   dhDMD
A Reformed
 Semi-Monthly
 Magazine





                      John Wycliffe (? - 1384)
                   "Morning Star of the Reformation"
                                  see: "A Cloud of Witnesses"  - p. 171'

Vol. 68, No. 8                                                         I
January 15,1992


CONTENTS:                                                                                             January 15, 1992                             SZ~ND~D
Meditation - Rev. James D. Slopsema                                                                                                                        BE4RER
       Perfecting Holiness .............................................................................................. 17i
Editorials - fro f DavidJ.  Engelsma                                                                                                              ISSN 0362-4692
       Promoting the Reformed Faith in Australia ......................................................... 173                                    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
       Writings Worth Noting ..........................................................................................                   175     Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
Letters ........................................... . ................................................................................    176     4949 lvanrest Ave., Grendville, MI 49416. Second Class
                                                                                                                                                  Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
All Around Us - Prof. Robeff D. Decker.........................................................................                           -176
A Cloud of Witnesses - Prof. Herman C. Hank0                                                                                                      Postmaster:  Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                  P.O. Box 603. Grandville, MI 494660693.
       John Wycliffe: Morning Star of the Reformation (2) ........................................... 177                                         EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Guest Article - Pro f Herman C. Hank0                                                                                                             Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
        Report from the Contact Committee .................................................................... 180                                Secretary: Prof. Robert  D. Decker
                                                                                                                                                  Managing Editor: Mr. Don Doezema
Contribution - Mr. John  Clarke
        Developments in the Covenant Reformed Fellowship of Northern Ireland ........ 181                                                         DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                                                                                  Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Arie
Taking Heed to the Doctrine - Rev.  Bernard Woudenberg                                                                                            denHartog, Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Carl Iiaak, Mr. Fred
        Conditional Theology ........................................................................................... 182                      Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John Hey.% Rev. Marvin
                                                                                                                                                  Kamps,  Rev. Steven Key. Rev, Kenneth Koole,  Rev. Jason
Go Ye Into All the World - Rev. RonaldJ.  VanDverloop                                                                                             Kortering, Rev. Dale Kuiper, Mr. James Lanttng, Rev. George
        Mission Principles (VIII) -An Answer ................................................................ 184                                 Lubbars,Mrs.MaryBelhLubbers,  RevJamesSlopsema,  Rev.
                                                                                                                                                  Charles Terpstra, Rev. Ronald VanOverloop, Mr. Benjamin
Decency and Order  - Rev. Ronald  L. Cammenga                                                                                                     Wigger, Rev. Bernard Woudenbsrg.
       Types of Ecclesiastical Assemblies ..................................................................... 187                               EDlTORlAL  OFFICE           CHURCH NEWS  ElDlTOR
Search the Scriptures - Rev. Car/J. Haak                                                                                                          The Standard Bearer         Mr. Ben Wigger
                                                                                                                                                  4949 Ivanrest               6597 40th Ave.
        Malachi, lesson 4, God's Covenant of Life and Peace ........................................ 189                                          Grandville, MI 49416        Hudsonville, MI 49426
                                                                                                                                                  BUSINESS OFFICE             NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
Book Review ............................... ...................................................................................            191    The Standard Bearer         The Standard Bearer
News from our Churches  -  Mr. Benjamin Wigger ..........................................................                                  191    Don Doezema                 c/o Protestant Reformed
                                                                                                                                                  P.O. Box 603                    C h u r c h
                                                                                                                                                  Grandvllle, Ml               8. VanHerk
                                                                                                                                                    49416                     66 Fraser St.
                                                                                                                                                  PH: (616) 536-l 776         Walnulomata, New Zealand
In This lsstie . iS                                                                                                                                        (616) 531-1490
                                                                                                                                                  FAX: (616) 531-3033

         Featured  on the cover of this issue  is one of the men who in the providence  of God                                                    EDITORIAL POLICY
                                                                                                                                                  Every editor Is solely responsible for the contents of hls own
served as a forerunner  of the great 16th century  Reformation.  Prof. Hanko,  in "A Cloud                                                        articles. Contrlbutlons of general Interestfrom our readers and
of Witnesses,"  has already  shared  with his readers,  in the January  1 issue, highlights  of                                                   questlons for The Reader Asks department are welcome.
                                                                                                                                                  Contributions will be limited to approximately 300 words and
the early work of John  Wycliffe  as an antagonist  of the Pope and opponent  of Romish                                                           mustbeneatlywrlttenortypewrltten,andmustbeslgned.          Copy
hierarchy.  Wycliffe,  you will  remember,  had risen  to great scholarly  distinction  in the                                                    deadlines are the Rrst and ftfteenth of the month. All
University  of Oxford. He was, in fact, widely  esteemed  as the ablest  theologian  of its                                                       communications relative to the contents should be sent to the
                                                                                                                                                  edltorlal office.
faculty. His reformatory  activities  began,  according  to Prof. Hanko,  in connection  with
the political  problems  of the day. England  was being  drained  of its financial  resources                                                     REPRINT POLICY
                                                                                                                                                  PermIssIonIs herebygrantedfortherepdntlng ofartlcleslnour
by grasping,  unscrupulous  popes. Wycliffe's  opposition  to the wealthof  the church and                                                        magezlne byotherpubllcatlons, provided: a) thatsuch reprinted
toclericalinterferenceinpoliticsbroughtuponhimselfthewrathof                                                        theRomanCatholic              articles are reproduced In full; b) that proper acknowledgment
Church,  but  it  gained   for  him  at  the  same                                                                                                Is made: c) that a copy of the perlodical In which such reprint
                                                                               time  support   from  other  quarters.   His                       appears Is sent to our edltorlal office.
insistence  that clergy, by their unfaithfulness,  not only lose all claim to their office but
forfeit theright to their temporalpossessions  appealed  to thenobles  (like Johnof  Gaunt)                                                       SUBSCRIPTION  POUCY
                                                                                                                                                  Subscription price: $12.00 per year In the U.S., $15.00
who coveted  the wealth  which  was going to the church. It struck  a responsive  chord                                                           elsewhere. .Unless a deflnlte request for dlscontlnuance Is
also  among   the  common   people,   who  had  long  been  critical   of  the  wealth,   the                                                     received, It Is assumed that the subscriber wishes the
pretensions,  and the ungodly  character  of the clergy. Hence  his popular  approval.  And                                                       subscrlptlontocontlnue,and  hewill bebilledforrenewal.  lfyou
                                                                                                                                                  haveaohangeofaddress,pleasenotifytheBusinessOfficeas
it was this immense  popularity,  along with the protection  of the nobles, that made it                                                          early as possible In order to avold the Inconvenience of
possible  for Wycliffe  to survive  every  attempt  of the high clergy  and of the papacy  to                                                     Interrupted delivery. Include your Zlp or Postal Code.
bring  him down.                                                                                                                                  ADVERTISING POLICY
         In this issue, Prof. Hanko  deals with a different,emphasis  in the work of John                                                         me StandardBearerdoes  not accept commercial advertlslng
Wycliffe.   Not  anymore   political,   but  doctrinal.   Not  surprisingly,   this  change   of                                                  of any kind. Announcements of church and school events,
                                                                                                                                                  anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy resolutions will be
emphasis  cost him some of his support. But it was nevertheless  Wycliffe's  doctrinal                                                            placed for a 33.M) fee. These should be sent to the Business
positions  whichmade  of him a forerunner  of the Reformationnearly  150 years  later. As                                                         Cfftce and should be accompanied by the $B.OOfee. Deadline
it happened,  Wycliffe's  main influence  was to be, not in England,  but in Bohemia.  For                                                        for announcements Is at least one month prior to publication
                                                                                                                                                  date.
John  Huss  was  theologically   a  disciple   of  Wycliffe.   And,  in  turn,   Martin   Luther
professed  agreement  in a number  of respects  withfluss. Not without  reason,  therefore,                                                       BOUND VOLUMES
                                                                                                                                                  The Business Office will accept standing orders for bound
Wycliffe  has been  called  the "morning  star of the Reformation."  We thank the Professor                                                       wpiesofthecurrentvolume.  Suchordersarefilledassoones
of Church  History for sharing  with us a little  of what  he has long taught in the PR                                                           possible after completion of a volume year.
seminary.                                                                                                                                         16mm mlcrofllm,  35mm microfilm  and 105mm mlcrofiche,  and
                                                                                                                                          D.D.    article copies are available through Unlverstty Mlcroftlms
                                                                                                                                                  Internatlonal.
170 /Standard Bearer /January 15,1992


Meditation                                      Perfecting Holiness
Rev: James Slopsema

        Having therefore these promises,                 "Having therefore these prom-              We must understand that al-
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves        ises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse           though we have been made holy in
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,    ourselves from all filthiness of the           Jesus Christ, we are only partially
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.         flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in       holy. As already noted, we havebeen
                       II Corinthians 7:l       the fear of God."
                                                            *  *  * *  *  *  *                 delivered from the power of sin in
                                                                                               Jesus Christ and renewed in heart,
                                                         We are called to perfect holi-        mind, soul, and strength. But this
        The apostle Paul has exhorted           ness.                                          glorious transformation is not yet
the Corinthian saints.not to be un-                      The viewpoint here is that we         complete. There still remains within
equally yoked together with unbe-               areholy in Jesus Christ. This holiness         us much that is sinful and corrupt.
lievers.                                        implies separation from sin as well as         The Bible calls this our flesh or sinful
        To be unequally yoked with              consecration to the,living  God.               nature. The result of all this is that the
unbelievers is to become spiritually                     Let us investigate this holiness a    basic direction of our life is toward
one with them through close associa-            little further.                                God. In our deepest heart we hate sin
tion and common cause. This was                          We live in a world corrupted by       and love God, so that daily we turn
be`ing  done by some in the Corinthian          sin. This is due to the fall of mankind        away from the evil of this world and
church through mixed marriages as               into sin at the beginning of history.          press onin the service of our God. But
well as by attending the idolatrous             This original sin has rehdered  the            thereissomethinginusthatstillyearns
feasts of the heathen community.                human race totally depraved, inca-             for the corruption of this world. This
Hence they are exhorted, Be ye not              pable of doing any good, inclined to           evil tendency yet within us daily hin-
unequally yoked together with unbe-             all evil. We can see this evil on TV,          ders our service of the Lord, leading
lievers.                                        hear it  on  radio, read of it  in  the        us to stumble into sin again and again.
        Continuing in the same vein, the        newspaper, witness it daily as we rub               In this context the Word of God
apostle exhorts the Corinthian,saints           elbows with the world.                         speaks of perfecting holiness.
to spiritual separation. "Wherefore                      By reason of our natural birth
come out from among them, and be                we are spiritually no different from
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch          the world - corrupt, evil, abomi-                   . . . we must duily strive
not the unclean thing."                         nable before  G,od.
        To this the apostle even attaches                By a great work of grace in Jesus          for the perfect holiness
a promise. God promises to those                Christ, however, God has wonder-                    we will enjoy one day
who separate themselves from the                fully transformed tis. He has given us                 in heavenly glo y.
uncleanness of thjs world that He will          a new heart to love Him and not hate
be as a Father to them, living with             Him. He has enlightened our mind so
them and walking with them.                     thatwebelieveinHimandinHisSon,                      To perfect holiness is to com-
        The apostle now brings these            Jesus Christ. He has softened our.             plete holiness.  One  perfects holiness
thoughts to a conclusion.                       obstinate will so that we yield to His         when he fills in that which is lacking,
                                                will instead of resisting. He has bro-         so that he turns from all sin and lives
                                                ken the stranglehold that sin hadupon          completely in the setiice of God.
                                                us so that we are free to serve God.                We must understand in all this
                                                         And so we are holy - saints of        that holiness will not be perfected in
                                                God. We have been separated by                 this sense until we reach heavenly
                                                grace from the corruption of this world        glory. For as long as we live here
Rev. Slopsenza  is pastor of Hope Protes-       and consecrated to the service of God.         below we will be plagued with our
tant Reformed Church in Walker, Michi-                   This holiness we must perfect,        sinful nature which will render our
gan.                                            i.e., bring to completion.                     holy living far from perfect.

