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                                                                                                                                                                                          I
Vol, 68, No. 7
Jantiary I,1992


CONTENTS:                                                                               January I, 7992                   &DMD
 Meditation - Rev. Barry L. Grifters                                                                                           BEARER
       No Greater Love ............................................................................. 147
 Editorial - Prof. David J, Engelsma
       The Standard Bearer: Holding the Traditions (4) ........................ 149                                      ISSN 0362-4692
 Letters ....................................................................................................    150     Semi-monthly. except monthly during June, July, and&gust.
A Cloud of Witnesses.- Pro f Herman C. Hanko -                                                                           Publlshed bythe Reformed Free Publishing Association. Inc.,
       John Wycliffe: Morning Star of the Reformation (1) .................... 152                                       4949  lvanrest  Ave.,  Grandville,  MI  49418.  Second  Class
                                                                                                                         Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
All Around Us - Prof. Robert D. Decker ................................................                          154     Postmaatrr: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
`Guest Article- Rev, Corhelius Hanko ...                                                                                 P.O. Boi 603, Grandville. MI 49468-0663.
       Musings at the Close of the Year .................................................. 155                           EDITORIAL  COMMllTEE
 Guest Article - Rev. Richard G. Moore                                                                                   Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
                                                                                                                         Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
       Unbelief's Attempt to Dismiss Sin (2) .................... ..-. ..................... 157                         Managlng.Editor:  Mr.  Don  Doezema
 Search the Scriptures - Rev. Car/J. Haak                                                                                DEPARTMENT EDITORS
       Malachi, Lesson 3                                                                                                 Rev.  Ronald  Cammenga,  Prof.  Robert  Decker,  Rev.  Arfe
       Where is My Hqnor? ...................................................................... 159                     denHartog.  Rev. Russell  Dykstra, Rev. Carl  Heak, Mr. Fred
                                                                                                                         Hanko,  Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John  Heys, Rev. Marvin
 From Holy Writ - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                                                 Kamps.  Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Kenneth Koole,  Rev. Jason
       The Term "Conscience" Investigated ........................................... 161                                Korterlng, Rev. Date Kuiper, Mr. James Laming, Rev. George
                                                                                                                         Lubbers, Mrs. MaryBeth Lubbers, Rev. JamesSlopsema,  Rev.
 In His Fear'- Rev. Arie denHartog                                                                                       Chartes  Terpstra, Rev. Ronald VanDverloop, Mr. Benjamin
       The Importance of Cliristian Scholarship ..................................... 163                                Wigger,  Rev. Bernard Woudenb-erg.
A Word Fitly Spoken - Rev. Dale H. Kuiper                                                                                EDITORIAL OFFICE             CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
                                                                                                                         The Standard Bearer          Mr. Ben Wlgger
       Near.. . Nigh .................................................................................... 165            4949 Ivanrest                6597 40th Ave.
The Day of Shadows - Rev. John A. Heys                                                                                   Grandvilla.  MI 49416        Hudsonville.  Ml  49426
                                                                                                                         SUSlNESk  OFFICE             NEW ZSALiiND  OFFICE
       ThatBlessed Gain that Cometh .................................................... 165                             The Standard Bearer          The Standard Bearer
                                                                                                                         Don Doezema                  c/o Protestant Reformed-,;  ,b, ._L
 News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger.. .............................. 167                                       P.O. Box 603                    Church
                                                                                                                         Grandville, MI               B. VanHerk
                                                                                                                           49416                      66 Fraser St.
 In This Issue ..,                                                                                                       PH:  (616)  536-1776         Walnulomata, New Zealand
                                                                                                                               (616) 531-1490
                                                                                                                         FAX:   (616)  5319033
        Rev. Korteringhadintended  to continue  providingMeditations  for the SB, though                                 EDlTOAlAL  POLICY
it would  mean sending  them from the other side of the world. He has however  been                                      Every editor is solely responsible for the contents of his own
-kept so busyin  Singapore  that he was compelled  to askfor relief. Happily,  Rev. Gritters                             articles.  Contributionsofgeneral  Interestfrom ourreadersand
                                                                                                                         questions   for  The  Reader  Asks  department  are  welcome.
is willing  to fill in for his father-m-law. We welcome  Rev. Gritters  back to the pages of                             Contributions will  be limited to approximately300  words and
the SB therefore,  in this issue  and in alternating  issues  hereafter  for the next couple  of                         mustbeneatlywrittenortypewritten,andmustbeslgned.           Copy
months.                                                                                                                  deadlines  are  the  first   and  fifteenth   of  the  month.  All
                                                                                                                         communlcattons relative to the contents should be sent to the
        Rev. Cornelius  Hank0  has at our request  submitted  a Guest Article  for this issue.                           editorial office.
`The end of another  calendar  year moves Rev. Ha&o  to "muse," in this article, on the                                  REPRINT POLICY
end of all things, particularly  the end of a ministry  which  he sees as coming  to a close.                            Permissionis  herebygrantedforthereprintlngofarticleslnour
In his musing  he calls to mind  a few of the many  occasions  in which  he ministered  to                               magazine byotherpublications, provided: a) thatsuchreprtnted
those who were  then, as he is now, on the "last stretch" of the road home. That  was,                                   articles are reproduced in full; b) that proper acknowledgment
                                                                                                                         is made:  o) that a copy of the periodical in which such reprint
incidentally,  one of Rev. Ha&o's strengths  - a counselor-friend  to the hurting  and the                               appears is ssnt to our editorial offtce. )
lonely. If ever there was a minister  with a shepherd's  heart it was he. But his ministry                               SUBSCRIPTION  POUCY
included  much  more. Having  been  ordained  in 1929,  he recalls  1924 well, and his                                   Subscription  price:   $12.00  per  year  in  the  U.S.,   $15.00
memories   of 1953  are vivid. No wonder  therefore  .that the  thoughts  of this weary                                  elsewhere.  Unless   a  definite  request  for  discontinuance  Is
warrior  turn, at the end of his article,  to Revelation  1413  - "... may  they rest from  their                        received,  It  is  assumed  that  the  subscriber   wishes  the
                                                                                                                         subscriptionto  continue, and hewlll be billedforrenewat.  If you
labors." Fitting,  too, that that verse  ends with "and their works  do follow  them." His,                              haveachangeofaddress,pleasenotiitheEuslnessOfficeas
by the wonderful  grace of God, surely  will.                                                                            earty  as  possible  In  order  to  avoid  the  Inconvenience  of
        Rev.  Moore   in  this  issue.concludes   his  treatment   of  "Unbelief's   Attempt   to                        interrupted delivery. Include your Zip or Postal Code.
Dismiss  Sin." The article  was prompted,  you will  recall,  by correspondence  he had had                              ADVERTISING POLICY
with an acquaintance  who decided  to "come out of the closet" after havingrationalized                                  The StandardSearerdoes  not accept commercial advertising
                                                                                                                         of any kind. Announcements  of church and school events,
his sin away, apparently  even persuading  himself  that his life style was the will  of, and                            anniversaries,  obituaries, and sympathy   resolutions will  be
therefore  pleasing  to, God Himself.  We see again in this second  installment  that Rev.                               placed for a~33.00 fee. These should be sent to the Business
Moore's  purpose  is not to focus on this particular  man or on this particular  sin, but                                Cffice and should be accompanied bythe33.00 fee. Deadline
                                                                                                                         for announcements Is at least one month prior to publication
rather to show,.from  a real-life  situation,  the terrible  progress  of sin, of hardening,  in the                     date.  /
life of the unbeliever.  Unmistakable  evidence  there is that God gives over to his sin one                             BOUND  V O L U M E S
who  suppresses   the  truth  in  unrighteousness.   There   is,  ultimately,   in  unbelief,   an                       The  Business `Cffice will  accept standing orders for bound
`arrogance  that is chilling.  But, as Rev. Moore  so fittingly  reminds  us, we should by this                          coplesdfthecurrentvolume. Suchordersarefilledassoonas
example be warned, and be moved to thanksgiving,  for it is only of sovereign  grace that                                possible after completion of a volume year.
,God's  laws are written  on the tables of our hearts.                                                                   16mm  microfilm,  35mm microfilm  and 105mm microfiche,  and
                                                                                                                 D.D.    article  &piss  are  available  through  University  Microfilms
                                                                                                                         International.


Meditation                                    MO Greater Love
Rev. Barry Griiters


                                              love of giving. And, to make that           man, God gave up life, His own
                                              clear to them, Jesus illustrates by the     earthly life, for our sakes. Now Paul
                                              example of His own love: "Greater           can say in II Corinthians 519, about
                                              love hath no man that this, that a man      the ministry of reconciliation that he
                                              lay down his life for his friends."         preached, "God was in Christ, recon-
                                                   Of course, Jesus means to show         ciling the world to himself, not im-
Greater love hath no man than this, that      them what kind of love they ought to        puting their trespasses unto them . . . . II
a man lay down his life for his friends.      show each other, a love that goes to        The nails of the cross were driveninto
                             (John~l5:13)     the extreme sacrifice, the love of giv-     the hands of God in the flesh. The
                                              ing one's life for his friends. This is     blood that flowed was the blood of
                                              our calling while the Lord tarries. -       God in the flesh (Acts 20). In the
          About to be offered for their            But the obvious reference is to        human nature, God went through
sakes, Jesus is giving His last instruc-      His own love for His friends, and the       death for us. So great was the love of
tion&o His disciples, bidding them            laying down of His own life for us.         God for us that in the human nature
farewell.                                           Sacrificial love!!!                   He laid down His life for His friends.
          And He wants His last words to           In these words of Jesus, we feel             So great was the love of Jesus for
stick.                                        the heart of God beating for us, and        His friends, that. he laid down His
          What  Jesus wants His disciples     understand the passion of God for us.       heavenly life. And this is what John
to hear is that whenI-Ieleaves them to        Because the text is speaking of the         15:13 means. What was heavenly life
go to the Father, they abide in Him.          love of a man for his friends, it is        for Jesus but communion and friend-
"Abide in me, and I in you" (John             speaking of Jesus' love for us. But         ship with God, experiencing Father's
15:4ff.).                                     because Jesus' love is nothing less         favor and love? That was life for Him,
          Included in abiding in Jesus is     than God's love, the text is speaking       true life. An echo of that sentiment
abiding in His love: "As the Father           of God's love. By implication, we           sounds out of the OldTestament  man
hath loved me, so have I loved you;           could paraphrase the verse in this          of God: "The lovingkindness of my
continue ye in my love. If ye keep my         way, U So great was the love of God for     God is more than life to me." The
commandments, ye shall abide in my            us, that He laid down His life for His      Lord Jesus is willing to give up that
love: even as I have kept my Father's         f r i e n d s . "                           conscious fellowship with the Fathler,
commandments, and abide in his                      How great was Jesus' love for         to know the forsakenness of the Fa-
loven (vss. 9,lO).                            me? So great that He laid down His          ther and forgo the taste of unity
          Summing up in verse 12, Jesus       life for me! If I ever doubt God's love,    through the Spirit. For the few ago-
says, "This is my commandment, that           ever question how great was God's           nizing hours on the cross, Jesus expe-
ye love one another."                         love, ever have difficulty being            rienced what it means to be forsaken
          But Jesus wants to make clear to    amazed at the work of God in my             of God!
them what it means to love one .an-           salvation, I must think of this word:             The loneliness, the dreadfulness,
other. Not a sloppy, sentimental af-          "Greater love hath no man than this,        the horror, of what we ought to expe-
fection for each other, this love is the      that .a man lay down his life for his       rience eternally, He  did experience!
                                              friends." No greater need hath any                   Can anyone tell of any greater
                                              man than this, that he know the love        love?
                                              of God for him!                                      There are lesser loves. There is
                                                    Jesus laid down His life!             the love of a friend for a friend - a
                                                    He let go His earthly, physical       great love, too - speaking words of
Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant     life. So great was Gods love for us         encouragement and kindness. There
Reformed Church ofByron  Center, Michi-       that He took to Himself our nature,         is a love of a friend for a friend, giving
gan.                                          became a man, for our sakes. As a           up possessions for the sake of his
                                                                                                   January 1,1992/StandardBeararll47


