                   T,HE
              STANDARD
A Reformed         BBER
Semi-Month/y
Magazine





Vol. 67, No. 19
August  1,199l


CONTENTS:

Meditation -- Rev. James D. Slopsema
       Blessing God and Cursing His Children ..................................... 435
Editorial -- Pro f David J. Engelsma
       An "Election Theology" of Covenant (5) ..................................... 437                                ISSN 0362-4692
Letters .............................................................    . .................................... 439
Guest Article -- Rev. Sfeven R. Key                                                                                    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
                                                                                                                       Publlahed by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
       Church Membership in an Evil Age (3) ........................................ 440                               Second Class Postage Paid at Qrand Rapkls, Mkhlgan.
In His Fear -- Rev. Arie denHartog                                                                                     Poatmartrr:  Send address changes to the Standard ISearer,
       The Importance of a Doctrinal Christianity (2) ..................... ....... 441                                P.O. Box K164, Grand Rapids, MI 4!3516.
Guest Article -- Rev. Rodney G. Miersma                                                                                EDITORIAL COMMllTSE
       Fishermen Fishers of Men ............................................................                           Edith: Prof. David J. Engelsma
                                                                                                                       secretary: Prof. Robeft D. Decker
Church and State -- Mr. James Lanting                                                                                  Managlng Editor: Mr. Don CIoezema
       Home Schoolers Appeal Certification Requirement                                                                 DEPARTMENT EDITORB
       to Michigan Supreme Court .........................................................                             Rev.  Ronakl Camrnenga, Prof. Fiobert Decker, Rev. Ark
Taking Heed to the Doctrine -- Rev. Charles J. Tefpstra                                                                denHartog, Rev. Ru88ell  D@tra, Rev. Sarry Qrlttera,  Rev.
                                                                                                                       Cd Haak, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John Hey& Rev. Marvin
       The Preciousness of Knowing God ............................................. 447                               Kamps, Rev. Kenneth Kook Rev. Jason Korterlng, Rav. Dale
The Strength of Youth -- Rev. Barrett L. Gritters                                                                      Kulper, Mr. James Lantlng, Rev. George Lubber%  Mrs.
                                                                                                                       MaryBeth Lubbere, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev. Charles
       The End Times (12): The Return of Christ .................................. 449                                 Terpstra, Rev. QlseVanBaren,  Rev. RonaldVanOverlcop.  Mr.
Search the Scriptures -- Rev. Carl J. Haak                                                                             Benjamin Wigger,  Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.
       The Book of Ruth, Lesson V: My Redeemer .............................. 452                                      EDtTORlALOFFtCE            CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
                                                                                                                                                  Mr. Ben Wlgger
Book Reviews .........................................................................................       453       iiizG%%  Bearer            6527 40th Ave.
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News From Our Churches .. Mr. Benjamin Wigger.. ................................ 455                                   BUSINESS OFFICE            NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
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to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord."                                             Every editor Is 8ok& r+apondbki  for the content8 of Ills own
       Perhaps those words of J.I. Packer help to explain why The Standard                                             artides.  Con~sofOenerallntersatfromwrresdarsand
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       But what is fluff? The ideais certainly not that every article, if it is to be                                  communlcatlons~lathretothecontenlsshouldbesenttothe
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more "practical" nature need ever come from the pens of  SZ3 department editors                                        REPRIWT  POUCY
- for, after all, a man has only to have his theology straight, to be enabled to                                       Permbdonbherebygrantedforthereprlntlngofartlcle,sInour
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rise above life's difficulties.                                                                                        articles era reproduc8d In full; b) that proper acknowledgment
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       No, the SB must address the issues of life. But how? In his eminently                                           appeEmbseilttoolJredltorialoffkx.
practical Meditation on the use of the tongue, Rev. Slopsema admonishes his                                            SUBSCRIPTIONPOLICY
readers in this issue to "consider who God is!" In his editorial, Prof. Engelsma                                       Subacdptkm price: $12.00 per year In ttw U.S., $15.00
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                                                                                                                       early aa podbk In order to avoki the InconvenIence Of
faithful, in itself avails absolutely nothing." In his studies in Ruth, Rev. Haak                                      ktenupted dellvery. Include your Zip or P&al Code.
stresses the "underlying truth" of redemption - as that served in the Old                                              ADVENlStNQ  POLICY
Testament as a shadow of Chrisf and His work As he continues his series on                                             The StandardSmrerdoes not acceptccmmerclal  ad~stislng
the end times, Rev. Gritters warns against the danger of thinking of the end in                                        of any klnd. Announcements of church anfl school @vents,           .
                                                                                                                       annhreraarles,  &ituarlen, and sympathy resolutions will  be
terms of "what will happen to US," rather than focusing "our attention on the                                          placedfora$3.00fee.   Thew8houldbe6enttotheSuelness
Lord." And, conversely, in an article designed to deal with doctrine, Rev.                                             OffkeandahouMbea ccompankdbytheS3.OOfee.   Deadllne
                                                                                                                       for announcements  Is at leant one month prior to publlcatlon
denHartog  stresses that "true ,Christian Ziving is based on the true doctrine of                                      date.
Christ."                               ;                                                                               BOUND VOLUMES
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                                                  Blessing God and
Meditation                                        Cursing His
Rev. James Slopsema                               Children

           Thetis&  bless  we  Goa!  euen  the    (likeness) of God are God's children,         born again in Jesus Christ. Through
Father; and therewith curse we men, which         the fellow saints in the church.              this spiritual rebirth they have been
are made after the similitude of God.                     Out of the same mouth pro-            wonderfully changed so that they are
           Out of the same mouth proceedeth       ceeded blessing and cursing. James            Godlike in their character. They re-
blessingand cursing. My brethren, these           rebukes the church for this and dem-          flect (although imperfectly) the very
things ought not so to be.                        onstrates from nature that those curs-        perfections andvirtues of Godin their
           Doth a fountain send forth at the      ingtheirfellowsaintscannotwiththe             living. They are God's own children,
same place sweet water and bitter?                same mouth truly bless God.                   the true members of the church of
           Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear            We do well to take this instruc-      Jesus Christ.
olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can        tion to heart.                                     According to James there was a
no fountain both yield salt water and                        Y  $  *  *  * *  `*                tendency in the church to bless God
fresh.                                                    With the tongue we bless God,         on the one hand, and with the same
                                James 3:9-12      even the Father.                              mouth to curse His children, the fel-
                                                          God is our Father for Jesus' sake.    low saints, on the other hand.
           A little fire has the potential of     For in Jesus Christ God has adopted                To curse is to pronounce the
burning down an entire forest. It has             us to be His dear children. Further-          curse of God upon someone -- God
happened again and again.                         more, in Jesus Christ we have even            damn you! This is exactly wha.t the
           In this respect the tongue is like     been born again so that we are the            saints were doing to each othe:r. In
a little fire. It is a relatively small           very image of God. To useihe words            envy, bitterness, anger, frustration
member in our body. But it has the                of the holy writer James in this same         they were damning each other:
power to accomplish great destruc-                passage, we have been made after the               Iftheyweredoingthis, theymost
tion. The evil tongue has ruinedrepu-             similitude or likeness of God. All this       certainly were tearing each other apart
tations, crippled children emotion-               makes God our heavenly Father, and            with the tongue in other ways. There
ally, destroyed marriages, disrupted              us His children, in a very wonderful          was to be found among the members
the peace of the church, incited riots            way.                                          of the church gossip, backbiting slan-
. . . .                                                   James indicates that the saints to    der, railing on each other, harsh criti-
           Such is the reality of the tongue      whom he writes blessed God as their           cism . . . . James indicates in chapter 4
which James has pointed out earlier               heavenly Father. The church at this           of this epistle that there were `wars
in this chapter.                                  time was still of Jewish origin. Very         and fightings  among the saints (vs. I).
           Continuing in that same vein           likely they continued the Jewishprac-         This warfare consisted in speaking
James points out that in the church of            tice of adding, "BlessedbeHe!"  when-         evil of one another (vs. 11).
his day the tongue was being used to              ever they spoke the name of God. In                And so, out of the mouth pro-
bless God, even the Father, and to                addition to this they also blessed or         ceeded blessing and cursing. `With
curse those made in the similitude of             praised God in their prayers, in their        the mouth they blessed God, even the
God. Those made in the similitude                 songs, and in their daily conversa-           Father. And with the same mouth
                                                  tion. They praised God especially for         they cursed their fellow saints, who
                                                  His Fatherly goodness that .they en-          happened to be the children of God,
                                                  joyed day by day.                             made after the similitude of God.
                                                          However, James indicates that              Well do we examine ourselves
                                                  with the same mouth they also cursed          to see if the same prevails with `us.
                                                  those who were made after the simili-                  +  *  *  *  *  +  *
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope Protes-           tude of God.                                       James calls our attention to the
tant Reformed Church in Walker, Michi-                    Remember, those made after the        realm of nature to demonstrate that it
gan.                                              similitude or likeness of Godare  those       is impossible truly to bless God and at

                                                                                                       August 1,l ggl I Standard Bearer 1435


the same time to curse those made           requires that we pronounce the curse             God's grace that has transformed us
after the similitude of God.                of God upon the ungodly.                         into His dear children.
      Dothafountain, asks James, send                However, it is a different matter            We also have a calling witlh re-
forth at the same place sweet water         withthosewhohavebeenmadeinthe                    spect to God's children, who with us
and bitter? This is a rhetorical ques-      similitude of.God. Now we are talk-              have been made in the image of God
tion. The answer is obviously, No. A        ing of those who by the grace of God             and thus are our brothers and sisters
fountain or spring does not produce         reflect the very perfections of God in           in Jesus Christ. Certainly we may not
sweet water and bitter at the same          their lives. Although they are far               curse them. Certainly we may not
opening. Notice, incidentally, how          from perfect and have many faults,               seek to destroy or injure them with
that sweet water and bitter corre-          their lives are godly and upright. It is         our tongue. We are often inclined to
spond to blessing and cursing.              impossible on the one hand to bless              do so when their sins and weaknesses
        James continues with his ques-      and praise God for all His virtues and           hurt or inconvenience us. But James
tions. Only now he goes deeper into         perfections and on the other hand to             condemns this: my brethren, these
the matter and asks concerning what         curse those who manifest the same                things ought not so to be.                 .
can or cannot be. Can the fig tree bear     perfections of God in their daily liv-                Rather we are to bless those
oliveberries?  The questionis whether       ing! No more is this possible thanit  is         made after the similitude of God.
a fig tree can bear figs and olives.        possible for a fountain from the same            When we see the virtues of God re-
Again the answer is obviously, No. A        opening to bring forth sweet water               flected in their lives, we are to com-
fig tree can bear only one kind of fruit    and bitter, or for a fig tree to bring           mend them, encourage them, and
- figs.                                     forth figs and grapes.                           praise God for them. At all times we
        Well, what about the vine? Can               So those who continue to curse          mustseektobuildupourfellowsaints.
the (grape) vine bear figs? Again, the      the children of God without repen-               This is true also when their sins and
question is whether the vine can pro-       tance can not be, and are not in actual          weaknessesbecomeglaringlyevident.
duce grapes and figs. The answer to         fact, blessing God. They may mouth               Even when we must rebuke them, we
this question is also obvious. No, a        the praises of God with their lips. But          must do so in such a way that we
vine can bear only grapes.                  these blessings of God are a mere                build them up rather than tear them
        So, concludes James, can no         formality, a sham, a terrible hypoc-             down.
fountain yield both salt water and          risy!                                                 Those who from a true heart of
fresh.                                                  *x-e****                             adoration for God truly bless Gold the
        From this simple lesson of na-                                                       Father will likewise in this manner
ture we learn that from the same                           At all times                      also bless God's children, who .walk
mouth it is not possible on the one                       we must seek                       in God's ways.
hand to bless God and on the other                                                                May God give us grace to bless
hand to curse God's children, who           to build up our fellow saints.                   Him as our Father.
have been made in the similitude of                                                               And may that grace also lead us
God.                                                 All this implies a very important       to bless His children who have been
        Make no mistake! It is not pos-     calling.                                         made in His own image. 12
sible with the same mouth to bless                   Our calling is, first, tobless God,                                         -
God and to curse those who are not          even the Father.
the children of God.                                 Consider who God is. He is the
  Weliveinaworlddominatedby                 God of all perfection and virtue. He                               Lord,
unbelieving men and women who               has also in grace become our Father                          who shall abide
have not been born again in Jesus           for Jesus' sake, loving us, caring for                      in thy tabernacle?
Christ and who bear no spiritual re-        us, providing for all our needs.                             who shall dwell
semblance at all to the living God.                  Certainly it is our calling to bless                in thy holy hill?
Rather than reflecting the virtues of       and praise Him. We are to do this in                 He that walk&h  uprightly,
God in their living, they show a strik-     our prayers, in our singing, and in our              and work&h  righteousness,
ing resemblance to the Devil himself.       everyday conversation. Often and                          and speak&h  the truth
Certainly it is possible to bless God       unashamedly we should praise our                               in his heart.
our Father and at the same time to          heavenlyFatherwithourfellowsa.ints                        He that backbiteth not
cursethese who follow after theDevil.       and before men.                                              with his tongue,
In fact, there are times when it is our              The important thing is that this          nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
calling to do so. But we must be            praise must be not just from the lips                  nor taketh up a reproach
careful how we do this. Certainly we        but from a heart that is overwhelmed                      against his neighbour.
may not curse the ungodly out of            with love for the Father, that adores                                       Psalm 15:l-3
sinful motives. Nevertheless, there         Him for His goodness. Such praise is
are times when the honor of God             the inevitable fruit of the work of

