A Reformed         BIER
Semi-Month/y
Magazine

                            27iou.fits on Tsafm 133
                    Descending from the hfzavens
                         lo the earth -
                    Sweet dew -
                         ~epLznis&g,
                            Refieshin..,
                    As it fall-2 upon the s&t mountainside.
                         See how there -is new Girth -
                    How fife springs up
                    Where it hasgathered  day 6y day.
                    ~~rorn  its a6undance
                         yornl the fitth livu~ts
                             lliat see(,tfie  distant sea.
                    Meandering through hi&3 andvatbys.
                    %zse 6right  streams
                         2Qstore
                             2&evive
                    AC6 those along t/i& winding way.

                    gave you not seen
                         tiow fice the dew it is,
                    When Grothers  dwellin unity?
                                                Suzanne Loojenga,  1992


                          PRC SYNOD 1992

Vol. 68, No. 18
]uly 1,1992


CONTENTS:                                                                                                                                                                        July 1, 1992

Meditation - Rev. Charles J. Terpstra
           Conduct Becoming the Gospel of Christ . . . . . . . . ..*...*....................... 411
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma                                                                                                                                                                                    ISSN 0362-4692
           Synod of South Holland 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413                                                             Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...*.    415     Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
Contribution - Prof. Robert D. Decker                                                                                                                                                                                  4949  Ivanrest  Ave., Grandville, MI 49416. Second Class
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
           Seminary qxpansion . . . . . . . ..*..............*...... . . ..*...*..*.......*..*................ 419
Pictures of Synod 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420                                                            Postmaster:  Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       P.O.  Box  603. Grandville, MI 49466.0603.
All Around Us - Prof. Robert D. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422                                                                           EDITORIAL  COMMIITEE
When Thou Sittest in Thine House - Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers                                                                                                                                                              Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
           Spiritual Olympics or Olympia's ABC's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423                                                                                   Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Managing Editor: Mr. Don  Dcezema
Taking Heed to the D'octrine - Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
           The Fragmenting of the Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...* 424                                                                            DEPARTMENT EDITORS
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Arie
Day of Shadows - Rev. John A. Heys                                                                                                                                                                                     denHart&g. Rev. Russell Dykstra. Rev.  Carl  Haak, Mr. Fred
            Blessed by Divine Decree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*...*... 426                                                            Hanko. Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John Heys,  Rev. Marvin
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Kamps, Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Kenneth  Koole, Rev. Jason
Report of Classis East - Mr. Jon J, H&ken ..,..,.,...~.........,,..,,,.,,.....~....~ 429                                                                                                                               Kortering, Rev. Dale Kuip%r, Mr. James Larding. Rev. George
News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wgger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 429                                                                                                        Lubbers. Mrs. MarySeth  Lubbers, Rev. James Slopsems, Rev.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Charles Terpstra, Rev. Ronald  VanCIverloop,  Mr. Benjamin
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Wigger, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.

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               In his pre-synodical sermon in South Holland on June 8, Rev. Terpstra                                                                                                                                   S U B S C R I P T I O N   POUCY
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410 /Standard Bearer / July 1,1!3!32


                                                Conduct Becoming
                                                the Gospel of
Meditation
Rev. Charles Terpstra                           Christ  n
Only let your conversation be as it             says to us as believers and as churches       church of Jesus Christ.
becometh the gospel of Christ: . . . that ye    today. Each of us as individual be-                In the Old Testament the people
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind         lievers must have a walk of life that         of God lived in the spiritual realm of
striving togetherfor thefaith  of the gos-      befits the gospel we have heard and           God in the earthly land of Canaan
pel.                                            by which we have believed on the              withits centerin the city of Jerusalem.
                          Philippians 1:27      Lord Jesus Christ and been saved.             That was the church of Christ, beau-
                                                And we as a denomination of churches          tifully described, for example, in
         The apostle Paul had a great           collectively must have a walk worthy          Psalm 48. In the New Testament all
concern and desire for the believers in         of the gospel of Christ. And for us too,      believers belong to the spiritual and
the church at Philippi. That was that           whether as individuals or as churches,        heavenly city of God called the new
their conversation, their manner of             that conduct is that we stand fast in         Jerusalem  (Ga1.426;   Heb.12:22).  Of
conduct, their walk of life, be worthy          one spirit, with one mind striving            this city God is the Founder; over this
of the gospel of Christ. He did not             together for the faith of the gospel.         spiritual community God is King,
want them in any way and to any                       This charge of the Word of God          ruling in men's hearts through His
degree to have a conduct that was               is no option for us; it is mandatory. It      Son Jesus Christ and by His Spirit. In
unbecoming the gospel of Christ, a              requires our faithful commitment and          this city law and order is maintained
walk of life that did not harmonize             our diligent obedience. And itis espe-        by submission and obedience to His
with the Person and the truth they              ciallypressinggiven theecclesiastical         infallible Word, which every cmzen
had received and believed, a behav-             climate in which we find ourselves.           is bound to do, and has been sav'ed to
ior that would bring shame to Christ's          This Word of Godis more urgent now            do. This  cityis the truepoliticalrealm
name.                                           than when it was first given.                 to which we belong as saved sinners.
         "No," he says, "whether I get                   * *  *  +  *  !t  *                       It is for this reason that the text
out of prison and come to you, or                    The Spirit used a distinctive            connects our conversation with the
whether I cannot be with you because            word for conversation in this verse, a        gospel of Christ. Not only is it the case
of my bonds and can only hear of your           word which has important implica-
affairs, this one thing I want you to           tions for an understanding of the text
have and call you to have, a conversa-          and the calling contained in it. It is not
tion that becomes the gospel of                 the usual word for manner of living in
Christ." And he defines what that               the New Testament but a word that is
worthy walk is, one in which they are           found only here and in Acts 23:l.
standing fast in one spirit, with one           Literally it means "to behave as a
mind striving together for the faith of         citizen" or ti to live as one who belongs
the gospel.                                     to a city." It is a- derivative of the
         What the Spirit said to the saints     Greek word for city, polis.
in that church at that time is what He               It ought to be understood that
                                                the idea of this word must be taken
                                                spiritually here. The Spirit is not in-
                                                structing the saints to live as good
                                                citizens of the city of Philippi or of the
                                                empire of Rome, though of course as
                                                Christians they must also do that.
Rev. Terpstra is pastor  of  the Protestant     Rather is the Spirit instructing the
Reformed Church  of  South Holland, Illi-       saints with regard to their life in the
nois.                                           spiritual city of God, which is the                    Rev. Charles Terpstra

                                                                                                      July  1,1992 I Standard Bearer  / 411


that in the gospel of Christ the truth          concerns and policies. We do not have      steadfastness in the truth of the gospel.
concerning this spiritual city of God           on our agenda a discussion of pov-         Our text says, "That ye stand fast in
in all of its aspects is set forth;but it is    erty in America and Canada, or social      one spirit...." If we are going to be-
also the case that through the gospel of        injustice and racial problems in the       have worthy of the gospel of Christ as
Christ we are brought into the city of          citie.s of our land. We will not treat     believers and as churches, we have to
God. The gospel is the power that               ozone layer destruction and global         be steadfast and unmovable as far as
delivers us sinners from the city of            warming, or the need for recycling.        the faith of the gospel is concerned.
darkness and our evil citizenship in it         Again, there are churches across this      With-respect to the doctrines of the
and translates us into the holy realm           countrywhowillbedealingwiththese           Christian faith, with respect to the
and godly citizenship of God's city.            things in their assemblies and Syn-        distinctives of the Reformed truth,
      And thus it is that our text ex-          ods; but this is conduct unbecoming        we must be stationary; we must have
horts us to have a life in the city of God      the gospel of Christ; this is not what     ourfeetplantedinthecementofGod's
which becomes the gospel of Christ:             the city of God is about.                  Word and truth so that we never
"Only let...." We are to have a con-             Rather is our business as                 move from the faith once delivered to
duct that is worthy of what the gospel          churches and as a Synod the gospel of      the saints.
of Christ has taught us and has made            Christ, or the faith of the gospel. Our
us. We are to have a citizen life which         concerns lie with the spiritual things                    . ..we must know
is in harmony with what is revealed in          of the city of God, not the carnal                        what we believe
the scriptures. Just as the citizens of         things of the cities of man; our poli-            and tenaciously hold on
anearthlycityare touphold therepu-              cies involve the kingdom of heaven,                         to the truth.
tation of their city by living in har-          not the kingdoms of this earth. Let-
mony with its laws, so must we who              ting our conduct be as it becomes the           Standing fast in the truthis not a
belong to the city of God have a life           gospel of Christ means that as             popular. concept in today's church
that upholds the honor of our God               churches we make the good news of          world. At the present time it is fash-
and the reputation of His church by             salvation from sin and death in the        ionable to be drifting with the latest
keeping His Word and truth.                     death and resurrection of Jesus Christ     doctrinal winds, to be constantly
         *  Y  *  *  $  *  *                    our chief and centralconcern. It means     changing with the times, to be toler-
      Applying this specifically to our         that as a Synod we busy ourselves in       ant of all kinds of views. Or, to use the
life as churches and to the labors of           the preaching of the gospel of Christ      figure of the city, it is popular to be
our Synod, this admonition speaks               in our churches and in, our mission        knocking down the walls of the truth
first of all to the affairs which we treat,     fields, that we are busy in ensuring       and throwing open the gates to all
to the business which occupies us.              the pure administration of the sacra-      manner of false teaching and prac-
Anditteachesuswhatwemustnotbe                   ments and of discipline and of the         tice. Truth is said to be relative, not
dealing with as churches. That we               other ordinances of the gospel in the      absolute; the scriptures are said to be
belong to the city of God means that            churches. It means that we are con-        culturally conditioned, not  change-
our business as churches and as a               cerned with Reformed, Christian.or-        lesslyrelevant.Steadfastnessiscalled
Synodisnottakenupwiththepolitics                thodoxy, with the defense and the          intolerant stubbornness and theologi-
of our national governments, with               maintenance and the promotion of           cal bigotry. Compromise is the order
the policies of the earthly states in           the faith of the gospel, i.e., of the      of the day. But this too is conduct
which we live. Our Synod does not               historic, biblical truths of sound doc-    unbecoming the gospel of Christ.
meet to discuss the strengths and               trine and godly Christian living.               To be obedient to our calling we
weaknesses of our political systems                  This is our business. As long as      must be steadfast and unmovable in
or to talk about the latest actions of          we stick to these things of the city of    the true gospel of the infallible scrip-
our national legislatures. We do not            God we shall conduct ourselves wor-        tures. We must not be unfixed and
meet to align ourselves with a politi-          thy of the gospel; but if we depart        unstable as regards what we believe
cal party and candidate for the up-             from  `these things and become en-         and what we practice on the essen-
coming national election in this coun-          grossed in anything else, then we will     tials of the faith. We may never com-
try. We will not discuss the party              bring the city of God into disrepute       promise with error on any Christian
platforms of the Democrats and Re-              and shame the Head of the church.          doctrine or practice. Never may we
publicans.                                              *  * *  *  *  * *                  tear down the bulwarks and ram-
      There are churches that will do                The calling to have conduct that      parts of Reformed truth that surround
this in their national meetings; but            becomes the' gospel of `Christ also        the city of God or open the gates of the
this is not conduct becoming the gos-           pertains to the manner in which we do      church to invite in false teachers and
pel of Christ.                                  the work of the church as the city of      error. We must stand fast in the gos-
      Nor will our business as citizens         God. Philippians 1:27 sets forth three     pel of Christ; we must know what we
of the city of God be taken up with             things with regard to this.                believe and tenaciously hold on to the
social, economic, and environmental                  First, our conduct must be with       truth. That alone is conduct becom-