                                                                                                  January 15,1992 I Standard Bearer I 171


         Nevertheless, we must daily         cleanse himself of the filthiness of the    delight, God has come to you in your
strive for the perfect holiness we will      flesh and spirit must daily fall to his     desperate situation with His free sal-
enjoy one dayinheavenlyglory. Daily          knees in prayer to seek from the hand       vation. In Jesus Christ He has freely
we must strive to put away the sins          of God the cleansing power of .the          forgiven you all your sins, He em-
that so easily beset us, so that m&e         cross.                                      braces you, He cares for you) He has
and more our lives are consecrated to             In this way of cleansing our-          even reserved a place for you in
the service of the God of our salva-         selves we also perfect holiness.            heaven! Those who have tasted these
tion.                                             Let us cleanse ourselves from all      great mercies of God can (only be
         In this sense the Word of God       filthiness of the flesh and spirit, per-    filled with deep awe and reverence
speaks of perfecting holiness. This          fecting holiness.                           for God. They are overwhelmed with
must be the concern of every true                      *  *  *  *  *  *  *               loving adoration. They fear God!
child of God.                                     ThefearofGodissetbeforeusas                    It is this fear that motivates ev-
            * *  * *  +  * *                 the motive to do this.                      ery true saint to live a holy life in the
         Perfectingholinessrequires that          The work of cleansing o&selves         service of God. Moved by that holy
we cleanse ourselves from all filthi-        from all spiritual filthiness and thus      zeal they fall to their knees in prayer
ness of the flesh and spirit. This is        perfecting holiness is not ultimately       to find the cleansing power of the
evident from the main exhortation of         our work but God's work in us.              cross of their Savior, Jesus Clhrist.
God before us: Let us cleanse our-                However, when God cleanses                     Let us cleanse ourselves from all
selves from all filthiness of the flesh      us He deals with us not as robots but       filthiness of the flesh and spirit, per-
and spirit, perfecting holiness. Obvi-       as the thinking, willing creatures He       fecting holiness in the fear of God.
ously we perfect holiness only when          has made us to be. Hence, He moti-                     +  *  *  *  +  *  rc
we cleanse ourselves from all filthi-        vates us so that we desire to be                    The incentive to do so is the
ness of the flesh and spirit.                cleansed. He places within us such a        promises of God.
         By the flesh is' meant, not our     desire for holy living that we daily                Having therefore these prom-
sinful flesh, but our physical flesh,        flee to the cross to find the power of      ises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
our body. The term "spirit" in the           Christ's blood to cleanse ourselves.        ourselves from all filthiness . . . per-
Scriptures is often used interchange-             That which God uses so to moti-        fecting holiness.
ably with the term "soul," as it is here.    vate us is the fear of Him.                         The apostle has set before the
The spirit or soul is comprised of our            ,Let us cleanse ourselves from all     saints,of the church wonderfulprom-
mind, will, and emotions. With the           filthiness of the flesh and spirit, per-    ises. God willbe their Father. As their
flesh and .spirit we have the whole          fecting holiness in the fear of God.        Father He will receive them, He will
being of man.                                     By"thefearofGod"isnotmeant             live in them and dwell in them.
         We have corrupted our flesh and     the dread of God. Sometimes the                     What beautiful promises these
spirit with sin. We do this when we          Bible speaks of fear in the sense of        are! They speak of God's fellowship
use them as instruments with which           dread. Many are well filled with this       with His people.
to sin. By our evil thoughts, desires,       kind of fear of God, for they have                  This fellowship is the true joy of
and feelings we corrupt our spirit,          trampledunderfoot God's will. They          man.
rendering it spiritually filthy. With        despise GodandHis Son, Jesus Christ.                Thispromisedfellowshipcanbe
our evil words and actions we cor-           Unless they repent, they will fall one      realized only in the way of holiness.
rupt our physical flesh.                     day into the hands of an angry God.         The apostle has already made that
         The Word of God calls us to         However, it is not fear in this sense -     very clear. It was only in connection
cleanse ourselves of all this filthiness     fear of judgment - of which we now          with the call to spiritual separation
of the flesh and spirit.                     speak. Nor must we ever be moti-            from the world that the apostle spoke
         We cleanse ourselves when we        vated (or try to motivate our chil-         of Godreceivingandlivingwith them
rid our lives of the sins that corrupt us    dren) to holiness by this kind of fear.     as a father does with his children.
before God. This spiritual cleansing              Most often the Bible speaks of         GodHimself is a holy God. He cannot
involves cleaning up our lives by turn-      the fear of God in the sense of deep        receive anyone who is not holy as He
ing away from the sins that defile us.       reverence for and loving adoration of       is holy. He certainly will not live with
It implies that we cease using our           God. This fear fills the heart of every     those who trample His holy things
flesh and spirit as instruments with         child of God who has tasted the salva-      under their feet.
which to sin and use them rather as          tion of God in Jesus Christ. To fear                These promises of God's fellow-
instruments with which to serve God.         God requires that you have come to          ship with those who are holy are set
         This can be done, of course, not    the true knowledge of your sin. You         before us as incentives to perfect ho-
in our own strength, but only in the         are `a miserable sinner, worthy of          liness.
power of the blood of Jesus Christ.          God's judgment, without any means                   Already now we, as saints of
Christ's blood alone washes away             of turning away God's wrath, hope-          God, enjoy this promised fellowship.
our sins. Consequently, he who will          lessly lost. But now, to your great         This fellowship is the joy of our lives.

172 /Standard Bearer I January X,1992


But how this fellowship is marred by      learn to cleanse ourselves from all         ourselves from all filthiness of the
our sins, as we daily defile ourselves    filthiness of the flesh and spirit, per-    flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
before God.                               fecting  holiness in the fear of God.       the fear of God. 0
     How much richer this fellow-               Having therefore these prom-
ship becomes as we more and more          ises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse




Editorials

H Promoting the Reformed                  bers of the PRC who also like to help       seminarians will be helpful to our
Faith in Australia                        with this work. They can send a check       people in their giving. The EPC is a
                                          to the synodical treasurer of the PRC,      youthfulPresbyteriandenomination,
     Included in the student body of      Mr. Joel Zandstra, 6157 Balsam Dr.,         having been organized in 1961. It
the Protestant Reformed Seminary          Hudsonville, MI 49426. Designate            represents reformation in Australia.
are two men from the Evangelical          the gift for the support of the Austra-     Many of the members came out of
Presbyterian Church of Australia          lian seminarians.                           mainline churches that have fallen
(EPC). They are Mr. Christopher                 This is a worthy cause in the         away into sheer theological liberal-
Connors and Mr. David Higgs. Their        Kingdom of Jesus Christ.                    ism. But the EPC is not content to be
church has decided to send them for              Obviously it is help in the Name     conservative or fundamentalist. The
training to the PR Seminary for three     of Christ on behalf of the twomen  and      Spirit of truth has led the church into
years. This is their first year at the    their families who have givenup their       the Reformed faith. It confesses sov-
seminary.                                 secular employment, the one as a            ereign, particular grace, rejecting all
     The EPC has assumed full re-         builder and the other as a teacher, in      Arminian universalism and free
sponsibility for the financial support    order to devote themselves to prepar-       willism. Early in her history, already
of these men and their families while     ing for the ministry of the gospel. At      in 1964, the EPC repudiated the "well
they are studying abroad. This is a       the same time, it is an expression of       meant offer of the gospel" as taught
sizable, almost heroic, undertaking.      oneness in the truth of the Reformed        by the Presbyterian theologians John
The EPC is a small denomination of        faith with the EPC. Such finandal           Murray and Ned Stonehouse. Rightly,
some six congregations and several        help is fellowship in the gospel. It is     it regarded this teaching as danger-
preaching stations in mainland Aus-       .also an opportunity for members of         ous deviation from the Reformed
tralia and in Tasmania. The congre-       the PRC to promote the Reformed             faith. Thesmall,newly-fonnedchurch
gations are located in Brisbane,          faith in Australia. The purpose of the      contended against this error even
Rockhampton, and Sydney in main-
land Australia and in Burnie,
Launceston, and Winnaleah in Tas-
mania. Members and adherents num-
ber about 300.                            preachers of the
     It is estimated that the amount      gospel of salva-
of money needed for the support of        tion by sover-
the two families each year is about       eign grace in
$65,000 (Australian), or about $50,000    and onbehalf of
(U.S.).                                   their church in
     The synod of the PRC has de-         Australia. The
cided to help the EPC in the financial    c o l l e c t i o n s
support of their students by way of       serve this pur-
collections in the churches (cf. "Acts    pose directly.
of Synod, 1991," Art. 17). I ask our             Some in-
people to contribute generously when      f o r m a t i o n
collections are taken in their congre-    about both the
gation. There may be readers of the       EPC and the
Standard Bearer who are not mem-          A u s t r a ian          Connors family: Angela, Christine, Christopher, lames

                                                                                         January 15,1992 I Standard Bearer I 173


though the result was painful internal        sponsored by the PRC in 1990. Both        English and social sciences in the sec-
struggle and loss of members.                 spoke at the conference.                  ondary schools in Tasmania for twelve
      The opposition of the EPC to                 The EPC is open in her expres-       years. Heandhisfamilyaremembers
Arminianism is not for her a merely           sion of respect for the PRC because of    of the Launceston congregation in
academic matter. In a "Brief History"         the conviction of the PRC that the        Launceston, Tasmania. The family
published on the occasion of her 30th         historic Reformed faith is the most       attends the Hope PRC in Walker, MI
anniversary, the EPC speaks of a time         consistent expression of God's Word       and are under the care of the Hope
in the life of her members when the           and because of the PRC's holding to       Consistory.
Arminian teaching to which they were          particular and sovereign grace, The            It should be a cause of rejoicing
exposed "almost led to atheism, such          confidence that the EPC has in the        to the PRC that our seminary can be
wasthebitter disappointment of what           PRCis evidentin the fact that the EPC     useful to other Reformed churches in
was presented as Biblical Christian-          now sends her sons to the seminary of     preparing their men for the ministry.
ity" (p. 2).                                  the PRC to be trained for the ministry    Reformed and Presbyterian churches,
      The EPC has come to appreciate          of the gospel.                            as well as men themselves who aspire
the covenantal nature of genuine                   These sons of the EPC are Chris      to the ministry, should know that the
Presbyterianism. Knowledge of the             Connors and David Higgs.                  PRC are willing to help in the matter
covenant with believers and their                  Mr. Connors is 34, married to        of training men for the ministry out-
children kept her members from turn-          Christine, with two children, Angela      side the PRC. They offer a full, four-
ing in the direction of the Baptists.         (6) and James (4). Before being called    yearseminaryprogram. Their single-
      The creedal basis of the EPC is         to the ministry, he was a self-em-        minded goal is the preparation of
the Westminster Standards - the               ployed builder for fifteen years. He      sound, capable Reformed preachers.
Westminster Confession of Faith, the          and his family are members of the         The instruction is faithfully,
Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the            Launceston congregation in Laun-          confessionally, and uncompromis-
Form of Presbyterial Church Govern-           ceston, Tasmania. While Chris is          ingly Reformed - exactly the great
ment, and the Directory of Public             studying in the United States, the        need of the hour in the Reformed
Worship. The church holds to the              family attends the Faith PRC in           community worldwide. Still the PRC
faith and practice of the historic Re-        Jenison, MI and are under the care of     are able and willing to respect and be
formed church of Scotland.                    the Faith Consistory.                     sensitive to the distinct and different
      A paragraph in "The Declara-                 Mr. Higgs is 36, married to Sue,     traditions of the churches that may
tion of Intention" at the church's for-       with four children, Joshua  (5),          use the seminary.
mation in 1961 indicates that the EPC         Rebekah (4), Rachel (20 months), and           Whatever use the King of the
is not ashamed of a militant defense          Katie (5 months). Before being called     church may make of the PR Seminary
of the Reformed faith (an utterly rare        to the ministry, he was a teacher of      for the training of His servants from
thing today) and speaks of the deter-
mination of the EPC to proclaim the
Reformed faith throughout Austra-
lia:It is our earnest desire to co-operate
  in the promulgationof the Reformed
  Faith in our land to the fullest pos-
  sible extent with all who are militant
  for the Reformed Faith.
      Although they are not sister
churches, indeed have  no  official re-
lationship, there has been close con-
tact between the EPC of Australia and
the PRC. Professor H.C. Hoeksema
andRev.B.Woudenberghaveserved
the EPC by extended preaching stints
in the congregation at Burnie, Tasma-
nia. The PRC Synod 1991 again au-
thorized the loan of a pastor to the
Burnie congregation for a period of
six months, if this is requested. The
EPC sent two of her preachers, Rev. P.
Burley and Rev. C. Coleborn, to the
International Reformed Conference                         Higgs family: Rebekah, Sue, Katie, Rachel, David, Joshua