friend'sneeds. Inthelifeofthechurch          gressions be paid for, and in the righ-        cording to the Scripture, is this: Jesus
as the poor are cared for, there is a        teous manner of suffering His wrath            laid down `His life for His friends.
marvelous expression of love. There          in an eternity of hell. Man's inability:            Let it be proclaimed from the
is the love of parents for their friends,    is there any sense in this extreme act,        rooftops: Jesus said to His disciples, I
their children, when the parents give        the laying down of a life in that grue-        lay down my life for my friends!
of their time and energy - almost all        some death, if there were any possi-                If you trace this love of Jesus for
of it! - coming very close to what           bility of the friends making reconcili-        His friends to its source, you find that
Jesus refers to when He speaks of a          ation for themselves? Is there any             it arises out of the eternal hleart of
friend giving life for a friend.             sense in God's coming into our flesh,          God, the eternal friendship  (of God
     But no greater love has any man         suffering the worst agony of body              with His people. In eternity God
than this, that a man lay down his life      and soul, and then dying our death in          chose some to be His friends.           In
for his friends. Ah, what a love is          the flesh, if it were not for the fact that    eternity, God set His love upon us to
Jesus' love for His friends!                 that was the only way for us to escape.        make us His people, to come to us, to
      WiZZingZy  He laid down His life.      the eternal wrath and abandonment              be our God, to draw us to Himself
No one tookit  from Him, against His         of God? Jesus laid down His life for           with cords of everlasting love. This is
will. Oh, how different that would           us because there was no ability in us          election - the eternal setting of love
have been! Then we would always              to make satisfaction for our own sins.         upon a people, to be their Friend.
want to put a question mark behind                     Greater love hath no man than        Now, in time, friendship can be shown
Jesus sacrifice as an expression of          this!!                                         to them and they can be with God.
love. "Was it really love for me?"                     Let the whole world hear: Jesus            And if we will only meditate on
     But Jesus "lays it down." With          laid down His life for His friends!            this for a while, we will know that this
His own hands, as it were, He placed                   Not for the whole world! For         - friendship! - was the purpose of
it on the altar. "Therefore doth my          His friends!!                                  God in all His works, in time and in
father love me, because I lay down                     Contrary to the teaching of al-      eternity. In eternity our blessed God
my life.... No man taketh it from me,        most everyone today, Jesus did not             knew that friendship in the circle of
but I lay it down of myself. I have          lay down His life for the whole world          life of the Father, Son, andHoly Spirit.
power to lay it down, and I have             of men, all men and women. If one              Willing to reveal that life outside of
powerto  takeitagain" (John10:17,18).        understands the nature of the atone-           Himself, He created the worlds, and
      As a  substitute,  Jesus laid down     ment, he knows that that cannot be.            the world of men in His image. What
His life. On behalf of, in the stead of,     The atonement was the giving of a              was Adam and Eve's life, but friend-
in their place, as a substitute for His      life, the payment of a debt, the satis-        ship with God? What was Abraham's
friends, Jesus gave His life. So that        faction of a requirement of God. If            life, but friendship with God? Enoch
they would not have to suffer in that        Jesus died for all men, one of these           and Noah walked with God - as
`way, lay down their life in that way,       things must be true: either Jesus paid         friends! And in the end of time, when
Jesus did.                                   the price for the sins of all men, and all     the tabernacle of Godis with men, the
                                             those men will be in heaven (a thing           friendship of God will go into eter-
                                             unthinkable to any Bible student, even         nity; God will be with us and be our
   Let the whole world hear:                 though many today are thinking it);            God, and we will be His people.
    Jesus laid down His life                 or Jesus actually paid the price for the             Because of that friendship that
          for His friends!                   sins of no man, and the actual pay-            He established with us in eternity,
                                             ment depends on the acceptance of              that is, eternal covenant friendship,
                                             the offer of payment by man (another           He laid down his life, so that we
                                             unthinkable thing to Bible students).          might live, and live with him.
      And in that little word "for" we       There is no other alternative.                       Shall we say it, over and over
have that central of Reformed teach-                   When there is a debate regard-       again? What greater love could there
ings: substitutionary atonement. Jesus       ing the "third point" of Calvinism,            everbe,than that amanlays downhis
laid down His life as a substitution for     and someone claims that the atone-             life for his friends!
His friends. In that truth of substitu-      ment is not limited, but universal, do               Oh, what a friendship is God's
tion is hidden the trio of doctrines:        not be fooled into thinking that the           friendship with us! 0
man's guilt, God's strict righteous-         difference is really only as to how
ness, and man's complete inability to        many people Jesus died for. The
satisfy. Man's guilt: why else must a        question comes down to this: What
life be given than that guilt was in-        was the laying down of Jesus' life?
curred and payment must be made?             Was it actual payment for the sins of
God's righteousness: because God is          certain men? Or did it only make
who He is, a God who does not over-          possible the payment of the sins of
look offenses, He requires that trans-       every man? The Reformed faith, ac-

148/StandardBearer/January1,1!392


                                               The Sfanckvd
                                               Bearer;  Holding-
E d i t o r i a l                              the Traditions (4)

      (Holding the traditions of the Re-         exegesis   -  in  this  case,  the  inter-      there  is  room  for  the  libertas
                                                                                                 prophefandi. If this room is denied,
formed  faith in no way rules out the            preter  of Holy Scripture  - knows
                                                 himself  to be free in the sense that he        the ecclesiastical  walls  are made so
possibility of further development  of  the      submits  himself  to the Word  of God           narrow that none but a certain  theo-
truth. In this conchding instazlment  of         only. In this sense it is perfectly  true       logical  clique  can live within  them.
the four-part series, I guard against a          that no church  authority  nor church         He  warned   that  "when  theologians
stagnant vim of our calling to hold the          doctrine  may dominate  exegesis  (the        attempt to impqse their own pet theo-
traditions and contend  for tk liberty in        interpretation  of Scripture  - DJE).         ries, that have nothing to do with the
the churches that a healthy holding of the     He complains that, not only in the              adoptedstandards,upontheChurch,
traditions requires. - Ed.)                    Roman Catholic Church, but also "in             they become the cause of trouble and
                                               the Protestant churches (there has              schism" (The Standard Bearer, Vol.
      We are called to hold the tradi-         been) a tendency to interpret Scrilj-           23, p. 245).
tions. This is the apostle's command           ture in such a way as to bring it into               This is an admonition  to the lazy
in II Thessalonians 2:15. For those            harmony with the confessions - a                preacher whose sermon preparation
who are Reformed at the close of the           tendency which could not but be det-            consists of nothing more than digest-
20th century, this command takes on            rimental to sound and properly free             ing Hoeksema's treatment of the
urgency from the wholesale aban-               exegesis and the development of                 Lord's Day in the Heidelberg Cat-
donment of the historic, creedal  Re-          hermeneutic principles." Flatly (and            echism, and reading  an old Standard
formed faith by many. But we may               for some, surprisingly), Hoeksema               Bearer  article on his text for Sunday
not forget that the call to hold the           asserts, "never may dogmatics domi-             evening. It is also an admonition to
traditions includes the privilege and          nate exegesis."                                 the  preacher  who  prepares  in  this
duty of developing the faith. For, as                With keen insight, Hoeksema               way  because   he  is  afraid  that  if  he
we have seen, if there is a living hold-       attributes the weakness of the post-            preaches. in his own words, formed
ingof the traditionbyteachingit from           Reformation Reformed church in this             by his own fresh exegesis (interpreta-
the Scriptures, there will also inevita-       area to fear - fear of losing her heri-         tion) of Scripture, and not in the old
bly be development.                            tage:                                           cliches, members of his congregation
      For this, there must be freedom            But there was very  little or no devkl-       will criticize him.
of interpretation of Scripture in the            opment  along  exegetical   and                     This fear is not unfounded.
Protestant Reformed Churches. This               hermeneutical  lines. It seemed  as if              Some members are ready to op-
freedom freely submits to the author-            the gigantic  struggle  of the Reforma-       pose preaching that does not always
ity of Scripture and bows to the rule            tion  period   had,  on  the  one  hand,
                                                 fil.ledthechurchwithacertaindread,            state the truth in exactly the phrases
that Scripture interprets Scripture. It          lest  she  might  once  more  lose  the       to which they have become accus-
also freely limits itself to working             treasured   possession   of  the  truth,      tomed; that dares to express old truths
within the frameworkof  the Reformed             which  she had sealed  with her very          in new ways; that stresses aspects of
creeds. Still there must be freedom in           blood;  and, on the other  hand, it had       the  truth  that  have  been  neglected
interpreting the Bible.                          given  occasion  to a certain  reaction,      before; that develops certain truths
      Herman Hoeksema's insistence               culminatingalmostinexhaustionand              further than the preceding genera-
on this has been muted somewhat                  certainly  in dead orthodoxy  (pp.  42-       tion of preachers have taken them;
among us, I fear. In his seminary                60).                                          and that may differ occasionally with
manual on "Hermeneutics" (the sci-                   Writing  in the late  194Os,              accepted (but non-confessional) posi-
ence of interpreting Scripture),               Hoeksema pleaded for  "libertas                 tions and explanations. In this case,
Hoeksema writes:                               prophetandi" ("liberty of prophesy-             the preacher must not at once meekly
  It  is above  all things  necessary  for     ing"):                                          and prudently back down, merely to
  sound  exegesis   that  the  subject'of        Even on the basis  of the Confessions

                                                                                                     January 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 149


avoidtrouble. Hemustrather defend             the subject is, "The SB: Holding the           formed traditions? Very few! Many
the "liberty of prophesying." Liberty         Traditions."                                   are engines to destroy and bury, once
is preserved only where men are will-                  Of course, the SB is not the only     and for all, the traditions of the Re-
ing to fight for it. Liberty is worth         instrument, or even the chief instru-          formed faith. Others struggle, fu-
fighting for. There comes a time in a         ment, by which we hold the tradi-              tilely as it seems to me, to recozIm  the
preacher's ministry when, like the            tions.                                         Reformed traditions that have been
apostle, against the opposition, if not                The chief instrument is the local     lost in their churches. Those who do
of "falsebrothers," thenof  misguided         church - her pulpit and catechism              defend the faith once delivered to
brothers, he takes his stand, that he         room.                                          Reformed saints certainly are not com-
willnot"giveplaceto  thembysubjec-                    The denomination is also active        mitted to the tradition as developed
tion, no, not for an hour," and for the       inholdingthetraditionsbyhercreeds,             in the PRC.
same reason that motivated Paul:              her assemblies, and her seminary.                   The unique role of the SB lies
"that the truth of the gospel ,might                   The personal confession of the        also in the fact that it is a paLper, a
continue with you" (Gal. 2:4,5).              individual believer, informed by his           publication (and a  free publication,
        In the Reformation's demand for       own study of the Bible, is an impor-           i.e., not subject to ecclesiastical con-
liberty in interpreting the Bible is a        tant aspect of the church's obedience          trol), in which PR people maintain,
warning to our congregations to al-           tol?aul'scommandinIIThessalonians
                                                                        i                    explain, defend, promote, develop,
low this liberty to their pastor in his       215.                                           and hand on the great tradition of the
preaching and teaching and to praise                   But the SB does have a role,          Reformed faith in written form. It
God for a man who exercises this              indeed a unique role.                          instructs the PR denomination. It
liberty.                                              Historically, it has had a central     holds the tradition before the Re-
        Freedom of exegesis!                  role in the holding of the .tradition          formed community. It surveys and
        Freedom of interpreting the           within the PRC. In a speech to the             debates the wider realm of Christian-
Bible!                                        Reformed Free Publishing Associa-              ity. It has a permanent form in bound
        Then the traditionis a Eivingtruth    tion in 1945 (a meeting attended by            volumes, which contributes to trans-
for us. Then a minister can be enthu-         only a handful of men, it was la-              mitting the tradition.
siasticinhis teaching. Then thepreach-        mented), Herman Hoeksema said,                      The 64 volumes of the SB mod-
ing does not drop dead from the pul-          "This organization (the RFPA as pub-           estly serve the tradition today and
pit. And then, perhaps, we dwarves,           lisher of the SB - DJE) is one of the          will, perhaps, until the day when the
standing on the shoulders of the gi-          mostpowerfulmeanstomaintainour-                tradition reaches its goal in Him who
ants who have gone before, may even           selves" (the SB, Vol. 22, p. 20).              will consume the Great Deceiver with
see a little farther in some areas than                To alarge extent, the tradition of    the Spirit of His mouth and who will
they did.                                     the Reformed faith as held by the PRC          give us the knowledge of the truth
        Hold the traditions!                  has been taught, defended, developed,          face to face.
        Hold the traditions in this man-      and passed on to succeeding genera-                 Until that day, "Hold the tradi-
ner!                                          tions on the pages of the SB.                  tions!" 0
        But what, you may ask, has this               What other religious magazines                                          - DJE
to do.with the Standard  Bearer?  For         today are, in fact, holding the Re-


Letters

On a Report of Classis East                   violated Article 31 of the Church Or-               The matter should not go-un-
                                              der by requiring that these brothers           correctedbecause such a position (i.e.,
        I request your allowance for a        remain silent about their position in          that to require silence in the churches
response to and correction of the re-         the churches" (p. 95, first column,            violates the Church Order) is so pa-
port by the Stated Clerk on the "cross        second paragraph). I was part of the           tently contrary to Article 31 that it
issue" before Classis East this past          committee of pre-advice that formu-            would be beyond debate that Classis
September and October (The Stan-              lated the advice adopted. I assure             erred in adopting it. And secondly,
dard Bearer, Nov. 15, 1991). Refer-           you we did not advise, nor did Classis         the implication of such a decision by
ence was made in that report to a             adopt, the position described in the           Classis, had it indeed been made,
decision taken at the May Classis.            clerk's report, though indeed he may           would be that henceforth one may
According to the report, "Classis had         have in all sincerity interpreted it as        feel free to voice public disagreement
decided that . . . the consistory had         such.                                          with settled and binding decisions of