412 /Standard Bearer  I July 1,1992


ing the gospel of Christ.                   evils we must compete and contest in           rather make sure that our labors as
    ***+***                                 the sense of fighting and wrestling.           churches and as a Synod are in true
     Secondly, in carrying out the          We must put forth all effort to guard          Christian unity, that we are standing
business of the gospel of Christ as         the city both from within and from             fast in one spirit, with one mind striv-
citizens of the city of God, we must        without. We must man the walls of              ing together for the faith.
have  diligent effort and labor for the     the truth and watch! We must main-                  This unity is the unity of faith of
faith of the gospel. The word "striv-       tain the walls and repel the foe!              course. It is that oneness of believing
ing" points us to this truth. Literally          Further, this diligent effort and         and holding to the same truth of the
it means "to engage in a contest, to        labor also applies to our promotion of         gospel as far as the essentials of Re-
contend in public games"; thus it has       the faith of the gospel. It is not enough      formed Christian doctrine and prac-
come to mean, in a general sense, fl to     that we defend andmaintain the faith           tice are concerned. But it is also the
labor, to work hard for, tostrive  for."    of the gospel; we must also positively         one spirit and mind of Christian love,
     This is what must characterize         striveforit,  i.e., put forth all diligence    love for God, love for His church and
our workas churches and as a Synod.         to promote the Christian religion and          people, love for His Word and the
Just as an athlete expends himself and      the Reformed faith both at home and            cause of the gospel. It is the one spirit
puts forth all effort in competing in a     abroad. God is giving us many op-              and mind of Christian humility, that
game, so must we expend all of our          portunities to do this. And we must            lowliness of our Lord set forth in
energy and put forth all effort for the     stretch ourselves forward with re-             chapter 2 of Philippians (vss.3,4). It is
faith of the gospel. There must be no       newed effort to see the gospel of Christ       that unity of purpose, that we seek
slothfulness, no lackadaisical indif-       go to the nations, including our own           together the glory of God and the
ference, no careless labor in doing the     nations. We must use all our resources         good of His church. Having this unity,
business of God's city. We must be          to see the faith brought to others who         we will have conduct becoming the
striving as we do the Lord's work. We       do not have it at all or who do not            gospel of Christ. Any other behavior
are, after all, dealing with the gospel     have the faith in its fullness. This too       will bring the city of God into shame
of Christ!                                  is conduct worthy of the gospel.               and dishonor.
     This applies to our defense of                  *  *  *  *  *  + *                             * *  *  *  *  *  *
the faith of the gospel. Striving sug-           Thirdly, our labors as citizens of             And how shall we be able to
gests opposition; the word has the          the city of God must be marked by              fulfill this calling to walk worthy of
idea of contesting, andindeed there is      unity.  The text also emphasizes this:         the gospel of Christ? Certainly not by
such; only it is not the contesting of a    "in one spirit, N "with one mind,"             our own determination and our own
game but that of a battle; We face          "striving together." This is a neces-          strength, for the help of man is vain.
opposition from those who are en-           sary reminder for us, and it is abso-          Our sufficiency is not in ourselves.
emies of the faith of the gospel. The       lutely essential to the conduct that           We will do so only by the grace and
city of God is surrounded by foes:          becomes the gospel of Christ. The sins         Spirit of God, by the power of the very
Pelagianism and  Arminianism,  Ro-          of disunity and division are constant          gospel according to which we are to
man Catholicism and modernism,              dangers for us. How easy itis for us to        walk. Our sufficiency is of God alone.
feminism and evolutionism,                  stand fast but not in one spirit, to           May we always look to Him and put
Pentecostalism and mysticism, world-        strive for the faith but not together          our trust in Him for all of our labors
liness and materialism, humanism and        and not with one mind! We must hate            as churches and as a Synod. 0
hedonism. Against these errors and          and resist these sins of disunity and



                                            Synod of South
Editorial                                   Hdland  1992
                                            president of the previous synod, the                The officers of synod were Rev.
     The annual synod of the.Protes-        pastor of the host church, Rev. Charles        Gise VanBaren,  president; Rev. Ron
tant Reformed Churches (PRC) met            Terpstra, preached at the pre-synodi-          Cammenga, vice-president; Rev.
in South Holland, Illinois from June 9      cal worship service on the evening of          Barrett Gritters, first clerk; and Rev.
through June 16. In the absence of the      June 8. His text was Philippians 1:27.         Ron VanOverloop,  second clerk.

                                                                                                   July 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 413


 Missions                                    We write to thank you most sin-           Washington that the PRC cooperate
      The ForeignMission  Committee         cerely for the work you are doing          withtheminsponsoringtheReformed
(FMC) reported on an investigatory          here. Over the  past year we have          Witness Hour over station RUDY in
trip that two of its members made to        enjoyed regular pulpit supply and          the area of Spokane, Washington.
Ghana, Africa. Synod decided that           this is something we very much ap-                 A significant proposal of the MC
thepresentworkoftheFMCinGhana               preciate. The preaching of those
                                            ministers who have been here has           to create a position of  N Coordinator of
consists of sending materials and de-       been excellent and has been gra-           Contacts and Information" was post-
veloping contacts. It also approved a       ciously used by God for the spiritual      poned until 1993 in order that the
weekly radio broadcast that the FMC         upbuilding of ourselves and those          churches may study the proposal. The
has begun over Radio Africa. The            who regularly visit with us.... Our        man would help the MC both by ana-
committee reported a gift of money          urgent request to you at this present      lyzing the contacts made by the de-
from the grade school children of           time is for your prayers. In particu-      nomination andby developing a more
Adams St. Christian School in Grand         lar we urge you to pray fervently          effective use of radio in missions.
Rapids for the distribution of Bibles       with us that it might please our sov-              Synod made $2,500 available to
and religious literature in Ghana.          ereign God to incline the heart of His
                                            servant, who presently has the call to     evangelism committees of the con-
      It was decided to continue in         Northern Ireland, to accept it.            gregations in matching funds for the
Jamaica by means of two conferences                                                    translation of PR materials into Span-
a year until a missionary and a co-       At the time of this writing, Rev. Barrett    ish.
worker are obtained by First Church       Gritters is considering Hudsonville's
of Grand Rapids, the calling church       call to be missionary to Northern Ire-       Seminary
for Jamaica.                              land.                                                The Theological School Commit-
      On the recommendation of the                 The MC informed synod that it       tee (TSC) reported that there were six
Mission Committee (MC), synod             hasrecentlymetwithagroupinBoise,             full-time seminarians in the school
closed the Florida field as of August,    Idaho concerning the group's possi-          this past year. Four are studying for
1992, because of the dissolving of the    bly becoming a mission of the PRC.           the ministry in the PRC and two,' for
"core group" and lack of growth.          The South Holland PRC has been               the ministry in the Evangelical Pres-
      Synod heard a promising report      working with the group. The report           byterian Church of Australia. Synod
onthefieldinNorthernIreland.  There       of the MC indicated the likelihood of        approved the admission of another
is a sizable "core group," including      the group's asking to be a PR mission        young man in the fall who will train
young families with children. There       in the near future.                          for the  PR ministry.
are regularly visitors at the services             In addition to approving sup-               A schematic drawing of a pro-
and lectures. The group is aggressive     port of airing the Reformed Witness          posed addition to the seminarybuild-
in its witness in the region. The mem-    Hour on five radio stations as an            ing was approved. The estimated
bers of the mission, the Covenant         aspect of our mission labor, synod           cost is $440,000. Synod authorized
Reformed Fellowship, addressed a          granted the interesting request of the       the TSC to proceed with the construc-
letter to synod, which read in part:      Sovereign Grace Church in Veradale,          tion drawings when one-half the esti-
                                                                                       mated cost has been collected and to
                                                                                       award construction contracts when
                                                                                       75% of the cost has been collected.
                                                                                       Rector Robert D. Decker brings this
                                                                                       project to the attention of our readers
                                                                                       elsewhere in this issue.

                                                                                       Contact
                                                                                               Significant decisions for the PRC
                                                                                       were taken in connection with the
                                                                                       report of the Committee for Contact
                                                                                       with Other Churches (CC). Synod
                                                                                       approved the sending of an observer
                                                                                       to the next meeting of  NAPARC
                                                                                       (North American Presbyterian and
                                                                                       Reformed Council). It authorized the
                                                                                       CC to use its judgment in accepting a
                                                                                       possible invitation to attend a future
                                                                                       meeting of the Alliance of Reformed
                                                                                       Churches (ARC), although any par-
      Officers of Synod: Revs. VanOverloop,  Gritters, VanBaren, Cammenga              ticipation would be that of an ob-

414 /Standard Bearer I July 1,1992


server. The same holds for a possible
invitation to attend a "confessional
conference" in 1993.
      Synod expressed its deep appre-
ciation and heartfelt support to Rev.
andMrs. Jay Korteringregardingtheir
workin Singapore with the Evangeli-
cal Reformed Churches of Singapore
(ERCS). Rev. Kortering has accepted
the call of the Hope Church of Walker,                                       Committee work:
Michigan to be minister-on-loan to                   Elders Bruinsma and Doezema, Rev. Bekkering and Prof. Engelsma
the ERCS. The Korterings plan to
leave for Singapore about the time           peals, overtures, and protests. There      This and That
that this issue of the Standard Bearer       were several of these at this synod.            Synod mandated a study of the
appears.                                     Synod rejected the appeal of the           possibility of a healthinsurance policy
      Rev. Jaikishin Mahtani, formerly       Norristown, Pennsylvania church            for all the ministers of the denomina-
pastor of the Covenant ERCS, was             against a decision of Classis East that    tion that would be funded by synod.
declared eligible for a call in the PRC      required Norristown to use  The            The committee is to report to the
as a minister of a sister church.            Psalter in their worship. Synod's          synod of 1993. Synod asked for the
      The ERCS sent a letter to synod        decision, upholding  Classis East,         careful study of this concept, as well
that stated in part:                         stated that "the songbook  of a de-        as recommendations on it, by all the
                                             nomination, in this case, The Psalter,     churches.
  We are indeed thankful to God for          is an important element of the unity of         Synod requested  Classis West
 ..your continued love and concern           the denomination and, as such, may         to investigate the advisability of the
 ,_ shown towards the spiritual welfare      be revised only by synod."                 continued existence of the Isabel,
' __ of our churches.... We are delighted         Synod declared the protest of a       South Dakota church and to bring
  to know that Rev. Jason Kortering          member against the decisions of the        advice on this matter to the synod of
  will return to the ERCS as minister-       synod of 1990 regarding a cross in or      1993. During the next year, no sub-
  on-loan for another three years to         on a church building to be not legally
  assist us in our missionary labour                                                    sidy is provided Isabel for the sup-
  and in establishing a theological          before synod.                              port of a pastor.
  school. We are also encouraged by               The appeals of the Grandville,             In response to an overture from
  the love gifts sent by our churches to     Michigan church and of the South-          the Loveland, Colorado consistory,
  support the building project of First      west PRC of Grandville, Michigan           synod increased the delegation to
  ERC. We pray that the Lord will            against decisions of Classis East were     synod from the classes of both minis-
  continue to bless us in' our sister-       rejected. These decisions concerned        ters and elders to five. This will make
  church relationship....                    the transfer of members from South-        for a total delegation of twenty in-
                                             west to other PRchurches.  In uphold-      stead of the present sixteen.
      Synod granted the request of           ingthe decisionsof ClassisEast,  synod          The synodical  budget for 1993
Wellington PRC of New Zealand for            advised Southwest to transfer the          will be $570 for each family-an in-
financial help for five more years for       members as they requested, consid-         crease of $100. The total approved
the support of their pastor, Rev.            ering them as "weaker brethren" ac-        budget is $885,086.
Rodney Miersma. Wellington also              cording to Romans 14 and I                      Synod will meet next year in
greeted and thanked the synod by             Corinthians 8.                             Hudsonville, Michigan.
letter.                                           Another appeal of a member                 God bless the synod of South
                                             against a decision of a classis in a       Holland 1992 for the good of the
Judgment                                     matter involving the member's con-         churches and the advance of the Re-
      One vital responsibility of the        sistory was treated in closed session.     formed faith everywhere. 0
major assembly is to judge on ap-                                                                                         - DJE