174 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


other churches in the future, at present           All  BL  publications should be        +      Trinitarian Bible Society, pub-
He is using it on behalf of the EPC.          ordered from  BL,                           lisher, distributor, advocate, and de-
After one full semester, it can be said                   I?. 0. Box 375                  fender of the King James Version of
that the teaching has been profitable                  Jenison, MI 49428.                 Holy Scripture, has put out a 35-page
for the men of the EPC and that their                                                     pamphlet, "New International Ver-
presence has been beneficial for the          +    The indefatigable Rev. George          sion: What Today's Christian Needs
seminary.                                     C. Lubbers, industrious and produc-         to Know about the NIV." The authors
        Remember this cause when col-         tive on behalf of His Lord at 82, has       subject the NIV to a careful, scholarly
lections are taken for the Australian         just published a 45-page monograph          examination. They demonstrate why
seminarians in your church. Remem-            on Romans 11, "The Gifts and the            the NIV is unacceptable as a replace-
ber it also in prayer.                        Calling of God without Repentance."         ment of the KJV. Those who favor the
        For the promotion of the Re-          With characteristically careful, com-       NIV over the KJV because the NIV is
formed faith in Australia. 0                  petent exegesis, Lubbers examines the       easier to understand would do well
                                  - DJE       "Jewish question" in question and           to read this pamphlet. The pamphlet
                                              answer format. The attractively             can  be ordered from the Grand Rap-
l Writings Worth Noting                       bound syllabus can be ordered from          ids branch of the Trinitarian Bible
                                              the author at                               Society at
        Several recent publications are             2074 Cranbrook Dr. N.E.                         1706 Richmond N.W.
worthy of the attention of our read-                Grand Rapids, MI 49505.                      Grand Rapids, MI 49504.
ers.                                          The cost is $5.00.                          Request a catalog of TBS's other ex-
+       Beacon Ligh ts, the Protestant Re-                                                cellent materials on the KJV and on
formedyoungpeople'smagazine,has               +    The fall of 1991 saw the birth of      various matters of Bible translation.
published a number of brief, inexpen-         a new journal of Reformed thought,
sive, but profitable books on a variety       Contra  Mundum: A Reformed  Cul-            +      An editor of Clarion, magazine
of subjects. One of the most recent is        turaI  Review. The title is taken from      of the Canadian Reformed Churches,
a reprint of Abraham Kuyper's book-           the well-known description of the           is responding to the editorials in the
let, The Implications of Public Con-          church father Athanasius who stood          SB  on the difference between the PRC
fession  (tr. Henry Zylstra, $2.50). It is    for the truth of the Godhead of Jesus       and the Can. RC ("Liberated") over
the great Dutch Reformed theo-                "against the world." The editorprom-        the doctrine of the covenant. The
logian's simple but. thorough expla-          ises lively, controversial exploration      November 22 issue of  Clarion  con-
nation to covenant young people of            of a wide range of topics from a Re-        tains the third installment of this re-
their public confession of faith.- Par-       formed viewpoint. The first issue           sponse. Several more articles are to
ents or consistories should see to it         shed light on the Enlightenment and         follow. Prof. J. deJong  has asked that
that our young people read this book-         included a lengthy, sharply critical        space be given in the SB to his rebuttal
let before they make public confes-           analysis of Christian Reformed scien-       of the editorials on the "Liberated"
sion in the church.                           tist, teacher, and author HowardVan         conception of the covenant that ap-
        The latest BL publication is a        Till's  The Fourth Day.  The Winter         peared in the SB. Evidently the issue
187-page  paperback entitled Jesus'           1992issuewillbedevotedto  theinter-         of the Reformed doctrine of the CIDV-
BeautyShininginYou.   Threewriters,           pretation of history. It is to include a    enant has not yet been laid to rest.
Don Doezema,  Marybeth  Lubbers,              lengthy review of theonomist and
andRev.  R. VanOverloop,  have coop-          reconstructionist Gary North's  Do-         +      Twice a year the faculty of the
erated in an intriguing fashion in this       minion b Common Grace: The Bibli-           PR Seminary produce a theological
study of the fruit of the Spirit in the       cal Basis of Progress by the editor of      journal. The Fall 1991 edition con-
life of the child of God. The subject,        the StandardBearer. At the invitation       tains articles on the doctrine of Scrip-
therefore, is the Christian life and          of Contra Mundum the review will            ture of  Martyr-r Lloyd-Jones, sexual
experience. Rev. C. Haak writes the           present the views of the Protestant         ethics in I Corinthians 6 and 7, and
introductory and concluding chap-             Reformed Churches on the aspect of          contemporary issues in hermeneutics,
ters. The price is $6.50.                     common grace dealt with by North.           as well as a number of book reviews.
        Earlier  BL publications are Rev.     Christian education will be the theme       The journalis available without charge
R.C. Harbach's treatment of  Chris-           of the Spring 1992 issue. The sub-          from the
tianlibertyinabookofthistitle($1.50);         scriptionpriceis$15.00ayearforfour                        PR Seminary
Rev. C. Hanko's practical instruction         issues of the 70-page journal. Indi-                 4949 Ivanrest  Avenue
on dating and marriage,  Leaving Fa-          vidual copies can be bought for $3.75              Grand Rapids, MI 49418.
ther and Mother  ($1.50); and a book          plus $1.00 postage. Order from
on Reformed Christian day school                        Contra Mundum                                                        -DJ:
education,  Reformed Education                           P.O. Box 32652
($2.50).                                            Fridley, MN 55432-0652.

                                                                                               January X5,1992 I Standard Bearer I 1%


                                                                                                                         1
Letters

n  Encouragement                               I can't begin to express my joy                   May the Lord continue to richly
                                          and happiness with the receipt of             bless your work with this publica-
         Enclosed is my check for the     every issue. I safeguard each copy in         tion.
renewal of your excellent publica-        a binder and return to them often for                              Maurice W. Bartlett
tion.                                     research and study.                                                      Rio Linda, CA



Al/Around Us
Prof. Roberf Decker

The Christian Reformed                     It is unbiblical  to remain  in a federa-             The above statement makes clear
Alliance                                   tion of churches where synod as-             that the question of withdrawal from
         Several years ago a number of     cribes to itself and to its declarations     the CRC among Alliance members is
                                            more power and authority than to
conservative ministers and councils,                                                    no longer a question of "if" that ought
                                           the Word  of God (Belgic Confession
mainly from the Chicago area and the                                                    to be done, but is now a question of
                                           5,  7,  29,  32).  It  has  now  become
Hamilton, Ontario area, organized          evident that withdrawal from the             "when" that ought to be done.
"The Christian Reformed Alliance            CRC  should  occur.  It  appears  that               The Alliance also changed its
(CRA)." Concerning the most recent         withdrawal  will  be a prolonged  pro-       name from: Nan association of Chris-
decisions of the Synod of the Chris-       cess or development, rather than an          tian Reformed councils who are
tian Reformed Church (CRC), women          immediate  and  large-scale   event.         united in an effort to give effective
in office (1990) and creation/ science     Some churches are well in advance            testimony to God's truth within the
(1991),  many in the alliance came to       of others and are prepared  to act now      CRC..." to "an association of churches
                                           -indeed,  some have already  acted.
the conclusion that these decisions                                                     that are united to give testimony to
                                            Other churches  are only beginning
were fisymptomsU  pointing to a more                                                    the truth of the Word of God asit is set
                                           to  consider   what   action  they  must
serious problem in the CRC, viz., "a       take and are far from being ready to         forth in the historic Reformed
dangerously weakened view of bibli-        act immediately. In the light of this        Creeds...." Among the reasons for
cal authority." Many also concluded        fragmentedandvariegatedsituation,            the change is the desire on the part of
that they could no longer in good          we remind everyone  individually  and        the Alliance to stay in contact with
conscience continue in the fellowship      all the churches generally of the duty       and preserve unity among thosle con-
of the CRC. As we reported earlier in      laid upon us all by the apostle Paul:        gregations which have already left
this column                                "Keep  the unity of the spirit in the
                (SB December 1, 1991),                                                  the denomination and those who are
                                           bond   of  peace"   (Eph.   4:3).  Church
several congregations have already                                                      in the process of leaving. The Alli-
                                           members  should exercise  all due for-
withdrawn from the CRC.                    bearance in the local congregation,          ance also desires closer contacts with
         The Alliance met in Lynwood,      and strive as much as possible to act        other Reformed and Presbyterian
IllinoisinNovemberof  1991 andmade         in  concert  with  fellow   believers.       denominations.
several important decisions. Con-          Churches that are prepared to act                     The Alliance consciously de-
cerning the question of withdrawal         now should not condemn those                 clined to define its identity andi pur-
(secession) from the CRC, the Alli-        churches that are not so prepared,           pose in terms of denominational cat-
anceadoptedthefollowingstatement:          and those churches that remain in            egories. Participants in the Alliance
                                           the CRC for the time being should            wa,nt to          avoid      unbiblical
                                           not condemn  or join in condemning           independentism. Also we are told a
                                           those  churches   that  withdraw.   In       "sense developed during the Alliance
                                           this way the door will remain  open
                                           to  future  development   of  a  united      meeting that member councils and
                                           Reformed   witness   and  much  hurt         congregations are facing something
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical     and harm that might otherwise be             much larger than a denominational
Theology in the Protestant Reformed        inflicted  upon like-minded  brethren        squabble, and therefore that their re-
Seminary.                                  may  be prevented.                           sponse should be broader than the

176 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


formation of yet another Reformed            tant Reformed Churches in America,           urges readers to examine with can
denomination." Alliance churches             in obedience. to Scripture as inter-         open mind different views about
are aware of the fact that the enemies       preted in our Three Forms of Unity,          marriage, promiscuity, and homo-
and heresies attacking the Reformed          confess that there is one holy, catholic     sexuality. It asks whether hetero-
faith are not restricted to one or a few     Church. They believe, further, that it       sexual marriage is the only setting
denominations. For this reason the           is their sacred duty to manifest the         where a healthy sexual relationship
Alliance will be calling together a          true unity and catholicity of the            can occur. At its core, according .to
Confessional Conference of its mem-          Church on earth in as far as that is         one observer, the document ques-
ber churches and other Reformed and          possible, not only in their denomina-        tions biblical passages concerning
Presbyterian denominations for the           tional fellowship but also in conjunc-       homosexuality and suggests that
purpose: "first, to identify those truths    tion with all churches which have            scriptural references to same-sex re-
that unite us; second, to isolate and        obtained like precious faith with us,        lationships need to be re-interpreted
discuss those convictions and prac-          both domestic and foreign." (Acts of         in light of modern theories about
tices that distinguish us from one           Synod, 1972; Art. 157, Suppl. XXXVII)        sexual orientation. The document
another; and third, to forge on the                       Mid-America Messenger           also challenges ELCA members  fo
basis of shared biblical conviction a                           Christian Renewal         evaluate prejudices against homo-
polity and structure flexible enough                                                      sexuals, insisting that "what we per-
to span whatever distances remain."          Homosexuals and the Church                   sonally find offensive is not necessar-
Some of the denominations which                   This issue, or rather we should         ily sinful."
will be asked to participate in this         say, the failure to embrace the biblical          Here is one more glaring ex-
conference are: FreeReformed,  Cana-         teaching on this issue, continues to         ample of how the churches of our day
dianReformed,ProtestantReformed,             plague many churches. Dr. Michael            accommodate themselves to the
Orthodox Christian Reformed, and             Kinnamon, who favors the ordina-             changing mores of the world. What
Orthodox Presbyterian.                       tion of homosexuals, in spite of the         the church ought to be doingis preach-
     Whether our Synod would ac-             fact that he was running unopposed           ing the clear truth of Holy Scripture's
cept an invitation to participate in         failedto get the two thirdsvoteneeded        condemnation of homosexuality, and
such a Conference remains to be seen.        for the presidency of The Christian          calling these people and those who
Certainly our churches have always           Church (Disciples of Christ).                support them to repentance from this
been eager to seek to-promote the                 A fifty-five page document,             terrible sin and to faith in Christ Jesus.
unity of the church of Jesus Christ.         "Human Sexuality and the Christian                               The Church Herald
The Preamble to the constitution of          Faith," was recently issued by the            National & Iutemational  Religion
our CommitteeforContactWithOther             Evangelical Lutheran Church in                                                  Report
Churches in part reads: "The Protes-         America (ELCA). The document


                                             John Wycliffe:
A Cloud of                                   Morning Star of the
Witnesses                                    Reformation (2)
Prof. Herman Hanko

     But 1378 proved to be a turning         a conversion. He was no longer inter-        Rome had adopted over the years.
point in Wycliffe's life. Shortly after      ested in the politics of the realm, nor      And so he began to concentrate his
the convocation of the bishops               in helping promote the cause of the          labors on the investigation of Scrip-
Wycliffe underwent what was almost           kingandthelandownersintheirbattle            ture and the development of the truths
                                             with the papacy. It seems as if, under       of Scripture. Through strange and
                                             God's leading through the Spirit of          remarkable ways, God hadpreserved
                                             Christ, he began to see that the evils in    him from the fury of the Romish
Prof. Ha&o is professor of Church His-       the Romish Church were, after all, not       Churchandfromalmosfcertaindeath
tory and New Testament in the Protes-        primarily evils in practice, but evils       at her hands for yet greater things.
tant Reformed Seminary.                      rooted in the false doctrines which               It may be also that another inci-