150lStandardSearerlJanuaryl,1992


our major assemblies.                                       a)  receiveinslructionrethese        Response
         There can be no question that             decisions.                                         I've re-read my report of the
Article 31 of the Church Order means                        b) answer the legitimate in-         proceedings of the September / Octo-
that the decisions of our assemblies               quiries of a Consistory re their posi-        ber meetings of Classis East and find
(including those of Classis East in                tion.4. We advise Classis to declare          that it can stand as it is. And,  in
May andinSeptember/October!)  are                  that SW Consistory erred inits deny-          reading Rev. Koole's response to it; I
settled and binding throughout our                 ingthe (appellants) theright  of trans-       find in his letter a great deal of ampli-
churches, and those who disagree                   fer on the ground that the continual          fication of the decisionbut really noth-
with them ought not publicly in con-               insistence of the (appellants) to in-         ing "corrective." The report quoted
versation to voice their opposition to             struct their children re: their posi-         nearly verbatim the decision of classis.
them, no matter what their reaction to             tions is in itself a militating against       I find it difficult, further, to sort out
them is after having read the report of            the decision of the 1990 Synod.               whether Rev. Koole is trying to cor-
the stated clerk in the SB!                                Grounds:                              rect facts or impressions. His letter
         However, if this matter is now to                a.The decision of  Classis             seems to indicate that I have "inter-
become a matter of open discussion                 adopted in B., 2. of the advice desig-
                                                   nating the (appellants) as the weaker         preted" the decisions of classis. ILet
in our churches (which is almost in-               brothersin the cross issue and allow-         me lay that issue to rest as quickly as
evitable in light of the rather detailed           ing them to live their conscience in          I can. I am in no position to interpret
treatment of it in the  SB)  the                   the churches gives to the (appellants)        anything that classis decides. Classis
"discussers" ought at least to know                the right to instruct their children re:      speaks for itself. Neither Inor anyone
what the decision of the May Classis               their conviction of conscience.               else can speak for her. And, further,
actually was.                                             b. The (appellants) indicate that      your readers ought to know that I
          The pertinent parts of that deci-        in the instruction of their children in       bend over backwards not to interpret
sion of the May Classis read as fol-               the cross issue they will not militate        but rather to report as objectively as I
lows:                                              againstthedecisionofthe1990Synod.
                                                   (Here again I omit the evidence from          possibly can. That was especially
         -3. We advise the Classis  to de-         the documents as quoted in 1) and 2)          true in this case since I, as a member
  clare that the Southwest Consistory              - KK.)                                        of Grandville's consistory, was in-
  in its denial of the (appellants') re-                                                         volved in this case.
  quest for transfer erred in interpret-              From the May decisions quoted
  ing Article 31 of the Church Order to          it should be evident that:                           To comment any further on the
  require the (appellants) to be totally              1. The issue was not whether dis-          matter places me in the position of
  silent re their convictions on the cross         senting brothers have the right to            becoming a commentator on the deci-
  issue.                                           talk about their dissenting position          sion. This I may not do nor, for that
           a. Evidence that Southwest              throughout the churches (we all               matter, may Rev. Koole (whether. he
  Consistory's  position is that Article           agree, this is forbidden), but whether        was on the committee of pre-advice
  31 of the Church Order does require              they have the right to instruct their         or not makes no difference -what's
  the (appellants) to be totally silent re         children about their position in the          in the written documents is what
  their convictions on the cross issue.            privacy of their home.                        counts).
  (I                                                  2. This right was granted
         omit here the evidence from the
  documents which follows in 1) and                       a.in the context of their                   The report, by its very nature,
  2) - KK.)                                        consistoiy'srequiring"totalsilence,"          gives a summary of the decisions of
          b. Grounds for this advice:              and                                           the  classis. If anyone has questions
            1) Our churches have always                   b. in the context of the reminder      about the decisions, he/ she may write
  recognized that the binding and                  that Article 31 forbids all militating        for the full, complete decisions of the
  settled character of ecclesiastical de-          against Synodical  (allbroader assem-         classis. This is true, .I believe, for all
  cisions (cf. Art. 31 of the CO) forbids          blies') de&ions [3. b. 1) above set-          decisions of classis taken in public
  members of the churches, who                     ting the boundaries].
                                         dis-                                                    session. That approach would be far
  agree with these decisions, to mili-                    c. in light of the assurance of the    more advisable, in my opinion, than
  tate against them in the churches.               protestants that they would not
  This means that such members may                 charge any others with sin in this            writing and responding to letters of
  notagitateagainst,makepropaganda                 matter.                                       "correction." Whatwestilldon'thave,
  against, speakdisparagingly of, seek                I trust this will clarify the deci-        even after Rev. Koole's letter, is a
  to convince others of the wrongness            sion. I am not convinced that it is             complete transcript of the decision.
  of such decisions. The Southwest               either possible or good to avoid all                                      Jon J HZ4ikdCfYZ
  Consistory goes far beyond this re-            discussion of the issue; but let all be                     Stated Clerk, Classis East
  quirement in its demand of total si-           careful in their discussion not to be
  lence.                                         guilty of agitating against settled and
           2) This requirement of total si-      binding decisions (per the require-
  lence on the part of those who dis-
  agree with binding synodical  deci-            ment of Art. 31).
  sions makes it impossible for such                                   (Rev.) Kenneth Koole
  members to:                                                                    Jenison, MI
                                                                                                       January1,1992/StandardSaarer/i51


                                 John Wycliffe:
A Cloud of                                   Morning,Star of the .
Witnesses                                    Reformation (1)
Prof. Herman Hanko

     The great Protestant Reforma-                embellishedbythefriar'ssensational        dicate that his parents were lords of
tion of the 16th century did not burst            and entertaining sermons that he          the manor in the area, wealthy and
upon Europe as something entirely                 would not know truth from error.          respectable. Little more is known of
new and without preparation. The                  He never saw a Bible in English, and      them, other than the possibility that
                                                  if he could have seen one he would
work `of God through Luther and                   not have been able to read it.'           they totallyrepudiatedtheir son when
Calvin was built upon the work of                                                           he began to teach biblical ideas.
God in men who preceded them and                     Nor were the times peaceful,and             At about 15 or 16 he went off to
paved the way. Two such men were             quiet. They were unusually turbu-              Oxford to study. The years of study
John Wycliffe in England and John            lent. During Wycliffe's short lifetime         were long and difficult: one who
Huss in Bohemia.                             the black death struck Europe and              went through the entire program
     On December 31, the last day of         England and carried away one third             couldnot expect to complete his stud-
1991, the church commemorates the            of the population. Also during his             ies until 33 years of age under ordi-
607th anniversary of the deathof John        lifetime the Peasant's War left parts of       nary circumstances. Wycliffe spent
Wycliffe. It is fitting that we devote       England devastated and brought                 much of his life in Oxford: he gained
this article to him.                         about major economic upheaval. In              his BA in 1356, his BD in 1369, and his
     England was a difficult place to        the church as well confusion and un-           DD in 1372 - although his studies
live in the years of Wycliffe's life.        rest reigned. It was the time when the         were interrupted for two years by
Although a great deal of, emphasis           papacy was not in Rome, the eternal            official business. Not even much is
was placed on education, and the             city, but in Avignon under the control         known about these years. He was
road to success was through the col-         of the French. And, although during            probably in Merton College; was
leges, very few had the means to go to       Wycliffe's days the so-called                  master of Balliol College from 1359-
college, and the lot of the peasant was      Babylonian Captivity of the Church2            1360; and had some dealings with
difficult and spiritually empty. One         came to an end, the end was the papal          Christ's College.
description is graphic:                      schism during which there were two                  Oxford was composed at this
     The peasant could not expect any                                                       time of six colleges. It had about 75
  preaching from the resident priest,        popes, and sometimes three, bellow-            members, all of whom were of the
  but he would get it from the preach-       ing away at each other like mad bulls          clergy, and it served about 1,500 un-
  ingfriar, and from the travellingpar-      and hurling back and forth anath-              dergraduates. It was surrounded by
  doner, with his wallet "bret full of       emas and excommunications.                     priories and halls which were full of
  pardons, come from Rome all hot."                  Very little is known of Wycliffe's
  Besides these religious roundsmen          early life - not even the date of his          monks and friars and were a constant
  there were others who would travel         birth. Some argue for 1324; others for         source of irritation to the members of
  through the winding, muddy roads           1330. He was born near West Riding             the university. It was thebest  univer-
  and green lanes of England: min-           in Yorkshire in a small village called         sity in all of Europe, surpassing even
  strels, tumblers, jugglers, beggars and                                                   the great universities of France.
  charlatans of every kind, living off       fl Wycliffe," which would seem to in-               In 1361 Wycliffe became rector
  thepoorpeasants. Thepeasantknew                                                           in the church of Fillingham, in
  something of the sayings of Christ         1       DavidFountain,John                     Lincolnshire, whichmeant technically
  and Bible stories, but they were so                                      Wycliffe: The
                                             Dawn of theReformation  (Southampton:          that he was its pastor, but whichmeant
                                             Mayflower Christian Books, 1984), p. 4.        in fact (as was the custom in those
                                             This and another book by Douglas C.            days) that he received the income
                                             Wood,  The Evangelical Doctor                  from that parish while he could con-
                                             (Weylands:  Evangelical Press, 1984) are
Prof. Hunko is professor of Church His-                                                     tinue his studies and workin Oxford.
                                             excellent biographies.
toy and New Testament in the Protes-         2       It was so called because the papacy    This did not mean that he totally
tant Reformed Semina y.                      was in Avignon seventy years.                  neglected his parish, for he preached


there from time to time; and it did        money than the king. To add insult to               Wycliffe's defense of England's
make him an ordained minister in the       injury, the money was going to a               rights to keep its revenues within its
Roman Catholic Church. In 1368 he          French pope and eventually found its           own borders was courageous and
was transferred to Lutterworth, a          way into French hands; and France              bold. The deeper he entered into this
parish in which he spent the last years    was at war with England. England               defense, the more clearly he wrote
of his life.                               was thus supporting its enemy in the           against the corruptions of the Romish
      Oxford was, however, the seat        wars.                                          hierarchy. He was the first to call the
of his labors. During his studies, and             So intolerable did this become         pope Antichrist - a name later ech-
for years after he had completed them,     that Parliament passed a Bill of In-           oed by the Westminster divines and
he was a teacher at Oxford. Much of        dictment against the pope which read           incorporated into the Westminster
hisreformatoryworkwasdonewithin            in part:                                       Confession. He denied the pope su-
those halls. He was always and pre-                God bath given his sheep to the        preme power in the church, denied
eminently a professor and not, in the           Pope to be pastored  and not shorn        the temporal rule of the pope in the
first place, a preacher.                        and shaven . . . therefore it would be    nations, denied the power of the pope
      The friars who livedon Oxford's           good to renew all the statutes against    to forgive sins, and, in fact, denied
premises, and who caused the uni-               provisions from Rome . . . . No papal
                                                collector should remain in England        that anyone but a godly pope had any
versity untold grief,  ivere to become          upon pain of life and limb, and no        authoritywhatsoever. Anoldchroni-
the first objects of Wycliffe's anger.          Englishnian, on the like pain, should     cler speaks of Wycliffe as running
He wrote a book, Objectiotzs  to the            become such collector or remain at        about from place to place barking
Friars, which really sounded the trum-          the COW of Rome?                          against the church. The pope, in
pet blast of reform.                                Into this issue Wycliffe was          Wycliffe's own words, was "the anti-
      But the crucialissues came up in     thrust. He not only became involved            christ, the proud, worldly priest of
Wycliffe's life in connection with po-     in the problem as a writer of pam-             Rome, and the most cursed of clip-
litical problems. And, as is so often      phlets and treatises, but he also served       pers and cut-purses."
true of the affairs of men and nations,    on a committee of the king to meet in               It is no wonder that the chunch
the bottom line was money. The             Bruges of The Netherlands with pa-             did not take too kindly to all this.
trouble was that much of England's         pal representatives to arbitrate, if           From the pope on down, notice was
wealth was flowing out of the country      possible, the issues. With patriotic           taken of Wycliffe, and the orders went
and to the papacy. While this had          zeal, he defended the rights of Eng-           out from the highest levels of ecclesi-
been more or less true from the time       land against the papacy.                       astical hierarchy to silence the blas-
that England had come under Roman                   It was in Bruges that two impor-      phemer.
Catholiccontrol,it  was most emphati-      tant things took place which were to                    The first effort made to silence
cally true after King John delivered       have influence on Wycliffe's later life.       him was a summons from the Arch-
England to the pope as the pope's          The first was the fact that, in dealing        bishop of Canterbury to appear be-
kingdom and had received it back as        withpapalrepresentatives, helearned            fore this highest ecclesiastic in Eng-
a papal fief more than 200 years ear-      that they were a treacherous and de-           land for trial. It was an interesting
lier. This was humiliating and intol-      ceitfullot and that they represented a         meeting. The Duke of Gaunt was
erable to good Englishmen. The             papacy which was wholly secular,               there with some of his soldiers, as
charge levied by the pope was 1,000        covetous, immoral, corrupt, and a              well as a large number of people from
marks a year-an almost impossible          tool of French kings. He so com-               the monied classes, many of whom
burden. But money moved out of             pletely lost his confidence in the pa-         supportedWycliffe. Before the Arch-
England in other ways: ecclesiastical      pacy and hierarchy of the church that          bishop could get on with any kind of
offices were sold to the highest bid-      he had nothing but contempt and                a trial, he got involved in a heated
der, with the money going to the           scorn for it from that day on.                 discussion with the Duke over the
pope. Many offices in England were                  The second event of importance        question of whether Wycliffe should
held by foreigners who never-saw the       was that he met the Duke of Gaunt,             sit down -the Archbishop insisting
land in which they held office. Some       whowasinBrugesforotherbusiness,                he ought to stand as a measure of
of those officers were nothing but         and who was probably the most pow-             respect; the Duke insisting he should
children, but they reaped the income       erful man in England after the king.           sit down since the Archbishop did
of the offices - after the pope had        The two became friends -and it was             not really amount to that much. The
been paid off. The pope often moved        due only to the friendship of theDuke          whole meeting ended in a brawl and
bishops from one'see to another and        of Gaunt that Wycliffe was not killed          nothing could be done against
received one year's salary as his part     by the Romish Church.                          Wycliffe. This was on February 19,
of the transaction. Much money for                                                        1377.
the forgiveness of sins was funneled                                                               In April of 1378 Wycliffe was
out of England to the papal coffers. In                                                   once again summoned to the courts of
fact thepopereceivedfive times more        3        Quoted from Fountain, p. 26.          the church, but this time to an assem-