436lStandafrl'Bearer/Augusti,iggl


                                            An "Election.
                                            Theology" of
Editorial                                   Covenant (5)

                                            bywhichGod'scovenantfriendsboth
     The basic charge against the Prot-                                                 earth" (Deut. 7:6). Paul tells the New
                                            embrace the blessings of the covenant
estant Reformed doctrine of the cov-                                                    Testament church the same thing at
enant of grace by Canadian Reformed         and perform their part in the cov-          thebeginningof the outstandingNew
("Liberated")theologianDr.  J.DeJong        enant, and the gift of God to the cho-      Testament book on the church: "The
                                            sen in fulfillment of the covenant
is that it is an "election theology" of                                                 God and Father of our Lord Jesus
                                            promise.
the covenant. In his letter in the                                                      Christ . . . hathblesseduswithallspiri-
March                                            Apart from all other consider-
          15,199l issue of the Standard                                                 tual blessings in heavenly places in
                                            ations, the reason why an "election
Bearer, Dr. DeJong wrote:                                                               Christ: according as he hath chosen
  Engelsma is only perpetuating the         theology" of covenant cannot regard         us in himbefore the foundation'of the
  same  kind of "election" theology         faith as a condition is simply that the     world, that we should be holy and
  which refuses to entertain the Scrip-     election upon which the covenant            without blame before him; in love
  tural teaching of faith as the way or     depends is unconditional. If election       havingpredestinated us. .." (Eph. 1:3-
  condition to salvation and the notion     is unconditional, so also is the cov-       5). The church's covenant pos)ition,
  of God's wrath against covenant           enant unconditional, as well as the         covenant members, covenant bless-
  breakers.                                 salvation that belongs to the covenant.     ings, andcovenant responsibilities are
He lodged the same charge in other                                                      determined by divine election in
words when he alleged "the typical             . . . if the covenant and its            Christ.
Protestant Reformed interpretation            salvation are conditional,                      This testimony of Scripture is
that makes election dominate all other                                                  made the creedal  position of the Re-
doctrines."                                  election also is conditional.              formed churches in the Canons of
     To the accusation that theirs is                                                   Dordt. Although the Canons die not
an "election theology" of covenant,         Ifmychoiceofawomantobemywife                often mention the covenant of grace,
the PRC enthusiastically plead guilty.      is an unconditional choice, the mar-        the doctrine of the Canons is an `"`elec-
     By an "election theology" of cov-      riage that results from this choice is      tion theology" of covenant. For the
enant,weunderstand,first,  thatGod's        an unconditional relationship. On           saving of sinners is a matter of God's
establishment of His covenant with a        the other hand, if the covenant and its     making His covenant with thelm (Is.
people is due toHis eternal election of     salvation are conditional, election also    55:3); and the Canons ground the sal-
that people. In harmony with this,          is conditional. If my contract as your      vation of sinners squarely upon elec-
secondly,etemalelectiondetermines           employee is conditional, that is, de-       tion (cf. I/7).
who they are to whom God makes              pends upon my satisfactory perfor-                At one crucial point, however,
His covenant promise. Accordingly,          mance of a certain work, so also is         the Canons make this explicit. This
in the third place, by His Spirit and       your choice of me to be your em-            occurs in the second chapter, "Of the
Word God brings into His covenant,          ployee conditional.               i.        Death of Christ and the Redemption
and gives the blessings of the cov-              It is the clear, pervasive, and        of Men Thereby." The central article
enant to, those men, women, and chil-       massive testimony of the Bible that         is Article 8. This article sets forth
dren whom He chose. Election is             God's covenant with Israel and the          Christ's death as a covenant cleath:
decisive for inclusion in the covenant.     Church is due to, based upon, and           He died as Head and Mediator `of the
Therefore, fourthly, faithis  not a con-    wholly determined by God's eternal          new covenant in order to redeem to
dition unto membership in the cov-          election. Moses said to Israel, "The        Himself a covenant people out of all
enant, or unto the salvation enjoyed        LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be         nations. As regards its purpose to
in the covenant. Rather, faith is the       a special people unto himself, above        gather particular persons and as re-
wayinwhichGoduniteselectsinners             (Hebrew: in distinction from) all           gards its securing all the benefits of
toHimselfin  the covenant, the means        people that are upon the face of the        salvation for these persons, inchrding
                                                                                               August 1,1991  I StandardBeamrl437


faith, the cross of Jesus Christ was            the covenant of grace as elect and saved?     explanation is that God never made
due to, based on, and strictly con-                  Canons, I/17 is not speaking of          the covenant promise to everyphysi-
trolled by God's eternal election:              all the children of godly parents with-       cal descendant of Abraham. The
  It was the will of God, that Christ by        out exception. The article refers to a        promise, "I will be the God of your
  the  blood of the cross, whereby he           specific, limited number of covenant          children," did not refer to all physical
  confirmed the new covenant, should            children: "(those) whom it pleases            Jews.
  effectually redeem out of every               God to call out of this life in their              There is a distinction between
  people, tribe, nation, and language,
  all those, and those only, who were           infancy." If this pastoral statement          two kinds of children of believing
  from eternity chosen to salvation . . .       were to be formulated as a doctrinal          Abraham. There are those children
  should confer upon them faith . . .           proposition, the proposition would            who are merely physical offspring.
  should purge them from all sin . . .          run thus: "All of the children of godly       The apostle calls them "children of
  (and) should . . . bring them . . . to the    parents who die in infancy are to be          the flesh" (v. 8). There are also the
  enjoyment of glory in his own pres-           considered elect and saved by virtue          children whom the apostle refers to
  ence forever.                                 of the covenant of grace." So far is this     as "the children of the promise" (v. 8).
         What makes this "election theol-       article from supporting a doctrine of         These are the children who are born
ogy of covenant" of the Canons even             the covenant that pits membership in          again by the power of the promise, so
more forcefulis the Canons' repudia-            the covenant against election that, on        that they are living children of God.
tion of every attempt to cut the cov-           the contrary, the article expressly                    The Word of God's covenant
enant loose from election. The Can-             grounds our children's comprehen-             promise did not refer to the "children
ons guard against the error of sepa-            sion in the covenant in election.             of the flesh." They were not in view
rating covenant from.election  in the           "Godly parents have no reason to              when God said to Abraham, "Iwillbe
"Rejectionof Errors" sectionattached            doubt of the election . . . of their chil-    the God of your seed." Only the
to the second chapter, especially Ar-           dren," who die in infancy.                    "childrenof the promise" arecounted
ticles 2-5. Specifically, our Reformed               Above all else, the PRC are con-         for the seed (v. 8). Since the seed of
confession condemns the notion that             strained to hold an "election theol-          Abraham are exclusively the children
anyone has been accepted "unto the              ogy" of the covenant by the ninth             of promise, the Word of God has not
state of reconciliation and unto the            chapter of Romans. The Holy Spirit            failed. God has kept and fulfilled His
grace of the covenant" except the elect.        here addresses the exact issue that           covenant promise with every one of
The creed also rejects that view of the         divides the covenant theology of the          the seed of Abraham.
covenant that sees it as nothing more           "Liberated" from the covenant theol-                   Paul illustrates, and proves, the
than a conditionalmeans unto eternal            ogy of the PRC. The issue is decided          truth of this distinction from Old Tes-
life, man's own faith being the condi-          by this chapter of Holy Scripture.            tament history. Abraham had two
tion.                                                Romans 9 is' not a theological           sons, but God Himself said, "In Isaac
         Against this powerful witness          treatise on predestination in general,        (only) shall thy seed be called" (Gen.
of the Canons themselves to an "elec-           but apostolic doctrine concerning             21:12; Rom. 9:7). Also the Word of
tion theology" of covenant, the "Lib-           God's covenant of grace. The great            Jehovah to Rebecca concerning her
erated" cannot appeal to Canons  I/17           concern of the apostle is to demon-           unborn twins, grandsons of Abra-
as though this article teaches that all         strate that the Word of God has not           ham, "The elder shall serve the
the children of believers without ex-           failed (v. 6). This Word of God is the        younger,N was a Word that made
ception, those who finally perish as            covenant promise to father Abraham,           radical distinction between two physi-
well as those who are saved, are in the         to establish His covenant with Abra-          cal children of Abraham (Gen. 2!j:23;
covenant. Dr. DeJong makes this                 ham and his children so as to be a God        Rom. 9:12, 13). The promise of the
appeal: "All the children are explic-           to Abraham and his children. This             covenant was only for Jacob. Esau
itly included in the covenant (in Can-          covenant Word might be thought to             was excluded.
ons, I/17)."                                    have failed because so many natural                    This distinction between two
         Surely Dr. DeJong sees that his        sons and daughters of Abraham re-             kinds of children of Abraham is fun-
appeal to Canons, I/17, in support of           ject Christ and perish-  the thing that       damental for the concern of the pas-
the "Liberated" doctrine that all the           causes Paul ti great heaviness and con-       sage that the Word of God did not fail.
children are in the covenant in the             tinual sorrown  (v. 2).                       If all the children of Abraham are the
same way, proves far too much, even                                                           same and if the Word of promise
for the "Liberated." For this article                   . . . God never made                  came to them all alike, the Word did
speaks of our children's being com-                   the covenant promise                    fail in numberless instances. It failed
prehended in the covenant of grace in                                                         in the case of Esau.
the sense that the children are elect and        to every physical descendant                          The question then is, What ac-
saved. Does Dr. DeJong want to con-                         of  Abraham.                      counts for the distinction between the
tend that all the children of godly                                                           two kinds of children?" Specific,ally,
parents alike are comprehended in                    But the Word hasnot failed. The          What accounts for the fact that slome


of Abraham's physical children are 0               Romans 9:llff. is not simply the    "election theology" of covenant.
children of the promise?" The an-          classic passage in the Bible on the              Thus, and only thus, is defended
swer of the apostle is: "The purpose       eternal decree of election and repro-       and proclaimed the sovereignty, the
of God according to election" (v. 11).     bation. But the passage sets forth          grace, and the faithfulness of the cov-
Eternal election determines the true,      God's predestination as the source          enant God of Israel and the church.
spiritual seed of Abraham. Eternal         and standard of all of God's covenan-       Thus, and only thus, is maintnined
election determines that the covenant      tal dealings in history. The subject of     the reliability of the Word of promise
promise is for them only. Inasmuch         the passage, it must be remembered,         forbelieversandtheirchildrentloday.
as the covenant promise is the prom-       is the saving and the hardening of the      The Wordof  promisebywhichvve are
ise that the covenant is established       children of believing Abraham. By           saved and upon which we depend
with someone personally-the prom-          implication, the subject of the passage     does not fail. 0
ise of one's own inclusion in the cov-     is the saving and the hardening of the                             (to be concluded)
enant of grace - eternal election de-      children of godly parents in every                                              -- DJE
terminesmembership in the covenant         age.
of grace.                                          Romans 9 is the Holy Spirit's





Letters


No Froth                                   million unsaved people out there            frothy religious literature being pub-
     The Standard Bearer is an excel-      thinking that they are saved? The           lished widely today.                 -- -
lent publication, thoughtfulinitspre-      doctrine being preached in most                  As to your question about her-
sentation of the Reformed faith and        churches today is heresy. The sameis        esy and salvation, the Bible takes her-
utterly free of superficial "froth." I     true of most of the preaching on tele-      esy and belief of heresy in dead ear-
look forward to receiving each issue.      vision. After reading The HoZy Spirit,      nest. Heretics are servants of Satan
Renew my subscription.                     I am amazed at the number of people         (cf. II Pet. 2). The seriousness of the
                        Donald Granger     who claim to have Him in them, but          teachingofheresyisthatmanyareled
                  Garden Grove, CA         who do not show the true work of the        astray to eternal perdition, being de-
                                           Holy Spirit in their lives. Will Jesus      ceived (cf. Matt. 24:4,5,24; II Thess.
Unsaved Professing Christians?             Christ forgive ignorance of doctrine        2~3, 10-12; II Tim. 3). The way to
     Enclosed is a check so that I will    when He comes? Could there be               salvation, established by election it-
continue to get The Standard Bearer.       some of the elect among them?               self, is "sanctification of the Spirit and
I enjoy the magazine. You are right on                          Mrs. Sandra Wittner    belief of the truth" (II Thess. 213).
the mark.                                                       Otis Orchards, WA           What this may mean concerning
     I became a Christian six years                                                    the relatively small size of thfe true
ago and God led me to a good Re-           R E S P O N S E :                           church today does not justify our con-
formed church. . . . When I first be-              We appreciate your encourag-        cocting a new way of salvation other
came a Christian, I was afraid of being    ing remarks about  The Standard             than belief of the truth. Fact is, the
deceived. Therefore, I became an           Bearer  and your renewing your sub-         Bible'prophesies that the number of
avid reader, starting with the Bible       scription.                                  believers will be small in the end&me
and continuing with Reformation                    Your resolve to read and the        (cf. Luke 1232; Luke 18:8). The igno-
writings. I have just finished John        kinds of material that you read are         rance of the truth on the part of so
Owen's  Thg Holy Spirit  and The           cause for rejoicing. It is no small         many should only motivate us the
Works of the Spirit.                       contributing factor to the great apos-      more energetically to bear witness to
     Could you answer a question           tasy of our day that professing Chris-      the truth -- the Reformed faith. Q
for me? Do you think there are 60          tians either do not read or read the                                         - E d .