                                                                                             January 15,1992  / Standard Bearer / 177


dent in his life was used by God to                                                     "After the sin of Lucifer there is none
bring about this conversion. About          they should continue with their delib-      more opposed to the gospel than that
this same time, Wycliffe became des-        erations because the earthquake was         which ruins souls by giving them a
perately ill, ill unto death. The friars    proof that the awful'teaching of            faithless minister. Bad pastors are the
and monks were sure he was going to         Wycliffe had seeped into the ground         cause of unbelief, heresy and disor-
die; and so they sent a delegation to       and that now the earth had belched to       der."
him under a hypocritical pretense of        rid itself of these foul doctrines. This         Another excellent teacher which
seeking his spiritual welfare-while         councilwas, from that time on, known        Wycliffe was given was Thomas
nothing would have delighted them           as the Earthquake Council.                  Bradwardine, who because of his bril-
more than that he die.`They attempted                The council succeeded in con-      liance was called "Doctor Profundus"
to force him to recant all he had writ-     demning Wycliffe, but did not dare to       (the profound doctor). While able in
tenandtomakepeacewiththechurch.             execute him. It prevailed upon Ox-          philosophy and mathematics, he was
Though desperately ill, in sheer exas-      ford to expel him, which also Oxford        above all a student of the Scriptures.
peration Wycliffe finally managed,          did, though reluctantly. And so John        It was Bradwardine who led Wycliffe
with some help from a servant, to           Wycliffe retired to his parish in           to know the truth of the absolute
raise himself upon the bed. Glaring at      Lutterworth  where he spent the rest        sovereignty of God in grace over
the assorted friars and monks gath-         of his days preaching, teaching, and        against all the Pelegianism in the
ered about him, he assured them not         developing his theology.                    Rornish church. Bradwardine taught
only that he was going to recover                    It is really quite amazing how     his students the graceof Godas deter-
from his illness, but that the Lord         clearly John Wycliffe saw the truth         minativein salvation, and he opposed
would spare him to do yet more harm         almost 200 years before the Reforma-        fiercely the doctrine of the free will of
to their,evil  cause. With these words      tion.                                       man. In fact, he taught these doc-
he drove them from the room.                                                            trines as they applied also to election
     God did spare him. And God                                                         and predestination.
did spare him for yet greater things.                Wycliffe . . . saw clearly                  As Wycliffe developed his the-
     To turn his attention to doctrinal                many truths which                ology, he saw clearly many truths
matters was no easythingfor Wycliffe            were not to become fully                which were not to become fully the
to do, for there was a large price to         the possession of the church              possession of the church until the
pay for it. Because he refused to                                                       days of Luther and Calvin. Some of
involve himself any longer in the af-                   until the days of               the more important ones are worth-
fairs of the realm and in the battle to                Luther and Calvin.               while to list. Wychffe  was the first in
keep England's wealth from flowing                                                      centuries to teach the absolute au-
into papal coffers, those who were                                                      thority of the Scriptures, over against
only interested in this controversy                  One great advantage which he       the Romish error of the authority of
with Rome lost interest in Wycliffe.        had was access to a Bible in Oxford         the church. Wycliffe did battle too
First he lost the popularity of the         which, more and more with the pass-         with Rome's doctrine that the church
people. Then the Duke of Gaunt was          ing of the years, attracted his atten-      was the Romish hierarchy and insti-
no longer interested in protectinghim.      tion and study. Another great advan-        tute. He taught instead (in a major
And, finally, even his colleagues in        tage was two excellent teachers in his      breakthrough) that the church was
Oxford refused to rise to his defense.      early years of study.                       the body of Christ and was composed
     In 1381 the Peasants' Uprising                  One of these teachers was a man    only of the elect. It was in this connec-
occupied the attention of the nation,       by the name of Grosseteste, who hated       tion that he also taught the truths of
and very little effort was made to          and fought bitterly against the cor-        sovereign election and reprobation.
silence Wycliffe. But on May 17,1382        ruption of the church. At one time he       Wycliffe opposed the doctrine of tran-
a council of bishops met in London          wrote prophetically: "To follow a           substantiation (somethingwhichpar-
under the prodding of the pope to           pope who rebels against the will of         titularly aroused the fury of Rome).
consider what to do with the pestilen-      Christ is to separate from Christ and       He taught a spiritual presence of
tial teachings of John Wycliffe. Just as    his body; and if ever the time should       Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's
the council was beginning its meet-         come when all men follow an erring          Supper  - although he was not very
ings a rare and unusual earthquake          pontiff, then will be the great apos-       clear on what this meant. He repudi-
struck London, causing many walls           tasy . . . and Rome wilibe the cause of     ated the practices of Rome such as
to collapse and stones to rain down         an unprecedented schism." When              indulgences, the merit of pilgrimages,
frombuildingsonthestreets. Wycliffe         the powerful Pope Innocent ordered          penance, etc. He denied that the
interpreted this to mean that thejudg-      Grosseteste to make his infant nephew       church had the power to forgive sins
ment of God was upon the council            a canon of Lincoln cathedral,               and insisted that forgiveness came
met together to condemn him; but the        Grossetesteflatlyrefused, withwords         only from Christ. These were doc-
archbishop assured the assembly that        which ring today in every church:           trines which, almost 200 years later,

178 /Standard Bearer I January 15,1992


became the foundation of the Refor-              Word of God to the people. These                         But riche he was of holy thoght
m a t i o n .                                    traveling preachers became known                      and werk.
     Wycliffe also put his teachings             as Lollards. While they were severely                    He was also a lemed man, a clerk
into practice. Beginning at Oxford,              persecuted, they continued after                         That  Cristes  gospel  trewly  wolde
but continuing especially after he left          Wycliffe's death and preserved his                    preche:
                                                                                                          His  parisshens   devoutly   wolde
Oxford for Lutterworth, Wycliffe be-             teachings until the Reformation fi-                   he teche.
gan a translation of Scripture which             nally broke upon England in the mid-                     Benygne  he was and wonder clili-
he completed before his death. Al-               1500s.                                                gent
though he did not know Scripture in                      Although Wycliffe suffered a                     And in adversitee  ful patient . . .
its original languages, and translated           stroke when about 50 years old, he                    Wydwashisparissheandhouses
Scripture from the Latin Vulgate, he             partially recovered from it and con-                  fer asonder,
gave a remarkably accurate transla-              tinued his writing, preaching, teach-                     [the people to whom he minis-
tion which enabled the common                    ing) and the training of his beloved                  teredwere  widely  scattered]
people to hear the Scriptures in their           Lollards.                                                But  he  ne  left  nat  for  reyn  ne
                                                                                                       thonder,
language. We include here a few                          Finally, because the prelates in                  In siknesse nor in meschief  to
verses of his translation of Genesis 1           England seemed unable to do any-                      visite
- in the old English which he used.              thing about Wycliffe, the pope him-                       the  ferreste  [furthest]   in  his
      In the firste made God of nougt            self summoned Wycliffe to Rome for                    parisshe,
  heuene  and erthe. The erthe forsothe          trial. But Wycliffe had suffered his                      muche  and lite [rich and poor],
  was veyn  with ynee and void, and              stroke and wrote a letter of decline.                     Upon  his feet, `and in his hand a
 -,derknessis   weren   vpon  the  face  of      He suffered two more strokes, the last                staf.
  the see; and the Spiryt of God was                                                                       This noble  ensample  to his sheep
 .bom,vpon  the  watrys.   And  God              one in the pulpit, and finally left this              he yaf [gave]
  seide, Be maad  ligt; and maad  is I.@.        life on December 31,1384.                                 That  first he wroghte  and after-
  And God sawgligt, that it was good,                    Schaff includes this description              ward he taughte;
  and  deuydid   [divided]   ligt  fro           ofWycliffeinhisHistoyoftheChris-                          Outofthegospelhethosewordes
  derknessis;   an  clepide   [called]  ligt,    tian Church:                                          caughte  [took].
  dayandderknessis,nygt.  Andmaad                        Wyclif  was spare, and probably
  is  euen  and  moru   [mom],   o  day.              never  of robust  health,  but he was                John'Wycliffe  was a great man of
  Seide forsothe  God, Be maad  a fir-                not an ascetic. He was fond  of a good      God. In the all-wise providence of
  mament   in  the  myddel   of  watres,              meal.  In  temper   he  was  quick,  in
  and dyuyde it watres  from watrys.                  mind   clear,  in  moral  character         God the Reformation of the 16th cen-
      It is difficult for us to imagine               unblemished.  Towardshis  enemies           tury would have been impossible
howthese simple and familiar words                    he  was  sharp,  but  never   coarse  or    without his work. He is the morning
must have.thrilled  the hearts of thou-               ribald.  William  Thorpe,   a  young        star indeed.
sands when they heard them for the                    contemporary  standing  in the court                 So hated was he by Rome that,
first time.                                           of  Archbishop  Arundel,   bore testi-      although Rome was restrained in his
      The translating of the Scriptures               mony that "he was emaciatedinbody           lifetime from harming him, the church
                                                      and well-nigh  destitute  of strength,
was also- extremely dangerous, be-                                                                could not let his bones rest in peace.
                                                      and in conduct  most innocent.  Very
cause the church had forbidden that                                                               On October 9, 1427, on order of the
                                                      many  of the chief  men in England
the Scri&res be put into the lan-                     conferredwithhimlovedhimdearly,             Council of Constance (the same Coun-
guage of the common people. Never-                    wrotedownhissayingsandfollowed              cilthatburnedJohnHussatthestake),
theless, even though printing had not                 his manner of life."'                       Wycliffe's body was exhumed, his
beeninvented,manycopiesmusthave                          Chaucer wrote his famous "Can-           bones burned, and the ashes strewn
been made laboriously by hand, for               terbury Tales" about this time and               on the River Swift.
there are still nearly 170 hand-copied           included a section about Wycliffe. It                     A later chronicler described this
Wycliffe Bibles extant.                          is all the more forcible because                 event in eloquent words.
      Wycliffebelievedstronglyin the             Chaucer, a good Roman Catholic, had                       They  burnt his bones to ashes and
                                                                                                       cast them  into the Swift, a neighbor-
importance of preaching, something               some biting words to say about friars                 ingbrookrunninghardby.  Thus the
almost unheard of in his times in the            and monks. We include this again in                   brook  conveyed   his  ashes  into  the
decay of the Romish Church. He not               O l d   E n g l i s h .                               Avonthe  Avon into the Severn, the
only  preached in his parish, but al-                    Agoodmanwas  ther of religioun                Severn  into the narrow  seas and they
ready in ,Oxford he began to train                       And  was  a  poure  persoun   of  a           into  the  main   ocean.  And  S O   the
preachers to go out among the people                  toun                                             ashes of Wyclif are symbolic  of his
with  the  gospel.  He  continued   this                                                               doctrine,,   which  is  now  spread
while in Lutterworth .and, arming                                                                      throughout   the  world.2   0
them with a copy of Scripture or a
part of it, taught them to expound the           1       Schaff,  History  of  the  Christ@
                                                 Church, vol. V, p. 324.                          2       .Quoted from  Schaff, p. 325.

                                                                                                        January 15,1992 I Standard Bearer / 179


                                                Report from the.
 Guest Article                                  Contact Committee
         Since the Synod of 1991 finished      tant work that needed to be done to        the erection of a new place of worship
its work, the Contact Committee has            help with the problems which these         has not yet begun. The congregation
been busy implementing Synod's de-             new churches face.                         has encountered several delays
cisions and carrying out the normal                  Rev. and Mrs. Kortering are liv-     brought about by the government
workof the Committee. It is time that          ing in an apartment building which is      bureaucracy. But the congregation is
we report concerning our work.                 almost exclusively Chinese. They           sure that work will be able to begin
         The work which has occupied           have the opportunity to learn first-       shortly. The building will cost in
most of the Committee's time is the            hand the Chinese culture, and, from        excess of  $1,000,000.00  Singapore
work in Singapore. The Synod of                what they. report, they are enjoying       money (abouthalfthatinU.S.money).
1991 made some important and  far-             this learning process for the most         This is a great financial burden for the
reaching decisions concerning our              part. Rev. Kortering was stricken          church there to take upon itself. Our
sister-church relations with the Evan-         with a stomach problem for a while, a      churches willingly and eagerly as-
gelicalReformedChurchinSingapore.              problem brought on more than likely        sisted Covenant Evangelical Re-
One of these decisions involved ap-            by the diet of spicy foods which are so    formed Church when that congrega-
pointing Hope Protestant Reformed              characteristic of some Oriental cui-       tion was purchasing a place `of wor-
Church of Walker, Michigan to be the           sine. But God restored him again, for      ship. And now we have the privilege
calling church for the calling of a            which we are thankful.                     and opportunityto assistFirst  Church.
minister-on-loan to labor in Singapore               The life of the Korterings is a           Synod also authorized the Con-
over an extended period of time.               very busy one. Rev. Kortering is           tact Committee to secure, if possible,
Another decision was to send a min-            preaching twice on the Lord's day, is      ministerial help for the Evangelical
ister, if possible, for a period of four to    serving as advisor on various com-         Presbyterian Church of Australia.
six months to labor there as soon after        mittees, is doing his own share of         Specifically, a request was made for
Synod as possible.                             visiting and pastoral work; he gave        ministerialhelp for the congregations
         In consultation with the              two Reformation Day lectures and           in Launceston and Burnie. The Con-
Consistory of Hope Church, the Con-            conducted a six-week course dealing        tact Committee has written to all of
tact Committee decided to wait a few           with some Reformed principles of           our consistories, asking them to. re-
months with calling a minister-on-             church polity that are involved in the     lease their minister for a period of
loan. The chief reason for this was: it        making of decisions by ecclesiastical      time, but so far no supply has been
seemed best to wait until we had               assemblies.                                obtained for these churches. In the
secured someone to go to Singapore                  Rev. Kortering and his wife are       meantime, the saints in Bumie are
for four to six months to evaluate the         expectedbackin the States some time        using video tapes for their worship
work there before actually calling             in the early part of March.                services, something which they are
someone for an extended period of                   PlansarebeingmadeintheERCS            enjoying more than audio tapes. It
time.                                          to prepare a student for coming to our     gives them an opportunity to "see"
         Godgraciouslygrantedusaman            country in order that he may acquire       some of our ministers.
to go for six months. The Council of           Seminary training with us. While the            Two students from the lEl?C of
Grandville Protestant Reformed                 hope of the ERCS is to establish a         Australia are presently in the Semi-
Church consented to release Rev.               Seminary in Singapore in the future,       nary. Their presence in Seminary
Kortering. The Committee wishes to             the time is not yet ripe for this.         gives a dimension to the classroom
express its gratitude to the Council                We take this opportunity also to      work which is appreciated by all the
and congregation of Grandville for             remind our people that the Synod of        students and professors.
releasing their minister for this im-          1991 authorized our churches to take           In November, Rev. Marvin
portant denominational work. Rev.              two collections for First Evangelical      Kamps was sent by our churches
Kortering is using the pastoral heart          Reformed Church to assist them in          through the Contact Committee to
and the wisdom of experience which             their building project. So far as the      Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as an ob-
God has given him, to do the impor-            committee knows, the actual work of        server to the annual meeting of

