A Reformed
                        BJER
Semi-Month/y
Magazine


                                 -Wherever the "liturgical
                                 renewal". now sweeping the
                                 Reformed and Presbyterian
                                 churches may originate, it
                                 does  8 not originate in the
                                 Gotinsels  o f   H i m   w h o
                                 changes not and who has
                                 given His church His full
                                 and final revelation con-
                                 cerning -proper worship in
                                 . Holy Scripture.
                                     See "Worshiping God as He Wills" - page 341




V o l .   6 8 ,   N o .   2 5
May 1,1992


CONTENTS:                                                                                                                                                            May I,  1992                                       sl!i'iDMD
Meditation - Rev. Jason L. Kortering                                                                                                                                                                                            BEARER
           Fear Not - He is Risen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..`........................................... 339
Editorial - Piof David;l. cndelsma.                                                                                                                                                                                    ISSN 0362-4692
          Worshiping ,God as He Wills *.......,...............*..*,**.......................... 341
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
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The Value of the Church Order `Today                                                                                                                                                                                   EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
           Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ** . . . . . . . . . . *.* . . ..*.......... * . . . . . . . . 349                                                                    Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
A Comparison of the Church Order of                                                                                                                                                                                    Managing Editor: Mr. Don  Doerema
Continental Dordt and Westminster Scotland                                                                                                                                                                             DEPARTMENT EDITORS
           Rev, Chris Coleborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ***.*.*...  351                                           Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Arie
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Taking Heed to the Doctjine - Rev. Bernard Woudenberg                                                                                                                                                                  Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John  Heys. Rev. Marvin
           Hope and Disappqintmenf . . . ..D.......................................................354                                                                                                                 Kamps. Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Kenneth  Koole, Rev. Jason
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Kortering, Rev. Dale  Kuiper. Mr. James Lanting, Rev. George
Search  the Scriptures - Rev. Car/J. Haak                                                                                                                                                                              Lubbers, Mrs. MarySeth  Lubbers, Rev. JamesSlopsema.  Rev.
           Malachi, Lesson 8                                                                                                                                                                                           Charles Terpstra, Rev. Ronald  VanOverloop,  Mr. Benjamin
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338 /Standard Bearer I May `if1992


                                                Fear Not - He is
Meditation                                      R i s e n
Rev. Jason Kortering

        "Andforfear  of him the keepers did     these soldiers may have p1ayed.a key        ber softened after the darkness and
shake, and became as dead men. And the          role in events associated with the cru-     cried, "Surely, this was the Son of
angel answered and said unto the women,         cifixion of Jesus. When Judas rushed        God"; but for the rest they  wsere
Fear not ye: for I know that ye seeklesus,      to the Jewish Sanhedrin that Thurs-         puzzled but pressed on. Another
which was crucified. He is not here:  for he    day evening to inform them that it          took his sword and pierced His side
is risen as he said. Come see the place         was now or never, he later returned         and saw the evidence of death pour
where the Lord lay. "                           with a band of soldiers, more than          forth.
                         Matthew 2814-6.        likely from the Roman temple guard.              Here they sit, in the darkness, all
                                                Already then those soldiers fell back       night long. They are guarding the
        Fear!                                   andbecame as dead men; but that did         tomb in which the body of Jesus has
        It can be devastating. Look at          not stop them frombinding Jesus and         been placed. Somewhat smugly they
the keepers of the grave. They shook            taking Him to Caiaphas. While, Jesus        slip into sleep, for who would dare to
and became as dead men.                         is being interrogated by him, they are      disturb the tomb, sealedbynone other
        It can also be healing. Look at         warmingthemselvesbeforethefirein            than Caesar of Rome. But toward
the women who had their natural                 the court. You can just see them jos-       morning we see that they are trem-
fear, but left the sepulchre with great         tlingforpositionbeforethefire,laugh-        bling and once again became as dead
joy.                                            ing, telling their ribald jokes, most of    men. Amidst an earthquake, the an-
        Are you afraid?                         them directed at that man they took         gel of the Lord came down with daz-
        We all are, as we approach God's        that night.                                 zling beauty and rolled away the
holy place in the garden of the resur-               Later, they have opportunity to        stone from the sepulchre. Once they
rection.                                        heap their contempt upon Him per-           revived, they ran from the scene. And
        The question is, what kind of           sonally. They heard the Jews scream,        some of them ran straight to Caiaphas
fear do we have? Does fear drive you            "Let Him be crucified!" They were           to tell him what took place. With
away from the tomb to fabricate lies,           well aware of the political maneuver-       money staring them in the face, they
or does your fear cause you to draw             ing going on between Pilate and             accepted bribes and began to circu-
near with believing heart and to leave          Caiaphas. When Pilate sentenced             late the story that the disciples came
rejoicing?                                      Jesus to death, it was their turn to        and stole the body of Jesus.
        As we examine this Scripture,           mock him. They placed a crown of
may the Holy Spirit give us victory             thorns on His head, dressed Him in a
over fear and give us blessed inner             purple robe, put in His hand a rod              W&l may those soldiers
peace.                                          made of reed, and forthwith bowed
        We read in verse 4, "for fear of        down, crying, "Hail,kingof the Jews."       be afraid of God's messenger,
him the keepers did shake, and be-              These soldiers escorted Him to Cal-              for he is the harbinger
came as dead men." Who are those                vary. They heard the weepingwomen.              of God's just judgment.
keepers?                                        They saw &zeal to press on. Jesus
        The events which preceded are           refused their vinegar wine. With a
recorded for us in the gospels. From            shake of the head, I suppose, they               These soldiers represent all the
this source we can conclude that these          proceeded to drive nails in his hands       wicked who even dare to draw near
keepers were Roman soldiers assigned            and feet.                                   to the sepulchre. They were not alone
to protect the tomb of Jesus. Some of                Even though they heard Him             intheirday,forwiththemstandPilate,
                                                pray and speak from the cross, they         who represents the government of
                                                remained unmoved. Their interest            the world, and Caiaphas, who repre-
Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant      was His clothing, for which they            sents the apostate church of his day.
Reformed Church of Grandville, Michi-           gambled in open disdain amidst His          The one thing they all had in common
gan.                                            obvious suffering. One of their num-        was that they rejected Jesus. They

                                                                                                      May 1,1992 / Standard Bearer I 339


 were willing to crucify Him. All              their sinfulness. How can they stand                Jesus went through the g-rave.
 through history this opposition has           in the presence of the Holy God and           His body was of a different material.
 continued. The ungodly world has              live? Their fear is out of deep respect       It was of a material which was not
their gods of money, pleasure, enter-          for God, both as to His holiness and          adapted to the earthly, but the heav-
tainment,andsports. Theywantnoth-              His righteousness. Well might God             enly. It was the same body, but
ing to do with Jesus. Within the apos-         strike them dead, for they are unwor-         changed. No longer did He need
tate church, nothing has changed.              thy sinners.                                  food, rest, earthly protection, and such
Todayungodlyscholarshiprejectsthe                   Now you see that this is a differ-       like. His resurrected body was of the
bodily resurrection of Jesus. They pay         ent kind of fear.                             composition that eye cannot see and
lip service to His ministry, but reject             This is a fear that prepares one         ear cannot hear. He had to assume
the blood atonement as necessary for           for the gospel of the resurrection.           "appearances" in order that the dis-
reconciliation with God.                            To such the angel speaks gra-            ciples could even know that He had
          Wellmaythosesoldiersbeafraid         cious words.                                  arisen from the dead, bodily.
of God's messenger, for he is the har-              Do you come to the tomb with                   Fear not!
binger of God's just judgment. Shake           such fear?                                          Thebodilyresurrectionof Christ
they must, for God is a God of ven-                 Then listen: "Fear not ye, for I         drives out all fear.
geance upon such enemies. God                  know that ye seek Jesus which was                  Why should we not be afraid of
makes them impotent, but they rise             crucified. He is not here: for he is risen    God? Can we stand in the presence of
up in rebellion to tell lies. The day is       as he said. Come see the place where          angels and live? Will not God call us
coming in which this Jesus will come           the Lord lay."                                to account through His messengers?
again. Then they will face Him in                   He is risen!
judgment, and they shall sinkinto the               Jesus, to be sure, died. The his-
lake of fire where there is weeping            torical evidence demonstrates this
and gnashing of teeth. In hell they            beyond dispute. Also, He died upon                      The empty tomb
will not continue in their lies; and           the cross, the emblem of reproach and             beckons us heavenward.
they will be forced to admit that God          shame. He was buried in the tomb of
is just in their eternal damnation.            Joseph of Arimathea. This included,
          The fear of the keepers is ter-      unknown to the women, the Jewish                   No, a thousand times no. For the
rible.                                         form of preparation for burial. Ac-           bodily resurrection of Jesus is the
          Now, look at the women.              cording to Matthew 27:57ff.,  Joseph          visible proof that God accepted His
          What a contrast. They came to        and Nicodemus wrapped the body of             perfect sacrifice for sin. The same
the sepulchre laden with spices and            Jesus in a linen cloth, the folds of          God who tore the veil of the temple
ointments. True, this appears so fool-         which had been interspersed with              from top to bottom as an expression
ish; yet their heart is in the right place.    spices. There must be no dispute:             of the fulfillment of the law, now also
They witnessed the same history, but           what was in that tomb was the dead            raised His Son from the dead to dis-
it cut them to the quick. They cried at        body of the Lord Jesus.                       play His satisfaction with His shed
night. They couldn't sleep. Ringing                 The Lord Jesus raised His own            blood. In the resurrection we have
in their ears were to be sure the cries        body.ThesealofRomecouldnotstop                proof that our sins are paid and we
of the enemies, but, much more, the            Him. The guards were not intimidat-           are righteous in Jesus Christ. This
words of Jesus. As He spoke from the           ing. The stone before the door did not        forms the basis for the forgiveness of
cross, they listened. They saw Him as          deter Him. He arose! He is risen as He        sins andreconciliationwithGod.  Who
the promised Messiah, but they did             said. He told them before hand that           can be afraid of God when He for-
not understand the kingdom and the             this would take place. Striking, is it        gives?
place of the cross. Though Jesus had           not, that the enemy remembered this                More, the resurrection also opens
explained it all, their eyes were not          more than the disciples. The angels           the way to victory over sin and its
yet opened and their hearts did not            simply confirmed the fact.                    consequence upon our human bod-
yet believe.                                        If more proof is needed, the an-         ies. Yes, through sin, we suffer much.
     Here they came, early, while it           gel suggested that they behold the            Diseases and weaknesses mark our
was yet dark. It almost seems as if the        place where the Lord lay. Can't you           pilgrimage. Many fears follow expe-
angel came down in their presence,             just see them gaze in wonder. There           riences such as heart attacks, delicate
but that cannot be established. At             were the grave clothes, retaining the         surgeries, and all sorts of pain and
least the angel is there when they             shape of the body of Jesus, not un-           suffering. He is risen! That makes a
arrive. The stone is rolled away. The          wrappedaswasthecasewithLa.zarus.              difference, so that death itself is not
grave is opened. They have obvious             They could see that the body was              something of great dread. The elnpty
fear. Their fear is the awareness of           missing. No one could possibly ex-            tomb beckons us heavenward. Our
standing in the presence of God's              plain such evidence, except as the            bodies rest in hope.
messenger. They are fully aware of             angel did: He is risen.                            Fear not, He is risen! 0