                                                                                              August I,1991  I Standard Bearer / 439


                                        Church
 Guest Article                                 Membership in an
 Rev. Steven Key                               Evil AcJe (3)

         Having considered the scriptural     man Catholic Church only after tre-        and the influx of a mentality that
principles and responsibilities of            mendous spiritual struggle of soul. It     sought reunion with Rome in many
church membership, we devoted the             ought to be clear that love for God's      areas, Charles  Haddon  Spurgeon
last article to the inescapable truth of      church and for His people  should          wrote a review of two papers by the
corporate responsibility. Though              prevent any Christian from making          Reverend J.C. Ryle, the prominent
many in this age of ecclesiastical de-        separation withou t going through that     and soundly Reformed pastor ,and
parture and apostasy would like to            struggle of soul. But once men like        bishop, whose writings many of us
ignore that truth, it is exactly the truth    Martin Luther and John Calvii made         have read with pleasure.
of corporate responsibility and cor-          that separation, they forcefully called         The papers Spurgeon  was re-
porate guilt that lies at the basis of the    God's people to follow them.               viewing were titled "Church Prin-
call, "Come out from among them                    In1537, JohnCalvinwroteavery          ciples" and "Church Comprehensive-
and be ye separate." We must not              pointed letter of considerable length.     ness." Spurgeon  wrote:
continue in conflict with the holiness        That letter was titled: "On Shunning         There is no party within the Church
of God. I pointed out that, for some of       the Unlawful Rites of the Ungodly            of England with whom we are more
you, that may mean separation now             andPreservingthel?urityoftheChris-           nearly agreed than the  Evangel&J
from the body where you currently             tian Religion," and you will find it in      (i.e., the party to which Ryle be-
have your church membership. That             the third volume of his Tracts and           longed, SK), and yet they excite far
is a move that is extremely difficult. I      Treatises. This letter was written to        more our wonder and pity than our
                                                                                           sympathy. We wonder they are not
know that - as a matter of experi-            those who professed the Reformation          ashamed of being connected with
ence.                                         gospel, but for various practical rea-       men who openly defy the law and
         But when I point out that exer-      sons remained within the Roman               preach the worst form of Popery.
cising the responsibility of church           Catholic Church. In no uncertain             We pity them because, while they
membership becomes increasingly               terms Calvin pointed them to their           remain in the Establishment, their
difficult in the advancing apostasy in        sin of turning their eyes away from          protests against its errors have but
the church today, I would remind              God's Word and demanding nothing             little power. . . . Congresses in which
you that God's people haveoftenfaced          more of themselves than could be             Christ and antichrist are brought to-
the same difficultiesincenturiespast.         performed without endangering ei-            gether cannot but exercise a very
                                                                                           unhealthy influence even upon the
         That was the difficulty that our     ther their safety or their conditions.       most decided followers of the truth.
Reformationfathersfacedinthebond-             But he also pointed to the truth that        We wish Mr. Ryle could review his
age of Roman Catholicism. Do not              there is no difficulty too great to be       ownpositioninthelightoftheScrtp-
think for a moment that they left that        surmounted by him who strengthens            tures rather than in the darkness of
church on a whim! Do not think that           himself with the consideration that,         ecclesiastic&m; then would he come
they left the Roman Catholic Church' though all men should threaten, their                 out from among them, and no more
without a struggle! And I refer here          menaces cannot outweigh those which          touch the unclean thing (p. 143, For-
not to the fact that in many cases they       the Lord denounces against the de-           gotten Spurgeon).
faced physical persecution. Rather, I         serters of His camp.                            In 1864 Spurgeon  addressed an
point out that the Reformers finally               Calvin's view of the necessity of     issue that plagues many churches to-
came to the decision to leave the Ro-         belonging to a church that manifests       day, including the historic Reformed
                                              the marks of the true church is not        churches. There were professors in
                                              onlyhistorically significant,butisalso     various colleges connected with the
                                              of great practical importance for Prot-    Church of England and ministers and
                                              estants in departing churches today.       bishops who questioned the divine
                                                   Some 300 years later, in the face     inspiration of Scripture and limited
Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Re-      of rampant departure from the truth        its authority to a religious sphere, if
formed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin.         of Scripture in the Church of England,     they recognized any authority in it at

44OiStandaniBearerlAugustl, 1991


all. This is how Spurgeon described                    `I... Fellowship with                   or the other we must go. Decision is
the times, and I ask you: Do you see               known and vital error is                     the virtue of the hour (Ibid., p. 149).
the likeness in the church today?                                                                  Believers in Christ's atonement
  God's Word, in this age, is a small                participation in sin  ."                   arenowindeclaredunionwiththose
  affair; some do not even believe it to                                                       who make light of it; believers in
  be inspired; and those who profess                                                           Holy Scripture are in confederacy
  to revere it set up other books in a            fraternize with those who have               with those who deny plenary inspi-
  sort of rivalry with it. Why, there are         turned aside to another gospel. Chris-       ration; those who hold evangelical
  great Church dignitaries now-a-days             tian love has lost its claims, and divi-      doctrine are in open alliance with
  who write against the Bible, and yet            sions are to be shunned as grievous           those who call the fall a fable, who
  find bishops to defend them. (They              evils; but how far are we justified in        deny the personality of the H:oly
  tell us) "Do not, for a moment, think           being in confederacy with those who           Ghost, who call justification by fall
  of condemning their books or them;              are departing from the truth?                immoral, and hold that there is an-
  they are our dear brethren, and must               A chasm is opening between the             other probation after death. . . . Yes,
  not be fettered in thought" (Ibid., p.          men who believe their Bibles and the          wehavebeforeus  thewretchedspec-
  147).                                           men who are prepared for an ad-               tacle of professedly orthodox Chris-
         Do you not see the application?          vance upon Scripture. The house is            tians publicly avowing their union
                                                  beingrobbed,itsverywallsarebeing
Miserable heretics have permeated                                                               with those who deny the faith, and
                                                  digged  down, but the good people             scarcely concealing their contempt
churches with their swords of higher              who are in bed are too fond of the            for those who cannot be guilty of
criticism, hacking the whole of the               warmth, and too much afraid of get-           such gross disloyalty to Christ. To be
Scriptures to pieces.  Spurgeon also              ting broken heads, to go downstairs           very plain, we are unable to call these
called attention in writing to the con-           and meet the burglars. . . . Inspiration      things Christian Unions, they begin
sequences of the new teaching which               and speculation cannot long abide in          to looklike Confederacies in Evil. . . .
had permeated the churches:                       peace. Compromise there can be                It is our solemn conviction that where
  Attendance at places of worship is              none. We cannot hold the inspira-             there can be no real spiritual com-
  declining, and reverence for holy               tion of the Word, and yet reject it; we       munion there should be no pretence
  things is vanishing...  (Ibid.,  p.  149).      cannot believe in the atonement and           of fellowship.  Fellowship with known
         And, in closing, he raised the           deny it; we cannot hold the doctrine          and vital error is participation in sin
                                                  of the fall and yet talk of the evolu-
issue which others had declined to                                                              (Ibid., p. 150).
                                                  tion of spiritual life from human na-
face:                                             ture; we cannot recognize the pun-               May God forbid that welose our
  It now becomes a serious question               ishment of the impenitent and yet           children and children's children be-
  how far those who abide by the faith            indulge the "larger hope." One way          cause of our own paralysis of irtdeci-
  once delivered to the saints should                                                         sion!  0

                                                The Importance of
                                                r a Doctrinal
In His Fear
Rev. Arie denHartog                             Christianity (II)
         There cannot be any religion           All the doctrinal pronouncements of           insists on sound doctrine she draws
without doctrine. That is especially            the church through history are only           lines, she offends those who do not
the case with the true religion. In our         human scholastic additions. Doc-              agree with that doctrine. Doctrinal
day there are many advocates of reli-           trine leads us away, they say, from           controversies in the church have
gion without doctrine or any theo-              the simplicity of faith in Christ Jesus.      caused grievous division. Brother
logical pronouncements. This they               Sometimes sincere Christians might            has been set against brother, families
claim was the simple religion of Jesus.         also be inclined to imagine that doc-         have been divided, those who were
                                                trine is not very important. Learning         once close friends have become'bitter
                                                and understanding doctrine is hard            enemies. Are we not better off to
                                                work. It takes a lot of effort. Further-      avoid all of this by ignoring questions
Rev. denHarfogispastorofHope  Profes-           more, those who seekto  defend sound          of doctrine? We are not saved, it is
fant Reformed Church in Redlands, Cali-         doctrine are often engaged in great,          emphasized, by theology and doc-
                                                                                              trine but by a right relationship with
fornia.                                         unpleasant debates. When the church
                                                                                                     August 1,199l /Standard Beam I441


        Jesus Christ and by following His             church to the foolish and radical po-       and understanding of the works of
         simple life style. Cannot we all be one      sition that all doctrine must be re-        God. It is impossible truly to know
        happy family by allowing everyone             `jetted.                                    God without knowing the true doc-
         to have his own opinion about doc-                 The true doctrine of God can be       trine concerning Him. When we
         trine? Or, perhaps, can we not just          known only through the power of the         rightly consider the doctrine of God
. .     leave doctrine to the theologians of          Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of      in the Scriptures, in a spiritual vvay,
         the church, since it really has nothing      men. It can only be spiritually dis-        ourknowledgeofHimwUgrown~ore
         to do with our daily lives as Chris-         cernedbythebomagainchildofGod.              and more blessed and wonderful.
         tians anyway? The important thing,           Its blessed reality can only be known            Almost all false doctrine is an
        it is claimed, is not the doctrine you        by the humble child of God who              attack on God, on His glorious maj-
        believe but how you live and how              prayerfully searches the Scriptures         esty and the wonderful truth con-
         sincere you are. Afi of that may sound       under the guidance of the Spirit of         cerning who and what~He is as God.
         good and even rather pious, but is it        God in complete submission to God's         That is why false doctrine is so very
         right? Is it possible?                       own revelation of Himself. The child        serious. That is why saints of God
              Sometimes the word "doctrine"           of God earnestly prays that God will        who love God have been ready to die
        is used in a limited and narrow sense         reveal to him all the riches and won-       for the cause of the true doctrine of
         to refer to a cold abstract intellectual     der of the doctrine of the Scriptures.      God. Those who suggest that we can
         debate among theologians that is             But he also prays that God will teach       have a religion without doctrine want
         pretty well totally irrelevant to the        him to be silent before God's Word          toreduceChrisiianitytonothingn~ore
       I Christian life of the common ordi-           and to add nothing to it which is the       than a mystic, subjective religion in
         nary child of God. We are particu-           product merely of his own imagina-          which every one thinks his own
        larly anxious thatwe  are not misun-          tion or reason. He prays to be kept         thoughts about God, supposedly ac-
         derstood in this regard. That is not         totally within the limits of God's own      cording to his own individual experi-
         the meaning of the word "doctrine"           revelation and not to be allowed to go      ence or perhaps the experience of the
        when it is used in the Scriptures. As         beyond that revelation into all sorts of    age he lives in.
        we pointed out in our last article,           vain speculation of his own mind.                God cannot be known except
         according to Scripture, doctrine is                It is important that we know the      through the true doctrine He has re-
         simply "sound teaching." It is care-         true doctrine of God. God has re-           vealed concerning Himself in the
         fullyformulatedandexpressedteach-            vealed Himself to us that we might          Bible. When men reject that doctrine
        ing about the truth of God and His            know Him and worship and serve              or say that it is not important, they
         Son Jesus Christ and the way of salva-       Him rightly. The truth that God has         really make a god after their own
         tion. If we truly understand this as         revealed concerning Himself is the          imagination. The liberal drive to do
         Christians, we will also see the impor-      doctrine of God. He has revealed            away with doctrine strives to do ex-
        tance of maintaining sound doctrine.- who and what.He is. He has revealed                 actly that. Modem man rejects the
                                                      His mighty and wonderful and glori-         sovereign almighty and holy God of
                Doctrinal discussion  '               ous attributes, His absolute sover-         the Bible because he hates that God.
                     has at times                     eignty, perfect holiness and infinite       In place of Him he makes a f,alse
                   fallen into iarid,                 goodness. Knowing  God. involves            image of his own imagination. The
               dy-as-dust discussion                  gathering the true knowledge of God         true child of God, together with the
                  or hair-splitting,                  from all Scripture through the guid-        church of Jesus Christ, maintains and
             theological wrangling, . . .             ance of the Holy Spirit. It,is necessary    confesses the true doctrine of God
                                                      for our faith to gather and summarize       whereby he in love knows and con-
                                                      thatknowledgeasitisfoundthrough-            fesses the true God, and glories in and
              It is true that at times in the         out the Scri$ures and not merely in         worships  Him alone.
        history of the church, doctrinal dis-         one verse here and there. Through                In our last article we empha-
         cussion has degenerated into cold            such labors we come to know the             sized that the essence of Christianity
         scholastic debate. Doctrinal discus-         truth of God. All our thoughts of           is not avague andundefinedrelation-
         sion has at times fallen into arid, dry-     God, all our worship of God, our fear
         as-dust discussion or hair-splitting,                                                    ship with Jesus. It does not consist of
                                                      and love of God, our faith in God, is       merely following the example of a
        theologicalwranglingwithoutregard             and must be based on the true doc-          humanistic Jesus by obeying a :few
        to the personal living God and rich           trine of God, that God Himself has          generally defined ethical principles
        and blessed and vibrant truth of sal-         given us in the Bible. God has per-
        vation of which this doctrine speaks.                                                     which He espoused. We are saved
                                                      formed many mighty and wonderful
        The fault of this does not lie in the true                                                not first of all by what we do or by
                                                      acts through history, wonders of cre-       how we live but by believing who
        doctrine of God itself but rather in the      ation and providence, and wonders           JesusChristis  and what He did. Jesus
        evil attitude of those handling that          of our salvation. Doctrine means            is the Holy and Almighty Son of God
         doctrine. Neither ought this drive the       nothing more than a right knowledge         who came to earth to reveal the true


