must offer up Isaac at        opposition in this calling from God.          Garden of Gethsemane, so that He
God's command. Here then is an-             As wereadinverse 17 of Hebrews 11,            could die on His cross for our sins.
other severe blow to Abraham. He            Abraham was tried, not tempted. In            Here in the Day of Shadows we have
lost Ishmael, and now must sacrifice        the Ring James Version of Genesis             a picture of Christ, who on His cross
Isaac! To offer up Isaac was a tremen-      22:l we read that "God did tempt              cried out, "My God, My God,, why
dous trial and required a very, very        Abraham." But the Hebrew word                 hast Thou forsaken me?" He was
strong faith in God. And the blessed        means also to try, as silver is tried by      forsaken that we might have cov-
truth is that here in Genesis 22 we find    fire, not to destroy it, but to purify it.    enant fellowship with God. Abra-
a tremendously strong faith in God          God was here strengthening                    ham did not sacrifice his son. God
on Abraham's part. Here we should           Abraham's faith and purifying his             sacrificed HIS Son for our salvation.
take note of this act of Abraham, for in    spiritual life. And after the trial we        Isaac's sacrifice could not take away
the day of shadows this does present        read of how strong Abraham's faith            his father's sins, nor his own. God's
to us a rich and comforting truth.          had become. He accounted "that God            Son can do and did what in that day
     For what manifests so amazingly        was able to raise him up, even from           of shadows brings to all of God's elect
Abraham's faith and willingness to          the dead."                                    that tremendous comfort and peace
do God's will is that he early in the            There is also the strength of Isaac      of mind now, and everlasting `bless-
morning rose us, after that call to         (who could have fled swiftly on his           edness when Christ returns.
sacrifice Isaac, clave wood for the         two feet) compared with his father                 Salvation is God's gift. HE take+,
burnt offering, and went unto the           who was around 115 years old when             away the sin of the world fosr His
place of which God had told him             this incident took place. He did not          eternally chosen ones (John 1:2'9,36).
(Gen. 223). Appreciate then the fact        resist the binding of his hands and           And although the Old Testament pre-
that Abraham enjoyed so richly a very       legs. No, he revealed faith and trust         sents a shadow of Christ's birth, death,
close relationship with Isaac, the son      in God, when his father told him, "My         burial, descension into hell, resurrec-
of his real wife, and that he enjoyed it    son, God will provide Himself a lamb          tion, ascension into heavenly glory-
even more and more intimately dur-          for a burnt offering." He did not             and even of His coming back for our
ing those three days on the way to          scream and shout, or run down to the          full salvation - this ram caught by
where he must sacrifice him.                servants for their protection.                his horns in the thicket was a shadow

424 /Standard Bearer I July 1,lSSl


of Christ's capture in Gethsemane,           when Isaac was on that altar and             physical violence, rather than from
and of His being nailed to His cross.        ready to be sacrificed. The provision        God's holy wrath and righteous pun-
And Isaac's rescue, as God stopped           of that ram is a shadow of the truth         ishment.
Abraham from plunging his knife into         that God so loved the world that He               But even though the Antichrist
him, is a shadow of our salvation,           gave His only begotten Son to die in         will be used by Satan to seek to de-
although we deserve to have God's            our stead, and for our wonderful sal-        stroy our faith, what God did to Abra-
knife thrust into us because of our          vation.                                      hamHewilldotoalltheelect. Hewill
sins and guilt.                                   And now, since God sent His             cause them to do His bidding and not
     Here is a shadow of God's gra-          own Son to be sacrificed on His cross,       Satan's.  Abraham's offering up Isaac
cious providence. And even as Sarah          for the removal of our guilt and its         is a shadow, not only of God's offer-
knew nothing about that whole event          punishment, we shall, because He             ing up His Son for our salvation, but
- until Abraham told her after they          raised His Son and exalted Him to His        also of what He will enable us to do
returned home-so the cross of Christ         right hand, laugh spiritually no mat-        when the Antichrist rules the whole
took place before we knew anything           ter how dark the days are that lie           world and persecutes severely God's
of it, not yet evenbeingborn, and only       before us. For Satan is trying desper-       church. And eve.n  as God provided
after we were born again. A shadow           ately to take from us our trust in God,      that ram: for Abraham, He will pro-
is always caused `by a reality, and          and in that important and blessed            vide Christ in His return to bring us to
when the light shines on that object.        sacrifice of Christ in our stead.            everlasting glory. Abraham's  falith is
That sacrifice of Isaac was a shadow              As the Scriptures teach us, the         a shadow of the faith the elect will
of Christ's cross. And the light that        true church of God is going to be            have in the dark days ahead.
caused this shadow is God's grace.           assaulted by Satan, in his attempt to             Yes, we are saved by grace. In
     We may therefore, and must, be          take from us our faith. And many             His grace our God sent His Son to
thankful to our God for the New Tes-         who claim to be Christians willaccept        redeem us. And by His grace He
tamentScripturewhereinHepresents             the mark of the beast on their right         gives us that wonderful gift of stead-
to us the meaning of that shadow,            hand or forehead to be saved from            fast faith whereby, come what may,
                                                                                          we trust in Him. Q
                                             Church
                                             Membership in an
Guest Article
Rev. Steve Key                               Evil Age (2)
     In our first article,' we consid-       Christ as expressed in any given             bility which marks us as guilty in
ered the Scriptural idea and calling of      church institute. Because of the unity       Adam, according to Romans  5, for
church membership. Intricately  con;         of the church and the body of Christ         example. You and I and all men are
netted with that calling are the re-         as it comes to expression in a local         responsible before God for what
sponsibilitieswebearwithinthemem-            congregation and the denomination            Adam did in paradise. We were not
bership of our own church affiliation.       with which one affiliates, the respon-       there; we did not know anything
     The Scriptural truth of the unity       sibility of church membership is a           about it; we had no say in the matter.
of the church weighs heavily upon            corporate responsibility.                    It makes no difference. You and I are
our church membership. One of the                 Your membership in a particu-           guilty before God for Adam's sin.
truths most overlooked or denied in          lar congregation, and your member-                It was because of their corporate
connection with church membership            ship in a particular denomination,           responsibility that the whole nation
is the inescapable corporate responsi-       marks you as responsible for the doc-        of Israel stood guilty before God for
biZity  that stands inseparably con;         trines taught and for that which goes        the sin of Achan, as we read in Joshua
netted with the unity of the body of         on where you have your member-               7. So long as that sin remained in the
                                             ship. That is a serious matter for all of    nation, they could not expect the fa-
                                             us. But that truth of corporate re-          vor and love and mercy of God. And
                                             sponsibility is clearly taught in Scrip-     what was true in the Old Testarnent
                                             ture. It is a truth rooted in God's          manifestation of God's church is true
Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestqnt  Re-    creation of Adam as the head of the          today.
formed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin.        human race. It is corporate responsi-             When sin manifests itself in the