340 /Standard Bearer / May 1,1992


                                           Worshiping God as
Editorial                                  He Wills
     How the people of God are to          says, "I will not be worshiped by            tire, all such religious worship and
worship the one, true God in their         means of images,n but also, "I Myself        ordinances as  God hath appointedin
public services on the Lord's Day is       willdeterminehow Iamworshiped."              His Word.
prescribed by God in His Word. The              Lord's Day 35 of the Heidelberg         What is forbiddenin the second com-
form and manner of worship are not                                                      mandment? The second command-
                                           Catechism is the conf&sional com-            ment forbiddeth the worshipping of
left up to the worshiping church her-      mitment of the Protestant Refsrmed           Godbyimages, or anyotherwaynot
self. It is an error to suppose that,      Churches to the "regulativeprinciple"        appointed in His Word.
although God decides whom we are to        of worship. The manner of worship
worship, we ourselves have the right       in the public services of the PRC is            The "regulative principle" of
to decide how we will worship.             regulated by the Word of God. Only         worship is the Reformed tradition.
     The error is grievous.                those elements of worship are per-         As with so much of the Reformed
     That God determhes  the man-          mitted that are prescribed by Scrip-       tradition, it was John Calvin who re-
ner of public worship is the teaching      ture. Nothing may be introduced as         turned the church to the biblical prin-
of the second commandment of the                                                      ciple that the will of God determines
law: "Thou shalt not make unto thee                                                   acceptable worship. "Calvin and
any graven image . . . . Thou shalt not      The second commandment                   Zwingli excluded from public wor-
bow down thyself to them, nor serve                                                   ship all that was not specifically au-
them . .." (Ex. 20:4,5).  Not only does              binds the church                 thorized in the Scriptures. This was a
this commandment forbid men's                   to observe God's will                 drastic reform" (J. T. MC Neill, Uk-
making any likeness of the Deity, but        in the matter of the manner              tiveProtestanti.sm, JohnKnox  Press,
it also stipulates that the covenant            in which she conducts                 1964;  cf.  Liturgies  of  the Western
people may not decide for themselves                 her public seruices              Church,  selected and introduced by
the way in which they will worship                                                    BardThompson, Fortress Press, 1961,
God. The second commandment                             of worship.                   pp. 193-195).
binds the church to observe God's                                                         J Again and again in his writings,
will in the matter of the manner in                                                   Calvin inveighed against the Roman
which she conducts her public ser-         part of the worship that is not pre-       Catholic notion that she may invent
vices of worship.                          scribed by Scripture. Even though          her own worship of God. Calvin
     This is the explanation of the        some activity may seem to us to be         insisted that the second command-
second commandment given by the            appropriate to worship and benefi-         ment requires the church to worship
Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day         cial to the congregation, it may not be    God in the manner laid down in His
35. The requirement of God is "that        included. Even though the activity         Word. What the Reformer wrote in
we in no wise represent God by im-         does not conflict with the Word of         his commentary on Ezekie120:27,28  is
ages, nor worship Him in any other         God, it must be excluded. For, in the      typical.
way than He has commanded in His           language of our creed, itis some "other
word." The stipulation that the church     way than He has commanded in His             But this passage, like many others,
must worship God only in the man-          Word."                                       teaches, that not only is God's wor-
ner which He has prescribed is con-             The Presbyterian confession             ship corrupted when His honor is
tained in the prohibition against im-      teaches the same. Questions 50 and           transferred to idols, but also when
ages inasmuch as images in the             51 of the Westminster Shorter Cat-           men heap up their own fictions, and
church's worship are always a means        echism read as follows:                      contaminateGod'scommandsbythe
by which the church intends to wor-                                                     mixture. We must remember, then,
                                                                                        that there are two kinds of idolatries;
ship God. By her images, a church            What is required in the second com-
                                             mandment? The second command-              the one being grosser when idols are
supposes that she is worshiping God.         ment requireth the receiving, ob-          worshipped openly, and  Moloch,  or
In forbidding images, God not only           serving, and keeping pure and en-          anyBaa1,  is substituted for the living

                                                                                                  May 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 341


 God: that.is a palpable superstition,       elements of the church's worship are           Not all the congregations that have
 because God is in some sense cast           prescribedinscripture," and that this         adopted it have intended, like its
 down from His throne. But the other         truth is the "regulative  principle" (cf.     inventors, tosuppresscongregational
 kind of idolatry, although more hid-        the "Acts of Synod," 1990, Art. 43).          participation, but the logic of the
  den, is abominable before God,             This principle is carefully observed in        arrangement has made itself felt.
 namely, when, under the disguise of                                                        Even in churches with no tendency
 a name, men boldly mingle what-             all the congregations. In the submis-          to sacerdotalism, the use of robed
  ever comes into their minds, and           sion to her Lord that befits the church,       choirs in chancels tends to approxi-
 invent various modes of worship . . . .     the denomination obeys the will of             mate the worship service to a concert
 We see that this excuse is frivolous,       God concerning the manner of His               of sacred music, and works against
  whenmenassert that theyhavenoth-           worship.                                       congregationalworship. Perhaps the
 ing else in their mind than the wor-             The elements of public worship            most unfortunate legacy of the
  ship of God. Not only does God             are those, and only those, prescribed          Anglo-Catholic movement to the
  wish worship to be offered to Him-         by Scripture. They are the activities          Reformed churches generally has
  self alone, but that it should be with-    indicated in Lord's Day 38 of the              been this epidemic of chancels and
  out any dependence on human will:                                                         theatrical choirs (pp. 161,162).
  He wishes the law to be the single         Heidelberg Catechism: the preach-
  rule of true worship; and thus He          ing of God's Word; the administra-                To the characteristics of genu-
  rejects all fictitious rites.              tion of the two sacraments ordained          ine, Reformed worship given above I
                                             by Christ; public prayer; and offer-         would add yet another, namely, sta-
      In his explanation of Lord's Day       ings for the poor. To public prayer          bility. God's will concerning the
35 of the Heidelberg Catechism, on           belongs congregational singing of the        manner of His public worship does
                                             Psalms. Congregational singing is a          not change. It is, like all His will,
                                             form of prayer. One reason why the           immutable. Many criticize, and some
                The PRC                      PRC sing only the Psalms in public           become dissatisfied with, Reformed
       have acknowledged                     worship is their conviction that the         worshipbecauseitis"old-fashioned."
                                             Psalms are the inspired songbook  of
    the "regulativeprinciple"                                                             They weep over the old way of wor-
                                             the church. The Holy Spirit has given        ship andpleadfor "liturgicalrenewal"
   as their creedal position.                the Psalms to the church to be the           as Israel wept over the oldmanna and
                                             praise, thanksgiving, and supplica-          lusted for new food. Their plea really
                                             tion that she sings to God.                  is that God might change His will
the second commandment, Abraham                   Like the elements of public wor-        concerning the right worship of Him-
Kuyper maintained the. "regulative           ship, the characteristics of public          self. Since God declines this request,
principle" of worship as the Reformed        worship regulated by the Word of             synods and worship-committees im-
position.                                    God are biblical. Such services are          pose their wills upon His. Wherever
                                             marked by spirituality; simplicity;          the "liturgical renewal" now sweep-
  Completely rightly, therefore, have        solemnity; orderliness; and active           ing the Reformed and Presbyterian
  our fathers established the precept,       congregational participation. They
  that not man but God Himself alone                                                      churches may originate, it does not
                                             contrast sharply with worship that
  can determine how we shall serve                                                        originate in the counsels of Him who
  Him. And, thus, (is established), that     stresses ritual and external ceremony;       changes not and who has given His
  every form of worship which God            with worship that is complicated,            church His full and final revelation
  had not commanded is excluded as           elaborate, and cluttered; with wor-          concerning proper worship in Holy
  self-willed service and arbitrary in-      ship that is light, cheery, and frivo-       Scripture.
  vention, and is forbidden.                 lous; with worship that is chaotic and            The members of the PRC must
                                             disorderly; and with worship that            not be embarrassed by their tradi-
Kuyper adds that in the second com-          makes the congregation a mere audi-          tionally Reformed form of worship.
mandment "all arbitrariness and self-        ence of the performance of others.           It is our glory. We must maintain it,
will in the service of the Lord is for-            Active congregational involve-         if necessary by struggle. We must
bidden"  (E Voto  Dordmceno,  my             ment in the worship is one important         explain it and hand it down to the
translation of the Dutch).                   reason why the PRC repudiate "spe-           coming generation. We have no
      The PRC have acknowledged the          cial music," choirs, and soloists in the     choice. Our form of worship is .the
"regulative principle" as their  creedal     services of worship. In his book,            will of God.
position. In a decision  that denied         Corporate  Woush'p  in  the Reformed              Basic to both the elements and
that the symbol of the cross in or on a      Tmditiorz  (The Westminster Press,           the characteristics of biblically pre-
church building constitutes violation        1968),  James Hastings Nichols notes         scribed worship is the grand fact that
of the second commandment, the               that choirs were introduced into the         the people of God are called together,
synod of 1990 expressly stated that          Anglican Church for the express pur-         especially on the sabbath day, for the
U the second commandment regulates           pose of replacing congregational sing-       praise of the Triune God in Jesus
the worship of the church," that "the        ing. He goes on to say:                      Christ. The purpose of their assembly
342 /Standard Bearer / May 1,1992


is not their own exciting spiritual ex-               Churches have no right to change    services. People flock to such ser-
periences. In this service of worship,        the form of worship to suit them-           vices in throngs. God gags.
believers and their children seek and         selves or to please their people. To do          We view the strange liturgical
find fellowship with God in the Holy          so is transgression of the second com-      spectacles in Reformed churches to-
Spirit. They are not in church to II turn     mandment. It is image worship.              day as we would Israel's cavorting
around and greet your neighbor with           Unspiritual and ignorant church             about the golden calf at Mt. Sinai.. The
a smile."                                                                                 churches are certainly engaging in
     The benefit to the saints them-                                                      impressive celebrations unto thelord.
selves from this is edification in the                     We view the                    The people are obviously enjoying
faith, not religious entertainment.            strange liturgical spectacles              themselves immensely in their reli-
Calvin condemned Rome's worship                                                           gious activities - singing; dancing;
because it did not edify the saints:           in. Reformed churches today                laughing; playing. The scantily-clad,
                                                           as we would                    lissome dancers come wonderfully
  Similarly in these days, in the                       Israel's cavorting                close `to the nakedness of Israel in
  popedom, the organs are piping on                   about the golden calf               their worship of Jehovah at Sinai.
  one side, and there is chanting in                                                           There is only one problem with
  four parts on the other side, and                        at Mt. Sinai.
  there is such a lot of foolery, that the                                                this exciting, entertaining, and., per-
  simple people are ravished by it, but                                                   haps, sincere worship of God.
  never a whit edified (John Calvin's         members are delighted with the new               "For I the LORD thy God am a
  Sermons on Ephesians,  The Banner           inventions - drama and dancing in-          jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
  of Truth Trust, 1973, p. 527).              stead of expository preaching; pro-         the fathers upon the children unto the
                                              fessional musical productions by            third and fourth generation of them
"Alot  of foolery" bywhichthepeople           trained performers in the place of          that hate me" (Ex. 20:5).
are "never a whit edified" -does this         congregational singing; "contempo-               The problem of the second com-
not perfectly describe much of Prot-          raryservices" replacing the traditional     mandment.  Cl
estant worship in our day?                                                                                                  - D J E




Letters

0 As Another Sees Us                          the Lynden PRC because through a            Reformed denominations and you
                                              thorough study of the Reformed faith        will find disunity in doctrine with
     This letter is in response to an         I have come to adore many of the PRC        different translations from pew to
editorial in the  Stalzdard  Bearer  en-      distinctives: exclusive use of the King     pew. Visit the PRC and you will find
titled, "As Others See Us" (March 15,         James Version; particular grace; the        unity in doctrine according to the
1992). Iamoneofthe"others," asIam             unbreakable bond of marriage; and           "Regulative Principle of worship" (Ps.
neither a member nor an adherent of           exclusive Psalmody, just to name a          133). Drink from the wells of many
the Protestant Reformed Churches. I           few.                                        prominent Reformed denominations'
am like many (as the editorial states)                During my short stay in Lynden      literature and you will find
of the "others" outside the PRC who           I was truly blessed in Christian fel-       Arminianism being fed to the breth-
receive the  Standard Bearer.                 lowship and in the worship of God.          ren and to the covenant children.
     I had the privilege recently to          By my being amongst these brethren          Drink from the well of literature
visit my first PRC in Lynden, WA.             I could clearly see that God has pre-       (abundant) of the PRC and you will
     I live in southwestern Oregon            served this denomination as a bearer        find pure uncompromising truth, and
which is a spiritual wasteland as re-         of His truth, evidenced by their doc-       covenant children being taught con-.
gards the Reformed faith. I have              trine and the carrying out of that          fessional truths.
visited many of the "Reformed" con-           doctrine in the life.                            May God bless the PRC as she
gregations within a couple hundred                    FormanyyearsReformedbreth-          faithfully defends the historisc  Re-
miles of my home only to find doctri-         ren have many times spoken to me            formed faith.
nal disunity and Arminianism.                 negatively of the PRC. My comment                                    Craig Miklosik
     I traveled over 500 miles to visit       is this: visit many of the prominent                                 Coos Ba:y, OR

                                                                                                  May 1,1992 I Standard Bearer / 343


                                               The Questions of
                                               Article 41 (2)
                                                                                                     Rev. Russell Dykstra