     God. He came to earth to save His           the work of Christ. Above all, God          through history have been so major
     people from their sins. When Jesus          revealed to them the glory of His           that the truth of God and Jesus Christ
     was on earth He declared the truth          sovereign grace and mercy that shines       and the right understanding of salva-
     concerning Himself. Through His             forth in that work. All of this belongs     tion have been at stake. That still is
     ministry on earth He performed the          to the true doctrine of Christ.             true today. The issues of doctrinal
     mighty works of God. He was cruci-               The doctrine of Christ is exceed-      controversy that divide various de-
     fied, He died, He was buried. He            ingly important. Without that doc-          nominations and churches from each
     arose from the dead on the third day.       trine we cannot know Christ nor the         other are so fundamental that they
     He ascended into heaven and was             blessed significance of His work of         involve, a denial of the true God and
     exalted at the right hand of God. He        salvation. We are not saved first of all    His Son Jesus Christ.
     promised His church that He would           by following Jesus' example nor by               Doctrinal questions are of great-
     come again at the end of the ages to        living according to the ethical prin-       est importance for true Christianity.
     establish His everlasting kingdom of        ciples that He taught. We are saved         Today, for example, even the dloctri-
     righteousness in the new heavens and        first of all through faith in Christ and    naldifferencesbetweenReformedand
     earth. These are all mighty historic        the truth that is inHim. We are saved       Calvinistic churches and  Armin-
     works that Jesus performed. They are        by believing that Jesus is truly the Son    ianism are imagined to be of little
     the wonderful works of our salvation        of God and by trusting in His perfect       importance. Even members in Re-
     which He accomplished. Doctrine is          work. True Christian living follows         formed churches imagine these dif-
     nothingmorethanatrueunderstand-             out of such faith. True Christian liv-      ferences, to be of only secondary im-
     ing of who Jesus really is as the Son of    ing is based on the true doctrine of        portance. They imagine that most of
     God and our Savior. Doctrine'is the         Christ; Doctrine is a right under-          these differences can be reduced to
     right understanding of the tremen-          standing of who Christ is and what          only slightly different perspectives
     dous work of salvation that He per-         Hisworkmeans. Throughthehistory             andemphases. Inrealityhoweverthe
     formed and the hope of salvation that       of the church many heresies have            differences are so great that thle one
     we have in that work.                       arisen in the church to deny and op-        -system of doctrine,  nameky  the
I         At the time when Jesus walked          pose parts of the doctrine of Christ.       Arminian system current in most
     on earth, and when He was crucified,        These heresies deny the glory of Christ     modern-day churches, is thoroughly
     even His disciples had only a limited       and the perfection of His work. We          man-centered and  man glorifying. It
     understanding of who really Jesus           cannot confess Christ and continue to       essentially teaches man to save him-
     was and of the meaning and purpose          believe in Him unless we confess and        self through his own will and by his
     of His work. There were still many          maintain the doctrine of Christ. If we      own works - whereas the true, his-
     things that they did not yet under-         deny that doctrine we deny Him.             toric doctrine of the Reformed faith
     stand. Therefore they were thrown                                                       exalts the truth that God saves His
     into confusion when Jesus was cruci-                      The issues                    people whom He loves with everlast-
     fied and they were not expecting His             of doctrinal controversy               inglove by sovereign grace and mercy
     resurrection. On the day of Pentecost                    that divide                    alone and for His glory. These two
     JesuspouredoutHisHoly  Spirit upon              various denominations . . .             systems of doctrine are diametrically
     His disciples, and suddenly they could                                                  opposed to each other. The one is
     understand and they could speak of                  are so fundamental                  false and the other represents the only
     the wonderful works of God. The                      that they involve                  true doctrine revealed in Scripture.
     Spirit which was poured out on the               a denial of the tke God                     We intend to continue our dis-
     apostles according to the promise of            and His Son Jesus Christ.               cussion in our next article with the
     Jesus instructed them in the true doc-                                                  subject: "Maintaining Sound Doc-
     trine of Jesus and of the great signifi-         Some imagine that though- it           trine in the Church."
     cance of His work of salvation. The         might be important  to. maintain cer-            True revival does not come to
     apostles later wrote of that doctrine       tain basic truths concerning who            the church by a mystical wave of the
     by the inspiration of God. The letters      ChristisandwhatHedid,itisstillnot           "Spirit" that sweeps the church, nor
     of the apostles contain the true doc-       important to be so concerned about          by the stirring up of a false feeling of
     trine of Jesus Christ. God gave the         sound doctrine. All the doctrinal           brotherhood among all men. It does
     apostles to understand in a profound        controversies that have plagued the         not come through a resurgence of
     way the finished and absolutely per-        church have been about unimportant          interest in evangelism or by getting
     fect work of Christ on the cross and        truths, they imagine. This is however       the church involved in social-action.
     the substitutionary and vicarious na-       a grave mistake. It is true of course       True revival comes when the church,
     ture of that work. He gave the apostles     that some doctrines of Scripture are        by the mighty operation of the Spirit
     to understand the perfect and un-           more major and fundamental than             of-God, returns to the true doctrine of
     changeable righteousness that was           others. The great doctrinal contro-         the Scriptures. 0
     imputed to the saints through faith in      versies that have plagued the church

                                                                                                   August 1,1991  I Standard Beam I443


                                             Fishermen Fishers
Guest Article
Rev. Rodney Miersma                          of Men

     Living in New Zealand one soon          using the boat as a floating pulpit as            of the net is the preaching of the
learns that the people of that land live     He spoke to the people on shore.                  gospel. The fishermen are thepreach-
close to the sea, both literally and         When finished speaking, the Lord                  ers of the gospel: first, these disciples
figuratively. Most of the population         instructed Peter to take his boat into            who would be sent out as apostles,
lives along the coast, making access to      the deep and let down his nets for a              and later, all preachers of the gospel.
the sea a matter of minutes. For those       draught. Even though he had toiled                And to complete the picture, the fish
who live in the middle of the country,       all night and caught nothing, yet Pe-             in the net are the saved in Christ, who
which are few, a drive of an hour or         ter obeyed the Lord, with the result              are brought into the net through the
less will bring them to the coast. As        that so many fish were caught that the            almighty power of His grace and by
one drives along the coast one sees a        nets began to break and both his own              His irresistible call.
favorite activity of both New                boat and that of his partners began to                 What do we learn from this?
Zealanders and foreigners, that is,          S i n k .                                         The Lord is revealing the kingdom of
fishing. Some are fishing from shore,                     Obviously Christ had demon-          heaven to us and is, therefore, teach-
others from boats - little boats and         strated by this miracle that He was               ing us something about that king-
big boats. Some are angling with rod         the Son of God, a truthreflectedin the            dom. A miracle is a sign, a wonder,
and reel, others are letting out their       reactionof thesefourfishermen. They               pointing to the grace of God in the
nets. But all have one thing in com-         were all amazed, and Peter fell down              salvation of His people. So what is it
mon, catching fish.                          at the knees of Jesus saying,."Depart             that we can and do learn from this
     Very often, then, one is reminded       from me; for I am a sinful man, 0                 miracle?
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the les-        Lord," In turn Jesus says to Peter,                    First of all, it becomes immedi-
son that He taught us in the miracu-         "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt             ately apparent that all human en-
lous draught of fishes, a miracle per-       catch men."                                       deavor is absolutely hopeless as to
formedonceinHisearlyministryand                           A beautiful parallel between the     the preaching of the gospel and the
then again after His resurrection. For       first part of the narrative and the               gathering of God's people. The dis-
our purposes at present we will limit        second part cannot help but be no-                ciplesfishedallnightbutcaughtnoth-
ourselves to the first one as recorded       ticed. First we see Jesus teaching the            ing. However, when Christ sent forth
in Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 5.            people and preaching the gospel of                His almighty word of power, such a
You should read these passages, es-          the kingdom in person from that little            multitude of fishes were caught that
pecially Luke 5, in order to get the         boat. Indeed, the Great Fisher of men!            their nets broke and their boats began
scene firmly before you.                     In the second part we see that Jesus              to sink. So it is today concerning the
     The event is quite familiar to us.      indicates to these disciples something            preaching of the gospel and the gath-
Two pairs of brothers, Peter and An-         about their future calling. In the fu-            ering of the church. Human endeavor,
drew, James and John, were on the            ture Christ will continue to be the               all by itself, is hopeless! Man rnay
shores of Galilee cleaning their nets        Great Fisher of men, but with this                preach until he is blue in the face, yes,
after a fruitless night of fishing. Jesus    difference, namely, that He will ac-              even God-fearing and faithful men
was there also, teaching the people.         complish this work through the in-                may toil all the night long, but no fish,
Because of the press of the people           strumentality of the disciples. They              nomenwillbebroughtintothechurch
Jesustookoneofthefishermen'sboats            will cast the net of the gospel into the          of Jesus Christ. But in our day the call
and pushed out alittle from the shore,       sea, and He will cause a great multi-             goes out for more preachers, more
                                             tude of men to be enclosed in it.                 missionaries, as if mere men, the more
                                                          Briefly, we see a parable in this    the better, can convert the world. by
                                             miracle. The sea is none other than               simply casting forth the net, preach-
                                             the world of men and of nations in                `ing the gospel. Oh yes, there are
                                             which the apostles and the preachers              results. Social improvement, eco-
                                             of the gospel do their fishing in the             nomic improvement, all of which is
Rev. Miersma is pasfor of the Protestant     spiritual sense of the word. In this              no more than `heathendom highly
Reformed Church of New Zealand.              same spiritual sense, the casting out             cultured.


     This, however, should not cause         more could be added to or even sub-          not our puny efforts, brings men into
us to be lax in casting out the net. Oh      stituted for the preaching in order to       His church and unto Himself! That
no, cast out the net we must do, and         make it more pleasing to the pride of        power is greater than all the power in
very zealously. But what we must             the natural man. But in the face of all      the whole world! And what a prom-
understand is that all our toil, no mat-     this the church of Jesus Christ and her      ise! For out of the world, from which
ter how faithful, in itself avails abso-     faithful ministers of the gospel re-         no human toil could ever call the
lutely nothing.                              spond in faith, the response of simple       church of the living God, the Lord
     What then? We first must notice         obedience and perfect trust: "Never-         will call His own elect church, a great
in this miracle that we have to do here      theless at thy word I will let down the      multitude which no man can number!
with a calling. At the call of Christ the    net." The preacher keeps preaching,          Not one given to Christ shall be miss-
disciples go out and they are given to       and energized by that preaching the          ing. Even as it was the Father's will
enjoy a great catch. So it is with the       members of the church form their             from eternity, so Christ shall raise
preaching of the gospel. The Lord            evangelism societies through which           them up at the last day. And they
calls His servants. That the Lord does       they keep on printing and handing            shall all appear before Him without
not call everybody is seen from the          out pamphlets, sponsoring lectures,          spotorwrinlde,intheassemblyofthe
fact that He does not call the crowd         and the like. All of this is done in         elect, in life eternal. And all the honor
that is situated on the seashore, but        faithful obedience to the call of Christ.    and praise and glory shall be God's
the four fishermen. Today the Lord is             And the Lord draws. As He               forever and ever. Q
in heaven and He does not call His           drew the fishes into the net, so He
servants directly, but indirectly            now draws His people unto Himself.                Now thanks be unto God,
through the church. But callHe does.         Even though He makes His servants                  which always causeth us
Only those receiving such a call have        fishersof men, He remains the Great                   to triumph in Christ,
the authority to preach. That is a truth     Fisher of men. Men today do not                      and ma&h manifest
that is largely lost in our modern           catch men all by themselves, but it is           the savour of his knowledA:e
society. It seems as if anybody and          always Christ who catches men                         by us in eve y place.
everybody can go forth as a herald of        through them. It is Christ who regen-              For them .that are saved,
the Lord, speaking in the authority of       erates His people and who calls them                and in them that perish:
His name. But this miracle, and later        with an irresistible calling. He calls                  To the one we are
Paul, make it abundantly clear that no       irresistibly, "Come unto me, all ye             the savour of dea th unto death;
one can preach except he be sent. To         that labor and are heavy laden, and I                    and to the other
the church Christ gives pastors and          will give you rest." And all who labor            the savour of life unto life.
teachers; and through that church He         and are heavy laden come and find                    And who is su-icient
calls and qualifies.                         rest. He gives faith and grace; He                      for these things?
     Note also the obedience of faith        justifies, sanctifies, and preserves even                    II Corinthisns 2:14,15
to this call. Though they had toiled all     unto the end. It is His work, even
night long and had caught nothing,           though He works that work through
through Peter they responded, "Nev-          us. Therefore, it is His word, and His                   C R E A T I O N   -
ertheless at thy word I will let down        word alone, that brings men into the                         ISSUE
the net." So too it is with us today. It     net of the gospel and saves them. All                      Reminder:
alllooks so hopeless. As churches we         the glory, then, belongs to Him, and            There are still copies of the
are small. Here in New Zealand that          to Him alone.                                      May 1 `Special Issue"
is especially the case. The whole                                                                on creation available
denomination of the Protestant Re-                     What incentive                            at just 50 cents each.
formed Church of New Zealand con-            .to keep letting down the net,                             Order now,
sists of one congregation of seven
families. So we along with the rest of           knowing that the power                       single or multiple copies,
the church of Christ sometimes be-                 of the almighty God,                        from the business office,
lieve that allis so hopeless. The world            not our puny efforts,                        while the supply lasts.
is so exceedingly wicked and becom-            brings men into His church
ing yet more so. What possibly can be                                                        Reminder to college students:
                                                     and unto Himself!
accomplished by our small church in                                                              Those attending college
her letting down the net of the gospel                                                            will receive a copy of
                                                  What encouragement for the
into the sea of men? Surely there must                                                             The Standard Bearer
                                             church, no matter how small she is
be abetter method than the preaching                                                                   free of charge
                                             here on the earth! What incentive to
of the gospel, which appears to be an                                                                while in college.
                                             keep letting down the net, knowing
exercise in foolishness. It all seems to                                                            Please let us know
                                             that the power of the almighty God,
be for nothing. Certainly something                                                          where we can send vnur couv.