                                                                                                    July 1,1991/ Standard Bearer I425


church, it is not for us to look down              We do well to consider in this          ance, unless we do so from our knees
our noses in self-righteousness. It is a      connection the prayer of Daniel, re-         before Him in true repentance and in
time of grief and sorrow and confes-          corded in Daniel 9:13-19. The entire         faith. All our desire must be for God's
sion of sin. The anger of the Lord            prayer is a moving, humbling confes-         gloryandthehonorofHisholyname.
comes not only upon the heretics and          sion of guilt, coming from the lips of       That is why we pray not, "Have mercy
those who walkungodly, but it comes           an Israelite in whom there was no            upon us in the misery of our ede,"
upon the whole church so long as that         guile. The beautiful thing about this        but, "Have mercy upon us, 01 my
sin is not dealt with. And God Him-           prayer of Daniel is that the issue be-       God, in the misery of our guilt."
self says in the second commandment           fore his mind was entirely the name of
of Exodus 20, "I will visit the iniquity      Jehovah and the cause of God.                      . . . one of the reasons
of the fathers upon the children unto              Thereisagreatdealwecanlearn                    God has sent unrest
the third and fourth generation of            from this prayer of Daniel. But the             in the church in our time
them that hate me." That is corporate         element of this prayer that I find most
responsibility.                               amazing is this: The holy servant of                    is to drive us
     There is today a growing in-             God - Daniel, who said "no" to Sa-              to fervency in our  prayeiYS
dependentism or congregationalism             tan in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar,                   for His glo y...
and individualism which historically          who went to the lions' den rather than
has been anathema to Reformed                 cease fellowship with his God-this                I am convinced that one of
churches and which is in direct con-          righteous man includes  himself  with        reasons God has sent unrest in the
flict with the Scriptural truth con-          the wicked and rebellious children of        church in our time is to drive us to
cerning the church and her unity, as          Israel!                                      fervency in our prayers for His glory,
well as with this truth concerning our            The church institute, which is           instead of for our own safety. We
corporate responsibility. That has            what Israel was, was corrupt to its          need tobe brought to a God-consdous-
come to expression in various ways.           core. The remnant according to the           ness once again. And when we are
     There are many, e.g., who take           election of grace was very small, as it      God-conscious, then we also confess
the position, U the pulpit in mycongre-       is at any given time in history. And         our sins before Him, laying hold of
gation holds to the truth; my congre-         when you consider the setting,               the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
gation does not go along with this            Daniel's prayer is almost incompre-          we strive to walk according to His
departure and that error; my congre-          hensible, especially in this day of indi-    will and according to His Word..
gation submits to the truth of                vidualism and the denial of corporate             The Lord saved us. The Lord
Scripture's infallibility and authority.      responsibility and corporate guilt.          instituted us a church to represent
Therefore, so long as the congrega-           Sometimes when there is sin in the           Him in the midst of this world. And
tionis pure where Ihave mymember-             church, we like to sit back and take a       in verse 19, when we pray with God's
ship, let the denomination go to hell."       wait-and-see attitude. When Daniel           servant, we pray, "thy city and thy
That is blunt; but that is the attitude of    lays before God the guilt of Israel, he      people are called by thy name." That
many.                                         includes  himself  as a member of that       means that when the church is cor-
     There are others, whom I com-            wicked generation of unbelieving Is-         rupt and in captivity and in confu-
mend for their concern for the depar-         raelites who need to have their guilt        sion, the name of Jehovah God will
tures of their denominations, but who         and sin taken away.                          not be properly honored, until His
also turn their backs on the Scriptural             What more evidence do we need          church is restored.
teaching of corporate responsibility.         of the truth of corporate responsibil-            We are His possession. His repu-
There is a growing movement within            ity and corporate guilt than this in-        tation is at stake, and has been dis-
various apostatizingchurches to have          spired prayer of this servant of God?        honored by us. The true church is the
a sort of church-within-a-church, an          And should we dare to deny this              only body on earth that confesses its
alliance or fellowship of some sort           truth or neglect to apply it in our          sin. Will you do that with her? Where
which supposedly will absolve its             given situations? God forbid! Let us         the confession of sin dies out, the
members of the sins of the denomina-          not sit in the fellowship of wicked-         church is no longer a church of Jesus
tion. By such an organization within          ness and point the finger at the guilty      Christ. When we are given once again
the church, there is the feeling that         ones around us. If we are to join with       to see the importance of His name and
something positive is being done in           this prayer of Daniel, we must be            His glory, when we are led to repen-
opposition to the forces of evil and          willing to humble ourselves before God       tance by the powerful Word of Christ,
heresy - tbough in a way political            and to see ourselves as guilty before        and pray this prayer out of true rever-
and outside the bounds of Scripture           Him and to confess our sins.                 ence for the name of our God, then He
-and there is a separation that makes               And then the Lord would teach          will hear and forgive.
one free from any responsibility for          ussomethinghere. Ourgreatestneed                  But it follows from this truth of
the sins of the congregation or de-           is not external, but internal. We dare       corporate responsibility that we may
nomination.                                   not ask for God's mercy and deliver-         not remain in a church that has de-