      [This is thesecond installment ofan      that a consistory must first take a            suppose that the Consistory makes a
articleon thequestionsofArticle41  ofthe       concrete decision. First of all,it means,      decision in a matter of this nature
church order of Dordrecht. The first           in effect, that no consistory will ever        and that ultimately this decision
article (in the April 15th issue) set forth    bring a problem to the classis under           proves to be a wrong one. Would it
the underlying principles  of  thequestions    question 4 of Article 41; for if they          not result in endless and compli-
and briefly discussed thefirst  three ques-    once decide a matter, they no longer           cated difficultiesin the congregation
tions.]                                        need the help of classis. Only if some-        which would very likely become
                                               one protests a decision will it reach          impossible to untangle after some
                                                                                              time? Muchof the consequent trouble
      The fourth question of Article 41        classis, but then as a protest,  not a         could have been avoided if another
deserves a separate and more de-               matter of Article 41.                          course in the treatment of the matter
tailed discussion than the first three,              Secondly, this position makes it         hadbeenpossible. Woulditnothave
being a different type of question.            impossible for a consistory that really        been much better in such a circum-
The others are asking for information          needs help to obtain it. If a consistory       stance if the Consistory could tem-
from the consistory; this questionasks:        should be deadlocked on a matter,              porarily  refrain from taking a defi-
                                               with a tie vote, it  cannot  make a            nite stand in the matter and first go
      4. Do you need the judgment and          desicion, and therefore may not ask            and seek the help and judgment of
  help of the classis  for the proper          classis for help.                              the  Classis?  To be sure, eventually
  government  of your church?                       A third objection was presented           the Consistory would have to deci'de
                                               effectively by Rev. G. VandenBerg,  in         the matter and resolve the difficulty
      Concerning this last question,                                                          in the congregation but it could then
                                               this hypothetical case  (Stclndauri
differences of opinion exist on exactly                                                       do so with the counsel and guidance
                                               Bearer, Vol. 36, p. 164):                      of the broader gathering of the
what matters a consistory may bring                                                           churches. In this way error as well as
for the "help and judgment of the                There is a Consistory that is con-           much trouble might have been pre-
classis." The difference centers in the          fronted with a rather serious prob-          vented and this is much to be pre-
issue of whether or not a consistory             lem that in many respects affects the        ferred to the creation in a congrega-
must first decide amatter  and have its          entire congregation. All are waiting         tion of trouble that later has to be
decision recorded in its minutes be-             to hear what the Consistory decides.         straightened out after irreparable
fore approaching classis for help.               Some are inclined toward one side of         damage has been done.
     Those who hold to this position             the problem and others are leaning-
argue that failure to enforce this will          the other way. There are signs of               Fourthly, some decisions which
                                                 division in the congregation. The
encourage consistories to bring their                                                       a consistory faces have implications
                                                 problem is very serious and the
troubles to  classis too hastily.                                                           extending much farther than just to
                                                 Consistory is not at all unanimous in
Consistories will rush to classis with           regard to a solution although the          the congregation it oversees. It may
their problems without much study                majorityintheConsistorycouldpass           be a doctrinal issue or a matter of
and with little effort to solve their            a resolution with respect to the mat-      policy never before faced in the
own problems.                                    ter. The whole Consistory, however,        churches, but one that will affect all
     A number of serious objections              is agreed that the judgment of the         the churches in the denomination. If
can be raised against this position              Classis,  as an outside and neutral        the consistory realizes this, would it
                                                 party, would be desirable but this it      not be wise to consult with her sister
                                                 cannot get unless it makes a decision      churches before taking a decision?
                                                 first. And this the Consistory is a bit         Finally, in conflict with that po-
                                                 hesitant to do because of the situa-
                                                 tion in the congregation and the fact      sition is the practice of the Reformed
                                                                                            churches of the past. Rev. Van'den
Rev. Dykstra is pastor  of  the Protestant       that within the Consistoryitself there
                                                 is no unanimity of opinion. Now            Berg notes that in the history of the
Reformed Church  of  Doon,  Iowa.                                                           PRC "it has occurred on numerous
344 /Standard Bearer / May 1,1992


occasions that the delegates of a              would release the consistory from             churches, not to limit themselves to
consistory were sent home with their           taking any decision, if they agreed,          these four questions. Other questions
problem unresolved because classis             and would force them to protest if            may, and perhaps ought, to be added
refused to treat the matter since the          they disagreed. Thus it would be              as follow-up.
consistory had not as yet taken a defi-        preferable that no motion be passed                3)The president could change
nite stand." This is not in harmony            on most of these questions. In the            the questions to be slightly more spe-
with the practice of Reformed synods           experience of many delegates of               cific. For example,instead of "Are the
in The Netherlands. The Ecclesiasti-           Classis West, matters raised under            consistory meetings held in your
caZMunuaEbyP.Biesterve1dandH.H.                this question of Article 41 were often        church?" couldbe asked, "How often
Kuyper include many pages of an-               answered by a general discussion by           are the regular meetings of the
swers that Synods gave to questions            the delegates, after which the presi-         consistory held?"
raised by lower ecclesiastical bodies.         dent inquired of the delegates (of the             4)Definitely divide question 3
It is obvious that the consistories sim-       particular consistory) whether the            on the poor and the Christianschools.
ply did not know what to do in many            discussion was enough help. (In most               5)Presidents could preface their
instances, but the Synods answered             instances, it was.) In some cases a           questions with abrief summary of the
the questions nonetheless.                     committee might be needed to study            scope of each question and/or with
      Of course, no one wishes to see          the problem and meet with the                 pointed examples of the intent of the
classis become a "question box" into           consistory to help them settle the            question.  0
which consistories drop all their              matter.
troubles and questions. To insure                       In conclusion, we are convinced
that a consistory comes with a proper          that the questions of Article 41 are              Confidence in Foreordination
matter for classis' help, two criteria         good for the classis and the churches,        Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
must be met. First,  classis should            for mutual supervision. On the other          Ever gracious, ever wise,
only deal with questions on a con-             hand, we are also convinced that the          All my times are in Thy hand,
crete case that the consistory is facing.      manner of asking and answering the            All events at Thy command.
The consistory must really need                questions departs much from the
"help." Secondly,  classis must see            spirit and purpose of the church or-          His decree, who form'd the earth,
evidence that the consistory has made          der. A few suggestions are offered to         Fix'd my first and second birth;
a serious attempt to solve the prob-           help make this practice more valu-            Parents, native place, and time,
lem on her own.*                               able.                                         All appointed were by Him.
      One additional issue on this 4th                  1) Change the place in the agenda
question is the manner in which the            from next-to-last to the beginning, as        He that form'd me in the womb,
help and judgment is to be given.              the Reformed Churches originally              He shall guide me to the tomb;
Should the president give the help?            decided. While there is something to          All my times shall ever be
Should a motion be proposed and                be said for ending the meeting with a         Order'd by His wise decree.
adopted? Or should a committee be              show of unity, this position contrib-
appointed to give advice to classis?           utes much to the danger of its being          Times of sickness, times of health,
One thing to keep in mind is that if           only a "show." The important mat-             Times of penury and wealth;
classis passes a motion, its decision is       ters have been concluded. Many del-           Times of trial and of grief,
binding, according to Article 31, which        egates are packing up, some are check-        Times of triumph and relief.
                                               ing plane schedules, and thinking of
                                               the journey home. This is not condu-          Times the Tempter's power to prove,
                                               cive to a meaningful answering of             Times to taste a Savior's love;
                                               these important questions.                    All must come, and last, and end,
1    In the discussion at the conference,                                                    All shall please my heavenly Friend.
an interesting difference of practice was               Placing them early in the meet-
observed between the two classes in the        ingmeans thatthereislessofarushto
PRC in the use of this question (#4). The      "get finished." It also sets the right        Plagues and death around me fly;
ministers and elders could cite specific       tone for the meeting - that of great          Till He bids, I cannot die:
cases which had been brought up in             care for the spiritual welfare of the         Not a single shaft can hit
Classis  West and treated to the satisfac-     sister churches.                              Till the God of love sees fit.
tionof the consistory, where the consistory             2)Let the presidents take heed to
had taken no decision. But concerning                                                        0 Thou Gracious, Wise, and Just!
Classis East, the only instances which         the words "among other things" -              In Thy hands my life I trust:
could be cited were those where a              i.e., "the president shall, among other       Have I something dearer still?
consistory's request for "help" had been       tlzings, put the following questions to       I resign it to Thy will.
denied because the consistory had not          the delegates of each church."
taken a decision prior to approaching                   It was the intent of the fathers                           Standard Bearer,
Classis.  Why this difference?]                and, we believe, the practice of the                             December 15,1932
                                                                                                     May 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 345


                                     Erasure of Baptized

                                                                                                Rev. Charles Terpstra


Introduction to the Nature                   dealt with following the general rules     not be excommunicated  (cf. H. Hanko,
of the  Problem                              of discipline outlined by our Lord in      "Notes on the Church Order, pp. 108-
      The question with which we deal        Matthew  18:15-18 and referred to by       109; I. VanDellen  and M. Monsma,
in this presentation is that which con-      our church order in Articles 71-78.        The Church Order  Commenta y,  1941
cerns the proper exercise of discipline           Further, this question of the dis-    ed., p. 295; W. Heyns, Handbook for
on the part of the church toward those       cipline of baptized members does not       Elders and Deacons,  pp. 252-3; J.L.
baptized members who have not yet            concern the young children of the          Schaver, The Polity of the Churches,
made public profession of faith but          church. We are alsoagreedon the fact       p. 201; K. DeGier,  Explanation of the
who walk in open, unconfessed, and           that when the young children of the        Church Order of Dordt, pp. 106-107).
impenitent sin. The Protestant Re-           church sin, they do not come under               On the other hand, there are
formed Churches, as well as other            the formal discipline of the church        those who argue that baptized mem-
Reformed churches, have the prac-            but under the parental discipline of       bers ought to be dealt within the same
tice of working with such members            the home (Prov. 23:13,14; Eph. 6:1-4).     way as confessing members as re-
by means of admonitions and warn-            Our concern in this matter is with         gards sin, since they are equally re-
ings before finally erasing them as          adult baptized members who have            sponsible for walking according to
members of the church, which is to           reached the years of discretion or the     the demands of the covenant and for
take their names off the membership          age of accountability. That such may       upholding the honor of Christ and
rolls and thus exclude them from the         be disciplined by the church is clear      His church. Hence, they may be and
church. But sometimes the propriety          from Deuteronomy  21:18-21.                ought to be excommunicated (cf.
of this practice of erasure is ques-              But the question concerns the         W.W.J. VanOene, With Common Con-
tioned, and the contention is made           precise method andextelzt of discipline    sent, p. 315).
that such erring members ought in-           which may be applied to adult bap-              It mustbe stated that the answer
stead to be excommunicated from the          tized members who walk in sin. Is it       to this question is not specifically an-
church just as confessing members            proper for such erringbaptizedmem-         swered by the church order of Dordt
are if they continue in sin. This is the     bers to be removed from the church         as adopted and revised by the PRC.
issue before us.                             by this simple erasure, or must they       Articles 71-78 set forth the purpose,
      Let it be clear that the questionis    be put out of the church by means of       objects, and manner of Christian dis-
not whether such baptized persons            the "extreme remedy" of excommu-           cipline, but nothing is said concern-
ought to be disciplined by the church.       nication, with its attending admoni-       ing the discipline of baptized mem-
Reformed and Presbyterian churches           tions and announcements and read-          bers. The assumption is made that
have always held to the position that        ing of the Form of Excommunication?        those persons who are the objects of
such persons are indeed members of                Closely related to this issue is      the formal discipline of the church are
the church and as such come under            the question of the precise nature of      confessing members who have been
the government and discipline of the         the membership of baptized persons         admitted to the Lord's Supper. Nor
elders of the church. And they cer-          in the church. On the one hand, there      to my knowledge have we ever made
tainly are agreed that when baptized         are those who argue that baptized          any official church decisions or set
members walkin sin, this sin has to be       members, not having confessed their        any specific policy on this matter. It is
                                             faith and havingbeen admitted to the       a practice we have inherited from the
                                             Lord's Supper, cannot be the objects       Dutch Reformed churches of the past.
                                             of the formal discipline of the elders.
                                             They are "minors," or "incomplete"         History of the Problem
                                             members, and therefore may not re-              ThehistoryofhowtheReformed
Rev. Terpstra is pastor ofthe  Protestant    ceive major and complete discipline.       churches dealt with the discipline of
Reformed Church  of  South Holland, Illi-    They cannot be barred from the table       baptized members reveals that this
n o i s .                                    of the Lord, and for that reason can-      was a subject of disagreement from