Letters

w A Southern "Other" Asks                    jects. First, like Craig Miklosik of       See Us," the SB, March 15, 1992). I
about Organs                                 Coos Bay, OR, I too am one of the          could so easily relate to his letter and
                                             "other" (see "Letters," the  Standard      to the way he felt when he attended a
      I am writing to address two sub-       Bearer, May 1,1992;  and "As Others        PRC worship service and had fellow-

                                                                                                July 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 415


 ship with those of like precious faith.     churches due to practical consider-            pressly or by good. and necessary
 I, too, have ". ..come to adore many of     ations?                                        consequence, in his Word, is forbid-
 the PRC distinctives: exclusive use of              It would be very helpful to me        den" (p. 200);
 the King James Version; particular          (and probably a lot of people) to see a
 grace; the unbreakable bond of mar-         series of articles on the "regulative                This is serious misstatement of
 riage; and exclusive Psalmody...."         principle of worship" -from its bib-          the "regulative principle." Neither
       While Atlanta, GA is not what        lical proofs to its creedal formula-          Question 96 of the Heidelberg Cat-
 one would call a "spiritual waste-         tions to its present-day applications.       echism nor Questions 50 and 51 of the
 land," itisnot exactly the heartlandof                        Charles H. Greenewald     Westminster Shorter Catechism speak
 the Reformation, either! My family                                   Snellville, GA     of "whatsoever in connection with
 and I are blessed to be a part of an                                                    the public worship of the church,"
 Orthodox Presbyterian congregation                                                      that is, of every detail and circum-
 which attempts to be faithful, but         q   Response                                 stance connected with public wor-
 from time to time I do become frus-                                                     ship.
 trated with some of our "worship"             The Protestant Reformed                            The "regulative principle" gov-
 practices. Very often I reflect upon       Churches understand the "regulative          erns the elements and activities them-
 my visit last November to Grandville       principle" of worship to apply to the        selves that make up the church's
 for your conference on the Scriptures      elements themselves of public wor-           worship. It is of no concern to the
 and to South Holland PRC for wor-          ship  - preaching; administration of         "regulative principle" whether the
 ship services on the Lord's day.           the sacraments; congregational sing-         preacher wears a business suit or a
      I could only say, "Amen!"             ing of the Psalms; prayer; and offer-        Geneva gown when he preaches;
 "Right!" and"Yes!" to everythingMr.        ings. In keeping with the Dutch Re-          whether the people stand, sit, or kneel
Miklosiksaid in his letter. We should       formed tradition, these Churches do          during. prayer; whether communi-
pray for him and others like him who        not think that the "regulative prin-         cants take theLord's Supper standing
are stranded in a fl spiritual wasteland    ciple" applies, or canpossiblybe made        about the communion table, sittingin
as regards the Reformed faith." He is       to apply, to every detail and circum-        the front of the auditorium, or re-
not alone.                                  stance connected with public wor-            maining in the seats they occupied
      Second, I would like to ask you       ship.                                        during the sermon; whether the place
a question in response to your excel-                Application of the "regulative      of worship is a million-dollar edifice,
lent editorial entitled "Worshiping         principle" to instrumental accompa-          a barn, or the open field; or whether
God as He Wills" (SB, May 1,1992).  I       niment of congregational singing is,         the congregationis assistedin singing
ask this with humility and sincerity        in the judgment of the PRC, not sim-         by a precentor  (who avails himself of
because I really don't know the an-         ply an overly rigorous application of        a tuning-fork or a pitch-pipe) or by an
swer. This is something I am strug-         the principle but rather a misunder-         organ. In the area of the details and
gling with in my own church. It is a        standing of the principle itself. This is    circumstances of public worship, the
problem that a number of people who         evident in John L. Girardeau's Ins&u-        church has freedom to arrange the
love the "regulative principle" prob-       mental Music in the Public Worship           service of worship as she deems ben-
ably wrestle with also.                     of the Church (New Covenant Publi-           eficial (cf. the Belgic Confession, Art.
      In your editorial you state that      cation Society, 1983). The bookis  one       32).
the PRC "have acknowledged the              of the most vehement denunciations                   Indeed, I maintain that no church
`regulative principle' as their creedal     of musical accompaniment ever writ-          on earth can, or ever could, carry out
position.  N You also say that "the         ten. The southern Presbyterian               the "regulative principle" as
members of the PRC must not be              damned musical accompaniment as              Girardeau defined it. Girardeau him-
embarrassed by their traditionally          "heresy in the sphere of worship",(p.        self could not find a command of
Reformed form of worship. It is our         179). He charged that "a sin it is....       Christ in the New Testament for
glory. We must maintain it, if neces-       The people ought to be taught that in        "whatsoever is connected with pub-
sarybystruggle." Amento that! That          using it they rebel against the law of       lic worship."
should extend to all Reformed believ-       Christ, their King" (p. 207). But when               In using an organ or a piano to
ers as well.                                Girardeau came to state "the law of          aid the singing in public worship, the
      My questionis this: where in the      Christ" against which instrumental           PRC have neither forgotten the "regu-
Scriptures does one see justification       accompaniment transgresses, he ex-           lative principle" nor allowed "practi-
for the use of an organ or piano in the     pressed the "regulativeprinciple" this       cal considerations" to compromise
worship service? Should we not be as        way:                                         the principle. The use of musical
upset about the use of an organ or                                                       accompaniment and adherence to the
piano as we are about liturgical dance,       Whatsoever, in connection with the         "regulative principle" are perfectly
drama, trumpets or cymbals (Ps. 150)?        .public worship of the church, is not       compatible. In his commentary on
Have the PRC kept the organ in their          commanded by Christ, either  ex-           Lord's Day 35 of the Heidelberg Cat-

416 /Standard Bearer I July 1,1992


echism, Abraham Kuyper affirms the          H      More on the "Regulative Prin-            The manner of worship in the public
Reformed tradition's holding the            ciple"                                          services of the PRC is regulated by
"regulative principle" of worship:               In response to your editorial,             the Word of God.... Nothing maybe
                                            "Worshiping God as He Wills" (the               introduced as part of the worship
  Completely rightly, therefore, have       Standard Bearer, 5/l /92), permit me            that is not prescribed by Scripture....
  our fathers established the precept,      to make a few comments.                         Even though the activity does not
  that not man but God Himself alone                                                        conflict with the Word of God, it
  can determine how we shall serve                 I wish to acknowledge with ad-           must be excluded.
  Him. And, thus, (is established) that     miration how ably, with firm confi-
  every form of worship which God           dence, without .apologies, you pro-           Such wonderful statements, without
  had not commanded is excluded as          mote the Protestant Reformed teach-           Scriptural references. However, you
  self-willed service and arbitrary in-     ing on this subject. You firmly estab-        do quote from the teachings and con-
  vention, and is forbidden.                lish the PRC position as, "It is our          clusions of fallible men in support of
                                            glory. We must maintain it, if neces-         the PRC position.
In the very next paragraph, Kuyper          sary by struggle." A desire to be                   Consider if you will, a few Scrip-
insists that the use of organs in the       distinctively diflerent; as written in the    tural references in support of hymns.
service of worship in no way violates       reguZativeprinciple;andproudlyclaim-          "And when they had sung an hymn";
the "regulative principle": "Indeed,        ing the  Reformed tradition.                  "Speaking to yourselves in psalms,
after the initial reaction, they (the              In support of the PR position          and hymns, and spiritual songs";
Reformed fathers  - DJE) speedily           you honor the teaching expressed in           "...teaching and admonishing one
allowed the organ again into the            the Heidelberg Catechism, as well as          another in psalms, and hymns, and
churches, since that organ was in-          Westminster Shorter Catechism, both           spiritual songs..." (Matt. 26:30; Eph.
tended to serve and not to rule" (E         giving Scriptural proofs. Such teach-         5:19; Col. 3:16). "In the churches only
Voto Dordraceno,  Hoveker  &                ings condemn the usage of images as           the 150 Psalms of David... the morn-
Wormser, 1905, Vol. III, p. 570; my         a support in helping the worshipers           ingand evening hymns, and the hymn
translation of the Dutch).                  in their approach to God.                     of prayer before the sermon shall be
     A warning arising out of                      In past ages, long before the          sung" (Church Order,  PRC, Art. 69).
Girardeau's diatribe against musical        mentionedDoctrinal  Standards were                  Again you write:
accompaniment does seem to me to            drafted, during the seventh and eighth
be in order for those churches that use     centuries, the church fathers opposed           One reason why the PRC sing only
an organ to accompany the congrega-         all usage of icons. Statutes, pictures          the Psalms in public worship is their
tional singing. In his favorable re-        in stained-glass windows, crosses               conviction that the Psalms are the
view of Girardeau's work in the July        with affixed- images - all such was             inspired  songbook  of the church.
1889 issue of the "Presbyterian Quar-       judged as iconolatry.
terly," R.L. Dabney charged that or-               In past generations, there was a       Conclusion: The Holy Spirit does not
gans II tend usually to choke the con-      great disturbance in the churches con-        use the singing of hymns as a means
gregational singing, and thus to rob        cerning the introduction of organs as         of inspiration? That warrants the
the body of God's people of their           a proper instrument to lead the sing-         exclusion of hymns for singing in
God-given right to praise Him in His        ing congregation.                             public worship? That makes for the
sanctuary." The history of congrega-               In times more recent, the wor-         PRC being "all-fenced-in" within the
tional singing in the Dutch Reformed        shiping congregation seems to have            Reformed church world?
churches in general and in the PRC          no iconoclastic notions about organs                Some place along the line of con-
overthepastseventyyearsinparticu-           for use in public worship. In addition        tinued generations it seems that the
lar disproves this rash charge. Nev-        to preludes (the playing of hymn              PRC have lost the singers. KingDavid
ertheless, it reminds us that the pur-      tunes), offertories, and postludes,           appointed him singers (I Chron.
pose of organs in the churches is the       organ playing is allowed during the           15:16ff);  he wrote the first Psalm for
help of the congregation in singing.        serving of the communion elements,            singers and gave it to Asaph (I Chron.
The organ, therefore, must not be so        all in "Reformed tradition."                  16:7); Ezra writes about 128 singers
loud as to drown out the congrega-                 As much as your editorial af-          (Ezra2:41);  the singers were in a sepa-
tion; so slow as to discourage the          forded pleasant reading and seems to          rate class after the return from captiv-
congregation; or so fast as to leave the    agree with the teachings of the "church       ity, 245 singing men and singing
congregation breathless. Organists          fathers," I find it rather distressing        women (Neh. 267); 200 singing men
must dedicate themselves to helping         that you give your readers no Scrip:          andsingingwomen(Ezra2:65).  "And
the people of God praise God by sing-       tural references for what is termed           the whole congregation worshipped,
ing. The best organist is the one who       the "regulative principle," which is          and the singers sang..." (II Chron.
is least noticed.                           the "creedal position" of the PRC.            29:28).
                                 - DJE      You write:.                                        Youreditorialstronglysuggests
                                                                                          that worshipingin the "Reformed tra-