426 /Standard Bearer / July 1,199l


parted from the truth of God's Holy          "Come out from among them and be             ration now from the body where you
Word. It is the truth of corporate           ye separate." We must not continue           have your church membership. That
responsibility and corporate guilt           in conflict with the holiness of God.        is a move that is extremely difficult. I
which lies at the basis of the call,         For some of you that may mean sepa-          know.  I2

When Thou
Siffesf  ln  Thine  Responsibilities
House
Rev. Kennefh Koole                           Toward Children (4)

     We are considering factors that         even self-destructive behavior               behaviorandattitudes of today's chil-
are tearing at the fabric of the family      amongst the youthis on theupswing,           dren and youth one is inclined to say,
in our 20th century society, factors         staggeringly  so. (Cf. June 1, 1990          "Before we begin discussing this cru-
which have intruded into the home,           article.) And so the experts are con-        cial issue, would you please turn off
breaking down the fellowship, and            sulted for their analysis and solu-          your television . . . . I SAID WOULD
have contributed to behavior by              tions.                                       YOUl?LEASETURNOFFYOURTV!
today's youth that shouts so loudly of               The trouble with these "experts,"    Thank-you.         NOW KEEP THE
resentment and rage (bordering on            however, is that they are the same           BLASTEDTHINGOFFAFEWMORE
violence) that even ungodly, self-cen-       ones who stated that the absolute            HOURS PERDAY  AND SEE WHAT
tered society can no longer pretend          standards of Christian morality              HAPPENS." I said one is inclined to
that there is no need to worry, that we      (God's law) are what have impeded            say that, except I suppose one should
are just passing through a phase.            human progress and ought to have             not say "blasted" in print in a church
     Last time we considered what            been cast onto the rubbish heap long         periodical. (Maybe "silly" would be
we listed as the third factor, namely,       ago.                                         more tasteful?)
theilleffects of mothersworkingmore                  But today even the not-so-re-              Still,thereisaproblemwithsuch
and more outside the home, leaving           flective are troubled, especially if they    advice, namely, that too few are in-
children'and youth unattended. At            are parents. When it is your own             clined to listen. They are too busy
that time we mentioned a fourth fac-         child who openly resents you and             watching TV. They are addicted,
tor, the influence of television in our      rebels against you, and even publicly        hooked, unable to live without it for
homes. This last influence remains to        embarrasses you through outrageous           any extended period of time. It is like
be addressed. I might add, it also ties      behavior, you can not help but take          talking to the proverbial wall. They
in with the matter of mothers not            note. Thenparentsaskwithallappar-            tune you out. This in turn means that
being home when their children come          ent surprise, "Why are our children          youcouldtumoffyourTVfortherest
home. The child comes home. No               so estranged from us? Where did we           of your children's born-days, and yet
adult is there. The child wants some-        go wrong? What did we do to de-              what impact would that make on so-
one to talk to or to talk to him. What       serve alI this? What can we'do to            ciety? Obviously, not much. In fact,
is more natural than to sit down, turn       undo all this and be close to our chil-      really none at all. For the vast major-
on the TV, and have it provide him           dren, as real friends, and save our-         ity its evil influence would continue
with companionship? But what kind            selves this grief?"                          unabated. Nothing in society would
of companionship? And who super-                     The trouble for many, however,       change, so what is the benefit?
vises what he watches all the while?         is that for all their apparent sincerity           But still, consider this, that turn-
     The thoughtful observers of the         they do not want the real answer. The        ing the thing off and placing severe
behavior of today's youth are wor-           answer they expect you to give them          restrictions on its use might have a
ried, many deeply so. They are wor-          is to assure them that they did not          salutary effect on the behavior and
ried because statistics do not lie, and ,    reallygowrongat anypoint,andthey             attitudes of one's own children. And
statistics tell them that violent and        ought not really blame themselves            then, after all, it would be worth it,
                                             very much at all. After all, nothing is      would it not? For this, surely, is our
                                             more out of vogue today than per-            primary concern anyway, is it not?
                                             sonal accountability (that is, fault).             The danger that television (to
                                             Answers that suggest otherwisemeet           say nothing of movies and videos)
Rev. Kook is pastor of Faith Protestant      with a rather cool reception.                poses to our covenant homes couldbe
Reformed Church in  Jenison,  Michigan.                In answering the concern about     organized under three headings,
                                                                                                  July 1,1991 I Standard Bearer I 427