346 /Standard Bearer / May 1,1992


the very beginning. Already at the           attitude and walk were to be admon-          @ oezema, "Excommunication," p.
National Synod of Dordt held in 1578         ished; and if they still did not make        319).
this very question came up. In Ques-         such confessionby the time they were                  This same struggle over the
tion 47 of the "Particular Questions"        18-20years  of age, they were formally       proper discipline of baptized mem-
we find this question and answer:            excommunicated and excluded from             bers went on in our mother church,
                                             the church (see L. Doezema, the Stan-        the  Christian Reformed Church
  Whether children who have been             dard Bearer, "Excommunication of             (CRC). We find the first reference to
  baptized in the Reformed churches,         BaptizedMembers?",Vol.20,pp.317-             thisquestioninadecisionoftheSynod
  having come to maturity, shall be          319; 405-406).                               of 1881: "Those baptized who come
  subjected to ecclesiastical discipline,         The issue next appeared in the          to years of discretion and refuse to
  and whether they, having been ad-
  monishedandremainobstinate,shall           Dutch Reformed churches at the               attend catechism shall be admonished;
  be excommunicated, although they           Synod of Middelburg in 1896. At this Y       and if they persist, they shall be ex-
  havenotyetconfessed theirfaithand          SynodProf.H.BavinckandB.Rutgers              communicated" (S&aver,  PoZity,  Vol.
  havenotattendedtheLord'sSupper.            presented advice on the question of.         2, p. 173). Schaver  also makes refer-
  Answer: Since baptism is a general         what should be done to those bap-            ence to the; "excluding" of baptized
  testimony of God's covenant which          tized members who did not make               members by official announcement
  belongs to the children of Christians      profession of faith by the age of 18. It     datingbackto the CRC Synodof 1896,
  as long as they do not reject the same     was their advice that: 1) such mem-          which  exchrsion was to take place
  by public apostasy, the public and         bers should be admonished as to- the
  general admonitions, . . . shall be                                                     only after an announcement had been
  enough in the public and free con-         willful neglect of their covenant obli-      made to the congregationandfollow-
  gregations. But since confession of        gations; 2) the Consistory continue to       ing the advice of Classis (Vol. 2, p.
  faith and the fellowship of the Lord's     admonish such until confession is            179). The first mention of the word
  SupperisaspecialtestimonyinGod's           made or until the admonitions go             "erasure: .appears  in the Acts of the
  church, by which those who have            unheeded up to the 30th year of age;         Synod of 1910: "There can be no
  sinned against God's covenant are          3) at that time or before, the Consistory    determined age for erasure of bap-
  again received . . . no excommunica-       is to `announce that because of their        tizedmembers because circumstances
  tion shall be,used  (except - CJT)         refusal to heed the exhortations such        vary greatly" (Manual of CRC Gov-
  against those in whom God's cov-           persons "canno  longer be recognized
  enant is sealed anew by the Lord's                                                      ernment, p. 310).
  Supper                                     as members of the church" (seeHeyns,                  The clearest. and fullest state-
             (Ecclesiastical Manual,  P.
  Biesterveld and H.H. Kuyper, trans.        Handbook, p. 255; andDoezema,  "Ex-          ment on this matter, however, was
  by R. DeRidder,  1982).                    communication," pp. 318-405). This           given by the CRC Synod of 1918 (and
                                             advice was adopted by the Synod of           later amended `in 1974). -It made a
The answer of the Synod is clear:            Gronnigen in 1899.                           sfiecific decision respecting the pro-
there is to be no excommunication of              In 1920 the Synod of the Re-            cedure to be followed in excluding
erring baptized members.                     formed Churches of The Netherlands           unfaithful baptized members. First,
     But this was not the end of the         expressed its basic agreement with           it said that those baptized members
matter. In the 16th and 17th centuries       the advice of Bavinck and Rutgers. It        who failed to make confession of faith
the Reformed churches were divided           was  ,their view that excommunica-           by the time of the years of maturity
concerning the two positions men-            tion cannot be applied to baptized           were unfaithful covenant members,
tioned above. G. Voetius, a Dutch            members who in confession and walk           and thus became objects of church
delegate to the great Synod of Dordt         manifest themselves as unbelievers           discipline; and if they continue in this
in 1619-`19  and a scholar in church         and ungodly, but that the consistory         sin, are to be `:excluded" from the
polity, held to the position of the          can declare that such have withdrawn         church. Second, it declared that, be-
Synod of 1578, that baptized children        themselves from the church. (see             fore suchmembers canbe excluded, a
are incomplete members of the church,        Doezema, "Excommunication," p.               threefold procedure has to be met: an
and cannot therefore be excommuni-           319). But in 1939 a Committee of             announcement must be made to the
cated. They are to be admonished,            Synod drew up a "concept announce-           congregation without mentioning
and if they remain impenitent, erased        ment" regarding unfaithful baptized.         their names; the advice of Classis is to
from church membership. On the               members which took the stronger              be sought; and another, announce-
other hand, John a' Lasco, the Polish        position. While still recognizing that       ment is to be made to the congrega-
pastor of the Netherland congrega-           such persons were incomplete mem-            tion mentioning their names and ask-
tion in London and author of a book          bers, this Committee's announcement          ing for prayers for them. Third, it
on church discipline, held to the posi-      stated that following unheeded ad-           stated that the actual exclusion of
tion that baptized members who did           monitions such members were to be            such members is to take place.."by
not confess their faithby the time they      excommunicatedand declared to have           officiallyinformingthecongregation,
were fifteen because of an unspiritual       no part in the kingdom of Christ as          notifying  -the parties involved that
                                             long as they were unrepentant                they, due to their persistent unfaith-

                                                                                                     May 1 ,1992 / Standard Bearer I347


fulness as covenant members, not-          ful and deliberate in t-heir proceed-        tice and wanting to see it changed
withstanding all ecclesiastical admo-      ings, They do not rashly commence            include this, that we ought to be more
nitions, will henceforth not be re-        such discipline, nor do they hastily         in iine with the practice of other Re-
garded as belonging to the church"         carry it out. This is as it ought to be,     formed churches. Our current  way of
(CRC  Manual,  p. 310). And finally,       since the goal of all. discipline is the     erasing baptized members is not the
this Synod determined that suchmem-        repentance of the sinner and his rec-        wayotherReformedchurcheshandle
bers were not to return to the church      on&ation withchrist  and the church.         this aspect of discipline, and I believe
except through repentance and pro-         Secondly, the erasure of baptized            that we ought to learn from them and
fession of faith. This remains the CRC     members in the PRC must be done              conform to them.. This will nor only
position to the present time.              with `the advice of  Classis. The            promoteuniformityamongReformed
                                           Consistories have to be able to show         churches; but also serve to make us
Evaluation of the Present Practice         the Classis that such members have           more consistent in our own practice.
in the PRC                                 indeed sinned, that they as elders
      What is the current practice.in      have labored diligently with them,           Proposed Changes
the PRC? To the best of my knowl-          and that they are convinced that they        in Our PRC Practice
edge our manner of erasing baptized        must proceed with erasure. This too               What changes would I propose?
members is as follows. In`the case of      is good, since it safeguards the sinner      First, I would recommend that we
unfaithful baptized members who            and holds the Consistories to faithful       dispense with the concept and termi-
walkin  open sin and impenitence, the      work.                                        nology of erasure, and speak of and
Consistories apply the admonitions               However, there are also reasons        practice the excommunication of adult
and warnings of God's Word with            why I believe the present practice of        baptized members who are guilty of
much patience and yet firmness, seek-      the discipline of baptized members in        erring in doctrine or in life. It is my
ing always the repentance of the sin-      the PRC is weak and ought to be              conviction that for all responsible
ner. There are no time limits or age       c h a n g e d . .                            adult members of the church, whether
limits set by the Consistories for la-           In the first place, the practice of    confessing or baptized, there is only
boring with such members. Every            erasure does not give the work of            one way of being barred from the
opportunity and time is given for the      discipline its full due and impact. I        church for reasons of sin and impeni-
Spirit to work in their hearts and         believe that it is incomplete and too        tence, and that is excommunication.
lives. Afterlonglabor, the Consistojr      passive, and that it leaves the wrong        That is what we ought to call it, and
makes a decision to proceed:with  the      impression. Though the admonitions           that is what we ought to practice.
erasure of such a memb.er, and- then       given are an active form of discipline,           If we would retain theterm and
seeks the advice of Classis to proceed     and thoughthe decision to erase does         concept of erasure, it ought to be
with this step. Following the advice       exclude one from membership in the           applied only to those who fail to main-
of  Classis, the Consistory usually        church, the idea is often left with us       tain their membership in the church
brings final admonitions to the sin-       and with the sinner that this-disci-         for other reasons (moving away, etc.).
ner,pointingouttohimthathewillbe           pline was not so serious because there       This is what other churches refer to as
erased from the membership of the          were no formal steps and because the         "lapsed".membership.~          `,
church at a previously determined          elders could not carry discipline out            Second, I propose that we in-
date. Finally, the Consistory actually     to its full extent in excommunication.       clude in the steps of discipline of such
erases the member on the date de-                In the second place, our present       baptized members public announce-
cided, and informs the congregation        way of dealing with such sinning             ments to the congregation, enjoining
via bulletin announcement or public-       members does not give the congrega-          them to pray for and admonish the
announcement.                              tion an active role in the work of           erring member(s). There ought to be
                                           discipline. At present the members.of        at least two such announcements, the
                                           our churches do not find out about           first in which the name of the erring
    . . . the practice of erasure          the discipline of unfaithful -baptized       member is not mentioned, and the
            does not give                  members until the time that their era-       second (preferably following the ad-
      the work of discipline               sure is reported in the bulletin or in a     vice of Classis) in which his name is
                                           public announcement. This must not           mentioned. Suchannouncements take
    its full due and impact.               be. The role of the members in the           into account the vital role andrespon-
                                           officeofbelieverisveryimportantfor           sibility of the office of believer in the
                                           the work of discipline, and they must        work of Christian discipline.
     In evaluating our present prac-       be informed of and included in the                Finally, there is something to be
tice, there are good things to be said     work of admonishing erringbaptized           said for the preparation and use of a
concerning it. In the first place, our     members.                                     special liturgical Form for those cases
consistories take this aspect of disci-         And in the third place, my rea-         of excommunication.         While our
pline very seriously and are very care-    sons for criticizing our present prac-       present "Form of Excommunication"

348 /Standard Bearer I May 1,1992


could properly and adequately be                 and sealed unto us personally by            would be drawn up, and howsoever
used, there are enough differences to            Baptism, and also the awful serious-        we would go about making these
warrant -another Form. W. Heyns                  ness of being deprived of these privi-      changes in our discipline of baptized
suggested this years ago in these                leges by the Church in the name of          members, we ought to see the impor-
words:                                           Christ, would give much-needed in-
                                                 struction, would add to the solem-          tance of taking a serious look at our
                                                 nityof theoccasi6n;and  wouldcause          present practice and perhaps  institut-
  Such a Form, elucidating and  ,em-              this solemn act, like others, to be        ing a change along the lines suggested
  phasizing  the. inestimable value of            executed in the language of the            above. Such a more carefully defined
  the privilege of being a participant in         Church (Han&ook,  p. 254).                 policywouldbetter serve the churches
  the Covenant of Grace and a member                                                         and would better tend to the glory of
  of the Church of Christ, as signed                 Whether or not such a Form              Christ.  0



                                                TiwValue of the
                                                Church Order
                                                Today (2)
                                                                                                Rev. Ronald Cammenga

Ensuring the Continued Value                    ing convinced of the truthfulness of         their business to study and become
of the Church drder                             the principles embodiedin the church         familiar with the church order. The
      Every Reformed Christian, Re-             order. This is the reason in the past        members of the church ought to be
formed congregation, Reformed                   and today why the church order falls         acquainted with the church order
consistory, and Reformed denomina-              into disuse in the church: repudiation       through their own study of the church
tion must do all in its power to ensure         of the biblical principles of church         order  and of the several commentar-
the CONTINUED value of the church               government upon which the church             ies available on the church order. A
order. The continued value of the               order is based.                              study of the articles of the church
church, order depends upon several                                                           order is highly recommended as the
things.                                                                                      after-recess portion of the Adult Bible
      First, the continued value of the               The continued value                    Study or Men's Society in your con-
churtih `order depends on its being                    of the church order                   gregation.
used and honored. The church order                                                                In our own churches a new gen-
must not be ignored, deliberately set            depends on our keeping alive                eration of officebearers has arisen in
aside, never consulted. This has hap-                     the knowledge                      recent years. The torchisbeingpassed
pened in Reformed churches.in the                      of the church order                   from one generation to the next. Es-
past. It is happening in Reformed                         in the churches.                   pecially the, younger ministers and
churches today which do formally                                                             elders must exert themselves ,to be-
subscribe to the church order. The                                                           come thoroughly familiar with the
most valuable instrument is useless,                 In the second place, the contin-        church order.
if it is not used.                              ued value of the church order de-
      To  a large extent, of course, the        pends on our keeping alive the knowl-        Revision and Updating
continued use of and esteem for the             edge of the church order in the              of the Church Order
church order depends on our remain-             churches. Wemust  KNOW the church                 The continued value of the
                                                order ifit is going to be of value in the    church order would be ensured, I
                                                life of the church. Seminary students        believe, by a revision and updating of
                                                must be given thorough instruction           the  church order. Is it not time that
Rev.  Canznzenga  is pastor  of  the Protes-    in the church order in the theological       our  Protestant Reformed Churches
tant Reformed Church  of  Loveland,             school. Officebearers must make it           undertake a revision of the church
Colorada.                                                                                    order? Is it not time for us to do what