                                                                                                     July 1,1992  I Standard Bearer I417


dition"  allows no room for singing            The church of Paul's day, specifi-        for, and are edified by, the singing of
hymns nor for singing men and sing-            cally, the congregation at Colosse,       good hymns (as distinguished now
ing women (choir).                             Asia Minor, had no other songs than       from Psalms) and choirs of singing
      Please recognize, if you will, that      the Psalms! She had no "hymns" in         men and women oufside  the public
there are hundreds of Protestant Re-           the sense in which we are accus-          worship of fhe congregation.
formed families worshiping in the              tomed to speak of hymns today, re-
                                               ferring to such songs as "Glory be to          The PRC have lost the singers of
Christian Reformed Church (for sev-            the Father," or "Rock of Ages." Be-       the Old Testament, with a good deal
eral decades), who are edified by the          sides, themeaningoftheGreekword,          that belonged to the church of the
singing of hymns, and the hearing of           "hymn," is "song of praise to God."       shadows, in the interests of finding
singing men and singing women                  Elsewhere in the New Testament,           the congrega tional singing of the New
(choir).                                       the word, "hymn," is clearly used to      Testament.
      May the "voice" of the Standard          refer to a Psalm which consists of the         Consider whether the alterna-
Bearer be heard near and far.                  praise of God. Such an instance is        tive to the "regulative principle" of
                            Henry Doom         Matthew 26:30:  "And when they had        worship is not that the churches them-
                          Kentwood, MI         sung an hymn, they went into the
                                               mount of Olives." The reference is        selves introduce into the public wor-
                                               certainly to the Psalms; undoubtedly,     ship of God whatever under heaven
n     Response                                 the reference is  to Psalms 113-118,      suits the fancy today of the minister,
      The biblical basis for the "regu-        the "Great Hallel" (Song of Praise to     council, worship committee; or vocal
lative principle" of public worship is         Jehovah), which the Israelites cus-       element of the congregation. That is,
the second commandment of the law              tomarily sang on the occasion of the      not GodHimselfinHis  Word, but the
of God with all the passages in Scrip-         Passover. In addition, in the Greek       people decide how they will worship
ture that explain and apply the sec-           Old Testament used by the apostles,       God. This is what is going on pres-
ond commandment. I stated this in              the Septuagint, the Psalms were ex-       ently in Reformed churches. The re-
my editorial.                                  actly labelled, "Psalms and Hymns,
                                               and Spiritual Songs" ("Music in the       sult is that the worship in some
      The "hymns" in your references           Church," Beacoti  Lights, February,       churches is barely distinguishable
(Matt. 26:30, Eph. 5:19, and Col. 3:16)        1983, pp. 12,13).                         from that of Roman Catholicism, the
are all, in fact, the Psalms of the Old                                                  worship in other Reformed churches
Testament. Permit me to quote what               The mention of a few hymns in           resembles nothing so much as a iren-
I have written elsewhere in explana-         Article 69 of the church order of Dordt     zied, old-west camp meeting, and the
tion of Colossians 3:16:                     was a concession to a difficult situa-      worship in yet other churches comes
                                             tion then obtaining in the Dutch Re-        perilously close to the ritual prostitu-
  But even if the issue of exclusive         formed churches (cf. VanDellen  and         tion of old paganism, as the troop of
  Psalms-singing versus the singing of       Monsma, The  Church Order Com-              dancing girls cavort on the stage. I do
  hymns also were to be decided on the
  basis of Colossians  3:16 alone, the       mentary, Zondervan, 1954, pp. 282,          pray, with some ardor, that God mer-
  churches would sing only the Psalms.       283). The spirit and intent of the          cifully spare the PRC all such "wor-
  "Psalms and hymns and spiritual            article, however, are that only the         ship."
  songs" are not three different kinds       Psalms be sung in the public worship             The question governing worship
  of songs: the inspired Psalms of           of the Reformed churches.                   is not, "Do I feel edified?" Some feel
  David; uninspired hymns based on                There is a basic difference be-        edified by a troop of dancing girls.
  the New Testament; and uninspired          tween the statement that the Psalms         But the question is, "Has God re-
  spiritual songs treating of various        are the inspired  songbook of the           vealed in His Word that He is pleased
  religious themes. Rather, they are all     church and the statement that the           to be worshiped in this way?" This
  the inspired Psalms of the Old Testa-                                                  will edify.
  ment. The inspired Psalms are of           singing of hymns can be inspiring.
  two different kinds: hymns andspiri-       The latter refers to the effect of sing-         Whatever are Protestant Re-
  tual songs. "Hymns" are the Psalms         ing on the singer and others. The           formed families doing in the Chris-
  that explicitly praise God,e.g.,Psalm      former asserts that the Holy Spirit         tian Reformed Church? Protestant
  150 ("Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In His       Himself gave the church her marvel-         Reformed believers and their chil-
  temple God be praised"). "Spiritual        ous and adequate songbook  for wor-         dren and grandchildren belong in
  songs" are the Psalms which deal           ship in Holy Scripture.                     Protestant Reformed churches. We
  with other aspects of the  belieirer's          The Protestant Reformed                must talk about this.
  life and experience, e.g., repentance      Churches are not fearful or embar-               May the voice of the  Standard
  (Psalm 51: "God be merciful to me")
  and the duty to obey God's Law             rassed to be "all fenced in" within the     Bearer  be heard near and far. Q
  (Psalm 119: "How I love Thy law, 0         Reformed church world, on this or                                           - DJE
  Lord!"). The proof of this, namely,        any other issue, when obedience to
  that "psalms and hymns and spiri-          the Lord Christ requires it.
  tual songs" in Colossians 3:16  are all         The members of the PRC allow
  Psalms, is immediately plain to all:

418 /Standard Wearer I July 1,1992


                                  Protestant Reformed Seminary
                                           4949 Ivanrest  Avenue
                                        Grandville, Michigan 49418
                                           Phone: (616) 531-1490

 Robert D. Decker, Rector
 Professor of Practical 7Reolog-y  and New Testament
                                                                                        June 16,1992


Dear Friends in Christ:

     Last week the Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches made some important
decisions affecting our seminary. Synod approved "the schematic drawing of the proposed
addition (with full basement) at an estimated cost of $439,880." The ground for this decision
is: "The plan adequately meets the needs for: the additional library space (bookshelves), a quiet
study area for the students, and a separate study area for the professors who use the seminary
as their place of work." We might add that the planned addition also contains much needed
storage space for the archives of our churches. Synod also authorized the Theological School
Committee: "to proceed with producing the construction drawings of the proposed addition
when one half of the estimated cost has been collected, to negotiate the construction price with
invited contractors and award a construction contract when 75% of the estimated cost is
collected, to borrow the remaining cost of the expansion and continue fund raising to pay off
any debt necessary for this project."
    Fully aware of the fact that our people are supporting several church and school building
projects, and not wanting to place any additional burdens on our people, Synod decided not
to budget any monies for this project. This addition is to be financed by voluntary contributions
and freewill offerings from our people and churches. To date about $115,000 has been
contributed to this project.
     Our hope is that we will be able to begin work soon, in order to take advantage of the lower
bids in a depressed building industry. If you are able to help us financially please send your
contributions to the Synodical Treasurer, Mr. Joel Zandstra, 4949 Ivanrest Ave., Grandville, MI
49418.
    But, above all, continue to pray for us that we may be faithful in committing the truth to
our future ministers and missionaries (II Timothy 2:2).
    May God richly bless you.

                                                                                 Cordially in Christ,




                                                                             Prof. Robert D. Decker,
                                                                      for faculty, staff, and students


                                                                                 July 1,1992 I Standard Wearer I 419


                                       The Site and Work of Synod





    South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, Illinois
                                                                             Rev. Koole, Rev. VanBaren





                                                                        Prof. Engelsma, Rev. Kamps





                                                                 Committee  II  of  Pre-Advice:
                                                          Mr. VanMeeteren, Rev. Houck, Prof. Hanko,
          Rev. Cammenga                                         Mr. Brummel, Rev. Cammenga

420 /Standard Bearer  I July 1,1992


                                              Rev. Kamps, Rev. Bekkering



    Rev. Houck





               Noon Break                           Rev. Terpstra, Rev. Mahtani,
                                                             Prof. Decker





       Committee  Ill  of Pre-Advice:
Rev. Gritters, Mr. Engelsma, Prof. Decker,
    Mr. Schippcr, Rev. VanOverloop                            Rev. Koole

                                                       July 1,1!392 I Standard Bearer I421


Al/Around Us
 Prof. Robert Decker

1 Schlissel Deposed                             of integrity in promoting division in       Jersey) seceded with approximately
                                                the denomination. The fourth ground         280 or 295 members. This church is
         Classis Hudson of the Christian        charges that Schlissel and his congre-      now called Pompton Plains Reformed
Reformed Church (CRC) at its regu-              gation broke the covenant the church        Bible Church.
lar meeting, May 13, deposed Rev.               made with the CRC in November                   % The council of Telkwa CRC
Steven Schlissel, pastor of Messiah's           1986 "to be faithful to the gospel as       (British Columbia) seceded with 122
Congregation Christian Reformed                 expressedinourcommonconfessions             of 222members to form the Reformed
Church in Brooklyn, New York. This              and to work for the upbuilding of the       Church of Telkwa.
means Schlissel no longer holds the             CRC in Brooklyn, in Classis Hudson,             I The council of Washington,
office of the ministry of the Word and          and throughout the denomination."           Pennsylvania seceded to form Christ
Sacraments in the CRC. Schlissel was                  Schlissel and Messiah's council       Presbyterian Church of Washington
suspendedbyaspecialmeetingofthe                 are appealing the decision to depose        with approximately 20 of 63 mem-
Classis on April 2. The vote to sus-            him to the 1992 Synod of the CRC.           bers.
pend was 22 - 5, the vote to depose             The synod's Judicial Code Commit-               44 A majority of the council
was 16 - 12. The four basic grounds             tee will recommend action to the            joined three deposed elders of
for deposition were the same as used            synod. Dr. Nelson D. Kloosterman,           Sunnyslope CRC in Salem, Oregon to
to suspend Schlissel. Ground one is             professor at Mid-America Reformed           form the Independent Reformed
Schlissel's refusal to heed the admo-           Seminary in Orange City, Iowa, will         Church of Salem with approximately
nition of the Classis regarding his             act as counsel to Schlissel and his         120 of 375 members.
written and public statements, "whose           council before the Judical  Code Com-           # 132 members of the 500-mem-
tone and approach to correction in              mittee.                                     ber Maranatha CRC in St. Catherines,
the body of the Lord are scripturally                 Schlissel has indicated that he       Ontario seceded to form Immanuel
unacceptable." Schlissel "persisted             will continue to "be in the pulpit as an    Orthodox Reformed Church.
in making statements characterized              exhorter" during the appeal process.            # 100 members of the 827-mem-
by abrasive and accusatory language                                Christian Renewal        ber Aylmer, Ontario CRC seceded to
thatinsweepinggeneralizationsques-                                                          form the Independent Christian Re-
tions the Christian integrity of fellow         1     Leakage or Hemorrhage?                formed Church of Aylmer.
officebearers in the CRC." Schlissel                                                            +% 201 CRC members in the
called professors at Calvin Theologi-                 In a recent interview with The        Flamborough, Ontario area seceded
cal Seminary "whores" and "stinking             Grand Rapids Press,  Dr. Melvin             to form the Independent Reformed
heretics" andlabelled others who dis-           Hugen, professor at Calvin Seminary,        Church of Sheffield. Rev. Jerome
agreed with him "blasphemous                    downplayed the exodus from the              Julien is pastor of this congregation.
bums,"         "f e m i n i s t   maniacs,N     Christian Reformed Church (CRC),                +% 85 CRC members in
"schizophrenics," "worms, vermin,               calling it "leakage," a normal occur-       Winnipeg, Manitoba seceded to form
and dogs."                                      rence in most, if not all denomina-         the Independent Reformed Church
         Ground two charges Schlissel           tions. Judging by the' numbers, this        of Winnipeg.
with conduct unbecoming a minister              may be wishful thinking on Hugen's              #  1 2 7   C R C   m e m b e r s   o f
of the gospel. Schlissel, said Classis,         part. Here are the statistics to date:      Edmonton, Alberta seceded to form
"publicly slanders our denomination                  # Trinity CRCinSt. Catherines,         the Orthodox Reformed Church of
and its leaders on a number of occa-            Ontariosecededwith415of616mem-              Edmonton.
sions without first addressing them             bers. This church is now called Trin-                This represents nearly 2,700  in-
personally and through their consis-            ity Orthodox Reformed Church.               dividualmembers or 670 families who
tory, classis, or synod." The third                  4% First CRC in Lethbridge,            have seceded from the CRC to form
ground charges Schlissel with a lack            Alberta seceded to form Trinity Re-         independent congregations between
                                                formed Church with 513 of 685 mem-          February 1991 and February 1992. In
                                                b e r s .                                   addition 15 Orthodox Christian Re-
                                                 #  R i v e r s i d e     CRC        '      formed Churches have been formed
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical  The-    Wellandport, Ontario seceded wi'ti          over the last ten years for similar
ology in the Protestant Reformed Semi-          300 of 527 members.                         reasons. Meanwhile small groups of
nary.                                                +#  Pompton Plains CRC (New            members in various churches are pre-