                                                                                                   Januaryl,1992/StandardSearer/153


     bly of bishops. The bishops were            to the church. But this effort also         they had better not condemn him, on
     almost sure that this time they would       proved unsuccessful, for not only did       peril of their lives. This so filled them
     succeed in sentencing Wycliffe to the       Wycliffeenjoythefavorofthepeople,           with fear and consternation &at they
     stake and be rid, once and for all, of      butthequeenmothersentwordtothe              immediately disbanded the mleeting.
     his critical writings and preaching         bishops that, although they could try       God used strange ways and strange
     which were such an embarrassment            Wycliffe  as much as, they pleased,         people to protect His servant. Q



     Al/Around Us
~    Prof. Robert Decker

     Anno Domini  1991                           in the region; arguing that Desert          approval of homosexual unions was
           By the time this titicle is read,     Storm met the criteria for a just war.      defeated by a, large majority. The
     the year of our Lord 1991 will have         Many,  &p&ially  in fundamentalist          Episcopal Church decided that
     slipped into history. As Christians         churches, viewed the war as a @OS-          II sexualexpressionis appropriate only
     we are comforted by the fact that it        sible sign of the end times. The war        in..the context of monogamous mar-
     was indeed the year of our Lord!            created a bull market for apocalyptic       riage." This church had to admit,
     Time and history belong to Almighty         books.                                      however, that this position was "at
     God. Significant events, very signifi-            We know from the teaching of          sdds with the experience of many
     cant events, occurred in 1991, events       Jesus that wai belongs to the signs         church members." A study cammit-
     we would not have believed possible         that herald the nearness of the end of      tee of the United Methodist Church is
     one year ago. And all of these events       the world. But when we hear of wars         urging the church to abandon its con-
     affect God's church and people be-          and rumors of wars we are not               demnation of homosexual practice.
                                                 troubled, because we know that "all
I    cause they are decreed andproviden-                                                           Our Lord's warning that many
     tially governed by God for the sake of      these things must come to pass, but         false prophets would arise, deceiving
     Jesus Christ andHis body, the church.       the end is not yet" (Matthew 24~6).         many, and His warning concerning
     All these events, as well as evejrthing          The second of~,the "top ten sto-       aboundinginiquityorlawlessnlessare
     that occurred in 1991, and in all of        ries" cited by Christianity TO&J is         so evident in our times (Matthew
     history for that matter, serve God's        "Reforms `in the USSR and Eastern           24:11-12).
     purpose to manifestHis  glory in Christ     Europe." Who just a year ago would.               The remaining items on the list
     and in the multitude which no mari          have imagined that the Soviet Union         include: Euthanasia, Religious Lib-
I    cannumber  out of every nation which        and Communism would collapse?               erty, Operation Rescue in Wichita,,
     shall appear in the riew heavens and        And this indeed has had a tremen-           the rising influence of the moderates
     earth (Revelation 7:9-17).                  dous impact on the church. Now, for         in the Southern Baptist Convention,
          Number one on Christianity             the first time in decades, these peoples    the rise of  Protestantism in Latin
     Todny'slist  of "1991's top tenstories"     are open for the preaching sf the gOs-      America, the Recession, and Israel's
     is the War in the Gulf. Operation           pel. Bibles are beingwidely and freely      granting full access to the Dead Sea
     Desert Storm enjoyed wide support           distributed throughout these coun-          Scrolls.
     among the Americ& people. The               tries.  we are reminded of Jesus'.               Pondering these events of 1991
     war was opposed by o&y a few ar-            words,."And this gospel ,of the king-       and more, we would despair were it
     dent pacifists and mainline church          domshallbepreachedinalltheworld             not fir the great truth of the gospel,.
     leaders. While the large National           for a witness unto all nations, (the        "And we know that all things work
     Association of Evangelicals  (NAE)          nations of the Soviet Union too, RDD);      together for good to them  that love
     took no official position on the war,       and then shall the end come" (Mat-          God, to them who are the called ac-
     the director of its Office of Public        thew 2434).                                 cording to his purpose" (Romans8:28).
     Affairs, Robert Dugan, stated pub-               The fact that several denomina-                          Christianity Today
     licly that he supported the use of force    tionsaddressed issues  of sexuality is
                                                 the thirditem on  Christianity Today's      No More Women Preachers
                                                 list. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A.,            The Presbyterian Church of
                                                 the Episcopal Church, and the United        Australia (PCA) decided at its Gen-
     Prof. Decker is professor of Practical      Methodists all dealt with these issues.     eral Assembly that it will no longer
     Theology in the Protesfant  Reformed        A report to the Presbyterian Church         ordain women as ministers. The Tri-
     Seminary.                                   U.S.A. General Assembly calling for         ennial Assembly, meeting September


9-13,1991,  voted 116-65 to amend the.            This is indeed an unexpected             broadcast from the West is being car-
church's articles so that only men will      turn of events. In most churches this         ried by the Soviet media. Sixteen
be ordained as ministers in the future.`     issue has already been decided and            organizations submitted programs to
This decision does not affect the five       women are in the office of the minis-         the Soviets. Soviet officials said th12
women already serving as ministers           try. This is the first denomination of        Back To God Hour had the' highesl
and the one woman candidate for the          which we are aware that has reversed          quality spiritual message and literary
ministry.                                    itself on the issue.                          style. Mikhail Morgulis, the minister
     Not surprisingly, the debate cen-                         REC News Exchange           of the program, said it was a critical
tered on the interpretation of Scrip-                                                      time, and a time to be bold. He said
ture. Some commissioners (delegates)         The Back To God Hour                          his mission was to reawaken the So-
argued for a creational order in hu-         In The Sbviet Union                           viet people spiritually.`~.
man relationships, by which- only                 The Russian-language program-                 Morgulis and Joel Ned&hoed,
males have the office of teacher. They       ming of the Back To God Hour began            the director of TheBackTo  GodHour,
argue-d that New Testament passages          ,airing on the Soviet National Radio were part of an American Evangelical
about men having authority over              and TV on November 1. The Back To             delegation to Moscow.. This group
women have a timeless authority;             God Hour is the radio program of the          met with USSRPresident  Gorbachev,
commissioners on the other side ar-          Christian Reformed Church in North            at his invitation. The.delegation  also
gued that there are many examples of         America. Radio broadcasts will be             met with other leaders to discuss the
women exercising authority in Scrip-         carried weekly, while TV programs             role of religion and thcplace of mis-
ture as judges, prophets, and teach-         will be shown twice per month.                sionaries-in Soviet society.  Q
ers. Passages that appear to disqualify           The significance of this will be                             Calvin&Contact
womenfromministrymustbereadin'               appreciated when one realizes that                               l&C News Exchange
thislight. Theyneednotbebindingin            this is the first time any Christian
every succeeding generation.




                                 M u s i n g s   a t   t h e   .-
 Gubsf Article                               Close of the Year `.
Rev. Cornelius Hanko


     There are a number of firsts in         know that it was his last?                    house to take on the heavenly. How
life; The baby's first smile, its first            For some time the aged pilgrim          varied are the experiences!
step, its first "mama" or "dada."            is aware that he is on the last stretch of                *  $  * ***  *
     There are also firsts in the life of    the road to his eternal Home. He has                Irecallamemberofourchurches
a minister. His first sermon in public,      gradually been easing his backpack            who had a `fearful dread of dying.
his first baptism, his first administra-     by dropping non-essentials along the          When anyone asked him whether he
tion of the Lord's Supper. It is all so      way. His workdays grow shorter,               was not feeling well, he would turn
new, and such a thrilling experience.        since he wearies readily. He stops            pale and respond, "You do'not think
     Then the time comes when he             more often to lay aside his pilgrim's         that I will die, do you?" When the
performs his last baptism, serves his        staff to rest.                                pastor called on .him, prayed with
last Lord's Supper, and preaches his               He turns to musings.                    him, and concluded hisprayer with
last sermon. Should that last sermon               Solomon teaches us that "it is          the petition, "Thy kingdom come,"
be something special, if he were to          better to go into the house of mourn-         the man asked, "How dare you pray
                                             ing, than to go to the house of feasting;     ,that?"       '
                                             for that is the end of all men; and the             "But why? The Lord teaches us
                                             living will lay it to heart." He adds:        to pray that."
                                             "Better is the end of a thing than the             "But then I must die."
                                             beginning thereof" (Eccles. 7:2,8).                 One day the doctor stoppedin at
Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the           The end is the period of transi-        the parsonage to inform the pastor,
Protestant Reformed Churches.                tionforthebelieve!r,leavinghisearthly         "For years Bill has been afraid that he
                                                                                                  January1,19921StandardSearer/155


would die, but now his time has come.                   God works in a mysterious way        was one whom he would never pass
He has cancer."                               His purpose to fulfill.                        by, no matter how busy he was.
     When the hour of his departure                        *  *  *  *  *  *  *                       This elderly woman lacked the
came, a peace of God that passes all                    And then there was the woman         assurance of faith. Her godly walk
understanding came over him.                  who called the "preacher man" to her           was sufficient to convince anyone that
     God's grace is sufficient. How           bedside, asking whether she should             she was a sincere child of God. Yet
often we question it.                         allow the doctor to remove her gan-            she needed to be assured of that over
         *  *  *  *  +  *  *                  grenous leg. The minister informed             and over again.
     A man advanced in years ended            her that there was a far more serious                  She tookgreat pleasure inlisten-
up in the rest home. All his life his sole    problem confronting her, because               ing to the promises of the gospel,
interestwashisbusiness. Heattended            before long she must die.                      always cherishingthe hope that some-
church on Sunday, but was far too                       She heartily agreed, and  re-        how these promises were meant for
busy to involve himself in church             sponded,"ButIdidliveaprettygood                her.
activities. Family visitation was a           life."                                                 Jesus speaks of lambs carried in
painful experience for the elders, since                "Pretty good?"                       His bosom.
he talked, and could talk, only of his                  "Not good enough, is it? I have                 *  +  *  *  *  *  *
business.                                     a son who goes to church." Grasping                    Never will I forget the elderly
     Thebestyearsofhislifewere the            at straws.                                     woman who most certainly could be
last, spent in a rest home. There his                   "You never went to church?"          brandedas "oldfashioned.`-' Shewore
accumulated wealth meant nothing                        "No, but my son prays for me."       here dresses tight to the neckandlong
to him. Humbly he asked his wife for                    "You never pray? It's time you       enough that they touched the Side-
a dollar for a newspaper. Dutifully           start, isn't it?"                              walk as she walked. She would never
she handed over a dollar. When the                      In an anxious voice, "I don't        dare to expose as much as an ankle in
minister called on him, for the first         know how to pray."                             public, but bitterly complained.  `of
time in his life this man showed real                   Then, having taught her a simple     those low necks of the women in the
interest in the things spiritual and          prayer, pleading for forgiveness               church. She was known for her piety.
heavenly.                                     through the blood of the cross, the                    Yet in her old age she found no
     God has His own wise purpose             minister departed.                             peace for her soul. Any reminder of'
in His dealings with each of us.                        The next day, curious about the      the riches of salvation or the hope of
         *  *  *  *  *  *  *                  outcome, he once more went to that             eternal life would meet with the sad
     There was a man lying in the             ward. As he passed the service sta-            response, "It is not for me."
hospital next to a parishioner of one         tion the nurse in attendance informed                  "You believe the Bible is God's
of our churches. The pastor came to           him, "She died already."                       infallible Word?"
visit the parishioner, hardly noticing                  Don't you wonder?                            "Of course."
his neighbor.                                              *  *  * *  $  $  *                        "Youbelieve that Christ died for
     While he was praying, giving no                    And then there was the woman         sinners?"
thought whatever to the man,in the            in the rest home whose grand-daugh-                    "Yes."
next bed, his prayer was disrupted by         ter made her a plaque on which was                     "Scripturesays thatthoughyour
a sudden outcry: "You mean me!                inscribed: "We have here no abiding            sins be as scarlet, I will make you
You mean me!"                                 city."                                         white as snow."
     The pastor then asked the pa-                      As she pointed to it she said, "I            "I know that. But it is not for
rishionerinanundertone,"Whatdoes              don't like that plaque."                       me."
he mean? What did I say that upset                      "You don't?, Why not?"                       You ask, Did she find peace be-
him?"                                                   "Anybody, even a heathen, can        fore she died? She may have, but not
     The only response he received            say that."                                     that we know.
was a shrug of the shoulders.                           "What would you want it to                      *******
     Turning to the disturbed neigh-          say?"                                                  There was an elderly man in the
bor, the pastor asked, What seems to                    "We have here no abiding city,       Holland Home, who carefully took
be the trouble?"                              but we seek one to come."                      his clothing from the drawer andlaid
     The only reply he received was,                    "Yes, that is much better."          them out on his bed.
"You mean me."                                             +  $  *  *  rf  *  +                      When the nurse entered, she
     The man then went into a heart                     When this pious soul heard the       asked, "Are you going away?"
attack and further conversation               footstepsofherpastorcomingthrough                      "Yes, the angels are coming to-
proved impossible. But the next day,          the hall of her rest home she would            day to take me home."
when the minister appeared in the             stand in the doorway to be sure that                   When evening shadows fell on
doorway, he was told in no uncertain          he did not pass her by.                        his room he quietly put away the
terms: "I don't need you. Get going."                   Little did she realize that she      clothing.