namely, its persuasiveness, its perva-        Here even worldly men are  begin-             entitled "Violence Goes Mainstream:
siveness, and its perverseness. Take          ning'o  express concern (though with          Movies, Music, Books - Are There
something as perverse and persua-             little discernible effect on program-         Any ,Limits Left?" reported the fol-
sive as television can be, and place it       ing). The rot is beyond belief. The           lowing:
smack-dab in the most convenient              language is increasingly vulgar, pro-          By the age of 18, the average Ameri-
place in your home (which usually             fane, and insolent. It is raw. The              can child will have seen 200,000 vio-
goes by the name "family  room"),             subject matter apparently must be              lent acts on television, including
and then place few restrictions upon          lewd and suggestive in order to at-             40,000 murders . . . . University of
it, and, well, it takes no expert to tell     tract an audience. On top of that,              Illinois psychologists Leonard Eron
                                                                                              and L. Rowell Huesmann studied
you that you have something that              more andmore  of what is displayedis            one set of children for more than 20
spells TROUBLE in capital letters.            violence, and violence displayed in             years. They found that kids who
     It is with TV's perverseness that        the most gruesome and "realistic"               watched significant amounts of TV
we are especially concerned, but              way. It is especially the latter that           violence at the age of 8 were consis-
something must also be said about             bears some serious consideration.               tently more likely to commit viollent
the other two.                                     Recently I was tuned in to an              crimes or engage in child or spouse
     The persuasive power of televi-          interview (on a secular station) deal-          abuse at 30. "We believe . . . tlhat
sion lies (pun unintended, but un-            ingwith the subject of violence on the          heavy exposure to televised violence
avoidable) exactly in the kind of me-         movie (and TV) screen and its pos-              is one of the causes of aggressive
                                                                                              behavior, crime and violence in soci-
dium it is, that is, it is completely         sible effect on the viewers, and on the       ety," they wrote in 1984. "Television
absorbing. It cormmunicates  simulta-         youth in particular. The interviewer            violence affects youngsters of all ages
neously through the two main senses           began to list therecentbox-office hits.         . . . . It cannot be denied or explained
used for gathering information and            One after the other they had to do              away."
feeding the mind, namely, the eyes            with blood and gore and bullets and                  Seven years later, Huesmann re-
and the ears. In other words;:when  it        i.mayhem,  each trying to outdo the             mains convinced: "Serious aggres-
is on, it dominates. That is. what its        ,other in explosions and violent death,         sion never occurs unless  there is a
promoters intend. Therein lies its            many of which had "heroes" acting in            convergence of large numbers of
effectiveness. And when you add,              cold rage                                       causes," he says, "but one of the very
                                                            as  they took law into their
music to its audio/visual message             own hands.                                      important factors we haveidentified
                                                                                            "is exposure to media violence . .." If
you have something that is nothing                 The one interviewed, a man who             we don`t do something, we are con-
short of mesmerizing.                         had been activein film production for           tributing to a society that will be
     Not only is television persua-           some decades, was asked to assess               more and more violent.
sive, it is also pervasive; or perhaps we     what was taking place. He responded                  Here are some experts who had
should say it is so persuasive exactly        that he did not like it, not at all. These    something of value to say (back in
because it is so pervasive. By perva-         "heroes" were conveying a message.            1984). Now ask yourself, has society
sive we refer not o'nly to the number         And the message was this, "I am               paid any attention? Is that whait the
of homes that own-this device (and            armed and dangerous! And I have               TV screen and movie page tell you?
the home without it is rare indeed),          the right to be! Back off or I'll blow        Savage action rules. And have these
but we refer to the time spent in front       you away!" The message the youth              predictions concerningviolence in the
of it, the hours spent watching it. This      were picking up was quite apparent,           streets come true or not?
is especially true of children, as statis-    namely, this is the way to live; it is the           But more than that, are WE pay-
tics show. Surveys indicate that the          only way to survive; it is the only way       ing heed? When even the world be-
average 2-11 year-old watches TV 25           to gain others' respect. This attitude        gins to question something's evil im-
hours a week. One recent advertise-           so muchin evidence in the streets was         pact, isit not high time we take inven-
ment in a national magazine states            being encouraged on the screen. He            tp$
that American third graders spend an          called it a horrible tragedy.                        Words, images, music. What
average of 900 hours per year in class             But there is a greater tragedy, is       three things can move a man and
in school, and 1170 hours watching            there not, namely, that covenant youth        influence him as effectively? Subject
television! Rather alarming. One can          are permitted to imbibe the same ag-          a cliild (or an adult) to all three at the
only hope that such statistics do not         gressive evil, and that within our own        same time, as television does, and
represent children from our own               God-fearing homes no less. Or are             whocanlongresist? Usedbyexperts,
homes; but there are times when one           our young people regularly found in           its persuasive impact is incalculable,
begins to wonder.                             the theater enjoying the same mes-                   But besides that, it intrudes into
     But even more troubling than             sage?                                         the family. How can members of the
the time devoted to TV watching is                 Perhaps the warning is most ef-          family be communicating when eyes
what is being watched, what is being          fective if we hear it from the mouth of       and ears are filled with sights and
shown, what is being heard, and what          the world itself.  Newsweek  maga-            sounds of the television? It is impos-
this all does to families and youth.          zine, in its cover story, April 1,1991,       sible. The television views you. as a
426 /Standard Bearer / July 1,199l