422 /Standard Bearer  I July 1,1992


                                                                                         through troubled times."                1
paring to organize independent                 n     Banner Editor Resigns
churches.                                           The Rev. Galen Meyer has re-              Krommenga, 73, served as presi-
      In addition a number of CRC              signed as Editor of the Banner, the       dent of Calvin Seminary from 1953
families have left that denomination           weekly magazine of the Christian          until his retirement in 1983. Since that
and joined the Canadian Reformed               Reformed Church. Meyer will return        time he has served as president of
Churches, the Free Reformed                    to the classroom at South Christian       International Theological Seminary
Churches, the Protestant Reformed              High School in Cutlerville, Michigan.     in Los Angeles. Smit, 64, currently
Churches, and other Reformed de-                    The CRC Board of Publications        serves as editor-in-chief of the Educa-
nominations because of the troubles            has appointed Dr. John H.                 tionDepartment  of CRC Publications.
in the CRC.                                    Krommenga and Dr. Harvey Smit as               These men will co-edit the Ban-
      Estimating conservatively the            Interim Editors. According to Rev.        ,*2er from August 1,1992  to August 1,
CRC haslost over a thousand families           Douglas Kamstra, who chaired the          1993. Krommenga will do most of the
and about 3,500 to 4,000 members               sub-committee charged with devel-         writing and Smit will do the adminis-
because of the creation/science and            oping an interim plan  `for the           trative work. Both will be involved
women-in-office issues.                        editorship of the  Banner,  Krommenga     with the Banner's staff in planning
      Is this leakage or hemorrhage?           and Smit were selected because of         issues.  0
You decide. The CRC has about                  ti their reputations as churchmen, who                                    The Banner
310,000 total members.                         had clear name recognition in the                                Christian Observer
                      Christian Renewal        CRC, had earned the trust of the                                 Christianity  T,oday
                The Reformed Witness           people, and could lead the church                              REC News Exchange



                                               Spiritual Olympics
When Thou Sittest                              or`.
in Thine House                                 Olympia%% ABC's
Mrs. Mary Beth Lubbers

      I have fought a good fight, I have       from nearly every nation on earth,             The Olympic Games were so
finishedmycourse, lhavekept thefaith....       having dedicated themselves for           important to Greeklife that theywere
                          II Timothy 4:7       hours each day to jumping, running,       used as a basis for their calendar, the
                                               twisting, pirouetting, will compete       Olympiad. However, about  lOOB.C.,
      The Olympic torch has been ex-           for one round piece of crystal banded     the Roman Empire conquered Greece,
tinguishedin Albertville. Thejagged,           with gold, the Olympic medal. Sev-        and the games soon lost their reli-
snow-capped slopes, rising from vir-           eral million people attend the games,     gious significance. Because the con-
tual anonymity to worldwide recog-             and millions more watch them on           testants seemingly had lost sight of
nition, lie in pristine silence once again.    television.     The original Olym-        the original purpose of the games and
This small French village, so recently         pic Games (776 B.C. - A.D. 396) hon-      were interested only in the purse,
a kaleidoscope of color, resumes its           ored Zeus, thekingof the Greekgods.       Emperor Theodosius ordered the
quiet, small-town ways. The torch              The only event in the first 13 Olympi-    games closed. For more than 1,500
has not yet been lit inBarcelona. Even         ads held in Greece was a foot race of     years, no Olympic Games were held.
now the runners, holding lighted torch         about 200 yards. Throughout the           Then in 1896, in an effort to promote
aloft, are hastening towards this Medi-        years, longer running races were in-      world peace, the games were revived.
terranean city to open the greatest            cluded, and a wrestling event was         Since that year, the games have been
"show on earth" - the Summer                   held-which very likely accounts for       held every four years, with the excep-
Olympics. Here men and women                   the Apostle Paul's several references     tion of the duration of World Wars I
                                               to wrestling and striving for mastery.    and II.
                                               "For we wrestle not against flesh and          What will we, Reformed Chris-
Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the       blood..." (Eph. 6:12). The victors of     tians nearing the end of the twentieth
Protestant Reformed Church  of  South          the races and matches were garlanded      century, learn from the 1992 Olympic
Holland, Illinois.                             with olive leaves.                        Games?

                                                                                                    July 1,1992 / Standard Bearer / 423


          We will be reminded once again               doing good works. "And let us not be        rel. And so we exercise ourselves
that fame is fleeting (can you name                    weary in well doing..." (Gal. 6:9).         unto godliness (ITimothy4:7), keenly
even ten out of the thousands of re-                   Our spirits must not flag in promot-        aware that bodily exercise profiteth
cent Olympians?), and that artistry                    ing the cause of God's dear kingdom.        little in the marathon which each Re-
on ice or track or parallel bars is                    Husbands and wives, fathers and             formed believer must run. Nor do we
vanity.                                                mothers carrying their little ones,         run for the praise and'adulation of
          We will learn that "the race is              young people and children-all of us         men. Just as we do not give our alms
not to the swift, nor the battle to the                must tirelessly run the race. The race      before men, so we do not "strive for
strong . . . nor is favor shown to men of              that we run does not evoke the glory        the mastery" (II Timothy 2:5) for the
skill" (Eccl. 9:ll).                                   that was Greece's, but rather the gran-     sake of men. But rather we run qui-
          We will become aware that the                deur that will be heaven's. We look         etly before God. And the Father who
Lord takethnot pleasure in the legs of                 for our medal in the Celestial City         watches us in secret will reward us
a man (Ps. 14730).                                     where the faithful will receive victory     openly.
          W e   w i l l   d i s c o v e r   t h a t    through grace. That is why we keep                Winners in Albertville and
Albertville's and Barcelona's Olym-                    our eye focused on the Cross, running       Barcelonareceive their  Olympicmed-
pians obtain a corruptible crown                       with intense concentration and de-          als in an impressive ceremony while
[medal] (I Cor. 9:25).                                 voted purpose.                              an orchestra plays the national an-
          And yet....                                       We pattern ourselves after             them of the homeland of the gold
          There is a lesson in Albertville.            Scripture's memorable marathonrun-          medal winner.
ThereisinstructioninBarcelona.  Oth-                   ners: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham,                 Who can envision the stirring
erwise the Bible would not include so                  Moses, and all the others listed for        ceremony which all of us endurance
many references to the Olympic                         our inspiration in Hebrews 11.              runners will attend in the Celestial
Games. Beneath all the dazzle and                      "Wherefore seeing we also are com-          City? As we cross the last hurdle,
panoply, we catch a glimpse of the                     passed about with so great a cloud of       bruised and thirsty and weary,, the
real gold.                                             witnesses, let us lay aside every           noteaofourhomelandwillfallsweetly
          We see that strenuous effort to-             weight, and the sin which doth so           on our hearts. Christ Himself will
wards holiness is not depleting, nor                   easily beset us, and let us run with        crown us. And the Song of Moses and
do rigorous spiritual workouts sap                     patience the race that is set before us,    the Lamb will reverberate through all
the believer-exerciser of his life juices.             Looking unto Jesus the .author and          eternity.
We must run and skate and ski the                      finisher of our faith..." (Heb. 12:1,2).          A is for Albertville.
spiritual race with all our effort and                       For everyone who does not fall              B is for Barcelona.
strength and skill and stamina. We                     by the side of the slope, nor stumble             C is for Celestial City. Contend
must endure this battle of faith to the                on the great running track, there           for if.  Cl
end of the race. We must not tire in                   awaits an incorruptible victor's lau-



Taking Heed to the                                     The  Fragmenti.ng of
Doctrines
Rev. Bernard Woudenberg the Churches

          But if ye bite and devour one an-                 No sooner had the letter of Prof.      Andindeedfrom many points of view
other, fake heed fhat ye be not consumed               Holwerda been published in the Stan-        there was reason to believe we vvere
one                                                                                                just that. We had always had a lfirm
        of another.                                    dard Bearer than the life of the de-
                                Galatians 5:15         nomination began visibly to fragment.       doctrinal foundation upon which to
                                                            It was ironic. Those were the          build, in the theology of Rev.
                                                       very days during which we were cel-         Hoeksema; and he, together with Rev.
                                                       ebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary       Ophoff, had worked effectively in
                                                       of our churches, and great effort was       preparing young men for the minis-
Rev. Woudenberg is pastor of the Protes-               being made to demonstrate our               try of the Gospel in our churches. Not
fant Reformed Church of Kalamazoo,                     strength and unity as a small but           only were these young men well
Michigan.                                              thriving Reformed denomination.             taught inReformed theology,but  also
424 /Standard Bearer  I July 1,1992


their exegetical and preaching abili--     Prof. Veenhof, and from Prof.                ment of our churches, and in accord
ties reflected those of their teachers.    Holwerda himself  - filled with ill          with that most basic principle of Re-
Although to a degree they may have         feelings toward Rev. Ophoff for hav-         formed church order, set forth in Ar-
lacked some of the niceties of higher      ing made them known.                         ticle 31, was to be considered "settled
education, when it came to the re-              Perhaps, in a way, there was            and binding" by them.
quirements of theministry, they were       some validity in their grievance. Rev.            This did not mean, and the point
well-prepared. In turn, the  Standard      Hoeksema himself had advised him             was made clear to all who joinecl our
Bearer  constituted a theological jour-    not to publish the letter before dis-        churches, particularly among the new
nal of high quality; and, being read by    cussing it with the parties involved;        immigrants, that no one should or
our people generally, it served to join    and in the end he did apologize. Ac-         could become a member of our
the denomination together into  afunc-     cordingly, it might be, and has been,        churches unless he understood and
tioning spiritual organism. Our            argued that the publication of the           agreed with every aspect of our doc-
people and officebearers had devel-        letter, at least in the way that it was      trine. It was recognized full well that
oped sound doctrinal discernment.          done, had made a bad matter worse,           when the Church Order speaks of
Together they were unified in a com-       and caused a situation which might           suchmattersbeing"settledandbind-
mon cause, with a love of the gospel       have been contained to reel out of           ing," it is not expected thereby that
and a longing for spiritual advance-       control. One never knows, of course;         everyone will thereafter immediately
ment.                                      the Lord does not tell us what might         exchange his own convictions for
     At the same time, however, the        have been. But the fact is that the          those of the new decision. After all,
letter of Prof. Holwerda lifted a cor-     letter itself was not of Rev. Ophoff's       spiritual convictions are not simply
ner of the tent sufficiently to expose     making; and it was with this letter          arrive,d at by ecclesiastical fiat or de-
the fact that not all was well within.     itself that the basic problem lay. It        mand. With Calvin, we understood
There was a spirit of division and         hadalreadybeenbroadlydistributed             the evils of "implicit faith," a faith
schism at workwhich thereafter could       among the immigrants by the time             implanted in the church rather thanin
not be hidden or ignored.                  Rev. Ophoff obtained a copy; and             the Word of God. True Christian
     Almost immediately a furor            what it saidvery much concerned our          convictions can come only from per-
arose - not, as might have been ex-        denomination as a whole. Both we in          sonal study of the Scriptures by the
pected, against the letter and its con-    our history and the Liberatedin theirs       moving of God's Spirit. Andnoother
tent, but rather against Rev. Ophoff       had often suffered from secret con-          way should be expected.
for publishing it. It -was a classic       nivances; and the best way of dealing             Thus it was acknowledged that,
example of whipping the messenger          with such had often been found to be         especially with their historical back-
because the message was not wanted.        to lay out everything for all to see.        ground, new immigrants exposed to
He had brought a problem to the fore       There was reason for Rev. Ophoff to          our preaching for the first time wsould
which no one wished to hear; and the       do what he did. And, as Rev.                 meet thoughts and concepts which
fury broke upon him, particularly          Hoeksema soonbegan to argue, with-           they did not understand and with
from The Netherlands. It had been          out approving of the publication as          which they might well have diffi-
nearly a year since the synod of           such, the problems of the letter were        culty. And with such we would work
Amersfoort had decided to seek cor-        there, and they needed to be ad-             in good faith and kindly. But, at the
respondence with our churches, and         dressed. That was what really mat-           same time, it should be realized that
as yet nothing had been heard from         tered.                                       our preaching could not be changed
thecommitteewhichithadappointed.                To begin with, there was the            simply to satisfy them. It was ex-
And now it was revealed that that          outright repudiation of Protestant           pected to be in accord with ourprin-
committee, rather than contacting the      Reformed theology on the part of             ciples, as we understood the Word of
officials of our churches, had met         Prof. Holwerda before any discus-            God, and those who joined our
secretly with two of our men visiting      sion had taken place, as he said, "If        churches would have to receive it as
in their country, men who had no           Rev. Hoeksema's conception was               such. Neither should they agitate
official capacity whatsoever. From         binding, I would say, Never join."           against them. These were the posi-
them they had elicited testimony           And what he had in mind was "his             tions of our churches, and woulld  re-
which could hardly be considered to        conception regarding election, etc."         main so, at least until such a time as
represent the official position of our     This had to strike deep, for it was Rev.     they were duly and properly changed.
churches; and, on the basis of this        Hoeksema's conception of election                 And such changes could be
testimony, advice was being given to       that lay at the very foundation of our       made. In fact, it was this activity of
those who were considering mem-            churches. Because of it we had been          reconsideration and development of
bership in our churches. And now,          cast out of the Christian Reformed           doctrinal positions which was, to the
the irregularity of this having been       Church in 1924, and we had orga-             heart of Rev. Hoeksema, dear above
exposed, a torrent of public letters       nized as a new denomination. It con-         all else. He relished theological dia-
began to arrive - from Dr. Schilder,       stituted, in effect, the official commit-    logue and discussion, considering it,