                                                                                                 August 1,1991  I StandatdSearar  1445


                                                 H o m e   Schoolers
                                                 Appeal Certification
                                                 Requirement to
Church and                                       Michigan Supreme
Sate                                             C o u r t
James Lanting  '


      Therefore, it is entirely irrelevant to    DeJonges testified at trial that they             Least Restrictive Means
inquire, as this Court did, into the ques-       have a "religious conviction that God                  The DeJonges disagree. Al-
tion: is it a violation of the Delonges'         commands  parents to educate their                though theyadmitthe statemayhave
beliefs to hire a certified teacher? Certifi-    children at home." They argued the                a "compelling interest" in an edu-
cation is a red herring in examining the         Michigan law violates the First                   catedcitizenry, they argue that teacher
burden issue. It would be a violation of         Amendment which forbids a govem-                  certification is not the "least resihic-
the DeJonges' religious beliefs to delegate      ment from passing laws that "pro-                 tive means" of achieving that goal.
the education of their children to their         hibit the free exercise" of religion.             TheDeJongesnote  that out of the fifty
pastor, his wqe, a school teacher, or any-       The trial judge found them guilty of              states, only two-Michigan and Iowa
one else. God requires them to teach their       truancy, fined them $400, and they                - still insist upon the "archaic" re-
own children. To the DeJonges  clelega-          have been appealing their case ever               quirement of teacher certification. All
tion of their children's educafion  to any-      since.                                            the other 48 states permit home school-
one else would be a sin.                              A Michigan appellate court has               ing by non-certified parents, requir-
                            DeJonge Brief,       twice affirmed their convictions and              ing only that the students periodi-
        State of Mich. v. DeJonge, 1990.         upheld the constitutionality of the               cally submit to standardized testing
                                                 certification law, but the DeJonges,              or a review of a portfolio of their
1st Amendment Issue                              represented by attorneys from the                 work. Thus they contend that
      Ever since 1984, Markand  Chris            Home School Defense Association,                  Michigan's requirement of certifica-
DeJonge of Allendale, Michigan, have             are now appealing to the Michigan                 tion of home schooling parents is an
beenbattlingthestateinthecourtsfor               supreme court for the second time.                unconstitutional and needless viola-
their right to home school their seven                 In constitutional terminology the           tion of their religious liberty and be-
children. Michigan law requires all              issue in the DeJonge case is this:                liefs which compel them to educate
students to be taught by certified               whether the state's teacher certifica-            their own children at home.
teachers. Sinceneitherof theDeJonges             tion requirement which burdens the                     The DeJonges also argue (some-
is certified, they contend the law pre-          parents' religious beliefs about edu-             what convincingly, given the condi-
vents them from obeying God's re-                cating their childrenis "essential" and           tion of the public school system) that
quirement that they personally edu-              the "least restrictive means" for                 the evidence is overwhelming  .that
cate their own children. Both                    achieving the state's "compelling in-             teacher certification does not neces-
                                                 terest" in the education of children.             sarily guarantee performance of the
                                                 The appellate court, ruling against               teacher or the learning of the student.
                                                 the DeJonges, stated:                             Several educational studies have
                                                   Maintamingandimproviningthequal-                shown that there is "no positive cor-
                                                   ity of our education continues to be            relation" between educational per-
                                                   one of the most important issues in             formance of the student and the
                                                   Michigan today. The teacher certifi-
                                                   cation requirement is a backbone in             teacher's certification.
                                                   the protection of this vital interest. . . .         Accordingly, the DeJonges con-
Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland             The certification requirement is the            tend that since 48 states in the nation
Protesfant  Reformed Church, is a prac-            least obtrusive means of achieving              find it unnecessary to enforce teacher
ticing attorney.                                   the state's interest.                           certification to achieve their educa-

446lStandardBearerlAugustl,1991


tional goals, and since there is no           tenacity and resolve in pursuing their        mands each parent personaZZy  to edu-
scientific evidence that certification        legal appeals to have the certification       cate his children to the exclusion of
enhances greater learning, Michigan           law judicially repealed.                      Christian day schools is an unortho-
should abandon its "sacred cow" of                 But what is troublesome about            doxnotionindeed. Refusing children
teacher certification.                        the Dejonges' view of education is            attendance at a godless state school is
         Notwithstanding previous             not their disenchantment with certifi-        one thing; to argue it is sinful for
school decisions which indicate that          cation but rather their insistence that       parents to hire trustworthy tutms or
the Michigan supreme court is evenly          God requires all parents personally to        Christian school teachers who teach
divided on the issue of certification,        teach their children, and that it is a sin    "in the place of the parent" appears to
most observers speculate that the             to delegate that task to a tutor or           be untenable at best.
DeJonges will prevail and the court           school teacher (see quote above from                Moreover, this view smacks of
will now strike down the certification        the DeJonge  appellate brief).                selfishindividualism to the detriment
requirement (most likely on the                                                             of the concept of a "community" of
grounds that it is not "essential" or              The practice of parents                  believers. The Christian day school
the "least restrictive means" for                    delegating the task                    movement in this country has had a
achieving the state's educational in-                                                       long and noble history, evidencing
terests). Meanwhile, the DeJonges                         of education                      the possibility of establishing (excel-
continue to educate their children in               to a Christian teacher                  lent schools staffedby competent and
the basement of their home, confident          who stands in loco parentis                  professional teachers supervised by a
the supreme court will eventually rule                    is older than                     community or association of parents
in their favor.                                 Calvin's Geneva Academy.                    cooperating together, financially and
                                                                                            otherwise, to make such schools a
The Sin of Delegation                              Although theDeJonges  certainly          reality.
         One would certainly hope that        have the constitutional prerogative to              The alternative is not attractive
the DeJonges will prevail and that            embrace such a belief, it would seem          -hundreds of harriedmothers, teach-
Michigan's onerous and oppressive                                                           ing their children correspondence
certification requirement will be             theymayhaveadifficultifnotimpos-
                                              sible task of demonstrating that such         courses in basements across the land,
struck down once and for all. This            an extreme view is biblical or Re-            and our Christian day schools closing
archaic and bureaucratic stipulation          formed. The practice of parents del-          because of meager enrollments and
has long plagued private and paro-            egating the task of education to a            lack of funds. Because we may have
chial schools in Michigan who wish to         Christian teacher who stands                  thefreedom to teach our own children
establish their own teacher compe-                                              in loco     at home, does not necessarily mean
tency standards. And the DeJonges             parentis is older than Calvin's Geneva
                                              Academy. To insist that God com-              that we should choose that option over
perhaps should be praised for their                                                         a Christian day school in the area. 0

 Taking Heed fo The Preciousness
the Doctrine
Rev. Charles Terpstra                         of  ,KnOwing God

           "Know then thyserfi presume not    sophical work, "An Essay on Man"              knowledge of ourselves. But as he
God to scan;                                  (1733-34),  are certainly echoed by our       says a bit later, "... It is certain that
           The proper study of mankind is     modern-day evolutionists and self-            man never achieves a clear knowl-
Man. rr                                       esteem proponents. But in contrast to         edge of himself unless he has first
                                              this view, the Reformed Christian             looked upon God's face, and then
         These words of the English poet,     says, "Know then thy God! Presume '           descends from contemplating hiim to
Alexander Pope, found in his philo-           to scan the Godhead, for the proper           scrutinize himself" (I, chap. 1, sect. 2).
                                              study of mankind is God!" It is true,         It is the knowledge of God which is
                                              as John Calvin writes in the opening          first and foremost in all of life.
Rev. Terpstra is pastor of the Protestant     words of his Institutes, that all the              I intend in my brief series of
Reformed Church of South Holland, IZZi-       wisdom we possess is composed of              articles under this rubric to have us
nois.                                         two parts - knowledge of God and              make a "study" of God, to "contem-

                                                                                                   August 1,1991/ StandardSeam 1447


plate" Him. I have been assigned to          tion of theirbookasks, What is above         apostle sought the same thing of the
write on the area of doctrine knows as       all things precious?" And the answer         people among whom he labored, so
"theology," the doctrine of God. And         is: "The knowledge of the true God           that, for example, he prayed withlout
the way I want to treat this subject is      through Jesus Christ Whom He has             ceasing on behalf of the Ephesian be-
not dogmatically but practically, i.e.,      sent."                                       lievers, "that the God of our Lord
toconsiderwhatablessingitisforthe                                                         Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
Christian to know God. This is not to                  .., the science of God             give you the spirit of wisdom and
downplay sound doctrine and right               is the greatest knowledge                 revelation in the knowledge of him."
thinking, for as Sinclair Ferguson has                                                    And finally, in Jeremiah 9:23,24 we
written, "to be a Christian is not a             one can seek and attain.                 read:
mindless  experience, but involves                                                          Thus saith the LORD, Let not the
knowledge and understanding" (A                   Knowing God is precious, first            wise man glory in his wisdom, nei-
HeartFor  God, p. 13). Yet as he goes        of. all, because it is the HIGHEST             ther let the mighty man glory in his
on to explain, this knowledge and            KNOWLEDGE there is. There is no                might, let not the rich man glory in
understanding are most practical; it         greater knowledge that a person can            his riches: But let him that glorieth
                                                                                            glory in this, that he understandeth
means "a personal relationship and           obtain than the knowledge of God. In           andknowethme,thatIarntheLORD,
personalacquaintancewiththeLord"             our day when every other science               whichexerciselovingkindness,jud,g-
(ibid, p. 13).                               (area of knowledge) is elevated and            ment,andrighteousness,intheearth:
      This implies that our approach~        worshiped, we do well to remember              for in these things I delight, saith the
is that of faith. We do not approach         that the science of God is the greatest        LORD."
the doctrine of God as unbelieving           knowledge one can seek and attain.           Notice this. Jehovah says that we
skeptics, wonderingwhether Godcan            Our Reformed fathers used to refer to        must not boast in anything else but in
be known and inquiring into various          the doctrine of God (theology) as the        the fact that we know Him. Is that
proofs for His existence. We approach        "queen of the sciences" (cf., e.g., the      true of us? What do you and I glory
this subject as those who believe in         "Form for the Installation of Profes-        in? In our wisdom? In our might? In
the Triune God, Father, Son, andHoly         sors of Theology" hthePsaZter). How          our riches? Or in our knowledge of
Spirit. We start with the basic belief       many of us still consider it to be so?!      thetrueandlivingeod?  Onlythelast
that God not only is, but also that He       How many of us are seeking this              mentionedboastingdelights  theLord.
is the God of our salvation in Jesus         q u e e n ?                                  All other glorying is vain.
Christ. We begin with the under-                  Charles H. Spurgeon  expressed                   In the secondplace, the knowl-
standing that He can be and is known         it well in a sermon of his:                  edge of God is so precious because it
by all those who believe in Him.                  The highest science, the loftiest
                                               speculation, the mightiest philoso-        is SALVATION  and, LIFE. As S.
      This is our starting point, not          phy, which can ever engage the at-         Ferguson has written, "The knowl-
because the knowledge of God is                tention of a child of God, is the name,    edge of God is the heart of salvation
somethingwehaveofourselvesnatu-                the nature, the person, the work, the      and all true spiritual experience.
rally, but because God has revealed            doings, and the existence of the great     Knowing Him is what we were cre-
Himself to us. That is, He has made            God whom he calls Father. . . . The        atedfor. It willoccupyus throughout
Himself known to us in His holy                most excellent study for expanding         all eternity" (ibid.,  p. 13).
Word, the Bible, and He has worked  in         the soul, is the science of Christ, and             ,This too is plainly taught us in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit, II that we      Him crucified, and the knowledge of        the Word. In the prophecy of Jeremiah
might know the things that are freely          the Godhead in the glorious Trinity.
                                               Nothingwill  so enlarge the intellect,     God promised that the essence of His
given to us of God" (I Cor. 2:13). This        nothingsomagnifythewholesoulof             new covenant with His people would
truth of divine revelationis what Rev.         man, as a devout, earnest, continued       be this: "And they shall teach. no
Marvin Kamps has laid down as a                investigation of the great subject of      more every man his neighbor, and
foundation in his series of articles on        the Deity (Quoted in Knowing God,          every man his brother, saying, Know
the doctrine of Scripture. This is the         J.I. Packer, pp. 13,14).                   the Lord: for they shall all know me,
only reason we.can  truly know God                This is corroborated by the holy        from the least of them unto the great-
and believe on Him unto salvation.           Scriptures. In Proverbs 9:lO the in-         est of them, saith the LORD" (31:34).
      With that introduction, I want         spired Solomon teaches us, "The fear         And in that startling statement of
us to see the great preciousness of the      of the Lord is the beginning of wis-         Jesus' high-priestly prayer we find
knowledge of God. To know God is             dom: and the knowledge of the holy           Him saying, "And this is life eternal,
to have something of great worth and         is understanding." The apostle Paul          that they might know thee the only
value; it is something to esteem very        in Philippians 3:8 confessed what was        true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
highly and cherish. This is what the         most precious to him: "Yea doubt-            thou hast sent" (Jn. 17~3).  Notice that.
catechism students in the Protestant         less, and I count all things but loss for    According to our Lord, to know God
Reformed "Essentials of Reformed             the excellency of the knowledge of           is everlasting life! Do we understand
Doctrine" class learn. The first ques-       Christ Jesus my Lord. . .." And this         this? The knowledge and skill we