          "Didn't the angels come todav?"      sat in her rocker in the corner of her           and the angels come to keep me com-
          "No, my place& not quite ready.      room with a smile of contentment on              pany."
  I have to.wait until tomorrow."              her face as she looked to the opposite                "Blessed are the dead who die in
          Precious in the sight of the Lord    comer.                                           the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith
is the death of His saints (Psalm                    "What do you see, mother?"                 the Spirit, that they may rest from
116:15).                                             "Don't you see them? Angels at             their labors: and their works do fol-
             *  +  *  *  *  *  *               heaven's gate watching over me.                  low them" (Rev. 14:13). May my end
    . Then there was the mother who            When I cannot sleep at night I sit here          be as hers. u




                                               Unbelief's Attempt
                                               to Dismiss Sin (2)

      In the last article on this topic        that was the sin of unbelief, demon-                  First he expressed an abhorrence
  (seeDecember  1,199l issue) we saw           strated by his denial of the authority           of the fact that I dared to speak to him
 the:attempt  of the sinner to excuse his      and infallibility of the Scripture, as           with a tone of authority, pronouncing
: sin, before man and really also before       well as by the doubts he expressed, in           spiritual judgments with respect to
I God. When anyone desires to con-             the course of his attempts to justify            his life. He stated that, "The idea that
  tinue a walk of sin, it is necessary to      himself, as to the divinity of God and           you seem to think that you have some
  try to justify such a walk. By grace         of the Mediator. Finally, I called him           inside access to God over and above
  only shall one confess that sin, repent,     to repent of this sin, and pointed out           anyone else, I can assure you stops
  and receive the forgiving grace of           that all men have sinned and there is            immediatelywhenyouleavethepres-
  God.                                         a way of deliverance possible, when              ence of your own fear-laden flock(s)."
          Having received a letter from a      one repents and by the grace of God              And he went on to say that the "spe-
  sinner trying to justify his walk in sin     clings to the cross of Calvary.                  cial extra schooling in your seminary,
  as an active homosexual,Iresponded                 We shouldbereminded that this              such as it was, was to limit your scope
 with a letter of three pages wherein I        is the way of true love. It is necessary         of consideration rather than to ex-
 pointed the person to his sin. This           to call the sinner to repentance, and to         pandyourknowledgeofreality." And
 was a clear testimony, taken from the         do so with the prayer to God that He             then he says, "As to being studiled in
  Scripture, that showed the person that       bring the sinner to repentance and               things spiritual and worldly, I have
 his life as a homosexual constituted a        salvation. But even as one under-                the better intellect as well hs expo-
 willful walkin sin. It pointed out that       takes this course, he must also realize.         sure." Therefore, he says, "don't ever
  one may not blame God for a walk in          that the Lord may use this means for             deem to think yourself or  your inter-
 that which the Scripture clearly              the hardening of the sinner in his sin           pretation  of Scripture worthy of `ad-
 teaches is sin. I drew his attention to       even unto destruction. But this also             vising' me in these matters." Adding,
 the destruction of Sodom and                  is, then,- the will of God, which is             Uyou are not instructing some unlet-
 Gomorrah exactly because of this sin,         always good. And it appears at this              tered farmer in Iowa."
 and showed his walk to be sin also            time that it is this latter that is the fruit         That which is truly sad about the
 from Romans 1:26-32,  etc. Further,           of my letter.                                    above is that this sinner was not at-
 the letter to this sinner pointed out                                                          tacking the writer, as such, but was
 that in his defense of his sin he had         A Hardening of Heart                             making mockery of the authority of
 committed an even greater sin, and                  This letter brought a ten-page             God's Word. The sin of man cannot
                                               letterinreturn,asImentionedbefore,               stand still, but continues to develop
                                               in which he took me to task with a               and to lead one deeper into coadem-
                                               vengeance and separated himself                  nation when it is not checked by the
                                               wholly from the judgment of God,                 grace of God. It is well that we all
                                               denying the Scriptures as having any             recognize this, that we might see the
 Rev. Moore is pastor, of the Protestant       value, and revealing a hatred for all            horror of sin, and that we might flee
 Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa.                that is Christian.                               from it.

                                                                                                      January 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 157


     It is well that we spend yet a few      does exist, he goes on to say, and "it is    Confession, Article 7, "We believe
moments with some of these com-              clearly written, a good piece of litera-     that those Holy Scriptures fully con-
ments to see where unbelief leads.           ture, written by men and probably            tain the will of God, and that whatso-
We shall continue to let this sinner         (the God of the Protestant Reformed          ever man ought to believe, unto sal-
himself speak, that we may see the           forbid) a few women. It is clear to the      vation, is sufficiently taught therein."
terrible path of sin as it unfolds in the    objective observer that this is a book       And indeed we believe this, as the
life of unbelief.                            of fables, history, legends, conjectures     Belgic Confession states in Article 5,
     First, he points out that he has        about the future and stories." Con-          "because the Holy Ghost'witnesseth
peace, more peace than the church is         tinuing, he says, "that modem men            in our hearts, that they are from God,
able to give, for he knows he is right.      still believe some parts of its contents     whereof they carry the evidence in
But in the second place, with respect        in spite of how far-fetched they are, I      themselves...." To deny this is to
to peace, he says that he believes           really find incredible. Especially in        testify that the Spirit abides nalt in
death to be "a natural extension of          light of science and space." The Bible       your heart. The sinner may indeed
life," and that if one can get away          just does not stand up to the evidence       call this foolishness, as he does the
from the "anxiety-building baggage           of the times, according to him. And          true preaching of the Word, but it is
of hell thrown at us by `true believers'     then he goes on to point out that even       the power of God unto salvation, in them
of the Bible, we can look forward to         if the Bible says what you say it says,      that believe, as the called of God.
death as an adventure." He then              heknows thatitiswrongwithrespect                   There is yet one more step in the
points out that no one has brought           to his particular walk, for he knows         hardeningprocess, and that is to deny
backphysical evidence about the next         homosexuality to be a beautiful state,       that there is a living God at all, One
life. So he does not worry about it.         and to call it sin is absurd. And again      who judges the heaven and earth.
     We notice two things in these           he says that he wascreatedgay. There-        This unbeliever also takes this step, as
statements, the first being that the         fore for him, he says, "whatever the         do the reprobate of heart always. We
sinner as he would walk in his sin           Book says about sin et. al. must be          will again hear him speak. This unbe-
places himself on a par with God, in         discounted or thrown out." And then          liever says, "I have always found it
reality above God. The sinner says, "I       he points out that "it is really foolish     curious that so many people have
know what is right." The sinner does         of us to contend that the Bible is the       supported and have defended the
not need someone else, not even God          word.of God, using the Bible to prove        idea of a `Living God' in the t'otal
Himself, to tell him what is right and       it."                                         absence of any physical evidence that
wrong. The same sin of paradise is                                                        He or She exists. The God of the Bible
met here: Satan said "ye shall be as                                                      has got to be the most lethargic God.
gods, determining good and evil."                         The sinner,                     No real physical evidence is there
This is the vanity of sin!!! May we           if he wills to walk in his sin,             since the creation of the earth.... There
have grace to see it. Secondly, the                                                       is no real evidence that Jesus renlly
sinner must dispatch any concept of                      must deny the                    died; let alone, was resurrected. More
hell. He will not believe in an eternal                infallibly inspired                likely it is that he was transported
judgment of God. So, foolishly, he                       Word of God.                     StarTrekstyleintohismaster'sspace-
attempts to cover the Scripture's                                                         ship. Now that I can have faith in . . . . U
teaching of a judgment that surely                                                              It is truly amazing how ac:cu-
must be faced. But God says, "The                    The next step of sin when con-       rately the Scriptures speak of that
wages of sin is death"; and the Scrip-       fronted with the authoritative Word          which takes place in the end of time,
tures clearly teach that this deathis an     of God, is to deny the authority of that     and expresses the way of sin in the
eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth        Word. The sinner, if he wills to walk        midst of the world. Immediately 8our
in the depths of hell. God is holy, and      in his sin, must deny the infallibly         thoughts go to the passage of God's
His Holiness He maintains, also in           inspired Word of God. But, under-            Word recorded in II Peter  3:3, 4:
judgment.                                    stand, if we do this with any portion        "Knowing this first, that there shall
     The next point that was made by         of the Scripture, whetherit be this          come in the last days scoffers, wdk-
this one plunging himself deeper into        man's saying that any part of the Bible      ing after their own lusts, and saying,
condemnation was the following. He           that has to do with homosexuality is         Where is the promise of his coming?
writes, "I guess we should get this          wrong, or whether we say Genesis l-          for since the fathers fell asleep, all
little item out of the way once and for      11 is a myth, we must necessarily            things continue as they were from the
all. You, to your credit, seem to have       conclude that the Bible is not God's         beginning of the creation." As Peter
broken the code regarding my opin-           Word at all. Then it becomes merely          points out, such scoffers were swal-
ion of the Bible. That is, I absolutely      a book, with stories and moral state-        lowed up of the flood, and there even
do not believe it to be the infallible       ments that may or may not be helpful         now approaches the day of finaljudg-
Word of God: Never have (well, not           to man's life. But the child of God          ment. It is the fool who says in his
for years, anyway) and never will." It       thankfully confesses with the Belgic         heart that there is no God. But God


will not be mocked! To deny the               walkin sin. But in this way there is no      forgive us, and that for Jesus' sake
resurrection of Christ is to forsake all      salvation either.                            there is reserved in heaven for us a
possibility of comfort and assurance               Finally we must note that there         place in His fellowship forever. May
of salvation.                                 go we, but for the grace of God. But         He ever give us the grace to see our
        And so unbelief has come full         what a comfort that by the grace of          sin, not to excuse it, but to confess it,
circle. There is no God, no judgment,         God we believe the Scriptures that           and turn from it, that we may receive
no hell, no need of repentance, no            teach us that, although we have              the blessed testimony of His merciful
heaven, and no responsibility for a           sinned, God is faithful in Christ to         care for us in Christ Jesus. a




                                                                           -
                                                                                 Malachi
                                                                                   Lessonm3
                                                              Where IS my
Search the
Scliptures                                                         Honor?
Reti Carl Haak                                                                  (Malachi 1:6-l 4)


        The loving reverence for God,         religion is despised when one de-            First, "If I be a father, where is my
the sincere worship of His holy name,         spises the external acts of worship          honor?" (vs. 6). The truth that the
the living service and dedicated life         according to the law."                       Almighty God, for the sake of Jesus
which is alone worthy of God - all                 The corruption of the true wor-         Christ, is become my Father ought to
these were absent among the people            ship of God came out in three ways:          evoke the deepest honor, respect, rev-
of Malachi's day. This was evident in              1. In what was offered. The Old         erence, and awe before Him, which
the manner in which they worshiped            Testament law of sacrifices was very         will be seen in how we worship Him
God. It was not that the temple was           clear (Lev. 22:17ff.,  Deut. 171). The       and how we live before Him. Second,
abandoned and the outward rites of            people offered "polluted bread" (vs.         "If I be a master, where is my fear?"
religion altogether neglected, but it         7); "the lame and the sick" (vs. 8);         Malachibrings out the tmth of God's
was all "performed" in a cold, indif-         "that which was tom, and the lame            sovereignty when he refers to God as
ferent, and resentful way. This was           and sick" (vs. 13); a female of the flock    "the LORD of Hosts" (vss. 8,11,14).
especially true of the priests, the spiri-    when they had a male (vs. 14).               Because He is the master of the heav-
tual leaders, but it characterized also            2. In the awful attitude they had       enly hosts and king of all glory, nloth-
the people as a whole.                        toward the worship of God. The Lord          ing but the deepest, humblest fear
        The basic instruction of this sec-    requires a broken and a contrite heart       and reverential awe ought to charac-
tion of the book of Malachi is well           (Ps. 51:17; 50:7-23;  Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6-    terize the people who worship Him
summarized by John Calvin in his              8). Instead they considered the wor-         and call Him their God.
commentary: "Nothing is indeed so             ship of  G.od a "weariness" and                   Our study ends with the power-
precious as His worship; and He had           "snuffed at it" (vs. 13).                    ful assertion on the part of our God
instituted under the law sacrifices                3. In the crass and hardened irn-       thatHewillbeworshipedbyapeople
and other rites, that they might wor-         penitence they showed when God               gathered out of all the earth (vs. 11;
ship Him spiritually. The whole of            reproved them for all of this. When          Zech.  8:23; John  4:21-23).  This is a
                                              they were confronted by their terrible       beautiful, powerful, and comforting
                                              sins through God's prophet, they had         prophecy of the gathering of the
                                              the audacity to deny it (vss. 6,7). That     church of Jesus Christ in the new
                                              is pride at its worst.                       dispensation, the existence of which
Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant              The prophet brings reproof! He          is for the sole purpose of rendering
Reformed Church of Lynden, Washing-           tells them that Jehovah had, in two          praise and worship to His name. Why
ton.                                          respects, a just cause against them.         is this so certain? "For I am a great