                                                                                                     May 1 ,1992 / Standard Bearer / 349


 Article 86 of the church order re-          ministers serving in institutions of           riage may take place either in a pri-
 quires us to do: "These articles, relat-    mercy.                                         vateceremonyorinapublicworship
 ing to the lawful order of the church,            Some articles need to be                 service. The adopted Form for the
 have been so drafted and adopted by         dropped. Articles 47-49 which speak            Solemnization of Marriage shall be
 common consent, that they (if the           of provincial or particular synods, in         used.
 profit of the churches demand other-        distinction from the national synod,
 wise) may and OUGHT to be altered,          ought to be dropped. Article 52reads,             A revision might also take into
 augmented or diminished"?                   "Inasmuch as different languages are         consideration adding certain articles.
       Ibelieve that we ought seriously      spoken in the churches, the necessary        An article couldbe added delineating
 to consider such a revision. Now I am       translations shallbemadein the eccle-        the task of missionaries. A separate
 not advocating the kind of radical          siastical assemblies, and in the publi-      article could be added dealing with
 revision that would excise all Re-          cation of recommendations, instruc-          "church counselors," spelling out
 formed and biblical principles from         tions and decisions." This article is        clearly their duties. Perhaps an ar-
 the church order. But I am advocat-         obsolete; it ought to be dropped.            ticle could be added dealing with the
 ing a revision that would update the              Several articles need to be            procedure for erasure of baptized
 church order and improve it.                changed and updated. Article 23,             members.
      There are several reasons why          which requires all the families of the            In addition, some articles could
 we ought to give this matter of revi-       church to be visited both before and         be combined. Organization of the
 sion consideration. For one thing,          after the administration of the Lord's       articles could be improved, for more
 there is a radical difference between       Supper, ought to be amended so that          logical placement of some articles.
 the situation in The Netherlands at         it is in line with our practice of annual    Some of the existing articles could be
 the time of Dordt and our situation in      family visitation. Article 26, which         brought more in line with the original
 the United States today. A study of         speaks of the cooperation of the dea-        church order of Dordt. And the lan-
 the articles of our church order will       cons with others (government agen-           guage of several of the articles could
 reveal a very close relationship be-        cies) devoting themselves to the care        be improved upon, so as to make the
 tween church and state at that time,        of the poor, ought to be changed.            meaning of the article clear.
 so close that in certain instances un-      Articles 37 and 40 which require                  All of this is not to be under-
 due influence is granted to the gov-        weeklyconsistoryanddeacons'meet-             stood to mean that in its present form
 ernment in the affairs of the church.       ings ought to be revised to require          the church order is unserviceable. It
 For another thing, there are numer-         monthly meetings, which is our prac-         certainly is not. This is a matter of
 ous additions to and decisions per-         tice. Article 45 makes it the duty of.       improvement with a view to greater
 taining to articles that we have ap-        the church in which classis or synod         service.
 pended, evidence in itself that the         meets to furnish the next classis or              As Reformed churches, we have
 church order is due for revision. Not       synod with-the minutes. This article         received of the Lord a great heritage,
 only have we appended decisions,            should be dropped, or it should be           not only in doctrine but also in church
 but in some instances these decisions       amended to refer to the duty of the          polity. That heritage is embodied in
 are contradictory to the very articles      stated clerks. Article 50 calls formeet-     our Reformed church order. May we
 to which they are appended. Besides,        ings of synod every other year; this         be faithful to it, and may God bless its
 there are some articles or parts of         shouldbe  updated to harmonize with          use in the churches so that we are
 articles that we simply ignore asinap-      our practice of an annual synodical          "nourished and preservedin concord
 plicable, and have decided to under-        meeting. Article 65, dealing with fu-        and in unity." 0
 stand other articles in ways which          neral sermons and funeral services, is
 they were not originally intended to        in need of revision. Article 70 re-                         Introducto7y
 be understood.                              quires consistories to see to official                   sulkriptions  to t/i2
      Let me point out some articles         church weddings. This article is                   slzw@wi~D  !E!EAz@t?(
 that are in need of revision.               scarcely abided by in our churches.
      Some articles are in need of cor-      The revision of this article by the
 rection. Article 2 needs to be cor-         Canadian Reformed Churches is ex-                              are still
 rected which speaks of four special         cellent:                                                    one-hayprice
 offices in the New Testament church
and makes of professor of theology a           The consistory shall ensure that the                    ($6.00  for U.S.;
 distinct office. Article 3 allows for         members of the congregation marry
 professors of theology who are not            only in the Lord, and that the minis-                  $7.50  for  fore&p)
 ordained ministers, a thing not in            ters-asauthorizedbytheconsistory
 keeping with the policy and practice          -solemnize only such marriages as                       for 21 iimes of
 in our churches. Article 6 needs cor-         are in accordance with the Word of
                                               God. The solemnization of a mar-                  SOL%&  !l(eformed  reading!
 rection and clarification regarding

 350 /Standard Bearer I May 1,1992


                            A Comparison of the
                     Church.Order  o                                                                            f
                            Continental Dordt and
                          . Westminster Scotland
                                                                                                         Rev. Chris Coleborn


     For a better understanding of             with Christ's authority. The ordering         are apparent differences between the
our Reformed heritage, we will briefly         of the affairs of the church on earth as      two orders. However, closer exami-
attempt to compare the practices or            she lives as a holy society is thus built     nation shows a marked degree of unity
church orders of the historic Conti-           on God's revelation to us. Both or-           of principle, if not the same outwork-
nental Reformed churches as found              ders, then, see the apostolic rules and       ing of the principle. There are several
in the Order of Dordrecht (Dordt),             regulations as normative and authori-         instances to illustrate this.
and the historic Reformed church               tative for us until Christ comes again. I
(Westminster), as found in the Prac-           It is part of our confession that we          The Discipline of Pastors
tice of the Church of Scotland.                believe in a holy and apostolic church!       and Members
                                               Both orders recognize that it is Scrip-                The Order of Dordt is under-
The GreatPoints of Agreement                   ture alone which is the basis of our         stood to make the consistory or ses-
     Both orders (the Scats  tend to           practice.                                     sion the radical court of the church. It
use the term "practice") spring from                                                         is said that one "acid test" of this is
commonrootconceptsandprinciples.                  The basic concepts behind                  that the consistory can discipline its
Firstly, both see that the life of the             Dordt and Westminster                     pastor. On the other hand, it is under-
community of the saints must be or-                                                          stood that the Westminster Practice
                                                come down to us via Calvin.
dered and arranged according to                                                              does not allow a session to discipline
Christ's prescription, and not to                                                            its pastor. Only presbytery can do
                                                    In the third place, both Dordt
man's. The Lord Jesus Christ is the                                                          that. Again, it is said that, under
                                               and Westminster owe a great com-
Head of the church. He from all                                                              Dordt, classis cannot discipline mem-
                                               mon debt to John Calvin. The basic
eternity has embraced in covenant                                                            bers within its bounds, for classis is a
                                               concepts behind Dordt and West-
His people, and by His work has                                                              voluntary union. On the other hand,
                                               minster come down to us via Calvin.
redeemed them to Himself. He rules                                                           under Westminster, presbytery can
                                               He greatly influenced the formula-
over the church that He loves and                                                            discipline members within its bounds.
                                               tors of the orders of the Reformed
gave Himself to ransom. Our life                                                             At first glance, it seems that this is a
                                               Churches of the Continent and Scot-
under the order of the church is thus                                                        difference of principle in the two or-
                                               land. Men such as a' Lasco, Knox,
tied to Almighty God and His sover-                                                          ders.
                                               Andrew Melville, Olevianus,
eignty over us.                                                                                       As we examine the matter more
                                               Acronius, Walaeus, Trigland, and
      Secondly, both have historically                                                       closely, however, we find that the
                                               Voetius were all indebted to Calvin
viewed the establishment of the life                                                         difference is perhaps more that of
                                               and the light of the Word of God he
and government of the church as prin-                                                        administration and emphasis than of
                                               had, not only on the truth of God
cipally by Christ's apostles, and thus                                                       principle! For example, the West-
                                               generally, but also on the matter of          minster/Scottish practice plainly de-
                                               the arrangement of the affairs of the         clares: "The kirksession, beingprop-
                                               visiblebodyofthechurchintheworld.             erly the only radical church judica-
                                                                                             ture, not consisting of delegate, but of
Rev.  Coleborn is a pastor in the Evangeli-    Apparent Differences                          perpetualandfixedmembers,cannot
cal Presbyterian church of Australia.               There are some areas where there         be at any time dissolved, but by them-
                                                                                                        May 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I 351


selves are adjourned from time to            the presbytery. Surely, the principle        ModeratorslPresiden  ts Between
time..." ("CollectionandObservations         is very close in both cases, and the         Meetings  of  Major Courts
Methodized," etc., Title VIII, No.. 35,      differences are that of the practical              It is suggested that a principled
page242). Boththusprincipallyagree           outworking of the principle. In addi-        difference between Dordt and
that the sessionlconsistoryis  theradi-      tion to this point, if a classis or synod    Westminster's practice is seen in the
cal court of the church.                     find a congregation erring willfully         Dordt order teachingthat the office of
      But what of the matter of the          outside the Three Forms of Unity and         president (moderator) ceases when
discipline of ministers and members?         the Order, they can be declared out-         the assembly arises. Under the West-
Is there not a big difference of prin-       side the denomination- that is, "out         minster scheme, the moderator re-
ciple there? In answer we ask, how           of communion" with the rest of the           mains in office with delegated au-
canit be, when Article 53 teaches that       denomination. Is not this a form of          thoritybetweenpresbyteries/synods.
classis can suspend ministers from           "excommunication"? Can it not be             However, Articles 44 and 49 make it
office? The Order of Dordt (Articles         argued that this is in fact a form of        clear that classis/synod can also ap-
76 and 79), teaches that, though a           discipline? The order of Dordt speaks        point officers with ongoing authority
local Consistory exercises discipline        of classis/  synod being able to settle      of the broader court between meet-
of its members and minister, it cannot       andbindmatters(Art.31). Thisspeaks           ings of that assembly. Again, is this a
excommunicate without the advice             ofanauthorityandpowerofthemajor              matter of difference of principle, or a
of Classis, and in the case of the disci-    courts apart from the consistory. Thus       difference of administration?
pline of a minister, elder, or deacon,       classis and synod are not merely ad-
the Consistory is restrained from sus-       visorybodies to independent congre-
pending or deposing from office until        gations, but act similarly to presbytery     Historical Agreement but
they have the approval of the nearest        and synod, with actual delegated
adjoining consistory. No consistory          authority.                                   Contemporary Divergence
may act alone. But note, a Westminster                                                    Catechism Preaching
man sees officers from two                   Higher/Lower or                                   There areinstances of agreement
consistories principally forming a           BroaderlNarrow Courts                        in the past between the two practices,
classis!  Thus, do we not find in both            A difference is often seenbehind        but in time the churches have drifted
cases that the consistory (Dordt) and        the language used to describe the            apart in their once common order.
the session (Westminster) are re-            various church courts. Westminster           For example, the systematic preach-
strained from unilateral action? Do          Presbyterians often refer to their           ing of God's Word on the basis of the
                                             courts as "higher" or "lower." Some          respective Catechisms was once com-
          As we examine                      who follow the Order of Dordt use            mon to both churches. However, this
                                                                                          practice has been forgotten by most
    the matter more closely,                 the language of "broader" and "nar-          Presbyterians today. Book II, "Col-
   we find that the diffrence                rower," although the Order itself uses
                                             theterms  "minor" and"major" (Arts.          lection and Observations," etc. No.
       is tierhap>  more that                30, .31). No essential difference of         13, page 256, states: "Ministers are to
         of administration                   principle shouldbe seenin this differ-       preach catechetical doctrine, besides
           and emphasis                      entlanguage. TheWestminster/Scot-            their ordinary workof  catechising,  in
                                                                                          such manner as they find most con-
         than of principle!                  tish practice understands "higher"
                                             only in the sense that such a court has      ducive to the edification of their
                                                                                          flocks . . . . N The Order of Dordt (Art.
we not here see the principle of the         greaterauthoritybecause of thelarger         68) makes a similar requirement.
need of supervision and advice in the        numberofcongregationsrepresented             There are still Presbyterian Churches,
serious matter of the discipline of an       at it. The greater the number of con-        though, such as the Evangelical Pres-
officebearerin the context of abroader       gregations represented, the greater          byterian Church, where catechetical
assembly of "officebearers than the          or "higher" its authority. Is not this       preaching is still to be. found.
local court?                                 precisely the thinking behind the use
     Further to this, under the              of the words "broader" and "nar-             Modification of Concepts and Terms
Westminster order, in contrast to            rower"? The Second Book of Disci-                 There are also instances where
Dordt,. a session cannot proceed of          pline of the Church of Scotland brings       the original agreement has altered
itself to the actual discipline of a min-    this point out. It speaks of "the Elder-     because of changes made to the prac-
ister. It can yet both admonish its          ship" as governing the church at a           tice/order by a denomination. For
pastor as a brother elder and instigate      local,regional,andnationallevel. The         example, some, followingDordt,  have
disciplinary processes against him in        National Assembly was' called n the          altered the word and description,
the event `of a misdemeanor. The             General Eldership of the Whole               "church," to, "churches" (Preface to
session is only restrained in the trial      Church within the realm" (Ch. VII).          PRC Order in re Article 86).
of him. The. trial must be held before       There is no hierarchy here.