180 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


NAPARC  (North American Presby-            nization of Christian Reformed con-         sent to a minister in Prague.
terian and Reformed Council). While        servatives formed to assist, give di-            There is always a great deal of
he could not participate in the deci-      rection to, and coordinate the activi-      work to be done, as many in this land
sion-making processes, he had op-          ties of churches who are considering        and abroad are concerned about the
portunity to address the assembly,         leaving the Christian Reformed              apostasy that prevails in so many
give some information about our            Church. The Committee decided not           denominations. As the Contact Com-
churches, and speak with various           to send such observers, believing that      mittee works in these areas to estab-
delegates. One interesting aspect of       the decision was weighty enough that        lishrelationships withfaithfulpeople
NAPARC's  workis its decision to ask       Synod ought first to speak on the           of God, the members see their need of
the Christian Reformed Church (also        matter.                                     wisdom from on high to serve the
a member) to reconsider its decisions           Material is also being sent out in     churches in this important work. We
on women in ecclesiastical office.         the hopes that this will result in addi-    seek the prayers of our fellow saints.
     The Contact Committee received        tional contacts. Six subscriptions to                        Fraternally in Christ,
an invitation to send observers to the     the StandardBearerwere  sent to min-                            Contact Committee,
November meeting of the Christian          isters inHungary and Romania. Rev.                               H. Hanko, Secretary
Reformed Alliance, heldin Lynwood,         Herman Hoeksema's  Reformed  Dog-
Illinois. This organization is an orga-    mah'cs   and Triple Knowledge were


                                           Developments in the
                                           Covenant Reformed
                                           Fellowship of Northern
Contribution                               ireland

     Since the last report regarding            Apart from our worship services        rian Church Refuse to Baptize In-
the Covenant Reformed Fellowship           on a Sunday, we continue with our           fants?", and "What It Means to be
appeared in the Standard Bearer, we        midweek Bible study on the Belgic           Reformed." At the end of the article
have moved our worship services            Confession. We also have five cat-          we offer a free booklet which deals
from Larne to Ballymena. The reason        echism classes for our children and         with the subject in greater detail. The
for our move was the greater interest      young people. As part of our out-           number of requests resulting from
shownin that area, both in our special     reach work we frequently hold spe-          these three adverts is in excess of one
midweek meetings and in responses          cial public midweek meetings at             hundred.
to our newspaper adverts for free          which one of the visiting Protestant             Apart from the collective out-
booklets.                                  Reformed ministers preaches a ser-          reach work of the Fellowship, each
     Our decision to move to               mon on a subject of special interest.       member is involved in the work of
Ballymenahasbeenvindicatedbythe            We advertise these meetings widely          evangelism through the distribution
increasing number of visitors who          and send out letters of invitation to       of sermons on tapes, free booklets,
are attending our worship services.        those on our mailing list. Our last         and the sale of R.F.P.A. books to
We now have two new families and           special meeting was held during the         friends and relatives.
four individuals who are regularly         month of November when Rev.                      Alongside the numerical growth
attending our evening worship ser-         Cammenga was with us. His subject           of our Fellowship and the encourag-
vice. There is a great appreciation        was "Biblical Amillennialism." We           ing results from our outreach work,
amongst our visitors for the preach-       were pleased to have eighteen visi-         we are conscious that under the faith-
ing which they hear and an under-          tors in attendance at this meeting.         ful ministry of various Protestant
standable resentment of the fact that           We have commenced over the             Reformed ministers, we ourselves
their own ministers who claim to be        past year to place brief articles in the    have grown spiritually both in our
Calvinistic and Reformed have so           newspapers. Subjects dealt with have        knowledge of and love for God and
abjectly failed to declare the whole       been, "What Is the Battle For the Pres-     for one another.
counsel of God to them.                    byterian Church?", "May a Presbyte-              We feel a deep sense of gratitude
                                                                                          January 15,1992 / Standard Bearer I181


to our gracious, sovereign God that,                                                        the matter of whom you should call
while many of our brethren and sis-                         our guow~~li~:'                 the subject of serious consideration
ters in Christ remain in churches                      and establishment                    and prayer.
where the glorious truth of God's                                                                    To the ministers who are called:
sovereignty is not proclaimed, it has           as a congregation depends on                consider the greatness of our need.
pleased Him through the means of                       our securing a man                   Our growth and establishment as a
the Protestant Reformed Churches to                    to work among us.                    congregation depends on our secur-
give unto us preaching that is thor-                                                        ing a man to work among us.
oughly biblical and therefore distinc-                                                               To the members of churches
tively Reformed.                                     While it is true that many good        whose ministers are called: consider
      We would like to take this op-            things can be said about the work           the possibility that our need may be
portunity publicly to thank the Prot-           here, we must together face up to the       greater than yours. If that is the case,
estant Reformed Churches for all the            fact that all is not well. One thing we     it is your duty to encourage your
help they have given us over the past           lack. Despite being designated a mis-       minister to accept the call to labor in
four years. We are, as far as the               sion field in June, 1990 and the call to    our fellowship. Such self-sacrifice
church world is concerned, a small              laborherebeingissued to eight differ-       will not go unrewarded (Luke  1'8:29,
group of insignificant people, hardly           ent ministers, we do not yet have a         30).
worthy, many would think, of the                missionary. This is a matter of great                To allmembers of the Protestant
sacrifices you have made on our be-             concern for us, as it must also be for      Reformed Churches and allwho love
half. We should especially like to              the Protestant Reformed Churches if         the Bride of Christ, "Prayye therefore
thank the Mission Committee,                    they are serious about doing mission        the Lord of the harvest, that he will
Hudsonville Protestant Reformed                 work. Much has been done to secure          send forth laborers into his harvest"
Church, Rev. VanBaren,  and those               a minister for this field. More can be      (Matt.  9:38).  0
ministers who have been willing to              done. We make this plea. To the                                    John Clarke, Sec'y.
come over and help us.                          members of the calling church: make                 Covenant Reformed Fellowship



 Eking Heed to. '  Conditional
the Doctrine
Rev. Bernard                                    Theology
Woudenberg


                                                     The days following Dr. Klaas           terest in church and theology began
                                                Schilder's visit to the United States       to take place.
          For by grace are ye saved through     were exciting days. A new sense of                   But not everything was as posi-
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the    enthusiasm seemed to fill the               tive as it might have seemed. Some of
gift of God:                                    churches. After all, being visited by       what was happening, at least to the
          Not of works, lest any man should     Dr. Schilder, a man who so recently         more discerning, did not forebode
boast.                                          had been the most noted theologian          good, and that for a number of rea-
          For we are his workmanship, cre-      in The Netherlands, gave to our             sons.
ated in Christ Jesus unto good works,           churches a degree of recognition                     Perhaps the most evident of these
which God hath before ordained that we          whichwe hadlongbeendenied. And              was the rise of voices within our
should walk in them.                            even more, with the promise of a new        churches in defense of conditional
                         Ephesians 2:8-10       flood of post-war immigration, it           theology.
                                                seemed altogether likely that those                  In many ways this was surpris-
                                                who came from the Liberated                 ing. After all, our churches had been
                                                churcheswouldbejoiningours. Then            built on a foundation of particular
                                                at last we might have that kind of          and sovereign grace. The difference
Rev. Woudenberg is pastor of the Protes-        growth for which we had long hoped          between those who are children of
tant Reformed Church of Kalamazoo,              but had never known. All of this was        God and those who are not is due not
Michigan.                                       stimulating, and a resurgence of in-        to their own superiority or initiative,

182 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


butpurelyto thegraceof God.  Itis the         different from those which had been         a warm and tender relationship of
grace of an unconditional election            heard in our churches through the           love rather than a cold, legalistic ar-
which summons, maintains, and con-            years. In many ways they seemed to          rangement of power. For years these
summates the salvation of God's               stand in contradiction to what had          truths had sounded forth forcefully
people, so that when all is done the          before been taught; but this was de-        from the pulpits of our churches and
Christian can only say that it is not his     nied. Only the emphasis was differ-         had served to establish a rich and
doing but the grace of God which              ent, it was said. It was just that new      satisfying life where it was heard.
works in him [I Cor  15:10].  This            elements were being seen that had                Now, however, it was being
exalting of divine grace, rather than         not been recognized before. Sover-          called inadequate. People were tired,
emphasis upon the importance of               eign grace and conditionality could         it was said, of hearing about election
human effort, had always marked               both be maintained together. And so         andreprobation. Theywantedsome-
our churches. It had been taught by           the argument went on.                       thing different. It wasn't that they
Rev. Hoeksema to all of his students;              That was not all. Perhaps not so       disagreed; they just didn't want to
andwasexpectedtobepreachedfrom                evident, but even more ominous, was         hear it anymore. They wanted some-
every pulpit.                                 the sound of complaint beginning to         thing more.
     Now, however, a different sound          be heard against the preaching of pre-           And that led, in effect, to what
was being heard. In spite of all that         d e s t i n a t i o n .                     was perhaps the least evident, but
had been said in the past, it was being                                                   possibly the most serious problem of
suggested that this grace of God can                                                      all, a call for practical preaching.
quite properly be spoken of as condi-           Rev. Hoeksema . . . set forth                  This was in itself hardly new.
tional, and that on a number of differ-              predestination as a                  Already in 1924 Rev. Hoeksema had
ent levels. To begin with, the cov-                                                       warned concerning the danger of
enant itself can be `looked. upon as                      warm and tender                 worldliness which would come with
being essentially bilateral, or two-                 relationship of love                 Common Grace. And, although the
sided. On the one side is the promise          rather than a cold, legalistic             Christian Reformed Church had
of God; but on the other must be                   arrangement of power.                  adopted this doctrine anyway, in 1928
found an emphasis upon the respon-                                                        theytriedtostemwhatwasbecoming
sibility of man. In turn, the same can                                                    a growing tide of worldliness by draw-
be said of the Gospel which calls men               Possibly it is a natural thing,       ing up regulations forbidding people
into the covenant of grace. The church        always to be expected. Throughout           to engage in worldly activities, such
is called to proclaim that Gospel to all      the history of the church, predestina-      ascardplaying, dancing, andmovies.
men; and, if so, it must be done con-         tion has not been well accepted. Even       The result was that there was soon to
ditionally. Every person must be              Paul, in the book of Romans, had to         be heard within their churches nu-
called by the Gospel, but it is a call        take great pains to defend it. But,         merous thundering sermons designed
which must be conditionally ex-               nevertheless, Reformedtheologygen-          to warn people against doing those
pressed. Each must be told he will be         erally, as in the Canons of Dordt, and      things which their synod forbade. In
saved if he will believe; and that "if" is    the Protestant Reformed churches in         many instances these sermons were
the important thing. The promise of           particular, have always maintained          quitepopular;andrequestsweresoon
salvation is for all, suspended upon a        these truths with strength. This, after     heard in our churches for sermons of
condition which man must fulfill.             all, was what the origin of the Protes-     like kind. But Rev. Hoeksema would
Otherwiseonereallycan't domission             tant Reformed churches was about.           havenothingof it. For deep, principle
work at all. It is necessary to encour-       Common Grace was an effort to es-           reasons, which not everyone under-
age some to conversion, and to leave          cape the restrictions of predestina-        stood, he saw such to be contrary and
others responsible for their unbelief.        tion, and we protested against it, call-    counter-active to the true working of
And then, finally, there was the mat-         ing ourselves, at first, the Protesting     sanctification and grace.
ter of sanctification. How else can           ChristianReformedChurchesbecause                 It went back to what he believed
covenant people be encouraged to              of this.                                    to be the biblical warning against le-
turn from the ways of the world and                 In turn, Rev. Hoeksemaparticu-        galism. Sanctification can not be
live Christianlives? It canonlybe, the        larly went on to develop the positive       brought about by laying down laws
claim was made, if we lay before each         side of this doctrine. By combining         for people to follow, or by telling
one the conditions of the covenant,           predestination with the doctrine of         them to do this and not that. It might
butwithpromises for those who obey            the covenant, and defining the cov-         seem to provide short-term results,
and a curse for those who do not.             enant in terms of the relationship of       but in the end it can only have a
Each must be warned to keep the               friendship which God through elec-          deadening effect. (In fact, one can go
conditions of the covenant, or he will        tion establishes with His people, he        back through the hundreds of extant
become a covenant-breaker.                    was able to set forth predestination as     transcripts of Rev. Hoeksema's ser-
     These were strange sounds, quite                                                     mons, extending from the late twen-

                                                                                             January 15,1992 / Standard Bearer I 183


ties to the mid-forties, and findlittle if    their Scriptures and love them, they               Those were in many ways excit-
any direct practicalinstruction of this       will know to `do the right and turn           ing days; but they were not good
kind.) He was a firm believer in the          from doing wrong.                             days. And few were more quickly
power of exegetical/ doctrinalpreach-              For years this had gone well. But        conscious of this than was the Rev.
ing. The people of God do not have to         now the objections were coming in.            George Ophoff, Rev. Hoeksema's fel-
be told what is right and what is             Again and again it was to be heard            lowprofessorinthetheologicalschool.
wrong; they know that. The needis in          that people were tired of all of this         But those weren't good days for him
the motivation and incentive to do it;        doctrinal preaching. They needed              either. With all of his humble quiet-
and that does not come from putting           something practical.       For the first      ness, and deep intellectual honesty,
people under law. It must be planted          time in all of his years of extraordi-        he was soon, it seemed, the least ac-
by grace into the heart, by feeding           nary preaching, Rev. Hoeksema was             cepted of all. 0
them on the teachings (doctrines) of          being dealt with as uninteresting and
the Word of God. Whenpeopleknow               dull. He wasn't practical enough.