448/.StandardSearerlAugustl,l991


have in our work will not save us.                      And the Word of God substanti-        believer. What an incentive then for
Our knowledge of math or biology or                ates this. Daniel 11:32 teaches us that    us to know the Lord and grow in the
English literature will not save us.               "the people that do know their God         knowledge of Him! Let us apply our
But the knowledge of God will, for it              shall be strong, and do exploits."         hearts and minds to the continual
is eternal life.                                   Would we be strong to endure our           study of our God, the knowledge of
      Finally, in the third place, to              sufferings and trials? We must know        whom is the highest knowledge, is
know God is so precious because it is              God. Would we be strong to over-           saving knowledge, and is comforting
of great COMFORT to the child of                   come Satan and his temptations? We         knowledge!
God. C.H. Spurgeon  again put this                 must know the Lord. Proverbs l&l0                  Since in this series of articles we
beautifully:                                       further instructs us thus: "The name       cannot possibly cover the scope and
      Oh, there is, in contemplating               of the LORD (i.e., the knowledge of        depth of the'doctrine of God, allow
   Christ, a balm for every wound; in              Him as revealed in the Word - CJT)         me to recommend some good read-
  musing on the Father, there is a qui-            is a strong tower: the righteous           ing:
  etus for every grief; and in the influ-
   ence of the Holy Ghost, there is a              runneth into it, and is safe." And to
  balsam for every sore. Would you                 quote no more, it is in knowing God        1.      Calvin's  Institutes, Books I, II
  loseyoursorrow? Wouldyoudrown                    that "we know that all things work         2.      J.I. Packer's Knowing  God
  your cares? Then go, plunge your-                together for good" and that nothing        3.      Sinclair Ferguson's A Heart For
   self in the Godhead's deepest sea; be           "shall be able to separate us from the     God
  lost in his immensity; and you shall             love of God, which is in Christ Jesus      4.      A.W. Tozer's  The Knowledge of
  come forth as from a couch of rest,              our Lord" (Rom. 8:28,39).                  the Holy
  refreshed and invigorated (Quoted                     It is for these reasons that the      5.      Arthur Pink's The Attributes of
  in Knowing God, Packer, p. 14).                  knowledge of God is precious to the        God  cl





 The Strength
 of Youth
Rev. Barrett Gritters


                                                   When?                                      finally bringing about the last battle
      Jesus Christ is coming again!                     The battle of Armageddon (or          - Armageddon.
     I believe that! Every Sunday                  GogandMagog)willbethelastbattle                    During this last battle, all the
     evening, in our heart or with                 the world experiences. In this battle,     judgmentsofGodcomeonthisearthly
     our mouth, we confess this:                   the divided kingdom of Antichrist          creation (see Matt. 24:29). In the heat
     "I believe in Jesus Christ . . . he           fights against itself. The nations of      of the battle, God will darken the sun,
     shall come to judge the living                Gog andMagog which were joined to          make the moon like blood, and hurl
     and the dead."                                thebeast  (Antichrist)willcomeagainst      the stars from the heavens. Also this
      This same Jesus who came                     the beast in battle.                       planet will suffer. The foundations
     to planet earth some two                           This battle will end the persecu-     will shake with a great earthquake.
     thousand years ago, who                       tion of the saints. Before this battle,    Boulders of hailstones will fall to the
     gave Himself in love for us,                  the Antichristian kingdom was in the       earth. Pestilence will break out.
     will come back in that same                   height of its power and glory - one        Waterswill turn to blood. The air will
     love for us.                                  world government and one world             be polluted. Animals will die in great
                                                   economy, with prosperity that this         numbers. (See Heb. 12:26,27; Rev. 6,
                                                   world has never known. In the middle       and 16.)
                                                   of that prosperity will be the great               Then, Matthew 24 says, will ap-
                                                   tribulation. But when God pours out        pear the sign of the Son of Man in
                                                   the vials of His wrath, the kingdom of     heaven. Then the tribes of the earth
                                                   Antichrist will be weakened, causing
Rev. Gritters  is pastor of the Protestant  Re-                                               shall mourn. Then the dead shall be
formed  Church  of Byron  Center,  Michigan.       her to attend to her own suffering,        raised and we shall ever be with the

                                                                                                       August 1,1991  IStandardBearer  1449


Lord in His kingdom. Here, Jesus            visible coming. In contrast to those            Will you look forward to any-
answers more directly the original          who say that this is a secret coming,      thing else? Will you let your hope for
question of the disciples: "When shall      we believe that all men will see Him       any earthly event eclipse this hope?
the end come?"                              (see Matt. 24:27,30  and Rev. 1:7).        God forbid that we do! God grant
                                                 Jesus' coming again will be a         that we have this hope burning in our
The Second Coming                           wonder, an incomprehensible miracle.       breast!
        There is a danger that we must      Every eye will see Him! But, you say,
try to avoid as we think about the end      perhaps He comes "on the clouds"           The Rapture
times. We have not entirely avoided         .over our brothers and sisters in               Christ comes again to raise the
it so far. The danger is that we focus      Singapore; yet we in America will see      dead. ThisiswhatMatthew24means
our attention on what will happen to        Him? Indeed! You explain this by           when it says that the angels will gather
US at the end. That there are signs we      satellite transmission of a television     together His elect from the four winds,
must see, happenings to beware of, a        picture? Scripture explains it as a        and what I Thessalonians 4 means
duty to be engaged in, is all true. But     miracle.                                   when we read, "The dead in Christ
that we lose proper focus is a real              Jesus' second coming will be a        shall rise first: Then we which are
danger.                                     coming with splendor! In His first         alive and remain shall be caught up
        The disciples were concerned,       coming, it was with shame and weak-        together with them in the clouds."
remember, with the question, "What          ness and dishonor. In His second He             This is the resurrection of the
shall be the sign of thy coming?" Our       comes with power and glory! Oh,            deadbodiesofmenandwomen,bod-
calling is to focus our attention on the    how I wait for that day when the           ies decayed in the grave, bodies scat-
Lord. Basic to all our studies of the       tribes mourn (Matt. 24), Antichrist is     tered to the wind in ashes, bodies
end timesmustbe theattitude, "Lord,         consumed by Jesus (II Thess. 2), and       digested by lions and whales. These
we look forward to being in glory           the wicked hide from His presence          will live again.
with Thee, when Thy kingdom is es-          and plead for the mountains to fall             Paul is speaking in I  Thes-
tablished perfectly and all men bow         upon them. Our Lord, Jesus Christ,         salonians of the dead "in Christ."
the knee to Thee and every tongue           will come in great glory!                  This does not mean that the dead
confesses Thy name. When wilt thou                                                     outside of Christ will not be raised.
come?"                                                                                 They will. And their resurrection will
        Christ is coming again. But be-          All of earthly histo y                take place at the same time, not a
ware that you are not deceived about           waits for this moment -                 thousand years later. But Paul does
this either! Some explain the Bible's                                                  not have them in mind here. He is
teaching abou&Jesus' second coming             the coming again of Jesus               comforting the saints. Paul speaks of
as the full coming of Jesus' ideals and          to usher in the eternity              the dead in Christ, and distinguishes
teachings. Believe them not. Others                of the new heavens                  the dead in Christ from those who are
claim that the personal coming of                  and the new earth.                  alive in Christ! First, those who are
Jesus that Matthew 24 describes is a                                                   dead in Christ shall arise; then those
triumph of Jesus' gospel. Believe them      The End of the World                       who are alive in Him. (Those who
not. Still others teach that there will          The disciples were surely right       have any contact with  pre-
be two separate "comings again" of          when they connected the end of the         millennialists ought to study this pas-
Jesus, a secret coming at the "rap-         world with Jesus' second coming, as        sage carefully and see what it teaches.)
ture," and a visible coming at the          they did in Matthew 24~3. Earthly               We who die before Jesus comes
"revelation." This is based on I            history and earthly creation  come to      again may be of good cheer! We die
Thessalonians417,  which supposedly         an end at the moment of the return of      "in Christ" and we are dead "in
teaches that. Believe them not. There       the Son of Man.                            Christ." In the grave, we and our
is one coming again of Jesus and one             Butwemustnotunderstandthis            loved ones who have died are really
physical resurrection from the dead.        in this way: that Jesus stops every-       joined to Christ. Not only are we in
Jesus' second comingis the end of this      thing when He comes again. The             Christ by faith so that our souls will
age.                                        return of Jesus is the beginning! If we    go to heaven; we are in Christ in our
        Jesus' coming again will be a       may speak that way, it is the begin-       bodies, so that our bodies must arise
personal coming. In contrast to those       ning of eternity, thebeginning of what     when Christ comes again.
who say that it is a coming of Jesus'       GodplannedinHiscounseletemally.                 It is so certain that our bodies
ideas and teachings, or those who say       All of earthly history waits for this      will rise from the dead when Jlesus
it is a triumph of the gospel, we be-       moment -the coming again of Jesus          returns, that the Bible refers to us as
lievethat Jesuswillretum-personally.        to usher in the eternity of the new        only "sleeping" (see IIThess. 4:13,14,
As He went up, so will He return            heavens and the new earth.                 15; Acts 7:60; I Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51;
(Acts 1:ll).                                     Jesus' coming again brings that       etc.). This does not mean that when
        Jesus' coming again will be a       goal to reality.                           we die, our souls become unconscious,
&O/StandardBearerlAugustl,1991


and that when Jesus returns, He wakes        which are alive and remain shall not
us up. We willbe awake immediately           prevent them which are asleep." Pre-         The Protestant Reformed
after death (Luke  23:43). When the          vent simply means "to go before, or                     Seminary
Bible refers to us as sleeping, it points    ahead of someone." We will not.
us to the certainty of our resurrection      They will rise first.                         INVITES YOU TO AN
in the body. When you go to bed at                Comfort yourselves with these          INTERDENOMINATIONAL
night, you expect to get up in the           words.
morning. Unless something is dread-
fully wrong with you, there is no            God Will Be Glorified                       CONFERENCIE
doubt that you will get up. Now,                  But let us not forget the main
when you lie on your deathbed, you           purpose of Jesus' coming again. Jesus           OCT. 30-NOV. 1, 1991
must be that certain that you will rise      willbeglorifiedinit,andGodinHim.                       TO DISCUSS
again, in your body!                         Jesus comes again, according to Mat-
     This is God's work. God will            thew 24, "with power and great                         "The
raise us from the dead when Jesus            glory."
returns.                                          God will be glorified at this sec-       Reformed
     But God does this through Jesus.        ond comingbecause there the wicked
Jesus is the one by whom God will            will be condemned and punished.                 Doctrine
raise the dead. First, Jesus is the          All those who rejected Him, who per-
means of our resurrection because,           secuted His saints, who worshiped                  of Holy
having died for our sins, He gained          theAntichrist,willbebroughttojudg-
for us the right to rise from the dead.      ment. They will "mourn" (Matt.               Scripture"
Second, Jesus is the means because,          2430). But God's elect will be gath-
having risen Himself, He has the abil-       ered in. This will be the great glory of              SPEAKERS
ity to give life to others. He is the        God. God saves His people, finally
living Lord. Third, on that last day,        and entirely. Because it is completely      Rev. Robert D. Decker - Professor
                                                                                         of Practical Theology, Prot. Ref.
Jesus Himself actually raises the dead       His work, God will be adored by us          Seminary speaking on
by His almighty power. On that day,          for the sovereignty of His grace.                    "The Inspiration of
Jesus will speak a great word, a victo-           Look forward, then, to ourmeet-                  Holy Scripture."
rious command to the dead: "Awake            ing Christ in the air at His coming.        Rev. Herman C. Hanko - Professor
thou that sleepest, and arise from the       Christ! We'will go to Him then! We          of Church History and New
dead!"                                       will forever be with Him in glory!          Testament,  Prot: Ref. Seminary
                                                                                                      speaking on
     This is the rapture. The dead in        Together we will enjoy Jesus into eter-        " A Reformed Hermeneutic."
Christ shall rise first. (At the same        nity! And then the prayers that God's
time, the dead outside of Christ will        people have been raising for thou-          Dr. Nelson D. Kloosterman  -
                                                                                         Professor of Ethics, Mid-America
be raised). A moment later the living        sands of years will be answered com-        Reformed Seminary, Orange City,
in Christ will be caught up in the air,      pletely. "All glory be to thee, Father."    Iowa, speaking on
ever to be with the Lord. We hold no                                                        "Holy Scripture and Ethics."
secret rapture of living saints to be          Discussion questions:                     Rev. David J. Engelsma - Professor
with Jesus for seven years, and then a         1.  WhatdoestheHeidelbergCat-             of Dogmatics and Old Testament,
thousand years later a resurrection.                                                     Prot. Ref. Seminary speaking on
                                               echism say ought to be our atti-              "Genesis Chaps. 1 thru 11:
Jesus will come again to raise the             tude towards the second com-                       Myth or HIstory?"
dead - all of them - some to ever-             ing? (See Lord's Day 19.)
lasting life, some to damnation.               2.  What hinders young people              QEmDlscussloNIQFOLLO\u
                                                                                                   S U B
                                                                                                   EACH J E C T
                                               from hoping for Jesus' second
Loved Ones Sleeping?                           coming?                                             To be held at
     The Reformed teaching of the              3. Whathelpsyoungpeoplethink                The Protez$ita;Ieformed
coming again of Jesus is comfort for           more about (hope for!) the sec-                 4949 lvanreStAve.
us regarding our loved ones who have           ond coming of Jesus?                           Grandville Michigan
died. They will not miss out on the            4. If there is nothing left of a                         49618
glory of Jesus' second coming. Paul            body, as in a fire or being de-            $25 COST INCLUDFS CONFFRFNCF
putsthatfeartorestinIThessalonians             voured by an animal, how can                              SF&y&
2 by showing that the dead in Christ           that  body be raised?                       I  ODGING   - SINGLE $25. pBLs30
will rise first; then we who are alive         5. Practice explaining how I              Write / Fax (616)531-3033 / or
and remain will be caught up to Him.           Thessalonians 417does not teach                Phone (616)531-1490
This is what that peculiar statement           araptureasthepre-millennialists               for further information.
in verse 15 means when it says, "we            believe it. 0