                                                                                                 January 1,19921StandardBearerllS9


King, saith the Lordof  Hosts" (vs. 14).                4) Joyful, Thankful, Active (Ps.     Bible Dictionary.
         Does this Word of God speak to          111:l;  P.s. 96:1,2)?                                  1) Look up I Corinthians 29:ll
you? How does it find you in respect                   e. What does the second com-          and. explain what is implied in the
to your worshiping God? What about               mandment teach us about the true            sovereignty of God.
your attendance at the house of God?             worship of God? (See Lord's Day 35,                 2) How ought this to evoke deep
What about your prayers? . . . your              Heidelberg Catechism.)                      reverence and tears of repentance in
Scripture reading? . . . your entire life              f. For discussion and thought:        us?
as you are to live it in sincere praise of       Worship is not first of all for us, but     4.      Explain the promise of verse 11
God? Put yourself before the ques-               for God. Thequestion  to be asked of        in the light of Psalm 113:3; Zechariah
tion: "If I be a father, where is my             anyworshipserviceisnotfirst, What           8:23; John 421-23.
honor? and if I be a master, where is            did I get out of it?" but: "Did it bring    5.      Let us now, in our own hearts,
my fear?"                         .              glory to God?".                             answer the question of Malachi  1:6.
                                                 2.    Now we turn to the shameful           6.      Canyouwritefrommemoryour
Memory Work                                      abuse of worship in Malachi's day,          verse in Malachi 1:6, ll?
                M a l a c h i   1:6,11           the spiritual attitude it revealed, the
         A son honoureth hisfather, and a        judgment of God upon it, and the            For Further Study
      servant his master: g then I be a          warning it gives to us.                     on the laws of sacrifices, consult these
      father, where is mine honour? and if             a. List the abuses odthe  worship     passages:
      I be a master, where is my fear? saith     of God exposed by Malachi.                  1.      Sin offering (Lev. 41-35; 6:24-
      theLord ofhosts unto you, Opriests,               1)To what does the "polluted         30).
      that despise my name. And ye say,          bread upon mine altar" refer? Does it       2.      Guilt offering (Lev. 5:14-6:6).
      Whereinhavewedespised thy name?            refer to the table of shewbread? to all     3.      Burnt offering (Lev. 1:3-17;  6:8-
         For from the rising of the sun          the sacrifices in general?                  13).
      evenunto thegoingdown of thesame                  2)Confer Leviticus  22:17ff.         4.      Grain offering (Lev. 2; 6:14,-23).
      my name shall be great among the           What were the requirements of the           5.      Drink offering (Num. 151-10).
      Gentiles; and in every place incense       animals sacrificed to God? Why were         6.      Peace offering (Lev. 3; 7:11-21).
      shall be offered unto my name, and a       those requirements important? (See I        7.      Wave offering (Lev. 21,23,24;
      pure offering: for my name shall be        Pet. 1:18-20.)                              Num. 13,15,21).
      great among the heathen, saith the                3)What was the responsibility        8.      Thank offering (Lev.  7:12-15;
      Lord of hos ts.                            of the priest in all of this? What does     22:29).
                                                 Malachi mean in verse 10: "Who is           9.      Freewill offering (Lev.  7:16;
Questions for Study                              there even among you that would             2218-23).
1.       Let's begin our study by consid-        shut the doors for nought?"                 10. Ordination offering (Ex. 29:19-
ering what constitutes true worship                     4)Who is the deceiver (vs. 14)?      34; Lev. 8:22-32).
of God. We-must remember that this               What is his deception?
is not academic; for God, who is a                     b.What attitudes were present         A Prayer
greatKingandourSovereignLordby                   among the priests? Explain them             of John Calvin offered after expound-
grace, requires us to worship Him.               over against Isaiah l:lO-17.                ing on Malachi 1:6-14:
         a.What is the meaning of the                  c. What is meant by the response              "Grant, Almighty God, that as
word "worship"? Consult a Bible                  of the people in verses 6, 7 to the         thou hast been pleased in thy infinite
Dictionary and then find a verse in              charges against them of failing to          mercy not only to choose from among
the Scripture which expresses the idea           honor and fear Godin their worship?         us to be priests unto thee, but also to
of worship.                                      Why is this so chilling and dreadful?       consecrate us all to. thyself in tlhine
         b.Look up the following texts                 d.In what ways do we see the          onlybegottenSon,-Ogrant,thatwe
and explain briefly what they teach              same abuses. and temptations to cor-        on this day may purely and sincerely
about worship: Psalm 95:6; Psalm                 rupt the worship of Godin ourselves?        serve thee, and so strive to devote
96:9; Psalm 89:7; Matthew 18:20; Rev-            Be specific.                                ourselves wholly to thee, that we may
elation 15:4; Revelation 7~9-12.                 3.    Jehovah brings out that this ir-      be pure and chaste in mind, soul, and
         c. What is the purpose of wor-          reverence and apathy is an attack on        body, and that thy name may so shine
ship? (Ps. 84:1-3; I%. 122:1-4;  Ps. 27:4)       His Fatherhood and Sovereignty.             forthin  all our performances, that thy
         d.What is meant by these char-                a. What does it mean that God is      worship among us may be holy, and
acteristics of true worship:                     our Father? (See Gal.  44-7; Rom.           pure, and approved by thee, until we
           l)In spirit and in truth (cf. John    8:15-17;  Matt. 7:7-11; L.D. 9 & 46.)       shall at length enjoy that glory to
4:24; Is. l:lO-17; 57:15; Ps. 51:X-l'i)?         How ought this evoke true honor and         which thou invitest us by thy gospel,
          2)Reverence (Ps. 89:7)?                reverence for God?                          and which has been obtained for us
          3)Humility (Micah 6:6-8; Hos.                b.What is meant by the name,          by the blood of thine only-begotten
6:6)?                                            "the Lord of Hosts"? Consult your           Son. Amen.  0


                                              Exposition of I Corinthians 83 ff. (2)
                                              T h e   Term
                                               "Conscience'?
 From Holy Writ Investigated e
Rev. George Lubbers


      In our investigation of the word        and the honeycomb (Ps. 19:7-14).  Paul     their conscience, and sometimes lose
"conscience" in the Bible we found            echoes these words in I Timothy 1:5:       the sense of God's favor, for a time,
that this term does not occur in the          "Now the end of the commandment            until on their returning into the right
Old Testament Scriptures. This term           is charity (love) out of a pure heart,     way of serious repentance, the light of
in the Dutch language  isgezueten,  even      and of a good conscience, and of faith     God's fatherly countenance again
as in the German it is gewissen. How-         unfeigned."                                shines upon them." Beautiful words
ever this may be, the concept and                   And, without mentioning the.         concerning the Father's dealings with
operation of man's conscience meets           term "conscience," David speaks of         His erring children!
us everywhere in the Old Testament,           his wounded and accusing con-                   Of this painful yet blessed real-
both for the evil conscience of the           science, in both of the penitential        ity David writes both in Psalm 32:lff.
wicked as well as the good conscience         Psalms (32 and 51), in terms which         and in Psalm 51:lff.
of those who by grace have their sins         express a deeply wounded and ac-                The Old Testament does not use
forgiven them!                                cusing conscience when he confesses        the term "conscience" at all, but the
      In the well-known 19th Psalm            his restless soul's state of mindbefore    reality of the conscience both of the
we hear the humble believer confess           God and His holy law when he kept          just and of the wicked is graphically
his transgressions and errors. He             silence. Yes, then his very bones          confessedandportrayedeverywhere
asks from the depths of his heart:            waxed old through his roaring all the      on the pages of Scripture, in Moses,
"Who can understand his errors?               day long. In the time of David's           the Psalms, and all the Prophets. And
Cleanse thou me from secret faults."          unconfessed sins, of both adultery         if we may anticipate a bit, this entire
He confesses his secret sins. From            and murder, God's hand was heavy           activity, both of the enlightened and
these, too, his filthy conscience must        upon him, and his moisture fumed           of the sin-darkened conscience, is re-
be cleansed! The psalmist beholds             into the drought of summer. To be          ferred to in the New Testament in the
himself in the mirror of the perfect          sure, the word "conscience" is not         term "conscience."
law, which converts the soul, and he          used by David; but by his knowing                   *  *  *  *  *  *  rc
speaks of the testimony of the LORD,          together with God's judgment, and               In our study of the biblical con-
which makes the simple man wise.              knowing that it was a just judgment,       cept of the "conscience" in the New
And he knows that his heart and               he experiences something far worse         Testament we found that the term is
conscience must be measured by the            than death. And this voice of his          employed thirty-two times. It is not
good law, precepts, statutes of the           accusing conscience he could not           found at all in the four Gospels, ex-
Lord. He speaks of the fear of the            quiet. He couldnot "restore" his own       cept once in John 8:9, where we read
Lord which endures forever. Yes, he           soul. He experienced that a man can        Jesus' living and penetrating words,
rejoices in the judgments of the LORD         not redeem his own soul. Rest would        which entered into the very marrow
which are to be desired more than             not come. His soul was like the rest-      and bones, as a discerner of i:he
fine gold, and are sweeter than honey         less waters of the sea. Yes, this was      thoughts andmtents of the heart, that
                                              uuntil...."                                the hypocritical Jews were "convicted
                                                    WereadthisintheCanons,Head           by their own conscience." The result
                                              of Doctrine V, 5: "...by such enor-.       was that they dared not fulfill the
                                              mous sins, however, they very highly       terms of Moses' law that such sinners
                                              offend God, incur a deadly guilt,          as this woman, caught in the very act
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the    grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the      of adultery, shouldbe  stoned to death.
Protestant Reformed Churches.                 exercise of faith, ve ygrievously wound    Someone with great faith in his own

                                                                                              Januaryl, i992lStandardl3earerl161


conscience, that he was cleansing the        could never understand the height           tinuanceinwell-doingare  seekingfor
house of the Lord from evil doers,           and depth, the length and the breadth       glory, honor, and peace, therewardis
should take the lead and cast the "first     of David's spiritual agonizing from         eternal life. That will be the just
stone." Such a man took the word of          his reborn, but wounded conscience,         application of the law. And such ever
Moses seriously. Not so these accus-         which caused his very bones to dry          walk in a good conscience. They
ing Jews. They were-  "convicted by          up. Only the spiritual man, who has         knew with God that God's verdict of
their own conscience" and left the           receivedthe Spirit of God to know the       favor wasupon them. However, those
presence of Jesus, subdued and cow-          deep things of God, which the Spirit        who are contentious, and do not obey
ardly, one by one, from the eldest to        reveals to those who have received          the truth, upon every such soul that
the youngest. Yes, this shows that one       the eye of faith in Christ, can! Unbe-      doeth evil God's wrath'is revealed.
conscience is more potent than a thou-       lief could not know the things of the       These obey unrighteousness. Upon
sand witnesses!                              Spirit; it cannot judge of this lofty       them God wilI render "indignation
     The books of the New Testa-             reality. But the spiritual man judges       and wrath, tribulation and anguish."
ment indicate that Paul employs the          all things, also the use of the term        On every man that doethevil,  whether
term in Acts, Romans, I and II               "conscience" by a Plato and an              Jew or Gentile, God's wrathis poured
Corinthians, I and II Timothy, and           Aristotle! And so we can investigate        out in full measure.
Titus. Besides those Scriptures writ-        not only the formaluse of the termby             What does Paul tellus about the
ten by Paul there is also Hebrews and        the pagan Greeks in matters which           conscienceof thosewho  "sinnedwith-
I Peter. It is my conviction that Paul       are called "secular Greek." We search       out law (anomos)"? That these always
uses the term quite frequently be-           out all things and retain the good.         knew that they were accountable be-
cause he is writing in the Koine to a                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *                fore God. Why? Because they had the
Greek-speaking audience, both Jew                `Let us attempt to set things a bit     "work" of the law written in their
and Greek. The term for conscience,          in perspective. The question arises, I      heart. Proof that they thus shall be
suneidesis,  had been used in classical      am sure, in the mind of the observant       accountable? Every Gentile is con-
Greek for at least five centuries al-        reader: What has thisbroader discus-        stantly showing the "work" of the
readyin the Greekempire. Greekhad            sion of the term "conscience" to do         law, that is, the work which thle law
become theuniversallanguage. Thus            with the point which Paulmakes con-         ever performs, showing what is right
Greek terms were employed in the             cerning those in Corinth who have a         and what is wrong, written in their
New Testament preaching and teach-           "conscience that is weak"? That is a        inmost being. Paul sums this up in
ing. Jesus did not write any of the          good question. Our reply is that only       Romans 3:19: "Now we know that . . .
Scriptures. But He had taught using          we who see the biblical implication of      every mouth may be stopped, and all
also the Greektongue. And the entire         the concept "conscience" will be able       the world may become guilty before
bookofRevelationwasreallyrevealed            to understand what is meant by hav-         God." In their day in court the;y lost
in the Greek language. Hence, the            ing a "conscience that is weak." We         any possibility ever to be declared
term  conscience was, so to speak, bor-      wiIl need to understand that man's          innocent by the law of God. 0
rowed. But the content of the Greek          conscience is never independent of                            -to be continued.
term  suneidesis was filled with biblical    the perfect law of God. Our con-
meaning of the-spirit. This biblical         science is never our guide. Our con-
meaningwasrevealedintheOldTes-               science is such that to be a good con-
tament already. And in the New               science it must judge with God, a&
Testament this was fiBed with a con-         cording to the law of God. This is true        0 love that
tent in which we hear the "mind" of          very emphatically also with the Gen-                 passeth knowledge,
the Spirit (I Cor. 2:16).                    tiles who "lived without law." They                  thee I need;
     Indeed we may investigate the           nevertheless are judged by the wit-            Pour in the heavenly
etymology of the terms as employed           ness of their conscience. They have                  sunshine;
by various Greek philosophers and            the "work of the law engraved in their               fill my heart;
teachers. And this study will be of          heart" (Rom. 2:14, 15). And those              Scatter the cloud,
profit, too, provided we do this with        who have the workof  the law, also are               the doubting,
a mind which can and does put spiri-         judged by the law of Moses.                          and the dread -
tual things with spiritual (I Cor. 2:13).         There will be a day when God              The joy unspeakable
As enlightened believers we can and          shall judge the secrets of men (Jew
must judge all things. We under-             and Gentile) according to this Gospel                to me impart.
stand why the Greek employed the             ofPaul. Bothstandinjudgment. And
term as he did; he could do no other-        the rule will be: did we keep the law                   The Standard Bearer
wise, though he was but a natural            of God? There is in this the applica-                       August, 15, 1933
(psychical) man. He did not under-           tion of the rule "do this and thou shalt
stand the things of the Spirit. Socrates     live." For those who by patient con-