352 /Standard Bearer / May,l,l992


The Civil Magistrate                        sponsible for, whoever occupies the         Westminster providing for an Ecu-
     Once, the two practices/ orders        pulpit. Under the Scottish, the minis-      menical Synod. However, as far as
were more or less identical, at least in    ter is seen as responsible and answer-      the present writer understands, these
principle, in allowing a qualified in-      able to the Presbytery. Of course, the      differences are apparently not differ-
volvement of the civil magistrate in        local session may admonish their            ences of basic principle, but simply
the functioning of the church's affair.     minister if they feel that he has erred     one practice choosing to address a
Both reject the heresy of Erastianism.      in preaching, or, if more serious, com-     matter, and the other not choosing to
Yet originally both the Westminster/        mence proceedings against him be-           do so.
Scottish and the Continental, as seen       fore the Presbytery.                             Let us remember that, whilst
in the Belgic Confession Article                                                        there are certainly some things in
XXXVI, and the Westminster Confes-          Holy Days                                   which the two orders/practices dif-
sion, Ch. XXIII, allowed a role for the          Another example of where there         fer, they yet have much in common.
Christian magistrate in relation to the     is a clear difference of principle is in    Basically, so it seems to the writer,
life of the church. For example, they       the matter of observance of "holy           with only several exceptions, the two
allowed the civil magistrate to call        days." Article 67 of the Order of           agree. Are not the differences, which
assemblies of the church to meet, so        Dordt requires the keeping of them.         are all too often thought to be sub-
as to be advised by them, etc. The          The Westminster/Scottish practice,          stantial, really only differences of ad-
Synod of Dordt and the Westminster          while allowing for occasional days          ministrationratherthanessentialprin-
Assembly were, in fact, such extraor-       for thanksgiving or fasting, yet out-       ciples?
dinary gatherings. It is hard to ascer-     laws all "holy days" ("The Directory             Historically, the two orders/
tain how consistently this matter is        for Public Worship, Touching Days,"         practices did not arise in isolation
held to by the churches under Dordt         etc). What is the attitude of the his-      from one another. When the two
today. Such churches as the Evan-           toric Reformed Church of Scotland to        practices were being defined, there
gelical Presbyterian Church still sub-      such matters of difference? They saw        was a walk together and an interac-
scribe to this principle.                   them as very serious, and dissented         tion between the churches of Britain
                                            over them, yet they did not break           and the Continent. They understood
Recognized Differences                      communion with such churches who            one another, although disagreeing on
of Principle                                kept them. This can be seen when the        some points. The churches histori-
Term or Permanent Offices                   Church of Scotland wrote to the Swiss       cally have had a closeness, and have
     There appear to be several prin-       Churches warmly approving the Sec-          mutuallyrespectedoneanother. They
cipled differences between the two          ond Helvetic  Confession, but with          were not antagonists but fellow pil-
practices. Probably the most signifi-       this qualification: "(They) take ex-        grims of the same essential like pre-
cant example is the matter of term          ception to those'festivals of our Lords     cious faith, who sought, even with
eldership and deaconship (Dordt, Art.       nativity, circumcision, passion, res-       some differences, to edify one an-
27). The Westminster/Scottish view          urrection, ascension and sending the        other and to strengthen one another's
isperpetualoffice. Nevertheless, there      Holy Ghost upon His disciples. These        hand where they could.
is appreciation for aspects of the Dordt    festivals... obtain no place among us,           In the basic concepts of the two
view by the Westminster practice. In        for we dare not religiously celebrate       church orders, theReformedchurches
some instances, where there are suffi-      any other feast-day among us than           of Scotland and the Continent essen-
cient elders, Westminster allows a          what the divine oracles have pre-           tially held to, and were motivated by,
rotation of elders in a congregation        scribed"' ("The First Book of Disci-        the same grand principles of Gods
("CollectionsandObservationsMeth-           pline," Ed. J.K. Cameron, St. Andrew        glory and of the Scripture as our only
odized," etc. Title VII, No. 10, page       Press, Edinburgh, page 88, fn. 10).         rule. They saw Christ as the sole
211). So, although there appears to be                                                  Head of the church; that He has an
a principled difference on this matter,     Song iti Worship                            exclusive right to appoint all her laws
we should bear in mind that it is one            Article 76 of Dordt allows songs       and ordinances of worship and ser-
of long standing between the Re-            other than the Scriptures to be sungin      vice; that all administrations in His
formed Churches of the Continent            the public worship of God. The              house are to be performed in His
and Britain. Nevertheless, it never         Westminster/ Scottish allows only the       name and by His authority; and that
became an issue of division between         150 Psalms to be sung in the public         we His servants, in the proper line of
them and, ironically in this case, the      worship of God ("Directory for Pub-         our office, do not act by the authority
practice could be very close even           lic Worship: The Singing of the             of or by the delegation from any
though the principle is different!          Psalms").                                   earthly prince or legislature but by
                                                                                        Christ speaking to us in His Word
Responsibility for the Preaching            Conclusion                                  alone! (See Dr. T. M'Crie's  "STATE-
     Under the Order or Dordt, the               There are other differences be-        MENT," page 81.) 0
consistory must approve, and be re-         tween the two orders, such as the
                                                                                                   May 1,1992 / Standard Bearer I 353


Taking Heed to the                            H o p e   a n d
Doctrine                                      Disappointment
Rev. Bernard Woudenberg


      Wherefore putting away lying,           ing to him personally or allowing any      benefit of all. But it was not to be. Dr.
speak every man truth with his neighbor:      opportunity for free and open discus-      Schilder, of course, had to return
for we are members one of another.            sion. It was no wonder that, when the      home; and all too soon the Second
                         Ephesians 4:25       Standard Bearer  was started, the or-      World War intervened. All through
                                              ganization formed was called the           the war Rev. Hoeksema tried to main-
     If there was a dream that ever           Reformed  Free  Publishing Associa-        taincontact;butlittleotherthangreet-
smoldered in the heart of Herman              tion. Its intent was to provide a theo-    ings and expressions of concern could
Hoeksema, it was certainly that of            logical journal open to every respon-      get through.
being able to engage in profitable and        sible person who wished to discuss              Eventually, however, the war
constructive dialogue with those who          Reformed doctrine freely and with-         was over, and as quickly as possible
were theologically his equal. That he         out censure. But for the most part         plans were in the making for another
was denied that opportunity in 1924           Rev. Hoeksema was left to workalone.       visit of Dr. Schilder to the United
was one of his most painful disap-                 Thus we can well imagine the          States, this time at theinvitationof the
pointments. A few years before, he            sense of surprise and satisfaction         Protestant Reformed. Now,it seemed,
had assisted the seminary professors          which came to him when in 1939 Dr.         these two friends would be able to sit
in clearing their school of modern-           Klaas Schilder, one of the most promi-     down and workthrough the theologi-
ism, a task at which they had them-           nent theologians in The Netherlands,       cal problems of the day. But provi-
selves failed. Surely it could have           having been invited to speak at Cal-       dence again would not have it so.
been expected that, if they had honest        vin College and Seminary, thought          Shortly before Dr. Schilder was to
differences with him over Common              also to walk down the street to            arrive, Rev. Hoeksema was struck
Grace, they would have come to him            Hoeksema's home. It was altogether         down by a massive stroke. The visit
personally to discuss and work out            in character, for to this  day. Dr.        did take place, and was deeplyappre-
the problems. Instead, however, he            Schilder is remembered, in all of his      ciated by the churches. But this time
suddenly found himself barraged               greatness, to have remained the most       it was Rev. Hoeksema who could
with a series of protests clearly or-         common of men. His concern was not         receive little more than the greetings
chestrated, but coming from strange           in the least with status or reputation;    and expressions of concern.
and unexpected sources, and rushed            but only, like that of Hoeksema, with           A physically strong man, Rev.
on to synod with little opportunity           a simple pursuit of truth.                 Hoeksema's recovery was not long.
for study or deliberation. Moreover,               Immediately a deep bond of kin-       It was for hardly more than a year that
once synod convened, he was all but           ship sprang up between these two           Rev. Vos served as editor for the Stan-
denied a voice in his own defense.            unaffected but profound men. With-         dard Bearerinhis  stead, during which
And then, when the whole matter               out hesitation they began to work          time he sought to lay out  the.
was brought up in classis again, his          together in setting up a conference on     distinctives of the Protestant Re-
former friends did battle with him,           Common Grace such as Hoeksema              formed covenant view. And at the
not face to face, but through a bizarre       had always before been denied. The         same time the synod of the Liberated
exchange of papers from a distance.           Christian Reformed men came; they          Church, meeting at Amersfoort, voted
It left for him one of the deepest hurts      could hardly deny the doctor. Dr.          to seek correspondence with us. It
of the whole sad matter, not so much          Schilder spoke; Rev. Hoeksemaspoke;        was the next indication of promise.
that they differed with him, but that         but the rest for the most part drew        Now perhaps at last theological dia-
they did what they did without talk-          back and were silent.                      logue could begin, if not through
                                                   Still, a working relationship had     personalmeeting, at least by carefully
                                              begun. Both realized, undoubtedly,         formulated papers and official com-
                                              their theological differences; but they    munications. Eagerly opening notifi-
Rev. Woudenberg is pastor  of  the Protes-    also believed that with mutual trust       cations were awaited from the
tant Reformed Church  of  Kcllamazoo,         and honest effort, they would be able      Liberated's committee. But wait as
Michigan.                                     to workconstructively together to the      we might, months passed, and finally