 competitor for your children's atten-         ultimate power, that is, if we choose            sure in how these uncircumcised of
 tion. It is doing all in its power to         toexerciseit. Wecanturnitoff. Think              heart and mind talk and openly de-
 captivate their attention completely.         aboutit.  Isittuningusout? Onlywith              spise God's law?
 The sponsors demand nothing less.             our permission!                                       Second, remember what must
 It, when it is filling our homes with its           In conclusion, two things: first,          rule the home, namely, God's own
 "sound and fury . . . . I has us at a dis-    c o n s i d e r   M o s e s ' w o r d s   i n    love. Andlove means givingatfention
tinct disadvantage. It is quite effec-         Deuteronomy 6, "When thou sittest                to those whom we love. Today's
 tive in breaking the fellowship and           in thine house . . . . II Sit doing what?        youth are crying for attention,, ap-
 life of the home. Its very purpose is to      Watching TV hour after hour? Some-               proval, and direction - our own in-
 tune everything and everyone else             how I do not think this is what Moses            cluded. That which intrudes into this
 out.                                          had in mind. That is to let the Philis-          fellowship ought to be driven from
         However, in this connection,          tines loose in our family room. And              our inheritance. What is our inherit-
 remember, we as parents do hold the           should we let our children find plea-            anceif not the seed of the covenant? Q


                                                                          The Book of Ruth

                                               CC  Chaste  Lesson  '"

 Search the                                    Conversation
 Scriptures                                    Coupled with Fear'"
 Rev: Carl Haak                                                                      Ruth 3:6-l 8


         Ruth, under Naomi's tutelage,               Two truths shine forth in this             the climax of the harvest and was one
 has decided to bring to Boaz her re-          part of the narrative. First, the chaste         of the most joyful seasons in the year.
 quest that he do the part of akinsman,        conversation of Ruth. Her approach               As another year's supply of food was
 believingBoaztobethefirstinlinefor            to Boaz (and thus her approach to the            secured, the believing Israelite real-
 this duty. It was of vital importance         whole matter of marriage and chil-               ized that all they had they had re-
 to them that the inheritance of their         dren) is one of deep consideration for           ceived from the hand of the Lord. It
 husbands not be blotted out in Israel.        Boaz, of modesty, of chastity, and yet           was a gift of His grace and the assur-
In spite of Boaz's great kindness, he          of forthrightness. Ruth is the living            ance of His covenant. Psalms and
 had not taken the initiative; and so          example of the character of the godly            hymns were sung as they labored
 they decide to press the matter them-         woman described in I Peter 3:2-5. Her            together in the last stage of the har-
 selves. They do so, however, in the           actions and request, namely that Boaz            vest, winnowing, the separation of
 mostreservedandunpretentiousway               would lookupon her in her need and               the chaff from the grain. Numerous
 possible. Ruth is walking the way of          provide that which only a kinsman                feasts of thanksgiving were held with
 godly discretion. She does not wish           could, are expressed in as gentle and            prayers of gratitude to God.
 that Boaz be put in a bad light as if he      discreet a way as possible. Second,                   Also, do not fail to note that
 hadneglectedhisobligationasakins-             Ruth's chaste conversation is coupled            Ruth for `the first time laid aside her
 man; nor does she wish to reprove             with fear. There is the need to "sit             widow's garments and dressed her-
 him. But her actions are intended to          still," that is, wait upon the Lord in           self in the customary clothing of a
 remind him tactfully of the law of the        those matters most dear to her heart.            young woman in Israel. This in itself
 redeemer, as well as to express her           For, Naomi and Ruth are mistaken,                was a public declaration of her inten-
 own desire to be his wife.                    there is a nearer kinsman. Thus their            tions to seek another husband.
                                               request cannot be answered at that                    Boaz's reaction and words re-
                                               moment and they must wait to see                 flect the fact that he had given much
                                               what the Lord will do.                           thought to the whole situation. Boaz
 Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant               In understanding this passage,             loved Ruth, and he had wanted for a
 Reformed Church of Lynden, Washing-           we should note the importance of the             long time to do the duty of a kinsman
 ton.                                          threshing of grain in Israel. It marked          to her. But there were other consider-