Go Ye Into All                                                  Mission Principles (VIII)
the World                                                         An Answer
Rev., Ronald VanOverloop

         What must the Reformed mis-          young people trying to be tough) is                    Need we detail any more ex-
sionary and layman say when asked             now coming from the lips of young             amples to prove what every reader
about the abounding wickedness in             and innocent-looking children.  TO            already knows?
the world?                                    overhear some people talk is to hear                   Shame and consequent blush-
         Sin seems to be unchecked, be-       the name of God misused and abused            ing are increasingly rare.
coming worse and worse, and be-               in every sentence. Language which                      Is it worse now than ever be-
coming increasingly open and bla-             used to cause ladies to blush is now          fore?
tant.                                         spoken by women without a trace of                     Therehavebeentimesinhistory
         Before such wickedness the           shame.                                        when the moral climate seems to have
spiritually sensitive believer some-               Sexual innuendoes as well as             been just as bad as what it is today.
times shudders. At other times he             explicit references to sex abound. First      However, it was usually isolated in
becomes angry at it all. At still other       amendmentrightsandso-calledtruth-             individual cities or nations. The moral
times he finds himself fearful, espe-         fulness are appealed to as the basis for      corruption of Sodom and Gomorrah,
cially for his children. The godly            the fulfillment of the lusts of the flesh.    and of the Roman Empire, was very,
parents often would like enough ex-           Homosexuality has marketed itself             very great. It was so great that in both
tra hands to cover the ears and eyes of       so much and so well that the mention          cases God brought judgment. In
their children.                               of it is common-place and it has virtu-       Sodom and Gomorrah the sin was so
         The language of the store-clerks     ally become accepted as an alterna-           great that the judgment was swift and
and stock-boys is becoming more foul.         tivelife-style. The diseases and deaths       absolute, and so destructive that their
Words which used to be said quietly           which are commonly associated with            ruins cannot be located.
are now spoken loudly and without             adultery, fornication, and homosexu-                     *  *  *  *  +  *  +
concern for those who hear them.              ality abound.                                          When observing iniquity
Language which wouldbe  found only                 The recent Thomas hearings               aboundingandbecomingincreasingly
on the lips of hardened sinners (or of        made obvious both the deceit and              open, the sensitive soul is sometimes
                                              guile of those in high places and also        heard to ask, "Does God know what
                                              the shameless openness in speaking            is going on? Is He watching? Why
                                              of that which belongs to the quiet of         does He wait to bring judgment
                                              the marriage bedroom.                         against such flagrant sinfulness?" In
Rev.  VanOverloop  is  pastor  of Bethel           More and more families in the            light of such sinfulness, the Christian
Protestant Reformed Church in ElkGrove        world are being ravaged by hatred             is sometimes asked, "If there is a God,
Village, Illinois.                            and by the lack of godly love.                then why does He allow so much sin?

184 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


Why does He allow shooting sprees           wrath of God. Romans 1 teaches             incorruptible God into that of cor-
like those recently in the restaurant in    clearly that sin's development is pre-     ruptible creatures, then God's wrath
Texas and on the campus of the Uni-         cisely proof that God is and that He       II gives them up" to uncleanness.
versity of Iowa? Why does He allow          hates sin, for sin's seemingly                  This Divine giving over (verses
so much crime, adultery, and abor-          unchecked growth is God's judicial         24, 26, 28) does not mean that God
tion to take place.?/' Or the Christian     abandonment of manunto sin. God's          simply abandons them after first re-
hears the statement, "No.good  God          wrath corresponds to the organic           straining them. These verses do not
would permit such obvious sinful-           growth of sin, which can never stop        teach that God let them go after hold-
ness."                                      until it destroys man. This is evident     ing them back. First, the One per-
      We must be ready to give an           most clearly in the world as a whole,      forming this activity is not a human
answer. Themissionarycertainlywill          and in specific societies corporately,     who has little or no control over an-
face these questions. Manyindividual        and to varying degrees in individual       other human, but He is the sovereign
Christians are also asked such ques-        persons.                                   Lord. Secondly, the word literally
tions by their acquaintances.                    In his ride on "Sin's Express"        means "to push down, to deliver up."
      The answer of the Reformed            man is without excuse. He cannot           This is the word which is used for
missionary and believer begins with         blame God. He cannot say that he did       delivering a prisoner, whom you do
an acknowledgment of the horror of          not know any better.                       notlet go to walkto hiscellbyhimself.
sin and of sinfulness and with a pre-            Sinners know the truth. God (not      This word is used to describe the
sentation of the teaching of Romans 1:      just anybody) showed it unto them          activity of delivering Christ into the
18-32. This section of God's Word           (Romans  1:19). What may be known          hands of wicked men.
teaches that it is the wrath of God         of God is manifest "in them" (vs. 19).
which causes sin to "prosper" in what       God's power and deity are "clearly
it wills.                                   seen,beingunderstood" (vs.21). They               While increased sin
                                            know better, for they hold down the              is the consequence of
                                            truth (vs. 18), and change the truth of
      . . . for sin's seemingly             God into a lie (vs. 25). They refuse to       God's "`giving them over,"
             unchecked growth               glorify and to thank God. Still more,         the only cause of this sin
             is God's judicial              they know that they which commit                 is human perversity.
                                            unrighteousness "are worthy of
      abandonment of man                    death" because of "the judgment of
                 unto sin.                  God" (vs. 32).                                  In His wrath God delivers men
                                                 They willingly determine not to       unto sin. A natural law of conse-
                                            acknowledge and to glorify God.            quence operating in sin is that sin,
      Contrary to appearances, Godis             Therefore "the wrath of God is        already present, intensifies. The road
not waiting. He is not reservingjudg-       revealed . . . against all ungodliness     of the world is sin, wrath, more sin,
ment upon the wickedness of man.            and unrighteousness of men."               more wrath, still more sin, and still
He is not merely standing by watch-              How is this wrath of God mani-        more wrath, etc. God's wrath is pres-
ing man sin freely and willingly.           fested? What does this wrath of God        ently operating in the world with the
      We must realize that the sinner       do? First, it causes men to become         effect that sin is punished with more
not only does what he pleases, but          "vain in their imaginations, and their     sin. The result is that mankind reaps
also he "prospers" more than he             foolish heart was darkened." God, in       for itself a correspondingly greater
planned. He cannot stop! It is as if all    His wrath, makes them foolish. They        tolI of Divine vengeance.
sinful men, by nature, make a run-          become morally and spiritually frus-            How does God give man over to
ning jump onto their sleds on the           trated; they become destitute of spiri-    more and worse sin without Himself
slippery hill of sin. They begin their      tual understanding, and completely         becoming the Author of sin? While
ride in great excitement, thrilled at       incapable of spiritual insight. Man's      increased sin is the consequence `of
the speed of the ride. But the smile        folly is evident in his idolatry. He       God's "giving them over," the only
becomes frozen and the shouting             who was made lord of creation is           cause of this sin is human perversity.
ceases as they realize that they are        humiliated, as he bows before, trusts      God gives them over through "the
going faster and faster, that they are      in, and expects help from a creature       lusts of their own hearts" (verse 24).
out of control, and that they cannot        lower than himself. That man actu-         Also, man sins willingly, for he does
stop, but will go over a precipice.         ally begins to believe in the idols he     not zoant to know God (vs. ZS), and he
They had seen the precipice from the        makes is the result of God's wrath. If     delights in sin (vs. 32).
beginning, but did not realize that         men will not serve their Creator, then          What began as corruption in the
they could go so far and so fast.           God will make them to be fools.            mind and heart (vs. 21) ends with
      The power that pulls man down              When natural man goes the next        corruption in the body. This "un-
is the unchangeable operation of the        step and changes the glory of the          cleanness" (vs. 24) to which God gives

                                                                                          January 15,1992 I Standard Bearer I1135


them over consists of sexual aberra-         ing their sinful ways? Such would not       Christ, which is revealed in the Gos-
tions, especially homosexuality.             work, for corporately man has great         pel. This I will do unashamedly.
However grievous is adultery, the            delight in his own sin and in others'            Let us not be ashamed of the
degeneration of homosexuality is a           sins. Sinfulmankind wouldrather go          Gospel of Christ, not even in the face
greater degeneracy.                          to hell than abandon sin.                   of so much sin and sinfulness. And let
     God is not standing idly by, for             Should we conclude that it is          us give an answer, an explanation,
His wrath is evident in man's greater        hopeless and futile because God's           along with a reason to hope. 0
sinfulness, This is the explanation for      wrath is at the bottom of it all?
the growth of sin and immorality seen             From the viewpoint of man it is!
everywhere today. God brings man             It is hopeless because man- cannot
as low as possible, in order that man        stop the wrath of God. We  must
might see the consequences of his sin.       confess that it is hopeless from man's
Man falls below the beast, making a          viewpoint.                                    Do you ever stop to won-
calf his god. And, sexually, man does             But it is not totally hopeless!            der why
things that the beast would never do.             The only power that can stop             God placed you where
     God'swrathuponsinculminates             one's slide down the slippery hill of           you are in life?
in that unrighteous men "not only do         sin and wrath is the Gospel.                  Does it seem as if all
the same, but have pleasure in them               The wickedness is so great that
that do them," all the while "knowing        only God is able to rescue. This He             things
the judgment of God that they which          did in Christ. The righteous, by faith        Reverse themselves from
commit such things are worthy of             in this work of God in Christ, live.            the way you plan?
death" (verse 32). The depth of evil is           TheGospelofChrististhepower              Your daily chores -
reached when sinners, and the soci-          of God unto salvation! It is the power        Your heartaches -
ety inwhich they live, are so devoid of      that i&s individuals up and out of
shame that they encourage sins in            harm's way. It is the power to stop the       Your gropings and fears-
others, Someone who feels shame              out-of-control slide of the individual        Your sorrows and tears -
may still be healed; but when there is       elect and to separate them from the           Do you wonder why
no shame, then there is little hope.         mass of falling mankind. This power             they've come to you?
Jeremiah asks, "Were they ashamed            is exercised both initially in regener-
when they had committed abomina-             atingandrepeatedlyin the Christian's
tion? nay, they were not at all              life. This tremendous power is the            The Master Builder
ashamed, neither could they blush;           only thing that separates me from the           smooths each rough-cut
therefore they shall fall among them         mass of fellow-men. In myself I                 stone
that fall" (Jeremiah  6:15). Such a          wanted to stay, but God made me to            And readies it throughout
people "rejoice to do evil, and delight      differ. Hallelujah!                             the years
in the frowardness of the wicked"                 The Gospel is this tremendous
(Proverbs  2:14).                            power because it reveals the righ-            That it may smoothly fit;
         *  $  *  *  *  +  *                 teousness of God in Christ. Christ's          Yea, none other could
     The Reformed missionary and             righteousness, which is imputed by              replace it.
the Reformed believer do have an             God's free grace to the elect sinner, is      My life, alone will me
answer when they see iniquity                the power to destroy the power of sin           prepare
abounding, and when they are asked           and to lift man up into the glory of
about the seemingly unchecked de-            everlasting life. Just as God takes the       For my place in th'eternal
velopment of sin. They speak of the          testimony of His wrath in creation              edifice -
wrath of God.                                and carries it into the heart of.every        The church triumphant, at
     Is there any more the Reformed          man, so He takes the testimony of the           the crystal sea.
saint can do or say?                         Gospel about His Son and applies it           Then I shall know -
     Does the presence of the wrath          into the heart of His elect.
of God leave us powerless and silent?          My being not ashamed of the                 The All-wise God will
Does this mean that all evangelistic         Gospel of Christ means that I have an           show -
effort on our part is futile?                answer for those who are under the            Why each phase of my life
     It is not realistic to try to reform    wrath of God. I do not know who                 was a necessity.'
the world. To tryto do so wouldbe to         amongmyneighbors, to whom1 must
share in the vanity of imagination and       witness, is an elect of God. I do not                              Thelma Westra
foolishness of heart.                        need to know. I am responsible only                       Faith PRC, Jenison,  MI
     Shall we preach damnation and           to obey my God's command to wit-
hell-fire and scare men into abandon-        ness'of  the righteousness of God in