                                                                                                July 1,1992 / Standard Bearer I425


when properly done, the source of          derstand" Reformed theology any-           wasthatmost  (oftheProt.Ref.)dlonot
true strength within the church. It        way                                        think as Rev. Hoeksema and Rev.
was for this very reason that he had              Moreover, this all sounded dou-     Ophoff. And sympathy for the Liber-
looked forward to contact with Dr.         bly threatening because of what was        ated was great also in the matt'er  of
Schilder, and then with the Liberated      being heard from over the sea. From        their doctrine of the covenant." It was
churches as a whole. The simple            the beginning Rev. Ophoff had              astounding. These men themselves,
exchange of ecclesiastical greetings,      warned that what was being taught          as those of whom they spoke, were all
or preaching assignments, or even          by the Liberated theologians there         men who had studied under Rev.
church memberships, had relatively         was hardly compatible with our posi-       Hoeksema and Rev. Ophoff; and it
little interest for him. They might        tions; and his claim was being rapidly     was generally understood that they
come in the end, or not. His concern       validated. At the very time all of this    reflected what they had learned in
was with the development of Chris-         was going on, Prof. Veenhof was pub-       their preaching. But now, it was be-
tian doctrine and understanding            lishing in The Netherlands a little        ing said, they had no real commit-
through committed theological dis-         booklet entitled AppeJ!, in which he       ment to it; and they were quite ready
cussion. That for him came first. And      set forth the Liberated view of the        to exchange those views for others,
for it he was waiting.                     covenant. It was ,filled with ideas        and to do so without having expressed
      And that was what made the           which could hardly be taken as any-        one word of disagreement. If this was
professor's further suggestion so dis-     thing other than a kind of Common          not true, it was a scurrilous slander;
turbing. He was, it seemed, advising       Grace within covenant bounds. The          and, if it was true, it constituted a
those who joined our churches to in-       theory it expounded was that every         problem that preempted all else.
filtrate them with the purpose of          baptized child receives covenantal                 * *  *  *  *  *  +
spreadingcontraryviewsfromwithin.          grace, head for head, without any               From that time on Rev.
As he said, "I believe that joining the    consideration of election or reproba-      Hoeksema labored editorially, not
Prot. Ref. Church is calling. And let      tion. It had to be that way, he said;      only to parry the blows aimed at Rev.
them then as Liberated preserve their      and that challenged the deepest roots      Ophoff, but especially to elicit some
contact with Holland by all means,         upon which our churches were built.        definite answers to the implications
and also spread our literature. Our        Withit not even themost sympathetic        of Holwerda's missive. Especially he
Liberated would be doing a fruitful        of our ministers could find the cour-      wanted some public explanation as to
work, if they then labored in the Prot.    age to agree. And surely, if this was      what had actually gone on at those
Ref. Churches to remove misunder-          what was being suggested, and if it        secret meetings. But it was to no
standing and to deepen insight."           should be promoted within our              avail. Clear answers could not be
What could this mean other than that       churches, it would be schismatic in-       obtained. And any effort to bring
those who joined the Protestant Re-        deed.                                      about meaningful discussion of real
formed churches were being advised                But, apart from all of that, the    issues came to naught.
to maintain their primary loyalty with     most disconcerting of all was the quo-          And with that, efforts to work
the Liberated churches from which          tation attributed to our own two min-      with the immigrants in Canada began
they came, while at the same time          isters. They were reported to have         to grind to a halt as well. The only
seeking to supplant "Rev. Hoeksema's       said, "Indeed, we have much to be          question anyone seemed to be inter-
conception" with theirs. It was pretty     grateful for to Rev. Hoeksema. But         ested in was whether we had an offi-
difficult to take this as anything else    his conceptionregardingelection, etc.      cial doctrinal position or not. Every-
than an advocacy of schism within          is not church doctrine. No one is          thing stopped - until, that is, the
the churches, on the assumption, ap-       bound by it. Some are emitting a           synod of 1950. Q
parently, that we didn't really "un-       totally different sound. Their opinion


                                           Blessed by Divin,e
Day of Shadows
Rev. John Heys                             Decree
                                                  Last time we considered that        though he did not deserve it, and
                                           work of God's grace whereby He             revealing that there was absolutely
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the    made a sharp distinction between           no blessing for Esau. We also noted
Protestant Reformed Churches.              Jacob and Esau, blessing Jacob even        that God very clearly revealed to
426 /Standard Bearer  I July 1,1992


Rebekah, their mother, that He deter-        come. And on His cross He had His            serpent and its seed.
mined before these sons were born            "heel" crushed. What is more, Satan               In answer then to this
that the elder son would serve the           and his spiritual seed have already in       evolutionistic stand that God created
younger one of these twins. Esau, the        a sense had their heads crushed. Le-         the world in six days in the sense of six
firstborn, would serve Jacob, who            gally our salvation has been realized.       periods of thousands upon thousands
came forth out of his mother's womb          All the elect have been justified. All       of years, let us turn to God's law asHe
with his hand holding on to Esau's           their guilt has been removed. Every          gave it to us through Moses at Mt.
heel.                                        elect child of, God - even those not         Sinai! God Himself tells us through
         In Genesis 27~29  we read that      yet born in our flesh, but eternally         Moses that in six days He created the
Esau would be God's tool that would          chosen in Christ, and in God's coun-         heavens and the earth and all that
be used by Him for the good of Jacob.        sel members of His body, the church          they contain. How dare we change
There we read about Jacob: "Let the          - have that God-given right to live          the meaning of the word fi day" in that
people serve thee, and nations bow           with Him in the coming new Jerusa-           law? `And did He rest that wa!y  the
down to thee: be lord over thy breth-        lem.                                         seventh day, that is, for a period of
ren, and let thy mother's son bow                    What is also extremely impor-        thousands upon thousands of years?
down to thee: cursed be every one            tant is that we let God tell us what He      But does He not command us to "re-
that curseth thee, and blessed be ev-        caused to happen in the day of shad-         member the Sabbath day, and keep it
ery one that blesseth thee." Putting         ows. We must not, and may not, let           holy"? May we in God's law change
this verse together with the one God         the seed of the serpent, as tools of         that word "day" to thousands upon
declared to Rebekah, before the chil-        Satan (who came in that serpent in the       thousands of years?
dren were born, we have an awesome           Garden of Eden), explain to us what               Still more, read that awesome
and blessed truth. We also have here         our God presents in His Word. We             truth'our God gave us through Elijah
a clarification of that mother promise       may not let the ungodly, unbelieving         in I Kings  l&21. He said through
in Genesis 3:15. There will be enmity        evolutionists explain to us God's            Elijah, "How long will ye halt be-
in the human race between believer           amazing work of creating this world          tween two opinions? if the Lord be
and unbeliever, there called the seed        in which we live. We must take hold          God, follow Him: but if Baal, then
of the woman and the seed of the             of that mother promise in Genesis            follow him." Today that truth means,
serpent. Looking at the above verse,         3:15, and take hold of the truth that all    "How long will ye halt between what
Genesis 27:29, in the light of verse 28,     the seed of the serpent -all those not       I said in Genesis l-11 and in My holy
we have an important truth which we          born again by the Spirit of Christ -         law,andwhat theunbelievingseedof
should never forget, and by all means        hate God!                                    the serpent say about when and in
never deny.                                          Let us never forget that the hu-     how long a period of time I brought
         Yes - and do not overlook this      man race is divided into only two            this world into being? Serve Me, or
fact-here already is the promise of          different kinds of people from a spiri-      serve the evolutionists. You cannot
the cross of Christ, and of our salva-       tual point of view. They either love         serve both!" If you please, our God
tion through Him. The unbelieving            God as born again in His grace, or           uses the same word for day in Genesis
Jews - the seed of the serpent - are         they hate Him as the seed of the ser-        1 as in Exodus 20 wherein He gives us
going to crucify Christ, who is the          pent, and thus as Satan's tool. There        His law.
seed of Jacob by a virgin birth (Acts        just is no grace of God upon Satan and            Those evolutionists do not be-
2:30 and Romans 1:3), and they will          his spiritual seed. There is Gods            lieve what we find in God's Word.
seem to have been victorious when            work of providence that may please           They do not believe what we find in
they crucify this descendant of David,       the world, even though they hate God.        Exodus 16, namely, that our God in
the One who is the seed of Jacob. But        But the whole human race has (as             six days of the week gave the Israel-
the struggle of Jacob with Esau, be-         God declared in that mother promise          ites manna in the wilderness, but not
fore they were born, does reveal the         of Genesis 3:15, namely, that there are      on the seventh day. And the striking
enmity that exists between the seed of       from a spiritual-point of view, and          and awesome thing is that on those
the woman and the seed of the ser-           thus in God's judgment) only two             six days the manna could not be kept
pent.                                        kinds of people, namely, those born          to eat the day after God gave it. It
         We do well, when dealing with       again and with the love of God im-           would breed worms and send forth a
these incidents presented to us in the       planted in their hearts, and those spiri-    terrible stink. Yet, on the sixth day the
day of shadows, to consider also that        tually dead people who hate Him ev-          Israelites were to keep the manna for
the truth in Genesis 3:15, and a fulfill-    ery minute of their lives here in His        that seventh day; and there would be
ingofitmanifestedinourGod'sWord,             creation. Genesis 3:15,. that mother         nowormsinit,anditwouldnotstink!
namely through Isaac in Genesis27:29,        promise,reveals God's hatred toward          Do the evolutionists believe this? No,
is still being fulfilled today. We are       the seed of the serpent. He declares         a thousand times, NO! And shall we
not living in the day of shadows of          that He will put enmity in the seed of       then, with them, say that these six
Christ's coming as our Ring. He has          the woman against the seed of the            days in the law must not be taken