                                                                                                       July 1,199l I Standard Bearer I429


at-ions under the law which he could        sight of God of great price. For after       mean that his being older than she did
not ignore. There was yet living in         this manner in the old time the holy         not bother her (by the way, what was
Bethlehem a closer relative to Ruth         women also, who trusted in God,              the age difference between them?), or
than he. Boaz knew exactly what had         adorned themselves, being in subjec-         does he mean that as a widow Ruth
to be done, and Ruth's initiative in        tion unto their own husbands."               had not been out looking for young
which she reflected her feelings are                    Points to Ponder:                men to marry but rather took c'are of
his signal to proceed. He promises to       1.    Describe the scene that evening        Naomi?
contact the nearer kinsman and re-          at Boaz's threshingfloor. What was                 In his vow to "do the part of a
deem Ruth if he would not. Their            being done? Why at night? Who were           kinsman to thee," was Boaz promis-
parting is done before the rising of the    present?                                     ing to marry Ruth if the nearer kins-
sun, for Boaz is jealous that none                What was the significance of the       man would not?
suppose he would take Ruth to wife          eating and drinking, and of ti his heart     4.    Why did Ruth tarry the night?
without the consideration of the closer     was merry"?                                  Why did she leave secretly?
kinsman.                                    2.    Was it proper for Ruth to go to        5.    "Who art thou my daughter?"
     Patiently, Ruth explains to            Boaz secretly and lie down there?            Naomi asks. (Matthew Henry adds,
Naomi all that has happened and                   Why did she uncover his feet?          "art thou a bride or no?") What does
presents the gift of barley which Boaz      Did this action have special meaning?        this question mean?
had given her. Now they must sit still      If so, what?                                 6.    What does Naomi mean when
that day, committing their hearts'                In verse 9, is Ruth asking Boaz to     she tells Ruth to "sit still"?
desire to a faithful Jehovah.               marry her?                                         Apply this to our own lives of
                                            3.    Boaz's reaction (vss. 9-13)            patient waiting for God to make
Memory Work - I Peter 3:2-5                       WhydidBoazblessRuth?  (What            known His will. How do we "sit
      "While they behold your chaste        thoughts were going through his              still"? What temptations are present
conversation coupled with fear.             mind?)                                       when we are at such a point?
Whose adorning let it not be that                 In verse 10, when he commends          7.    What more do we learn (about
outward adorning of plaiting the hair,      Ruth for showing "more kindness in           the character of Ruth and Boaz in this
and of wearing of gold, or of putting       the latter end, than at the beginning,"      chapter? List qualities and cite ex-
on of apparel; But let it be the hidden     what does he mean?                           amples.
man of the heart, in that which is not            When he says that Ruth "fol-           8.    How are you doing on your
corruptible, even the ornament of a         lowedst not young men," does he              memory work?!! Q
meek and quiet spirit, which is in the


                                            Report from Classis East

                       May 8 & 21,1991      Woudenberg regarding placing this            paniment  adiuphora,  the decisions of
      Classis East met in regular ses-      matter in adiuphora), and 2) appeals         the January, 1991 classis must stand
sionon Wednesday, May8,1991  with           from two brothers regarding the re-          and that the principles stated by Rev.
a continued session onTuesday, May          fusal of their consistory to transfer        Woudenberg do not apply to the gov-
2&t, at the First Protestant Reformed       their papers to another of our congre-       ernmental life of the church where
Church of Holland, Michigan. These          gations.                                     decisions are made by majority rule
sessions were chaired by Rev. Barry               Classis decided (decisions sum-        in harmony with Scripture and the
Gritters.                                   marized) in the Norristown matter            confessions.
      Classis' attention was called to      (1) to reaffirm its decision taken in the          With regard to the appeals ofthe
two major items: 1) the response of         January, 1991 classis that Norristown        two brothers of their consistory's de-
Norristown to the January classis'          must inform the classis of its position      cision not to transfer their member-
request for information on the use of       re musical accompaniment, (2) to             ship papers, classis decided thie fol-
musical accompaniment  - whether            admonishNorristown  withregard to            lowing (decisions summarizeci): 1)
it was a matter of principle or prefer-     the language used in their letter to the     Their consistory erred in not dealing
ence! their response to language used       January, 1991 classis, and (3) not to        with these brothers as weaker breth-
in their protest to the January classis,    accede to their request to use the           ren who for conscience sake ought to
and their request for classis to make       PsaIter  extract. With regard to Rev.        be able to worship in a congregation
provision for them to use theirPsalter      Woudenberg's protest classis decided         not displaying alarge cross. This part
extract (along with this Norristown         that since Norristown refuses to de-         of the decision had three grounds: a)
matter was a protest from Rev. B.           clare the matter of musical accom-           These brothers are to be considered
430 /Standard Bearer / July 1,199l