186 /Standard Bearer I January 15,1992


                                                 Types of
 Decency and                                     ,Ecclesiasticd
 Order
Rev. Ronald Cammenga                             Assemblies
         Four, kinds of ecclesiastical assem-    at the church of Poitiers in order to        in Frankenthal, was the president.
blies shall be maintained: the consist0 y,       discuss the need for regular synodi-         Besides adopting a  Church Order,  the
theclassis, (theparticularsynod),  andthe        cal meetings. In 1559, in the midst of       synod included in its official minutes
general synod.                                   fierce persecution, a synod was con-         asectioninwhichanswersweregiven
                Church Order, Article 29.        vened at St. Germain, a suburb of            to specific questions presented by
                                                 Paris.                                       various churches to the synod. The
         Article 29 introduces the second                `The earliest Dutch Reformed         Synod of Embden was also the first
main section of the  Church  Ordei               synods were the Walloon Synods               synod to draw up classical bound-
which deals  .with the ecclesiastical            (1555-1556). The  Walloon churches           aries.
assemblies. By "assemblies" is meant             were in Southern Netherlands and                  The Provincial Synod of
official meetings of duly elected and            were largely French speaking. These          Dordrecht, 1574, was the first synod
delegated officebearers in order to              synods were often designatedby such          to be held on Dutch territory. Al-
conduct the business of the church.              names as "The Synod at the Vine," or         though technically it was a particular
These assemblies are of four "kinds."            "The Synod at the Flowerbud." Evi-           synod, composedmainly of delegates
There are not four "ranks" .or "or-              dently this was intendqd to keep the         from the provinces of Holland and
ders" of assemblies in the Reformed              meeting place of the synods a secret         Zeeland, it was for all practical pur-
churches, but four "kinds." The lan-             due to the threat of persecution. These      poses a general synod of the Dutch
guage of the  Church Order  is deliber-          names were usually associated with           churches. Later synods would recog-
ate. At the very outset of its treatment         the official seal of the church at which     nize its decisions and even appeal to
of the broader assemblies, the Church            they were held.                              them as precedent in matters of lit-
Order is concerned to guard against                      One of the earliest synods of the    urgy and church polity. The synod
the danger of hierarchy.                         Dutch churches was the Synod of              met from June 16,1574  until June 28.
                                                 Wezel,1568.  Thissynodmetinwezel,            Casper Heijdanus served as presi-
Historical Development of                        Germany because. of the persecution          dent. Classicalboundaries werereor-
Ecclesiastical Assemblies                        in The Netherlands. The Synod of             `ganized and it was decided that the
         From the beginning, consistory          WezelconvenedonNovember3,1568                classes should meet once a month.
meetings were heldin  the churches of            and was composed of a group of                    The National Synod of  Dor-
the Reformation. Under Calvin's lead-            Dutch Reformed leaders from some             drecht, 1578, was the first truly na-
ership, there were weekly consistory             20 churches. This synod drew up the          tional synod of the Reformed
meetings in Geneva. This practice                first  Church Order  .of the Reformed        Churches in The Netherlands. A
was followed by almost all the Re-               Churches of The Netherlands, ad-             major focus of the synod was the
formed churches on the continent.                vised the immediate creation of              issue of the relationship between
Our own Church Order, Article 37,                classes, and strongly emphasized that        church and state. The synod met
calls for weekly consistory meetings,            the churches must not only be united         from June 2-18, 1578. This was the
as a general rule.                               doctrinally, but also in polity.             first synod to specify four kinds of
         The first  synodical  meetings                  The Synod of Embden was con-         ecclesiastical assemblies, as does our
were attempted by the French Re-                 vened in 1571. Once again, the meet-         present Article 29.
formed churches. In 1558 a number,of             ing place was on the border between
French Reformed ministers gathered               Germany and The Netherlands be-              Kinds of Ecclesiastical Assemblies
                                                 cause of the threat of persecution.               The most fundamental of all
                                                 The Synod of Embden was the first            ecclesiastical assemblies is the
                                                 Dutch Reformed synod to be com-              consistory.        The Latin word
Rev. Camnzenga  is pastor of the Protes-         posed of officially delegated minis-         ticonsistoriumn  refers to a meeting
tant Reformed Church  of  Loveland, Colo-        ters      and    elders.        Kasper       place, and thus to those who gather at
rado.                                            VanDerHeyden,  pastor of the church          this place for ameeting. The consistory

                                                                                                 January 15,1992  / Standard Bearer / 187


consists of the ministers and elders,          Church in 1914 put the reference to                    In Scotland and England the
and in small congregations the dea-            the particular synod in parentheses..         desire to have international meetings
cons (cf. Church Order, Article 37), of        The most recent revision of the Church        of Presbyterian and Reformed
thelocal congregation. In the Presby-          Order  by the Christian Reformed              churches was expressed in a number
terian tradition the consistory is             Church has dropped all reference to           of significant documents. "The Sec-
equivalent to the session. The com-            the particular synod and, thus, makes         ondBookofDiscipline" of theChurch
mon Dutch designation of the                   reference to only three kinds of eccle-       of Scotland, 1578, mentions foureccle-
consistory is  kerkeraad,  that is, "church    siastical assemblies. The Protestant          siasticalassemblies: one consisting of
councilN This is perhaps to be pre-            Reformed Churches do not either               "particular kirks and congregations,"
ferred to the designation "consistory."        have provincial synods.                       another of a province, a third one of
It is more descriptive and it is a con-             The last ecclesiastical assembly         the whole nation, and finally "of all
fessional term: "We believe, that this         referred to is the general synod. The         divers nations professing onle ,Jesus
true Church must be governed by                word "synod" is derived from the              Christ." The English "Book of Disci-
that spiritual policy which our Lord           Greek and refers literally to "a com-         pline," 1578, closes with the follow-
hath taught us in His Word; namely,            ing together, an assembly, a meet-            ing statement: "Thus much for par-
that there must be ministers or pas-           ing." The general assembly is some-           ticular meetings, the universal
tors to preach the Word of God, and            times referred to as the national synod.      followeth, which is called a general or
to administer the sacraments; also             In the presbyterian tradition the gen-        ecumenical council, which is a meet-
elders and deacons, who, together              eral assembly is equivalent to the            ing of the chosen men of every na-
with the pastors, form the council of          synod. The synod is the denomina-             tional synod.II "The Form of Presby-
the Church . .." (Belgic Confession,           tion-wide assembly composed of an             terian Church-Government," 1645,
Art. 30).                                      equal number of minister and elder            states under the heading "Of Synodi-
       The consistory is the only eccle-       delegates from each classis. Our gen-         cal Assemblies": "Synodical  `assem-
siastical assembly specifically men-           eral synod meets annually, although           blies maylawfullybe of several sorts,
tioned in Scripture. In I Timothy 4:14         the early synods of the Christian Re-         as provincial, national, and ecumeni-
the "presbytery" is the council of the         formed Church met only once every             cal."
ruling elders, the consistory. Other           two years.                                             Although no ecumenical or in-
passages speakof  the elders as abody:                                                       ternational synod is mentioned in our
Acts 20:17,28;  I Timothy 5:17; I Peter        Ecumenical Synod                              Church Order, it certainly is some-
5:1-3; Matthew 16:19; Hebrews 13:7,                 No mention is made in Article 29         thing worth considering, especially
17.                                            of an ecumenical or universal synod,          with our sister churches. Undoubt-
       Besides the consistory, Article         although the Reformed churches of             edly there are questions of the practi-
29 refers to the  classis. The word            the 16th and 17thcenturies supported          cality of such a gathering, and of the
"classis" is also a Latin word and             the idea of the convening of such a           powers that such a synod would ex-
refers to a certain class or division of       synod.                                        ercise. But the concept itself is some-
people, as for example in the military              John Calvin was strongly in fa-          thing worth discussing.
or government. In Reformed church              vor of an ecumenical synod of Re-
polity a classis (plural: classes) refers      formedchurches. Inletterswritten to           Principles of Church Federation
to a meeting of a group of churches in         the English Reformer, Thomas                           Article 29 presupposes the prin-
a certain region. In the Presbyterian          Cranmer, and the Swiss Reformer,              ciples of church federation. There are
tradition the classis is equivalent to         HeinrichBullinger,  he proposed such          at least three such principles funda-
the presbytery. The classis is ordi-           an ecumenical synod. In one place he          mental for church federation.
narily composed of a minister and an           wrote,"Iwouldnotshrinkfromcross-                       The deepest principle of church
elder delegated from each consistory           ing ten seas, should that be necessary,       federation is the.unity  of the church.
that is a member of the classis.               for the purpose of attending such a           (Cf. John 17:20,21;  Rom. 12:4,5; I Cor.
       Article 29 also makes reference         gathering . . . . I am of the opinion that    12:12-31;  Eph. 4:35.) Although this
to the particular synod, sometimes             neither energy nor pains should be            unity is primarily doctrinal, a one-
referred to as the provincial or re-           spared."                                      ness of faith, it is also expressed insti-
gional synod, since the boundaries of                                                        tutionally. The Independents have
theparticularsynodusuallycoincided                                                           alwaysdeniedthenecessityformani-
with the boundaries of the provinces              Although no ecumenical                     festing the unity of the church organi-
in The Netherlands. The provincial                                                           zationally and have never bleen in
synods were gatherings of delegates                 or international synod                   favor of major assemblies with bind-
fromanumberofneighboringclasses.                             is mentioned                    ing authority. But the Reformed
Because it did not have particular                   in our Church Order,                    churches have always applied the bib-
synods, the revision of the Church                 it certainly is something                 licalprinciple of theunity  of the church
Order  by the Christian Reformed                     worth considering,...                   to the calling of the local congregation
188 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


tobedenominationallyfederatedwith           assemblies exercise a binding author-        son enough to favor church federa-
likeminded churches. The basis for          ity. Even though congregations freely        tion. Time and time again history has
such unity, then, is the mutual belief      join the denomination, decisions of          proved that independentism is a
in the teachings of the Word of God         the broader assemblies within the            deadend street, ecclesiasticalsuicide.
and the acceptance of the Reformed          denomination are not to be regarded               What are some of the benefits of
confessions.                                merely as friendly advice "without           church federation? Let me mention
         A second fundamental principle     teeth." Byvirtueof thechurchfedera-          just a few. Church federation pro-
of church federation is the autonomy        tion, decisions of the broader assem-        vides opportunity for the broader
of the local congregation. Within the       blies are binding. The broader assem-        building up of the body of Christ and
federation of churches each local con-      blies do exercise authority within the       ministering to the needs of fellow,
gregation remains autonomous, that          federation. The minor assemblies             saints in other congregations. It pro-
is, self-governing. Membership in the       must honor this authority of the             vides the ability to carry out aspects
denomination is not something im-           broader assemblies. Consistories, for        of the church's calling that would be
posed on thelocalcongregation, but a        example, must submit to and imple-           well-nigh impossible to carry out
matter of free and willing choice.          ment the decisions of the synod. Re-         alone, such as the training of young
VanDellen  and Monsma state, "The           fusal to do so not only leads to chaos       men for the ministry and mission
loca.lcongregationisacompletemani-          inthechurches,butisrebelXonagainst           work. Denominational federation
festation of the body of Christ, a unit     the authority of Christ. If a consistory     makes possible the moral and finan-
by itself, and is not to be looked upon     and congregation are convinced that          cial assistance of smaller congrega-
as a sub-division of a large super-         a decision of the broader assembly is        tions that would find it very difficult,
Church ruling with superior power"          unbiblical,  it- has two alternatives:       if not impossible, to exist alone. In
(The Church Order  Commentay,   p.          exercise the right of protest and ap-        addition, within the denomination,
133). Steadfast insistence on the au-       peal; if ultimately this proves to be of     provisionis made for those congrega-
tonomy of the local congregation pro-       no avail, sever their relationship with      tions without ministers. One of the
tects against hierarchy. In this section    the federation.                              most outstanding benefits of church
that deals with the ecclesiastical as-                                                   federation is that the assemblies of
semblies, the Church Order will be at       Benefits of Church Federation                the denomination provide the oppor-
pains to uphold the principle of the             Not only is church federation a         tunityfortheresolutionofdifficulties
autonomy of the local congregation.         duty, but it is also of great benefit,       that may arise in the local congrega-
         It is also a fundamental prin-     practically and spiritually, to the local    tion, through the process of protest
ciple of church federation that major       congregation. These benefits are rea-        and appeal. 0

                                                                            Malachi'

                                                                               Lesson 4
                                               God's Covenant of
Search the                                              Life and Peace
Scriptures
Rev. Carl Haak                                                         Malachi 23 -10

                                                 Malachi's method in exposing            depth of those sins, not by going into
                                            the sins of his day was to hold those        allthe details,butbyholdingthemup
                                            sins up before the light of Go,d's gra-      before the light of the righteousness
                                            cious goodness to His people, thus           and goodness of God. This is proper,
                                            exposing the horribleness of their sin       for sin's horror is not measured by
                                            as it is seen against that background.       how many people it harms or how
Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant       Later in the prophecy he gives a list of     far-reaching the consequences might
Reformed Church of Lynden, Washing-         the sordid sins being committed (ch.         be. Rather, you and I must know the
                                            3:5). Here, however, he expresses the        ugliness of sin by seeing it against the
toll.