                                                                                             August 1,1991  lStandardSearer/451


                                                                The Book of Ruth
Search the                                                                      Lesson V
Scriptures                                             "My Redeemer"
Rev. Carl Haak                                                                Ruth 43 -10

         Boaz had promised Ruth that he       also have to take Ruth as his wife.         way of buying us by His precious
would see to her rights as a widow in         This the man refused to do, for the         blood from the awful punishment we
Israel. Naomi had assured her that            fieldwouldthenwindupinthehands              deserve, and from the spiritual dleath
Boazwouldnotrestrmtilhehaddone                of Elimelech's family, which would          into which we fell with Adam."
it. And so it was; the very same day          be represented in the first son Ruth
found Boaz at the gate of Bethlehem,          bore. If he married Ruth and she bore       Memory Work - I Peter 1:18,19)
representing the cause of Ruthbefore          him a son, the parcel of land would be            "Forasmuch as ye know that ye
the elders of the city.                       lost. In fact, he would "mar his own        were not redeemed with corruptible
         The gate of the city in that day     inheritance," that is, jeopardize it by     things, as silver and gold, from your
was the near equivalent of our present        mortgaging it for the money to re-          vain conversation received by tradi-
county court house. Here all business         deemNaomi'splot,andallfornaught             tion from your fathers;
was transacted. There contracts were          as far as he would be concerned. For              "But with the precious blood of
publicly verified, trials were held,          the nameless kinsman, it was simply         Christ, as of a lamb without blernish
judgment made, verdicts were given            a financial consideration. Love for         and without spot."
and carried out. Boaz evidently was           the covenant and continuation of
one of the elders of the city, and went       Elimelech's family played no role in        Points to Ponder:
to take up his seat at the gate of the        his consideration (Matt. 6:19-21).          1.    From your understanding of the
city. By this action he gave notice that           Following the custom prevail-          principles of "redemption" by the
he had a legal matter on his mind,            ingin Israel, Boaz then asked the man       "near kinsman" as given in the book
which he wanted transacted. (On the           to take off his shoe, the shoe with         of Ruth, formulate the doctrine of our
"gate of the city" see Deut. 16:X$            which he would otherwise step onto          redemption  by our "elder brother,"
17:9ff.;22:15ff.;  Job29:7ff.;Prov. 31:23;    the field to be redeemed. The re-           Jesus Christ. (Look up New Testa-
II Sam. 15:2, etc.)                           moval of the shoe was a sign that he        ment passages on Redemption, Re-
         It was not longbefore the nearer     waived his right to the parcel of land      deem, Ransom and try to state in 4-5
kinsman answered. His name is never           and his right toserve as redeemer (see      steps what it means to be redeemed
mentioned. That is not without sig-           Ps. 60:8). In the presence of the elders    by Jesus Christ.)
nificance; for the man shows that,            and the people standing at the gate,        2.    What went on at the "gate"?
though outwardly a member in Is-              Boaz solemnly accepted the obliga-                a. What was the nature of this
rael, he has no true inheritance, his         tion to serve as the redeemer of            meeting place?
name is not found written (Phil. 4:1-         Elimelech's family by marrying Ruth               b.How did Boaz know the l&s-
4). In the presence of ten elders, Boaz       and returning the land to its original      man would be there?
asked the man if he was prepared to           owners. The people and elders call                c. Was this gathering the same
buy back Naomi's property for her.            upon the Lord to bless Boaz and Ruth.       as a court?
The man declared that he was willing               Do not fail to see the underlying      3.    Is there significance in the fact
to do so. He had it all figured out;          truth here of redemption. The passage       that the kinsman is never named?
although he was buying the field for          is a beautiful shadow of things to          (What does it mean to have one's
Naomi, it would surely revert to him          come, ourredemptionby Jesus Christ.         name mentioned in God's book?)
and his family when Naomi died.               Rev. Heys touches on this when he           4.    Whydidthekinsmanfirstsayhe
Boaz responded that the man would             writes, "wonderfully, this was a            would redeem Naomi's land and then
                                              shadow of the reality that Christ           change his mind?
                                              would come and take His church to                 a. Was the kinsman wrong in
                                              Himself as His bride, so that she can       turning down the opportunity to re-
                                              live with Him in His house of many          deem Naomi?
 Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant        mansions. He takes her away from                  b.How would he have "marred
 Reformed Church of Lynden,  Washing-         Satan and the firm grip that he has         his own inheritance"?
 ton.                                         upon us. This he did in a very legal              c. Give an evaluation of the mo-


     tives and principles governing the             ing of the shoe signify?                     to each other?
     near kinsman, and apply them to our-           6.    What is the significance of Boaz's              b.What obligation does this
     selves as temptations we face and              calling the people to be witnesses of        place on the people and us?
     warnings we must heed.                         the transaction that has taken place?        7.       Review your memory work.
     5.       What did the taking off and giv-            a. How are we faithful witnesses       Now write it from memory! [I


     BOOK REVIEWS

     Christian Life Classics, Jay P. Green,         ness that emphasize the glory of God         essential attributes is under attack
     Sr., Editor. Lafayette, IN: Sovereign          in sound doctrine; that do justice to        omnipotence; omniscience; eternity;
     Grace Trust Fund, 1990. 758 pages.             the Christian's life and practice in         simplicity; and immutability. `These
     Hardcover. $24.95. (Reviewedby the             relationships with others; and that          attacks are not veiled and implicit,
     Editor.)                                       place the holy life in the fellowship of     but bold and explicit. Denying the
                                                    the church, this book will be profit-        eternity of God as that attribute ac-
              This is Volume III of a twelve-       able to correct a weakness in some of        cording to which God is abov'e and
     volume set entitled "The Fifty Great-          us, namely, our neglect of fervent,          outsideof time,Nicholas Wolterstorff
     est Christian Classics."                       personal, experiential spirituality.         writes:
              Seven different works on the                The work by Frances Havergal                 The biblical writers regard God as
     holy life of the child of God by seven         (authorof"IGaveMyLifeforThee"),                    having a time-strand of his own on
     different authors are bound between            "Kept for the Master's Use," is shal-              which actions on his part are to be
I    attractive gold and green covers. Most         low. What is worse, it skirts the                  found, and that some at least of these
                                                                                                       actions vary in such a way that there
     are well-known writings by old wor-            heresy of the "second blessing" i.e.,              are changes along the strand . . . . The
     thies in the church: "Holiness" by J.          the teaching that some Christians                  God who acts . . . seems clearly to
     C. Ryle; "The Rare Jewel of Christian          obtain a distinct, higher level of salva-          change . . . . Temporality embraces us
     Contentment" by Jeremy Burroughs;              tion at some point after their conver-             along with God . . . . It is not because
     "Precious Remedies Against Satan's             sion by consecrating their life wholly             he is outside of time - eternal, im-
     Devices" by Thomas Brooks; "The.               to the Lord: "a fuller and further                 mutable, impassive - that we are to
     Art of Meditation" by Joseph Hall;             blessing" (p. 260). Like all forms of              worship and obey God (pp. 81, (82).
     and "How to Prepare for Commun-                the error, it holds before the saint the              The Concept  of  God, one  of
     ion" by Matthew Henry.                         realpossibilityofvirtualperfectionin         Zondervan's "Academic Books," is a
              Overall this volume willbe help-      this life. Exactly this is one of the        fine, little work for acquainting min-
     ful to the believing reader in promot-         dangers that ever dog the heels of an        isters and other inquiring theological
     ing what has been called "experimen-           "experimental religion" that allows          minds with these contemporary is-
     tal religion" -personal Christian ex-          itself even the slightest separation         sues. Although the book is not easy
     perience. An excerpt from "The Art             from a thoroughly and solidly doctri-        reading (by virtue of its topic), it is
     of Meditation" will give the flavor of         nal Christianity. +                          characterized by the clarity that marks
     the whole:                                                                                  an author who thoroughly under-
           For it is by meditation that we ran-     The Concept of God, by Ronald H.             stands his subject and is intent on
           sack our deep and false hearts, find     Nash. Grand Rapids: Zondervan                teaching others. The new theology
           out our secret enemies, come to grips    Publishing House, 1983. 127 pages.           that is radically reconstructing the
           with them, expel them, and arm our-      Paperback. $9.95. [Reviewed by the           Christian conception of God is "`pro-
           selves against their re-entrance. By     Editor.]                                     cess theology." Nash gives as lclcid a
       meditation we make use of all good
       means, fit ourselves for all good du-                                                     description and as keen an analysis of
       ties. By meditation we see our weak-               The doctrine of God hasbecome          process theology as I have seen.
       nesses, obtainredress, prevent temp-         a hotbed of theological debate in both                The value of the book lies in its
       tations, cheer up our loneliness, tem-       Protestant and Roman Catholic circles.       description of the doctrinal devdop-
       per our occasions of delight, get more       Theologians are challenging the clas-        ments of the present day, not in its
       light unto our knowledge, add more           sical (and creedal) Christian doctrine       uncompromising defense of the faith
       heat to our affections, put more life        concerning the being and attributes          concerning God. Nash is quite con-
       into our devotions (p. 427).                 of God. God's being must no longer           cessive toward the attacks on the at-
              If this were the only book from       be thought to be perfect, transcen-          tributes of God, although at the end
     which one learned holiness, his life           dent, and spiritual. Rather, He is           he sharply rejects process theology as
     would tend to be self-centered, indi-          developing, dependent upon the               such:
     vidualistic, and morbidly introspec-           world, and, at least in part, identified       A being who is not essentially om-
     tive. Read with other works on holi-           with the world. Every one of God's             nipotent or omniscient, who is not