162/StandardSsarerlJanuaryl,1992


                                                 The Importance of
                                                 Christian                                                                    '
 In His Fear                                     Scholarship
Rev. Arie denHarfog

         In our churches, catechism              understand the truth. He devotes his        God's people in the knowledge of the
classes as well as the various Bible             life to acquiring knowledge and un-         Word of God. Preaching that is noth-
study groups and societies are well              derstanding. This we must all do in         ing more than the opinions of a man
into another season. We as God's                 order to know the truth of God. Never       which can be accepted or rejected is
people devote ourselves with re-                 will we as Christians know all there is     without value. True preaching en-
newed zeal to the study of the great             to know. The knowledge of God is            deavors to impart the true doctrine of
truths of the Word of God. This is               infinite and wonderful. We are strong       God andHiS salvation in Jesus Christ.
good and necessary.                              Christians when we rightly know the         God's people must be interested in
         God calls us all to be Christian        truth of God. God says through the          this sort of preaching. They must
scholars. It is true that we are that in         prophet Jeremiah: "Let not the wise         labor to receive and understand it.
varying degrees. Not all of us have              man glory in his wisdom, neither let             We must be scholars both in the
the same powers and gifts of intellect           the mighty man glory in his might, let      private study of God's Word and in
and understanding. The gift of God               not the rich man glory in his riches:       the corporate study of it with sour
determines this. This does not make              But let him that glorieth glory in this,    fellow saints. Such study must en-
one better than the other. There have            that he understandeth and knoweth           deavor to learn what God's Word
been timesin the history of the church           me..." (Jer.  9:23, 24). When God's         reallysays. Thatmight seemobvious.
when God has used simple,                        people lack knowledge and under-            We need to emphasize that because
uneducated saints in mighty ways in              standing they will perish.                  so many modern day "Bible studies"
His church. He sometimes does this                                                           are really not that at all. They are
to show the real ignorance of proud                                                          rather sessions in which people share
and foolish men who vainly imagine                       . . . eve y Christian               their own experiences, whether genu-
themselves to be wise. Generally,                    is called to be a scholar               inely Christian or not, and where each
however, God is pleased to lead His                                                          person in the group gives his own
church by men to whom He has given                     of the Word of God.                   private and subjective interpretation
greatunderstandingandknowledge.                                                              of a passage of Scripture. True Bible
We believe that the Bible insists on a                                                       study seeks to understand the abso-
well-trained, educated ministry. For                                                         lute truth of what God's Word says. It
that reason we now require four years                 There is no greater science than       seeks to know true doctrine and the
of seminary training for our minis-              the science of the study of God's Word.     only right and true interpretation of
ters.                                            To understand God's Word correctly          the Bible. The modern church loathes
         But every Christian is called to        requires earnest, diligent, prayerful       definitions and absolute truth. God's
be a scholar of the Word of God. We              study and application of ourselves. It      Word reveals it and the truly Chris-
are to use our God-given capacity of             cannot be known in any other way.           tian scholar seeks to know it and
intelligence to the fullest unto this            We learn this science through the           maintain it.
end. A scholar is one who labors                 preaching of God's Word in church.               The knowledge of God's Word
painstakingly to learn and know and              Preaching must faithfully present the
                                                 truth of the Word of God. It must be        will give us the understanding of all
                                                 doctrinal, Preaching that is nothing        things. Today there are many even in
                                                 more than a relating of human inter-        the church who imagine that to be
                                                 est stories or the experiences of a man     truly scholarly one must reject what
                                                                                             the Bible says. One cannot rightly
Rev. denHartog  is pastor                        might appeal to the fancies of men
                              of Hope Protes-                                                study science, it is said, from theview-
tant Reformed Church in Redlands, Cali-          and gain large audiences, but such          point of the creation account of Gen-
fornia.                                          preaching does nothing to build up          esis. One cannot know the role of
                                                                                                   Januaty1,1992/StandardSearer/l63


women in our modern-day world by              like heathen religion, which seeks to       and our children for our earthly call-
following the teaching of the Bible.          keep people ignorant and supersti-          ing. This requires that we apply our-
But how wrong and wicked all of this          tious. Thechristianfaithhas  through        selves to secular learning. As Chris-
is. The Bible alone gives the right           missionary endeavors promoted               tians we ought to do this with dili-
knowledge of all things. Man can              Christian scholarship. Many of the          gence, using all the gifts God has
rightly understand the world and his          first-schools in almost all countries       given us. But let us not forget to
calling in it only in the light of the        were started by Christian missionar-        spend much time in the study of the
Bible. "Thywordgivethlight" istrue            ies. The Reformation was, among             biblical principles that must underlie
for all knowledge and understand-             other things, areturn  to genuine Chris-    all our study and learning and rightly
ing.                                          tian scholarship. The Bible was re-         define our occupation in life. We
        As parents we must take a great       turned to God's people, to whom it          need leaders in the church who spend
interest in seeing that our children are      rightly belongs. Preaching was re-          greateffortonthis. Ouroccupationin
well-trained in the doctrine of God's         stored in the church  - doctrinal           life is not only to make money and
Word. God has given to our churches           preaching. Christianschoolsandum-           advance ourselves. We must use our
an unparalleled catechism program.            versities were established by the Ref-      occupation to serve God and glorify
Search high and low in,even the mod-          ormation. Truly Reformed churches           Him. Only then will we be genuinely
ern-day Reformed churches, and one            have wherever possible established          Christian.                  `.
will find no catechism instruction as         and maintained distinctively Chris-
thorough and biblical as the one God          tian day-schools. Our forefathers           The knowledge of God's Word
has given our churches. We ought to           made great sacrifices to maintain and                      will give us
be profoundly appreciative of this.           support such schools. It is urgent that
This program will be effective to cat-        we as Reformed people continue in               fhe understanding of all
echize our children only if we as par-        this tradition. As the world grows                           things.
ents are diligent in seeing to it that our    increasingly wicked and the church
children are well prepared for the            more and more apostate this is in-               In study and preparation fo=
classes. The future strength and spiri-       creasingly urgent.                          earthly occupation we will necessar-
tual well-being both of our children               Christian scholarship is learn-        ily have to study the writings and
and our churches depends on this.             ing based on, controlled by, and di-        works of unbelieving and ungodly
The greatest danger of apostasy in the        rectedb.ythetruthofScripture.  God's        men. Even though these do not ac-
future for our churches is the igno-          truth as revealed in Scripture is abso-     knowledgeGod,Godstillallowsthem
rance of our youth.                           lute and foundational. It lays down         to discover the great mysteries and
        In order for us to be Christian       the basic principles for all knowledge      wonders of His world. Christian schol-
.scholars, we mustread good, solid,           and learning. Knowledge and learn-          ars receive the benefits of theirknowl-
Christian books and literature. It is         ing must be guided by the Scriptures.       edge, research, and study. This is not
lamentable that so few young people           Knowledge and learning separate             in itself evil. All the creatures of God
in our day do this. We live in an age         from the Wordof  Godare dangerous.          are g0o.d. Christian scholarship rec-
of a wealth of good Christian books;          It makes sinful man proud, vain, and        ognizes that wicked and depraved
but how few there are who read them.          rebellious.                                 men use God's creation for sin and
God has led and guided His church                  We need Christian scholarship          wickedness. True Christian scholar-
into the development and under-               for the whole of our life. Christian        ship is critical of and antithetical to-
standingofHistruthovermanyyears.              scholarship is scholarship that seeks       wards the philosophy and life of
He has led His church through great           to know the world we live in as cre-        wicked men. Christian scholarship
doctrinal controversies, and pre-             ated by God and over which God              seeks to set forth the truth of God
served and kept His truth. The writ-          sovereignly rules. It seeks to under-       against the lie of the devil and of
ings of great men of God have in the          stand every creature in the world in        wickedmen. Itsdutyandcallin,gis to
Lord's providence preserved for us a          its place within the harmony of God's       define rightly how we are to use God's
heritage of truth that each generation        created order. Christian scholarship        creation and obediently and humbly
must receive and preserve through             seeks to know and understand man,           serve God in our daily occupation,
scholarly analysis and understand-            who he is as created by God, and the             Christian scholarship under-
ing.                                          calling God has given him to serve          stands that all learning is really the
        The truth of God's Word is fun-       and glorify God. We need Christian          understanding of God's creation. In
damental to all.knowledge  and un-            scholarship rightly to understand           the study of God's world we are led
derstanding. We must be Christian             marriage and the home. Every occu-          again and again to see the greakness
scholars in every area of life. The           pation in this world must be rightly        and glory of God and we exclaim
Christianfaiththrivesandgrowswith             understood and defined by Christian         with the psalmist: "0 Lord our Lord,
knowledge, understanding, and dis-            scholarship.                                how excellent is thy name in all the
cernment in all areas of life. It is not           We need to prepare ourselves           earth!"  IJ

164/Sfandardl3earerlJanuaryl,19!32


    A Word Fitly Spoken
    Rev. Dale Kuiper NeaL Nigh
         The matter of distance, of being near or far off, is of great importance% the Scriptures. Ultimately thisadverb
    tells us whether we are saved or whether we perish. How striking that this little word should be filled with such
    import! When making these measurements, the Scriptures use God as the starting point, the point of reference.
    Although near and nigh may have a temporal connotation ("for now is our salvation nearer than when we
    believed"), we want only to consider these words as they have a spatial meaning: being near to, or far from, God.
    To be near to God is life; distance spells death. "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly:
    but the proud he knoweth afar off" (Ps. 138:6).
         During the old dispensati0.n  God kept His people at some distance from Himself. From the burning bush
    He said to Moses, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest
    is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5). Later, at this same Holy Mount, Jehovah instructed His servant, "And thou shalt set
    bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch
    the border of it" (Ex. 19:12). Still later the purpose of the taber.nacle  is revealed, "Let them make me a sanctuary,
    that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8), so that Israel was a.people nigh unto Him (Ps. 148:14).,  Nevertheless,
    even with the temple worship, the idea of distance was maintained. Only the Levites might serve in the Holy
    Place, and only the high priest might enter the Holiest of All where Jehovah dwelled in the Cloud of Glory, and
    then but once a year, and not without blood. There was a veil. God kept His people at arm's length, for the perfect
    blood of atonement had not been shed for the remission of sin.
         In the new dispensation that which is prefigured in the old is brought one step closer, God comes down
    to us in Immanuel, His blood is shed, the veil is rent, and Christ is entered into the holy places  made without
    hands, there to appear in the presence of God for us. Today the church is the habitation of God through the Spirit
    (Eph. 2:22),  and the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. iX9). For we who were aliens and strangers,
    we who were without hope and without God (oh, dreadful distance), are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Eph.
    212-13).  We are encouraged to draw nighunto God, then to experience that God draws nighunto us (James4:B).
    We are encouraged to pray, with boldness coming into the Holiest, drawing near with a true heart and in full
    assurance of faith (Heb. 10:22).
         Marvelous as being near to God is, He has something still better, even more intimate, in mind to give us.
    When Jesus' prayer in John 17, "I in thee, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one" is fully answered, we
    are taken up into the covenant life of God Himself and as His friends enabled to partake of the divine nature. Then
    "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
    shall be with them, and be their God" (Rev. 21:3).
         "It is good for me to draw near unto God."
         linmanuel!  0

     Rev. Kuiper  is pastor ojImmanueZ  Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe,  Alberta, Canada.