                                                                                            January 15,1992 / Standard Bearer I 189


background of God's holiness and            corrupted in the most horrible ways.            Questions for Study
goodness.                                   First, Malachi singles out the priests            1. We should begin with a brief
     Malachi advances step by step          who, rather than being shining ex-              study of what is meant by "My cov-
in exposing the sins of the people. His     amples of dedication and zeal for               enantwaswithhimoflifeandpeace."
first word, you remember, was, "I           God, were instead guilty of dead for-           The profaning of the covenant is the
have loved you" (ch. 1:1,"2). HOW           malism in their worship (vs. 2), and            main charge laid against the prilests  in
awful is spiritual apathy when re-          guilty of injustice in administering            the chapter, as well as against the
vealed against the background of            the law (vs. 9). Secondly, the entire           people (vss. 1X-17). Only when we
God's sovereign love! He continued          people profaned the covenant in deal-           understand the covenant can we see
by holding up the Fatherhood and            ing treacherously with their brothers           the horribleness of corrupting the
majesty of God over against the cold,       (vs. 10; see also ch. 3:5). Notice care-        covenant, but also the blessed-ness  of
formalistic worship of that day (ch.        fully, when God's people are charac-            the covenant for our daily lives.
1:6,7). Now, in chapter two, Malachi        terized by injustice or deceit in their              a. Read Genesis 15; Jeremiah
reveals yet more of God's goodness          dealings with one another, it is God's          31:31-40;   32:36-44;  Hebrews  &S-13.
and holiness. "My covenant was with         covenant that is profaned. For the              Then answer the following:
him of life and peace" (vs. 5). The         covenant does not deal only with our                        1) What is God's covenant?
darkne&,of  the sin of Malachi's day        relationship to God, but also with our                  2) How were covenants made?
was exactly that the people, and espe-      relationships together as the friends           (See Gen. 15:9-17;  Jer. 34:18.) What
cially the priests, had corrupted the-      of God.                                         significance is found in this?
covenant of God, departed out of its               Jehovah always takes His cov-                    3) How is God's  cov'enant
way, and caused many to forsake it.         enant seriously. Nothing is dearer to           made with us?
     It will be important for us to         His heart. The warnings given are                       4) What is emphasized when
understand the truth of the covenant        severe and frightening (see vss.  2,3,          it is added that the covenant is one "of
as well as the covenant calling set         9).                                             life and peace"?
before us in this passage. Briefly the             Now we must examine ourselves                 b. Malachi points out the calling
passagepointsoutthefollowingtruths          in the light of these words, "My cov-           we have in the covenant of God (vss.
on the covenant:                            enantwaswithhimoflifeandpeace."                 5-8). Show from the passage these
     1) The covenant is a livingbond        How does our day-by-day life mea-               three elements of our calling and ex-
of fellowship between God and us in         sure up to the gracious calling to be           plain them.
whichwewalkwithGodinpeaceand                dedicated and zealous for Jehovah,                          1) Reverence for God -
equity, and God grants us ,life and         otir sovereign Friend and Savior?                       2) Walking with God --
peace. The word "covenant" means            How do our lives with one another as                    3) Instructing others in the
"bond," "union," andimplies themost         covenant members stand before this              ways of God -
intimate love and fellowship.               truth? May the study of the passage                  c. Malachi speaks of the "cov-
     2) The covenant is established         increase in us reverence for God's              enant with Levi." Read Numbers
(made) by God.~ This is because it is       covenant, a closer walk with God,               25:1-13.
His covenant: "My  covenant was             and a faithful life with one another as                 1) How many covenants of
with him." Also, the part of the cov-       members of His covenant?                        God are there? (See Gen. 17:7; Rom.
enant which is ours, namely to walk                                                         4:11, 16; Gal. 3:9, 16.)
withGod, is somethingthat Godgives          Memory Work                                             2) What does the covenant of
to us by grace (vs. 5).                                   Malachi 2~5-8                     Levi emphasize concerning our call-
     3) God speaks of the covenant                 My covenant was with him of life         ingin God's covenant? (See also I Pet.
with Levi. G,a.latians  3, Romans 9, and    and peace; and Igave them to him for the        2:9; Rev. 1:6.)
other passages teach that there is one      fear wherewith he feared me, and was              2. The corruption of the covenant
covenant of God in all ages, even as        afraid before my name.                          by the priests.
there is one God. The covenant with                The law of truth was in his mouth,            a. After reading the passage
Levi refers especially to Numbers           and iniquity was notfoud in his lips: he        make a list of the ways in which the
25:12,13, and emphasizes that all the       walked with me in peace and equity, and         priests profaned God's covenant.
elect, as members of the covenant, are      did turn many away from iniquity.                    b. What should the priests have
as Levites and priests, that is, dedi-             For the priest's lips should keep        done as members of God's covenant?
cated to God and zealous for His            knowledge,  and they should seek the law        Apply this now to our calling as priests
glory-                                      at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the    of God.
     4) In the covenant we have a           Lord of has ts.                                         1) What does this say to
calling, namely to reverence our God,              But ye are departed out of the way;      officebearers in the church? Minis-
walk with our God, and teach others         ye have caused many to stumble at the           ters? Elders? Etc.
the ways of God.                            law; ye have corrupted the covenant of                  2) What about officebearers in
     Now the covenant was being             Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.                  the home?

190 /StandardBearer /January15,1992


  3. The people dealt treacherously          covenant. Be as specific as you can,           5. Explain what it means to lay these
with God's covenant by false deal-           mentioning different areas of our lives      things to our heart and give glory to
ings with their brothers (vs. 10).           with one another which will bear the         God's name (vs. 2).
        a. Explain the force of the ques-    stamp of God's covenant.                       6. "Laying these things to our
.tions  of verse 10.                           4. What are the warnings given             heart," see now if you can write from
        b. How does the truth of the cov-    from Jehovah against the corrupting          memory our verses in Malachi 2:5-8!
enant bear on our dealings with one          of His covenant, and what do those                                                   0.
.another  as fellow members of the           warnings mean?


B o o k   R e v i e w

First Corinthians,  by Gordon H.                  It is a typical work of Clark: it is    explanation can be made. Usually he
Clark; The Trinity Foundation, 1991          brief and to the point; its emphasis is      does this when, inhis judgment, some
[1975];  349 pp., $10.95, (paper). [Re-      onthe objective thought without much         historical data or allusions are lack-
viewed by Prof. H. Hanko. ]                  consideration of homiletics or appli-        ing in the text. The reader will find
                                             cation; it contains an excursus here         examples of this in his treatment of
        Gordon Clark has written a           and there on a subject related to the        the difficult passage in I Corinthians
short, but orthodox, commentary on           text (e.g., Clark includes a section on      15:29:  "Else what shall they do which
Paulls first epistle to the Corinthians.     eschatology in connection with his           are baptized for the dead, if the dead
It is a worthwhile work and is helpful       explanation of I Corinthians 15 and a        rise not at all? why are they then
in a study of this difficult part of         section on wisdom in connection with         baptized for the dead?" The same is
Scripture. It can be used with profit        chapter 2).                                  true of I Corinthians 11:4-7.
by ministers who are preaching from -             When the text is clear as to mean-           The reader will find the com-
this book, but also by any of God's          ing, Clark offers no comment. When           mentary helpful. R
peoplewhoarestudyingICori.nthians            the text is difficult, Clark presents
in their societies, their homes, or their    various views, but offers no explana-
personal Bible study.                        tion himself, persuaded that no good


 Nbws From Our Churches
ML Benjamin Wigger

        First a couple of items from our     saved four months worth of electric-         as of November 30 Heritage had col-
Christian schools.                           ity consumed by the average home.            lected $886.88. (One can not help but
        Able Sanitation, a west Michi-       We can also report here that Heritage        wonder who had the responsibility of
gan refuse hauler, informed Heritage         continues to advocate recycling, with        putting all those pennies into rolls.)
Christian School in Hudsonville, MI          each classroom having a container                 The Bands of Covenant Chris-
that for the months July through Sep-        designated for recyclable paper.             tian High School and Hope PR Chris-
tember, 1991 the school recycled 1,300            The Fundraisers of Heritage des-        tian School presented a concert at
pounds of office paper. Doing so,            ignated the month of November as             Covenant High on Wednesday, De-
according to Able, saved 11.5 trees,         their "Mile of Pennies" month. Each          cember 18.
prevented 39 pounds of pollution             class was challenged to bring in as
from entering the atmosphere, and            many pennies as possible, with the           Evangelism Highlights
                                             ultimate goal being enough pennies                Rev. M. DeVries,  pastor of the
                                             to stretch one mile if laid end-to-end.      Edgerton, MN PRC led the Sioux
                                             Well, Heritage went the mile and then        Falls Bible Study on December 10, at
                                             some. Besides the obvious monetary           Calvin Christian Schoolin  SiouxFalls,
                                             value, many lessons in saving, as well       Iowa. A video, "God's of the New
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant     as math, were also learned. For your         Age," was shown in connection with
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-       information, there are 16 pennies per        their study of the New Age Move-
gan.                                         foot, or 84,480 pennies in a mile. And       ment.

                                                                                             January 15,1992 / Standard Bearer / 191


STANDARD                                                                                                     SECOND CLASS
   BHER                                                                                                      Postage Paid at
                                                                                                             Grandville, Michigan
   I=`. 0. Box 603
  Grandville, MI 49468-0603


Denominational Activities                  Young People's Convention this sum-          quite obvious that when next year's
     A special combined Adult Bible        mer.                                         concert is given, the auditorium is
Society meeting was held with the                  The young people belonging to        going to look a lot different.
Peace PRC of Lynwood, IL and the           the First PRC of Edgerton, MN are
South Holland PRC of South Hol-            also busy sponsoring events to serve         Ministerial Calls
land, IL at Illiana Christian High         as fundraisers for this year's conven-            The congregation of the  Hud-
School, December 10. Plans were to         tion. In late November they spon-            sonville, MI PRC extended a call to
view a video on our churches' mis-         sored a Soup Supper for their congre-        Rev. VanOverloop  to serve as mis-
sion work in Jamaica.                      gation for that reason. There was also       sionary to Northern Ireland.
      Sundayevening,Decemberl5th,          a note in one of Edgerton's bulletins
many members of the west-Michigan          asking all young adults and young
churches gathered in the auditorium        married couples to get together to                We end this issue of the news
of the Hudsonville, MI PRC for the         discuss plans for a Young Adults'            with a quotationlifted from abulletin
annual Young People's Christmas            Bible Study. And a couple of weeks           from the Loveland, CO PRC:
Singspiration. Mr. Gerald Kuiper led       later there was an announcement en-               "Faith is a lively and
the audience in a good mixture of          couraging all "Young Adults" to meet
Psalter numbers and traditional            that night tobegin discussing lesson 1         powerful thing; it is not
Christmas music. The audience was          in Rev. Haak's "Studies in                     merely a drowsy and idle
also treated to several songs presented    Philippians."                                  thought; nor does it float
by the choir of Covenant Christian                 The Choral Society of the Faith        somewhere upon the heart
High School.                               PRC in Jenison, MI presented their             as a duck upon water, but it
                                           Christmas Concert in their church              is like waterheated through
Congregational Highlights                  auditorium on December 22. An
      As you might imagine, the col-       added plus for those who attended              and through by a good hot
lection taken at the Singspiration at      the concert was a chance to view              fire. "
Hudsonville was for the up-coming          Faith'sbuildingproject firsthand. It's                                                     0


                NOTICE!!!                                                              I WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
   Bible Study at Dordt College              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          January 16,1992  marksthe35th
      A group of students dedicated to                                                  wedding anniversary of
the historic Reformed faith plans to               The Board of the Reformed Free         MR. and MRS. JIM SCHIPPER.
meet together again the second se-         Publishing Association expresses its         Their children and grandchildren give
mester for a Bible study. The meet-        sympathy to its fellow board member,         thanks to God for the many gifts He
ings, sponsored by the Protestant          Leon Garvelink, andfamilyinthe pass-         has bestowed on us through them.
Reformed Churches in the area, are         ing of his mother                            May our covenant God richly bless
held on Monday evenings at 7:00 in                 MRS. JOAN GARVELINK.                 them in the coming years.
the Dordt College library. Any student             "For we know that if our earthly          "Let thy work appear unto thy
at Dordt is welcome to attend. The         house of this tabernacle were dis-           servants, and thy glory unto their chil-
discussions last semester on the first     solved, we have a building of God, a         dren" (Psalm 90:16).
three chapters of Genesis were excel-      house not madewith  hands, eternal in        Gordon and Nancy Schipper
lent. At the first meeting, January 20,    the heavens" (I Corinthians 51).                  Dale
we plan to begin our discussion at                   Cornelius Pastoor, President       Dan and Julie Kaiser
Genesis 4. If you have any questions,                     Cal Kalsbeek, Secretary            Ross
please call Rev. Russ Dykstra (712)                                                     Randy and Lindy Looyenga
726-3382.                                                                                    Brent,  Jared,  Kristin
                                                                                        Nathan and Jill Kamps
                                                                                                     Southwest Protestant Reformed Church


192 /Standard Bearer / January 15,1992