                                                                                                           August  1,199l lStandardSearerl453


            the sovereign and independent Cre-                   It is Dr. Clark's contention that         the Gospel; that a few sermons are
            ator, is neither worthy to receive our           reliance on emotion and personal              inadequate; that asmuchelucidation
           -worship nor to bear the title "God"
     I                                                       experience is destructive of the Gos-         as possible must be given (p. 61)....
            (p. 115).                                        pel. In fact, reliance on emotion and         The Gospelis  a message, not an emlo-
               Of particular interest to a Re-               feeling was the source of modern-             tion. And.as a message it is received
          formed reader is the discussion of                 ism. The apostasy of the large de-            by the intellect, not the emotions....
          "Divine Omniscience and Human                      nominations today resulted from a             Now, since as Colossians 1:5 says,
          Freedom" in chapter 4. Contempo-                   deliberate emphasis on feeling and            the Gospel is the word of truth, its
                                                                                                           receptionhastobeanintellectualad.
          rary theology, as well as contempo-                personal experience (p. 25).                  Truth cannot be received by the emlo-
          rary philosophy, struggles mightily                    Much evangelism is character-             tions (p. 35).
          with the question, how man can be                ized by an attempt to "lead" people
I                                                                                                             It is also Dr. Clark's point that
          truly free, if God knows everything.             into making a decision. In this book          any evangelism is counterfeit when
               Of special interest to the Protes-          Dr. Clark does not teach.about  evan-         and if it defines faith only in terms of
          tant Reformed reader is Nash's de-               gelism in general. Rather it is his           emotion and not of
          fense of the logical nature of God: "A           stated purpose to examine today's               an act of the unitary person, in Scrilp-
          supralogical God would be unknow-                evangelism from the unique, but most            ture called the "heart," or the ti SOL&"
          able and unintelligible. . . .              A    interesting perspective of how it plays         of whom the activity of the under-
          supralogicalGodisaGodaboutwhom                   up to human emotions. He analyzes               standing and of the will are essen-
          nothing can be said or known. More-              the methods of modern evangelism,               tial.... If an evangelist holds to this
          over, a supralogical God wouldintro-             ala Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, Billy          position he will preach the Gospel. If
          duce devastating implications into               Sunday, and Robert Schuler (whose               he has other ideas of faith, he will
          any religion promoting such a con-               pictures appear on the book's cover).           almost necessarily adulterate the
          cept" (p. 40).. Nash is taking issue             As Dr. Clark says,                              Gospel, alter the message, and handle
                                                                                                           the Word of God deceitfully (p. 88).
          with those who introduce contradic-                Therearealltoomanypointsatwhich                  For the reviewer, some matters
          tionintothebeingofGodbyasserting                   this study (of evangelism - RVO)
                                                             could begin. The one chosen here            of difference or of question did arise.
          that omnipotence means God's abil-                 has to do with the tone of the evange-
          ity to do the logically impossible, e.g.,                                                      Understandably, Dr. Clark stands in
                                                             listic service. We shall examine the
          squaring the circle. But his rejection                                                         the Westminster tradition of not in-
                                                             placeof  emotioninevangelism.  This
          of a supralogical, or illogical, God               matter is really more important than        cluding assurance in his definition of
          applies as well to the doctrine that               it may at first seem. It brings to light    faith, as the Heidelberg Catechism
                                                                                                         does. Hemaintainqalthoughnoproof
          God both predestinates some only to                elements of great significance in the
          be saved and wills (desires) every                 life of the church that holds these         is given, that God has laid the obliga-
          human to be saved. Such a God                      services (p. 3).                            tion to evangelize upon every Chris-
          would be a "supralogical" God,                         It is Dr. Clark's contention that       tian (p. 7), rather than upon the church
          "about whom nothing can be said or               today's evangelism neglects the mind          through its ministry of the Word. He
          known." We may expect that advo-                 and truth, and appeals to emotions            seems to neglect the growth of the
          cates of the well-meant offer in Cal-            and feelings.                                 church which comes by means of the
          vi&tic circles will fall upon Ronald                   If insistence on personal experi-       salvation of the seed of the covenant
          Nash with the same fury that they                ence is a reaction to dead orthodoxy,         when he states that evangelism is
          pour out on the Protestant Reformed              then, Dr. Clark says, "I wonder               indispensable because without its
          denial of a will in God to save every            whether -perhaps even dead ortho-             continually winning people the
          man.  +                                          doxy might not be preferred to living         church will die (p. 1). Sadly, no proof
                                                           heresy."                                      is given in this book for the decl,ara-
          Today's Evangelism: Counterfeit or                     In his typical style Dr. Clark has      tion made three different times ,that
          Genuine, by Gordon H. Clark.                     achapterentitled"WhatIsEmotion?"              seventy-five per cent of the time the
                                                           -
          Jefferson, Maryland: The Trinity                      and in it no clear definition of         Bible defines "heart" as "mind."
          Foundation, 1990. 145 pages. $6.95               emotions is given. The reviewer won-               These questions and a few oth-
          (paper). [Reviewed by Rev. Ronald                ders if this is not Dr. Clark's way of        ers do not detract from the value of
          VanOverloop.]                                    emphasizing the futility of building          this book It is a vigorous and neces-
                                                           evangelism on something, the defini-          sary warning. It underscores the truth
               This world's society places heavy           tion of which is so evasive.                  that God's people perish for lack of
          emphasis on emotions and feelings.                     Dr. Clark's excellent emphasis          knowledge. It makes clear that the
          People do or do not do things, simply            is that evangelism, along with every-         mandate of the Great Commission is
          because they do or do not "feel like             thing else, must be based only on the         to teach. And it alerts the readers
          it." Dr. Clark effectively deals with            Bible. "Experience teaches us noth-           about the constant temptation to fol-
          this emphasis as it has touched evan-            ing. The Bible does" (p. 32). On the          low our emotions and feelings. Trin-
          gelism.                                          basis of Scripture Dr. Clark                  ity Foundation is to be commended
                                                             insists that evangelism is preaching        for this publication.  0
          454/ust1,1991


News From Our Churches
ML Benjamin Wigger

Evangelism News                                     ings with Rev. Bruinsma.                        least four months, with the possibility
     The Church Extension Commit-                                                                   of spending two more months there
tee of 0urP.R.  CongregationinLynden,               Mission Activities                              depending on the progress of the
WA sponsored a six-week study class                      Plans have been approved by                work Their purpose in going is to
beginning April 30 on the subject of                the Council of First Church in Grand            assist the Evangelical Reformed
"Origins." The class, led by their                  Rapids, MI that Rev. denHartog, along           ,Church in dealing with certain prob-
pastor, Rev. Haak, studied the origin               with First's pastor, Rev. Joostens, will        lems that relate to their developing as
of creation, man, sin, etc. All mem-                conduct the next seminar for four               Reformed churches, and to appraise
bers of the church were welcome, as                 weeks this August-September in Ja-              the opportunities for further mission
well as friends and interested people               maica. This seminar will again focus            work and theological training.
from the community.                                 on the fundamentals of the Reformed                    On June 16, the Hudsonville, MI
      The Evangelism Committee of                   faith.                                          PRC extended a call to Rev. C. Haak
our Southwest PRC in Grand Rapids,                                                                  toserveasmissionarytoLame,North-
MIreported  to their congregation that              Denominational Activities                       em  Ireland.
they had received over 60 requests                            On June 18, the members of the               Rev. R. VanOverloop  has de-
for tapes of the lecture they spon-                 West Michigan area P.R. churches                clined the call to serve as missionary
sored recently in their church, which               were invited to attend the annual               pastor to the island of Jamaica from
was also printed herein TheStandard                 Sunday School Teachers and Parents              the First PRC in Grand Rapids, MI.
Bearer.  The committee is busy mail-                Mass Meeting, held this year at the                    The Hope PRC in Isabel, SD ex-
ing out the tapes, along with pam-                  First PRC of Grand Rapids. Rev.                 tended a call to Rev. R. Hank0  to
phlets and invitations to attend their              Koole spoke on the subject, "The in-            serve as their pastor.
worship service.                                    ability and refusal of the disciples of                And, finally, we want to add our
      We want also to add here before               Jesus to understand Jesus' teaching of          congratulations to Mr. Mitch Dick,
another issue goes by that the Evan-                the nature of His kingdom."                     whocompletedhisseminaryyearsby
gelism Committee of our Peace PRC                                                                   successfully passing seven and one
in Lynwood, IL sponsored a lecture                  Congregational Highlights                       half hours of oral exams. His exami-
held at the Illiana Chr. High School.                         In an effort to stay in touch over    nation began with a sermon, followed
Rev. B. Glitters gave his excellent                 the summer, the congregation of the             the next day by an examination in
biblical presentation on the subject of             Grandville, MI PRC is againsponsor-             Theology, followed by exams in Bible
"The Antichrist."                                   ing "Coffee-time at Wedgewood                   History, Church History, Church
      The Evangelism Committee of                   Park." The ladies and children plan             Order, and Practica.
the First PRC of Holland, MI spon-                  to get together every other week for                   Maybe by the time you read this,
sored the Reformed Bible Studies                    coffee, refreshments, and fellowship            Mitch Dick's name will be added to
project in Holland. These studies                   in the park                                     one of the above calling churches'
were conducted in a neutral place -                           All ages were welcome to attend       trios.
a rented hall. The topic for this par-              a summer Bible Study beginning July
ticular study was "The Church: her                  9 at the Southeast PRC in Grand Rap-                       CONGRATULATIONS!
marks, the preaching, the sacraments,               ids, MI. On every Tuesday for the                         August, 1991, the Lord willing,
and discipline." Classes were held                  remainder of the summer, Prof. David            will mark 50 years that the Lord has
every other Tuesday evening, and the                Engelsma hopes to lead the class on             sustained our father,
four-week outline was handed out at                 the subject of the Reformed doctrine                        REV. JOHN A. HEYS,
the first meeting so that people could              of the "Order of Salvation": Regen-             in the services of the Protestant Re-
preparefordiscussion. Members from                  eration, Calling, Faith, etc. . . .             formed Churches. We thank God that
the congregation were also encour-                                                                  His covenant blessings have been
aged to attend to meet the visitors.                Ministerial Calls                               with our father and our prayer is that
Classes were held for an hour and a                           Rev. J. Kortering has declined        God will use him for years to come.
half and refreshments were served.                  the call he was considering to serve as                   "While I live will I praise the Lord:
Deane Wassink co-chaired the meet-                  the pastor of our Southeast PRC in              I will sing praises unto my God while I
                                                    Grand Rapids, MI. We can also men-              have any being" (Psalm 146:2).
                                                    tion here that Rev. andMrs.  Kortering                       Burton and Ardess VanProloyen
Mr.  Wigger   is  a  member  of  the  Protestant    have agreed to go to Singapore begin-                                 John and Sandra Iieys
Reformed Church  of Hudsonville,  Michigan          ning sometime in September for at                                Sidney and Joyce Nienneyer
                                                                                                      *        August 1 , lS9l / StandardBearer  1455


&DMD
   BL-IARER                                                                                                               S&CO/w CLASS
                                                                                                                          Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                          Grand  Rapids, Michigan
   P. 0. Box 6064
  Grand Rapids, MI 49516


                NOTICE!!!                               WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                rial for this session must be in the
        Classis West of the Protestant                    It is with thankfulness to God                   hands of the Stated Clerk no later than
Reformed Churches will meet in                      that we announce the 40th wedding                      August 12,199l.
Edgerton, Minnesota, on Wednesday,                  anniversary of our parents and grand-                                          Jon J. Huisken
September 18,1991, at 8:30 AM, the                  parents                                                                          Stated Clerk
Lordwilling. AllmaterialfortheAgenda                   DAVE and SUSAN NLSTRA
is to be in the hands of the Stated                 on July 13,199l. They are members                                    NOTICE!!
Clerk, 30 days before Classis con-                  of First Protestant Reformed Church
                                                    of Edmonton, AB. We are grateful to                        Bible Study at Dordt College
venes, that is, by August 19,199l. All              the Lord for blessing us with parents                       A group of students dedicated to
delegates in need of lodging or trans-              and grandparents who have perse-                       the historic Reformed faith is making
portationfrom theairpottshould notify               vered to lead us by a godly walk and                   plans to meet together again this year
the Clerk of Edgerton's Consistory                  example in wisdom and in truth. May                    for a Bible study. The meetings, spon-
using the forms provided for that pur-              our Lord and Savior preserve them in                   sored by the Protestant Reformed
pose.                                               their marriage, and may He continue                    Churches in the area, are held on
           Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk              to bless us with their guidance.                       Monday evenings at 7:00 in the Dordt
                                                          Their wedding text of 40 years                   College library. For this coming year
        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                         ago is very applicable to the life they
                                                    have led together and with us as a                     the students have chosen to study the
        On July 25, 1991, the Lord will-            family. "Rejoicing in hope; patient in                 first 11 chapters of Genesis. Any
ing,                                                tribulation; continuing instant in                     student at Dordt is welcome to attend.
         MR. and MRS. ARNOLD                        prayer," Romans 12:12.                                 If you have any questions, please call
                HAVEMAN                             John and Hilda Zylstra (timmti,  me)                   Rev. Russ Dykstra (712) 726-33132.
celebrated their 50th wedding anni-                       Adam, Rachel, Mark,
versary. Their children and grandchil-                    Aaron, Joshua                                        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
dren give thanks to our heavenly Fa-                Martin and Adeline  Zylstra                                 On August 20, 1991, the Lord
                                                                                      (CMlUwack,  EC)
ther for Christian parents. We are                        Venessa, Darrin, Daniel,                         willing, our parents and grandparents,
grateful for their Christian instruction                  Sharmain, Angeline ,                              REV. and MRS. JOHN A. HEY'S,
and pray the Lord will continue to 1 Herman and Geraldine Klaassens                                      1 will celebrate their 50th wedding anni-
bless them and keep them in His care.                                                 -. 4                 versary. We rejoice with them and
"For the Lord is good, his mercy is                       Michael, Sara, Rebecca,
                                                          Heather, Pamela, Alison                          also thank our gracious Lord for the
everlasting and his truth endureth to               Clayton and Jacqueline  DeGroot                        years they have shared and for the
all generations," (Psalm 100:5).                                                       (Lecomh  m          constant love, covenant instruction,
Chet and Sharon Haveman                                   Clinton, Heidi, Laura                            and guidance they have given us. Our
        Janna, Mike                                 Richard and Arlene Schmidt wros~an.  me)               prayer for them is that they may con-
                                                          David, Beverly, Wilfred
Betty Haveman                                       Edward and Patricia Huizing (Edmonton,  ~131           tinue to experience the blessings of
Will and Sue Haveman                                      Jonathan, Justin, Stephanie                      our faithful God in the years that He
        Jennifer, Nicole, Derek                     Richard and Marsha Span                                may give them.
Laverne and Mary Haveman                                                   (Rooky Mount&  House, AB)            "But the mercy of the Lord is from
         Geoffrey, Elizabeth, Amy,                        Robert, Matthew, Maria                           everlasting to everlasting upon them
         Carrie, Catherine                          Timothy and Jill Zylstra (-, m)
                                                          Joel, Cameron, Megan                             that fear him, and his righteousness
Dale and Ruth Kraker                                Joe and Valerie VanGelderen                            unto children's children; to such as
        `Ryan, Lauran, Lisa                                                           (Edmonton, AB)       keep his covenant and to those that
                               Holhnd,  Michigan    Rhoda Zylstra and                                      remember his commandments to do
           ADVANCE NOTICE!                                Peter Hendricks (fiance)                         them" (Psalm 103:17,  18).
                                                                                   (shti Park, AB)
         Plan for the RFPAAnnual Meet-                                                                     Burton and Ardess VanProoyen
ing in Grandville Church on Thursday, I                                                                         Duane and Debra
                                                                   NOTICE!!!
September26, at 8 PM. Rev. K. Koole I                              I
                                                          a.  .,                                           John and Sandra Heys
                                                          c;IassIs East will meet in regular                    John, Lorinda, Sonja, and Trisha
will speak. Ladies are welcome for the              session on Wednesday, September                        Sidney and Joyce Niemeyer
non-business portion at which time 3                11, 1991 at the First Protestant Re-                        Laura, Heather, and Eric
new board members will be elected. 1 formed Church, Grand Rapids. Mate- 1