as weaker brethren as Romans 141-5           to be weaker brothers and allowing         - Bruinsma (PM), August  :25  -
teaches; b) The church is to bear with       them to live their conscience in the       Kortering (PM), September 1  -
the weakerbrother and his conscience         churches gives them the right to in-       Gritters (PM), September 8  -
if at all possible; c) The situation with    struct their children re the conviction    Flikkema (PM), September 15  -
these brothers is that our churches          of their conscience. b) Thesebrothers      Joostens (PM), September 22  -
can and ought to bear with their con-        indicate that they will not militate       Woudenberg (PM), September 29  -
science. 2) Their consistory erred in        against the decision of the 1990 Synod     Slopsema; LARNE: June  2,9,16   -
interpreting Article 31 of the Church        when teaching their children. c) The       Joostens, June 30, July 7,14,21-  K.
Order to require that they be totally        above statements contradict the            Hanlco! August 11,18,25-VanBaren,
silent in their convictions on the cross     consistory's contention that these         September 8, 15, 22  - Kamps;
issue. The grounds for this part of the      brothers will teach their children that    VENICE: June 16, 23 - Flikkema,
decision: a) While Article 31 requires       the 1990 Synod's decisionisunbiblical.     June 30, July 7 - Woudenberg July
that members do not militate against         4) The appeals of these brothers were      21,18 - Bruinsma, August II,18 -
ecclesiastical decisions, i.e., may not      upheld and their consistory advised        DeVries,  August 25, September l-
agitate, make propaganda against,            to transfer their membership papers.       Koole, September 22,29 -Kortering.
speak disparagingly about, the                    Classisreceivedrequestsforclas-            Classis alsobade  farewell to Rev.
consistory went well beyond Article          sical appointments to Southeast,           Steven Key upon his move to
31 when insisting on total silence; b)       Lame, Northern Ireland, and Venice,        Randolph, Wisconsin and  Classis
Total silence would preclude instruc-        Florida. The following schedule was        West.
tion and the response to legitimate          adopted: SOUTHEAST: June 2 -                    The expenses of these meetings
inquires of a consistory. 3) Their           Bruinsma (PM), June 16 - Kortering         amounted to $4443.65.  Classis will
consistory erred in its insistence that      (PM), June 23 - Slopsema (PM), June        meetnextatFirstChurch,  GrandRap-
these brothers not teach their chil-         30 - Gritters, July 7- Joostens (PM),      ids on September 11,199l.
dren re their position on the cross          July 14 - VanBaren  (PM), July 21-                        Respectfully submitted,
issue. The grounds for this part of the      Koole (PM), July 28 - Woudenberg,                                    Jon J. Huisken
decision: a) Allowing these brothers         August 4 - Kamps (PM), August 11                                        Stated Clerk


Mr. Benjamin Wigger                          News From Our Churches

        Congregational Highlights            ing" his40thbirthday. The congrega-        Immanuel  PRC in Lacombe, Alberta
        On May 16, Rev. and Mrs. B.          tion got together and managed to           held their Good Friday services in a
Gritters were blessed with the addi-         surprise the Kooles when they re-          new Seventh Day Adventist Church.
tion of a baby girl to their family. Lisa    turned from a family picnic. After the     Their consistory was considering this
Jean becomes the first girl born to the      initial surprise, the congregation         building for regular use in the future.
Gritters after five boys,                    moved to the church where they en-         However, the SDA Church decided
        During their church renovation,      joyed an evening of fellowship to-         to decline Immanuel's request to rent
the congregation of Hope PRC in              gether.                                    their building. Consequently,, the
Walker, MI has arranged to time-                  Pastor Key and his family bid         consistory is investigating parcels of
share the auditorium of the South-           farewell to the congregation of the        land as possible sites for building
west PRC. A typical Sunday begins            Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, MI          their own church.
with Southwest meeting at  9:30 AM,          after the evening service on Sunday,            Church services are cancelled
followed by Hope's congregation at 1         May 26. There was a short song             for several different reasons, the rmost
PM, followed by Southwest at 5:00            service followed by a light luncheon       common being the weather. Well, it
PM, and Hope again at 7~30 PM.               and fellowship. Then on Friday, May        seems that the congregation of our
        On the Friday before Memorial        31, Rev. Key was installed as              Pella PRC in Pella, IA was forced to
Day, about one hundred members of            Randolph's tenth pastor. Rev. R.           reschedule their Ascension Day wor-
the Faith PRC in Jenison, MI met in          VanOverloop  conducted the installa-       ship service to a week later. Ascen-
their parsonage garage to throw a            tion service, preaching from               sionDay this year came during Pella's
surprise birthday party for their pas-       Philippians  2:29. Afterwards there        Tulip Time, and a parade was plarmed
tor, Rev. Koole, who was "celebrat-          was a time of fellowship in the church     for the night of the 9th, and the Pella
                                             basement. And on June 5 the congre-        PRCis right on the parade route. Rev.
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protesfant     gation held a welcome program for          Bekkering did not want to compete
Reformed Church of Hudsonville,  Michi-      the Key family.                            with a parade. No doubt that would
gan.                                              The congregation of the               have been distracting.
                                                                                                 July 1,199i I Standard Bearer I431


 SiiiiDMD
   Bww3                                                                                                                            SECONDCLASS
                                                                                                                                   Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                                   Grand Rapids, Michigan
   P. 0. Box 6064
   Grand Rapids, MI 49516