The Day of                                 That. Blessed Gain
Shadows
Rev. John Heys                             that COmeth
                                                As pointed out last time, Abra-       postal service for exchange of letters
                                           ham set in motion the movement that        by mail, and there were no phones.
                                           resu.ltedinIsaacreceivingRebekahas         Isaac most likely knew of the exist-
                                           his wife. Neither Isaac nor Rebekah         ence of Rebekah through his father,
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the    sought each other. They never corre-       for it had been made known to Abra-
Protestant Reformed  Churches.             sponded. In those days there was no        ham that his brother Nahor had got-

                                                                                            `January1,1992/StandardBearer/165


ten a son named Bethuel, and that            15:3. The saints sing, "Great and           or be able to talk to her. They were
Bethuel begat a daughter named               marvelous are thy works, Lord God           convinced that it was God's will for
Rebekah (Gen. 22:20-23);  but Isaac          Almighty; just and true are thy ways,       her to go to Isaac.
and Rebekah never dreamed of be-             thou king of saints."                            What is so striking and divinely
coming husband and wife.                          Let us then go back to that inci-      realized is that when the next morn-
         Now Eliezer, that servant of        dent when Abraham's servant and             ing Eliezer said, "Send me away unto
Abraham, who was sent to get a wife          Rebekah came to her home. She ran to        my master," Rebekah's mother iind
for Isaac, realized his frailty and lack     hermotherwiththatearringandthose            brother asked to have him wait ten
of knowledge, and wisely and cor-            bracelets whichEliezer  had given her,      days. Rebekah, however, was ready
rectly prayed to God that He would           and told her mother that Eliezer had        to go that day. She manifested not a
bring to the well a virgin who could         revealed to her that he was Abraham's       carnal joy for marriage. She had no
become the wife of Isaac. He prayed          servant. A striking truth was mani-         reason to fear that no man would.seek
for one to come and agree to draw            fested there.  Laban, Rebekah's             tomarryher. She hadbeenkeptfrom
water for him and for his camels.            brother, seeing that earring and those      marriage in God's providence. And
Plainly and correctly he sought God's        bracelets, said to Eliezer, "Come in,       Abraham did not send Eliezer to get
help.                                        thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore         Rebekah. He had no knowledge yet
         Let us therefore take the Scrip-    standest thou without? For I have           that she had not married someone.
tural position which this incident sets      prepared the house, and room for the        Rebekah was willing to go, leaving
in motion. For it was the almighty           camels." Incidentally, there were           her father, mother, and brother and
God who was using Abraham and his            other servants that came withEliezer,       NEVER to see them again, because
servant. He caused Rebekah to do             and there was room also for them.           God had planned all this in His sover-
exactly what Eliezer had presented in        Our God was realizing His eternal           eign grace and wisdom. In that grace
his prayer as the sign of the right          plan and working all things together        our God made her willing to do what
woman for Isaac.                             for the cause of His kingdom.               He decreed. And she did not agree to
         There are two basic truths given         We can be sure that Abraham            go at once in order to get earthly
us here by our God. (1) Through              sent Eliezer, with these ten camels         riches, but to do His will.
Isaiah He tells us that HE is forming a      and some servants, in order to bring             Rebekahstillhadasinfulnature,
people for Himself that will show            Isaac a proper wife. What is more,          as we all do. But she plainly was born
forth His praise (Is. 43:21). Get that!      Abraham, sending Eliezer and those          again, and by that new life wanted to
God forms a people and does so FOR           servants, was very sure that the al-        serve God in love. Remember that
HIMSELF, to show forth HIS praise.           mighty God would, in the keeping of         she had heard Eliezer worship God
(2) God always succeeds perfectly            Hispromises,provideabelievingwife           before her, after she had given him
and constantly in realizing what He          for Isaac. For althoughinHebrews 11         and his camels water. She then ran
declares He will do. Do not then pat         we do not read that by faith Abraham        and told her mother what had hap-
Abraham and his servant on their             sent Eliezer to get a wife for Isaac, we    pened. Take note also of the fact that
backs, nor Rebekah for agreeing to go        can be sure that Abraham did all of         in Genesis 24:21 we read that Eliezer,
to Isaac to marry him, and Isaac for         this work because of his faith in God       wondering at her, that is, at the fact
receiving her as his wife. Instead sing      and in His promises.                        that she did exactly all that which he
praise toGodforwhatHedoes.  "Sing                 Now Laban, Rebekah's brother,          had prayed to God as the sign that she
to the Lord, sing His praise all ye          and Bethuel, her father, were told by       was the woman he must take to Isaac,
peoples, New be your song as new             Eliezer why he came there, and that         he, Eliezer, "held his peace." He did
honor ye pay; Sing of His majesty,           he gave Rebekah that earring and            not yet tell her that God had pre-
bless Him forever, Show His salva-           those bracelets because God had ful-        sented her to him as the one he must
tion from day to day" (Psalfer  #259,        filled what he prayed for, namely, a        bring to Isaac for marriage.
based on Psalm 96).                          wife for Isaac, one who would draw               A comforting truth is presented
         As pointed out last. time,, here    water for him and his camels. And           to us in this incident. The name
are four people picturing what we all        Rebekah'sfather,mother,andbrother           Rebekahmeans"CordwithaNoose,"
will do when Christ returns. Already         were moved by God to agree with             and that in the sense of that which
now the saints who are with their            Eliezer that Rebekah should go and          ensnares. This pointed to her beauty
souls in heaven and with the holy            become Isaac's wife. In Genesis 24:50       whereby one could be ensnared, that
angels sing Gods praise. In Revela-          we read that they said, "We cannot          is, caught by a rope with a loop. And
tion 4:10,11  we read, "Thou art wor-        speak unto thee good or bad." To            the amazing truth hereis  that although
thy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and            speak bad would be to refuse to let         she was so very attractive she did not
honor and power; for thou hast cre-          him take Rebekah to Isaac. To speak         captureanotheryoungmanandmake
ated all things, and for thy pleasure        good means that they would enjoy            a marriage with Isaac illegal. She was
they are and were created." That             having her go and move to a place           Gods workmanship, not simplywith
same praise we find in Revelation            where theywouldnever see her again,         physical beauty, but also with spiri-


tual beauty and faith in God. She           and they saw what God had given               complete separation from someone
wanted a believing husband. And             them. They may even have expected             so far away. In that day and age, such
nowsheknewthatGodhadprovided                and wanted another son. And par-              a distance meant  that fellowship and
one for her. For that reason even she       ents have no power at all to give the         communication ceased. They had to
was willing to go to Isaac THAT DAY!        smallest pa&of spiritual life and ho-         say a very complete farewell to
God,had made her spiritually beauti-        liness to their children.                     Rebekah, and she had to do the same
ful in Christ, and brought her to Isaac          Recall what was quoted last time.        to them.
with whom His covenant was estab-           Correctlywesing,"AUthatIamIowe                        In death we all have that cut-off
lished as the son of Abraham.               to Thee, Thy wisdom, Lord, hathfash-          of fellowship with earthly loved ones.
        Letusappreciatewhathappened         ioned me; I give my Maker thankful            But here in this day of shadows we
in Abraham's life, and see God's grace      praise, Whose wondrous works my               must look at this event that is pre-
and almighty power whereby He               soul amaze." It is God who, through           sented us in the New Testament, and
keeps all His promises. Call again to       Christ and His cross and Spirit, makes        see the whole picture in the light of
mind that day when Adam and Eve             usspirituallybeautiful,implantingin           God'sSoncomingandmakingitpos-
fell into sin. On that day we received      us the life of Christ.                        sible for us to be His bride in the new
that most wonderful and precious                 We ought to see and appreciate           Jerusalem. Remember what  Paul
promise. ,God in His mercy assured          the fact that our God prepared and            wrote. He,infaithandpeaceofmJnd,
Adam andEve, andus, that He would           presentedRebekah  to be Isaac's bride,        declared, "For me to live is Christ,
put enmity between His elect chil-          and that He caused her willingly to           and to dieis gain" (Phil. 1:21). Yes,for
dren and Satan and his seed. He             say, "I will go." She expressed here          us as members of Christ's body, the
promised to bring into being.a spiri-       her desire to serve God andnotmerely          church, death is necessary for our
tually beautiful people that His Son        Abraham and his servant. Isaac had            being His bride and enjoying it fully
would love, and for whom He would           revealed absolutely no desire so far to       when He returns.
die in order to make us His royal           have her as his wife. Abraham's ser-                  Separation from her earthly
bride.                                      vant manifested thankfulness for              loved ones was gain for Rebekah. She
        Take note also of the fact that     what God had done; and we may be              now became the mother of the nation
although Bethuel and his wife gave          sure that Abraham, some time later,           of Israel. Our God not only gave Isaac
their daughter the name Rebekah,            when they came to Canaan with                 that wife, but He caused her to be
expressingherphysicalbeauty,itwas           Isaac's bride, was also thankful. And         willingtobehiswife.  Now,Rebel&`s
God, not they, who brought into be-         we shouldreceive all thisin thankful-         separation from her earthly family,
ing one who was "very fair to look          ness to our God, as here is pictured          and Gods bringing her to Isaac is a
upon, a virgin" whom no man had             His work of making us Christ's royal          beautiful picture of what God does in
known (Gen. 2496). Parents have no          bride.                                        His grace. He has and will fully bring
ability to determine how their chil-             Consider also that Rebekah's             Christ. His bride; and we will enjoy
dren are going to look to man's eyes.       leaving her father, mother, and               everlasting glory with Him as God's
And Bethuel and his wife gave               brother in effect was as though she           gift to us. Truly a blessed gain lies
Rebekah thatnameaftershewasborn             had died. For in that day it meant a          ahead for us. 0

Netis from our Churches
ML Benjamin Wigger


News from Singapore                         with the Covenant Evangelical Re-             large variety of food - many fresh
        We begin the first "news" col-      formed Church and the First Evan-             fruits andvegetables. The  foodin the
umn of this new year with some infor-       gelical Reformed Church. What this            hawker's stands is good. We have
mation from Singapore.                      means is that the Korterings will be          our favorites and not-my-favorites.
        First, the Council of the Grand-    returning to Grandville sometime in           When I cook a meal of meat, gravy,
ville, MI PRC  .has granted Rev.            early March.                                  potatoes, and vegetables, we'll say,
`Kortering's request for an additional           And second, we share here with           This really tastes good again, doesn't
two months in Singapore working             our readers just a bit of a letter sent by    it?"
                                            Mrs. Kortering to her home congre-
                                            gation in Grandville. She wrote on            Congregational Highlights
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant    November 15th in part, "We have                       The Choral Society of the Hope
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-      both been feeling well for which we           PRC in Walker, MI presented a pro-
gan.                                        are very thankful. We do enjoy the            gram of thanksgiving and praise on
                                                                                                  Januaryl,1992/StafldardBearw/l67


                                                                                                            SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                            Postage Paid at
                                                                                                            Grandville, Michigan
  P-0. Box 603
  Grandville,  Ml 49468-0603


Sunday, December 1, in their church        that should not be overlooked.             for starters, trying.to come up with at
auditorium. We should also add here             Several of our churches' Young        least one project per month.
that the congregation at Hope met for      People's Societies have begun what I
the first time in their newly remod-       think is a very worthwhile practice        Ministerial Calls
eled church building on Thanksgiv-         for the holiday season. They encour-            T h e   C o n s i s t o r y   o f   t h e
ing Day. What a fitting way to begin       age their congregations to remember        Hudsonville, MI PRC received a let-
worshiping once more in your own           their church's shut-ins, widows, and       ter of decline from Rev. R. Cammenga
sanctuary. This entire project began       widowers with Christmas cards. All         concerning the call to serve as mis-
around the first of June and included      the congregation has to do is drop the     sionary to Northern Ireland. Colnse-
air-conditioning, new lighting in the      cards off in a big box somewhere in        quently the Consistory presented a
auditorium, an enlarged narthex            the narthex. Then, on a designated         new trio of the Revs. B. Gritters, C.
(complete with elevator), and more         evening, these cards are hand:deliv-       Terpstra, and R.  VanOverloop.  A
classroom space in the basement.           ered by the young people directly to       brief congregational meeting was to
From what I saw on December lst, it        the shut-ins. Iknow of three churches      be held on December 22,.
looks very nice.                           that are doing this for the holiday             The Southeast PRC in Grand
     The Hudsonville, MI  PRC's            season. First Church in Grand Rap-         Rapids, MI formed a new trio consist-
Choral Society pre,gented their an-        ids, Byron Center, and our young           ing of Cand. M. Dick, Prof. H. Hanko,
nual  ThanksgivingChristmas  pro-          people in Hudsonville, MI.                 and Rev. D. Kuiper. On December 9
gram on Sunday, December 8. For a               Beingamember of Hudsonville,          the congregation extended a call to
specialnumber, a group of eight choir      I can say that this past December          Prof. H. Hanko to serve as their next
members presented an arrangement           almost 500 cards were given to our         pastor.  p
of Psalm 103 entitled, "0 Come and         young people to distribute.
Bless the Lord." What made this so
special was the fact that this particu-    Evangelism Activities                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
lar arrangement was done by Rev. J.             The Consistory of theRandolph,             The Consistory of the Doon Prot-
Heys, and that evening was its first       WI PRC has given its approval to           estant Reformed Church of Doon, IA,
public rendition.                          theirEvangelismSocietytoprint4,OOO         expresses its heartfelt sympathy to its
     Youmayrememberthatourlast             to 6,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled,    fellow officebearer, eider James
issue contained an item concerning         "Is the Christian Faith Easy," to be       Hoogendoorn, in the passing of his
the Bethel PRC in Elk Grove Village,       usedformassmailingintheRandolph            mother,
IL. We reported that, after March of       vicinity.                                   MRS. HATTIE  HOOGENDOORN.
this year, they would no longer be                                                         May the comfort of the family be
able touse theirpresentmeetingfacil-       Young People's Activities                  in this, that the death of His saints is,
ity. Well, the Council of Bethel was            Rev. B. Gritters was the featured     in the sightofthe Lord, precious (Psalm
successful in finding an alternative.      speaker for this year`s Thanksgiving/      11695).
Beginning the first of January, Bethel     Christmas Young People's Mass                              Rev. Dykstra, President
begins holding all their meetings in a     Meeting held at the Byron Center, MI              - Edwin  VanGinkel, Clerk
large room rented from the Children's      PRC on December 8. Rev. Gritters
World Learning Center at 1050              challenged the young people to be-           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
Bonaventure Drive. This location is        come sensitive to the needs of others           The Ladies' Society of the
less than a mile from their old meet-      in their congregation. He asked the        Hudsonville Protestant Reformed
ing facility. Renting this room does       young people to consider making their      Church expresses its Christian sym-
mean that each week considerable           YJ?. Society a giving society. He          pathy to our sister member, Mrs.
equipment has to be moved. It also         stressed that there has to be more         Marian Kuiper, in the loss of her
means that chairs have to be pur-          than just Bible study. There must be       brother,
chased by Bethel as well as -either a      an active involvement in church life.      MR. CORNELIUS VANDEWEERD.
piano or an organ.                         Constantly ask the question, What          May the words of Psalm 28:6,7 be to
     But the room can be used for all      can I do for you? He suggested going       her for a robe of comfort.
church meetings, and at a consider-        to the Deacons and asking for ideas                    Rev. G. VanBaren, president
able monetary savings, something           on ways to help. And he suggested,            Mrs. Gertrude Lubbers, secretary
168/Standard~lJanuary1,1992