                                                                                                  July 1,1992  / Standard Bearer / 427


literally, but that those days, like the      and hold on to for our comfort, is that     seed. Esau was rejectedin God's holy
six days of creation in Genesis 1,            what .counts is not what our flesh          wrath, and Jacob was blessed in His
shpuld be explained to be long peri-          wants, as Esau's did, but what our          grace! Jacob, and we also in God's
ods of years? Are there times when            new man in Christ has been prom-            grace, do not deserve the smallest
we may listen to the enemies of God,          ised. Es,au was, as he literally stated,    part of a blessing because of what we
the evolutionists, and let them ex-           interested in what his father could         did. Jacob sinned greatly here. But by
plain some of the things our God              give him. And that meant earthly            His mercy our God blessed him; and
presents to us in Scripture? Still more,      things which man's flesh enjoys. He         also for us salvation is a 100% gift of
are we listening to God when we let           was not'- as a child of the flesh that      God's grace. We are saved by grace;
the seed of the serpent tell us how to        had notsbeen  born again with a new         and not because of our works. Salva-
explain what God says? Did it help            spirituallife-interestedinthatwhich         tion is God's grace. We are savled  by
Adam and Eve to believe what Satan            hemightuse  toserveGod.  Hedidnot           grace, and not because of our works.
said through a serpent? Or was it not         look at this earth with its material as     Salvation is God's free gift to us.
Satan who spoke through that ser-             that which we are given in order to              Yes, Jacob's name means sup-
pent? And what about Revelation               serve God. He saw it as that which his      planter, that is, one who follows after
12:9, namely, that "oldserpent, called        flesh  wimted.  He saw it as Satan          and replaces someone else. Jacob did
the Devil, and Satan which deceiveth          presented that tree of knowledge of         not only follow Esau at his birth, hold-
the whole world"?                             good and evil to Adam and Eve,              ing on to his heel, but by God's grace
      What will we do then with He-           namely, that which would make them          he supplanted him as far as the birth-
brews ll? There we read about Abel,           become gods. Get that! Satan did not        right blessing is concerned.
Enoch, and Noah, who are listed in            teach A'dam  and Eve how to serve               By the divine decree of our God,
the same category as are the believing        God, but how to become gods and do          namely, of sovereign election, and
saints. Is Hebrews ll:l-3 and 8-40 the        as they please with this earth and all      not by what we have done, we receive
presentation of historical fact; but          it contai:ned.  Although our God told       that free gift of salvation, because of
verses 4-7 what must be presented             Adam that if he would eat of the tree       what He does, and not because of
the way the unbelievers present them,         of life he would die, and thus at once      what we did. 0
namely, as namesin a parable, a story,        lose his spiritual life, Satan caused
but not the presentation of literal real-     them to want what would enable them
ity? Are we then acting as believers,         to separate from God, and no longer
or as unbelievers who cannot and will         serve Him. That they would become
not take God at His word?                     gods meant that they could do as they
      But now, to return to what we           please. They could and would turn
first presented in this article, our call-    their backs upon God and make Him,
ing is to hold on tightly to that truth       at least to a degree, serve them. They
which our God gave Isaac, namely,             did not want any spiritual life!                      EXALT HIM!
"Cursed be every one that curseth                  Esau revealed this wicked de-
thee, and blessed be every one that           sire; and his father, Isaac, trembled.      My heart is lifted up in praise,
blesseth thee" (Gen. 27:29). Our God          Isaac knew very well that he could          My joy no bounds can know,
through Moses gives us this truth for         not change things. He could not prom-       The song I shall forever raise,
our comfort, as He also wrote through         ise Esau some of that which he had          Which from my heart shall flow,
Paul in Romans 8:28 that "all things          promised Jacob - and God did this           Exalts the holy name of God;
work together for good to them that           through him -by taking some of it           My sovereign Friend is He.
love God, to them who are the called          away from Jacob and giving it to            His love, so high, so deep, so broad
according to His purpose."                    Esau. Our God, the only God, is the         He gave to rescue me.
      Esau was interestedin the wrong         I AM, which means that He never
things. He did say to his father, "Let        changes His mind. Isaac knew this           My life, `twas overrun with sin,
my father arise, and eat of his son's         andbelieved. Hecouldnot, andmust            My heart was filled with pride.
venison, that thy soul may bless me."         not, try to change things. By God's         Not one good thought was there
For him a blessing was the possession         grace he saw clearly that God had                within;
and enjoyment of this world's goods.          chosen Jacob, and that Esau was re-         Naught stemmed the evil tide.
Fathers at that time usually gave their       jected by our God.                          Yet God, in His redeeming love,
earthly possessions - or at least the              Indeed, even as our God told           Sent down His only Son.
largest part of them - to their first-        Satan, in Adam and Eve's hearing,           His death erased my sins-His blood
born son. And Esau was in such a              that He would put enmity between            For me the vict'ry  won.
position, as the firstborn of Isaac's         the elect and reprobate, God now
twin sons.                                    through Isaac expresses this enmity                                 Thelma Westra,
      And what we should believe,             between Jacob and Esau and their                            Faith PRC, Jenison, MI

426 /Standard Bearer  / July 1,1992


Report of Classis East

                                             and Northern Ireland. The following       August 2 - Gritters; August 16 -
        Classis East met in regular ses-     schedule was adopted VENICE: May          Bruinsma; August 30 -Kamps;  Sep-
sion on Wednesday, May 13, 1992.             31, June 7 - Flikkema; June 28, July 5    tember 6 - Gritters; September 13 -
Each church was represented by two           - Woudenberg;  July 26, August 2 -        VanBaren;September20-Bruinsma.
delegates. A special welcome was             Joostens; August 23,30 - Slopsema;             Norristowninformed the  classis
given to Rev. D. Kuiper, pastor of           September 20,27 - Koole; NORTH-           that they were appealing their case
Southeast PRC, who came to the classis       ERN IRELAND: May 17,24,31-                regarding the use of The Psalter to
from  Classis West. Rev. M. Kamps            Slopsema; June 28, July 5, 12  -          Synod 1992.
was the chairman of this session.            denHartog;  September 13, 20,27 -               T h e   e x p e n s e s   o f   classis
        The agenda for this session was      Kuiper; GRANDVILLE (p.m. only):           amounted to $2,042.52.  Classis will
light-with one exception. One case           May 24  - Kamps; May 31  -                meetnextinByronCenteronSeptem-
of discipline regarding the censure of       VanBaren; June 7 - Gritters; June 14      ber 9,1992.
a member was brought to the classis.         - Kamps; June 21 - VanBaren; June                          Respectfully submitted,
        Classical appointments were          28 - Gritters; July 12 - Kamps; July                                  ]on J. Huisken
granted to Grandville; Venice, Florida;      19 -VanBaren; July 26 - Bruinsma;                                      Stated Clerk


News From Our Churches
Mr. Benjamin Wigger

Congregational Highlights                    first experience leading a worship        of a church building. And presently
        On May 19 Rev. C. Hanko, one         service came in Byron Center when         the Council is trying to answer this
of our churches' emeritus ministers,         he was just nineteen years old. That       question. Hopefully, what the con-
celebrated his 85th birthday. In rec-        means, if my mathis correct, that Rev.     gregation needs and what they can
ognition of Rev. Hanko's many years          C. Hanko has served our churches for       afford are close together.
of labor in and for our churches, the        66 years.                                       When it came time for Rev.
Council of the Hudsonville, MI PRC                Personally, having had Rev.           Kuiper and his family to  l'eave
(the church of which Rev. Hanko is           Hanko as my own pastor twice in my         Immanuel PRC of Lacombe, AB,
now a member) sponsored an open              life,IcansaythatGodhastrulyblessed         Canada, the congregation organized
house on Wednesday evening, May              our churches by giving us a faithful       a farewell supper for the family. Af-
20, in the Fellowship Room of the            minister like Rev. Hanko.                  ter the supper, a short program was
church. Hudsonville's congregation,               This might also be a good time to     also given. And then, following the
as well as all our West-Michigan con-        remind our readers to remember in          evening service on April 5, the con-
gregations, were invited to come and         prayer all our emeritus ministers and      gregation spent an hour of fellowship
extend personal congratulations to           their families, as well as our minis-      and song together to bid farewell to
Rev. Hanko.                                  ters' widows. You might also like to       the Kuipers.
         Rev. Hanko was asked that night     send them a card. Their addresses               On May 1, the congregation of
when was the first time he conducted         can be found in the back of your 1991      the Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids,
a worship service for one of our             Acts of Synod and Yearbook.                MI organized a welcome program for
churches. His answer was that his                 The Building Committee of the         Rev. Kuiper and his family. A light
                                             Peace PRC of Lynwood, IL reported          luncheon was served in the church
                                             to their congregation that they have      basement following the program.
                                             met on two occasions with an archi-             Since Rev. Kuiper's departure in
                                             tect and builder to determine how          early April from Immanuel PRC, the
                                             best to proceed. But before they go        congregation there has been receiv-
                                             ahead with preliminary plans and           ing classical appointments on a regu-
                                             drawings for a church building, the        lar basis. One such appointment
Mr. Wigger is a member  of the Protestant    committee had to come before the          brought Rev. S. Houck  to Immanuel
Reformed Church  of  Hudsonville, Michi-     Council to determine just what the         for two weeks in late April.
gan.                                         congregation could afford in the way       Immanuel's Evangelism Committee

                                                                                                July 1,1992 I Standard Bearer / 429


took this opportunity to sponsor a           history of the split of 1953 in the                        answer by June 21.
lecture given by Rev. Houck  on the          Protestant Reformed Churches. A                                  The Grandville, MI PRC ex-
topic, "Is the King James Version Still      handout was prepared for this class,                       tended their first call to fill the va-
the Best?"                                   and it was also suggested that parents                     cancy created when Rev. Kortering
      The Ladies' Society of the             and grandparents might be able to                          accepted the call to Singapore, to Rev.
Randolph, WI PRC served as spon-             give the catechumens stories about                         C. Haak. His subsequent decline of
sor for a couple of slide programs.          these days from their experience.'                         that call meant that Grandville would
First, on June 4 Rev. B. Woudenberg               The Council of the Faith, Jenison,                    have to call again. This they did on
showed slides onHungary/Romania              MI PRC has authorized the video-                           June 7 when they called Rev. Ron
and spoke about the state of the Re-         taping of their worship services for                       VanOverloop, from a trio of Revs.
formed church there and of their sur-        the benefit of their sick and shut-ins.                    Bruinsma, Gritters, and VanOverloop.
vival under communism. This was a                 The Young People's Society of                               We want to end with a word of
public presentation. The next night          the Grandville, MI PRC sponsored a                         congratulations to all our graduates
Rev. Woudenberg took the opportu-            beach volleyball tournament at Hol-                        for this school year.
nity to show Randolph's congrega-            land State Park on Saturday, May 30.
tionslides of Tasmania/Australia, and                                                                         To you graduates, as well as all
to speak to them about his labors            Ministerial Calls                                          the rest of us, we pass along words of
there with the Evangelical Presbyte-              The congregation of the                               wisdom borrowed from Heritage
rian Church of Australia.                    Hudsonville, MI PRC met after the                          Christian School's final weekly note
      The last Thursday-night cat-           morning service on May 24 and ex-                          for the year.
echism class for the year at the Doon,.      tended a call to Rev. B. Gritters to                             "Have a great summer
IA PRC was a combined meeting. :The          serve as,missionary to Larne, North-                                 . ..with the 3 R's -
classes got together to look at the          ern Ireland. He hoped to have an                                 Rest, Relax, and Read!!" n