354 /Standard Bearer I May 1,1992


years, and nothing was heard. The               Systematic theology he considered to             Nevertheless, outwardly mat-
longed for discussion never came.               be important, but not as an end in          ters seemed to remain on a rather
     It was not as though those years           itself; it is merely the means by which     stablelevel. The problems were there;
didnothavetheirpositivenotes. They              the church may best understand and          but it looked as though they could be
did. During this time immigrants                remember the truths God has made            contained-that is, until one Sunday,
began to arrive from The Netherlands;           known through his revelation and            in the summer of 1949, when Rev.
and many from the Liberated                     works. It is this living knowledge of       Ophoff went to preach in the new
churches sought contact with the Prot-          God that is ultimately important.           mission station at Chatham, Ontario,
estant Reformed. It was mostly in                    As it was, however, there were         just over the border in Canada. There
Canada; and soon those of our men               those who were tiring of this, and had      he was shown a letter from Prof.
who could speak Dutch were busily               come to the conclusion that doctrine        Holwerda, one of the prominentlead-
travelingbackand forth to the Toronto           was the first thing children should be      ers in the Liberated Church in The
area to work with them. It was an               taught. And so, suddenly, Rev.              Netherlands, which was being circu-
exciting and satisfying experience.             Hoeksema found it being announced           lated among the people there. The
These people were theologically keen,           even in his own congregation, as it         committee on correspondence of the
and committed. Readily and openly               was being done in others, that the          Liberated churches, which for over a
they engaged in discussion about all            catecheticalsystemhehadintroduced           year had failed to make any of the
aspects of Reformed doctrine, includ-           was to be replaced. And all this was        promised approaches to us, had met
ing, of course, the covenant; and their         done without consideration in the           secretly with two of our men who had
response to our teaching and preach-            churches, and without consultation          gone over individually on personal
ing was warm. There appeared to be              with Rev. Hoeksema. Never one to be         visits to The Netherlands; and it was
little prejudice against what was said,         silent, he wrote an editorial objecting     as though on their claims our churches
and some even expressed preference              to this, which met with bitter criti-       were being evaluated. The letter was
for it over that which they had been            cism - strangely, even from some            one of advice to the immigrants, and
accustomed to hear in The Nether-               who formerly had been most critical         read as follows:
lands. And it seemed to bring our               of his doctrinal emphasis. And this
own denomination together in com-               was only the beginning. Soon there               I received your letter yesterday,
mon cause, as well as drawing us                came another rather bitter objection          and a direct reply per airmail is in
closer to our friends over thesea.              to his teaching as to the importance of       order. Day before yesterdaywe held
     But, there were ominous sounds             properly instituted preaching. And            a meeting with Rev. Kok and Rev.
                                                                                              DeJong,  the purpose being mutual
as well. When at last Rev. Hoeksema             so it went. It was almost as though           discourse. We had a wholly open-
was able to take up as editor of the            through hisillness it hadbeen discov-         hearted exchange of thoughts. They
Standard Bearer  once again, it wasn't          ered that he could be weak, and now           said this: Indeed, we have much to be
with the welcome of all, which might            they dared speak out against him.             grateful for to Rev. Hoeksema. But
have been expected. In fact, almost                  But all of this was minor com-           hisconceptionregardingelectionetc.
immediately there was heard the                 pared to the continuing defense of a          is not church doctrine. No one is
sound of complaint.                        \    conditional theology. On the surface          bound by it. Some are emitting a
     The first matter that arose had to         it appeared to be little more than a          totally different sound. Their opin-
do with his catechetical method. Al-            debate over words: could there be a           ion was that most (of the Prot. Ref.)
ways he had believed that children              proper use of the word "condition" in         do not think as Rev. Hoeksema and
                                                                                              Rev. Ophoff. And sympathy for the
should not be taught doctrine until             Reformed theology or not? It almost           Liberated was great also in the mat-
they had mastered Bible history. Thus           seemed to be supposed that, if any            ter of their doctrine of the covenant.
he had developed for our churches a             proper use of that word could be              They do accentuate differently in
three tier level of instruction. The            found, then the WholeLiberatedview            America, considering their history,
first required the simple teaching of           of the covenant would be justified,           but for the conception of the Liber-
Bible history. The second showed                and the acceptance of it approved.            ated there is ample room. And from
how out of that history the doctrines           But underneath, as Rev. Hoeksema              other quarters I heard that Liberated
of Christianity had arisen. And only            was so often later to explain, they           in the Christian Reformed churches
                                                                                              run into difficulty, if they hold their
then did he begin a systematic in-              were playing with a principle of Re-          position.
struction in the doctrines of the church.       formed theology much more deeply                 They, that is, Rev. Kok and Rev.
The method came out of his organic              important than Common Grace had               DeJong,  also reported what is being
concept of the covenant. Rev.                   ever been. Still, for the time being, he      done in their churches for handling
Hoeksema was not a scholastic, re-              simply watched and refrained. But             the spiritual care of the Liberated. I
gardless of what his detractors might           that was more than Rev. Ophoff could         must honestly say that thereby much
claim. He did not believe a systemati-          do. He began to write articles refut-         of my fear has been removed. I still
cally organized system of dogma to              ing this defense of conditional theol-        consider the method of the
be the end and the all of Christianity.         ogy; and the battle was begun.               Amersfoort decision regarding cor-

                                                                                                    May 1,1992 / Standard Bearer I 355


 respondence with the Protestant Re-              tion that Rev. Hoeksema, who first        forsaken the historical position on
 formed Churches unfortunate. But                 was skeptical of the immigrants, paid     election upon which our churches had
 now I see the thing thus: First, the             them a visit, andreturned enthusias-      been founded, and were giving seri-
 Prot. Ref. Church is the true church,            tic, struck me as remarkable; and         ous consideration to the Liberated
 be it that the lay (of conception) re-           another must have said, "These are        view of the covenant (one advocating
 garding election, etc. is somewhat               strong men, who know what it is all
 different, considering their wholly              about. You could make them all            a kind of Common Grace within the
 different history. However, I am not             ministers, just like that." If Rev.       covenant sphere). On the other hand,
 entirely agreed. Second the Protes-              Hoeksema's conception was bind-           Prof. Holwerda, rather than contact-
 tant Reformed Church proves to be                ing, I would say, Never join. Now I       ing our churches openly and discuss-
 the true church also herein that she             believe, however, that accession is       ing our differences, was secretly in-
 truly seeks the immigrants from Hol-             calling; and then so that the Liber-      structing the immigrants to infiltrate
 land and consciously allows all room              ated also help to disseminate the        our churches and take them over for
 for their conception. In thissituation            dogmatical wealth of Holland in the      their view. And finally he was telling
 I believe that joining the Prot. Ref.             Prot. Ref. Churches.                     those people that, if Rev. Hoeksema's
  Churchis  (our) calling. Andlet them
  then as Liberated preserve their con-                                                     view of election stood, our churches
                                                 Rev. Ophoff was shocked and taken
  tact with Holland by all means, and            aback. He hated secrecy as much as         should not be joined.
  also spread our literature. Our Lib-                                                           To such Rev. Ophoff could see
                                                 Rev. Hoeksema ever had; and here
  erated would be doing a fruitful                                                          but one  answer;  and that was to take
  work, if they thenlaboredin the Prot.          was an indication of secret intrigue       the letter home and publish it in the
  Ref. Churches to remove misunder-              which he could not ignore. On the          next issue of the Standard Beanev  for
  standingand to deepeninsight. Rev.             one hand, it was being claimed that a      all to see.
  Kok said, We can still learn much              sizable portion of the ministers in the            This he did; and it was the begin-
  from each other. The communica-                Protestant Reformed churches had           ning of the end. 0


                                                                                   Malachi

                                                                                    Lesson 8
                                                    A God-Fearing
                                                             Remnant in,the
                                                                           Midst of a
Search the                                              Hardened People
Scriptures
Rev. Carl Haak                                                                 Malachi 3:13-l 8

        God will ever see to it that there is    section of Malachi we are shown a          coldness and deadness among many
a people on earth who serve Him                  God-fearing remnant in the midst of        in Malachi's day (vss. 13-15).
even in the midst of the most hard-              the most blatant and blasphemous                The unbelieving state of mind of
ened and callous spiritual apathy. As            religious indifference. The words of       many in Judah was expressed in their
a jewel cast on a pile of coal, so in this       Romans 11:5 are underscored by our         blasphemous talk against God. We
                                                 lesson: "Even so then at this present      have seen their back talk before (ch.
                                                 time also there is a remnant according     1:7, 8; ch. 2:14, 17), but never to the
                                                 to the  election of grace" (see Rom.       horrible extent as confronted by
Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant            11:3-6).                                   Malachi now. Their words were
Reformed Church  of  Lynden, Washing-                We are first given the full-blown      "stout" (literally, BstrongN)  against
ton.                                             and shameful truth of the spiritual        God.

356 /Standard Bearer / May 1,1992


    The following elements are to be       conviction as they listened to the            when He shall make up His final
found in them:                             prophet, and they turned to God and           possession by drawing out of all ages
    1. They leveled two charges, or        one another in repentance (vss. 16,           and nations, including these nepen-
insults, against the justice of God.       17).                                          tant members of Judah, and making
One, that they had served God and                  Let us note the following elements    them into one treasure of the Lord
gained nothing by it (vs. 14). Two,        in them:                                      (see Eph. 1:lO).
those who disobeyed God were not                   1. They feared the Lord. This is           Our lesson concludes with the
only unpunished but blessed (vs. 15).      their prominent characteristic, as it is      announcement that there shall also
Their thinking was as follows: "Since      mentioned twice in verse 16. The fear         come the time when the difference
we who serve Jehovah are not out-          of God is loving reverence for God.           shall be clearly shown between the
wardlyrewarded, and the proud hea-         The essential elements of the fear of         righteous and the wicked (vs. 18). In
then flourish in prosperity, we must       God are: a) Correct conception of the         that day (see ch. 4:l) every man will
conclude that Godbuilds up the work-       character of God. b) A pervasive              appear in his true colors, and the
ers of iniquity and ignores those who      sense of the presence of God. c) A            righteous judgments of God will be
render Him service. It was the high-       constant awareness of our obligation          perfectly seen (see Rom. 2:5-16).
est insult they could have spoken and      to God.                                       Malachi then returns, in verse 18, to
was to bring God's severe judgment                 2. They thought upon God's            the charges the hardened members of
on them.                                   name (vs. 16). This must be under-            Judah had brought against the Lord;
    2. They presented to God an            stood in the sense of hallowed medi-          and he answers them by-saying, U God
empty, outward service instead of          tation on the character of God as ,re-        will atlength rise to judgment, and
true humility (vs. 14). They claim to      vealed in His names (see Ps. 20).             then all shall know that the deeds of
have kept God's "ordinance" (liter-                3.  ,They  spoke among them-          men do not go unnoticed by Him and
ally, "charge"), and to have walked        selves (vs. 16). This means that-an           that wickedness shall not go unpun-
"mournfully" (literally, "walked in        evidence of true repentance is seen in        ished."
black"). But it was all false pretense.    our relations one to another. Those                May our study be used of God to
They were swollen with false confi-        who fear the Lord and are brought to          work in us the same blessed fruit
dence, for they were pretending to be      humble repentance must also unite             mentioned in verses 16 and 17. What
low before God, when in reality they       themselves to one another "so that            can compare with the promise, "And
were "stout"! Though they claimed          with one consent they may return to           they shall be mine..."?
to be modest and submissive, in real-      the way they had departed, yea, that
ity they were swelled with presump-        they may return to God whom they                            Memory Work:
tion as they daringly and furiously        had forsaken" (Calvin).                       Malachi 3:16, 17
spoke evil of God. Calvin offers the               4. A book of remembrance was               Then they that feared the Lord spake
following perceptive comments on           written (vs. 16). This was a sign of the      often one to another: and the Lord hear-
their true state: "They thought they       truth that they had been turned to            kened, and heard it, and a book of remem-
worshipped God perfectly; and this         God and had then vowed to devote              brance was written before him for them
was their false principle; for hypo-       themselves to Him. It would also              that feared the Lord, and that thought
crites ever lay claim to complete holi-    serve as a reminder in the days to            upon his name.
ness, and cannot bear to confess their     come and thus an encouragement to                  And they shall be mine, saith the
own evils; even when their conscience      the faithful.                                 Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up
goads them, they deceive themselves                How marvelous is the promise of       my jewels; and Iwill spare them, as a man
with vain flatteries, and always           God spoken to a repentant, God-fear-          spareth his own son that serveth him.
endeavour to draw over them some           ing, re-committed remnant (vs. 17).
veil that their disgrace may not ap-       The Lord had blessed the labor of             Romans 11:5,6
pear before men."                          Malachi and made it profitable to                  Even so then at this present time also
    3. When reproved by the                some, even though we are not told             there is a remnant according to the elec-
prophet, they were defiant (vs. 13).       their number.                                 tion  of  grace.
Their hardness had reached a point                 The promise spoken to the rem-             And  ifby grace, then is it no more of
where they could not be checked. To        nant is rich (vs. 17). God owns them          works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
the charge that they have spoken           as His own,(see Is. 43:1-7).  The word        But ifit be of works, then is it no more
against God they respond that they         "jewel" is literally "my possession, or       grace: otherwise work is no more work.
are falsely accused. They are con-         treasure" (see. Exodus  19:5). He
scious of no wrong.                        promises to spare them from the judg-                    Questions for Study:
    Yet, we must not conclude that         ments which must fall on the impeni-               1. We begin by looking at the
the words of Malachi produced no           tent, and to do this in the compassion        hardened state of many in Judah as it
fruit to God's glory. A remnant, a         and fervor that a father would show           forms thebackground (blackground?)
faithful element, were brought under       to his son. He speaks of a future day         to the wonderful fruit of the repen-