           Mission Activities                          from Southeast PRC in Grand Rap-                          call from the Kalamazoo, MI PRC to
     Rev. Woudenberg and his wife                      ids, MI. Since that decline Southeast                     serve as missionary pastor to Venice,
recently returned home after spend-                    has extended another call, this one to                    FL.
ing six months in Tasmania working                     Rev. J. Kortering,  who was part of a                            First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI
with the Evangelical Presbyteriari                     trio including also the Revs. Gritters                    formed a new trio for missionary to
Churches, on behalf of our churches.                   and VanOverloop.                                          Jamaica. This trio consisted of the
In late May, Rev. Woudenberg                                    Rev. D. Kuiper declined the call                 Revs. R. Dykstra, B. Gritters, and R.
showed some of his picturesand spent                   toserveasmissionarytoLarne,North-                         VanOverloop.
some time explaining some of the                       em Ireland. The calling church for                               And, finally, the Hope PRC in
experiences he and his wife had the                    that mission field, the Hudsonville,                      Isabel, SD also forrned a new trio
past winter in Tasmania. This pro-                     MI PRC, has since formed a new trio                       consisting of the Revs. R. Cammenga,
gram was held in the Woudentierg's                     of Pastors R. Cammenga, C. Haak,                          R. Flikkema, and R. Hanko. The con-
home church in Kalamazoo, MI.                          and B. Gritters. The congregation                         gregation of Hope was to call on Sun-
            Ministerial Calls                          was to call on June 16.                                   day, June 16 for one of these men to be
      Rev. R. Dykstra declined the call                         Rev. T. Miersma declined the                     their pastor. c]I

              IN MEMORIAM                                                OBITUARY                                       RESOLUTION OF  SYMPATHV
      On April 26,1991, our beloved wife,                      March 14,1904  - May 6,199l                              The Men's Society of the Protestant
mother, grandmother, and great-grand-                           "As for me, I will behold thy face in            Reformed Church of  Doon, IA, wishes to
mother,                                                righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when                 express its sincere sympathy to a fellow
           HELEN D. ENGELSMA                           I awake, with thylikeness"(Psalm  17:15).                 member, Mr. John Wynia and his family,
was taken to her heavenly home at the                           The Lord took to Himself                         in the death of his father,
age of 78 years.                                                     ELTJE MEELKER                                         MR. HENRY W. WYNIA.
      Through our sorrow we rejoice,                   dear Father of                                            May the Word found in John 16:22 bring
knowing that our loved one is now safe in                       Anna and Al Visser                               comfort to the family, "And ye nqw t;here-
the care of her heavenly Father and re-                         Cobe and Dan Fluke                               fore have sorrow: but I will see you again
joices with the saints in glory.                                Alice and Shirley Jenkins                        and your heart shall rejoice, and yolur joy
      "For we know that if our earthly                          Grace Meelker                                    no man taketh from you."
house of this tabernacle were dissolved,                        Ella and Jim Johnson                                         Chester Hunter, Jr., President
we have a building of God; an house not                          Three grandchildren                                             Henry Miersma, Secretary
made with hands, eternal in the heavens"                         Three great-grandchildren
(II Corinthians 5:l).                                                                     Redlands, Wiimi.9
  Ted Engelsma
  Betty and Ron Selvius                                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  Ron and  Dena Engelsma                                        OnJune29,199l,the3Othwedding
  Charles Engelsma                                     anniversary of our parents and grandpar-                     NOTIFICATION OF CANDIDACY
  Marie and Al DeYoung                                 ents                                                             All Protestant Reformed
  Joyce and Phil Kraima                                 MR. and MRS. DONALD F. HAUCK                               consistories are hereby informed that
      14 grandchildren                                 was celebrated. As children and grand-                      the 1991 Synod of the Protestant
      10 great-grandchildren                           children we rejoice with them and are                       Reformed Churches in America has
               Southwest Protestant Reformed Church    thankful to our heavenly Father for the                     declared Mr. Mitchell C. Dick a can-
                                                       love and instruction we have received                       didate for the gospel ministry in the
              IN MEMORIAM                              from them. May the Lord continue to                         Protestant Reformed Churches. Can-
      The Board of Protestant Reformed                 bless them and keep them in His care in                     didate Dick will be eligible for a call on
Special Education wishes to express our                the years ahead.                                            or after July 13,199l.
sympathyinthedeathofourfirstteacher,                            `Thy faithfulFess  is unto all genera-                   Mr. Dick's address is:
             JESS DYKSTRA.                             tions: Thou  hast. established the earth                                 3265 Vine St.
She truly gave of herself to the cause of              and it abideth" (Psalm 119:90).                                      Grandville, Ml 49418
the education of our special children.                   Mike and Grace Lotterman                                          Phone: (616) 531-3244
      "Bear ye one another's burdens."                          Laurel and Don                                                   Rev. Meindert Joostens
           Peter VanDerSchaaf,  President                Don and Betty Hauck                                                                    Stated Clerk
               Deane Wassink,  Secretary                 Jim, Karen, and Sharon'Hauck
                                                                         Southeast Protestant Reformed Church
432  /Standard Bearer I July 1,199l