                                                  WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          The Lord willing, on June 16,                                         IN MEMORY
     The members of the Covenant             1992, our parents,                                               On April 25,1992, it pleased our
Reformed Fellowship, Northern Ire-            MR. and MRS. JAMES HUIZINGA,                              heavenly Father to call our beloved
land, would like to express their Chris-     celebrated their twenty-fifth anniver-                     husband, father, grandfather, and
tian sympathyto our friend and brother,      sary. We give thanks to God for them                       great grandfather,
Rev. Kenneth Koole, and his family, in       and for the care and guidance which                            BERNARD WINDEMULLER,
the sudden death of his father,              they gave to us. We pray that God will                     to his heavenly home at the age of 74
          MR. PETE KOOLE.                    continue to bless them in the years                        years.
May they find comfort from God's             that lie ahead.                                                  We miss his presence here but
Word in Philippians 121: "For to me               "Butthe  mercyofthe Lord isfrom                       rejoice in the glorious hope of the
to live is Christ, and to die is gain."      everlasting to everlasting upon them                       -resurrection and eternal life of which,
         Mr. John McAuley, Chairman          that fear him, and his righteousness                       according to his own testimony, he
           Mr. John Clarke, Secretary        unto children's children; to such as                       was fully assured.
                                             keep his covenant and to those that                              Wife: Jeanette
  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                     remember his commandments to do                                  Children:
      The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of        them" (Psalm 103:17-i  8).                                 Glen and Judy Windemuller
Faith Protestant Reformed Church             0    Michael, Shari, Jared Bosveld                         Robert and Mary Windemuller
would like to express its Christian          0 Julie, Barb, Brenda, Susann,                             Elaine and Gerald Koop
sympathy to our leader, Rev. Kenneth         Tom, Sara, and Laura Huizinga                              Paul and Kathy Windemuller
Koole, and his wife Pat and their fam-                     Hope  (Walker) Protestant Reformed Church    Marcia and Bernard TenBroeke
ily in the loss of their father,                                                                        Susan and Randy Boeve
            PETER KOOLE.                                       NOTICE!!                                 John and Mary Windemuller
It is our prayerthat they find comfort in         The new bulletin clerk for our                              19 grand children
God's Word: " I am the resurrection,.        Grandville Protestant  .Reformed                                4 great grandchildren
and the life; he that believeth in me,       Church is:
                                                                                                                                          Holland, Michigan
though he were dead, yet shall he live"            Elizabeth Boverhof
(John 11:25).                                               6870 Homrich
                     Jim Mol, President            Byron Center, Ml 49315
              Denise Decker, Secretary                     (616) 878-l 963
430 /Standard Bearer  / July 1,1992


        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                           NOTICE!!
        On June 19,1992,  our dear par-                      0~ May 23, 1992, our dear par-                    Classis West of the Protestant
ents and grandparents,                                ents and grandparents,                              Reformed Churches will meet in
  CLARENCE and ANNE PRINCE,                                 MR. and MRS. ANTHONY                          Loveland, Colorado, on Wednesday,
celebrated their 50th wedding anni-                                 DEYOUNG,                              September 2, 1992, at 8:30 a.m., the
versary. We thank God for them, and                    celebrated their forty-fifth wedding               Lordwilling. AllmaterialfortheAgenda
for the love and covenant upbringing                  anniversary. We rejoice with them                   is to be in the hands of the Stated
they gave us. We pray for God's                       and also thank our gracious Lord for                Clerk 30 days before Classis  con-
blessing on them in the years to come.                the years they have shared and for the              venes. All delegates in need of lodg-
        "Butthe mercy of the Lord is from             constant love, covenant instruction,                ing or transportation from the airport
everlasting to everlasting upon them                  and guidance they have given us. It is              should notify the Clerk of Loveland's
that fear him, and his righteousness                  our prayer that they may experience                 Consistory, using the forms provided
unto children's children" (Psalm                      the blessings of the Lord together for              for that purpose.
103:17).                                              many years to come.                                             Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk
i%g     C.het and Sharon Haveman                            "ButthemercyoftheLord  isfrom
         Janna and Mike                               everlasting to everlasting upon them
@       Doug and Mary Jane Prince                     that fear him, and his righteousness                     WEDDING ANNlVERSAFlY
         Hilary                                       unto children's children; to such as                     The Lord willing, on July9,1992,
                                Jenlson,  Michigan    keep his covenant and to those that                 our parents and grandparents,
                                                      remember his commandments to do                     GEORGE and EPKE JOOSTENS,
       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                         them" (Psalm 103:17,  .l8).                         will celebrate their 45th wedding anni-
        The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of               B      Joszef and Anna Mae Postma                   versary. We thank God for them and
the Hope Protestant Reformed Church                           Phillip, David, Daniel, Steven              pray that God will continue to bless
expresses its Christian sympathy to                   0      Rev. Meindertand Beverly Joostens            them in the years to come.
Mr. and Mrs. Tim Koole in the death of                        Faith, Timothy, Steven, Joy, Paul                "...as for me and my house, we
his father,                                                                          South Holland, IL    will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15b).
           MR. PETER KOOLE.                                                                               0    Rev. Meindert and Beverly Joostens
        "Blessed are the dead which die                    RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                               Faith, Tim, Steve, Joy, Paul
in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,                           The consistory and congrega-                  0    Bill and Alice Joostens
saith the Spirit, that they may rest                  tion of Holland Protestant Reformed                       Rachel, Rebecca, Joseph, Sarah
from their labors; and their works do                 Church express their heartfelt sympa-                                                 Venice, Florida
follow them" (Revelation 14:13).                      thy to the family of
               Marinus Kamps, President                MR. BERNARD WINDEMULLER,
                   Elaine Rau, Secretary              a faithful officebearer for many years,                  WEDDING ANNlVERSAFiY
                                                      who was taken to his eternal home in                     On June 20, 1992, our parents,
        WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                           glory on April 25, 1992.                            MR. and MRS. WILLIAM SWART,
        On July 28, 1992, our dear par-                      "Blessed is the man whom thou                celebrated their 45th wedding anni-
ents and grandparents,                                choosest,  and causest to approach                  versary. We are thankful to our God
 MR. and MRS. DICK KOOIENGA,                          unto thee, that he may dwell in thy                 that He has given us these parents.
will celebrate their 65th wedding anni-               courts" (Psalm 65:4).                                    We are grateful for the blessing
versary. We rejoice with them and are                       Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma, President               of being brought up in a covenant
thankful to our heavenly Father for the                               John VanUffelen, Clerk              home and then also to establish our
love and instruction we have received                                                                     own covenant homes. As children
from them. It is our prayer that the                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                         and grandchildren we say "congratu-
Lord will continue to bless them in the                     The Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of               lations" and may God bless you in the
years that He may give to them.                       Southwest Church expresses its Chris-               years to come.
        Bob and Joan Miedema                          tian sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Peter                      "Butthe mercyofthe Lord is from
Q        Earl and Lois Dykstra                        Feenstra and family in the death of                 everlasting to everlasting upon them
0       Rog and Lou Kooienga                               MR. CHARLES FEENSTRA,                          that fear him, and his righteousness
Q       Arnold and Donna Dykstra                      Peter's father.                                     unto children's children" (Psalm
Q       Don and Judy Sall                                    "Wait on the Lord: be of good                103:17).
0       Don and Mary Kooienga                         courage, and heshall strengthen thine               gg Rev. Ronald and Sue Van
0       Stan and Bette Dykstra                        heart: wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalm             Overloop
         35 grandchildren                             27:14).                                             0    Calvin and Linda Kalsbeek
         83 great grandchildren                                          Dan Boone, President             0    Jay and Judy Kuiper
         1 great, great grandchild                                  Joyce Kraima,  Secretary                    nineteen grandchildren
                                                                                                                                First PRC. Grand Rapids. MI
                           Hope, Walker, Michigan


                                                                                                                 July 1,1992 I Standard Bearer I431


&DMD
     BEARER                                                                                                               SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                          Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                          Grandville, Michigan
     P. 0. Box 603
     Grandville, MI 49468-0603


      WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                     -                                     -
       On July 30, 1992, our parents,                           The Men's and Ladies' Society                    CLASSIS WEST
           LOREN and BEULAH                               of the First Protestant Reformed                     OFFICEBEARERS'
               DE ZWARTE,                                 Church of Holland, Michigan extends                    CONFERENCE
will celebrate their 40th wedding anni-                   sincere sympathy to the family of                            When:
versary. We give thanks to our heav-                       MR. BERNARD WINDEMULLER,                      Tuesday, September 1, 1992
enly Father for giving us God-fearing                     who was for many years a faithful                    beginning at 9 a.m.
parents. It is our prayer that God will                   member of our society.                                       Where:
continue to bless them and keep them                           .May they find their comfort in the       Loveland Protestant Reformed
in His care for the years to come.                        words of the inspired apostle, that,                         Church
       "ButthemercyoftheLordisfrom                        through our Lord Jesus Christ, "death                Loveland, Colorado
everlasting to everlasting upon them                      is swallowed up in victory" (I Cor.                          Theme:
that fear him, and his righteousness                      1554).                                            "Shepherding God's Flock"
unto children's children, to such as                                                                           Keynote Address:
keep his covenant and to those that                                                                           "Called to be Pastors"
remember his commandments to do                                                                                  Rev. Ron Hanko
them" (Psalm 103:17,  18).                                                                              Sectionals:
Q      Larry and Lila Gullion                                                                           "Has the Emphasis on Pastoral
          Lori, Joel, Daniel, Timothy, Ed-                              NOTICE!!                        Counseling Gone Too Far?"
ward, Jonathan                                                  Corrected pages are available                       Rev. Ron Cammenga
0      Darrell and Deb DeZwarte                           for the green, ring-bound "Church             "Dealing with the Depressed"
          Darin, Kelli, Kerri, Kasie                      Order of the Protestant Reformed                                 Rev. Carl Haak
       Larry and Jan DeZwarte                             Churches," to update the book with            "Does Psychiatry have a Place in
          James, Jason                                    amendments made after the original            Pastoral Counseling?"
0      Jim and Sheila VanDonselaar                        printing.                                                     Rev. Russ Dykstra
          Jeremy, Amy, Jaimy, Anthony,                         A set of these selected, replace-        "The Role of the Elders and Dea-
Andrew, Jennifer, Anna, Tina                              ment pages can be obtained without            cons in Pastoral Care"
0      Kevin and Lisa Rowe                                charge, on request to the Stated Clerk:                       Mr. Robert Brands
          Alyssa, Jacob                                          Rev. Meindert Joostens                 "Ministering to the Terminally Ill"
       Tim and Tresa Koole                                       2016 Tekonsha Rd. S.E.                                 Rev. Mike DeVries
          Jordan, Phillip, Seth                                 Grand Rapids, Ml 49506                  "Dealing with Teenage Problems"
0      Lon, Angie, and Pam DeZwarte                                                                                       Rev. Steve Key
       LeAnn DeZwarte and Anthony                                                                             All past and present office-
DeZwarte (who are now in eternal                                                                        bearers, as well as anyone who is
glory)                                                                                                  interested, is invited to attend.
                                                                        NOTICE!!
                      Pella Protestant Reformed Church                                                        Hope to see you there!
                                                                A group of students dedicated to
                                                          the'historic Reformed faith is making
                                                          plans to meet together again this year
                 NOTICE!!                                 for a Bible study. The meetings,
       Classis  East will meet in regular                 sponsored by the Protestant Re-
session at 9 a.m. on Wednesday,                           formed Churches in the area, are held                    NOTICE!!!
September 9,1992 at the Byron Cen-                        on Monday evenings at 7:00 in the                 The new clerk of the Council of
ter Protestant Reformed Church. Ma-                       Dordt College library. Any student at       Hope Protestant Reformed Church
terial to be treated atthis session must                  Dordt is welcome to attend. This year       (Walker) is Mr. David Moelker, 4625
be in the hands of the Stated Clerk by                    we plan to study Philippians using a        Ju-Le-On Dr. S.W., Grand Rapids, Ml
August 8,1992.                                            study guide by Rev. Carl Haak (free         49504 (phone: 616-791-7077).
           Jon J. Huisken, Stated Clerk                   copies will be given at the meetings).      Please note this change.
                                                          If you have any questions, please call
                                                          Rev. Russ Dykstra (712) 726-3383.

432 /Standard Bearer I July 1,1992