                                                                                                    May 1,1992 / Standard Bearer I 357


tance  of the remnant. We will want to       people of that day come to this con-                               b) Pervading sense
understand the carnal mentality be-          clusion?                                    of God's power.
hind their back talk to God, how it                              b) Compare the fol-                            c) Heartfelt recog-
develops, and how it is a temptation         lowing verses and state briefly what        nition of one's obligations to God.
to us as well.                               they teach on this: Ecclesiastes 9:1,2;                        2) Is the fear of God the
         a. Compare the responses            8:11-13; Romans 2:6-16.                     most basic and  distinguishing  mark of
to the prophet's indictments which                               c) Does God post-       a Christian?
are recordedin this prophecy, jotting        pone judgment? (See HeidelbergCat-                             3) How is the fear of
down a note on each. (1:6,12,13;  2:14,      echism, L.D. 4, Q&A 10. Also verse          God nurtured in ourselves? In our
17; 3:7,8,13-15)                             .w                                          children?
              1) What  are the com-                      c. The claim was made that                   C.    "Theyspoke often to one
mon ingredients? What is the atti-           they had "kept God's ordinance, and         another."
tude that comes across?                      we have walked mournfully before                               1) Look up the follow-
             2) Is there a progression       God."                                       ingpassagesandshowhowtheyteach
in these responses that we can dis-                          1) Was this true? Why       that repentance before God and rec-
cern?                                        or why not?                                 onciliation with one another are in-
              3) How is this response                        2) Look up Isaiah 5&l-      separable: Matthew  18:21-35;  II
to God's reproofs evident today? (In         7 and also Micah 6:6-8.                     Corinthians  7~9-11  (especiallyvs. 11);
our life today?)                                                 a) What are the         I John 4:20,21.
             `4) Now, look up Prov-          symptoms of a pretended humility                               2) Why is this so?
erbs 6:20-23 and II Timothy 3:16, 17         and service of God?                                      d. What is the significance
and discuss this statement: If we                                b) What are the ele-    of the "book of remembrance" which
cannot submit to the reproofs of Scrip-      ments of true lowliness before God?         was written?
ture and see how we must be warned,                2. Verses 16 and 17 are certainly         3. God's comforting promise to
the Scriptures are of no profit to us.       very rich and precious, as they reveal      a truly humbled and repentant people
         b. The  two  criticisms of          theresponse of the God-fearing to the       (vs. 17).
God's justice (vs. 14, 15):                  message of God's prophet and the                         a. What is the significance
              1) "It is vain to serve        tenderness of their hearts to be pricked    of God's making us His possession
God."                                        and thus to repent and return.              (jewel)? Exodus 19:5; Psalm 135:4
                     a) Examine the fol-                 a. First, what accounts for                  b. What is meant by the
lowing passages and compare them             thissincererepentance?  (SeeRomans          promise that God will "spare them"?
to this: Psalm 73:13;  Matthew 19:27.        11:3-6;  I Kings 19:10-l&)                               c. What is the day in which
                     b) What is the rea-                 b. What is the "fear of         God shall make up His possession
soning which lies behind this; that is,      God"? To answer, consult your'Bible         (Eph. 1:lO; John 10:16)?
what is the root of the thinking which       Concordance and select three or four                     d.  ReadIsaiah43:1-6.  What
leads one to say that it is vain to serve    passages which express the heart of         comfort do you derive from the prom-
God? In what ways can we guard               fearing God.                                ise, "I will be with thee, thou art
against this sin?                                            1) Explain how these        mine"? How ought this to be held
                     "Andnowwecafithe        three elements are necessary for the        before our minds in our daily life?
proud happz.." (vs. 15).                     fear of God:                                    4. Can you write from memory
                     a) Whatismeantby                            a) Right concep-        Malachi 3:16,17  and Romans 11.:5,6?
this? (See Psalm 73:3.) How could the        tions of God.                                                                         cl

News From Our Churches
Mr. Benjamin Wigger

                                             Denominational Highlights                   Monday, March23, through Wednes-
                                                    I thank Rev. R. Cammenga, pas-       day, March 25, at Covenant Heights
                                             tor of the Loveland, CO PRC, for            Conference Center, nestled in the
                                             providing us with the following re-         mountains above Estes Park, Colo-
                                             port on the Second Annual Young             rado. The retreat was sponsored by
                                             Adults' Retreat.
Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant                                                 the young adults of our Loveland,
                                                    "The second annual Young
Xefmned Churc1z of Hudsonville,  Michi-                                                  Colorado congregation. Some thirty
                                             Adults' Spring Retreat was held from
gan.                                                                                     young people, seniors in high school

358 /Standard Bearer / May I,1992


                                          tionships.' A warning was sounded           treat, they have been gratified by the
                                          against making friends with the chil-       response. Plans are, the Lord willing,
                                          dren of this world, and the many            to continue to hold these retreats ev-
                                          serious consequences that come to           ery Spring. We invite more of our
                                          those who refuse to heed this warn-         older young people to join us. We are
                                          ing were pointed out. A call was            sure that you will have as good a time
                                          issued to all to make, to cultivate, and    as those who have attended these first
                                          to maintain friendships with fellow         couple of years, and that if you come
                                          believers, beginning with the fellow        once, you will want to come again.
                                          young people of our own churches                   "I need to say something about
                                          and sister churches. On Tuesday             this last opinion. In Tricia's case, it is
                                          evening Rev. Russ Dykstra, the fea-         `lermon.' This is not a misspelling, or
                                          tured speaker at this year's retreat,       at least not an inadvertent misspell-
                                          spoke on'living  the Antithesis in our      ing. This has to do with a profound
                                          Entertainment.' Here, too, a serious        discussion that several at the retreat
                                          warningwasissuedagainstevilforms            had over the time limits to a sermon,
                                          of entertainment. The spiritual snares      a lecture, a speech, a sermonette,  and
                                          involved in much popular entertain-         amessage. The speeches at the retreat
                                          ment were pointed out. And practi-          were about 45-minutes, somewhere
                                          cal guidelines were laid down for           between a sermon and a lecture, thus
           Rev. Russell                   determining the sorts of entertain-         a `lermon.' "
                            Dykstra       ment that the Christian may enjoy.
and older, from California, Colorado,     Many members of the Loveland con-           Congregational Highlights
Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota,      gregation drove up to the retreat for              The Doon, IA PRC's Choral So-
South Dakota, Washington, Wiscon-         the speeches at night, and stayed for       ciety presented their annual Spring
sin, and even Canada gathered for a       fellowship and activities afterwards.       Concert on Sunday evening, March
time of fellowship and fun.                    "Several of those who attended         29.
        "The weather cooperated admi-     were polled on their opinion of the                Atacongregationalmeetingheld
rably. Although there was still snow      retreat. Here is a sampling of the          in late March, the membership of the
in the mountains, the days were sun-      responses.                                  Kalamazoo, MI PRC adopted a pro-
shiny and pleasant. There was op-           Good time. Good fellowship. Really        posal from their study committee to
portunity for hiking, tubing down the       enjoyed the speeches.                     sell their church parsonage. No word
mountain slopes surrounding Bear                                -Ted, Illinois.       on what their plans are to replace it.
Lake, volleyball and basketball in the      Well worth the trip. Excellent op-               The congregation of the South-
Ret Building, and games and fellow-         portunity to get toknow other young       east PRC in Grand Rapids, MI passed
ship into the wee hours of the morn-        people of the denomination.
                                                            - David, Lacombe.         two proposals also concerning their
ing.                                        Great! Excellent volleyball matches.      parsonage. First, a new study will be
        "The theme of the retreat was       The lermons were very good.               built behind the parsonage and sec-
`Living the Antithesis.' On Monday                          - Tricia,  Michigan.      ond, the basement will also be fin-
evening Rev. Ron Cammenga,                                                            ished.
Loveland's pastor, spoke on `Living             "The two years that the young                While we are at Southeast, we
the Antithesis in our Personal Rela-      adults of Loveland have held the re-        could also add here that at the time of
                                                                                      this writing, plans call for Rev. Kuiper
                                                                                      and his family to leave the Immanuel
                                                                                      PR congregation in Lacombe, AB,
                                                                                      Canada on April 7. Installation is
                                                                                      scheduled for Sunday morning, April
                                                                                      12, with Rev. Kuiper preaching his
                                                                                      inaugural sermon the same evening.
                                                                                             And now, before your mind
                                                                                      leaves Immanuel PRC, let me men-
                                                                                      tion that, because spring seems to
                                                                                      come just a little later in the northern
                                                                                      climate  of Alberta, Canada, Immanuel
                                                                                      moved their Prayer Day Service from
                                                                                      the traditional second weekin March
                                                                                      to a later Wednesday in the month.

                                                                                                May 1 ,1992 / Standard Beam / 359


                                                                                                                   SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                   Postage Paid al
                                                                                                                   Grandville, Michigan
      P. 0. Box 603
     Grandville, MI 49468-0603


         The Young Singles. of the                                                               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   Grandville, MI PRC met on a Sunday                      CALLTO  S Y N O D                        The Sr. Adult Bible Class of Byron
   evening at the parsonage to discuss                  Synod 1991 appointed South             Center Protestant Reformed Church
  with their pastor, Rev. J; Kortering,            Holiand Protestant Reformed Church          expresses its heartfelt sympathy to
   "Lessons From Singapore."            :          of South Holland, Illinois, the calling     one of its members, Mrs. Sally Koll, in
                                                   church for Synod 1992 of the'protes-        the loss of her sister, .
   Ministerial Calls                               tant'Reformed  Churches in America.           MRS. LINDA VAN  OVERLOOP
        Rev. KenHanko,  presentlyserv-                  South  Hol,land's  Consistory          who was taken to glory on March 2,
   ing in Norristown, PA, declined the             hereby notifies our churches, sister-       1992..
   call to become pastor of the Hope               .churches,  and all interested Reformed          May we and herfamilyfind peace
   PRC in Isabel, SD.                              churches and believers that the 1992        in His promise: "And God shall wipe
         Rev. J. Kortering, serving the            Synod will convene, the Lord willing,       away all tears from their eyes: and
   Grandville, MI PRC, has declined the            on Tuesday, June 9,1992,  at 9:OOAM         there shall be no more death neither
   call extended from the Hudsonville,             in the South Holland Protestant Re-         sorrow nor crying, neither shall there
   MI PRC to serve as missionary pastor            formed Church, 16511 South Park             be any more pain: for the former.
   to the Covenant Reformed Fellow-                Ave., South Holland, IL 60473 (Phone:       things are passed away" (Rev. 2'1:4).
   ship of Larne, Northern Ireland. At             708-596-3113).                                          Rev. B. Gritters, President
   the same time he did accept the call                 The Pre-Synodical worship ser-             Mrs. Marcia Holstege, Secretary
   extended by the Hope PRC of Walker,             vice will be held in the South Holland
   MI to serve as minister-on-loan to the          Church on Monday evening, June 8,             RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   Evangelical Reformed Church of                  at  7:30 PM. Rev. Jason Kortering,               The consistory and congrega-
   Singapore. 0                                    president of the 1991 Synod, will           tion of the Loveland Protestant Re-
                                                   preach the sermon. Synodical del-           formed Church express heartfelt sym-
   Parting Quote:                                  egates are requested to meet with the       pathy to Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Schwarz in
         "Toforsake  Christ for the world, is      Consistory before the service.              the death of her sister,
   to leave atreasure for a trifle, eternityfor          Delegates in need of lodging                    MRS. EDNA HUBER.
   a moment, reality for a shadow, "               should contact the clerk of the             May the bereaved be comforted by
                         -- William Jenkyn         Consistory, Mr. GeorgeVroom, 16525          the Word of God that ",,. all things
                                                   Louis Ave., South Holland, IL 60473         work together for good to them that
                                                   (Phone: 708-596-l 771).                     love God, to them who are called
                                                        Consistory of the South Holland        according to his purpose" (Romans
     RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                          PRC,      8:28).
        The Council of the South Hol-                                 George Vroom, Clerk          Rev. Ron Cammenga, President
   land congregation express their deep-                                                                       Mr. Bob Brands, Clerk
   est sympathy to their fellow                      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   officebearer, Mr. George Vroom, and                  The Mary-Martha Society of the           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
   his family in the loss of Mr. Vroom's           Redlands Protestant Reformed                     The Ladies' Society of the
   mother,                                         Churchwould liketoexpress her Chris-        Hudsonville Protestant Reformed
           MRS. ROSE VROOM.                        tian sympathy to our fellow member,         Church would like to express our sin-
   May their hearts be comforted by the            Mrs. Betty  Ekema, and her hus-             cere and heartfelt sympathy to our
   promises of God's Word, "And God                band, John Ekema,  in the death of          member, Mrs. June VanOverloop, in
   shall .wipe away all tears from their           their daughter,                             the sudden passing to glory of her
   eyes; and there shall be no more                      LINDA VANOVERLOOP.                    daughter-in-law,
- death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nei-          May they find comfort in God's Word         MRS. LINDA VANOVERLOOP.
   ther shall there be any more pain?for           as found in `Psalm I 16:15 : "Precious      May the words of our beloved Savior
   the former things are passed away"              in the sight of the Lord is the death of    when He said, "I will never leave thee
   (Rev. 21:4)                                     his saints."                                nor forsake thee," comfort and
       Rev. Charles Terpstra, President                     Pastor dentiartog,  President      strengthen her in this time of loss.
     Louis  R. Regnerus, Vice-President                            Laurie Jabaay, Secretary              Rev. G. VanBaren, President
                                                                                                  Mrs. Gertrude Lubbers, Secretary
   360 /Standard Bearer I May 1,1992


